Should ZEM even be in the game this early?

[fadetree]

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

ZEMs were in from the start. But the insane bonuses on newb dungeon ZEMs was added during PoP when they added the low level cleric rez spells etc.

I've done all the digging.

In era sources from a ShowEQ dev that the max ZEM was 100 pre-Luclin, explicit references to Crushbone and Najena ZEMs being 80, and so on.

We are playing with PoP ZEMs and this should change.

https://www.project1999.com/forums/s...d.php?t=343193

I think Dolalin is correct. My opinion:
ZEM was always a core mechanic. That way they could make small adjustments to compensate for the 'difficulty' of a dungeon/zone. It could also be used globally to slow people down across the board, as was mentioned.

Luclin and the insane zem on Paludal Caverns was the fist sign that the devs were beginning to react to fears that new people would be left behind as the huge wave of people that had been playing all along would all be end game. They were afraid they'd start to lose new subs because 'there's no-one to play with'. Solution - tinker with noob dungeons to really crank up the zem, that way people can blast through and join their friends. Of course, much later, they were like, 'eh...just start 'em at 80'.

They also started to think about underused zones and how to get people to them, since, craven little min-maxers that we are, everyone followed the same path through 4 or 5 zones to end game. This was what started the 'hot zone' idea later.

I also think the zems in play on p99 are probably from a much later era. Should they fix them? I think so...the problem is I don't think we have any hard data that describes all of the zems per zone at an era that applies to classic. Also, we may SAY we want it 'fixed', but of they did I bet it would cause a firestorm of complaining.

The zem change to Kedge was a p99-specific deal...not sure exactly but I think it was a response to people being able to exploit charm and.or pbAOE or something and render the dungeon easy and yet still with a high zem.