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Hi all, just a hypthetical question....
I remember before the POK stones, EQ players seemed to 'need' each other more. More grouping, more needing the services of other players. It seems to me that the 'instant travel' aspect of the POK stones has drastically changed EQ. So the question is: Would EQ be a better game if the POK stones simply vanished?
The Patch notes would go something like this...
New patch notes: Dark skies rained down immense, turbulent magic the like the world of Norrath has ever seen! The plane of knowledge has been severely damaged resulting in almost total destruction. Those that were bound in the POK will now appear at their starting cities. Those wishing to reach far off destinations will need to ask for the services of a kind druid or Wizard, or invest in a fast mount, and the Boats are now fully functional travelling between all continents of Norrath!! Travellers beware new dangers have shown up on the roads of Norrath travelling alone is not recommended!
To me, the sheer size of EQ is the magic, requiring on people having to help each other- insta travel across EQ kinda killed the game in my opinion.
Comments
No.
PoK stones actually improve my gaming experience and contribute for me staying longer in EQ.
Removing them would just confirm I did a good choice when I cancel and quit EQ.
- "If I understand you well, you are telling me until next time. " - Ren
Hi Anofalye, I know what you mean in some ways the POK stones did make the game better..but made it so much smaller too for me.
In World of warcraft I like their compromise, you basically have to run to every corner of World of Warcraft by foot, and discover flight paths along the way, so you dont have to run it again. But still you have to spend a few minutes on the back of a Bird type creature to get to where you are going.
I would like to see them taken out. I think they brought a negative aspect to the game - they made it more of a video game and less of a virtual world of fantasy.
I wouldn't mind a compromise, however
Planes travel has always been restricted to those of level 46+. Why not make the PoK books the same way, the same restriction?
You start players in the Tutorial > Crescent Reach (with the option of starting in traditional cities) and you really don't need access to PoK (for lowbies).
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My dog barks some. Mentally you picture my dog, but I have not told you the type of dog which I have. Perhaps you even picture Toto, from "The Wizard of Oz." But I warn you, my dog is always with me.
PoK stones were a good development in an otherwise terrible expansion. Actually, I liked the GROUPING opportunities from the expansion but it was the zerging, repeatedly and daily or every other day, for flagging for more zerging. The central focus went from being a community of friends and strangers in a group and doing dungeon crawls to being a zerg-guild and zerging with strangers who are also in the same guild.
Everyone loved EQ 1 when you, with a few friends, do camps and dungeons. There were solo camps too, at least if you were a high enough level, to camp some gear for friends, to sell, or for an alt character. The dungeons were fun and challenging. The players relied on each other's skills and abilities to play their class well. In zerging, you almost just need people to show up, and you hope you have enough Clerics and an equipped tank.
We liked to raid too, especially when it was once in a while. Raiding is most exciting when it is a semi-rare event. To take down that dragon, once in a while when it is not zerging but like 2 or 3 groups, is a ton of fun. Or, when the rare Lord of whatever spawns in a dungeon is very exciting. You sometimes could one group them, sometimes take them out with 3 people, and others you needed like 2 groups. Great fun! When you are forced to raid and forced to join certain guilds to raid you often lost your sense of community and fun.
Boycott EA Games. RIP Sim City.
When I started playing EQ, there was gold to be made for the most common of things....So I rolled up a Druid.
Remember "OOC/ "Can someone bind me at the main gate please? I will pay 5pp!" That ended with the damn soul binders.
Then I get high enough to make LOTS of PP for gate spells.....and guess what....POK comes around...seems a honest druid could'nt make a decent living anymore....
Mayber I should of stayed with an enchanter....they made money hand over fist with KIE.....
Coming from a nerfed TLing/soulbinding wizzy, i heart the POK. I can't imagine leveling up an alt or playing with noob friends without being able to use the POK. No thanks!
EQ was a challenging game. People had to earn their way through it. As time went on little inches were being given and people were wanting a mile. Once SOE relented and started modifying the game to keep people's interest, mainly those newer players with shorter attentions spans who would easily fatigue if they had any kind of down time.
If you want to see all the changes over time you can go to Alla's and see how quickly the game started to dumb down:
http://everquest.allakhazam.com/history/patches.html
You'll have to click on the various Years hyper links to see it in more detail.
The Old Timers Guild
Laid back, not so serious, no drama.
All about the fun!
www.oldtimersguild.com
An opinion should be the result of thought, not a substitute for it. - Jef Mallett
People bemoan this but for me the problem was pop itself. That utterly rubbish expansion had absolutely no travel or exploration to it. Usually, you move onto a new expansion and solely stay in that expansion; When kunark was out it was exploring and xping in Kunark, when velious was out it was exploring and xping in velious. Now PoP, Ldon, and LoY had very little land-mass to actually explore, this is what I saw as the problem. The Pok stones ok may have had some influence but there were other factors as well. (by the way weren't there pots in TD pre the stones that people used to travel around?)