Manyak

The one thing, and ONLY thing that i really care to see with the new xpac - more than more raids, more than fixed procs, more than anything - is to see the lag fixed.

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Lionidas

This is the kind of expansion I would like to see as far as progress goes. Here are the zones in progression, lvl of mobs in the zone and the equivelent zone at lvl cap. Zones in Red are instances.

Timorous Deep: New starting zone/city. Current comparison = Greater Feydark
Firona Vie: lvl 65-70 solo/heroic mobs. Current comparison = Lesser Feydark

Solo/Heroic Side
Swamp of No Hope: lvl 65-75 solo/heroic mobs. Current comparison = Barren Sky
The Field of Bone: lvl 70-75 solo/heroic mobs. Current comparison = Bonemire
Kaesora: lvl 70-75 heroic mobs, Current comparison = Acadechism
Kurn's Tower: lvl 75-80 heroic mobs, Current comparison = Oblisk of Blight
Emerald Jungle: lvl 70-80 solo/heroic mobs, Current comparision = Loping Plains
City of Mist: lvl 75-85 heroic, Current comparison = Unrest
Trakanon's Teeth: lvl 75-80 heroic, Current comparison = None with this difficulty.
Sebilis: lvl 80-85 heroic, Current comparison = Nizara before nerf.

Epic Side
Lake of Ill Omen: lvl 80-85 heroic, Current comparison = None with this difficulty.
Warsli's Woods: Same as Lake of Ill Omen
Veksar: lvl 75-80 epic x2, Current comparison = Roost (only much bigger)
Crypt of Dalnir: lvl 80+ epic x2, Current comparison = Labs when you do it with 2 groups.
Frontier Mountains: lvl 80+ epic x2, Current comparison = None with this difficulty
The Overthere: Same as Lake of Ill Omen
Mines of Nurga: lvl 80 +epic x4, Current comparison = Deathtoll
Temple of Droga: lvl 80+ epic x4, Current comparison = Freethinkers Hideout (but longer)
Howling Stones: lvl 80+ epic x4, Current comparison = Emerald Halls
The Burning Wood: lvl 80+ epic x4, Current comparison = Emerald Halls if it was an open zone.
Skyfire Mountains: Same as The Burning Wood
Chardok: lvl 80+ epic x4, Current comparison = MMIS (if current progression wasn't jacked up)
Veeshan's Peak: lvl 80+ epic x4, Current comparison = None of this difficulty
The Dreadlands: lvl 80+ epic x4, Current comparison = None of this difficulty
Karnor's Castle: lvl 80+ epic x4, Contested zone similar to Mistmoore Castle but much more difficult. Only the top guilds in the game would even make it inside and making it to the boss would not be guarenteed even for them.

alaya

i do agree that the earlier level increases were pretty fast over if you wanted them too, and i don't really have anything against increasing that a bit, but your comparision between dof and kos leveling is a lil weird here, dof really didn't take that much longer than kos, personally i leveled to 60 in 2 weeks while working 8 hours a day, to lvl 70 in 5 days without doing anything but playing. ww tops for kos was 4 days, for dof it was 7 or 8 days, and i am pretty sure the kos level run was a turn sicker than the dof one, dof wasn't really much more of a grind than kos.

Morara

I hope you mean 3-4 weeks from 1-80, because a month for assembly line work to get 12.5% of the way to the level cap is bullshit. Grinding is not content, no matter who you are.

Malachani

You forgoet KOS's grind also included AA's. But no, KOS took me MUCH less time than DOF did. Here's my level history to prove it: http://eq2players.station.sony.com/c...erId=213208105

September 18-Oct 26th, 50-60. May 8-May 25 for 60-70 (+50 AA's in that time). For 50-60, I had a regular group with my guild at the time, and played with them somewhere like 8 hours a day (i got home from work at 3:30 and sometimes played until after 2am, but normally in bed by 11 or 12). That was until level 57ish, when I couldn't keep up anymore (i had to wake up at 5:30 every morning, it just wore me out) and the static group moved on without me. 60-70 was just recently and it was done purely through soloing, pick up groups, a couple collections and quests. I played 6ish hours a night. So yes, I do think 60-70 was MUCH easier than 50-60. Hard to say which was more "fun" as at the time of DOF I had more time to play, and this time I had more incentive to get to 70.

I don't like to "grind" but I think its a necessary part of the game. You can always find fun and different ways to gain exp, but they may not be the fastest. Heck, sometimes grinding isn't the fastest! I got 13 AA's in a single day a couple of weeks ago just by doing green quests, all these things I've never done on this character because she was retired for a year and a half. Sure I have alot of catching up to do still, but it took me less than a month to take a year-and-a-half old character and bring her up to snuff. Just wait until my spells are master again (/mourn all those T6 masters I had!) and my gear is back to what it was. I'll be scary I tell ya ;)

In this game, the grind isn't necessarily for levels. Its just trying to keep your gear up to date while levels just fly by. I think I've spent more time farming some gear than I did actually getting the levels.

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gungo

Some ideas to see with raids.

1) Increase the raid size to 30 (5 groups). I think 4 groups has reached a limit in eq2 raids. 5 groups could allow for more mutlitanking, or just more involved raids, etc. For instance lets say eq2 wants you to tank 3 x4 mobs now.

2) More controled agro needed. Add new abilities like rampage in eq1. The second highest person on the hate list gets hit with a large atk every so often.

3) Maybe a raid wide buff for some classes lacking roles in raids. An aoe heal/mana regen, aoe ward etc. Each class can be given a raid wide buff.

4) Power drains actually have some meaning. You know maybe a raid mob that has a nasty damage shield that can't be damage until its power pool is drained. On top of its innate aoe's, melee etc. seperate power pool and innate non-power abilites.

5) A new high end item based skill system for raiders. an additional system where gear upgrades hold more meaning. Such as the inclusion of 4 new item based skills. spell shield, spell break, dodge, strikethrough. Each one adds an additional check to combat. Spell shield is an extra resist check, spell break is an extra spell to hit check, dodge is an extra avoid check, strikethrough is an extra melee/ranged check. Total item based and harder raid mobs will high innately higher subset in these skills.

6) Make spell resist have more meaning. By breaking down spell resist into 2 numbers resist and mitigation liek melee combat. Spell resist should soft cap at a low % (10-15%?) and most raid mobs aoe's should be unresistable. Make resist debuffs mandatory like eq1 malo/tashini

7) An additional 2-3 new abilites for raid mobs that gets overused like in most expansions.

None of this may change the game much but at least it makes things different and a bit more challenging.

Laodaron

People who are against a level cap increase can try all they want to to disguise creating a new tier and designing the game to work better as no being content all they want, but let's be serious. If you are 70, with 100 AAs, how often do you go to the dungeons and group? Besides for farmg some nameds? Grinding is indirect content. You have to go through several zones you'd stay out of normally, kill mobs you'd probly never see, and you get to play your toon a slightly different way for a few weeks. Get over yourself, and the idea that since YOU are 70, the game doesn't need to progress further.

alaya

i wasn't saying you leveled faster in dof than you said you did, i was painting a different comparison, which in my eyes makes far more sense as it is both times powergrinding through 10 levels exactly after release.

Morara

I never said it didn't need to progress, and you can do a search and see that I was pro-cap raise. Grinding isn't content, though. It's a job you need to do to get to the content. It's like taking a shower before a date. You have to do it, but don't count that in your hero story the next day.

Laodaron

no its not even close. grinding is like the date when you want some pussy. you take her out, eat at a restaraunt you didn't choose, and you watch a movie that you don't care about. however, when you leave her house at 4am, you get in the car and say "damn, that was a good date."

oh, and I appologize then, I read your post as anti-level cap increase.