Open Letter to Nilbog & Co: Raid Item Nerfs

[Rygar]

I wanted to make a realistic case for some item nerfs, more specifically items that trivialize the raid scene (racing and encounters). Part of the initial appeal of EverQuest was difficult end-game raid encounters, as game knowledge increased certain items became helpful shortcuts that made encounters easier… changing some of these items can help recapture some of that classic magic.

For starters: the Shiny Brass Idol. It is constantly farmed and used to make racing a trivial affair. Guilds create accounts with alts parked at ToV loaded up with these items, as well as corpsing additional idols and staging them in strategic locations.

The initial intention of this item being a situational ‘save your butt’ one-time insta click has been lead horribly astray and is now just fuel for the raid machine. Nerfing this item can be a good first step to make racing more interesting (may need to look at other items with this effect as well).

Possible Nerf Suggestions:

• Make this item unusable in designated Raid / Racing zones (specifically ToV)
• Add a 5-second casting time

Next up: SoulFire & Reaper of the Dead. Not a lot of need to explain this one, seeing clerics and all forms of other classes farm this item for use during raiding is disappointing and just blocks Paladins and Shadowknights that want to complete the quest for themselves. Even from a roleplay standpoint, I fail to see how anyone outside these designated classes would complete this quest much less have the ability to call forth the magic contained in this item that is tuned to a specific class.

Possible Nerf Suggestions:

• Make Paladin and SK usable only
• Make Equip to cast

Finally: Aggro Management items, specifically Midnight Mallet. Back in my day, agro management was something that was crucial to a raid, melee and casters had to be careful not to over-do it, especially early in a fight else a wipe or at least some mob bouncing would occur. On certain pulls, it was near guaranteed your shaman would die, sacrificing themselves to get off that crucial slow (resists hurt and caused chaos). Certain classes would even pop their Riposte disciplines to get a mob into position and let the warrior build some agro before they die. Nowadays, on the pull, tanks dump a fully charged Midnight Mallet into the mob and everyone engages immediately… it is one of the most used and abused items on the raid scene. Other items have this effect such as root nets, so it really is more than just a Midnight Mallet problem.

Possible Nerf Suggestions:

• Make Midnight Mallet usable by only Cleric and Shaman
• Add a 5-second casting time (don’t believe you parry / riposte / dodge during this time, and can be interrupted)
• Make the item No Drop (doesn’t solve the problem, but slows it down)

Just some suggestions from a humble casual and occasional raider, thanks for listening! I know haters will say, “LOL #NotClassic”, but there has been some precedent such as not implementing original version of Wavecrasher, FTE messages, etc. and is just meant to restore that classic in spirit feel to the game... Love the project you’ve built, keep up the great work!

[khanable]

Ban leveling beyond 55 because it makes killing dragons easier

[arsenalpow]

They broke hoops because it trivializes raiding, why wouldn't they continue with other game breaking items? Soulfire should be pally only, nerf wort pots too.

[Erati]

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

Next up: SoulFire & Reaper of the Dead. Not a lot of need to explain this one, seeing clerics and all forms of other classes farm this item for use during raiding is disappointing and just blocks Paladins and Shadowknights that want to complete the quest for themselves. Even from a roleplay standpoint, I fail to see how anyone outside these designated classes would complete this quest much less have the ability to call forth the magic contained in this item that is tuned to a specific class.

Possible Nerf Suggestions:[LIST][*]Make Paladin and SK usable only

Soulfire is for the Paladin epic 1.0 and has nothing to do with any Shadowknight quest.

http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=417

^ is the Sword you get from the Lucan testimony, notice no Shadowknight can equip so its pretty hard to take this open letter serious when you didnt even bother to research these items. I believe you are thinking about "Ghoulbane" which is used in both the Paladin and SK epic but it is a dropped item from upper guk.

[arsenalpow]

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

Soulfire is for the Paladin epic 1.0 and has nothing to do with any Shadowknight quest.

http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=417

^ is the Sword you get from the Lucan testimony, notice no Shadowknight can equip so its pretty hard to take this open letter serious when you didnt even bother to research these items. I believe you are thinking about "Ghoulbane" which is used in both the Paladin and SK epic but it is a dropped item from upper guk.

He's saying reaper should be SK only like the soulfire should be pally only. Equip to use essentially.

[Yuuvy The Destroyer]

On live tanks were using mallets well past pop.

[Erati]

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

They broke hoops because it trivializes raiding, why wouldn't they continue with other game breaking items? Soulfire should be pally only, nerf wort pots too.

'Hooping' down raid encounters was cheese and retarded, very easy to see a nerf but all these items he lists serve purposes that are typical during a raid encounter, they just broaden the sources of where healing or aggro can come from albeit instantaneously.

Soulfire/reaper isnt even that big of deal these days with 1 hour locking. Idols while important are solely used in the unclassic FTE mario kart races so by that OP's initial premise of bringing back the classic feel the the raid scene is flawed by the fact we do races for FTE w 1 hour lock which was not classic.

[Erati]

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

He's saying reaper should be SK only like the soulfire should be pally only. Equip to use essentially.

gotcha but he was acting like Shadowknights are cockblocked from doing their quest like Paladins are which is false.

If they made Soulfire/Reaper require equipping then SK and Pal become useful to bring to a raid I suppose....hehe

[arsenalpow]

Make soulfire and reaper equip to use only
Add cast time to idol
Add cast time to wort pot
Consider nerfs to bladestopper, puppet strings, and prayers of life

[Triiz]

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

Idols while important are solely used in the unclassic FTE mario kart races so by that respects the initial premise of bringing back the classic feel the the raid scene is flawed by the fact we do races for FTE w 1 hour lock.

Agree with this. Hard to make the "classic feel" argument when nothing about FTE races are "classic feel" and that's what the item is used for. If you want "classic feel" your post should be asking for removal of FTE races.


edit: lol at the "I don't even play this server, but here's a list of things you should nerf" posts (not OP)