[tanknspank]

Originally Posted by Sadre Spinegnawer [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

But it might be, that it is a kind of mudflation kind of deal. You can only add so many expansions and thus new content and powers, before you destroy the basics of the original game.

Generally speaking yes, but if the power creep is carefully managed, there's a lot of room to go before that is the obstacle. To be honest I feel Velious raised the gear level too much. So did PoP (I don't remember the itemization details for Luclin).

Originally Posted by Sadre Spinegnawer [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

AA's were one of the laziest things the SOE devs ever did. Sure, they gave neat abilities. But the mechanics how you got them was pure lazy dev nerf. "Just grind out these alternate exp levels!"

Yes and no. Grinding XP had been the cornerstone of advancement in both classic and Kunark (levels). In my eyes it is iconic to classic content. The problem with AAs was that they added far too many of them, to the point where the grind became limitless.

This is why I think each xpac should have a set of "Class-specific AA Levels" in the 5-10 range that continue your class's progression without the added power disparity that levels give.

Also, unlike levels AAs don't take you on a journey. You can grind your first AA in the same zone as your 4000th. Levels take you on a journey from Orc 1 to Dervs to Karana to Guk to Karnor's to Howling Stones (or whatever your chosen path is). With this in mind maybe different zones in an xpac turn 'green' in relation to AAXP earning as you progress in "class-specific AA level".

Originally Posted by Kika Maslyaka [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

WoW it great in the last expansion - they made their AAs (talents) to be selective limited - not I must have 69 points in Z or I don't get spell X crap. This is how true AA system should be: you can have 3 nice abilities to choose from, but you can only ever have 1 of them.

It depends on how it's implemented. I don't like the fact that WoW grants talents automatically for levelling, nor how easy you can switch. In an AA system I think it would be better to "Buy A, B or C for X points. Once you buy A, if you want to switch you have to earn the point cost and buy B or C which removes A (and the points spent)". The permanency of choices is iconic to classic EQ for me. No do-over on your starting stat, deity, no flip-flopping your class's role (spec), etc.

Originally Posted by Kika Maslyaka [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

On Luclin - Soulbinders are mandatory to this game and should have been in from day 1. Or give me wow graveyards to respawn at in each zone.

I disagree. This game classic's era was defined by player interdependence. You needed others for bind, sow, ports, rezzes, corpse recovery (drag/summon), etc. That defines the feel of the community. So it's something that needs to be kept and that was lost on live as expansions added more NPC services.

I do see the need for some flexibility, especially as the world grows. But I think the idea is to make the "bind" portable. It should still originate from a player, but allow a melee to take it with them to a different location so they can bind at 5am in an abandoned zone. This could be in the form of a crafted item or a spell-created one.