I dont think its possible to make it toobig. However where they made their error imo is in taking away the purpose of the older zones.
Instead of making a new zone on the moon for the bazaar, the old starting cities should have each had a bazaar section that was linked to each other so you could still shop and buy anything from anywhere but did it in the home towns.
In making PoK with ports to everywhere and all craft shops, spell shops, you name it, they removed 90% of the reasons to ever return to the original world of Norrath.
Making the newer zones have far better exp, loot, and safety also drew everyone away from the core world and isolated it further.
wow, i couldnt agree any more. You explained it perfectly. The good thing was the addition of the last expansion, Lost Dungeons of Norrath. This placed recruiting camps in the old world, basically making the older zones more populous. I remember EC....and taking the boat from BB to Freeport
Well I can tell you one thing. I have just returned to these boards after being off playing AC2 again, DAOC again, SWG again, SB again, and still I am adrift, looking waiting hoping, for the next EQ. I would just go back to EQ1, but it really is old. Perhaps on a new sever I could pull it off for a month or so, but these kinds of games one plays for the community, not the game perse. I am waiting on WoW, Lineage 2, and EQ2 personally. I would try FFxI but.. I hear that the language converter (translator) does not really work all that well, and a good deal of people dont speak english who play.
Forever seekings a mmorpg to fill the gap, that was made when EQ got REALLY popular, and ruined the pre-existing communities (RP, and non). I'll let you all know when I find it.
FINBAR finbar@icestorm.net ---------------------------------------------- EQ (release to lvl 59) DAOC (release to lvl 50) AC (Beta) AC2 (Beta to Lvl 50) AO (Beta) Neocron (Beta) WW2 (Beta) Eve Online (Beta) Planet Side (Beta) Second Life Online (Beta) War Craft 3 (Beta) Black Moon Chronicle (Beta-End) SB (Beta) SWG (Beta) ---------------------------------------------- Now Playing: Planet Side
Plains of Knowledge = Easier to solo. Less need for other players. TONS of more $$$$$$$$$ for SONY and Variant.
Plains of Knowledge = Less fun gameplay for players. Less dependancy on other players. Just buy PoP and you can zap/teleport anywhere instantly saving 30mins, to HOURS of travel time.
This means less players going through the zones. Many players never even visiting some zones Ever again! Same reasons the boats and ships are all empty. Same reasons all the cities are empty. There is no reason to regularly go inside any city except maybe for a quest. But to buy and sell stuff? One can go to the Bazaar.
Oh yeah, when I last played, I still found a good amount of players though. Roughly 8-10 outside of Queynos, and in the Gnoll dungeon. And in Highkeep.
But yeah, I'd rarely see more than 8 players in a zone. I still see at minimum 1-2 no matter what. It'd be something if you played and were the ONLY ONE in a zone lol!
Everything you said they could have done. But they did not do it on purpose.
Variant, and SONY decided they could make even more $$$$$$ charging players to buy the bazaar expansion. Instead of just turning a building in the cities into the Bazaar.
Funny thing is in every single other MMORPG, from the most low budget one like [b]Runescape[/b], to the most newest one like [b]Star Wars Galaxies[/b], they all have a Bazaar/Market building in town. And there is no extra charge for players to use it.
depend on the server really i played on stormhammer recently and seems 80% of all the oldbies transferred over there do to there being alot more gm related events and such it get pretty crowded in that server but other than that i just signed back up started playin eq again.and yeah i miss the old zone like EC and butcherblock but noone hunts butcherblock anymore because the ag camps dont pay well anymore they dont have the 3 plat items lol.
Lost Dungeons of Norrath revitalized the old world zones. There are 70+ people in butcherblock daily, 30-40+ in EC, Everfrost, and Ro.
Planes of Power made it easier to solo? Gimme a stinkin break. MOB's that hit for 800+ are not easy to solo. Unless you were talking about the Plane of Knowledge. I fail to understand how a non-combat zone made it easier to solo. The books made it easier to move around, that's it.
Less people in the old world zones makes sense. Better loots, better experience, and overall a better playing enviornment in the new zones. How is that a bad thing? Uh-oh, the game is progressing and being improved, it must suck now.
The bazaar made trading among players five hundred times more efficient than pre-luclin East Commons trading.
Right now, SOE is in the process of revamping old world zones and adding more zones to the basic framework. The Hole was recently revamped. So was Droga and Nurga, and Cazic-Thule a little bit ago. Plane of Hate was revamped, and Veksar was added. The Legacy of Ykesha expansion WAS the old world, just a part of it you havn't seen before. Lost Dungeons of Norrath was just that, more zones added to the framework of the original Everquest. The next expansion will be doing the same thing.
Pay attention to whats happening to the game, and it might stop sucking.
... Oasis and those stupid dock-training peices of crap were annoying anyway.
Variant, and SONY decided they could make even more $$$$$$ charging players to buy the bazaar expansion. Instead of just turning a building in the cities into the Bazaar.
The bazaar function was not put into effect until a few months after the release of Shadows of Luclin. It was an improvement to the game, not a cash crop. This stupid conspiracy crap is getting irritating.
If you havn't noticed already, /auction is usable in every single zone. You don't need the bazaar to sell and buy things.
I played EQ the first few releases...it was wonderful...and just damn amazing at the time.....I will never forget climbing to the top of a tower in the plains -- turning into a tree, casting lev and jumping off...this flying tree shooting across the plains....it was funny as hell and fun....
too bad the didn't let tree's lev long after that.
The one thing that i have yet to see matched is the High Fantasy of EQ...the mystery...but the gameplay just...got to be a disgusting rat race and it sounds from the posts here like more of the same....
I hope the EQ2 developers are brave and try a few new things instead of repeating past mistakes...but for now I have my hopes on WoW
Originally posted by Tobold I looked at everything. Lauged once more at the now even more outdated graphics. Logged off and uninstalled EQ again. Forever, this time. I'll wait for EQ2.
Why wait for the next generation of a totally boring game concept that is outadet by eons? - It doesn't make sense.
Ok... Outdated? I am pretty tired of people who havent even givin this game a chance because the graphics arent as great as these Repeatative pieces of eye candy coming out. Everquest is a well rounded game in my opinion. You people say its empty... thats because if they just let people play in the same zone all the time YOU WOULD BE COMPLAINING THAT ITS GETS OLD AND THERES NO NEW PLACES TO GO! I played both FF Online and SWG to see how they did against EQ. It just frustrats me that these two games get higher ratings than EQ. FF Online has like 20 models for monsters and all you do is missions to earn money, same with SWG. There is no story or quests to earn good items, like SWG where u go to a terminal and select a mission with lame stories behind them and either go kill animals to get exp and money or just run to a town and give somthing to an NPC. On everquest you can join guilds and go on raids and fight creativly designed monsters. Latly people only like the games because how the graphics look. But i bet most of u that say EQ sucks hasent played a MMORPG for more than a year then gave up. And you cant really fully judge a game like FF online because it hasnt been out long enough for you to think anything about it. People buy the game, And a day later tell somone its an awsome game because the graphics are good. I have been playing EQ for 3 years now and i always go back because it has somthing that most games dont have. It doesnt make the only important think in a game money. You dont go do missions so u can buy armor. You got battle for your equipment do quests with the help of a large group of people and Work for items longer than a day, and i havent done a mission that takes longer than a day on SWG. And that brings me to the point of what i think corrupts games like SWG and FF Online. Having only player made items makes money the most important thing in a game, and thats not what an RPG should be about.
Even as a N00b I dont have a hard time finding a group.. I guesse there may have been more ppl before I started playing, but im content with the number of ppl.
Yea, it is unfortunate all the new content has taken over. I remember not being able to move in EC tunnel because of the amount of people trading there. I remember when people would actually group and kill stuff for EXP in the Karana's.... sigh such great memories.
Variant, and SONY decided they could make even more $$$$$$ charging players to buy the bazaar expansion. Instead of just turning a building in the cities into the Bazaar.
The bazaar function was not put into effect until a few months after the release of Shadows of Luclin. It was an improvement to the game, not a cash crop. This stupid conspiracy crap is getting irritating.
If you havn't noticed already, /auction is usable in every single zone. You don't need the bazaar to sell and buy things.
Let me respond with your own quote
"""" The bazaar made trading among players five hundred times more efficient than pre-luclin East Commons trading.""""""""
Thus, players are required to BUY the bazaar expansion. How many players do you now see trading in the Tunnels? Where do players go if they want to buy or sell items?
The /auction command exists yes, but is useless if there is a limited or no people around to buy or sell with.
The Bazaar does not come with the EQ game. One must buy it. One must pay for it.
No conspiricy there, just a fact. If players in EQ want to ever get serious about the game, they must go to the bazaar. If they want to go to the bazaar, they must open their wallet/purse and pay SONY even more $$$$$ for a game mechanic, game function, that takes almost nothing to program, that other old and brand new MMORPGs have already included in their games.
SWG is the MMORPG with the best, and most advanced Bazaar/buy/sell system out of every MMORPG out, and in developement. Its players do not have to buy it. It automatically comes with the game.
People who play EQ, must at minumum make 2 purchases - buy the EQ game and the EQ bazaar.
VCRfooz """"I fail to understand how a non-combat zone made it easier to solo. The books made it easier to move around, that's it."""""
PoP is not a bad thing. I simply mentioned how it made it easier to solo which means players are less likely to either stay in the same zone, or travel through zones. Which means emptier zones.
The much easier, almost instant travel means far less players (solo and groups) traveling through zones on their way to other zones. Which means emptier zones.
For the solo player this means having to rely less on other players for teleporting, as well as protection when they were stuck having to travel through other zones to get where they wanted to go.
No conspiricy there, just a fact. If players in EQ want to ever get serious about the game, they must go to the bazaar. If they want to go to the bazaar, they must open their wallet/purse and pay SONY even more $$$$$ for a game mechanic, game function, that takes almost nothing to program, that other old and brand new MMORPGs have already included in their games.
SWG is the MMORPG with the best, and most advanced Bazaar/buy/sell system out of every MMORPG out, and in developement. Its players do not have to buy it. It automatically comes with the game.
Well first of all, That Bazaar is not the only thing you buy with the expansion... Its just like any other expansion, it has new zones and new places to explore and you make it seem like thats the only thing you get...
And SWG dosn't have the best Bazzar mode because the best bazaar mode would just give u the item when u buy it... In SWG you have to go where ever the item was entered. Which means if it was on another planet you would have to pay to get there to retrieve the item and that gets a little irritating.
No conspiricy there, just a fact. If players in EQ want to ever get serious about the game, they must go to the bazaar. If they want to go to the bazaar, they must open their wallet/purse and pay SONY even more $$$$$ for a game mechanic, game function, that takes almost nothing to program, that other old and brand new MMORPGs have already included in their games. .... People who play EQ, must at minumum make 2 purchases - buy the EQ game and the EQ bazaar.
At this point, if you are going to buy into EQ, you would most likely start with EQ Evolution, which is $24.95 on amazon for everything up to and including Legacy of Ykesha, so a person who wants to play EQ *now* is only paying ONCE for the game INCLUDING THE BAZAAR.
A lot of buying and selling goes on via /auc in the Plane of Knowledge on the server I played on. Not as much as the bazaar, granted, but if you want to buy something, chances are, someone in PoK will have one they are willing to part with. I admit that this involves buying another expansion, but it doesn't involve buying the bazaar functionality.
Also, you don't have to buy a lot of equipment if you are really serious. I had to start over from scratch, and I managed to get decent gear without resorting to the bazaar. After 6 months, people looked at my character's equipment and lamented not being able to afford stuff like that, and I had to tell them that the only thing I bought was the haste belt-- and then I replaced that with one I looted. I worked my little gnomish butt off for everything I had-- nothing bought, nothing MQ'd.
You are right. It should have been added to the old world, and for free, preferably in a faction neutral location. And they didn't do it that way. The bazaar was supposed to have been a selling point for Luclin, even though it didn't make it in until a loooong time after the release of that expansion.
[EDIT: change in wording, tone]
~*~ neschria Bludgeoner of Bunnies
... This is where I draw the line: __________________.
No conspiricy there, just a fact. If players in EQ want to ever get serious about the game, they must go to the bazaar. If they want to go to the bazaar, they must open their wallet/purse and pay SONY even more $$$$$ for a game mechanic, game function, that takes almost nothing to program, that other old and brand new MMORPGs have already included in their games.
SWG is the MMORPG with the best, and most advanced Bazaar/buy/sell system out of every MMORPG out, and in developement. Its players do not have to buy it. It automatically comes with the game.
Well first of all, That Bazaar is not the only thing you buy with the expansion... Its just like any other expansion, it has new zones and new places to explore and you make it seem like thats the only thing you get...
You missed my point. Players can play EQ and have fun in EQ without buying any of the expansions..... except for the Bazaar because it is required.
And SWG dosn't have the best Bazzar mode because the best bazaar mode would just give u the item when u buy it... In SWG you have to go where ever the item was entered. Which means if it was on another planet you would have to pay to get there to retrieve the item and that gets a little irritating.
If to you the best ever Bazaar would automatically give you the item as soon as you buy it, then you are the only person out of the roughly 2 million MMORPG gamers who feels this way.
BTW, in SWG you can so instantly get an item as soon as you pay for it.
- If I put something up for sale and you are on the same planet as me, you simply come in from the wilderness and buy it, and pick it up.
- In SWG one can sell items while they are offline, or off adventuring.
- In SWG one can also buy items while they are offline, or off adventuring.
- In SWG there are 8 planets, each with the same playable landsurface as the entire EQ game. Each server can hold a max of 12k players online at the same time....... 12,000 players forced to crowd into 1 spot to sell and buy? Or everyone able to buy items almost no matter where they are, and able to sell items almost no matter where they are? Which is better?
And of course if the item that was put up for sale is being sold on another planet, one needs to travel to the other planet to get it. This is realistic, and adds to game immersion. It also makes it easier for the seller, and buyer. Instead of like in EQ which forces the seller and buyer to be online at the same time, not be able to go off adventuring while buying or selling, and to meet at 1 spot in the entire game.
You call having to travel to other planets irritating. The majority of players call traveling around planet hopping fun. And more realistic than having it be the other way around.
No conspiricy there, just a fact. If players in EQ want to ever get serious about the game, they must go to the bazaar. If they want to go to the bazaar, they must open their wallet/purse and pay SONY even more $$$$$ for a game mechanic, game function, that takes almost nothing to program, that other old and brand new MMORPGs have already included in their games. .... People who play EQ, must at minumum make 2 purchases - buy the EQ game and the EQ bazaar.
At this point, if you are going to buy into EQ, you would most likely start with EQ Evolution, which is $24.95 on amazon for everything up to and including Legacy of Ykesha, so a person who wants to play EQ *now* is only paying ONCE for the game INCLUDING THE BAZAAR.
A lot of buying and selling goes on via /auc in the Plane of Knowledge on the server I played on. Not as much as the bazaar, granted, but if you want to buy something, chances are, someone in PoK will have one they are willing to part with. I admit that this involves buying another expansion, but it doesn't involve buying the bazaar functionality.
Also, you don't have to buy a lot of equipment if you are really serious. I had to start over from scratch, and I managed to get decent gear without resorting to the bazaar. After 6 months, people looked at my character's equipment and lamented not being able to afford stuff like that, and I had to tell them that the only thing I bought was the haste belt-- and then I replaced that with one I looted. I worked my little gnomish butt off for everything I had-- nothing bought, nothing MQ'd.
You are right. It should have been added to the old world, and for free, preferably in a faction neutral location. And they didn't do it that way. The bazaar was supposed to have been a selling point for Luclin, even though it didn't make it in until a loooong time after the release of that expansion.
[EDIT: change in wording, tone]
~*~ neschria Bludgeoner of Bunnies
Well yes of course at this point.... right now. LOL. (Especially with EQ2 around the corner. What new player is going to now start playing EQ and invest in EQ when he/she can play EQ2?)
But as even you admit, it was originailly intended for players to make a minimum of 2 purchases if they decided to get into EQ.
Oh, well, you're right about that... and you have to pity all of us suckers who paid $50 for the game, then $30 for each expansion (except Legacy of Ykesha at $18). I haven't gotten LDoN or GoD, though I might, if I decide to play again. Or Not. I think it has just about been expanded to death, and I am not sure how much more content *I* need, personally.
~*~ neschria Bludgeoner of Bunnies
... This is where I draw the line: __________________.
Originally posted by neschria Oh, well, you're right about that... and you have to pity all of us suckers who paid $50 for the game, then $30 for each expansion (except Legacy of Ykesha at $18). I haven't gotten LDoN or GoD, though I might, if I decide to play again. Or Not. I think it has just about been expanded to death, and I am not sure how much more content *I* need, personally.
~*~ neschria Bludgeoner of Bunnies
Well, I wouldn't call anyone a "sucker" for buying all the expansions. My main point is with just 1 of the "expansions" and that is the Bazaar. Because the Bazaar is 100% necessary to buy in order to get into the game. The original basic game, as well as the rest of the expansions.
It would've been intresting if more EQ players had said or made a petition and thousands signed it saying "We don't want an extra charge for the bazaar since it should have and could have been in the original game. Since it takes very little to program it and have it downloaded as a patch."
Many have posted saying the Bazaar could've simply been some city buildings turned into bazaars and stores which would've given players more reasons for visiting towns and cities after getting past newbie levels.
Originally posted by xplororor Well, I wouldn't call anyone a "sucker" for buying all the expansions. My main point is with just 1 of the "expansions" and that is the Bazaar. Because the Bazaar is 100% necessary to buy in order to get into the game. The original basic game, as well as the rest of the expansions.
It would've been intresting if more EQ players had said or made a petition and thousands signed it saying "We don't want an extra charge for the bazaar since it should have and could have been in the original game. Since it takes very little to program it and have it downloaded as a patch."
Many have posted saying the Bazaar could've simply been some city buildings turned into bazaars and stores which would've given players more reasons for visiting towns and cities after getting past newbie levels.
Different, spread out bazaars would have been cool, even with people standing as vendors (like the bazaar as it exists). A few tents in the newbie areas or one zone over (i.e. Toxx for Erudin and Paineel) where people could set up to sell would be great, and they could still add such a thing, if they had any interest. I think it would be a good thing for people selling low-to-mid level gear and cultural armor/cultural crafting supplies, if they had a place to set up your traderbot near existing starter cities.
They haven't been particularly good at shifting value back into older zones at all, though. That's a topic for a whole 'nother thread though.
I could argue that the bazaar isn't all that necessary to playing the game, but I realize that it has been a long time since I played EQ without an existing social network. It's not so hard if you have friends willing to help you go out and get your stuff without buying it, and it is really easy to get along if you have tradeskiller friends that you can /tell when you want something you'd have to get from the bazaar otherwise. I can say that I went to the bazaar very rarely myself, and then only to buy gate potions when I couldn't find a shaman online to make them for me-- but, of course, that presupposes a social network that includes shamans who make gate potions. It would be difficult to start EQ cold without the bazaar, aside from buying in auction in PoK (which I have already mentioned *also* requires buying an expansion.)
~*~ neschria Bludgeoner of Bunnies
... This is where I draw the line: __________________.
Comments
I dont think its possible to make it too big. However where they made their error imo is in taking away the purpose of the older zones.
Instead of making a new zone on the moon for the bazaar, the old starting cities should have each had a bazaar section that was linked to each other so you could still shop and buy anything from anywhere but did it in the home towns.
In making PoK with ports to everywhere and all craft shops, spell shops, you name it, they removed 90% of the reasons to ever return to the original world of Norrath.
Making the newer zones have far better exp, loot, and safety also drew everyone away from the core world and isolated it further.
wow, i couldnt agree any more. You explained it perfectly. The good thing was the addition of the last expansion, Lost Dungeons of Norrath. This placed recruiting camps in the old world, basically making the older zones more populous. I remember EC....and taking the boat from BB to Freeport
Well I can tell you one thing. I have just returned to these boards after being off playing AC2 again, DAOC again, SWG again, SB again, and still I am adrift, looking waiting hoping, for the next EQ. I would just go back to EQ1, but it really is old. Perhaps on a new sever I could pull it off for a month or so, but these kinds of games one plays for the community, not the game perse. I am waiting on WoW, Lineage 2, and EQ2 personally. I would try FFxI but.. I hear that the language converter (translator) does not really work all that well, and a good deal of people dont speak english who play.
Forever seekings a mmorpg to fill the gap, that was made when EQ got REALLY popular, and ruined the pre-existing communities (RP, and non). I'll let you all know when I find it.
FINBAR finbar@icestorm.net
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EQ (release to lvl 59)
DAOC (release to lvl 50)
AC (Beta)
AC2 (Beta to Lvl 50)
AO (Beta)
Neocron (Beta)
WW2 (Beta)
Eve Online (Beta)
Planet Side (Beta)
Second Life Online (Beta)
War Craft 3 (Beta)
Black Moon Chronicle (Beta-End)
SB (Beta)
SWG (Beta)
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Now Playing: Planet Side
FINBAR
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Plains of Knowledge = Easier to solo. Less need for other players. TONS of more $$$$$$$$$ for SONY and Variant.
Plains of Knowledge = Less fun gameplay for players. Less dependancy on other players. Just buy PoP and you can zap/teleport anywhere instantly saving 30mins, to HOURS of travel time.
This means less players going through the zones. Many players never even visiting some zones Ever again! Same reasons the boats and ships are all empty. Same reasons all the cities are empty. There is no reason to regularly go inside any city except maybe for a quest. But to buy and sell stuff? One can go to the Bazaar.
Oh yeah, when I last played, I still found a good amount of players though. Roughly 8-10 outside of Queynos, and in the Gnoll dungeon. And in Highkeep.
But yeah, I'd rarely see more than 8 players in a zone. I still see at minimum 1-2 no matter what. It'd be something if you played and were the ONLY ONE in a zone lol!
Misti,
Everything you said they could have done. But they did not do it on purpose.
Variant, and SONY decided they could make even more $$$$$$ charging players to buy the bazaar expansion. Instead of just turning a building in the cities into the Bazaar.
Funny thing is in every single other MMORPG, from the most low budget one like [b]Runescape[/b], to the most newest one like [b]Star Wars Galaxies[/b], they all have a Bazaar/Market building in town. And there is no extra charge for players to use it.
EQ is just spamming us with expansions to death... they're getting greedy, and it's gonna drive a lotta people away from EQ (including me).
Sony's being spammed day after day with email about it.
Old world zones are empty? Since when?
Lost Dungeons of Norrath revitalized the old world zones. There are 70+ people in butcherblock daily, 30-40+ in EC, Everfrost, and Ro.
Planes of Power made it easier to solo? Gimme a stinkin break. MOB's that hit for 800+ are not easy to solo. Unless you were talking about the Plane of Knowledge. I fail to understand how a non-combat zone made it easier to solo. The books made it easier to move around, that's it.
Less people in the old world zones makes sense. Better loots, better experience, and overall a better playing enviornment in the new zones. How is that a bad thing? Uh-oh, the game is progressing and being improved, it must suck now.
The bazaar made trading among players five hundred times more efficient than pre-luclin East Commons trading.
Right now, SOE is in the process of revamping old world zones and adding more zones to the basic framework. The Hole was recently revamped. So was Droga and Nurga, and Cazic-Thule a little bit ago. Plane of Hate was revamped, and Veksar was added. The Legacy of Ykesha expansion WAS the old world, just a part of it you havn't seen before. Lost Dungeons of Norrath was just that, more zones added to the framework of the original Everquest. The next expansion will be doing the same thing.
Pay attention to whats happening to the game, and it might stop sucking.
... Oasis and those stupid dock-training peices of crap were annoying anyway.
Whoops, forgot a little gem here:
Variant, and SONY decided they could make even more $$$$$$ charging players to buy the bazaar expansion. Instead of just turning a building in the cities into the Bazaar.
The bazaar function was not put into effect until a few months after the release of Shadows of Luclin. It was an improvement to the game, not a cash crop. This stupid conspiracy crap is getting irritating.
If you havn't noticed already, /auction is usable in every single zone. You don't need the bazaar to sell and buy things.
EQ....who plays that???
[img]http://www.bowlingfortruth.com/images/banner.gif[img]
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If you wait to do something until the last minute, your more efficient since it will only take 1 minute.
I played EQ the first few releases...it was wonderful...and just damn amazing at the time.....I will never forget climbing to the top of a tower in the plains -- turning into a tree, casting lev and jumping off...this flying tree shooting across the plains....it was funny as hell and fun....
too bad the didn't let tree's lev long after that.
The one thing that i have yet to see matched is the High Fantasy of EQ...the mystery...but the gameplay just...got to be a disgusting rat race and it sounds from the posts here like more of the same....
I hope the EQ2 developers are brave and try a few new things instead of repeating past mistakes...but for now I have my hopes on WoW
Nemo sine vitio est
Nemo sine vitio est
Playing: Vanguard SoH
Played: EQ, Planetside, SWG, WoW, EQ2
Days to Everquest2 [?]
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======= SIGNATURE =========
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MMORPG games I've played:
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http://community.webshots.com/user/xplororor
Star Wars Galaxies:
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http://community.webshots.com/user/capt_xplororor
More games:
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http://community.webshots.com/user/xplororor_archives01
Playing: Vanguard SoH
Played: EQ, Planetside, SWG, WoW, EQ2
At this point, if you are going to buy into EQ, you would most likely start with EQ Evolution, which is $24.95 on amazon for everything up to and including Legacy of Ykesha, so a person who wants to play EQ *now* is only paying ONCE for the game INCLUDING THE BAZAAR.
A lot of buying and selling goes on via /auc in the Plane of Knowledge on the server I played on. Not as much as the bazaar, granted, but if you want to buy something, chances are, someone in PoK will have one they are willing to part with. I admit that this involves buying another expansion, but it doesn't involve buying the bazaar functionality.
Also, you don't have to buy a lot of equipment if you are really serious. I had to start over from scratch, and I managed to get decent gear without resorting to the bazaar. After 6 months, people looked at my character's equipment and lamented not being able to afford stuff like that, and I had to tell them that the only thing I bought was the haste belt-- and then I replaced that with one I looted. I worked my little gnomish butt off for everything I had-- nothing bought, nothing MQ'd.
You are right. It should have been added to the old world, and for free, preferably in a faction neutral location. And they didn't do it that way. The bazaar was supposed to have been a selling point for Luclin, even though it didn't make it in until a loooong time after the release of that expansion.
[EDIT: change in wording, tone]
~*~
neschria
Bludgeoner of Bunnies
...
This is where I draw the line: __________________.
If to you the best ever Bazaar would automatically give you the item as soon as you buy it, then you are the only person out of the roughly 2 million MMORPG gamers who feels this way.
BTW, in SWG you can so instantly get an item as soon as you pay for it.
- If I put something up for sale and you are on the same planet as me, you simply come in from the wilderness and buy it, and pick it up.
- In SWG one can sell items while they are offline, or off adventuring.
- In SWG one can also buy items while they are offline, or off adventuring.
- In SWG there are 8 planets, each with the same playable landsurface as the entire EQ game. Each server can hold a max of 12k players online at the same time....... 12,000 players forced to crowd into 1 spot to sell and buy? Or everyone able to buy items almost no matter where they are, and able to sell items almost no matter where they are? Which is better?
And of course if the item that was put up for sale is being sold on another planet, one needs to travel to the other planet to get it. This is realistic, and adds to game immersion. It also makes it easier for the seller, and buyer. Instead of like in EQ which forces the seller and buyer to be online at the same time, not be able to go off adventuring while buying or selling, and to meet at 1 spot in the entire game.
You call having to travel to other planets irritating. The majority of players call traveling around planet hopping fun.
And more realistic than having it be the other way around. 
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At this point, if you are going to buy into EQ, you would most likely start with EQ Evolution, which is $24.95 on amazon for everything up to and including Legacy of Ykesha, so a person who wants to play EQ *now* is only paying ONCE for the game INCLUDING THE BAZAAR.
A lot of buying and selling goes on via /auc in the Plane of Knowledge on the server I played on. Not as much as the bazaar, granted, but if you want to buy something, chances are, someone in PoK will have one they are willing to part with. I admit that this involves buying another expansion, but it doesn't involve buying the bazaar functionality.
Also, you don't have to buy a lot of equipment if you are really serious. I had to start over from scratch, and I managed to get decent gear without resorting to the bazaar. After 6 months, people looked at my character's equipment and lamented not being able to afford stuff like that, and I had to tell them that the only thing I bought was the haste belt-- and then I replaced that with one I looted. I worked my little gnomish butt off for everything I had-- nothing bought, nothing MQ'd.
You are right. It should have been added to the old world, and for free, preferably in a faction neutral location. And they didn't do it that way. The bazaar was supposed to have been a selling point for Luclin, even though it didn't make it in until a loooong time after the release of that expansion.
[EDIT: change in wording, tone]
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neschria
Bludgeoner of Bunnies
Well yes of course at this point.... right now. LOL. (Especially with EQ2 around the corner. What new player is going to now start playing EQ and invest in EQ when he/she can play EQ2?)
But as even you admit, it was originailly intended for players to make a minimum of 2 purchases if they decided to get into EQ.
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MMORPG games I've played:
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http://community.webshots.com/user/xplororor
Star Wars Galaxies:
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http://community.webshots.com/user/capt_xplororor
More games:
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http://community.webshots.com/user/xplororor_archives01
Oh, well, you're right about that... and you have to pity all of us suckers who paid $50 for the game, then $30 for each expansion (except Legacy of Ykesha at $18). I haven't gotten LDoN or GoD, though I might, if I decide to play again. Or Not. I think it has just about been expanded to death, and I am not sure how much more content *I* need, personally.
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neschria
Bludgeoner of Bunnies
...
This is where I draw the line: __________________.
Well, I wouldn't call anyone a "sucker" for buying all the expansions. My main point is with just 1 of the "expansions" and that is the Bazaar. Because the Bazaar is 100% necessary to buy in order to get into the game. The original basic game, as well as the rest of the expansions.
It would've been intresting if more EQ players had said or made a petition and thousands signed it saying "We don't want an extra charge for the bazaar since it should have and could have been in the original game. Since it takes very little to program it and have it downloaded as a patch."
Many have posted saying the Bazaar could've simply been some city buildings turned into bazaars and stores which would've given players more reasons for visiting towns and cities after getting past newbie levels.
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MMORPG games I've played:
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http://community.webshots.com/user/xplororor
Star Wars Galaxies:
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http://community.webshots.com/user/capt_xplororor
More games:
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http://community.webshots.com/user/xplororor_archives01
It would've been intresting if more EQ players had said or made a petition and thousands signed it saying "We don't want an extra charge for the bazaar since it should have and could have been in the original game. Since it takes very little to program it and have it downloaded as a patch."
Many have posted saying the Bazaar could've simply been some city buildings turned into bazaars and stores which would've given players more reasons for visiting towns and cities after getting past newbie levels.
Different, spread out bazaars would have been cool, even with people standing as vendors (like the bazaar as it exists). A few tents in the newbie areas or one zone over (i.e. Toxx for Erudin and Paineel) where people could set up to sell would be great, and they could still add such a thing, if they had any interest. I think it would be a good thing for people selling low-to-mid level gear and cultural armor/cultural crafting supplies, if they had a place to set up your traderbot near existing starter cities.
They haven't been particularly good at shifting value back into older zones at all, though. That's a topic for a whole 'nother thread though.
I could argue that the bazaar isn't all that necessary to playing the game, but I realize that it has been a long time since I played EQ without an existing social network. It's not so hard if you have friends willing to help you go out and get your stuff without buying it, and it is really easy to get along if you have tradeskiller friends that you can /tell when you want something you'd have to get from the bazaar otherwise. I can say that I went to the bazaar very rarely myself, and then only to buy gate potions when I couldn't find a shaman online to make them for me-- but, of course, that presupposes a social network that includes shamans who make gate potions. It would be difficult to start EQ cold without the bazaar, aside from buying in auction in PoK (which I have already mentioned *also* requires buying an expansion.)
~*~
neschria
Bludgeoner of Bunnies
...
This is where I draw the line: __________________.