EQ changing AA formula Follow

Hmm, I can see the reason for it, but the way SoE tends to impliment these things scares me.

Wonder where you'll reach the 1.0 mark? If AA experience becomes normalized after about the first 100 AA's I could see some benefit without a big 'nerf' if you will to the long time toons with hundreds or even thousands of AA's. Beyond that however, and it seems like it could become a huge issue with long time players.

Edited, Feb 12th 2008 11:41pm by Elinda

In a game where xp=value, It does. The AA's that some people got for a certain amount of work, will now able to be had for less amount of work.

, yeah.

...and even the hightest level peeps need decently skilled folks to do their content. Just hope SoE can do it without over doing, as no matter how it's done it is taking away from, we'll say 'utility' (lol, as I'm deep into econ atm) of the people who have spent time earning their AA's.

I ***** about people buying plat as I think stuff should be earned. So I do place value in the experience.

Good idea. I hope the 1.0 mark is much higher than 100 AAs. I have 300ish now and it would be nice to get a couple hundred more at an accelerated rate.

Old timers are angry huh?

So I should kick all new players in the teeth because they don't have to look at their spellbook without OOC regen?

I should call their mothers names because they don't have to leave 1 item on their corpse so it does not "poof" before getting a resurrection?

I should burn their houses because they can summom said "non poofing corpses" to the Guild Lobby?

Cry some more. <pronounced like the Heavy in Team Fortress 2>

I don't think this proposed change will affect much other than satisfying curiosity for those of us slowly gaining AAs.

As with any mudflation, this will only help newer and casual players achieve a certain level more quickly, while the more seasoned high-end players will continue to advance far beyond that level comparatively. The end result is that this change will only move the bar for what is considered high-end - it will not equalize anything.

That's not to say the change is all bad either. The illusion of a more rapid advancement is still worth something. I'm in the boat of players with limited game-time and will sure enjoy hearing the AA-ding more frequently.

Edited, Feb 13th 2008 2:47am by JoltinJoe

I really like this move:

-improves quality of general grouping population (esp. for newer content that was tuned for 300+ AA)
-makes alt-playing more viable and should improve grouping 51-70
-allows my friends that mostly raid keep up with their AAs
-improves the quality of all but the most uber raid forces
-lets returning and reroll players get invested to a point where abandoning the character and/or game is less likely (this change will keep 2 of my regular grouping partners interested longer)
-didn't nerf anyones AA xp from current
-probably sets the stage for new content that requires 600+ AA, so the true hardcore will still be well ahead and will see the reward for getting there first
-shows that Devs are trying to keep the game alive

I don't think anyone should be against this change, instead look forward to what should happen next. For example maybe the level 85 AAs (when they come out) require 800 aa as a prerequisite to purchase? Or maybe you can't ding 81 without 500 aa, 82 without 600 and so on.

Sounds good to me...

...so long as they dont cause some complete train wreck in the system when implementing it.

AAs are the one thing I have that puts me a little above the average everyday player like myself as far as gear and the like goes. I just hope that, at 847 AAs, they don't goof up and slow me down or harm my progress in implementing this code.

Ok, in this player's humble opinion this does not de-value those with existing AA's. Why? Because you have had use of those AA's and have already been able to extract value from those AA's.

From what I've read (I only got through to page 4 last night) the curve is adjustable over time and will always be adjusted to return to normal somewhere in the newest expansions' AA count.

Keep in mind they have already changed how you are gaining AA exp to be based on the con level of the mob. Even con mobs give the same AA exp at every level. So a level 55 person fighting an even con will gain the same exp as a level 80 who kills an even con. This is the "base exp" that they reference in that thread.

As an example this is what this means if you want to look at numbers. Again, this is made up numbers as it doesn't sound like they are going to release the actual numbers.

AA count ....... Multiplier
< 200 ............ 5
201 - 400 ....... 4.5
401 - 600 ....... 4
601 - 800 ....... 3.5
801 - 1000 ..... 3
1001 - 1400 ... 2.5
1401 - 1800 ... 2
1801 - 2300 ... 1.5
2301+ ........... 1 (this is normal)

A new expansion comes out and adds 500 AA's and the scale could be shifted to be:

AA count ....... Multiplier
< 200 ............ 6
201 - 400 ....... 5
401 - 600 ....... 4.5
601 - 800 ....... 4
801 - 1000 ..... 3.5
1001 - 1400 ... 3
1401 - 1800 ... 2.5
1801 - 2300 ... 2
2301 - 3000 ... 1.5
3001+ ........... 1 (this is normal)

If you are a max AA player, the fact that the newest AA's will still be earned at the same rate as before this change does nothing to devalue your AA base. You will still have the newest and best AA's. And if you go earn the newest 500, you will have earned them at par with everyone else and have had use of them. Anyone who wants the newsest and latest 500 will always have to earn them at the same base rate as you. A year later if someone comes along and then earns those 500 at a 1.5 accelerated rate then you still have had the value of having the AA's for the previous year. Once they catch up to the newest set of AA's they too will only earn the latest and greatest at a normal rate.

As I see it this is a *GREAT* move to help balance the player base and reduce the gap of the "hard core raider" vs. the "casual player" (just as the resetting of armor values in SoF is doing). I also see it as a great boon for the higher guilds as it should help increase the number of people able to meet the requirements for application. Casual guilds will also benefit from players with more AA's and will see an increase in places to exp or smaller targets to kill (AA's are a huge part of raid encounters).

Overall I believe this will help encourage new players to join and old players to return which in turn will only help server populations. I have plans of playing for many more years still so this is good news on that front.

The only people who I feel will be hurt by this will be those with an overly accute and sensitive e-***** problem. Perhaps this is just what the Dr. ordered.

"I ***** about people buying plat as I think stuff should be earned. So I do place value in the experience."

Buying plat is a knee-jerk reaction that attempts to remedy the perceived gap between newer players and veteran players in order to gear up so they will get invited to groups and what not.

If you are a new mage, then your pet is doing a lot and buying plat doesnt help too much other than foci and mana pool. If you are a new warrior, buying plat will get you hundreds/thousands more AC and corresponding survivability.

This is the same thinking for AA. Its selling AA's to newer players. Both buying plat and selling AA's give the player more survivability and confidence and hence less players quit out of frustration.

My vote is for both to continue. Plus, I sell more of the tradeskill stuff I made hehe.

I didnt like the sound of the flagging and it would only stand to benefit me, and while not just thrilled about this one, have no complaints at all so long as it goes in and works properly in an unbugged manner, and I'm assuming that at over 800 AAs I'll get zero increased AA benefit from it.

So keep the words "selfish" and "everyone" out of the same blanket statements there please.

Edited, Feb 13th 2008 3:16pm by Saeel

This is one change that makes be consider returning to EQ. I gave up last summer at 68 with about 50AAs. With mediocre gear I needed AAs to advance my character. But the grind to earn those AAs was killing me. But if I could quickly pile up a bunch of AAs under my belt then leveling would be a bit easier.

At 52, 60, and 65, I stopped levelling to gain a few AAs. Like 170. Run Speed, Natural Durability, Combat Agility, and Combat Stability, all at level 3 are MANDATORY for a Warrior (which just happens to be me) to survive. ALSO, being a warrior, I am group dependent. My normal group, not so constrained, continued to level past me, until either they were hunting so far below their level, they were getting little xp, or hunting so far above mine that survivability was next to zero. I would have WELCOMED this change to quicken the painful grind for AAs while watching everyone I normally grouped with take off. I think making lower level AAs more accessable is a boon to the community.