Coming Soon: AA Grants & Ability/Spell Changes

Two significant changes have been announced as coming with this month's EverQuest game update:

  • All EverQuest Gold members will be auto-granted all Alternate Abilities up to four expansions behind the current expansion. (Currently, this would grant all AAs from Luclin through Underfoot.)
  • Player spells and abilities that allow for fast mass killing of excessive numbers of NPCs are being scaled back. (This includes Beam spells, Assassinate, Decapitation, Headshot, as well as a number of other class abilities.)

Update: Based on player feedback in the original forum thread, some modifications have been made to these proposed changes. You can read up about those and leave feedback in this newest EverQuest Forum thread.

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Once again....
# Feb 07 2014 at 7:08 PM Rating: Decent
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...Sony opts to slap and insult their long time loyal players in favor of the temporary, short term players.

Pay for a gold account for one month and BAM! 5K free AA's. Then go back to silver.

C'mon! Levels and AA are NOT that hard to acquire. Entitling AA's is ridiculous as it takes away goals, purpose, challenge. Meanwhile, what have they given the loyal customers who are not being gifted 5K AA on an Gold card?

Well... how about some nerfing!

Sabotage I say.

I can hear it now.... "Take that you long time loyal paying customers! Ha! We will destroy and get rid of EQ sooner or later by running off all the paying customers, ruining game play & challenge and slowly killing the fun for everyone! Bwahaha! Who cares about long term? Now they will most assuredly buy and play Everquest Next, even though it is nothing more than a shoot'em up Play Station game in disguise!"

Seriously... you want to do this, then create a Entitlement server and do it there. You want more $$$ -- then sell AA's in SC and transfers to the entitlement server.

Remember how they unlocked zones? Because it was so hard to get flagged and keyed and what not? Remember what happened?

That's right! It didn't retain a paying player base at all! And even today, people rarely go to those zones, of course. Even though they can conquer the entire expansion with a merc and a single toon to get the real flags/keys, they don't need the flags and keys though, because they went with entitlement and opened up the zones!

Who cares that a majority of older content was rendered completely and totally irrelevant and meaningless? Who cares that lore and story lines and progression arcs were just thrown in the garbage can?

Yes, even though we can beat them solo... that only supports to the argument of why entitle them?

And now.. AA's.

Next levels and then gear, because its too hard to gain levels and too hard to raid and be one of the lucky ones who win raid drops!

If they created a server where there was zero entitlement -- I'd transfer there.

Where the true accomplished and skilled players are. Where there is still rhyme and reason, purpose, goals and yes, the adventure of EVER questing.

(Can you tell how happy I am about all this?) :)

Edited, Feb 7th 2014 9:23pm by GOMN
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Once again....
# Feb 15 2014 at 12:27 PM Rating: Decent
I have an idea that will probably be hated by people. Why don't we limit the mercenaries to only 1 mercenary per group?
aa gifting - final response
# Feb 07 2014 at 4:51 PM Rating: Decent
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For any of those holding out hope that there will NOT be an aa autogifting, here is the response from SOE:



dpsdpsdps said: ↑

“how about you respond to everyone who is saying no auto grant at all..just saying it will be optional is not a response to the large number who do not want this to happen at all. or are you just ignoring your long time devoted customers who have paid for the majority of your success?”


We have responded. Eliminating the auto-granting of AA is not the direction we have chosen.

Elidroth Renato
Doug Cronkhite
Asst. Lead Designer - Systems
SOE boards
# Feb 07 2014 at 2:45 PM Rating: Decent
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Be careful of what you post on SOE boards. Any reference to SOE dire financial issues and stating that the game is being retired after they extract as much money as they can from 1 month silver accounts upgrading to gold and the ability to purchase a fully loaded level 85 character will get you banned.
Headshot PVP????
# Feb 07 2014 at 2:16 PM Rating: Decent
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I absolutely cannot read through 94 pages on the everquest forum... since rangers can headshot up to lvl 99 humanoids, does that mean a lvl 100 ranger can head shot a lvl 99 toon?



Danish Njava_VZ
Headshot PVP????
# Feb 07 2014 at 2:46 PM Rating: Decent
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headshot will only proc 2 times a minute now.
Headshot PVP????
# Feb 07 2014 at 3:09 PM Rating: Decent
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I saw that it only procs twice a minute.... rangers are op anyway in pvp, that lucky HS proc on a random lvl 97 person would be quite the kick in the teeth!



Danish Njava_VZ
Rogues get screwed
# Feb 07 2014 at 9:13 AM Rating: Decent
You know how hard it for us Rogues to Power Level anyone. Well it's not easy we need to go toe to toe with the mobs use counter attack for 20 secs and pray we kill everything we pulled. Then 25 mins later we can do it again. Oh joy not like the other classes that can mass kill zones. Your lucky to kill maybe 10 or 15 mobs this way. It's faster to kill light blues using assassinate then to pull 10 to 15 mobs. What's next you guna nerf poison again or our other AAs??!!?? Just leave us alone. For those classes that ***** about the AAs we get make that kind of toon it's not hard to learn to play something different.

Geegen the Gnome
Rather Server TSM
No heroic characters?
# Feb 07 2014 at 8:30 AM Rating: Decent
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People are complaining..... whats new? People are threatining to quit, again whats new? The game no longer exists at lower levels. I have a max level 80 character... I have played since Beta.. but never leveled that fast because of time constraints. Try playing at low levels, there are no people to group with. So removing the AA grind will give new people a chance to play at the levels others are actually at. Alts will be less of a hassle to grind up, this all seems fine with me. If this is done instead of creating Heroic Characters Im ok with it..... and this tone down of these abilities is long overdue.... look at the PVP servers... they are way to overpowered and when a zone is disrupted by players using these abilities we have to do something. Please quit if your going to quit, I doubt it, because you are probally the same people that have complained and griped since Kunark release was stated to have new race that can play monk and that the games vision was ruined and the game was over. Its the same BS... something changes you claim its the end or you will be quiting but you never do... So this time, actually quit.. I dare you.
February Nerf's
# Feb 07 2014 at 7:04 AM Rating: Default
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How do I begin this post: To those who called me out about my last post when I said "5 different stories from 5 different SoE Dev's is the beginning of the end" a was blasted by some so called elite post writer's that seem to have all the answer's without listening to other's. Well the 2k Station Cash Issue went down the crapper and I said that was the beginning of the end and EQ 1 would be dead by Dec 2014, in a push to Everquest Next, I got flamed. Since that has come and gone "forgotten" issue, for many month's I foresaw the Nerf's coming. I agree some are blatant act's that take away other player opportunity to utilize these zones and it does effect other zones "pathing issues" as indicated by the graph. Some nerfing could have been regulated to those specific events. I disagree with the entire revamp of character abilities when many player's are playing by the rules and honestly earning their way thru game content. I have a Level 100 Mage but I don't pull entire zones for cash to PL another, I never use the beam spell..... Limit it to 6 mob's and that closes that problem. I have a 100 Ranger, I headshot within my three box group or in group settings, I do not sit in Ferrott at the pyramids and headshot massive pull's of lizard's, Not my style. I have a 100 Monk and I do not abuse his abilities I play him like any other character of 16 I have. Why can we not solve Individual class problem's and not revamp the entire system. New player's... get off your butt, stop complaining and get up to speed with the rest of use. Why should the foundation of EQ 1, that have been here many years be flushed down the crapper because of a few player's manipulating the game. BAN their account's after a stern warning to stop. DO logical changes to player character's taking our abilities away. which will push player's away. When that happens many of us will be finished with EQ, because EQ Next isn't our cup of tea. I truly hope something comes from this post, besides rants and negative comments, This is the ONLY online game I have ever played and when EQ ends my online gaming days end. Mr. Smedley and the developer's please rethink of a better way that this can be controlled and solved. Thanks for listening and have a great day !

â–² Page
EQ's fatal blow
# Feb 06 2014 at 11:23 PM Rating: Decent
This new patch will push players away so SOE will need to find 2 new for every 1 that quit. & pls tell me where these new players are coming from?MMORPG's are only goin dwn hill kids these days have consoles to play on. & just google f2p mmo & theres a huge list to choose from why would the few choose eq when this generation would rather have something with PvP that dont suck like EQ's does.The only new toons that are made are by those that already play or returning players & this patch is an obvious end game tactic to push more toward EQnext.The flood of new accts for sale on playerauctions is proof SOE messed up good this time.
Pfft...
# Feb 06 2014 at 8:29 PM Rating: Decent
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"Doug “Elidroth” Cronkhite (Assistant Lead Design: Systems):

When these spells and abilities were created some time ago, we never could have imagined players would utilize them in such clever ways. Being able to gather up most of the NPCs in a zone and take them down with a select group of spells does take skill and some finesse, but unfortunately, it’s not how the spells and abilities were meant to function. And more importantly, as Jenn mentioned, this style of gameplay is causing major server issues that disrupt gameplay for a lot of other people; these are issues we simply cannot ignore."

When these spells and abilities were created some time ago, we never could have imagined players would utilize them in such clever ways.
It isn't very difficult to figure out that these some of these "abilities" could be so easily exploited, but then again I had already known they were going to be handicapped sooner or later. Isn't being imaginative or creative supposed to be part of a game designer's resume and have the foresight to see the consequences introducing these spells will bring into the game?

And more importantly, as Jenn mentioned, this style of gameplay is causing major server issues that disrupt gameplay for a lot of other people
What "a lot of other people"? I thought everyone boxed in this game, so this is news to me. Just by looking at the chart that Jenn Chan provided in the forums, swarmers seem to be courteous enough to do their thing during hours were everyone is asleep/no one else is playing.


Warrior

The Shocking Defense Discipline line was not modified due to its low duration and relatively low proc modifier.
The First Spire of the Warlord AA was not modified due to the fact that its effect (a melee damage debuff) is not enhanced by multiple applications.
The Brace for Impact AA was not modified because it already has proc limits. Future extensions of this AA may not increase the number of procs allowed.


Sticking to the tradition of making already useless abilities even more useless? Headshots and decapitations are totally understandable, but these were seriously considered?! This is just one example...

Edited, Feb 6th 2014 9:41pm by Braikkarrii
All about the PP!
# Feb 06 2014 at 4:47 PM Rating: Good
There was no real intention on listening to the players OTHER than to prevent the revenue loss.
two weeks for the changes they are talking about, usually takes them far longer, so it was already set in motion.
And any a fair amount of posts that poke holes in their ... smoke and mirrors are vanishing magically... 140 pages in 2 threads should have been a hint... the only thing that looks like there was some truth to is why servers lagged... strange they have not shown any interest in solving this problem...

hope there L85/3500aa servers do better than the 50/51 they tried this with...
All about the PP!
# Feb 06 2014 at 5:50 PM Rating: Decent
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It seems like they are listening to any player comment that isn't basically "Don't change a thing or I'm quitting."

Which, since 1999, I've heard too many times to count.

I've come back after a long absence, added a few levels to my SK main and been dutifully grinding out AA's. I don't know yet if I'll disable the AA gain flag or not. Probably will until I get to the level I want to grind out more AA's with the bonus.

However, I have several alts, and the idea of them getting AA's for free instead of having to grind them all out too is intriguing. I will probably do that on them, except my Monk. Him I'll do the level and grind thing like my SK.

So I'm happy for the option to pick and choose how I do this.

(Those two SoD's sure bought my SK some descent gear :) )
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All about the PP!
# Feb 06 2014 at 5:44 PM Rating: Good
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Well all hope isn't lost. They're throwing around some pretty good ideas and compromises for the AA giveaway. Here's a few ideas I read;

a. Allow the free AA's to only apply to one character per account, or one character per server.

b. To flag a character for the AA's, you have to pay separately for each toon.

c. Flag those that took the AA's - allow them to become 'recognizable' by the other players in some way. This was the 'wuss flag' option somebody mentioned. Maybe make their name tag pink or something.

d. Make the aa bonus more like 2,000 aa's up to level 75 (instead of the proposed 4k til 85).

e. Instead of free aa's, change the exp. CURVE of aa's gained; low aa's = much greater exp. bonus, slowly tapering off as you approach 4,000 aa's. At least that way the aa's would be technically earned.

f. Create a server where no free aa's are envisioned or allowed.

It's still being discussed. That's a good thing. I'm on pins and needles here. I'm pretty much agreeing with Hexees on this; no real reason to log in until this gets settled, and for all the reasons he mentioned, above.

Edited, Feb 6th 2014 6:46pm by zirumkin
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My Rathe / Prexus characters:

Bigbronze Bloodyaxe, 62 Ogre Berserker
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Glabrezu Spiritcaller, 62 Ogre Shaman
Zirumkin Zenomorph, 62 Gnome Wizard
Korgulon Soulwraith, 76 Ogre Shadowknight <Shining Alliance>
Incarnadine Summoner, 65 Drakkin Magician

Bristlebane characters:

Zalkahriz Ebonscale, 64 Iksar Necromancer
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Laughing out loud
# Feb 06 2014 at 4:35 PM Rating: Good
29 posts
I have to laugh at the legions of people saying they are cancelling when something changes in EQ, it's hilarious. If you weren't going to quit because of this you were going to quit because of something else, like the drop of a hat. People have been around forever saying "Wah, I'm cancelling my 9320 accounts because of soandso change!"

See ya.
Old School Tag
# Feb 06 2014 at 2:42 PM Rating: Decent
Be interesting to see. Since EQ is such a mature game (14 years) it can be hard to get a new gold player to stick with it because EQ without group dynamics comes down to a lot of same button pushing. Even with ftp it's harder for lower level players to find a group so maybe this will bring in some fresh blood. One thing that would be nice is having an Old School tag for the names for those who worked AAs through mob killing and maybe even an Older School one for the ones who did it before >4000 aaxp bonus :D.

Hope the Devs plan works out for the best for the community !

Fuzzy
Let's give it some more time...
# Feb 06 2014 at 2:10 PM Rating: Decent
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The dev's are still reading player feedback...and are actually listening! All good news. Some of the proposed nerf's have been scaled back (berserkers and shadowknights will get something of a break, so far), and they are, at the time of this writing, allowing you to 'opt out' of the free AA award.

Let's hope they sharply scale back the free AA. I agree with the posters above - no real reason to grind now, which was the whole fun of the game...the work involved to create a character. But again, this is still a work in progress. Let's keep our fingers crossed.
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If you can't do something well, learn to enjoy doing it poorly.

My Rathe / Prexus characters:

Bigbronze Bloodyaxe, 62 Ogre Berserker
Verbeeg Bearfang, 62 Ogre Beastlord
Glabrezu Spiritcaller, 62 Ogre Shaman
Zirumkin Zenomorph, 62 Gnome Wizard
Korgulon Soulwraith, 76 Ogre Shadowknight <Shining Alliance>
Incarnadine Summoner, 65 Drakkin Magician

Bristlebane characters:

Zalkahriz Ebonscale, 64 Iksar Necromancer
Gnomorre Gniceguy, 55 Gnome Rogue
Whytfire Lonewolf, 55 Woodelf Ranger
I'm done
# Feb 06 2014 at 8:50 AM Rating: Decent
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Well looks like me and my 11 accounts are done with EQ now. I worked too hard getting my ranger and zerker up to where they are now and cant go backwards now. Sorry EQ devs for being retards.
I'm done
# Feb 06 2014 at 5:16 PM Rating: Decent
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lordbyter wrote:
Well looks like me and my 11 accounts are done with EQ now. I worked too hard getting my ranger and zerker up to where they are now and cant go backwards now. Sorry EQ devs for being retards.


Can I have your stuff? (Hahaha)
I'm done
# Feb 06 2014 at 9:24 AM Rating: Good
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Since the news flash two days ago, I have logged in every day like always but have not even done my (9 year) routine LOD or grinded on any of my characters.,,far less my alts with under 4000 AA's.

Spent more time on my bazaar traders etc, as grinding may be redundant on all but my main crew.. I'll wait until the 17th of Feb when they supposedly roll out the changes and see how they go. But it does not look good for Berserkers,Rogues,Rangers,SK's,Clerics,Shammy's and a couple other classes..

For me the desire to actually battle or grind is gone for now, which to me is part of the heritage for this once hardcore game which seems to be on a course of being diluted.

I hope this works out, because if it doesn't and the desire is gone I will do the unthinkable also and say goodbye to 9 continuous years of EQ.
Expected date of implementation
# Feb 06 2014 at 2:56 AM Rating: Decent
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Per a post from Phathorn:

" We're targeting these changes for the week of February 17 for this year.

Not 2013 (really? and not 2020) :) In approximately two weeks. "

In fifteen years this is truly a sad, sad day for a once outstanding game. :(
Mass Killing Nerf??? = Headshot
# Feb 06 2014 at 2:48 AM Rating: Good
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Excuse me, but exactly how is Headshot an example of Mass Killing technique? Its original design was a Ranger special talent that was earned,and you still had to be lucky to get one...it did not always work,and it did not work very often.

Mass Killing Nerf??? = Headshot
# Feb 07 2014 at 12:25 PM Rating: Default
Headshot was reduced to single target triggers a while back (2 years?), while it was still significantly faster that other forms of soloing, a group killing mobs closer to your level was almost always better for me (95+ at least). My guess it it will no longer be triggered by any of the volley skills, even on primary target. The riposte portion of assassinate and decap were pretty crazy, but less so than cleric or sk swarming. My primary issue with decap was that it didn't have the same target penalties that rangers and rogues had.
also agree
# Feb 05 2014 at 8:33 PM Rating: Decent
If they go ahead with these changes I am done also
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Old news....
# Feb 05 2014 at 8:05 PM Rating: Good
This Alla post is a day old now....if you want to see the real deal....goto forums.station.sony.eq, it's an overwhelming HELL NO to what the Dev's are proposing to change in EQ.

It looks like if this Feb patch goes through as planned, they'll be alot more people looking for jobs in February - then just SOE Dev's.
Stupid
# Feb 05 2014 at 8:04 PM Rating: Good
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Lets dumb down the game even more with these AA changes, there going to turn EQ into the next Vanguard and kill it to push EQWoW the next game
ugh
# Feb 05 2014 at 7:48 PM Rating: Excellent
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Haven't they nerfed headshot enough?
Agree
# Feb 05 2014 at 7:37 PM Rating: Good
I will never step foot into EQN, they kill EQ and Im done....too old for this now anyway LOL...
lame
# Feb 05 2014 at 7:12 PM Rating: Excellent
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are they trying to kill everquest because they think we will go to eqn? not bloody likely
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lame
# Feb 06 2014 at 4:18 AM Rating: Good
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The aa gifting is nothing but a 1 time money grab by SOE to get silver accounts to upgrade for 1 month before they go back to silver with close to 7,000 aa's depending on class.
lame
# Feb 07 2014 at 6:27 AM Rating: Decent
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ahh but u forget the 7000 aa's they get are the junk ones. so any silver account cant get any more cuause they are now past 1000 aa's they need to pay to get more.
lame
# Feb 07 2014 at 3:29 PM Rating: Excellent
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Junk? So, CS/CA, etc, all junk? Not, mind you, that I'm taking one side or the other, but I am questioning your apparent lack of understanding of AA.
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