Do you feel the game is easier now that the community knows more?

[Roth]

Obviously if you know more it's gonna be easier, but theres something ive been thinking lately that I couldn't really word but I think it's just that the overall general knowledge improvement of people makes the games tons easier to actually play.

For example, back in the older days if you wanted to solo people would say: Go necro mage, and some of the other classes "could" solo but people didn't really understand. Now almost every class can solo because people understand how to do it. Enchanters for example were really almost never talked about as a solo class. Even as a warrior, while it's not perfect, people understand to level bind wound and how to craft their own set of banded armor. It's a lot easier overall to play any class you want to.

Secondly, grouping is just a lot easier in general. An example of this is like last week I formed a dalnir group with a paladin and a monk, I'm a shaman. We went and did dalnir ALL for the first time ever, none of us had ever been there before. But I felt everyone had a strong mastery of game mechanics and we were able to solve the zone fairly fast and get a lot of exp through research, and just testing out the areas. Eventually we did die but there was no risk of losing corpses, and a few times before that even when we had to run we managed to get out.

I guess what I mean to say is the overall community knowledge is a lot higher than it used to be, and it feels like the game is MORE balanced than it used to be just because people understand how to actually use the tools given to them better. It feels like there's more depth as people learn how to do things.

Idk, I'm just rambling. Anyone agree or disagree?

edit: travelling. Forgot this one but it's important. Now that people understand how to get around the world it seems like it's a simple task to go from any continent or area to another. Everyone knows how to get to any zone they want without much trouble or to relatively go where they feel like.

[Ugrask]

Given that we were all MMO noobs back then and it kind of made EQ the original survival horror game, it's kind of expected.

Same with any kind of game IMO, when I was first playing Counter Strike/Golden Eye as a kid you do well against your friends, but in the grand scheme of online play you got clobbered, but as more FPS came out, you just kind of learned and adapted better. And with EQ we've all done MOST of the game before, so it's easy to adapt/learn to anything you dont already understand.

[Lamil]

I'd agree with this. I had maps drawn and printed out on legal pads back when I first started playing.. Also I remember when Velious first came out and everyone said it was too hard and now lvl 30's go there

[BahamutDF]

Of course. You couldn't imagine the unparalleled levels of derp I played with back in 2000 on my Iksar SK.

[Sturgeon]

I use to get lost in Everfrost all the time when I first started playing. Couldn't remember how many times I crossed the frozen river thinking it was a different river only to be the same one...

But yes its obviously easier here than back then since everyone here has played EQ before.

[Sarajo]

I think the expectation has changed, and that has influenced player competence as well. We now have this idea of "death shouldn't happen often, and when it does it shouldn't be a huge inconvenience", so people have learned to ask for binds nearby before looking for a group in a dungeon(no more dying at the bottom of Splitpaw and respawning at the Orc Lift) or have learned to invest in HP rings instead of being warriors still wearing cloth and rawhide armor.

A phenomenon would keep happening in WoW land: I would hear variations of this theme in guild or global chat frequently, "most of the really good players I ever played with were old EQ players".

So I think the mindset, from not having everything spoonfed to you, from having a death penalty that strongly encourages caution in the future, and from having that real hunger for information/adventure have just made the game "easier" because of new vocab words like "wiki" that didn't exist when EQ was good.

[BahamutDF]

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

I think the expectation has changed, and that has influenced player competence as well. We now have this idea of "death shouldn't happen often, and when it does it shouldn't be a huge inconvenience", so people have learned to ask for binds nearby before looking for a group in a dungeon(no more dying at the bottom of Splitpaw and respawning at the Orc Lift) or have learned to invest in HP rings instead of being warriors still wearing cloth and rawhide armor.

A phenomenon would keep happening in WoW land: I would hear variations of this theme in guild or global chat frequently, "most of the really good players I ever played with were old EQ players".

So I think the mindset, from not having everything spoonfed to you, from having a death penalty that strongly encourages caution in the future, and from having that real hunger for information/adventure have just made the game "easier" because of new vocab words like "wiki" that didn't exist when EQ was good.

Very concise. Great points

[Thugicorn]

Socially, no.

[Crede]

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

Enchanters for example were really almost never talked about as a solo class. .

I played live for many years, and always thought enchanters were strictly grouping. Heck, the P99 wiki even says, "Enchanters are a powerful class, but often rely upon a group to reach their full potential".

It wasn't until P99 that I realized they could solo from the forums of Tecmos posting 1 million pp that he soloed and Lorean's Solo Artist Challenge.

Overall though, for me I would attribute the easiness to a internet connection much faster than dial up and a computer that actually can run EQ along with having access to Wiki/Forums/Maps whenever I want online. Couldn't alt-tab before. You just have to find more ways to challenge yourself. HS is still no cake walk. Use less numbers, it's usually more fun/challenging that way.

[Man0warr]

On Rallos Zek the best soloer on the server was an enchanter (Rigamortiz I think was his name) - he could do some mind blowing stuff (or what we thought was mind blowing at the time) like solo camping Ghoul Lord and Frog King at level 50.

Hell that stuff may still be difficult.