arcmago3d

Ok ok its gonna revolutionize EQ ... how? With Iksar 2.0? Bigger longer grind to become even more of mere cog in the guild raid machine? Completely unable to do anything alone to gain any items worthwhile at 60+? They way mob power jumped from 65 to 70 game. The 75 game raid mobs will prob 2 round a 16+k lvl 70 tank. Prob looking at a 70-75 GRIND with AA's being revised so they are take alot longer to get since nolifes complain they are too easy to get now.

I don't think it's going to revolutionize EQ. I don't think I said anything like that in the article.

What I do see, with TSS, is SOE revamping the game with an eye to making the players happy. Past EQ players will get teary-eyed with nostalgia when trying out this expansion.

It's "All the good stuff of EQ in one expansion". I see companies homing in on what their players like as a great thing, and wanted to point it out.

I, for one, am very excited about this expansion. It looks like it has a ton of content and a lot of great things to work on, learn, and play with, even from a non-raiding perspective.

The inclusion of non-raid content has been a long time problem with EQ, and Sony is finally addressing that, making both branches of the high end quest single groupable until the highest points.

The level grind is part of the game, if you don't like it, play Madden '07. As long as you're playing an MMO, there's a level grind. As far as the AA change goes, it's perfectly resonable. At level 75, fighting level 77 or 78 mobs, it seems unreasonable that you should get an AA for completing the amount of experience required to hit level 51. It's not because people say it's too easy, it's because it devalues the worth of every point.

I tend to agree with Michael on this article. While this expansion won't redefine the genre or draw thousands of new players, it will retain old ones and keep them happy. This expansion has the potential to be the best one to date - and the game needs that after Prophecy of Ro.

If Sony wants to make its players happy, they should fix all the broken quests the players have been asking to be fixed for years. They always talk about new expansions, but never fix the old content. Thats why Sony has lost half of their subscriptions, they dont listen. My 2 cents worth.

I agree with Sean's post above. As one of my guildies told me, he would actually pay a full expansion's worth of money to have his bugs fixed.

And actually, so would I.

With the advances in computer gaming technology, EQ needs to revamp itself. Let's re-vamp the entire game with the latest DirectX technologies. Add surround sound. Give it all those other fun eye candy things we take for granted in other modern games. Make it look as good as Oblivion. Give it that edge that will sell the game.

Release EQ2007 - the exact same game - no new content - just revamped everything. All new graphics, character models, bugs fixed. I would pay $99 for something like that, personally. Heck, I would pay $199 for that. Honest.

How you gain sales and new players these days is how cool your graphics look. It's unfortunate, but true.

You want to talk about revolutionizing the game? Only an entire revamp can pull that off.

Don't release any new expansions for a year. Work on the next "RELEASE" of EQ. Please, no more expansions until this is done.

No thanks, I don't want a graphics revamp. It would totally change the way my group of friends and I play the game. We ALL use bots. I'm sorry, but not all of us can afford a super computer. Besides, I don't think the graphics look BAD anyway. In fact, EQ was way beyond its time for a computer game when it was first released. But saying graphics mean everything is retarded. I mean, if graphics were everything, would Chrono Trigger still be considered one of the best games ever made? It's story and gameplay that truly make a game. Point made.

Anyway, I think the expansion will do fantastic things for EQ. I'm extremely excited about the new regen system, because I've always thought the down time was a problem. I've been playing EQ since a couple months after it first came out. I haven't by any means ever really been a top-end player. For the most part I've played very casually, until the past year and a half or so. I won't lie, it's lost its flavor a few times for me and I've taken several breaks for sure. But from what I've read, I think this expansion will keep me going for a while. No matter what I play, I always end up back in EQ. It's just simply fun.

"Release EQ2007 - the exact same game - no new content - just revamped everything. All new graphics, character models, bugs fixed. I would pay $99 for something like that, personally. Heck, I would pay $199 for that. Honest."

I might pay $50 for that, but $99 is a bit steep, unless it comes with 6 months of account.

My main question would be: did SOE learn enough from WoW that leveling a character to 70 isn't a 30 days played affair. In WoW, you can hit max/raid level in 5-10 days (120-240 hours) of play, which is 3 to 6 months for a casual player. In my opinion, EQ in the end is way too long for leveling---I know there needs to be a grind, but it doesn't need to be as bad as it was.

My second question is: can I quad kite with my druid? Quadding was awesome, and one of my favorite mog activities ever. And I miss it.

(for the record: I had a 63 druid, 52 necro and 51 monk when I quit ages ago... maybe after PoP, or the one after that. Or maybe two after that, whatever =P)

I have played EQ from Kunark roll out. And I have to tell ya I loved it ever since. B ut unfortunately I no longer play it.On my only account I have one of every class 65+ . I have seen alot of happenings go on. And I am sad to say I no longer play. The game is great but I spend more time sitting lfg then doing anything else. I tryed to get into the questing ( most alot of broken ones) which was frustrating. Then I tried farming.And after making 1 million plat, I relized I wasnt ever gonna find groups like the old days. So I then started doing tradeskills. But by the time I acheived the skill lvls to make some plat it seem pointless because I alrdy had a ton of plat with nothing more to buy. So here I was rich, great chars of every class. And no groups to be had. So unless there is a population boom or zones that can actually be soloed at highest lvls( which the game is designed against) I will never be back and I will let the account rot out of spite.

EQ was the first MM game that I played. I quit the game twice during about a 5 year period mostly due to the fact that I didn't like the feeling of wasting my time in a game that specializes in 60+ player content for anything that is worthwhile. As you will probably agree there is only 1 or 2 guilds on each server that can possibly achieve success in this content, and they require a couple of years worth of AA (alternate advance) levels to even consider you. These guilds mostly help themselves exclusively. Any other guild you join will be comprised of all sorts of individuals who are frustrated underneath, lol, which causes their greed level to flourish just below the surface. They will probably still be trying to get to Plane of Time, which is soon to be about 7 expansions old, or have keyed a third of their members to TOB (theater of blood) and only help you key the extremely hard tasks on their noobie alts..
Yours Truly

I really miss EQ after putting in some 200+ days played. The game has many happy memories and is certainly the best game I've played period.
However I really can't see myself playing another char through from scratch. As for my old character, a lev 67 ranger, well that character is stuck unless
I commit myself to full-time raiding of 20-30hrs a week. I'm not doing that again EVER!

It would be nice if some new expansion would allow me to pick up my old character and have a good playing experience doing 3-10 hrs a week. I just don't see how that could happen within the mechanics of EQ.

In a real sense EQ spoils you for other online games,
it's hard to compete against the experience of a large well coordinated raid, conquering PoT, ToV SSRA. Behind this is the downside of the amount of real-life time it takes to build that experience and give that level of satisfaction.

Can't have it both ways, I guess I'm perma retired.

It's unfortunate that everyone wants a level 75 handed to them in 15 hours played or less, then what? Is the game going somewhere? Is there a reason that you need to be 'uber' that quickly? That is what happened to so many people after they played WoW...everything in the game must be, basically, handed to them on a plate. I played it and enjoyed myself for much of the time I was there; however, once you hit level cap you are raiding for this leet gear or that...it's all the same thing in games but you just get there faster in a game like WoW. If I want to get bored in a game I want it to take more than 15 days played to get there. Being able to play a game, long term, with so many things to see and do, people to meet, etc., that is the beauty of EQ, to me. I can take my time when I only have a few hours to play and with the new potions, soloing has never been more easy. Anyhoo...I'm looking forward to the expansion and we'll see where SOE heads after that.

I have just returned to EQ after 3yrs. I played WoW and the above comment about it hit the nail right on the head.
There is a basic flaw with EQ, WoW, AO, and most of the other MMORPG. Not enough solo content especialy at high lvs. I am enjoying my return to EQ, but can see the ol frustration comming back. Producers of MMORPG's need to realize there are a sizeable number of players who don't like to raid and prefer to quest or hunt in small groups or solo. We (the solo and causal group players) still put in a lot of time perhaps not all at once, over the course of a year. Also the ever present bugs and broken quests need to be fixed, you would think that after a 7 yr span, there would be no bugged quests below say lv 20. WRONG!!
heh just my 2 cents worth.

I come to you has a player from almost day one With my toon being a druid and i play a beastlord now.Both being level 70.I am soory but i dont buy the fact now eq is this (we are about the player)stuff.We have been disappoint with expand after expand with prosimes off these wonderfull new idea.That fallen with disgrace and leaving the die player with the feeling yep they suckered me again.The countless nerfs of solo xp and the passing over of class that where made and just plan forgotten And oh yes i talking about the beastlords and the mages and yes i didnt forget you ranger as.Now i am sure you read this post and say well why do you play and i guess we still play because us old school player rember what the game used to be and pray and wish that E.Q will listen to the player for once.Sorry i dont buy that eq cares about the player because if they had listen to the player there number wouldnt have droped but when you take away and nerf a person that has learned a class and come to love a class and basicly force them to be in the guild raiding machine.So that there was ther own short comingnow that the new expand is coming cant buy it without a credit.pfft custmer sevice that limited to how sony wishes to get paid.

TSS Im hoping is going to revitilaze eq more. I play a warrior myself in a fairly high level of game.

Ive read levels take to long and many things in the repsonses above. Well your wrong, long levels at times are quite needed. The failure that WoW trully has is levels can be attained to quickly, people loose the hunger for game play long before there actually hooked. You need more reason to play than just levels and it takes time to find it.

New aa is a great idea, for many we ran out of AA worth the time awhile back.Out of combat regen, im not sure about atm. Think it has possiblities of abuse, but having the ability to regen my endurance pool in 2 min and not 18 min is a rather great concept.

But Eq actually never died as so many people have claimed. We just did a few merges and the population is still there and many guilds rise and fall as they always have. People do at times go to other genre to see if they like them, more freinds have actually returned a month or 2 later than have stayed in that other game. So id say Im looking forward to TSS.

If they only plan to offer this "expansion" or whatever you want to call it as digital download, I wont be getting it. I dont use credit cards & wont start just to get this. If this is the way they are going to be offering expansions in the future, then I wont be purchasing any more new products either.

If pre-paid credit cards will work, I will consider it after seeing how this fares.

Also, if they are hoping to draw any new customers with this, offering as download only isnt the way to do it.

Good luck with it either way.

With the great Norrathian exodus, finding groups is very hard. Combine that with the "Tale of Two Cities" difference in game of those that can raid 5 hours a day and those of us with jobs, and Everquest is still ignoring many of its loyal subscribers. Single groupable quests are great, and I really enjoy takling the game with my friends. But when it's time to work on exp while still being able to get housework done, it's impossible past level 30 at best. Good gear should come from hard mobs, quests, or tradeskilling, yes. But there should be some progression that can be accomplished solo. It doesn't always have to be about killing, either. As long as the quests take a reasonable length of time to complete, good exp could be had by uber-guild groups and unter-solo rogues.

I like playing EQ....gives me a release after a long day. But I have to agree. It seems this mentality of get it out the door bugs and all is frustrating to no end. Please fix the current bugs and people will enjoy the game more. Can you imagine working on a quest for hours only to find it is bugged? Very dishearting.

Well, well, well, it's seems we have a full moon, pait the windows green, close the curtains, and be sure to not feed the gamer past midnight, and sure don't expose them to water either, because they might multiply and spread their slander to the weakened minds of noobs, who are dumb enough to believe anything they read. As the imortal words of the raid heartly player "pfft...wtf man?"
Don't take my opening line the wrong way, I'm just making some humor with my entrance. But you must agree, that there are more zones in eq right now than any other morpg. I mean sure we got bugged stuff, but what game doesn't that's been running as long as this? Oh that's right, this is the longest and has more content than any other game in history.
I don't like soe, but don't get me wrong either, they're trying and after buying out varrant, things got alot better before they got worse. I remember when eq launched, none of us knew what to make of it. I was kind of intimidated at first, but once I went into it and started my first toon, I was hooked instantly, and honestly who wouldn't be?
I mean common, you're forgeting about the real life outside the game has changed so much since we started playing eq. and who are we to complain? None of us thought it would even last this long. Nothing lasts forever and if it does, then it seems life is worse then death. I've had to watch over 300 personal friends quit and come back off and on or not even at all, but I'm still here aren't I? Sometimes real life effects the game wether we like it or not.

IMOP there still missing the mark..=(
What made EQ so amazing was the community and that was totaly destroyed SOL, and POK! it made this vast world smaller and easy to manuver it emptyed most zones and took away the fun of the game. I mean COME ON! what is better then a boat ride to BB from FP..lots of ooc's peeps talking and having the time of there life!Now we have instant porting anywere, world chat channels, and many more dissapointing adds.

With all do respect new downloads are important to all gamers... BUT!! There was a magical quality in EQ that was destroyed..=(

IMOP i say bring back full servers with original EQ, and some of the new content make the community come back together again,Kill instant travel..i mean whats better then bartering with a druid or wizzy for a ride..LOL

Flame On..=)

What I am hoping for partially has been stated in here before, about getting the bugs fixed; I would also like to see soe fix the /played, as mine has been saying 4.7 years for almost a year now, and said 4.5 years for a good 8 months prior to that; after wasting an hour ld on their suport line, as far as I feel, nothing got accomplished. They stated that their records were accurate, but they also said their records only went back to 2003. Don't tease me soe, I don't like waiting for something your own system tells me is right around the corner, just to find myself still waiting for it almost 2 years later.

Aso for TSS, from what I have read I like the new regen system, but I don't agree on a 5 min wait in a raid situation. If you are in a zone with a fairly fast spawning rate, you will never get to recover your mana/endurance back fast; that is my read on it. I haven't experienced it yet, but am looking forward to trying it. Is this goingto truly be a ressurection of EQ? Only time will tell; but I will say this: We the Players are watching.

People people, Everquest is "dead". And by dead I mean : on the decline with a stagnant-at-best playerbase. Not numberwise but bloodwise. This meaning : the people know eachother on the servers, the guilds know eachother, it's all polarised and spoken for. We've all already slain the dragon and the EQ concept has been around for years: grind grind grind, app to raiding guild, become a cog in the raiding machine as someone pointed out here earlier. End of story. Sure you make friends, but what happens to them eventually? Exactly, they quit for various reasons. Maybe some are actually lucky (I know they exist) and retain *their* private mafia base of friends (cliques, however to call them) .. but the bottom line is : we're looking at an expansion release that's the same deal basically as Omens of War.... a big release with level raise and newly added features like race and slightly different approach to gameplay (rested state etc). Does this bring something new to the table? I think not. And I would advise all those players who are still on 'casters' as their main to switch to melees, cos "we" get the shaft. Yet. Again. Woopteedoo, thank you Sony, you still haven't learned .. "Grats!"

i think the one's who complain about the time to lvl a toon on EQ for most part are very young playerss in RL..it reminds me of me and my son...it took me a month or so to beat Tomb Raider on my old Playstation where my son it took 3 days cause he used cheats...I notice with alot of young players in EQ they PL through mm's and i find they don't know much how to play their toon after they hit high lvl/...no aa's...i've only been playing 2 year's..70 Ranger with 450 aa's and 11k hp's but also have a few other toon's ...and although sometimes i think i'll never see anguish or ToB i think lvl 75 cap will help many non-raiding guilds provided their 75 toon's dont leave for a high raiding guild which i see as a big game playing pain in the arse...

As it will be a download only expansion i will never see it. Had to many problems with EQ and my CC...

TSS SOE blah.. I have a level 70 Warrior and EQ will always be depressing to me, unless TSS allows me to be able to do more I say no deal, I've tried to do the "uber" raid guild and all I got was 2 years of nothing, I still can't go to the good zones with easy AA's 160 days played level 70 with 130 AA, cant tank any decent zones and its not for not trying, EQ is just not "non raid machine" friendly give me a chance to get to 80% of the uber guilds without being in one and I will return.

I once had 3 Active accounts. I finally quit in disgust last february. Years of bad service. Years of being told what they would not do for me rather than what they would do. Years of some arrogant GM throwing his perceived weight around for all to see. Anyhow.. I'm trying one account to see what the deal is. I'm keeping an open mind however. I don't see any radical improvements mentioned. A new Race? Muto Iksars? A new place to grow new Babytoons? Sounds like Im being led back to the beginning.. Isn't that walking in circles? Time will tell. Hey!? Where did these footprints come from?

I'm Baaack!

Keith...

I have been playing off and on since September '99, currently on. My main at the moment is a level 70 SK. I am really excited about this new expansion. I've actually been quite happy with the last 2 expansions as a non-raiding player, but not really *excited*. The inclusion of more groupable content has been a great benefit, but at the same time, finding groups has been a little hard at times. I am truly looking forward to the new race (my weakness has always been new races!) and to playing the new expasion as a game-within-a-game. I want to start a new toon and quest, quest, quest. I want to explore every inch that I can of the new exp zones. I do have the benefit of having a number of guildies planning on the same thing, so I hope we can get some regular groups going and avoid the LFG problem.

I was starting to think about drifting back out of EQ for a while, but now I am holding on for TSS and hoping that it will be fun.

I'd love for EQ to become a casual freindly game, but I'm not holding my breath. I'm amazed at all the poster's above referring to WoW as being "failure" because you can hit the level cap in 4-6 months of casual play. Yeah, WoW has been a hige financial dissapointment for Blizzard....Oh wait, that's not true at all.

I have picked up EQ three different times (first time was right before Luclin launched). And every single time I've stalled out somewhere in the low 20s when levelling became a complete chore. I love the classes and the world of EQ, but that's not enough of a draw for me to settle for monotonous gameplay.

EQ isnt about easy, its not about soloing, its not about quick leveling. Its about time, an investment in your character, self worth and pride. It takes a hell of a long time to get to the high end, and once your there you have to start all over again with AAs. The content is wide, extremely wide, and you can literally spend hours in various home towns learning the lore and the history. At high end you can explore all the zones and have as much fun as you want, You can gear up alts easily, you can travel wide and far and not have to worry about faction anymore. Anyone remember how it used to be? imo it used to be WAY harder then it is now, Even with the fact its impossible to get a group to level up to 70. The game has evolved past the need for groups in the lower end, isnt that what you all want? you get some help, get twinked and get some pots and solo your way up to around 50+, easy as cake. Make some friends start some alts, and get money with your high end to uber twink and your GTG. Ya its a grind, Ya it takes forever, but doesnt that make it all the better in the end?. one day these are all going to end to some 3-d RL Emersive technology, where your in the game instead of watching it, i doubt imersive 3d revamps will be done for eq at that point:P so what would you rather remember? the Accomplishment of that 1 year grind to 75, of getting there, of being damn good? or that one month grind of WoW to hit top and and run outa shit to do.... I dont know about some of you out there but im damn glad of the difficulty of EQ, And as far as soloing goes, thats BS, All int casters, Wis casters and now melee and especially hybrid can easily solo OOWar + easily, especially with the spells from DoDh and the new equipment therein. Suck it up, dig in deep, play and get good, because everyone i know, can solo the crap outa WoS

From Urrdar Element - The Rising Sun, 70 Magician of the Rathe, Class leader of Mage's in Audacia Venator!

Fear the Rising Sun

ressurecting everquest? tss?

no way

everquest is dead....the only way to ressurect it is to open a classic sever velious capped...everything else, especially all those "new game enhancement" expansions are just more money for soe, nothing else

Too many people playing bots in EQ. Makes it near impossible for single account casual players to get groups. After 5 hours of futile lfg most just log off and cancel accounts.

I have just about given up on EQ. I have played EQ for four years and I have a bunch of hi level char.
I cant play for long hours. An hour here, an hour there. I like to play solo. I will do a group or raid if the time is available which is rare.
I will wait and see how this expansion goes. Otherwise I will be history.

I have been playing Everquest for six years. That is longer than I've been married, longer than I have ever held down a job, longer than I have been an Aunt, longer than I went to college. Come on, any game that can hold someone's attention THAT long can't be as bad as people try to make it out. Yes people get burned out and quit. But that happens with everything in life, marriages, jobs, school, even religion often share similiar fates. Who hasn't gone to church for years on end and one day gotten up and said "I really don't feel like going this Sunday." only to realize wow it's been three years since I went to church! I mean come on most human beings never stay dedicated to one thing for any length of time unless it is something worthwhile. Yes the game has changed. But if the game had stayed exactly the same as it was when it came out would people still be playing it? One of the exciting aspects of Everquest is that it is constantly changing. There are always new quests being added, new recipees and tradeskill items being created. For every single bugged quest there are hundreds more that aren't bugged. There are zones with high end graphics and zones with minimal graphics. There are easy quests, hard quests, group quests, raid quests, individual quests. Don't get me wrong I am not saying that there aren't improvements that could be made to the game. However, you have to admit the introduction of DoD and PoR made it possible for groups to get pretty nice gear. Gear that is up there with Time raid gear or better, and EVERYONE in the group gets something new and shiny on their cursor at the end of a successful group mission? Come on? how is that NOT cool????? I am so tired of the whining and complaining. Where is your spirit? You can't find a group? Well I'll be! I have a level 70 magician and I have no trouble finding a group. Ever seen a group oocing for a mage? hmmm? I didn't think so. I am number 25 on my server and I only raid a couple of nights a week. Get over yourselves people! Stop blaiming sony and get off your collective arses and find those groups! Make it happen! That's how it is in RL and that's how it is in EQ, if you want success you have to grab the bull by the horns. By the way, I work full time, I'm married and I am raising a child and I still find plenty of time to play. This 34 year old woman will not be quitting eq anytime soon. I get to meet people from all over the world, cast spells, fly, battle beasts, steal their loot and even flirt with guys nearly half my age. Life is good. EQ is good. I know new games are detracting from our numbers. I also have met people coming back from those new games who have only been gone a year or less and are already bored with them and longing to relive their experiences on EQ. Games will come and games will go but EQ is here to stay. There is a joke on our server. If there was ever a nuclear war two things would survive, cockroaches and Everquest. LOL Long live the King!

It is true that even after a server merge into Bertox (TP), you can still sit around LFG. You can't even look for people under 60 yourself to send tells.
You can /who all LFG and not have the list say there are too many to list.
I have seen less than 20 LFG on the entire server during a weekend day time.
It was fine leveling teens + but now no one is in the CL at orc camps or waiting in lines to get a HK group.
I am back after a year because of personal matters, being bored with wasting time LFG, and playing EQ2.
I also saw I had a free trial period attached to my account so I thought I would give it a try again.
I may see how this SS expansion draws people and gamble my money again.
GoD was a waste of money. I hardly touched that expansion.

This expansion, along with the idea of "Progression servers", has me excited about EQ again after having my accounts from 1999-2003.

As of this past week, I'm back in the game, and eagerly awaiting SS! :)

Good luck, EQ!

Tim,
Indianapolis, IN

/rant on
What I'm seeing here is alot of wah wah wah why cant I solo Time . . . or Anguish . . . or ToB? Lets get real folks, it's a mmorpg (massively MULTIPLAYER online role playing game). If you don't like grouping / raiding go play Oblivion (a great SINGLE PLAYER rpg) but the focus in a mmo has always been and should always be on group and raid content. How boring would it be if a lvl 70 BL or Mage just decided to go to time and kill Quarm on a whim? Or even on a lesser scale such as soloing MPG, what incentive would you then have to find a group and interact with others on the server? the answer is this . . . NONE!

Well you might say this "If we could solo in MPG they could add a tougher zone for people to group in and have better drops." but that is there and it is the RAID content. And even if they did do that and removed the "raiding machine" as I'm hearing people call it the same people that are complaining now would be complaining about the same things just in a different light. All you have to do to find a group is be proactive, sitting in the guild lobby or pok with /lfg on is a waste of time. Go put yourself out there head to MPG with /lfg on then /ooc xx lvl xx class looking for a group. and dont give up after 5 mins. eventually someone will leave a group and others will want to continue and be able to make use of your unique abilitys. and if you perform well they will most likeley add you to a their friends list, which tends to cut down on your time spent /lfg.

The bottom line it this folks. If you dont like playing with other people, you shouldnt be playing a MMO.
/rant off

Interesting review, but also a lot of great views in your comments :-)

Glad to see that I'm not the only one who long back to BB->FP boatrides, or market sundays in WC-tunnel.

Selling everything on me at torch 1!

"Ya its a grind, Ya it takes forever, but doesnt that make it all the better in the end?"

The answer to that question is actually, no. Making a game have a level grind doesn't necessarily equate to a more enjoyable gameplay experience in the end or even make you feel like you've accomplished more. This has clearly been shown by WoW's gameplay that allows you to progress quickly and without the EQ-type dependence on other players to get anything done.

I played EQ for four years and leveled my Enchanter to 70, flagged through Anguish and raided 5 nights a week. I loved EQ more than anything else until I found a game that trumped EQ in EVERY way: WoW.

The biggest problem for me in EQ was if there wasn't anyone in your guild to help you with a quest, then you were screwed when it came to finding random people who were instead in doing anything remotely similar to what you were doing. WoW solved this problem by doing two things: making the game actually soloable all the way through 60 and overlapping many quests for all classes in the same dungeons. This was an amazing feat on WoWs behalf because as it turns out, you can actually play multiple characters and feel like they're all advancing but by only playing a few hours on each a day. I don't know anyone in WoW who doesn't have multiple high level alts that they enjoy playing just as much as their main character. This is virtually impossible in EQ without a tremendous amount of time. In the end, for most players, in EQ if you don't devote all your time to one character, you will never see high end content, let alone reach the highest levels.

Needless to say I am not coming back to EQ. Sony shot itself in the head with the introduction of AA abilities that should have been innate to players and worse, some AA abilities that should have simply been bug fixes. I am not investing time into a game to "unlock" parts of the code that should've been there in the first place. Earning experience so that your pet can zone with you? And playing more just so the pet can retain it's buffs? Group AA just so you can see who the mob has targetted? Give me a god damn break. How retarded do you think we are? Just open WoW from the get-go and it's part of the interface. Seriously, I shake my head in disgust at these "unlockable" features EQ added then they should've been there all along.

Thanks for listening, I just really had to get this off my chest after reading this nonsense about how EQ going to be a whole new game with this expansion. Sorry, but best of luck with any of you that choose to try this expansion. I know I won't be.

i saw something i really liked in the posts above, yea i left eq cuz it was played out and continuos but i saw WoW as a whole new cartoon based game and i agree with the guy above stop making expansions And redo EQ cartoonish or more alive with graphics and stuff and i will ebay my WoW account and willing pay 200$ if not more for a brand new eq with the same zones content quests characters but change the fighting music, now excuse me i have more beer to kill..

I played this for 5 years, at this point no matter what they come up with I will prefer to go skiing or spend time outside, bike, etc ... almost anything I can think of seems better then playing EQ. This isn't because of some failure of SOE, or the way the game has evolved or because I have become frustrated with it in any way. You just get the feeling at some point that it's time to go because there's so manny other things you could do, I think manny felt the same way when they stopped playing. It's been a lot of fun ... but ski season approaches, omg awsome :))

EQ had it's chance, and for me, that chance has passed. I had two accounts to dual box because groups were nearly impossible. Bad customer service, broken quests, hours of boredom lfg. SOE whole "group or else" syndrome is rediculous. My entire family played EQ for years, they tried EQ2, nope nadda uh uh, no good. They came back to EQ, then WoW came along. They tried it, they liked it, they pleaded with me to give it a go, but I steadfastly refused. What an idiot. I finally gave it a try while visting my mother back on the east coast. It was a hit. Right out of the ballpark. I literally enjoy my game play on WoW "everyday", yes I said "everyday". hmmm can't say that about EQ and I doubt any of you can either. EQ became WORK, and I'm sorry but I get paid to work not the other way around. I pay to play and that's what WoW provides. One day I want to just explore and solo no problem, I want to group, click a meeting stone or hit the LFG channel or join a Battleground, it's all there. Heck WoW has people in it that go around and help people just for the heck of it because they can. EQ has left such a bad taste in my mouth I may have well of drank a glass of week old spoiled milk.....man that's nasty.

Let's face it.EQ is a 1990's game Why not take ideas from WoW and use them in EQ? Like the mail system, and why should I lose exp when killed? I could go on and on but I'm sure Sony has already check it out. Simply it;s a better better desing game
john
the rathe

I've been readting alot of these post for one with all the new computer tech coming out and new windows you will have to upgrade yopur pc! example anyone rem the game star wars Rebellion was a good real time game but after years of new windows coming out the game got so old it couldnt run on xp with out crashing example my old dvd rom had to be junked cause it was not compatable with xp and so forth you can't stop change you have to learn to evolve with it or not use it sooner or later you have to use it.
Eq needs a full make over on all old zones up to luclin at least. these zones are so much of a waist it isnt funny look at the new zone for highpass hold now i was like wow and for first time after many years i hunted there cause it looked diffrent and I really liked it. Add few new quest armorer quest and revamps to all the old eq and you would see alot of returning players.
I say soe dev team needs to look at what a few of us say when we say revamp all old zones new mob movement and looks same mobs just better. Soe needs to realize only a handful of us post and only a handful of us send in ideas so if you calculate up just those who post and all you need to get a clue at soe. make a new in game rate system where you can ask players to vote on a idea. i log in chk the new ideas idea of the day revamp old world zone mobs with new fresh skins yes no poll? 400 no 1250 yes do polls in game with ideas is how you truly find out what players want. not everyone post most just log in play get board and leave to new rpg. If soe cared about eq 1 they would do ingame polls

I have recently come back to EQ after not playing since just after the SoL expansion. From Kunark to SoL I loved EQ and played almost everyday. I quit because after SoL I found myself having to learn the game all over again. Since I've been back I have started a new char on the Combine server as my old server, The Tribunal, seems very dead in most zones. The one thing that strikes me the maost is the feeling I'm playing a "half finished" game. I have a DE and I love the new Nektulos but whenever I leave that zone it's like stepping back in time. If they realy want to bring in more new players and get more returning players like me they REALLY need to re-do all of these old zones. This should be their focus instead of making new expansions that I most likely will never try before I quit again.

I have played EQ since it's release in 1999.During that time i have had a two month break where i finished end game content in WoW and returned to EQ.The new Revamp is very nice but my only question to SOE would be......Why do we have a combined customer support now?I miss the old days of atually haveing guides and GM's on the game everyday to render issues and personally help you.The last time i used Support aplanetside GM got in touch with me and did the generic cut paste of eq rules and regs that i don't believe he has ever read.Needless to say on a scale of 1-10 there support is now a 2.If anything pushes Veteran Players away from EQ it won't be content or Play or revamping it will be Poor Customer Service.I should know i am currently thinking of Canceling my account and Going to Vanguard when it is released.We will see maybe they will pull there heads out of there @ss and bring some customer service back to the game, Besides the once every 2 months a gm logging on to give out Drinks and sandwichs because he is bored at work.