Quote:
Originally Posted by Daldaen
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Eh too many people here seem to think time consuming = challenging.
Mindlessly killing hours of trash in Vex Thal isn't challenging. Nor is running across 20 zones that are all green cons to you.
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People tend to blame the "newbies" for all of EQ's poor and/or short-sighted decisions but this is one I firmly place on the heads of the hard core and long-time EQ gamer. They were the ones who'd rode the boat and crossed the zones a hundred times before and were demanding easier travel. They especially wanted such things for their re-rolls so they could get to their preferred levelling zones quicker.
People new to the game didn't know any better but were more than willing to go along with the complaints because it allowed them to use the same levelling path the grinders used.
The key to remember is that travel was not simply about "time sink". A level 1 player did not simply think about how long it would take to run from Qeynos to Kelethin. They had to consider the risk of the zones they intended to traverse, how much help they might need to successfully make the journey, and of course the penalty of failure. For those who did make it, completion of the journey usually brought on a great sigh of relief and a certain sense of accomplishment no spire trip (or book click later on) could ever hope to provide.
Luclin inflated the crisis in two ways really. First of course, they added the spires. But second and more important, they gave low entry luclin zones huge exp bonuses. It made it far too enticing for ALL players to gain just enough levels to get into Paludal Caverns where exp flowed like gravy over biscuits. And once there it was generally accepted to go to Netherbain followed frequently by Dawnshrouds.
It was not long before newbies had to follow suit because most of the old world 10-30 zones were now completely barren. If you wanted or needed a group -- and most newbies did at this point -- you were all but resigned to going whereever the masses were. And no matter how whiny people are now about the moon, that's where they were back then. Plus by this point all old world newbie quests were ridiculously outdated compared to what could potentially drop or be quested for in the Luclin zones. Even if you were determined to stay in the old world, you likely did so at the expense of easier gearing and monitary gain.
Removing fast travel certainly wouldn't have cured all these ills. But it did it's part in adding to the issues all the same. The PoK books made it that much more profound. But more to the point, removing the "time sink" of travel removed other key components of early level decision making. Gone was the need to build up before branching out. Gone was the threat of "if I get killed a continent away from my bind point I'm screwed". The fears that were such important aspects of what made Everquest feel like a true adventure were forever compromised and later on removed entirely by the manner in which they implimented fast travel.