RIP Everquest

synxx · October 2004

The revolving door is spinning, but less are coming inside.

The release of the latest expansions have seen many of the oldest guilds retire from the world of Norath. The addition of 5 more levels, and aa's whos cost are in the 30 hours of grinding range, have finaly broke the wheel of entrapment for many players. The reward system is in no way equal to risk in the Everquest world any longer. For those of us that farmed for years to take Quarm (sort of the uber-baddie) out easily are disalusioned with the way 5 more levels have trivialized the Plains of Power era. When I saw an enchanter with 18k hitpoints, it finaly dawned on me.

This game is still enjoyable, and is still arguably the best mmorpg out there, but for many of us, facing the issue of more then 100 hours straight grind to be on par with the top of the pack possibilities in the new expansions is the straw to break the camels back. The expansions are being released before they work, and that is unforgivable. The programers are begining the efforts to merge servers, which is a clear sign of the spiral of the everquest player base.

This is not a god time to start playing this game, unless you realisticly prepared to grind an untold amount of time, to be met with the truth of guilds dissapearing to venture into the new games being realeased later this year. The flagging processes introduced in PoP are even more daunting and unclear in the newest expansions, corpse retreavel is more difficult as the graveyard and binding practices are totaly phased out. This again promises dissapropriate obstacles to further slow and trap players in the game. The idea is, hold rewards infront of players faces, but make it hard, buggy, and arguos to obtain them, and people will play the game longer.

Instead of new breakthrough content, they just give more of the same, but with the addition of dozens of more time sinks (ie. Augment quests, new rare recipies, tribute, spell runes, etc) to make you do more and more and more to be on par with your fellow players.

The economy has become absolutly terrible. The prices are not set by gamers. They are set by people who speand there lifes manipulating the markets, many of whom make there living doing so by RL money platinum and item sales. Sony has done nothing to combat this, they haven't even made a statement. People are forced to buy play money to compete with a player base which has become more and more about powergaming, and less and less about the social enjoyment that made EQ the game it once was. Inflation is estimated at 400% int he last year in the market community, and estimates of tens of millions of dollars have been made by platinum sellers. Sony surely has a stake in this, if not, then all of there past capitalistic buisness ventures have been leaft behind because the consciense fairy game to town.

The safeguards against the major problems that are turning EQ into a virtual ghetto have been enstated in many games, such as the market systems in FFX1. And the Blizzard staff also promise to head off these kinds of problems before they can rear there ugly heads.

These are my opinions, and I surely respect yours. Thanks.

Nimrod4154 · October 2004

Yes this is sadly true. The game is a great game with no doubt but the community is the only flaw. I played for 3 years off and on WHEN i was a casual gamer and had to end up paying for PP just to keep up with the low end economy. I miss the good old days of East Commonlands(Prexus Server trading area) I just wish the game was as good as it used to be

Games Played:DoAC, EQ, CoH, Lineage 2, Planetside, and Shadowbane.
Games Playing:None:(
Waiting For:WoW, EQII

milisha · October 2004

Sadly this is about exactly why i have quit EQ for now. Being so close to 65 FINALLY when OOW came out...the idea of 5 more lvls to grind and a whole new list of spells i would have to spend an outrageous amount of pp on just burnt me out. I still miss it though.

synxx · October 2004

Yeah, I miss it too.

I recomend finding something else to do to kill time that you enjoy. The EQ craving is worst at night when your bored and you don't remember what you did before EQ. ::::20::

neschria · October 2004

This thread makes me sad because it is true.

~*~
neschria
Bunny Squisher Extraordinaire

Arridon · October 2004

Yeah I quit during the summer. It was just getting old and a lot of people i knew were quitting. I was sick of the bullshit and basically breaking the 10k hps 7k mana 400 aa mark was plenty on a ranger none the less.

I hope EQ2 will be how EQ was in the begining so I can get another good 3 years of play in with good times and by then will have another good option to spend my free time.

ANICANESTAR · October 2004

I started playing eq for around 5 hours a day the first week and ended up not doing anything else for 6 months playing about 12-18 hours a day. I cannot just play a game and be ok at it, i have to be a bad ass. after 6 months I became level 65 with 50 aa and my computer fried on me. I am now stuck with this Mac g4 laptop... and saving for eq2.
I do agree the economy was getting messed up and i also think they didnt create anough new weapons for the beastlord class, we were always stuck with a few choices which didnt look that cool.
Nontheless I Miss EQ alot, over that 6 months i made alot of friends which i am still in contact with and hope to find in eq2. ::::05::

Blue666 · October 2004

its really sad, but its true ::::16::

it will ever comes a new game, like wow or eq2...

let look forward in the future ::::14::

bye

Blue666

Odenathus · October 2004

Actually, I find this an exciting time to be playing EQ. My main character is now lvl 66 and the guild I belong to is close to being Time enabled. The loss of the higher tier guilds (both of them) have merely cleared the way for us.

My alts, none of which are doing so well [as my main] are still all over the lvl of 30, and in most cases, over the lvl of 50. I'm finding the the lvl 50-60 game much more satisfing than I ever have the higher end game.

Those new expansions, PoP, God and OoW, well, I only spend time in the pre-PoP zones or Planes of Power. I have no interest in Gates of Discord or Omens of War. New flagging zones/events annoy me. It's rough enough with the PoP zones, why should I try and duplicate it all in another expansion. but that is a choice I can make, I do not have to play in those zones.

With that said, I must admit, that the exp I gain in the lower end OoW zones, is intense. Also the instance dungeons are nice. No time limit, no competition from other players and some pretty decent drops. My lvl 60 character, at the Wall of Slaughter is earning approx 3% AA exp per kill (and thats with 70% to regular).

Higher end guilds are bailing on EQ. Many of the older players are moving on, also. This is normal. After all, how long can you play one game?! But at the same time, new players are trickling in, the communities are not shrinking noticable. Grouping is just as easy [or hard] as it has always been.

The economy? Well, the economy is inflated by the lack of durability. I mean, think about it, if an item never breaks, why should you buy a new one? If that unbreakable item is tradeable and easy to farm, you can get one for all your characters, why buy one?! The economy is unavoidable, based on the mechanics of the game. You need to face that fact and learn to play with it or around it. It's survivable ::::35::

Yes, I play EQ and I'm proud <lol>
True, it's a blue server, but, it's to late now for me to change.

----------------------------------------
Veni Vidi Castratavi Illegitmos

diSturBeD · October 2004

I loved working the economy in EQ. I felt proud of the plat I aquired and can't wait to do it in EQ2.

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Copeland · October 2004

I've never heard anything so wrong. The new expansion has breathed new life into the game. Alot of my old friends are back and Guild recruiting is much easier since you dont need flags to raid OoW zones. Not sure what your problem is but it took me 30 hours to get from 65-70 and i find the new expansion enables part time players to get elemental level gear without a single flag. OoW is the best expansion since Kunark for the part time player. take care and i hope you find a game you enjoy.

Jhakhm · October 2004

I, too, disagree. The only time that Everquest will be dead is when the players have completely given up. Personally, I think that some of the older servers should do a complete reset... or something like a plague, a bunch of thieves, etc, could steal everyone's equipment and plat, force the economy to become balanced again. Also, when people whine about the economy becoming unbalanced, what they mean is that they can no longer get as much as they used to for their loot. Maybe some sort of system could be in place, where the NPC merchants changed their prices according to the average of what things were going for in the bazaar... But then again, that might spawn all sorts of different problems with trying to make a frickin' buck... Bleh, I don't know.

My point is, EQ isn't dead, nor will it ever be. SOE just needs to pull their heads out of their arses and fix the problems scourging the world of Norrath.

1337est of teh 1337,
-Jhak

Medivh1984 · October 2004

I likewise, must agree with the Original post, the game is finally starting to fade, slowly. As several have mentioned, the good days of everquest have become intense grinding. In all honesty, in the nearly 3 years I played this game, fairly frequently (though Casual Player), my most fun time was up to, or shortly after the release of Luclin. I had alot of fun messing around and talking (socializing in EQ!!!) while waiting for Boats, and enjoyed having to hire a higher level player to escort me by land from Qeynos to Freeport. In the end, I think Everquest was fully killed for my when Planes of Power came out........played for a long time after, but never enjoyed it the same as I did in that first Year. Can anyone else remember the Thrill?? And the Amazment they got in the first few days of Kunark......when they got to see the Massive Boat to Kunark in all it's beaty?!?!???? Those were the days

--- Last time I was on this game on a friends account 6 months ago, all hte boats were still disabled and replaced with "Translocators"...........

punkrock · October 2004

all i got to say is

All great this fall

i will miss the time we hade EQ i will miss you i will rais my sword for the last time for you

THE END

Effect · November 2004

I've been playiung EQ off and one for the last few years and last time I played was this summer and the last expansion I got was LDoN and PoP. I don't think the game is fading at all, in fact those expansions seemed to lessen the grind of the game. But lets be real here, EQ1 has always been about intense grinding. Waiting for boats was boring and just frustrated some people. As did trying to get some high level to help you get across the lands. Now traveling is easier, getting groups or finding a place to hunt due to LDoN is easier. Getting through the teen levels is easier due to parts of Luclin which frees up old world areas. Soloing is easier since finding a decent weapon for a newbie is easier due to the bazaar and that so many better weapons are out there that prices have dropped.

Granted I think a lot of things in these expansions from when Luclin came out were to test out systems that were going to go into Everquest 2 but I think it was for the better. Sure people will leave, that's bound to happen. The game has been around for more then 5 years, how long can a person continue to play a game? It seems like things are being put in to stop certain guilds from taking over now. No longer will certain guilds dominate things like they used to I think. I have to bet that some don't like that. Or like that things are changing. Or maybe they've seen everything. EQ1 isn't the same game it used to be. I think that is because some of the original developers are gone and have been replaced by those that have a different vision for the game, just like the developers for EQ2 have a different vision of their own. As new mmorpg come out, EQ1 has to be flexible and adapt to what the player base wants, expects, or doesn't want to change or they will lose people. While that is bound to happen I think they are still getting new players in.

I just wish they would stop forgetting about the old world. It needs a serious revamp in terms off look (some areas) and in expereience setup from the mobs since its better to hunt in Luclin, Velious, and the Planes then it is in the original world and parts of Kunark.

_______________
EQ2 Qeynos Guild- http://www.imperium-arcanum.com

ElElyon · November 2004

all games will fade, I think 5+ years is really really good though eq had a great run

when eq2 fades, enter eq3

maybe by then, star wars galaxies will be playable ::::31::

I doubt it though...

knives22 · November 2004

heh..EQ is sadly dead.

Otto_Manic · November 2004

I completely agree with the OP as well as with most of you... how very sad. I had so many good times but the possibilty for such things are gone now, there's no reason to go back. As much as it pains me, this game is in its death throes.

Does anyone remember the first time they heard: "OMG!!! zone! ZONE! Dvinn's out!" LOL

Otto!

I'm looking for some friends that I lost contact with over the years...

EQ: Horlain (Firiona Vie)
DAOC: Kaizur (Guinevere)

metalcore · November 2004

My friends who still play EQ said the servers are starting to get quiet.

Even some of the big guilds are having to advertise for members for raids! (completely un heard of)

With EQ2 and WoWs release its not surprising, EQs fate now lies in the success of those 2 games.

xanklar · November 2004

For me I think OoW was a major killer - not the expansion itself, but the fact that SOE brought out the expansion so soon after GoD when many things still hadn't been fixed in GoD as well as nothing been done to address class imbalances that had been around for over a year.

It was the attitude of setting up class liaisons and going through the whole process of top 10 lists of class fixes, with constant feedback of 'this is under discussion'only to have a new expansion and no issues addressed.

I won't go into what class I was (many may guess) but to grind through to the top levels only to be ineffective on a significant scale to the point where the only real gameplay is raiding higher level content more or less as a passenger ... sigh /rant off

Anyway, I think the attitude as a whole shone through in forcing in a new expansion (however good or interesting it may be) at the time they did (with an eye on milking the last few bucks out of those who might jump ship to other releases).

It's also the attitude that will stop me considering EQ2. I don't expect that SOE will suddenly become a different type of organisation when it comes to dealing with similar issues as they develop in EQ2, nor does it excite me since they effectively killed off all my enjoyment over the last 6 or so months. I know enough people through the guild I was in who have not enjoyed EQ2 as much as they'd thought, if at all.

I've had my enjoyment in MMORPG's completely rejuvenated by WoW. At least Blizzard hasn't screwed me over long term and showed a callous disregard for it's member base as yet ! I don't care whether others like/hate WoW or EQ2 - I hope anyone finds something that gives them enjoyment and satisfaction. I know that I'm not the only one though that has been ground down by the SOE-EQ machine and wouldn't ever go back to EQ again.

I don't think EQ is dead, but it will never be as alive as it was again. And despite everything it has offered, and the enjoyment it has wrought until now, I think it is an ending SOE have brought on themselves. Everything has it's day ... and for EQ it's getting close to midnight.

Josh06 · November 2004

I was just reading everyones stories of how they have played EQ for years since it came out but don't be sad there is EQ 2 and many more things with EQ this game isn't over it is still very popular after all these years of it being on PC. I don't worry though because I had never played the game until it was released on the Mac. We are just getting into it which is exciting u guys have EQ 2 and we are learning the ropes of EQ in a whole differnet way than the org EQ PC so it's cool for me I love it.

feel free to email me about my posts ect at: shaniafreak04@yahoo.com

Effect · November 2004

I don't EQ1 is going anywhere. I've been playing EQ2 and loving it but honestly I did enjoy EQ1 more and miss the way certain things were setup in that game when compared with EQ1. EQ2 does some great things but its lacking a certain feeling I got from EQ1, Dark Age of Camelot. That doesn't make it a bad game at all, its great but don't think I'll play past the free month but I feel I'll get my $50 worth. This makes me feel that while a LOT of people will try it out, it won't hook everyone or/and people that were really looking forward might not like how things actually our after finally trying it out. So I don't see EQ1 going anywhere and I don't think SOE does either cause from the HoC chat on Stratics it seems like they have plans for 5 more years and most likely more. If they can continue to upgrade the graphics(they are doing this) the way Dark Age of Camelot is doing then it will still be in the game for a long time to come. Population will go down but that's what happens when you have so many games in the market. Look at the list to the left. It used to just be EQ1, UO, and AC.

_______________
EQ2 Qeynos Guild- http://www.imperium-arcanum.com

Zsavooz · November 2004

I think EQ1 is like a fine wine, the more years under its belt, the better it gets, especially when compared to EQ2 and WOW. Eye candy is one thing, game play is another. I portend a great migration back to EQ1 after a few months when most realize the new gen is just nothing but, new.

GameFrenzy · November 2004

For those of you quitting EQ and want to sell your account, you can sell it at www.game-frenzy.com and for those of you still playing EQ religiously, you can also by upgrades at that site as well. Enjoy and thank you!

Y0lkix · December 2004

Well im by no means any big vet (I only have like a lvl 15 and 13) but for me this game is still very fun. I have no proplem finding low lvls to group with and have managed to pick up some solid loot by being given the opportunity to group with some higher lvl players.

9216544 · December 2004

I loved EQL, it was my favorite MMORPG. Now it seems dead, not alot of people in the zones, makes me feel depressed. Everyone is very friendly there. I dont like how all the characters are twinked from their friends for mains, so if you are new to the game, you are going to suck compared to others.

EQ2 Qeynos Guild- http://www.imperium-arcanum.com

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