Y'all have a weird idea of what classic actually was.

[Shawk]

Ya'll, who is saying this? Did someone specifically say that Higher Numbers == Good Game?

I don't think anyone would disagree in this sense. The Numbers got higher but EQ Classic, Kunark and Velious were the superior products. Planes of Power although a marvel at the time, ruined a few aspects of my enjoyment of the game. There were first principle game design decisions that were changed around the Planes of Power release.. They weren't exactly at that moment but the list includes things like:

Instancing - This is immersion destruction.. Obviously people disagree but I was 13 years old back then and I knew this would kill it.

Teleportation - Teleportation became easier. Less reliance on Community/Wizards.

Graphics "Upgrade" - The new Interface, new 3d Models, were not good. They were uncanny, just as Everquest 2 was in that graphical sense.. I have a clear distinction between GAME and IRL, I don't want games looking real, I want them looking like games. And I prefer the pixelated look, especially in higher resolution.. The Textures were the only thing that needed messing with like they did in Velious.

Bazaar - Complete destruction of Auction Channel and that Community building aspect of the game. I was on Solusek Ro and Gfay became a dead zone after this change. It did create a "new" experience though.

Which is why I don't disagree or agree I just have a preference that I have had my whole like and I prefer simpler immersive RPGs, with zones that are live and not "instanced" with spell effects that actually look fluid.. and I guess you can sum my entire opinion up as "just nostalgia" if you want to generalize it.

In the end I am niche.. I argued these design decisions were TERRIBLE back then, so did a lot of the devs as we found out later on.

Same thing happened to World of Warcraft. If anyone of you remembers back then, do you remember when the PVP zones were not Instanced? For example Alterac Valley was some sort of disagreement between devs as it was originally suppose to be some replication of the Warcraft game, Originally it wasn't an Instance for one which made it far more immersive and it was just be going on until someone won.

Originally Alterac Valley you just zone into and even as a casual player you could contribute to the War efforts by just gathering skins and stuff to create bigger armies and equip them better..

Instancing in general to me is literally death of immersion. Most people today consider instancing and zones to be the same thing.. Alas this is where the genre went and why you see things like BDO doing well.