The game being dumbed downFollow

Agreed. LOL, I remember the run from Freeport to Qeynos (SonyEQ), doing my best to avoid those stinking lions.

But ya, the game has changed radically from 1999. The lastest changes are NOT necessarily a "dumb down," either. Yes, they did open up older zones to new players, as long as they meet the level requirements, but they did not change the content of those zones. Just because 6 level 70s can get into Anguish does not mean they will be able to take down OMM. Heck, they might be challenged to take down a mini. I dont see alot of people /ooc'ing pick up raids or whatever in the Guild Lobby for any of these zones either. I have seen several pick up raid for PoP zones however, but not Time.

Some changes that have simplified the game have been welcome in my book. Out of combat regen is pretty cool. Not having to have the book open in front of me to mana regen was an awesome change. The Guild Hall was just as good. Anyway, I can understand how some of the older players might feel, but I think the changes that have occured over time have for the most part been good changes.

The changes I wish could have been implemented differently were the portal stones in PoK, and other places. I think porting is an important utility of Wizards and Druids that has for the most part been neutralized by these convenient ports.

Edited, so that it actually makes sense.

Edited, May 14th 2008 6:18am by Harrington

I would relate dumbing down to a specific nerf rather than a date.

The recent lifting of flags and keys - dumbing down or no?

In my opinion no, since at this point the keys/flags for most of the changed zones just meant people didn't go there or bother getting the flags. They seem to be setting up a cycle of:

Newest expansion = bleeding edge
2nd newest = organized guilds
3rd newest = focused casuals & family guilds with some direction
everything else = the dabblers, old schoolers and alt-hounds.

As this game continues to move forward I hope they continue to maintain such a cycle --I am okay with the newest content not addressing me right now since I am not a bleeding edge raider or hardcore player (Right now I would fall into the 4th category actually).

Put the 5-level cap increases beside the tiers and I think it works out alright... so 4 years from now when the bleeding edge is level 100 the dabblers, etc. will have all the 1-80 content (including the level 70-80 content they will add in the next few expansions) to do.

I would like to see them resist the urge to add more factions and work within the 100s they already have... OoW zones would get a lot busier if that was the faction for the level 85 armor vendor. Better hits in the new high zones, but can do it snail-way with the lower mobs --this precedent already exists with the Lower Guk and Old Sebilis factioning some do for the crown of deceit quest.

If original world to Prophecy of Ro quest content had continuations in the next expansion(s) you would need to do little else to most old zones aside from improve the loot tables to the TSS standard for 1-70 gear.

I think you can make alot of people happy that way... veterans that did the Coldain prayer shawl back in the day get to hand it in for the new level 85 version, lowbies can do old content to meet higher-up ends making the low game purposefull outside of just levelling. This expansions raid is group content 5 years down the line due to the level increases (Plane of Hate is an old example of this).

Removal off the "look at your spellbook while medding"... It just killed the game for me.

Removal of flags that serve no purpose is a good thing, OH NOEZ they removed the time flag!!! Oh wait group lvl trash that regularly rots is 10X better than the end mob drops in time NVM.

I've played since Luclin. That's close enough to release for me.

I never played endgame. I've never had a max level character. It gets boring after a while, to be honest, and I'd rather grind out AAs than levels on my cleric. Knowledge portals didn't exist when I started playing. They do, and always have left a sour taste in my mouth. Nexus portals? Not so much. It takes long enough for them to port you, that it doesn't really bother me. The Bazaar? No real problems with it.

High level buffs that can be cast on level 1s? That was a problem from the get-go. Aegolism was the top-end hp/ac buff for the Velious era, and it didn't have a level check. Koadic's Endless Intellect was the top-end wis/int/mana/mana regen buff from the Velious era... and it didn't have a level check. Those weren't added until later on. The only issue is that Aegolism required a reagent. I don't believe KEI did.

I started playing before Scars of Velious was released. Obviously, the game has change a WHOLE lot since then, but I wouldn't go so far as to say it is being "dumbed down." They are just trying to compete with all the other online games (World of Warcraft), which generally are much easier to jump into and start playing so they are more appealing to a wider range of people.

I started in 99, when Vallon Zek first opened ( was on Povar before that), and yes the game has changed incredibly since then.

The game was so new then, and it was alot of fun. The sense of adventure, the newness of it all, made it "Evercrack"

I left the game shortly after Luclin, mostly because the server itself had become a mess ( the teams were mixing, it was just not what I thought it should be) and I was burnt out on raiding all the time and the grind. But that was my playstyle, not a problem with the game.

I came back, and I wouldn't say the game is dumbed down, but it is easier in many ways, but for me at least, it is even more fun than it was in the beginning.

I still hunt "old zones" and haven't even come close to seeing all the zones, but the thing I like about Eq is that it fits so many playstyles...I like to solo, now that is possible ( was soooo hard back in the day). Quests have gotten better ( the armor quests from the previous expansion) etc...

I love the way it has changed since the last Century , and look forward to the next evolutions the game makes.

Edited, May 15th 2008 3:32pm by yenwangweh

I've been playing since just before Luclin came out. Like Kirby said, it was all about staying alive, corpse runs, planning travel. I remember riding the boats and jumping off early because I was a Dark elf. I learned the catacombs of Qeynos, and the Sewers of Freeport. Luckily I was a mage, and after a few levels when I bought the spell, I could summon food. Every time I played, I spent at least 30 min summoning everything before heading out to wherever I was going. I was over level 10 before I even stuck my nose outside of Nektulos. When Luclin came out I was so excited about the newbie quest armor sets. But I don't have a level 80 char, and probably never will. I don't know the end game, and I'm ok with that; it doesn't appeal to me. The game has passed me by, but *shrug* - ah well. I have fun when I play and for me, that is why I play.

It IS different now, and a lot easier in some ways. I still make newbies and do things the hard way, because I'm just that way. A lot of people now seem to just want to catch up to everyone else, and rocket through the levels to the end game. That's fine, and they have the tools to do so now. Others take it slower, and when I find one of those types I usually hang out with them when I am not soloing. In some ways it does feel a bit dumbed down, but I understand the need to appeal to a larger market so they can keep making $$. I don't like it much, but there's still lots of planning, strategy, etc left that it appeals to me still.


I've a few chars on Stromm, Bear - I'll look you up next time I am on. I LOVE LDoNs, and am always sad that so few go into them anymore.

I read every thread on this post. I started in 2004. I started as a Human Paladin. When I started there were still corpse runs. When my toon was made he went to Qeynos. I hunted outside the front gate killing all those skellies and spiders....the first time fippy killed me it was on like donkey kong.

I also learned that when killing those beetles outside the gate it would spawn a named that would come after you for killing all his bros... and occaisonaly there would be a mummy....that was always weird I thought.

Then it was off to blackburrow.....after I ran around the Karana's a bit. I remember thinking oh nice they are all blue....this will be easy. Yeah died at the bottom. When some passerby buffed me and I thought I was god......seven corpses later I sat out in front of BB hoping somebody would take me to the bottom to get my corpse. Eventually a level 25 monk came to my aid. He took me all the way down and brought me all the way back up. Eventually I got big enough and I went and destroyed BB hahahah Here is the funny thing.........

I never knew the POK existed, and I soloed until level 55 in all of the old zones...I used to think it was odd that I didn't see hardly anybody.....always saw the port stone outside Qeynos, but never even went up to it.

Then one day I saw somebody go up to it and disappear.....I thought well maybe they logged but realized you sit when you log......clicked on it and a whole new world opened up to me.......did a /whoall and I thought WOW there is 400 people in this place. There were no GL's or GH's yet. I came just before Omens craze.
I did lots and lots of LDON's.

The moral of the story.....I didn't start in 99/00 I started in 2004, and I still experienced what the 99/00 people did. I walked the Orc highway and made enemies with the Orc folks....trust me I did hehe

I went to High pass, and I made the run to Estate of unrest, and off to the catacombs I died, I ran through the halls of Mistmoor, and I will never forget that druid that saved my butt in Mistmoore from those ghost dogs...man those things hurt .

The first hill giant I ever killed was the best ever. I remember having to run back to town and sell all those feet and swords and stuff and drop money (copper) off into the bank....apparently nowadays people just delete the copper.....

Look we all had our reasons for leaving, playing staying, or coming back.....you all are right about one thing......

I have played just about every MMO out there, and what they don't have that EQ does is in the name alone.... "Everquest" the REAL friendships, and above all that sense of feeling like there is just something i still have to do on EQ, I can honestly say that I have never defeated EQ.

Ganhob
75th LvL Paladin, XEV










Edited, Jun 20th 2008 10:43am by Faalenleaf

Edited, Jun 20th 2008 10:46am by Faalenleaf

For me one of the biggest shifts was that EQ became a solo game for more classes the instant they made support potions plentiful and inexpensive. Not that this was entirely bad - from a lore perspective I often wondered why alchemists couldn't make heal potions as easily as they can now. But before instant clicky healing, snaring, buffing, etc casually played warriors were extremely inefficient solo'ers and by the middle levels basically had to basically stick to LB mobs for experience.

Interestingly right around the time that the plethora of potions appeared, and maybe it was just the volume, the developers seemd to suffer from a temporary lapse in creative flare. Why couldn't a shroud's level 65 fire spell be called "Sol Ro's Epic Firestorm" or something cooler than Fire X, or why couldn't they have "Tears of Rodcet Nife" instead of the bland Distillate of Celestial Healing X?

Part of the nature of EQ is that it does change so dramatically over time. Some updates add features I enjoy immensly and some do quite the opposite, but I think the ever-changing experience is interesting and fun.


Edited, Jun 20th 2008 5:55pm by JoltinJoe

It's gotten easier every year, as far as I can tell. I've been playing on and off since 2003 and it makes it a lot easier to return (I like to start from scratch each time, don't ask me why ;P)

I have done everything from SSRA to TBS, and through it all it was good times. I have been away for a year due to deployment in Iraq...and have recently found comfort in Everquest.

I am coming back to EQ. I miss it. I am old fashioned...heh I have a 75 Druid and still run around and i don't use the portals unless in extreme situations. I read all of the storylines, and I do all of the quest.

I peddle my wares the old fashioned way, and I don't use any of the fancy potions or the like.

When I got my grand master gear with augs it was because I farmed the material to make it. I didn't run to the Bazaar to buy what I could. I still farm rathe mountains for plat and still run back to town to sell the odds and ends from the giants and to put gold in the bank copper too.

I don't waste anything and I do the old legacy of passing on gear if its not no drop stuff. I still buff people for free with my druid, and I rez folks with my 90% rez at no charge if they want the 90% rez.

I role play and play the part when in-game (only) I still beleive it is important to help any that ask for assistance. When I lvl I still stop each lvl to cast just so I can get the skillups until they are maxed. I still hunt the old zones, and I remember all the wipes before guild halls, and running back time and time again. EQ is the same for me, and no matter if it is easy or not it will always be hardcorp for me :)

Ganhob

Luclin was not "close" to release. Kunark and Velious were released before that as well as the original. Luclin was the reason alot of people left...that expansion was just lame, from a lore standpoint as well as a game standpoint.

Of course, I also know people who started then, and loved it. I guess it just depends on what you relate it to...