Krushiev

Neither do I, the "I pay my sub! I should get this and now!!" mentality is what got EQ2 to where it's at.

Point being yes, SOE made some good money from the new subs coming in, and good for them. But people who want a good challenge (in the Fantasy genre) can't really go anywhere else.

You're right Khalan, there was a good reason why the changes were made.. Money. But instead of changing the game back to where it was for everyone, create a test server like copy of the game with all the old rules in effect.

Yes the game was a tad imbalanced, but not much different than it is now (Take Wizards for instance... Ever notice that they don't really take all that much damage in a fight against greens/greys, but a plate wearer will get pummed solo?).

But instead of pointing fingers and going crazy over the imbalances, remember the good times? Yes, when rares were rare and masters were a thing only heroes had. The sense of accomplishment back then was what personally got me hooked on this game like crack in the first place.

The armor quests meant something... Exploring meant something... HQ's (both the quest and the rewards) were important. It just doesn't have the same feel anymore.

Don't get me wrong, I wont cry you guys a river, nor will it do any good to stamp feet and scream foul. Does no good. But in all honesty, who would want a return to the good ole days with some of the newer benefits (AA's an such)?

Who would like the option?

Yea, I may be dreamin' in technicolor, but being jaded hasn't done me any favors either :P I can understand the "Will never happen/Can't go back home/SOE hates us" mentality, but if there was a chance to get something like this...

Who would petition for something like this?

Just askin

Avaela

if it didn't happen with swg it ain't gonna happen with eq2

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Goozmania

This game was a stinky pile of shit before; I cannot fathom why you'd want it to go back to being a horribly imbalanced retarded lootless crapfest with nothing to fucking do. Loot was completely undesirable, stats were worthless, quests were boring and unrewarding (except a couple heritage quests) and classes were not thought out at all.

DoF was a shitty ass fuckfactory of bullshit, but LU13 that came along with it saved the game from extinction. Sure, having some kind of risk factor is exciting, but back when there was risk, there was no reward, so it meant nothing to me. I'm all for making the game more difficult or intuitive, but this game fucking sucked ballsack pre LU13, and was absolutely not hardcore.

Windraa

On that note: What the fuck happened to the rares?
Was doing some harvesting in CoD last night for one of my lowbie crafters... 18 rares in 45 min or so... That's just not right.

Kungao

@windraa the rares got nerfed again ALOT, read they got a huge increase in droprate with the last liveupdate

@OP i almost completly agree, i wouldnt mind a server that had MOST of the pre dof rules in effect, besides some of the quest rewards (just look at old versus new world, completly out of wack) and a few other things i am just forgetting but were most likely pointed out before me :P

Stoic

Frankly I would just be happy with Diminishing Returns, diminishing itself right out of this game. KOS is when the game got fun for alot of people, I however can understand the desire for less fabled, less entitlement and making things actually be worth something. ATM things are just so out of whack and pretty much just handed to you that they had to implement diminishing returns just because they don't know how to properly balance their game, and no making everyone the same at the high end is not balance, its a cop out.

I think the game is great as well, very few games like it out there, the problem is that its trying to be something its not and in the process alienating all its friends. We have all had a friend like that, the guy who thinks he is a white rapper but in the end is just lonely and sad cause everyone got tired of his shit after awhile. Well thats what EQ2 is doing right now, and it isn't pretty fly for a white guy. Its just downright sad. Diluting the game down to stupid masses is not how you keep the subs you currently got just so you can try to get news subs (which incidentaly you don't advertise for or make available in stores or shops the stupid masses visit.)

I don't want to bitch and moan though without adding an alternative though. The game is hard to recognize now a days from what it was however adding a server that had drastically diffrent rules, wouldn't be bad. The manpower to tweak a server like that wouldn't really be a huge step because hell they made worse mistakes than that in the past. The idea would be to actually have stuff be rare. Raid mobs would have double or a 1/3 more HP hit a tad bit harder and what not. Making fabled stuff actually rare due to the difficulty in obtaining it. The Trick though would be when the server goes live that ANYONE can transfer their char there. The hook is that ONLY your char got moved there, your level and aa's would remain intact but that is all. All armor you had would be gone all money all EVERYTHING would be removed. This is to reward the hardcore folks who don't want to grind up a new toon but to give those people who want to try the hardcore lifestyle out a new lease on the game. Roll that idea around and see what ya come up with.

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WillyWonka

What will help this game? 2 things.. 1 Ditch Diminishing Returns, 2 put more focus on PvP.
Sorry guys but PvP is where MMORPGs get their gamers from now. It's all well and good to group up with 23 other people to kill internet dragons but a big chunk of the online players nowdays like to kill other players.. it's more of a challenge to kill someone that can actually think on their own and not something that follows a preprogrammed / preset script every time.
For EQ2, PvP is and was an afterthought.. and they are butchering it by catering to the PvE servers. I personally didn't really like WoW, but what they did have was correct PvP in terms of settings and design. Why do you think there are so many players in WoW, why is it that's it's now a "e-sport" and why does it attract more new players each day than EQ2 does in a month? PvP. People don't go there just to kill Computer controlled mobs, they go there to kill other people. That should be the changing focus of EQ2. Yeah a lot of the "Hardcore Raiders" will be bitching then, but seriously think about it. There are only so many ways to program a Mob to act in a game. There are only so many variables to work with, at some point the limit will be reached and yet the "hardcore" people will want more. So until they create actual "thinking intelligent programs" that learn etc. PvP is the best you'll be able to get. Take your "uber leet" 24 man raid and fight another "uber leet" 24 man raid, the experience will be nothing like fighting some "uber leet" computer controlled scripted mob that AoEs every xx seconds and debuffs every yyy seconds. :D

Morara

"LOL FRAGD U NUB" is not where I want to see EQ2 go.

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Savanja

First off, a special ruleset server sets off huge sirens for me. Generally speaking, you'll have to have enough players who are willing to do this to make the community on a special server plausible, and not many will want to. People will have to break from guilds, leave server friends, start all over, and no one likes doing that once established.

Addressing your specific points:

LU 13..Will SOE never be able to live it down? I deleted my zerker shortly after, whilst crying and eating Ben & Jerrys. Saying goodbye is the hardest part. Doesn't mean a whole heckava lot for my monk though.

Dropping the archetype system was one of the smartest things done for EQ2.

I never did like access quests. They were an annoying waste of time, and groups always ended up having a player or two that didn't complete it, so we'd have to run through it elventybillion times despite the "Has everyone done this access quest?" before heading out. It wastes precious playtime for a lot of people.

I liked danger in zones. The vicious fish (Aggro Fish..teehee) that used to be in Nek Forest? Yeah, I can't even remember how many times I died to those fuckers, but I never really minded and I learned that some areas were dangerous. It makes for good stories and a little bit of interest in zones when they aren't all grouped according to mob type, so scattered heroics, epics, and aggro'd mobs is something I'd be okay with.


Death should have a cost. Period. As someone around here said before, its sad when death becomes a mode of transportation, and yeah, I've committed suicide to make my way to a spawn location. Make death have a real consequence for a little bit of challenge!

Crafting..oy. I've been working on crafting for work, but I would have been so happy to go through my gaming career never tradeskilling at all.
Honestly, I think of crafting as a side job, though I'm quite aware that some use crafting as their main part of gameplay. With that, I don't believe there are enough players who make crafting their focus to make it so challenging. Subcombines took up way too much time, and for an aspect of the game that is meant as a feature, not the focus, it shouldn't.

You have some good ideas, and it would be lovely if some of these things were added back into game, but obviously they were removed for a reason. SOE is looking to make money off of EQ2, and hardcore players who like challenge and difficulty do not make of the majority of the playerbase. It simply is not worth development time to implement something that would likely get very little traffic and interest.

Deson

I miss the aggro fish. Of note, trades were sold as a focus, not a side feature. The reality however has proven somewhat different.