AA Points

[Byrjun]

The quest idea is cool, but I really liked how AAs gave your character direct power over a period of time (like leveling, but specified). Doing something like an epic quest for Canni 5 sounds cool and all, but having to grind out several quests for each rank of Healing Affinity, Critical Healing, Improved Defense, etc. sound nearly as tedious as just sitting in an exp group. And I don't see much reason to implement AAs without implementing nearly the whole thing (some shit was just completely useless like Rabid Bear).

[Comapavik]

I liked the AA system in EQ2. You could only earn a certain amount of points, I think it was capped at like 30, and had to choose what you wanted to spend them on. You couldn't get every AA. You got 1 free respec and then it cost plat after that, with each time being more expensive. Let you kind of customize your character.

[Swish]

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

The quest idea is cool, but I really liked how AAs gave your character direct power over a period of time (like leveling, but specified). Doing something like an epic quest for Canni 5 sounds cool and all, but having to grind out several quests for each rank of Healing Affinity, Critical Healing, Improved Defense, etc. sound nearly as tedious as just sitting in an exp group. And I don't see much reason to implement AAs without implementing nearly the whole thing (some shit was just completely useless like Rabid Bear).

canni5 was 9 AAs wasn't it? I remember grinding that out for ages [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Daldaen]

Canni5 also required... some weird prereq. Maybe Mental Clarity 3 (FT). Which required you spend 6 points in general tab (Run3 / Regen3).

[heartbrand]

What I enjoyed about AA's was that they kept you playing the game. Right now when you're max gear / level, there's not much to do. This leaves behind newer players who then find trouble getting groups. It also creates more opportunities for pvp on a pvp server since people are playing more and grouping more. However, AA's are not balanced for velious and you would need to introduce them with more challenging content.

[DrKvothe]

Can anybody direct me to a list of the sort of class-defining AAs nilbog might have been referring to? I didn't play past early velious.

[Seltius]

I love this post thank you Nilbog for clarifying that im glad its being considered and I like the way you think. On that note why add bitterness to a thread that is pretty awesome? Let it go things have and are changing its not worth holding on to it and trying to reintroduce it.

[Protheus]

AA's ruined the game in several ways

[heartbrand]

AA's gave me a way to progress my character while helping others.

[M.J.]

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

AA's gave me a way to progress my character while helping others.

AAs allowed raid geared players to back farm trivial content solo. For every awesome 60 warrior with raid gear and a bunch of AA bringing along a lowbie snarer / healer and boosting a group you'll have 8 more hybrid melees doing old cash camps solo and competing with legit lowbie groups over experience and not just loot. Lower Guk is a good example of this type of content bottleneck.

You'll also have power farmers which aren't going to do anything except make the gap between casual and hardcore even more massive.

A middle ground to the AA / quest idea would be some sort of mentor system that allows people to temporarily lower their level and require them to be grouped with people around that actual level to gain AA experience. Each level range of experience would unlock one rank of an ability. So AA gained while mentoring 8-20 would get you rank 1, 21-30 rank 2, etc. Now add in solo / duo quests to gain access to the ability and you have a personally satisfying quest that increased interaction with other players, or just helped level your friends alts.

LUCLIN RANT BELOW

The reason Luclin was such an awful expansion was because the raid scene was impenetrable to casuals, and it had massive zones with content no one besides bards and people with mounts would ever see. However beastlords were the shit, and AA allowed you to focus on a character you loved but had otherwise become an aimless auction bot and cash farmer once you had BiS. Stat inflation, stratifying the player base, and reducing player interactions are all things that happened because of Luclin.