Would EQ be more fun if they made it hard again?

[Ciderpress]

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

Login accounts are IP locked with no IP exemptions would be interesting. Sure there would still be work arounds like VPN that people would use to create additional accounts but perameters could be set to elminate the proliferation of bot armys and the ability for people to swap around to multiple accounts in quick succession.

Just like back in classic live there was a rare person that had multiple computers and funds to pay for multiple monthly subscriptions but it was a big enough hurdle that it was by far the exception not the meta.

Fully agree with this and the idea that account sharing in general and being able to have an arbitrary number of accounts is a major contributor to the problem here. Sharing your login credentials with others was never against the rules iirc, but many fewer people did it because the stakes are higher when you're paying for the account, and you know that your buddy Jimbo might get your character killed in an unrecoverable place and the GM's won't just restore it after it decays.

[cd288]

Info sharing was also dampened by the fact that if you did get banned or your corpse rotted, we just didn't have the same amount of knowledge with respect to getting a character leveled up really fast.

Today, if you lost your character/account and you're in a big guild one of the Bards can just swarm kite to PL you back up to 60 relatively quickly (or at least into the 50s relatively quickly). There's just no risk to it anymore.

[Wakanda]

Originally Posted by cd288 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Info sharing was also dampened by the fact that if you did get banned or your corpse rotted, we just didn't have the same amount of knowledge with respect to getting a character leveled up really fast.

Today, if you lost your character/account and you're in a big guild one of the Bards can just swarm kite to PL you back up to 60 relatively quickly (or at least into the 50s relatively quickly). There's just no risk to it anymore.

That's a really good point too. Your main character was truly your main character. Most people didn't just re-roll a new character because they decided another class was discovered to be over-powered. I remember having one of the highest level monks on our server and having people message me to tell me they were shocked at how much damage I was doing since we didn't really have any data to go on or any clue how strong the class may be at higher levels when the game first came out. But by that point we were all level 50ish in the Planes, no one even considered completely re-rolling to make a monk to be a viable idea.

I also suspect that the experience on P99 is way faster than what was original, but IDK if that's true or not? It felt like back in the day I spent months leveling in Overthere (30-40?) before I got high enough level to go to Dreadlands. I mean having to come home from school, spend hours LFG, trying to slowly solo while dodging dragoons, then getting a group for a few hours before bed time and the exp was really damn slow. Now I go to OT and just plow through 30-40 in like a day or two.

Like obviously we are way more knowledgeable now, but sometimes I wonder if the exp granted on P99 is actually faster than it was in original EQ?

[Wakanda]

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

If you want to make the game "Harder" start a new server and make it 100% classic. Classic UI, Looking at your book till 35 etc. Giving mobs more HP and just making every mob a sponge is boring.

The problem is everyone knows what items to get, where to exp, what to avoid and where to fight. You would need to make the game completely different..like adding new zones, switching up loot, creating new mobs with loot tables. I do not think any of the ideas here make the game harder but just more annoying and will drive people away. Not many people have 10+ hours a day to play a 25 year old game either, so you limit the amount of people who play.

I think a game like Evercraft or Monsters and memories will scratch that itch.

By harder I didn't necessarily mean grindier. The grind on Pantheon is one of the things that really turns me off right now. It feels like unless I am going to log into the game for a solid 6 hours I might as well just go do something else. So a lot of times I want to play, but realize I can't make any meaningful progress with the amount of time I have available to actually be in the game.

With EQ I always felt like 2-3 hours in the game was rewarding even if it was only spent traveling or trying to auction items.

[Wakanda]

Originally Posted by cd288 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

This is probably the thing I hate the most about the end game raiding scene. It totally makes everything boring and trivial.

You have armies of bots, COTH bots, several cleric bots parked at every possible major raid target, etc.

I miss raiding from back in the day where for the most part everyone played their own characters. It created actual motivation to roll a certain class because you'd be valuable and wanted, and it could make a real impact on your guild's raid force. Now it's like why would I ever roll a cleric? The guilds already have tons of bot clerics parked everywhere. Shit, there are even tank bots all over the place so why roll a tank?

It just makes raiding way less challenging. I would love if they found some way to limit or ban bots altogether.

This is a valid point too. I mean if I die and someone is going to log onto a cleric and instantly 96% rez me, maybe even give me some buffs and a POTG, I'm obviously going to take it, but the game feels really trivialized right now, even from a leveling experience. I bet there's a 90% chance if I go to City of Mist on the character I'm leveling right now, some friendly Druid will show up and give me POTG, which is awesome and nice of them, but a lot of times when I'm in these zones, I don't feel like it's classic.

I grouped with a husband/wife duo who were warrior and cleric and they asked me to stop CC'ing and slowing mobs because it was faster for him to just mow everything down. And it turned out he was right. (Full Skyshrine armor on both of them, insane weapons, haste items and drive by buffs from guild mates). Like that to me is not really a classic experience even though the people are nice and it's better than solo'ing.

And also it triggers me how Magicians did kind of get relegated to COTH bots because I remember Magician as being a badass class back in the day (they still are pretty bad ass on P99 before Kunark launches). I feel like Enchanters charm being so damn good has made Magicians feel a lot weaker because their pets dull in comparison. I never got that vibe from Magicians before. But I also didn't know really any Enchanters who were reliably charming the way we do now. But it feels like an indirect nerf to magicians in terms of relative power.

[shovelquest]

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

I also suspect that the experience on P99 is way faster than what was original, but IDK if that's true or not?

It was but only because we were conditioned to it. Like for example, the pop, and skill of people both reduced the rate of kills in a group situation. A chain pulling group in 1999 or 2000 would be so boring for todays standards.

In Mistmore, you had a group at the pond, and in the little cubby behind the gargoyles and one in the canyon on live. But here it's pond.

So leveling was way slower on account of just how much slower we killed and population, and lack of knowledge of all the camps contributed to it too I'm sure.

[aaezil]

Its not really that its so much easier of a server its just people arent clueless noobs now and will do things like bard kite the fear ent so everyone doesnt insta die on zone in. derp.

[cd288]

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

Like obviously we are way more knowledgeable now, but sometimes I wonder if the exp granted on P99 is actually faster than it was in original EQ?

Think it's been confirmed that EXP isn't faster. There's a bunch of different reasons it feels faster...knowledge of the game and how to play the class and how to most efficiently level and kill a mob, gearing of characters, don't have to be as careful because you know you can get a 96% clicky rez easily, etc.

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

And also it triggers me how Magicians did kind of get relegated to COTH bots because I remember Magician as being a badass class back in the day (they still are pretty bad ass on P99 before Kunark launches). I feel like Enchanters charm being so damn good has made Magicians feel a lot weaker because their pets dull in comparison. I never got that vibe from Magicians before. But I also didn't know really any Enchanters who were reliably charming the way we do now. But it feels like an indirect nerf to magicians in terms of relative power.

I don't think it has anything to do with Enchanters, it just has to do with the fact that as people have gotten more knowledgeable with the game everyone has realized that Mages aren't really useful in those latter levels beyond COTH and mod rods. In fact, their pets are more often than not a risk and a hindrance due to pathing etc. and barely add much DPS to a high end encounter like a raid, etc.

[Ciderpress]

Which invites the question, why are people willing to pay almost a mil plat for an earth staff? If the class is so meh here, why is it so seemingly imperative for a mage to finish their epic?

Is it just the most expensive fashion quest ever or something?

[WarpathEQ]

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

Which invites the question, why are people willing to pay almost a mil plat for an earth staff? If the class is so meh here, why is it so seemingly imperative for a mage to finish their epic?

Is it just the most expensive fashion quest ever or something?

Mostly likely solo quest stuff. Secondarily it makes a decent tank and solid dps against naggy/vox compared to lvl 52 dps. Lastly, can be an effective tool for powerleveling

But I agree seems way overpriced, from what I understand water staff with water pet is a pretty solid alternative. Most importantly its for the loot completionist memes.