Fippy added Newbie Armor

[Darian]

http://www.fippydarkpaw.com/news/show/477085

I think this really sums up the situation for the folks on live.

Ol' Fippy has been away on business for most of this month, giving me far less time to play than I would have liked. But, gotta pay the bills, and all that.

It seems that SOE was sympathetic to my AFK time, though, as when I returned Norrath has been changed! This wasn't the world I left. Now there's newbie armor in the game, and a double xp bonus through Wednesday, and then again from the 25th through the 27th. It's like SOE is trying to get me caught up from my time off.

Ok, that was fairly narcissistic of me. But down to brass tacks, I have mixed feelings about the newest implementations. Double xp is fine by me, since it's temporary, and it is, after all, EQ's 12th year Anniversary (grats EQ!) The newbie armor though? That's something else entirely.

I think it may be a bit much. I'm not one of those who necessarily wants a fully authentic recreation of the 1999 experience, but this newbie armor is game changing. Apart from a few specialty pieces, there's no longer a need to camp much of anything if you get a full set of this. It's even better than some planar pieces in some respects, particularly if you're looking to min/max stat per slot. Considering this armor can begin to get farmed at level 1, that's a pretty big deal.

So my 34 paladin is now slumming it in the newbie yards farming newbie quest gear drops because most of it is an upgrade for me. Not to mention the mid-level armor quests for the paladin are broken, and even if they weren't, those quests are crazy expensive in terms of materials, and major timesinks for drops and faction grinding. And, as an additional kick in the face, the end result of the ro armor is mostly trivial compared to the now-added newbie armor.

It's crazy, I say! But, it's also a bit too late. Now that those quests have been added, they can't safely be removed without further upsetting large numbers of players. I just wish more thought had been given to our crafters who now have no way of making money after their crazy time sinks and spending, as well as those of us who have grinded out hours of faction and drops for armor quests that are now obsolete. Mudflation is one thing, and expected to happen over expansions. But we were not expecting the newbie armor after it was said it would not be in game. I'm just curious why the change of heart, seemingly arbitrarily.

But! It's not a game breaker for me. Truth be told, I'm very much looking forward to Kunark when we can spread out once again and have better armor to go after than the newbie armor quests.

Am I off-base? Share your thoughts on the forums.

(emphasis added)