Question about future custom content

[Daywolf]

I gots an idea, how about a pony spell for enc's?? Enc gets to transform themselves into a pony! Then p99 will be super popular with Bronies!

Or did they do that on live already?

meh... best off to just wipe the server and start from scratch, with all the fixes in place this time.
Or just start a new progression server and leave this as classic vel.

[SCB]

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

I gots an idea, how about a pony spell for enc's?? Enc gets to transform themselves into a pony! Then p99 will be super popular with Bronies!

Or did they do that on live already?

meh... best off to just wipe the server and start from scratch, with all the fixes in place this time.
Or just start a new progression server and leave this as classic vel.

Literally everything you say is the worst thing ever. Read the thread, then comment. Know what you're talking about before spewing crap out of your face-hole.

Nilbog, I trust you guys completely with custom content and would love to see PoP re-imagined as zone-accessible (ie non-hub) raid zones.

[Daywolf]

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

Literally everything you say is the worst thing ever. Read the thread, then comment. Know what you're talking about before spewing crap out of your face-hole.

uh-oh I'm pissin off the Bronies with my love for legit classic everquest... again. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Like... 'how dare they want to just play a new p99 server starting over at that point with all the fixes in place, should be forced to play with new enc ponies here 4evah'. heh

[Sadre Spinegnawer]

I get the idea that Nilbog said, that the original-Kunark-Velious server will be like a museum piece. Fair enough idea, and I can see the point.

But I still would like to see this group of devs, re-imagine Luclin and PoP -- fixing them, as it were. There were things that came into the game that really pissed me off. We all have our list.

And yes, this is all distant speculation: we shall all be living in Velious for more than a few years here lol. But it is still interesting speculation: what went wrong in Luclin and PoP, and can they be salvaged and redone, so that they don't essentially function as nerfs of classic eq?

But it might be, that it is a kind of mudflation kind of deal. You can only add so many expansions and thus new content and powers, before you destroy the basics of the original game.


tl;dr this post-velious shit is a complicated issue, but fun to discuss and speculate about.

[HeallunRumblebelly]

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

I get the idea that Nilbog said, that the original-Kunark-Velious server will be like a museum piece. Fair enough idea, and I can see the point.

But I still would like to see this group of devs, re-imagine Luclin and PoP -- fixing them, as it were. There were things that came into the game that really pissed me off. We all have our list.

And yes, this is all distant speculation: we shall all be living in Velious for more than a few years here lol. But it is still interesting speculation: what went wrong in Luclin and PoP, and can they be salvaged and redone, so that they don't essentially function as nerfs of classic eq?

But it might be, that it is a kind of mudflation kind of deal. You can only add so many expansions and thus new content and powers, before you destroy the basics of the original game.


tl;dr this post-velious shit is a complicated issue, but fun to discuss and speculate about.

Lots of complaints about luclin especially is that the setting just did not fit the fantasy genre EQ had inhabited before. Bazaar/nexus ports / pok books / the idea of POK in general really rubbed people the wrong way. The casuals also disliked AAXP because it provided such an extreme degree of separation in power between those who had large amounts of AAs and those who did not.

edit: AAXP was far better in later games when they provided meaningful choice, rather than a constant power grind. Talents or EQ2 AAXP for instance.

[Rhambuk]

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

edit: AAXP was far better in later games when they provided meaningful choice, rather than a constant power grind. Talents or EQ2 AAXP for instance.

im pretty sure they've changed the eq2 system to the grind system

and wow really dumbed it down in the last expansion imo

but yeah something like original talents or original eq2aa would be cool, put in ingame achievements imo gives the hardcores something to do when they cant raid

[Kika Maslyaka]

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

im pretty sure they've changed the eq2 system to the grind system

and wow really dumbed it down in the last expansion imo

but yeah something like original talents or original eq2aa would be cool, put in ingame achievements imo gives the hardcores something to do when they cant raid

WoW it great in the last expansion - they made their AAs (talents) to be selective limited - not I must have 69 points in Z or I don't get spell X crap. This is how true AA system should be: you can have 3 nice abilities to choose from, but you can only ever have 1 of them.

Nexus port is no different than Boat to Kunark or Velious. Imagine that the only way you could get to Kunark/velious is by a port - that would suck.

On Luclin - Soulbinders are mandatory to this game and should have been in from day 1. Or give me wow graveyards to respawn at in each zone.

[HeallunRumblebelly]

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

WoW it great in the last expansion - they made their AAs (talents) to be selective limited - not I must have 69 points in Z or I don't get spell X crap. This is how true AA system should be: you can have 3 nice abilities to choose from, but you can only ever have 1 of them.

Nexus port is no different than Boat to Kunark or Velious. Imagine that the only way you could get to Kunark/velious is by a port - that would suck.

On Luclin - Soulbinders are mandatory to this game and should have been in from day 1. Or give me wow graveyards to respawn at in each zone.

Have to agree. Soulbinders / nexus had 0 impact on the game. I can't think of a time past about lvl 20 i ever waited for those stupid spires :P Or sometimes I plan on afking in nexus anyway so i just sit in the spires, heh.

[tanknspank]

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

But it might be, that it is a kind of mudflation kind of deal. You can only add so many expansions and thus new content and powers, before you destroy the basics of the original game.

Generally speaking yes, but if the power creep is carefully managed, there's a lot of room to go before that is the obstacle. To be honest I feel Velious raised the gear level too much. So did PoP (I don't remember the itemization details for Luclin).

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

AA's were one of the laziest things the SOE devs ever did. Sure, they gave neat abilities. But the mechanics how you got them was pure lazy dev nerf. "Just grind out these alternate exp levels!"

Yes and no. Grinding XP had been the cornerstone of advancement in both classic and Kunark (levels). In my eyes it is iconic to classic content. The problem with AAs was that they added far too many of them, to the point where the grind became limitless.

This is why I think each xpac should have a set of "Class-specific AA Levels" in the 5-10 range that continue your class's progression without the added power disparity that levels give.

Also, unlike levels AAs don't take you on a journey. You can grind your first AA in the same zone as your 4000th. Levels take you on a journey from Orc 1 to Dervs to Karana to Guk to Karnor's to Howling Stones (or whatever your chosen path is). With this in mind maybe different zones in an xpac turn 'green' in relation to AAXP earning as you progress in "class-specific AA level".

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

WoW it great in the last expansion - they made their AAs (talents) to be selective limited - not I must have 69 points in Z or I don't get spell X crap. This is how true AA system should be: you can have 3 nice abilities to choose from, but you can only ever have 1 of them.

It depends on how it's implemented. I don't like the fact that WoW grants talents automatically for levelling, nor how easy you can switch. In an AA system I think it would be better to "Buy A, B or C for X points. Once you buy A, if you want to switch you have to earn the point cost and buy B or C which removes A (and the points spent)". The permanency of choices is iconic to classic EQ for me. No do-over on your starting stat, deity, no flip-flopping your class's role (spec), etc.

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

On Luclin - Soulbinders are mandatory to this game and should have been in from day 1. Or give me wow graveyards to respawn at in each zone.

I disagree. This game classic's era was defined by player interdependence. You needed others for bind, sow, ports, rezzes, corpse recovery (drag/summon), etc. That defines the feel of the community. So it's something that needs to be kept and that was lost on live as expansions added more NPC services.

I do see the need for some flexibility, especially as the world grows. But I think the idea is to make the "bind" portable. It should still originate from a player, but allow a melee to take it with them to a different location so they can bind at 5am in an abandoned zone. This could be in the form of a crafted item or a spell-created one.

[Taminy]

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

And yes, this is all distant speculation: we shall all be living in Velious for more than a few years here lol. But it is still interesting speculation: what went wrong in Luclin and PoP, and can they be salvaged and redone, so that they don't essentially function as nerfs of classic eq?

Luclin what went wrong:

Everything that shrunk and eliminated the old world. Nexus spires would be ok if the timers were longer and druids/wizards were instantly able to port up there. Using spires as a short cut from WC to EW was stupid. Maybe have one spire only (as mentioned before) OR make it so you can only port down to the same spire you came up with.

I hate trading in EC but Bazaar just wasn't classic no matter how you slice it. Changed the game entirely. Also lead to a lot more RMT plat/gold farming. Duping and other plat/item exploits crashed the economy too big time with the Bazaar. High end traders bought up the most valuable droppable stuff and completely hoarded it when stuff like that happened. I think face to face interactions in EC would help put a stop to this or at least help put the brakes on until the devs can fix (plus name and shame).

To an extent PC and some other exp zones. However, this is moreso a level stratification / server population issue than a ZEM problem. If there aren't enough low to mid level players they are going to have to flock to certain zones. I've been playing my high 20s rogue lately a bit more and population in HK and MM seems just about perfect. Usually can get a group but sometimes groups are full and sometimes there is no group at a camp at all. If there are plenty of low to mid level players you won't have to go to PC.

AAs to an extent. Mostly the implementation and the fact that they were doing XP over and over. Though Luclin AAs weren't too horrible (besides possible immersion stuff). The difference between a char with full AAs and a char with minimal but class defining AAs was not gigantic. But during later expansions the AA grind for raid (or even group) required stuff was absurd.

Lore stuff and graphics are subjective.

What Luclin did right:

Other than Bazaar and Nexus, the world was still large. Lots of old and new stuff to do. Go wherever you want. More to see. Lots of old and new raid content to gear up with. Mudflation was not really too bad much more than Velious anyway. Biggest change/issue might be all the FT gear.

Faction system with Katta and the other zones was interesting too.

What PoP did wrong:

Simple. PoK books, level cap, added AAs, lack of factions, massive mudflation, graveyards, HUBS and XP changes/ZEMs. With PoP there was utterly no reason to do anything in the old world other than low and mid levels and that was just grinding. Once you got past 50 just head to the planes and grind there. It didn't even make sense to level in older zones if you wanted to because XP was so much different. And sure you had hubs even in classic (such as East Commons) but it was silly that there was MGB c3 every 10 minutes.... that was within a 5 minute walk from where you were XPing. Really changed the game from sandbox to theme park IMO.

What PoP did right:

Raids/lore. At least the idea of taking on the gods.