Where did EQ Live go wrong?

[Arclanz]

I feel the same way, Todd! (and also guilty of (very) little twinking and PL'ng*, myself)

Came back to EQ for LDON, and when I saw a paladin slay undead for 5k, I suddenly felt moved to play my main again. I two boxed my 65 Cleric to get my Paladin from 55 to 60 and about 100 more AAs. AAs were a lot more time consuming back then. One AA per hour was considered very good at that time.

[Houdiny]

I don't buy the whole "twinking ruins games" factor. I tend to lean towards it helping more than hurting. And here is why.

We all play this game, and the objective to the game is to get experience and level up and achieve nice things. There are a handful of people who have no interest in this at all, but to my experience playing MMO's these are few and very far between. The status quo is level up, have fun, get stuff, enjoy the game.

And here is where I lose this argument. If someone is twinking a character they are making life on them much easier, and the groups they attend. I ran into a few monks with Fungi tunics leveling up and it was great. We didn't have enough players for a full group and the fact that the monk could tank and not need much if any healing allowed me to enjoy a group that otherwise wasn't going to happen.

Not to mention that when you are looking for people to fill a group roll the majority of people don't take whoever is available. They take the best fit for their group. What's going to reward them the best exp and the best chance of items dropping.

Twinking and re playability is essential to EQ I think. It is one of the reasons the game has stayed alive and going for so many years. While others without twinking and re playability have faded away into the sunset. I'm not saying that is the only reason why but I think it plays a large part in the longevity of Everquest.