Originally posted by Goldknyght Originally posted by Taera Yeah, there were a lot of things that slipped through the cracks, and a lot of things that were intentionally left different. For example, old-school EverQuest meditation (mana regeneration) required the caster to open their spell book, which blocked their entire screen. Later in the game they allowed casters to meditate via the /sit command, without blocking their view...but the progression servers started out with /sit meditation. When I'm sitting, I like to be able to at least watch everyone else fight. I'm glad they left this change out - while more hardcore veterans wanted spellbook meditation back.
the only reason they changed this was because of the new UI. Yes at level 35 you didnt need to use your book to meditate. but when they went to this new UI the spell book doesnt block the whole screen. So they changed it. And personally i could care less about the Meditate it shouldnt of been there in the first place. My problem was the HELL LEVELS. when they took this out (after i did all mine) that was very dissappointing time in my EQ career.
When I was discussing this thread with a friend of mine (I was out lining what I said in my previous post) he mentioned that to him the element that most effected the game in his opinion was removing hell levels. There is no question that you had to earn as you learned.
To me the first real changes that started to affect the game was when the changes to the crafting stations and or the various trade skill kits were designed not to combine unless you had the correct ingredients. To my knowledge that was the first major change that was made to compensate for people making mistakes that were costing them gear and equipment.
I can remember losing gear and equipment by accidentally combining sewing kits, my friend called it the stupid tax. Risk vs Reward couldn't have been better spoken by EQ, the game had consequences, it caused the player to be cognoscente of what was going on around them.
Some may argue that once the Bazaar was introduced the social element started to break down as the EC tunnel was a social gathering place, however this is debatable as people still had to interact for grouping purposes. Nonetheless the Bazaar did seem to trivialize the whole trading process.
There is no question in my mind that POK had an enormous effect on the home cities and or newbie areas, not to mention it alternatively became the starting city, so to speak. POK also had an impact on both Druids and Wizard porters, now everyone could freely travel where ever they wanted.
This semi coincides with the early introduction of City Binders, which was kind of the second major change. This also detracted from the various classes that offered binds, similar to Wizard and Druid porters. This of course was the offering of the various classes before resing became the one size fits all class offering.
Then you have the varying nurfs, granted when one class had some kind of perceived advantage it was a fix, if it were to your disadvantage it was a nurf. Balance has and always will be a point of contention in any game. Though not as much now days as classes seem to share similar abilities.
Everquest was a great game, it had depth, purpose and a reward system that made people want to come back for more. To me Everquest was ground breaking game, I'm not sure the current MMO populace would have liked the original game because it would have required more out of the player than these newer players would be willing to invest and I don't think you'll see another game like EQ for that very reason.
As far as the tutorial, I suppose I have to give SOE the benefit of the doubt here. I believe that they realized that there wasn't that many new people subscribing to the game and those new players needed a more accessible place from which to develop their character and find others to group with.
I personally didn't like the tutorial, however I did see the need for it.
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
I started on the progression server right on release. It was a GREAT idea.
I joined FoH, I quit, I joined RoI.
Then I realized the major flaw in the progression. One guild unlocks something for the whole server. This could have easily been fixed to require a certain number of guilds or characters to progress to unlock the next step. (but of course, if you make that number too big, the top guilds get bored waiting).
Also, during the FIRST part of the servers existence... they forgot to restrict certain things. I forget the name of the zone, but god... the amount of time spent camping Poachers for experience to level. I couldn't tell you how many people were camped in neriak waiting for that one mob to spawn... and then the FoH vs RoI dps contest to see who could get the kill.
I wish progression was always based on player involvement.
Not to turn this into a "bash SOE" thread, but Smed and those who make the decisions for Everquest have failed the game.
The game has been developed in a direction it was not originally intended to go. If WoW has shown anything it is that the "classic EQ" formula is a hit. But instead we have a game without a purpose or identity except to try and fit into the NEW lore of EQ2. Everquest was left behind to die years ago. Like so many other SOE titles, only those fans who remember it in it's glory keep it going.
SOE does NOT know how to make good games, or market either. After resisting for years for joining the "SOE is bad" bandwagon, I have to add my name to the role.
I played on the combine, just until i got my account hacked and SoE refused to help me because the credit card i used to pay the game was different from the one i used for the frees :P
But i have to say that until then it was an enjoyable experience, it remind me of the old EQ days despite some minor issues like some upgraded loot which outdated classic items.
If they decided to start a classic server or just a longer progression server i would indeed join it again.
Well I suppose I do not have much room to talk about the subject considering I came so late into the game with SoL, but the whole reason I bought the PC back years ago while in the military was because of Everquest. Sure I liked Return to Castle Wolfenstein among other games, but nothing quite gave me that aww and chill factor as EQ had. I remember my first character being a Barbarian Beastlord and traversing the artic wastelands in the dark and seeing my first skeletons. To this day just thinking about it gives me goose bumps. It was not that it was scary, but that it was that good. The sights, the sounds, the imagination etc. all made it worth while. Plus the price tag as I recalled was not too much a month.
Before I even purchased EQ a fellow soldier use to play EQ and it's first two expansions heavily. Besides Star Craft that was all he would play was EQ. I ended up at first not paying attention to the game, but after realising the depth and character customization and the amount of races and job classes, I could not learn enough about it. I use to sit in his chair and read his EQ book which was huge, not so much for the instructions of the game, but more for the player info of job classes and skills and races and even more indepth stuff such as stories and gods etc. I remember one story inparticular about a dwarf in a bar and how he was about to strangle another dwarf for it's statements about the war or some thing. I can not remember if the old proud dwarf killed the other or bought him a drink after his story.
In either case and more to the point I have played many paid and free MMORPGs... FF11, Horizons, Asheron's Call 1 and 2, EQ, Shadowbane, Dark Age of Camelot etc. plus free ones like Knight Online, Rubies of Eventide and more I cannot even remember this late at night... besides EQ and the now free Shadowbane... I have never came back to an MMORPG to play again. I have left EQ at least three times... I sort of have an ADD problem when it comes to games... I think my highest character was a 30 some thing Dark Elf Necromancer... even though I had not even scratched the surfice of the game, my mind said I was bored with it and I moved on again and again.
Yet even to this day EQ has a special place in my heart. Some say it was SoL that tipped the tide to bad gaming while some say including me it was PoP... regardless, I remember my old fellow soldier sitting there for hours just talking to people on line, some friends, some new people and trying to create a raid, then while on it just sitting there to mediatate and regain mana and heal their wounds. It was all about the "Role Playing" at that time... imagine doing that in a MMO"RPG" game... who would have thought it plus the exploration. (Sarcastic) I have heard stories where it would take a very long time to gain even one piece of cheap armor that was worth a lot back in the original days that now is common practice after slaying a few beasts. And all the old towns are empty for the most part... every one logs on and the first thing they do or did when I played was run to a portal or some thing... what about all the great adventures of the old realm? I know half these people are new and probably never even played EQ before and yet there they were trekking into new realms that should not have even been seen yet. What a waste. That more than any thing probably stopped me from getting back into it... that and the higher price tag.
Now here I am wanting to play the old EQ and since it would be the old version a nice "old" price per month would be nice as well. I am now playing EQ:Champions of Norrath just trying to get some feel for it. Has any one played EQ Online Frontiers for the PS2? Any thing like the old EQ? Sorry for this long post... but this discussion was the whole reason I even registered for the site. One day I hope to meet you all in the old EQ game world... perhaps we could sit and break bread and drink water and wine for a while and then go slay some giants.
Comments
To each their own, sadly - there's no way to please anyone, all the time
the POP raids were some of my favorite progression so far!
Laura "Taera" Genender
Community Manager
MMORPG.com
When I was discussing this thread with a friend of mine (I was out lining what I said in my previous post) he mentioned that to him the element that most effected the game in his opinion was removing hell levels. There is no question that you had to earn as you learned.
To me the first real changes that started to affect the game was when the changes to the crafting stations and or the various trade skill kits were designed not to combine unless you had the correct ingredients. To my knowledge that was the first major change that was made to compensate for people making mistakes that were costing them gear and equipment.
I can remember losing gear and equipment by accidentally combining sewing kits, my friend called it the stupid tax. Risk vs Reward couldn't have been better spoken by EQ, the game had consequences, it caused the player to be cognoscente of what was going on around them.
Some may argue that once the Bazaar was introduced the social element started to break down as the EC tunnel was a social gathering place, however this is debatable as people still had to interact for grouping purposes. Nonetheless the Bazaar did seem to trivialize the whole trading process.
There is no question in my mind that POK had an enormous effect on the home cities and or newbie areas, not to mention it alternatively became the starting city, so to speak. POK also had an impact on both Druids and Wizard porters, now everyone could freely travel where ever they wanted.
This semi coincides with the early introduction of City Binders, which was kind of the second major change. This also detracted from the various classes that offered binds, similar to Wizard and Druid porters. This of course was the offering of the various classes before resing became the one size fits all class offering.
Then you have the varying nurfs, granted when one class had some kind of perceived advantage it was a fix, if it were to your disadvantage it was a nurf. Balance has and always will be a point of contention in any game. Though not as much now days as classes seem to share similar abilities.
Everquest was a great game, it had depth, purpose and a reward system that made people want to come back for more. To me Everquest was ground breaking game, I'm not sure the current MMO populace would have liked the original game because it would have required more out of the player than these newer players would be willing to invest and I don't think you'll see another game like EQ for that very reason.
As far as the tutorial, I suppose I have to give SOE the benefit of the doubt here. I believe that they realized that there wasn't that many new people subscribing to the game and those new players needed a more accessible place from which to develop their character and find others to group with.
I personally didn't like the tutorial, however I did see the need for it.
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
I started on the progression server right on release. It was a GREAT idea.
I joined FoH, I quit, I joined RoI.
Then I realized the major flaw in the progression. One guild unlocks something for the whole server. This could have easily been fixed to require a certain number of guilds or characters to progress to unlock the next step. (but of course, if you make that number too big, the top guilds get bored waiting).
Also, during the FIRST part of the servers existence... they forgot to restrict certain things. I forget the name of the zone, but god... the amount of time spent camping Poachers for experience to level. I couldn't tell you how many people were camped in neriak waiting for that one mob to spawn... and then the FoH vs RoI dps contest to see who could get the kill.
I wish progression was always based on player involvement.
Not to turn this into a "bash SOE" thread, but Smed and those who make the decisions for Everquest have failed the game.
The game has been developed in a direction it was not originally intended to go. If WoW has shown anything it is that the "classic EQ" formula is a hit. But instead we have a game without a purpose or identity except to try and fit into the NEW lore of EQ2. Everquest was left behind to die years ago. Like so many other SOE titles, only those fans who remember it in it's glory keep it going.
SOE does NOT know how to make good games, or market either. After resisting for years for joining the "SOE is bad" bandwagon, I have to add my name to the role.
I think there will be more players to come into this game.So i decide to join them.
I played on the combine, just until i got my account hacked and SoE refused to help me because the credit card i used to pay the game was different from the one i used for the frees :P
But i have to say that until then it was an enjoyable experience, it remind me of the old EQ days despite some minor issues like some upgraded loot which outdated classic items.
If they decided to start a classic server or just a longer progression server i would indeed join it again.
Well I suppose I do not have much room to talk about the subject considering I came so late into the game with SoL, but the whole reason I bought the PC back years ago while in the military was because of Everquest. Sure I liked Return to Castle Wolfenstein among other games, but nothing quite gave me that aww and chill factor as EQ had. I remember my first character being a Barbarian Beastlord and traversing the artic wastelands in the dark and seeing my first skeletons. To this day just thinking about it gives me goose bumps. It was not that it was scary, but that it was that good. The sights, the sounds, the imagination etc. all made it worth while. Plus the price tag as I recalled was not too much a month.
Before I even purchased EQ a fellow soldier use to play EQ and it's first two expansions heavily. Besides Star Craft that was all he would play was EQ. I ended up at first not paying attention to the game, but after realising the depth and character customization and the amount of races and job classes, I could not learn enough about it. I use to sit in his chair and read his EQ book which was huge, not so much for the instructions of the game, but more for the player info of job classes and skills and races and even more indepth stuff such as stories and gods etc. I remember one story inparticular about a dwarf in a bar and how he was about to strangle another dwarf for it's statements about the war or some thing. I can not remember if the old proud dwarf killed the other or bought him a drink after his story.
In either case and more to the point I have played many paid and free MMORPGs... FF11, Horizons, Asheron's Call 1 and 2, EQ, Shadowbane, Dark Age of Camelot etc. plus free ones like Knight Online, Rubies of Eventide and more I cannot even remember this late at night... besides EQ and the now free Shadowbane... I have never came back to an MMORPG to play again. I have left EQ at least three times... I sort of have an ADD problem when it comes to games... I think my highest character was a 30 some thing Dark Elf Necromancer... even though I had not even scratched the surfice of the game, my mind said I was bored with it and I moved on again and again.
Yet even to this day EQ has a special place in my heart. Some say it was SoL that tipped the tide to bad gaming while some say including me it was PoP... regardless, I remember my old fellow soldier sitting there for hours just talking to people on line, some friends, some new people and trying to create a raid, then while on it just sitting there to mediatate and regain mana and heal their wounds. It was all about the "Role Playing" at that time... imagine doing that in a MMO"RPG" game... who would have thought it plus the exploration. (Sarcastic) I have heard stories where it would take a very long time to gain even one piece of cheap armor that was worth a lot back in the original days that now is common practice after slaying a few beasts. And all the old towns are empty for the most part... every one logs on and the first thing they do or did when I played was run to a portal or some thing... what about all the great adventures of the old realm? I know half these people are new and probably never even played EQ before and yet there they were trekking into new realms that should not have even been seen yet. What a waste. That more than any thing probably stopped me from getting back into it... that and the higher price tag.
Now here I am wanting to play the old EQ and since it would be the old version a nice "old" price per month would be nice as well. I am now playing EQ:Champions of Norrath just trying to get some feel for it. Has any one played EQ Online Frontiers for the PS2? Any thing like the old EQ? Sorry for this long post... but this discussion was the whole reason I even registered for the site. One day I hope to meet you all in the old EQ game world... perhaps we could sit and break bread and drink water and wine for a while and then go slay some giants.