Hey all. Been gone from EQ since 2005 or so, and was thinking about giving it another look. Maybe just momentary nostalgia or whatnot, whatever. Anyway, I was on Firiona Vie back in the day and was thinking about my old troll SK. I remembered that one of the primary reasons I swore off SOE games in general was the outdated dinosaur of forced grouping dynamic that seemed to plague their design philosophies.
My question is; Has SOE managed to mature a little bit and grow past that inoperable stumbling block? Or am I still forced to rely on a group of complete strangers on a game with a population so low that the odds of my actually knowing anyone are between nil and...nil to advance at all?
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A question about mechanics and groupingFollow
1-40 any class can solo rather easily if you take advantage of the out-of-combat regen, hotzones and the readily available potions. (Just got took a warrior from 1-42 solo, stopped the rogue at 38 --everything else would be easier than those in my opinion.)
Post level 40 the content steps up slightly, soloing slows down for some classes here. Most don't find it efficient to solo 50+ except on the traditional solo classes.
Opinions vary but you'll generally get told that necromancer and mage solo the best; with druids, beastlords, wizards, monks, enchanters, bards and berserkers all being efficient in capable hands.
Some classes become more soloable later in levels (cleric comes to mind here) due to aa and other additions to the game. Some classes just shine in a group (rogue).
Population varies by server. Several servers are healthy in the lowbie range if you stick to hotzones --I can vouch for Bristlebane on this. The other trick is to find a guild, most people group with guildies, friends box or solo nowadays.
Post level 40 the content steps up slightly, soloing slows down for some classes here. Most don't find it efficient to solo 50+ except on the traditional solo classes.
Opinions vary but you'll generally get told that necromancer and mage solo the best; with druids, beastlords, wizards, monks, enchanters, bards and berserkers all being efficient in capable hands.
Some classes become more soloable later in levels (cleric comes to mind here) due to aa and other additions to the game. Some classes just shine in a group (rogue).
Population varies by server. Several servers are healthy in the lowbie range if you stick to hotzones --I can vouch for Bristlebane on this. The other trick is to find a guild, most people group with guildies, friends box or solo nowadays.
This is still the wrong game for you. It's meant to be a grouping game, meant to meet and work with new folks. Some are lame groups some will be great.
This evening I went to be a slower in a zone new to me. wasnt sure of best way to get there and asked group not to leave me behind. Due to zoning issues they did leave me behind, got aggro in undershore, had only been there 3 times and its still new as well, and died. I was angry enough to say bye to the group and leave. Came back later on, had a dain 2 group that started rocky but after a bit we settled in to roles, convinced the warrior that he really should assist dain, and completed the task.
Hey sometimes it works and sometimes it doesnt. But if you dont like grouping stay away.
This evening I went to be a slower in a zone new to me. wasnt sure of best way to get there and asked group not to leave me behind. Due to zoning issues they did leave me behind, got aggro in undershore, had only been there 3 times and its still new as well, and died. I was angry enough to say bye to the group and leave. Came back later on, had a dain 2 group that started rocky but after a bit we settled in to roles, convinced the warrior that he really should assist dain, and completed the task.
Hey sometimes it works and sometimes it doesnt. But if you dont like grouping stay away.
Best bet is to be the maker of a group rather than be the looker of a group.
I thought it was an MMO wide rule.
If you can't get a group,make one?
Leadership skills,as well as listening skills/ability to work with others are a requirement of eq.
Unless you feel like sticking to the solo classes Majority of classes can solo:Shadowknights,mages,druids,chanters,bards,necros,clerics,paladins,shamans,beastlord,ranger,wizard
can all solo Sometimes monks. Never rogues.
Soloing is moreso something done when you cannot get or make a group,never meant to be done 1-80 in everquest.
If you can't get a group,make one?
Leadership skills,as well as listening skills/ability to work with others are a requirement of eq.
Unless you feel like sticking to the solo classes Majority of classes can solo:Shadowknights,mages,druids,chanters,bards,necros,clerics,paladins,shamans,beastlord,ranger,wizard
can all solo Sometimes monks. Never rogues.
Soloing is moreso something done when you cannot get or make a group,never meant to be done 1-80 in everquest.
Actually, I think that SOE has only gone about halfway in terms of group/solo issues, and it's kinda swung the other way now.
With all the bonuses and gear mudflation and whatnot, almost any class can solo at almost any level now. Some still better then others, of course, but every class *can* solo. They did that to address exactly the "forced grouping" issue you talked about.
Unfortunately, it seems like they did this in a haphazard unbalanced manner. Some classes still solo much much better then others. Also, they've made the benefits of soloing so good that you're often worse off joining a group nowadays. For me, this is super obvious when playing my paladin. It used to be that I could solo, but it was never worth my time to do so. Getting a group was always much much better, to the point that my time was better spent sitting around trying to get a group (or creating one) then heading off to solo if one wasn't available immediately.
Today, it's the exact opposite. I tend to gain more exp over time soloing then grouping. And not by a little bit. Huge amounts. I was in a group in BoT that was literally pulling everything not nailed down. After three hours of this, I'd managed to gain about 3 AAs. So a rate of approximately 1AA/hour. I can hunt the same mobs in the same zone and gain 2-3AAs per hour. And that's a "slow" rate. Good undead content can net me 5+AA/hour depending on where and what.
When my pally can solo for exp faster then group for it, something wrong. It used to be that the grouping bonus made up for increases in soloing ability they added. It appears that somewhere along the line, that balance got lost, so that grouping really isn't that worthwhile anymore. I do it for social reasons, or if there's a camp that drops something worthwhile.
Sometimes, you get what you asked for, and it's not really much of an improvement...
With all the bonuses and gear mudflation and whatnot, almost any class can solo at almost any level now. Some still better then others, of course, but every class *can* solo. They did that to address exactly the "forced grouping" issue you talked about.
Unfortunately, it seems like they did this in a haphazard unbalanced manner. Some classes still solo much much better then others. Also, they've made the benefits of soloing so good that you're often worse off joining a group nowadays. For me, this is super obvious when playing my paladin. It used to be that I could solo, but it was never worth my time to do so. Getting a group was always much much better, to the point that my time was better spent sitting around trying to get a group (or creating one) then heading off to solo if one wasn't available immediately.
Today, it's the exact opposite. I tend to gain more exp over time soloing then grouping. And not by a little bit. Huge amounts. I was in a group in BoT that was literally pulling everything not nailed down. After three hours of this, I'd managed to gain about 3 AAs. So a rate of approximately 1AA/hour. I can hunt the same mobs in the same zone and gain 2-3AAs per hour. And that's a "slow" rate. Good undead content can net me 5+AA/hour depending on where and what.
When my pally can solo for exp faster then group for it, something wrong. It used to be that the grouping bonus made up for increases in soloing ability they added. It appears that somewhere along the line, that balance got lost, so that grouping really isn't that worthwhile anymore. I do it for social reasons, or if there's a camp that drops something worthwhile.
Sometimes, you get what you asked for, and it's not really much of an improvement...
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