New Changes on the Horizon

I received two letters today from SOE regarding the new changes being implemented in the game. The first was the one Quemn posted yesterday, so here's the second. It's definitely something you should read through, as there are some significant changes listed here. Letter #2: Fri Mar 15 2002, Changes/Anniversary Detail As promised, we would like to explain in more detail some of the changes that you'll be seeing in EverQuest. Some of these changes are already available on the Test Server and will be arriving on Live servers just in time for EverQuest's third anniversary. Others you may expect to find on Test in the coming weeks, which we hope to make available to everyone soon afterward. For those new to EverQuest, as well as our mid-level players:
  • The need to sit down and stare at the spellbook to regain mana has been removed at all levels. (Sitting down and having Meditation skill are still required.)
  • When starting a new character for the first time, it can take quite some time to get into that class' core abilities. In some cases, the style of gameplay needs to shift dramatically. That being the case, we've accelerated the rate at which people gain experience up to level ten.
  • In addition, undue frustration can occur during these youthful times. Traumatic events such as losing a corpse and not knowing where to find it or how to retrieve it can be quite the ordeal. With that in mind, we've changed the way that death works below level ten. Characters level nine and under who die will appear at their bind point with all of their equipment intact. (A short-lived corpse will still be left at the site of the disaster to allow the player to receive a resurrection.)
  • Experience gained in dungeons designed for players level 30 and under will be increased. For many people, there is nothing more satisfying in EverQuest than adventuring in dungeons. By giving people the tools to help them succeed earlier, and rewards to match, we hope that more players will discover why many people feel this way.
  • In the spirit of getting characters into more dangerous and rewarding situations, earlier, the following spell lines have been altered to make them easier to use and more widely available, across more level ranges.
  • * Resurrection, for Clerics and Paladins. * Summon Corpse, for Necromancers and Shadowknights. * Succor/Evacuate, for Druids and Wizards
  • The bind points of starting characters will more closely match the areas they are already familiar with. (No more getting lost as new characters die in town, only to show up someplace outside.)
  • New characters now start with considerably more food and drink.
  • After applying advanced mathematcs, the commonly known "hell-level" xperience gain effect in levels 30, 35, 40, and 45 has been largely done away with. Further, the "post-hell-level" experience loss in levels 31, 36, 41, and 46 was driven from the face of Norrath as well.
  • For all EverQuest players:
  • Rumors abound that Bristlebane, God of Mischief, for reasons of his own design, has infused the Gnome and Halfling races with new potential professions. (Whether this is a blessing or a curse has yet to be decided.)
  • The long-requested global chat channels are well on their way. We'll be supporting player-created chat channels for raids, for friends, for total strangers - Anything you'd like to use them for. Expect a documentation update (eqmanual_supplement.doc in your EverQuest directory) explaining how to use these soon.
  • We've cleaned up what happens while you're zoning. The days of a frozen screen full of blurry text may well be over, forever. (The days of losing /tells, /guild chat, and group messages while zoning will hopefully be heading out the door behind them.)
  • While we have aimed to support armor/skin layer tinting on the majority of video cards, some of the abandoned video cards that are still used to play EverQuest unfortunately do not have the power to handle this feature. With that in mind, we will soon be implementing a switch that will allow players to enable armor/skin tinting at their discretion. (Stay tuned to a patch message, coming soon.)
  • The last item we'd like to mention is a brief update on caster and priest rebalancing. (Please note that the balancing act is still going on, across the board. We wanted to update you on the progress we've made so far.)
  • Expect to see the first of the Focus Items for spell casters and spell-casting hybrids soon. We will leave the specifics to you to discover, but rest assured that useful and exciting focus items are making their way into the game as we speak.
  • Enchanters' Memory Blur line, and aspects of Rapture and Glamour of Kintaz have been improved.
  • The grouping requirement for the Translocate series of spells has been removed.
  • Clerics' Smite line has been improved.
  • The Post-50 Lich line for Necromancers has been redistributed.
  • Necromancers' Levant and Skin of the Shadow have been changed to allow them to be used any time of the day.
  • Necromancers' Quivering Veil of Xarn has been improved.
  • Many of the caster balance changes to date have been made with feedback from the dedicated players of these classes, both from EMails and message boards. We're grateful for the time and effort that has been put into many well-reasoned comments we've received. Thank you for helping us make our world, yours. - The EverQuest Team

    Comments

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    my two cents
    # Mar 19 2002 at 3:34 AM Rating: Default
    let's see i'm a 47th seasoned mage,talk about getting screwed ,luclin spells are pointless to us,shield we ca use,summons bag o junk casters can't wear,so point of luclin spell are what?spells that we could use would be nice, 1/3 of mage spells are pointless.example (malise) cast and 50% of the time it's resisted why not just nuke it till it hits save mana that way.(pointless)
    could use a little more protection,try runnin through zones wondering if your pet is there or not,having alost pet not a pretty site ,justnail your coffin shut.having 800 hps doesn't take ya very far especially at lvl 40-50ish. that's my partake,if don't believe try for yourselves and you'll see what i mean.
    (lost pet control+spells that are useful for use casters!!! would'n that be alot better.)
    oh almost forgot probably the poorest class in the game,and prices of int items are through the roof.so bite away!!! love to here the responses on this one,lol
    RE: my two cents
    # Mar 19 2002 at 6:18 AM Rating: Default
    i just wanted to say that the new mage armor stuffs does have a use i was on a raid in plane of growth and it was getting late and over half the people already left and so we were about to start distributing loot and stuff when someone pulled one of the little tree things and it was an easy kill but when it got low on hp it gated and then summoned almost everybody to its friends and got wasted some camped out and gated/poted, so we gathered in WL at portal to go back in and we only had 2 groups with 1 cleric to heal and 1 shammy and 1 mage bunch of tanks and necro to summon corpses and the mage summoned all the naked tanks some armor and weapons/shields because we had to battle the protectors of the glades or growth whatever and there were 2 and we just barley killed them with most people dead but thanks to the mage armor we got our corpses back and then got the hell outa there just b4 the nest pogs poped it sucked but was actually kinda fun with all the strategy that was going on to do everything
    RE: my two cents
    # Mar 19 2002 at 3:49 AM Rating: Default
    You have got to be kidding me bro ! Mages are by far one of the most Powerful classes in an of themselves...they can solo to 55...thier pets hit as hard or harder than tanks of equivalent age....if yee cast invis on urself ...guess what ..ur pet dissapears...and a poor mage ? what are yee nutz ? Mages are the best Pharmers of camps ..... If ur pets on sumthin in a dungeon then invis invis invis if that dun work try casting a new one if that dun work then camp an come right back...methinks u shuld rethink ur gripes and take more time exploring what the capabilities of ur class really is !
    rangers get the shaft
    # Mar 19 2002 at 3:33 AM Rating: Default
    Rangers do get the shaft. Nothing makes them indidually appealing like the other classes.I say give rangers teleports and a haste spell.Everyone i know who is a ranger knows the plight of there class at higher levels. Throw them a bone verant.
    RE: rangers get the shaft
    # Mar 19 2002 at 6:45 AM Rating: Decent
    33 posts
    Having toons across the range of lvls i've seen rangers from the beginining to the upper end of the lvl spectrom. Rangers get duel weild, same as warriors, ask any sk or pally how much they'd love to have duel weild! Also, if i'm not mistaken, rangers do get a self haste spell only. It may be 40+ but you've earned it when you get it. I also hear their doin away with the med book. errr... I"ve had 3 classes sit through that dumb book. Its a goal. When someone hits 35 you always hear them cheering "no more med book!". Those new to the game will never know what it was like. Hell lvls didn't bother me that much, the penality lvls afterwards i hated with a passion and am glad to seem em go! Bravo! Ok, i'm drifting from my point. Rangers are an assisting class in group combat unless no other tank can be found. Same as sk, monk, and pally. There there to assist the tank -warrior-. From waht i've seen rangers are a force to be reconed with and can really dish out the damage.

    Souljourn, 52 wizzy of Povar
    Niteslayer, 46 sk of Povar
    Soulthorn, 30 druid of Povar
    and my newest interest..
    Blurrfist, 24 monk of Povar -another class that impressed me at the upper lvls-
    RE: rangers get the shaft
    # Mar 19 2002 at 10:38 AM Rating: Default
    Hear hear! Preach on my man! As a 54 shaman, I worked my butt off to get where I am. I HATED post hell lvls (dunno how many times I got out, then a bad pull put me back into hell lvls). Rangers ARE a force to be reckoned with, no doubt about it. Our guild raids HoT in ToV once a week and our set up is: 60 War (MA) with 60 ranger, 57 monk, 60 bard, 60 paladin, and 57 ranger as the melee force with 2-3 wizards (all 60), 60 chanter, 55 mage, 55 necro, 60 cleric, 53 cleric, and me (54 shaman). Unless we really mess up a pull (which happens ... rarely), the only deaths are sacrifice pulls by the monk. And believe me, with 2 rangers, a monk, a mage, and 3 wizards dropping whoop-azz on the mobs, the usual fight lasts approximately 1-2 minutes TOPS. Of course, I get to enjoy the whole show from the back, where I sit and do backup heals and keep the buffs on the melees. I can hardly wait till I can get slow to stick on some of those biznatches.

    Anyway, I digress. Rangers have their place, and as a shaman, I actually enjoy partying with them. The entire time I was farming weenie mobs in CoM for my epic, it was me, a ranger, and my pet (and we only had to run for the zone once)!
    The main gripe that I have with this new setup that VI is implementing is that it's going to make for some wuss players with the next crop of people to start playing. No corpse run needed at the newbie lvls?? Changing the spawn point in the newbie zones? Increased exp up to lvl 10?? Only thing I have to say about all that is: why did I start playing back in 2000 ??? Had I held out for 2 1/2 years, sure I'd be a n00b without a near full set of SS quest armor, but so what? I could get into the mid level zones without knowing what a challenge this game could be! I remember my worst corpse run ever: I had been playing for about 2 weeks (finally had gotten a full suit of leather and a bronze weapon for my warrior) when I took a wrong turn in Blackburrow and died to some nasty fish things underwater. At lvl 10, I feared running through Everfrost naked because of those damn vengefuls (didn't know what sow was at the time), and the thought of trying to find my corpse underwater in hostile territory that was unfamiliar to me was EXTREMELY daunting, but I wasn't about to give up all the gear I had worked for (looking back, the really crappy gear) just because of a little challenge. 3 deaths later (and a long stream of obscenities that would make Andrew Dice Clay cringe), I had recovered all my gear and proceeded to hunt down some critters to try and regain lvl 10.

    I guess my point is (if you've read this far, you deserve to have something worth reading) that it's the frustrating challenges and the dedication you put into it that makes Uber characters, not some fancy shmancy gear on a character that spent too much money on his gear because people said it was good gear to own. Yes, I have 3 twinks with some pretty nice stuff, and yes, I'm glad that I earned 85% of my shaman's gear through hard work and determination. And yes, I appreciate that I have a loving wife who was very understanding when I sat in L Guk for 12 hours straight because I was #1 on the loot list, even though I didn't get the FBSS (but I *did* get 2 yellow bubbles in 45 hell) (thankfully, she plays too and understands my pain). I feel that everyone should face some struggle to get to lvl 50+ before they move on to the challenges of the high end zones (and rewards).

    Njaal Stormhammer
    54th Hammer of Justice
    Letalis Ericius, E'Ci server
    RE: rangers get the shaft
    # Mar 19 2002 at 2:07 PM Rating: Default
    Ok tips to creating a good ranger (or good character for that matter), if i could make a main all over again it would have been a cleric so i may easily afford gear. Ranger as my main i must say is expensive. (And yes i am aware playing a cleric can be just as much money and possibly more, but earning cash as a cleric is much easier.)

    -Be patient when fighting and learn when to turn auto attack off (until you get jolt that is.)

    -Do not waste your money on stupid sh*t you don't need or work on twinks if a ranger is your main. Ranger's need as much money for good ac items.

    -lose the ry'gorr and ivy etched post 30's sometime in the early 40's work on getting that ac up, or don't "Don't Solo, and downtune your atk so you don't be an aggro monster and make the warrior who can't get taunt off you and the cleric cursing you out all aggravated."

    -don't be scared to die, you will. just take it like a champ and get your rez when you can.

    -try not to get weapons that outclass the damage ratio of the average warrior on your server

    -stay away from haste items without ac unless you can compensate for the ac lost.

    -Rangers should only be allowed hp ac rings. (this one is just silly but i live buy it)

    -snare mob's at half health if you're in the melee. too early is super taunting the mob and getting a bad start (especially if you use a weapon that procs as well)

    these are just a few tips i picked up playing. I solo mostly cus Ranger's tend to have a bad rap on my server and most are not ranger friendly, makes finding a group hard.
    Only change i would like to see is a menial pet (like SK's recieve)or a charm animal spell if not pet (It is one of the classic ranger abilities if you played a ranger in d+d or other tabletops.)
    Add platemail Ranger's should be able to benefit from it, but also lose %age on other ranger abilities (the new ability system of modifiers can easily accomadate this.)

    and my last cp is "if you look at the end product of a lvl 60 ranger ...the last thing you did was waste your time getting to 60. my personal belief is they're "probably" one of the strongest classes among the melee, if not hybrid classes.

    just my oppinions, ready to get blasted
    Damyon Wyrmveil, 48 Ranger,
    Innurok
    RE: rangers get the shaft
    # Mar 19 2002 at 3:55 AM Rating: Default
    Lets see Rangers can Track, Sow , Buff , Nuke ,Snare AND MELEE methinks you should take more time exploring a rangers capabilities also mefriend ! Like I said before wanna be a caster be a caster wana be a tank be a tank wanna be multiclass with all those capabilities then live with ur limitations ! NUFF SAID !
    RE: rangers get the shaft
    # Mar 20 2002 at 7:56 AM Rating: Default
    (grins) Nicely put. If you hadn't said it already, I'd tack it on the end my .. err...
    extended version.

    * SK's and Pallies don't get kick
    * or dual wield. I've seen both put
    to excellent use.

    * Pallies and clerics primary spell dmg
    is DD spells, and what do they get
    instead of snare? Root spells that
    love to do two things:
    1.) get resisted
    2.) get broken by said DD spell

    Snares stick better, last longer,
    and who doesn't love it when that
    snared mob below 25% hp decides he's
    rooted, but can't quite remember he
    could be fighting back?

    * Sort Tracking
    Rangers get to sort their tracking
    targets by proximity...good for "lets
    go get" or "lets get gone"; and a long
    pull is great for those needing medding
    , but a lot can happen in that time --
    say the group waiting got aggroed or
    trained on, or the path back to them,
    ain't as clear as it was when you left.

    * Spells -- it's not always what you got --
    it's what you do with it, and when or how
    efficiently you use it.

    If rangers were toe-to-toe tough as nails tank--
    who'd want a warrior? They can only band-aid themselves to 50%hp; they can't snare their pulls for controlled incoming (barring adds which could happen in either case); they can't track dirt, much less Quillmane -- (whistles) "here boy, fresh apples, come to papa/mama .... blasted bag of fluff!". The game is about balance and COMPLEMENTING each other, not DUPLICATING one another.

    You might like to be better equipped to handle
    indoor zones, but you are a ranger, after all.
    The whole idea of a ranger is an outdoorsman.
    If all you wanted was an online game, the're are plenty to choose from, but this is by definition, a role-playing game... a role with no foil, quirk, or something goofy from the norm, gets boring. Embracing these challenges and differences puts the role back in role-playing.

    And I don't know about you, but I play this game to de-stress from work, to have fun, to kick around with friends old and new, and yet to be.
    I've griped and grouched about this or that issue that seemed unbalanced, and still due, but all is a work in progress, that it works half as well and often as it does, is hunky-dory with me. I get my 10$ a month of all-of-the-above.

    Chill...
    kick back... leave your "should be's" at the log- in screen-- and PLAY.

    Meral Moondream
    Druid of the 30th season in the service of Karana,
    round about Erolissi Marr's neck of the woods,
    Soon to be elected most long-winded
    of <Ordo Equestris> and this Post...

    To be a teacher, is to never stop being a student.
    Are we Blind Varent?
    # Mar 19 2002 at 3:23 AM Rating: Default
    For Varent to think that these changes are going to stop people from switching to other games is crazy. Everyone quits EQ at sometime or another and we search for new, exciting video game experiences. but thanks to the adictivness that Varent has capitalized on, at some time or another we all come crawling back. These changes are a pathedic attempt to keep thier loyal EQ players addicted. If you really want to do something Varent you have two choices: A) Make some intresting changes to the 50+ lvls, thats when a EQ player starts loosing intrest. or B) Stop making The new Star Wars Online Game, God knows that 75% of EQ players are just Curving thier addiction for online games with EQ until Galaxies comes out.

    Suck it, Brigham
    RE: Are we Blind Varent?
    # Mar 19 2002 at 8:04 AM Rating: Default
    star wars is stupid
    Here's a suggestion merging MicroSoft and Sony/Verant
    # Mar 19 2002 at 2:58 AM Rating: Default
    Forget all these stupid changes. The best way to help newbies is that little paper clip guy...you know the one that pops up when you're typing and he wants to help you with the obscenely obvious:

    "Hello there Galadriel! You appear to be attacking a moss snake. Would you like help to avoid dying?"

    "...You appear to be out of food and water. Would you like instructions to the nearest merchant or Druid?"

    "...You appear to be dead. Would you like help finding someone to find your corpse?"

    "...You appear to be a 'tanking cleric'. Did you know the warrior is in a BERSERKER FRENZY?"

    "...Your enchanter pet appears to be unresponsive/uncooperative. Would you like a stack of fishing grubs instead?"
    RE: Here's a suggestion merging MicroSoft and Sony/Verant
    # Mar 19 2002 at 7:46 PM Rating: Default
    LOL That is funnier than all the EQ Humor pages I have seen!
    RE: Here's a suggestion merging MicroSoft and Sony/Verant
    # Mar 19 2002 at 10:38 AM Rating: Decent
    ROFLMAO - I especially like the last one. hehehehehehe......
    RE: Here's a suggestion merging MicroSoft and Sony/Verant
    # Mar 19 2002 at 4:37 AM Rating: Decent
    LOL
    Rangers get left behind
    # Mar 19 2002 at 2:11 AM Rating: Default
    Rangers could use some improvements. Varant talks about balancing and as I see it Rangers get left behind again and again. There's nothing in this patch for them that I can see.

    On a related note, Rangers have no easy way to 'cheat death' Other classes can Gate, Evac, Freign, or what have you.. True, Rangers can SOW, SNARE and run.. but that's just inviting Aggro if the spell fails.. and SOW and SNARE are not exclusive to Rangers.

    RE: Rangers get left behind
    # Mar 19 2002 at 12:42 PM Rating: Default
    I wasn't aware that bards could gate, evac, feign, or what have you. Neither can paladins. And being able to gate don't mean squat unless you have someone who's going to stand there taking the hits for you while you wait the 5 seconds for the spell to go off. Pretty selfish attitude you have about what rangers SHOULD be able to do ... tho I have no idea where you're getting this idea that a woodsman who is a master tracker and is in tune with nature would be able to warp time and space to arrive in a safe spot. And obviously you have no characters capable of high end raids, and my deduction is based on the fact that you're trying to cheat death. Rangers who solo or do pickup groups need to worry about cheating death. Rangers who go on organized raids or party with people they know and trust usually have either a) a healer capable of preventing the situation where death is imminent, b) someone capable of evacing the group out, or c) all of the above. I know I personally wouldn't want to rely on a melee to evac ME out of ToV when the *&(^#@ hits the fan, because the melees are usually calling evac once the MA is down and the mob is tearing through the remaining melees.
    RE: Rangers get left behind
    # Mar 19 2002 at 2:22 AM Rating: Good
    How many times joo gonna whine bout sumthin that really has no meaning ? If yee wanna giveup ur melee abilities and be a caster then by all means be a wiz enc nec or mag, if yee want to be melee then by all means be a War SK Rog Mnk but if YEE wanna be multiclass then be multiclass and accept the limitations set upon urself ! NUFF SAID
    RE: Rangers get left behind
    # Mar 19 2002 at 8:31 AM Rating: Default
    hear hear
    Rangers get left behind...
    # Mar 19 2002 at 2:09 AM Rating: Default
    Rangers could use some improvements. Varant talks about balancing and as I see it Rangers get left behind again and again. There's nothing in this patch for them that I can see.

    On a related note, Rangers have no easy way to 'cheat death' Other classes can Gate, Evac, Freign, or what have you.. True, Rangers can SOW, SNARE and run.. but that's just inviting Aggro if the spell fails.. and SOW and SNARE are not exclusive to Rangers.

    A good many monsters are faster than SOW and some zones running just isn't going to save you.

    Rangers, indeed every class, needs something that it alone can exclusively do.. Druids get TRACK.. granted, later in life, but still.. I ask you, what is the Ranger's selling point.. the one thing Rangers can do that makes them unique... Nothing leaps to mind... Jack of all trades, Master of none.. which is why they're not sought too terribly much in groups.. seen as somewhat of a concellation prize if a 'pure' class isn't available.

    I'm opposed to early Rez, because its removing something that was a /selling point/ for high clerics in groups. Rangers need something they can sell too... to make them more attractive to prospective groups.
    RE: Rangers get left behind...
    # Mar 19 2002 at 9:33 AM Rating: Excellent
    *
    51 posts
    After reading your little rant about how 'terrible' rangers get the shaft, I'm going to be going out on a limb and predicting that you are not a high-level character. Rangers are the second-most damaging melee/hybrid class in the game and the most damaging of the hybrids alone. Only the Rogue can outdamage a ranger is terms of pure damage in a group (unless you are counting a monk with some of the insane new h2h gear and epic). Now let me ask you how many rogues do you know that can solo effectively? Exactly. Rangers ability to dish out massive damage with their combo of duel wielding and DoTs make them a welcome addition to any group, as well as allowing them to snare kite while they wait to get picked up. I've never been looking for a DD melee class and said "Ranger or Rogue..... well the ranger can track! We need that in Sebilis!", nor have I ever said "We have a druid in our group that can track...... let's not take the ranger and keep our group of 5!". Your damage out-put is the selling point for a group, the same reason that any other DD class gets an invite to a group. If you are not getting groups, perhaps it's because of your whiny *** attitude that other people really don't feel like dealing with when they sit down to play a game.... not a lack of your class' abilities.
    Rangers get left behind...
    # Mar 19 2002 at 2:09 AM Rating: Default
    Rangers could use some improvements. Varant talks about balancing and as I see it Rangers get left behind again and again. There's nothing in this patch for them that I can see.

    On a related note, Rangers have no easy way to 'cheat death' Other classes can Gate, Evac, Freign, or what have you.. True, Rangers can SOW, SNARE and run.. but that's just inviting Aggro if the spell fails.. and SOW and SNARE are not exclusive to Rangers.

    A good many monsters are faster than SOW and some zones running just isn't going to save you.

    Rangers, indeed every class, needs something that it alone can exclusively do.. Druids get TRACK.. granted, later in life, but still.. I ask you, what is the Ranger's selling point.. the one thing Rangers can do that makes them unique... Nothing leaps to mind... Jack of all trades, Master of none.. which is why they're not sought too terribly much in groups.. seen as somewhat of a concellation prize if a 'pure' class isn't available.

    I'm opposed to early Rez, because its removing something that was a /selling point/ for high clerics in groups. Rangers need something they can sell too... to make them more attractive to prospective groups.
    patch soon to come!
    # Mar 19 2002 at 2:08 AM Rating: Default
    i just logged out of eq and again i run into the heard of eather 12 year old kids or just somebody that really dont know how to play the game at all but how??

    so me andmy friend were playing on kfc killing some chickens when we start geting new group members first a mage and then a cleric and then fianlly a chanter so we submmit to kick some chicken a$$ then out of the corner of my eye i see the cleric going at it =p im like hum ok didnt even buff the main tank im like bahh she will buff after this one and boon there goes the first cleric nuke and boon tank lossing life and boon cleric nuking mean wile you got the chanter instead of mezzing the adds tring to charm a bird that is 5 lvls above him !!! now the situation is this there is 3 mobs then enchater is my lvl 2 of them con blue the one red tank woring on red so chanter need to mezz blue lowering the dmg the tank is absorbing since the cleric hasnt buffed or heal mage is ok he doing his stuff later i get a tell form my friend telling me the mage has and alt hi lvl (figures he know hes game =p) anyways me the druid keeps healing and get aggro on enchanter still no mezz still tring to charm the god damm red con so tank come over to taunt ahhh the figth is fianlly over the cleric buffs but then tell use she got to go help a friend so im main healer now and so we subbmint to pull and here is the enchater charming a elephant and no mezz (we had 3 ) the group wasnt having prob with adds we could take them easy but it would make it easy for the healer and other if they didnt have a mob beathing on themcause of the aggro anywasy my point is this:

    im glad verant is making the game more easy for the casual player but if this is going to bring a load of 9 year old kids to this game then im sorry the game is going to suck just cause of the hole reason that they dont know what they are doing they dont care about the time we veterant or real players of the game have spent to get to a lvl and get the gear we have. i dont think you going to learn the game in 3 weeks it took me 1 year to have the basic knoledg of the game and almost to to fully understand the game mechanics and the real hi end game but if this path if going to draw this kind of peeps that will make the game unejoyable by us mid to hi lvl players then this patch sucks i just hope this dosent happend this situation is not my first one but many of wich i can fill a hole book. maybe you asking why you making this such a big deal ? well playing a game that i reall enjoy to the max and seen it turn into another chat room would really suck. i meet lots of peeps on this game my guild is not the best but one of the best in my server
    and having my my wife join me here and there in my eq journeys makes it a game that will get old for me hope this patch come in good for all of us
    RE: patch soon to come!
    # Mar 19 2002 at 8:34 AM Rating: Default
    Dude, did you run out of breath reading that back to yourself? :)
    How to improve grouping skills
    # Mar 19 2002 at 1:27 AM Rating: Good
    Ok first off I would like to say that all of the posts with peeps complaining about nOoBs not knowing thier roles in a group an peeps complaining they cannot get a group have got me feeling pity for them the Ubers and the NoObs. I have two suggestions , one for Da Ubes and one for the NoOb.
    First off I would like to say to all Da' Ubers out there: Please show some compassion for the NoOb. You weren't Uber all ur EQ career, perhaps if yee would take the time to share a tiny bit of your knowledge about the game to a NoOb ...he could pass it to other NoObs and therefore save you from getting that pickup group with the lvl 50 cleric that thinks he is a tank, or from the 50 DrOOd that thinks he is a wizard. That said onward to my advice for newcomers to the game. First off welcome to the game , you will be in for hours of enjoyment if you heed my advice.
    1) Dun hesitate to ask for advice if ur unsure of where to go to lvl, how to finish that quest, how to get this or that skill up,where to buy that spell, armor, or weapon.
    2) Dun get in a hurry , think before yee act and make durn sure yee know hazards before attempting any travel. (IE.. is it safe to cross this zone unsowed)
    3) Make friends,make friends,make friends, try not to forget that lvl 13 cleric yee grouped with in Oasis cuz he may rez yas at a later date. (IE..This is soanso remeber me from Oasis when we camped Orcs?)
    4) Here is a listing of zones that are socalled pickup zones for grouping ... so yee can learn how to make the best out of your skills an how to interact with a group at least from my viewpoint.

    This be how I lvl my toons up and it will work and you will gain knowledge on how to group well.
    A) Solo from 1 to 7 in Steamfount.... yes steamfount on rats and spiders then Kobolds.
    B) 7 to 14 AT the mill first then on to minotaur cave at 9 in steamfount. GROUPING
    C) 14 to 18 in Oasis of Marr killing crocs an orcs GROUPING
    D) 18 to 26 in Lake of Ill Omen first fighting from mill then at the Sarnak fort. GROUPING
    E) 26 to 30 in Frontier Mountains hunting Giants at the Giant fort. (GROUPING)
    F) 30 to 40 in the Overthere GROUPING
    G) 40 to 49 in the Dreadlands GROUPING at the Karnor Castle North wall. GROUPING
    H) 50 + inside of Karnor Castle GROUPING
    Listing of good pickup zones for 50 + is
    Karnor Castle
    Old Sebilis (Kunark)
    Velketors Labryinth (Velious)
    Maidens Eye (Luclin)
    Kael (Velious)
    Fungus Grove (luclin)
    Scarlett Desert (Luclin)
    Now by all means does this mean that these are the only zones yee shuld go to to look for a pik-up group , I got a pik-up group in Chardok the other day and thats gotta be one of the most undercamped 50 + zones in the game so dun flame me saying yee did it this way or that way ; I am just telling yas how it works for me. I have 15 days gametime RL time that is 360 hours on my last toon which is now 51 with no powerleveling just GROUPING in those zones... 360 hours seems like a long time but if yee average it out at 5 hours game play per session that is roughly 72 days RL time to get him there. I learned the skills I needed for that class to GROUP effectively and met an incredible amount of nice people. And to those peeps that are gonna flame about dungeons or raids flame all yee want joo dun learn a dungeon or Plane without actually being there and learning it YOURSELF whatever level yee may be !

    Hope this post helps everyone Ubers and NoObs to adjust , change , modify your views on this subject ! Good Hunting and Good Luck with all of your adventures in this land of Norrath that we all love..... or else joo wouldna' be reading this here post would yas! *wink*
    Pally Rez
    # Mar 18 2002 at 5:38 PM Rating: Default
    At the risk of sounding like a n00b I wanted to have something clarified for me. I have a lvl 39 pally and in the news post they said something about altering the lines for the rez spells for pallies and clerics. Am I to understand that this will be lowering the lvl required by pallies to use the rez spells or that the person rezzed will have more XP returned to them after the rez or both or neither?

    Azarov Holylight
    Circle of Eternal Hope
    39th season Paladin
    Karana Server
    RE: Pally Rez
    # Mar 18 2002 at 9:54 PM Rating: Default
    Reanimation: Level 22 Ressurrection spell with no experience recovery.
    Reconstitute: Level 30 Ressurrection spell with 10% experience recovery.
    Revive: Level 39 Ressurrection spell with 35% experience recovery.
    Renewal: Level 49 Ressurrection spell with 50% experience recovery.
    Restoration: Level 55 Ressurrection spell with 75% experience recovery.

    It looks like you'll have a 35% rez right now, and a 75% one at max

    So both, and you'll be getting more spells as well as lowering the requirement.
    #Anonymous, Posted: Mar 18 2002 at 3:52 PM, Rating: Sub-Default, (Expand Post) i am sorry but this is getting lame now. First off too freaking bad allot of lower levs aer complaing about dieing and how they can not see w/out there book damit we all had to do it b4 why not them. I mean crap i think it is a nice thing to look foward to not being able to have to look at your book. Yes and now lets move to the res thing with palies.. NO this is just wrong i play a clr myself. The one real cool thing about us is our ability to res someone for xp back just using mana. The nec thing i can understand there is still some xp loss with getting the stone for the spell. However giving the one thing that makes having the clr around to a melee/heal class already fin why not give us cls the ability to swing one handed slash weapons while you are at it. and give us more str too because to take away our res you are basically allowing a paly to take over as aalmost better clr then us when you account for the added dmg to the mob - the mana it takes to heal for the dmg done over. the extra time it takes to kill the mob without that extra hits will make up for the mana lost. I am sorry but this makes playing a clr lame in my opinion.
    RE: lame
    # Mar 18 2002 at 8:16 PM Rating: Decent
    What many people fail to realize, which would lead to such postings, is that this is not a game. It began as such, but like most utopian endevors has now become a business. Look at the changes?
    Who do they effect? New players.
    Verant already has the 100,000 of us locked in for life at 10 bucks a month. And a few others at 30 a month.
    These changes are designed to make the the game easier for the new player. So that Verant can attract new clientel. I for one can testify that at 9 months of playing I still don't have all the stragegies and subtle nuances of the game down. The game has a horrible learning curve, bordering on Corporate Tax Accounting. Seriously, I know several people that have tried EQ and quit because it has such a screwy interface and is hard to learn.
    There are lots of different types of gamers out there. By making the game easier at early levels Verant can keep those people who got frustrated with the game early on, and keep them around for the long haul like the rest of us. Its good business plain and simple. The ole bait and switch if you will.

    Gamer A @ lvl 10: "Wow this is cool. You can level quick and blow stuff up with cool spells. And when you die, its like Final Fantasy where I just come back to my home town with all my stuff and money, this rawks!"

    Gamer A @ lvl 11: "Can I get a sow for a CR in NRo, Dorn killed me."

    I wouldn't be surprised if we see an increased Marketing campaign to accompany these changes and the 3rd Anniversary.
    RE: lame
    # Mar 19 2002 at 4:30 AM Rating: Decent
    LOL I totally agree
    RE: lame
    # Mar 18 2002 at 9:56 PM Rating: Default
    ... Either have them lose it at 5? or 10... I don't care, a level 36 shouldn't be affected by it..

    Anyone who says leveling in EQ is too hard, well, yeah...

    #REDACTED, Posted: Mar 18 2002 at 4:36 PM, Rating: Sub-Default, (Expand Post) hum hey Anonymous you lame =p im here to flame you just cuase i hate cry babys hum this is what i was talking about =p check my post on this thread
    RE: lame
    # Mar 18 2002 at 4:20 PM Rating: Default
    A) Rezzing is a third of a clerics job, AFTER buffing and healing
    B) High level paladins had rez already.
    C) Clerics still get the best(exp wise) rez anyway right? post-fifety five, people often 'hold out' from 90 percent rezes for the level 56 revivinence (sp) one.
    D) Who cares if the low levels were made easier?? Let them have fun, they're the hardest levels in the game (to get a kill) anyway ;)
    thor
    # Mar 18 2002 at 3:30 PM Rating: Good
    Well of course i need to add my 2cp. i have been playing for 8 months and in that time i have taken my pally to lvl 41 and a druid to lvl 14. i can say with out a doubt that this is the best video game i have ever played. when you take away all this exp and rez stuff it is just a game. which by the way you pay to play(so eventhough you complain you still love it) i grew up with pong, atari, and intelivision. sony offers you something that others have tryed but failed at. if they want to change it so what. lower lvls complain that it takes to long to gain exp, plat, equipment, and knowledge of the game. higher lvls complain that lower lvls get it to easy. bottom line it takes as long as you want it to. there is alot of information out there on this game. books and web sites. if you want to you can learn alot. you want a high lvl char. spend the time and play the game otherwise spend the 10 bucks eleswhere. pass on the history of the game to newbies. most will respect you for your accomplishments. the game has much to offer you if you want it.

    thornnar silverwood
    the pure hearted
    41 pally
    Gnome Ranger
    # Mar 18 2002 at 3:23 PM Rating: Default
    OMG...I want a gnome ranger

    RE: Gnome Ranger
    # Mar 18 2002 at 4:22 PM Rating: Default
    I want an ogre bard =( unstunnable from front?? Totally kick butt.
    dumb newbies?
    # Mar 18 2002 at 3:00 PM Rating: Decent
    Well, I like the changes. I think they're benifical to the enjoyment of the game, and I don't think that "Well it was hard for me so it should be hard for you," is a good reason to be against them.

    The game is already difficult, not impossible, but challenging. I think it's great enough without having to make it hell for new players. Going through tough times is part of life. But this is a game, not life, and i'd rather escape from that in EQ rather than be frustrated in never ending levels in a game i'm supposed to be enjoying. The same goes for the rezzes. If you can get your body easier, more power to you.

    However, I think levels 1-10 might be TOO easy, and people hitting 12 after might be 'wtf?' when they die and appear without their items. But I agree in that they need to speed up the 1-10 thing, it takes forever before you can go anywhere, which is against the 'quest' portion of the game.

    But I definitely don't think this is dumbing down the game and that people who get to 60 after this will be 'dumb n00bs', who have gotten the easy path. I think thats an atroticious attitude to have to new players. And I find the people who think that way are ubers hooked on a superiority complex.

    The only reason i'd be against getting to 60 being easy, is because-- If you check Allakhazam's poll at the moment, it shows that 51 percent of the EQ-goers (to this site's) main charas are 50+ so you could probably assume 50 percent of players have a level 50 plus main...

    ... and if after this getting to 50 will be even EASIER...

    Well, Lord knows we don't need anymore tight *** ubers running around and shooting their mouth off about how 'newbies suck' ...

    RE: dumb newbies?
    # Mar 19 2002 at 1:43 AM Rating: Good
    No one who reaches lvl 60 is a dumb NooB cuz they couldnt hit lvl 60 without learning the skills necessary to get there ....its impossible....now yee may have some Uber 60's that think they're god and dun have to speak with the Peons ..but hey wait this game is set in a semi medieval setting isn't it ?
    RE: dumb newbies?
    # Mar 19 2002 at 7:27 AM Rating: Default
    I've seen level 60 newbies.

    Everquest is designed to give every person the ability to hit 60, regardless of skill. This doesn't make threm uber, getting uber requires skill and friends.
    RE: dumb newbies?
    # Mar 18 2002 at 10:15 PM Rating: Default
    >>But I definitely don't think this is dumbing down the game and that people who get to 60 after this will be 'dumb n00bs', who have gotten the easy path. I think thats an atroticious attitude to have to new players. And I find the people who think that way are ubers hooked on a superiority complex.<<

    Really? Whats your highest level character? My cleric is by no means ubah, I've made most of my stuff on my own or in pick up groups, without the aid of Guild, just the help of some friends ive made along the way. And I dont think new players are 'dumb n00bs' and will go out of my way to help a lowbie player, be it with advice, a few coins for armour or spells or a guide to a place they need to be. BUT, I think im perfectly entitled to have a superiority complex, cos I've EARNED it, with hundreds of hours played on my cleric. And then Verant come and take that away from me, just so they can keep a few players and entice a few new players... I dont know if you understand or even care about this, but Verant have had hundreds of dollars and months of my life and THIS is how they repay me... well thanks a bunch.
    RE: dumb newbies?
    # Mar 19 2002 at 6:08 AM Rating: Default
    > Really? Whats your highest level character?

    First off, that you would ask that (implying that you consider it a factor in how much weight someone's opinion carries) rather than "how long have you been playing the game?" is rather telling in and of itself. Not everyone focuses on levelling their main character, or on levelling, period. I won't speak for myself but I have one friend who has a high-50's druid as pretty much his only character, and another who has various characters in their 30's and 20's, and the latter is overall much more knowledgeable about EQ.

    > And I dont think new players are 'dumb n00bs' and will go out of my way to help a lowbie player,

    As do I. Granted, "lowbie" is lower relative to me, and as a paladin I can't be near as helpful as a cleric, but I do my best.

    > And then Verant come and take that away from me

    They haven't taken anything away from you. If you feel incredibly proud of (say) your pre-level-10 corpse runs or having spent half your pre-level-35 time staring at your spellbook, those events haven't been removed from the stream of time. They still happened. Other people just won't have to experience them.

    > just so they can keep a few players and entice a few new players...

    So they can make the game more enjoyable for new players, or for existing players making new characters. What's wrong with that? If you haven't noticed, they've spent quite a lot of attention on goodies for the higher levels lately: horses, alternate advancement, Legends, the Cazic Thule changes. Most of the item/spell-related patches over the last few months have involved high level spells and gear. It's about time that they gave a little attention to characters 20th and below.

    Which changes, exactly, are you objecting to?

    No risk of equipment loss before 10th level? I can only think of one time I lost (or risked losing) anything during these levels. For me this would only have changed "run back and loot corpse" to "run back." As a now non-newbie I'm pleased with this one because now I'm free to hand out things to 1st level characters without the possibility of the gift being wasted if they die and can't get back to their corpse in time.

    More starting food/drink? Is this REALLY a big issue for you?

    No experience loss before 10th? Again, does this annoy you that much? Perhaps I'm biased for having played a paladin, but it makes plenty of sense to me for hybrids to be able to start enjoying their first batch of spells before experience loss starts kicking in.

    In general, your apparent view of the lower-level gameplay seems totally wrongheaded to me. Those levels aren't the sort of thing that the bards sing ballads about, nor are they meant to be. They're for getting to know how to play the game and your character. The new changes let people find things out without fear of losing what they've gained (exp or gear). When 10th level rolls around the hybrid&melee classes are starting to be something more than watered-down warriors (hybrids have gotten their spells, rogues have gotten backstab, monks have upgraded attacks), and that's when it's time for the game to take the gloves off and start putting real risk into the picture.

    Not having to stare at the spellbook while meditating? What in the world are the bragging rights for having put up with this, unless you're proud of your ability to endure boredom? Once I go back to playing my caster alts, I'm going to be very happy about this one, because I'll have something to watch while my mana bar creeps back up.

    > I dont know if you understand or even care about this, but Verant have had hundreds of dollars and months of my life and THIS is how they repay me...

    "And when I was your age, we had to walk twenty miles to school each morning, at 4am! In ten feet of snow! Uphill -- there AND back! Without any shoes on our feet! And we LIKED it that way!"

    > well thanks a bunch.

    Yes, Verant. Thank you, sincerely. I've been highly annoyed at you quite a few times lately, and I'm glad to see you do something I can be 100% happy about.

    Maybe I'm strange, but when my paladin is old and grey and telling tales to his grandkids by the fire, I expect the stories will be about his quest for the Fiery Defender, and Nagafen and Vox and the undead hordes in Kithicor -- not retrieving his rusty battle axe from his corpse in Qeynos Hills when the fire beetles ganged up on him.
    RE: dumb newbies?
    # Mar 19 2002 at 8:18 AM Rating: Default
    Well, after taking everything I've said out of context and pretty much making me look like a bad guy, I shall now correct you..

    >>First off, that you would ask that (implying that you consider it a factor in how much weight someone's opinion carries) rather than "how long have you been playing the game?" is rather telling in and of itself. Not everyone focuses on levelling their main character, or on levelling, period. I won't speak for myself but I have one friend who has a high-50's druid as pretty much his only character, and another who has various characters in their 30's and 20's, and the latter is overall much more knowledgeable about EQ.<<

    Right, thats fine, but your 30's and 20's buddy hasent experienced the high end game yet? So overall he/she/it has more experience of the game, but only of the low to mid level part. This is what my question was pertaining to.. have you experienced the high end game, with a high end toon? If not, then you cannot possibly talk about such things and expect people to trust what you are saying.

    Pre lvl 10 changes: I couldnt really give a monkeys about these changes. More food/water? Woot! stops me having to jump off something really high before getting to level 4 cos I cant afford any rations or water. Faster XP? great, 1-10 are the easiest levels in the game anyway, make em easier and let the more challenging stuff begin earlier. Keeping your gear before 10th? Fantastic, like you say, no problem giving a nice bit of kit to fresh starter safe in the knowledge that they cant lose it... (assuming they havent twinked the hell outta themselves in the first place, twinkers IMHO miss the whole point of the game... why bother going to Befallen to get that BBC or Thaumaturgists Robe when youve already got a Wurmy or a Robe of the Oracle)

    And now for the whole bunch of points you flamed me on that I never even mentioned....

    My view of the lower level gameplay is irrelevant, cos I wasent talking about that... If truth be known, I enjoy the sub 30's more than I enjoy the post 50's becuase you get more opportunity to group with a wider variety of people in wider selection of locations killing a broad range of MoBs.

    Bookless medding? Staring at that book was the price you payed for being a caster my friend, and level 35 was something to look forward to, something else to earn. Im not complaining that they have done away with it cos truly in the grand scheme of things it is but a minor point.

    >>"And when I was your age, we had to walk twenty miles to school each morning, at 4am! In ten feet of snow! Uphill -- there AND back! Without any shoes on our feet! And we LIKED it that way!"<<

    Im glad to see you can mock my time and effort, shows how big a man/woman you really are... The number of times I nearly quit cos of those bloody hell levels is unreal, I reckon I know every Drolvarg in The Dreadlands by its first name...

    >>I expect the stories will be about his quest for the Fiery Defender, and Nagafen and Vox and the undead hordes in Kithicor -- not retrieving his rusty battle axe from his corpse in Qeynos Hills when the fire beetles ganged up on him.<<

    And why not? Was that not just as scary as facing Cazic Thule himself for the first time? Running through QH hitting /y as fast as you can is just as exhilarating(sp?) as killing Aviaks or SP Gnolls or getting your butt handed to you by a God...

    Anyway, thats enough from me, if you cant value my opinions, fine, but dont go flaming me on things I havent said. Dont assume, cos it makes an *** out of u and me. (***/u/me) geddit? har har! (I've always wanted to say that)
    RE: dumb newbies?
    # Mar 19 2002 at 4:24 AM Rating: Default
    I don't mean to offend you and I realise that you've put a lot of effort into being level 60, or whatever, and I'm not really pointing the finger at people like you, rather uber 50s, or the kind who have disdain for anyone and anything lower than them. I understand there are a lot of nice 50+s but there are also a lot of not so nice ones, who look down on newbies, and irrespective of how hard it is to get to 60, I don't think it's right to act like Gods gift to EQ. And i'm not saying anyone here does that, but some do...

    Making it easier for newbies doesn't take ANYTHING away from the current game you're playing. So they'll level easier, so what-- it wont effect the 50+ players-- it'll make the game more fun for lowbies. And if the game is more fun, then more people will play, which is something Verant needs, what with the influx of MMORPGS on the horizon. It isn't like there will be thousands of 60+ players on the horizon tomorrow night...

    Also keep in mind these are changes 50+s were in favour of-- because they went through it, and suggested it to Verant-- player input is what MADE them change it. Not the need to make money or anything, although listening to their players would make them more money i'm sure. These were things Verant initially said "No chance in hell" to, regardless of if it was a good suggestion or not--and now that they're allowing them, it's a positive sign-- they're for the better, and it's only going to get better after this.

    And yes, I mean 'dumb newbie 60s' as in, people without chara exp, who don't know how to play. Some people said that everyone after today's patch will be newbies forever, regardless of level because it'll be so 'easy'. I don't think the newbies from now on will remain dumb through to their high lvls. I mean, if they're really stupid, nothing will cure that, hell levels or no. Look at me. =P

    Look, I don't mean to offend 50+, and I probably won't understand what it takes to get to that level, I'm not 50, i'm 35, and even though it's taken me the better part of the year, I still think the changes are cool. You can have a sense of acomplishment and being tougher than lowbies, sure, thats fine, feel tough-- you've earned it. But as for having a superiority 'complex' well thats the stuff that makes ubers...

    RE: dumb newbies?
    # Mar 18 2002 at 4:25 PM Rating: Default
    Yeah. The teens are the hardest levels in the game(to get a kill). They should rip the exp bonuses from loio/ot/DL and stuff, and put them in dungeons... too many high levels are newbies, seriously.(newbies as in they don't know crowd control, agro management, assisting, correct healing patterns, and other such assumed skills)
    RE: dumb newbies?
    # Mar 19 2002 at 2:33 AM Rating: Good
    LoIO/OT/DL are the best pickup group zones in the game sow how else are they to learn group skills if not in a group ? Kinda brain farted there didna yee ? Not a lotta difference in dungeon grouping and open zone grouping IMHO ...cept the deeper yee go the lower ur chances of gettn' out alive !~
    RE: dumb newbies?
    # Mar 19 2002 at 7:30 AM Rating: Default
    The agro management in dungeons is different in dungeons than in outside... It's harder and and more like in a raid(due to there being more dungeons in raid than open places) Simply put, OT/DL/LOIO is easyu, while dungeons are not...
    Bazaar.
    # Mar 18 2002 at 2:35 PM Rating: Decent
    I think that the changes mentioned will make for an overall improvement in the game. However there is one thing I am still left wondering about. The players Bazaar. Will it EVER be completed and brought live? As someone who has invested a huge percentage of his online time and my characters hard earned coins in trade skills I eagerly awaited the arrival of Shadows of Luclin. As anyone who has invested time in tradeskills knows the hardest part of trades is getting those items sold, even if not at a profit, at least for less of a loss than selling the items to a vendor. The Bazaar represents an improved chance to sell my wares, without having to devote my precious little play time to standing around auctioning things. I understand that more serious technical issues had to come first, but now it seems that the focus has shifted to issues related to retaining new players. Again, I understand that this is an important issue to SOE from a business standpoint. I myself would be satisfied with a bonifide status report. Last report I read was that it was 'close' but still needed a working interface. An update would be appreciated.
    RE: Bazaar.
    # Mar 18 2002 at 6:03 PM Rating: Decent
    *
    118 posts
    I don't know if this has anything to do with bazaar...but I stumbled across an NPC in Bazaar who gives a quest if you want to sell/be a merchant.
    Maybe that is it? Sorry, but I can't remember the guy's name.
    RE: Bazaar.
    # Mar 18 2002 at 4:27 PM Rating: Default
    Yeah.. what ever happened to that? And giving the necros the ability to control their pets? =)
    What i think
    # Mar 18 2002 at 2:01 PM Rating: Default
    Well this is all pretty cool for the most part in my opinion.

    I think getting to lvl 50 should be a snap, here are my reasons.(but i think getting every lvl after that should take twice the amount of exp and should give you double the amount of abilities or "gifts".)

    1)Camping your own stuff is the most satisfying feeling, I simply hate trying hours to buy some decent gear
    2)The players who cant play 50+ hours a week will be able to enjoy the games higher lvl joys. I personaly have only got a single char up to lvl 24, and many lvl 10 guys simply because i wanted to experiance the game from a diffrent style. (I stoped starting over no matter how great the temptation may be)i kept doing this because i hate spending a month in the same zone, and the same skills just because i couldnt get on enough to play and lvl.
    3)people wont feel that onec they obtain a high lvl that starting an alt will be such a long term set-back.

    Maby im just really jealous of all the uber char with awesom stuff and able to kill and raid cool zones, but you choose.

    Thorpa Fizzlebane
    RE: What i think
    # Mar 18 2002 at 4:41 PM Rating: Decent
    1) Yes, I've gotten a full suit of lambent(by questing) a full suit of crafter(well, almost, I didn't get the helm or boots.. =(, I've done wurmslayer quest, the ghoulbane quest, and other such fun ones. I've bought only like, 3 pieces of good equipment? (orc belts don't count!!)
    2) The joys of high levels? If by higher stakes, ergo more crap to deal with if something goes wrong, then yes, 'the joys of high levels' are great... But, if you mean 'blissfull power', then no, high levels will not achieve that. It merely means if you die, and can't get a rez, you might lose 4 or so hours of hard leveling, instead of thirty? and raids are the most stressful things in EQ(at least hard raids are, raids can also be the most boring things in EQ, ergo fear when your guild can do vindicator...)
    3) I don't think this can be solved, but only a few classes make twinks to get them to high levels(pallies/necros/druids/shadowknights/rangers... spare me your crap about how useful the class is, I don't care about what you have to say) simply because their guild could use a war/cle/rog/enc more than the other ones, and for raiding reasons. Most people like to play twinks for the difference, and it doesn't take long(20) for the class to really develope(sp) into it's type...

    I think that it takes too long to get to 55, but I also think that EQ takes FAR to less skill to get there... this would disallow a lot of EQ players the ability to get that high.(IE, if you made it more twitched based, simply)


    Llylii
    # Mar 18 2002 at 1:17 PM Rating: Default
    You couldn't do this 2 months ago?!?!?!?!
    #Anonymous, Posted: Mar 18 2002 at 12:56 PM, Rating: Sub-Default, (Expand Post) I got my lip pierced today....
    Sheesh
    # Mar 18 2002 at 12:23 PM Rating: Default
    What it boils down to is Verant dumbing down the game for the newbs so they can keep customers in the face of ever expanding competition.

    Getting rid of hell levels: /agree
    Cleric Rez's at lower levels: /veto
    Improving spells for various classes: /agree
    Bookless medding at all levels: /agree
    Better XP in dungeons for sub 30's: /agree

    You may wonder why I /veto the Rez's, well, IMHO the whole point of getting a Cleric to 49+ is the status symbol of being able to rez for a huge percentage. Only the most powerful of clerics should be able to rez. Its just not good from a roleplay perspective to have rez's available at lvls as low as 14.

    Ok, ok. maybe I do feel a bit narced/annoyed/distraught about the changes cos I put the time and effort in to get my cleric to that level and now Verant have taken my blood, sweat and tears and made it all meaningless. But hey-ho, its their world and they will do as they please, they are a business after all and are in it for the money.

    my 2cp. And, as a well known Fantastic Four character used to say.. FLAME ON!
    RE: Sheesh
    # Mar 18 2002 at 5:29 PM Rating: Default
    I couldn't agree more with the lower the rez lvls. I think they may be making the game a bit simple for the newer player to attract players, but in doing so are taking much needed training time from them. What will prepare them for Vox? Appearing fully clothed after dying at lvl 9? Making a player who'd be stuck learning his class a bit more because of dying and loosing xp is far better then letting them keep their xp after they do something stupid.

    As far as removing hell lvl's... This pisses me off cause I went through them and spent agonizing time getting to where I am now. Making these lvl's cakewalk isn't fair to Vet's... I dunno about all the rest of you, but I want to log in and see my character blasted up at least 3 lvl's to compensate me for my time!

    But we're all EQ addicts anyway, and Verant's stingy on what they do... and if you're not on their new "pampered" server they don't care much anyway... I aint payin 30 bucks more to have the kind of attentio I should be getting now from my GM...

    Bah, I'm off the subject. See you all when this dust settles,

    M.J.
    51 druid
    Tarrew Mar
    RE: Sheesh
    # Mar 19 2002 at 5:20 AM Rating: Default
    Hell levels have been removed, but the total number of exp points it takes to get to lev 50 is the same...basically they have just smoothed it out, so that it isn't so dramatic at lev 30,35 etc..etc..

    So anyway, they won't get to lev 50 any sooner than we did

    btw, for those of you who don't help newbies with advice, I wish you the worst of luck in all you do :-P

    Sondor
    lev 56 Mage
    Quellious
    RE: Sheesh
    # Mar 19 2002 at 8:54 AM Rating: Default
    Your right, they wont get to 50 any quicker, but they will never have to experience the frustration and agony of getting through 30/31, 35/36, 40/41 and 45/46 and with that comes a diminished understanding of what us Vets have had to go through which cheapens the efforts we made...
    Pally Resurrection
    # Mar 18 2002 at 11:28 AM Rating: Default
    I have read that the Cleric gets a 0% revive at 14 now... I have a lvl 35 Pally and was wondering at what lvl he will now recieve revive. I know it used to be at 49. Any information would be great. Thanks.
    RE: Pally Resurrection
    # Mar 18 2002 at 12:08 PM Rating: Good
    From this page: http://eq.castersrealm.com/viewarticle.asp?Article=4159

    Note that resurrection spells for Level 49 and above have not changed:

    Reanimation: Level 14 Ressurrection spell with no experience recovery.
    Reconstitute: Level 19 Ressurrection spell with 10% experience recovery.
    Reparation: Level 24 Ressurrection spell with 20% experience recovery.
    Revive: Level 29 Ressurrection spell with 35% experience recovery.
    Renewal: Level 34 Ressurrection spell with 50% experience recovery.
    Resuscitate: Level 39 Ressurrection spell with 60% experience recovery.
    Restoration: Level 44 Ressurrection spell with 75% experience recovery.


    [Edit -- I didn't notice you said you were a pally, so I'll add the following]

    Paladins also scored from the updated resurrection spells:

    Reanimation: Level 22 Ressurrection spell with no experience recovery.
    Reconstitute: Level 30 Ressurrection spell with 10% experience recovery.
    Revive: Level 39 Ressurrection spell with 35% experience recovery.
    Renewal: Level 49 Ressurrection spell with 50% experience recovery.
    Restoration: Level 55 Ressurrection spell with 75% experience recovery.

    [/Edit]

    Edited, Mon Mar 18 12:09:03 2002
    Time
    # Mar 18 2002 at 11:27 AM Rating: Default
    Most MMORPG games are set up to have a long shelf life, which usually consists of an xp/leveling treadmill, with some things to do on the side when you cannot find a group, in a time crunch, etc. It's fairly unrealistic to expect to achieve what those deemed "powerlevelers" do. I'm sorry if that sounds harsh, i don't mean it to be. EQ being nearly 3 years old should have enabled those that have limited time and have played for a year or more, to at least be able to get a pc up to 45-50someodd level and maybe gotten into a decent guild, and outfitted themselves with some good equipment. These are social games also, and it does require the player to interact alot with others, if that's not the case, yes, the game will grow frustrating for you very, very fast. When one decides to play games such as EQ, and wants/expects it to be fun, they should be aware that it does require some serious commitment of time, whether it be to make some friends to regularly play with, find a guild,etc. There just is no concivable way around that, given the games setup.
    Mages
    # Mar 18 2002 at 11:11 AM Rating: Good
    And not one mention of an improvement for Mages (Except Focus Items), probably the most unwanted class in the game post 50 *sigh*
    RE: Mages
    # Mar 19 2002 at 3:53 AM Rating: Default
    In complete concurrence with this post, and with what the rangers have to say. In fact I feel that Mages and rangers are in the same boat much of the time, and I generally end up grouping with a ranger for the fact he/she can't get a group. And for the post that mentioned a lvl 51 Earth pet nearly killing a lvl 60 tank unbuffed? 1 of 2 things. You are lying, OR, the lvl 60 was naked using his hands. My magician is my main, and I lub him :) Our pets are nice, but not as invincible as you would like to make them sound. Not nearly invincible. Nerf our pets, and we fall well below where the rangers stand needing more balance. Verant added Call of the Hero to help a mage get a group. Nice spell, much needed once you get used to having it, now go try and loot it or buy it, AND you must be Lvl 55 to use it. And one more peie of info, you who think our pets our lvl 60 tanks, lol, in Raids in the planes. We cant use pets. Tracking issues, if you make a pet in a raid situation you get kicked outta the group and humiliated. So now the magicain is reduced to a very very weak wizzy. You dont NEED that very weak wizzy to go farm your uber stuff, so they, (we mages) just get left behind much of the time.

    Inertia
    Level 52 Magician
    RE: Mages
    # Mar 19 2002 at 12:24 AM Rating: Good
    Bah whats this chap talkn bout wantn' more , more , more for mages jeesh they can all'ready Solo to 55 easily ! I personally saw a Lvl 52 mage duel a lvl 60 Tank (no nuking) just to see how the pet would do and JOO know what .... the mages Earth pet almost keeled em... the pet unbuffed and the tank unbuffed. So yes mebbe there should be some class balancing done ... kknock those mages down a notch or two cuz they are too Powerful ! Dont even post a whine bout Mages ! "*And not one mention of an improvement for mages*" Jeesh !
    RE: Mages
    # Mar 18 2002 at 5:30 PM Rating: Decent
    I will have to disagree about mages being unwated post 50. I will agree that it is sometimes hard for mages to get a group in some places, but that is only because alot of dungeon crawlers just want melee/healing/crowd control in groups with a slower/buffer thrown in the mix sometimes. So dont go lfg'ing in dungeons...run with your guild and/or friends and your mage will be appreciated. I can attest to you from personal experience, and my guildies could testify to this too...mage pets are still a great assest in a group. If mages didnt even have any nukes, the pet would be worth having in a situation where some tanking is needed. Using just the vocerate line of mage pets I group with guildies on a regular basis with my cousin's mage as well. Our pets are the tanks, all the rest casters. And as our cleric says all the time, he can cast complete heal on the pets better than most tanks. Add in some good nukes, the mage malo line of spells, CoTH, the best damage shields in the game and all the little convient crap we can summon (Cleric need some rods? Can I get a coldstone please? Could you summon me some food/drink/bandaids pls? I am out of wings, can I get a lev ring?) and mages make a fine addition to any group or raid. Get a log parser and turn all hits on and check out the damage just your pet does with straight melee and compare that total to what the melees in your group are doing. Most of the time it is more than 50+ well equipped melees are doing. I enjoy my mage and everyone that runs with me regularly knows the power that a well played mage can wield. The poster there I noticed was 52, get to 55 and I promise that just one spell, CoTH, will give you purpose on just about any raid.
    RE: Mages
    # Mar 19 2002 at 4:03 AM Rating: Default
    . The poster there I noticed was 52, get to 55 and I promise that just one spell, CoTH, will give you purpose on just about any raid.


    Ok as already mentioned CoTH is great and all. ONCEW you get to 55 plus. But even then, (heres where I really whine) I want to be able to eb wanted in a raid within the element in which I created and continue to play my Mage. "Mages kill, its what we do, we kill, kill , kill everyhting we see" :P If I had the gaurantee of a really nice peice of equipment, maybe I could be satisfied to be some group/guilds CoTH "bish" as Ive seen it referred to. Without our pets, chanter can practically outnuke us, (granted Ive not tasted spells 55+ yet)

    Inertia
    Level 52 mage
    RE: Mages
    # Mar 19 2002 at 3:58 AM Rating: Default
    So dont go lfg'ing in dungeons...run with your guild and/or friends and your mage will be appreciated.

    Question. Where/what zone types does the best gear in the game drop?
    RE: Mages
    # Mar 18 2002 at 11:19 AM Rating: Decent
    Hehe dont worry warriors were forgotten aswell.....

    "Life is hard, get over it!"
    RE: Mages
    # Mar 18 2002 at 4:47 PM Rating: Default
    I hear they added a natural spell crit ability(ala warriors crit) for wizards...

    Verant needs more class balancing...

    Of course, the skills that make a class useful sub 50 often makes a class suck post fifety(paladin's heal, while sometimes good, isn't good in a raid normally... or the shadowknights snare ability) Druids and Necros, while nice, very nice, soloing, really aren't great in raids(I have a 60 necro, btw) the 'standard' raid classes, cle/war/enc/rog just outclass the others. Sometimes you make a tradeoff if you have a class that is VERY fun to play(bard?? I love my bard) it'll be a secondary class, to a cleric(I hate playing a cleric... booooorrrring) but you are great in raids..
    Tired of Flamers!?
    # Mar 18 2002 at 11:09 AM Rating: Decent
    Ive read all these posts and from what i can figure is 1)people are mad about how slow they are lvling which for them my advice is go play diablo 2,2) they cant group which means they dont know what zone they should go to to fight or they have bad personalities seeing as how ive never had problems finding a group i wouldnt know,3) lvl 50+'s are mad that the newer chars are getting off easy with no hell lvls which if they can read no one is it is just more spread out, 4) people like bards or old world rangers feel like they r getting screwed, 5) the people who have no time to play much my advice is dont play because you whine about things to get changes made that the majority of people do not want.

    .....Just my 2cp
    "Life is hard, get over it!"
    RE: Tired of Flamers!?
    # Mar 18 2002 at 3:23 PM Rating: Default
    Whether they play a lot, or infrequently, getting started is tough. I see the effort to "simplify" newbies' lives as a good thing, but 10th may be a bit much. I've started a lot of characters, and the difficulties of early adventuring is just an accepted part of the game. It could be worse, after all, death could be final. Then where would they be? In EQ hell? LOL
    RE: Tired of Flamers!?
    # Mar 18 2002 at 5:00 PM Rating: Default
    Not knowing how to do things sux, but sometimes it's the funnest time.(I remember I went to nektulos forest with my level 3 human paladin in search ofriches, met a guard =(
    RE: Tired of Flamers!?
    # Mar 18 2002 at 2:59 PM Rating: Decent
    What you are saying - telling people who can't play frequently not to play at all - is self-destructive to the game.
    I play as often as I can, and have a decent 28 cleric and nice Guild and a nice group of friends from all over the US. However, some great people I have met, I can't play with anymore because we were 19 together in Highpass, but he is 45 now. This is academic though, Verant and SOE, these are business's. Sony is publicly traded corporation, if they decide they need more revenue to keep this world going, to keep it fresh with more expansions, to fix bugs etc, then they will make the necessary changes. I am concerned about what will surely be an increase uber-twinking.

    The best suggestion I can make is to look for an expansion that increases the level cap to 70 and introduces a new world of 60-70 zones. They have already made a step in this direction with their recent patch to Cazic-Thule.

    I say welcome the changes. I you were 40-50 lvl already then be proud of that for yourself, not for someone who can say whatever they want from the safety of their own computer.
    RE: Tired of Flamers!?
    # Mar 18 2002 at 5:01 PM Rating: Default
    Remember, grouping and killing orcs at orc 1 in EC is the pretty much the same as grouping and killing Goranga gatherers in Maiden's eye, simply, orcs take level 8s, and gatherers take level 50s.. =)
    Leave the core of the game alone
    # Mar 18 2002 at 10:56 AM Rating: Default
    I agree to fix the bugs, reduce lag, etc. but to make it "easier" for people to play (ooh, I can't find my corpse, I don't want to run all that way, I don't want to have to get more keys to get my corpse, blah blah blah)....that ruins the game play. A player gains a lot of eperience in the 1st 10 levels (how to play their character effectively, where to go for food, weapons, safe spots, best loot, xp, etc.). Making it easier to pass through those levels results in less-experienced players at higher levels = more senselss death (oh, I forgot, easy rez's will take care of that). EQ has a particular style of game play, making it easier or more like other similar games, only dilutes it. Personally, if the game gets too easy I'll quit.
    RE: Leave the core of the game alone
    # Mar 18 2002 at 5:04 PM Rating: Default
    leveling is too easy already, takes too long, but is easy to do(in terms of skill neccesary)

    However, corpse retrival being almost removed doesn't neccesarily make a person less experienced... but I rarely die exping anyway...

    The upgrade to dungeons(in terms of exp bonuses) should negate that and more, as in dungeons you really learn what EQ is.
    BARDS! YOUR FORGET BARDS!
    # Mar 18 2002 at 9:40 AM Rating: Default
    bah! all those changes and no imrpoving and fixing of bard songs. they couldve imrpoved lullaby at least......
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