EoF in Review

LFG · 12-16-2006, 02:17 PM

Scott Hartsman (Gallenite) just posted a new producers letter and invited comments about EoF on the SoE forums.

The link to that post is:

http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/e...ssage.id=10700

These are the comments I posted there:

Quote:

Thank you for extending an invitation to comment.

First, I would like to say that I'm having a wonderful time with EoF, and I honestly believe this to be SoE's finest release to date of any product. Please accept my sincere congratulations on "getting" what most players wanted with this great expansion. My playtime is three times higher right now than it was during KoS, and there is still a ton of quests and other content I haven't even touched yet. I believe I will be happily busy with EoF for several more months at least before feeling like I've "run out" of expansion, much more so than with any prior expansion of EQ2.

My top issues for improvement in EoF are:

1. Please work on and release the unfinished raid content as soon as possible. As important as the unfinished content like Unrest is, rewards and quality control associated with that content is equally important. If I were able to vote on the matter, my vote would be to release Unrest and other raid content/encounters as quickly as possible, but not before they are ready.

2. Tradeskills - transmuting: The structure of the new adornment system is wonderful, and I can't express how much I like most of it, especially since I have a level maxed transmuter and 5 level 70 crafters. Transmuting really resurrected tradeskills for many crafters that had fallen dormant in this area of the game. However, it feels like which classes got the ability to make which adornments wasn't well thought out. Some classes, such as my armorer, tailor, and alchemist, were made *significantly* better off with EoF transmuting than before. Other classes, especially my weaponsmith, sage, and provisioner, didn't receive any or many adornments that players want to buy or have made. Specifically, the advanced transmuter weapon adornments are substantially better than the weaponsmith adornments. Weaponsmiths already had no market to sell to, and EoF doesn't change that for them. Sages and provisioners each got just one receipe worth making, and they aren't the most popular ones in terms of player demand. On the other hand, the adornments made by my tailor and armorer are the highest demand in game, and I've made a fortune selling them, so I can't complain myself. But, there are many players with only one tradeskill character in game who try to play as a crafter - some of those players received a windfall in EoF, others got completely shafted. My suggestion would be to add more adornments for those classes who were shortchanged with EoF recipes, and especially sages, weaponsmiths, and provisioners, or please think of something you can do that will make EoF more fair toward these classes now.

3. Tradeskills - tinkering: Again, this new craft is wonderful, and I love it. I've maxed Ixnay as a 350 tinker already. In doing so, I have come to the opinion that tinkering is overpowered to the point of imbalancing gameplay for other classes. Many of the tinkered items are for use by tinkers only. These items include very reliable rez items, feign death items, "divine aura" items, "manastone" items, "memblur" items, and much more. The cumulative effect of those items turns a 350 tinker into a "super" character. All the new tinker only abilities Ixnay has now would be as if he got them by earning 300 more achievement points. The capabilities now possessed by tinkers makes it less important to include paladins, dirges, coercers, and FD class characters in raids or groups now, since one tinker with 350 skill of any adventure class can perform many of the specialty skills that previously merited a raid or group slot for a "utility" character. I urge you to look over the new tinker abilities in total and see whether you agree with me that they are collectively overpowered, and should be nerfed some.

4. Freeport issues in EoF: I've posted about this elsewhere, but it feels like players whose main character is from Freeport got less of an expansion than players whose main character is from Qeynos. There are many fewer quests and conveniences available to Freeport characters than Qeynos characters in EoF. In the original release and in past expansions, opportunities and content was always kept at least somewhat equal between players primarily based in these two cities, and that seems to have been changed in EoF. It feels like the world has gotten smaller for Freeport residents, but has doubled in size for Qeynos residents. Please consider rethinking Kelethin as a neutral rather than anti-Freeport/pro-Qeynos city, and please allow all Freeport characters to do all Kelethin quests, just as all Qeynos characters are able to do them. Please also extend the same citizenship rights to players from both cities, rather than requiring Freeport characters to exile before becoming a Kelethin citizen, while only requiring Qeynos characters to complete a few level 20 quests to do so. It is important to me to note that just as in EQ2, my main in EQ was a human priest that started in Freeport. In EQ, I traveled to the continent of Faydwer for the first time from Freeport at level 8 on my human cleric, and had no problem doing quests and using all merchants there. Why was this changed so radically with Faydwer in EQ2, and more specifically, why does it feel like Freeport players were intentionally restricted and excluded from EoF in so many ways?

Thank you for your time.

Petgroup · 12-17-2006, 04:31 PM

I woulda made the horrible lag everywhere and the constant framework crashes be at the top of my list.

Unless i'm mistaken, before EoF, when a mob AoE'd, they didn't add 5 secs of lag everywhere. Also if a mob aoe'd and killed 20 people, there wasn't the 20 seconds of lag there is now. Or how when a mob dies now, theres a 1 sec pause. Or how when you or anyone clicks revive, you see some funky bs lag thing. Or how this fuking list can go on and on because THERE SERVERS AND CODERS SUK.

I'm so sick of this fuking lag and the fuking ld's every 5 minutes. I build my own computers, my shits all watercooled, I have a sata hard drive, 2gigs of some expensive ram, a P4 3000 overclocked to 3600 (changed it back to test the lag and ld BS and it didn't resolve it) an x800GT video card, a brand new fokin installation of XP with updates and just Eq2 running and I still can't run the friggin game like before EoF. Sony sux.

Dirge of Death · 12-18-2006, 07:44 AM

The fact that reviving after a wipe often results in multiple link deads is a pretty annoying issue. I wouldn’t mind seeing a fix to that. Also I agree with Petgroup, the lag after mob kills and stuff I don’t know why this is so much worse in EOF then before but would be nice to see it fixed.

As far as the two new tradeskills go I'm personally sort of split on which of them is more desirable to have on a main character. Tinkering offers some great abilities FD and the Manastone both seem awesome and especially as tinker only items made that secondary class appealing enough for me to choose it for my main. But the ability to Transmute all looted drops, old attuned gear, and no-trade quest reward junk is pretty nice too. I wouldn't try to argue that they are balanced, but it seems like people are choosing both of them, so apparently the each appeal to some people.

There are always pluses and minuses to alignment, though it seems that this expansion with the gods returning and a new good aligned city seems to add some new elements to alignment outside of pvp. As far as evil players getting half the content of good aligned ones that seems like a bit of an exaggeration; Kelethin and its related quests in Gfay are the only aspects limited to good players. The other 5 or so overland zones and all the dungeons are equally offering to both good and evil players. My guess would be that SOE has an evil aligned expansion in mind, but who knows.

RadarX · 12-18-2006, 03:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Petgroup

I woulda made the horrible lag everywhere and the constant framework crashes be at the top of my list.

Unless i'm mistaken, before EoF, when a mob AoE'd, they didn't add 5 secs of lag everywhere. Also if a mob aoe'd and killed 20 people, there wasn't the 20 seconds of lag there is now. Or how when a mob dies now, theres a 1 sec pause. Or how when you or anyone clicks revive, you see some funky bs lag thing. Or how this fuking list can go on and on because THERE SERVERS AND CODERS SUK.

I'm so sick of this fuking lag and the fuking ld's every 5 minutes. I build my own computers, my shits all watercooled, I have a sata hard drive, 2gigs of some expensive ram, a P4 3000 overclocked to 3600 (changed it back to test the lag and ld BS and it didn't resolve it) an x800GT video card, a brand new fokin installation of XP with updates and just Eq2 running and I still can't run the friggin game like before EoF. Sony sux.

I don't have much at all in the way of lag unless I'm in a raid zone. You didn't really specify so which are you talking about?

Ixnay the Freeport thing I just can't really see them changing until they release the next expansion (rumors are Kunark but it will definitely be evil based or at least neutral).

I also agree with you on the tradeskilling. While my experience is based on a meager 47ish Armorer, I think adornments could have been more evenly implemented. The tinkerer items should be usable by other places in some cases, but sometimes not. It would depend on the power of the item.

LFG · 12-18-2006, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RadarX

Ixnay the Freeport thing I just can't really see them changing until they release the next expansion (rumors are Kunark but it will definitely be evil based or at least neutral).

I hear you, and my requests for equality between the cities will probably go nowhere in EoF.

But, even if the next expansion is Kunark - keep in mind, Kunark had both Cabalis and Fironia Vie. Regardless what anyone presumes now, there is no way they would leave the majority of thier Qeynos subscribers feeling disenfranched in an evil expansion.

In Kunark, it will be "seperate but equal", whereas in EoF, we have been left as the minority without even that. I just think this has all been unfair, and poorly considered.

Malachani · 12-18-2006, 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RadarX

Ixnay the Freeport thing I just can't really see them changing until they release the next expansion (rumors are Kunark but it will definitely be evil based or at least neutral).

Well, according to THIS, its not evil....

Kiara · 12-18-2006, 04:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elanie

Well, according to THIS, its not evil....

Could also be referring to the snarky bs that person was whipping about about the rushed drive for cash.

Gods, people are such asshats. I wish I could smack posters like that guy once for every single dev.

MeridianR · 12-18-2006, 05:05 PM

From what I had heard Kunark has been scheduled as the next expansion for months (I think it was August time when I found that out)....

Kiara · 12-18-2006, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MeridianR

From what I had heard Kunark has been scheduled as the next expansion for months (I think it was August time when I found that out)....

That should be cool then

Wonder what they'll be doing with it.

Morara · 12-18-2006, 05:09 PM

If the next expansion is evil-focused, I'm hoping for 2 things:

1. NPC's that shut the hell up.
2. Maps that aren't retarded, making you travel 10 miles around a cliff to get to a spot 15 feet away on the map. The whole expansion feels like Qeynos harbor to an extreme degree.