There is a famous passage from the Tao Te Ching that talks about how a bowl is only useful because of the empty space inherent to its shape that allows it to hold things. The same for a house: it has four walls and a roof, but is actually the empty space within which we inhabit. I'm reminded of the wisdom of this idea when I contrast EQL with EQ. Because in EQ, classes are as much defined by what they cannot do as what they can do. For example, the Warrior is a tank with respectable DPS. But the Warrior is NOT a healer. The Warrior cannot buff or CC, or cast teleports, or do basically anything else by itself (clickies excluded). The class is inherently limited, and it is these limits that give it meaning and a unique feel. Because you cannot do everything, and are inherently limited in this regard, you must commit fully to a more specialized path. And this path becomes the path of the Warrior, and results in a totally different gameplay experience than you would get from playing anything else. And it is remarkable how true this is, and to what extent, because anyone who has played a Warrior, a Paladin, and a Shadow Knight can tell you that despite all three being plate tanks, they all feel pretty different from one another, and offer distinct roles, leveling options, and playstyles.
EQL does away with this entirely. You don't have to choose, you can have it all. They even let you port on any class combination, no Druid or Wizard required. The player never feels as if he is lacking in options or power, and has an effortless answer to every question the game asks. This is the nature of a power fantasy: you have no weaknesses. But as a result, there is no emptiness to the game, and thus nothing for us to truly inhabit. We merely feel as if we are temporarily passing through it; there is no emotional resonance possible, nothing for us to dig our claws into. It provides only the appearance of the thing rather than the thing in itself. It is like being tricked into eating a picture of the most delicious hamburger you've ever seen, rather than the actual hamburger: the experience is shallow, unsatisfying, and in the end supremely undignified. You are left somewhat embarrassed that you ever fell for such a swindle. I believe this is how most people will feel after spending a few days to a few weeks playing EQL. The game looks like EQ, but feels strangely unfulfilling, and it will never scratch the same itch that EQ did back in the day.
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