Shaemless rip but this is straight from Absor.
Underfoot has basically four "tiers" of content.
Tier 6
Brell's Rest
Cooling Chamber
Pellucid Grotto
Tier 7
Underquarry
Foundation
Arthicrex
Tier 8
Fungal Forest
Lichen Creep
Shining City
Brell's Temple
Tier 9
Volska's Husk
We want the each tier to be notably harder than the previous, with the expectation that at least some "gearing up" will be needed to cross a from one tier to the next. Gearing up would include gaining spells and getting some AAs as well as gear from the previous tier.
Tier 5 is Korafax so you need to be fully SoD Tier 5 grouped geared before playing in Underfoot with any relative success.
Yes, the mobs are hard.
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Underfoot: NDA liftedFollow
After 16 years, I'm not listing every friggin character.
Thanks for the recap of Absor's post.
I'd be interested if anyone posting here (who was in the beta) could post their impressions of not only the new content but the achievement system, enhanced target window, tradeskill goods, and any other enhancements...
I'd be interested if anyone posting here (who was in the beta) could post their impressions of not only the new content but the achievement system, enhanced target window, tradeskill goods, and any other enhancements...
11 posts
I personally would like to know what AA is available in Underfoot. And is being lvl 85 enough to get it or do you have to unlock it in some way?
AA's seem to be awsome but best to look on your class forum boards for "planned" AA's you will recieve.
Spells from every class board I've read says their basically crap. Their are a few exceptions but overall the new Spell lines have gotten a cold reception.
The first 2 zones in Underfoot are unlokced with the rest requiring a group to unlock each tier.
If you've been around long enouph, think of GoD on release and Underfoot is GoD 2.0...basically an exodus is incoming for EQ, time will tell if it survives this one.
Spells from every class board I've read says their basically crap. Their are a few exceptions but overall the new Spell lines have gotten a cold reception.
The first 2 zones in Underfoot are unlokced with the rest requiring a group to unlock each tier.
If you've been around long enouph, think of GoD on release and Underfoot is GoD 2.0...basically an exodus is incoming for EQ, time will tell if it survives this one.
13 posts
AA's are mostly rehashes of the aa's we have with some toys sprinkled in.
Spells are definitely underwhelming.
The entrance tier mobs are 1 step above korafax mobs with an unreasonable amount of HPS and DPS.
Very accurate description Ab_mage -- GoD 2.0. Casual players need not apply - this expansion is designed for raiders and high end groups. No duo boxing with mercs here.
I'm not going to go the doom and gloom of a mass exodus like we saw wuth GoD 1.0 but I do have concerns.
Spells are definitely underwhelming.
The entrance tier mobs are 1 step above korafax mobs with an unreasonable amount of HPS and DPS.
Very accurate description Ab_mage -- GoD 2.0. Casual players need not apply - this expansion is designed for raiders and high end groups. No duo boxing with mercs here.
I'm not going to go the doom and gloom of a mass exodus like we saw wuth GoD 1.0 but I do have concerns.
AbyssalMage wrote:
AA's seem to be awsome but best to look on your class forum boards for "planned" AA's you will recieve.
Spells from every class board I've read says their basically crap. Their are a few exceptions but overall the new Spell lines have gotten a cold reception.
The first 2 zones in Underfoot are unlokced with the rest requiring a group to unlock each tier.
If you've been around long enouph, think of GoD on release and Underfoot is GoD 2.0...basically an exodus is incoming for EQ, time will tell if it survives this one.
Spells from every class board I've read says their basically crap. Their are a few exceptions but overall the new Spell lines have gotten a cold reception.
The first 2 zones in Underfoot are unlokced with the rest requiring a group to unlock each tier.
If you've been around long enouph, think of GoD on release and Underfoot is GoD 2.0...basically an exodus is incoming for EQ, time will tell if it survives this one.
...maybe. GoD (to my understanding) was partially implemented --with the part they didn't implement being the level-cap raise to allow the content to be doable with any reasonable effiency. I do recall them hardcore detuning a bunch of stuff the first few buggy weeks when everyone was super ticked.
So that helped fuel and exodus true... but lots of shiny new mmo options were there at the time and the market was fresh. Now I think most of the people playing EQ have either stayed all along or come back from shiny new things that held their interest for a short time.
There was EQ, then WoW, no game since WoW has matched/surpassed what either meant to the market in their heyday (WoW is still king, but the shine is fading off of it imo). Newer games have a strong surge for the first few months at best, and maybe maintain a loyal niche following. The market itself it split into so many more games/genres
EQ has so much content they'd have to break all the old stuff with something new to alienate masses, if Underfoot itself was to mostly suck most players still have other things to do.
I agree with snailish partially - GoD 1.0 release had a lot of simultaneous events and factors driving people away from EQ at the time. Now, however, you do have a portion of the playerbase that is ostensibly happy with the way things are. Based on Grover's poll, I suspect that we're talking about 1/3 of all players don't need or don't care about Underfoot. They either are perma-newbs like me, level at a snail's pace, solo, box, or otherwise have so much content available to them as it stands now that the game could enter a frozen stasis and they would still have 5 more years of decent entertainment value to be had.
It's the other 2/3rds though that I'm worried about. The people that are working on finishing up their last T5 essences, the ones that are finished and waiting for the next place to go. Of these people you still have the soloers and boxers, people in tiny family guilds, people that are going to have to work harder to progress in Underfoot. It's these people that I think SOE is risking losing now.
Die hard social groupers and raiders will always have a place to go in new content like this and they seem to be the target audience for Underfoot. I just read an interesting post on another forum regarding this and to paraphrase "Underfoot is just what EQ needs now, to bring back the need to group, to bring back the social game that boxing and mercs have all but destroyed."
So for what it's worth, I do wish that SOE had brought out the blockbuster expansion that had something for everyone. But it's not and they didn't. I guess people can pull together, drop their mercs and start making groups like we did for Orc 1 in East Commons 10 years ago or just hold out for content more suited to their individual play-styles.
For what it's worth in comparison - Warcraft is considered to be a solo friendly game. But at the top end, at level-cap content, I would venture that it is even harder to get a group. The game has become so elitist that people don't ask your name or level, they ask for an achievement check and a run down of your gear itemization before bringing you along.
It's the other 2/3rds though that I'm worried about. The people that are working on finishing up their last T5 essences, the ones that are finished and waiting for the next place to go. Of these people you still have the soloers and boxers, people in tiny family guilds, people that are going to have to work harder to progress in Underfoot. It's these people that I think SOE is risking losing now.
Die hard social groupers and raiders will always have a place to go in new content like this and they seem to be the target audience for Underfoot. I just read an interesting post on another forum regarding this and to paraphrase "Underfoot is just what EQ needs now, to bring back the need to group, to bring back the social game that boxing and mercs have all but destroyed."
So for what it's worth, I do wish that SOE had brought out the blockbuster expansion that had something for everyone. But it's not and they didn't. I guess people can pull together, drop their mercs and start making groups like we did for Orc 1 in East Commons 10 years ago or just hold out for content more suited to their individual play-styles.
For what it's worth in comparison - Warcraft is considered to be a solo friendly game. But at the top end, at level-cap content, I would venture that it is even harder to get a group. The game has become so elitist that people don't ask your name or level, they ask for an achievement check and a run down of your gear itemization before bringing you along.
Samatman wrote:
....level at a snailish's pace...
Fixed that for you.
I agree with the rest of the quote I chopped away. Samatman says it well. "Return to Velious" or whatever the 2010 expansion is going to be called better have a much wider appeal for those of us hoping for the longer-term continuance of EQ as a developed game.
EQ has tons of time left as a no-longer-developed game if the Ak abor server is any indication, but that's a very different atmosphere to exist in.
Scholar
33 posts
I don't know about the content itself, but Underfoot AA's as well as the enhanced target window are now live and working on the Test server, you can check them out there. I was NOT in beta, I am just posting what I know from Test... Sorry if it's old news...
I have to say I was skeptic about the enhanced target window at first, which is indeed a separate window from the normal target window(with default UI). But now, I love it.
Basically you have 6(I think it's 6) more targets that you can either designate to be MT/MA/Puller, your Current Target, Target's Target, Your Merc, Mercs Target, Your Pet, Pet's Target... and many more. OR if you don't designate the targets if automatically fills itself with whatever is on the hatelist of people in your group. When playing my cleric in a raid I found it particularly useful to easily switch between tanks if one went down. Also, I didn't mention but this window also shows you target's mana and endurance(can be turned on/off I believe).
As far as the achievement window goes, I was not impressed. Right now on Test server every achievement is worth the same # of points. 10. Even your epic 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, and 2.5 are just 10 points. You can compare your achievements to nearby people, but I haven't done much with that.
I guess if you want to see for yourself, patch to the Test server.
*Edit - Forgot to mention I honestly don't know if the content (zones, progression, etc.) are available yet on Test. I wouldn't be ready for UF anyway. Again, sorry if this is old news :(
Edited, Dec 6th 2009 8:35pm by Yathozemli
I have to say I was skeptic about the enhanced target window at first, which is indeed a separate window from the normal target window(with default UI). But now, I love it.
Basically you have 6(I think it's 6) more targets that you can either designate to be MT/MA/Puller, your Current Target, Target's Target, Your Merc, Mercs Target, Your Pet, Pet's Target... and many more. OR if you don't designate the targets if automatically fills itself with whatever is on the hatelist of people in your group. When playing my cleric in a raid I found it particularly useful to easily switch between tanks if one went down. Also, I didn't mention but this window also shows you target's mana and endurance(can be turned on/off I believe).
As far as the achievement window goes, I was not impressed. Right now on Test server every achievement is worth the same # of points. 10. Even your epic 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, and 2.5 are just 10 points. You can compare your achievements to nearby people, but I haven't done much with that.
I guess if you want to see for yourself, patch to the Test server.
*Edit - Forgot to mention I honestly don't know if the content (zones, progression, etc.) are available yet on Test. I wouldn't be ready for UF anyway. Again, sorry if this is old news :(
Edited, Dec 6th 2009 8:35pm by Yathozemli
Yathozemli wrote:
I guess if you want to see for yourself, patch to the Test server.
How do I get to the test server?
Just a quick recap here. I did get myself up and running on the test server today. I was a bit surprised to see I had characters there from 5 years ago. I then /testcopied 3 of my characters there and took a look at the new stuff.
Yathozemli is right on target - the achievement system is rudimentary and disappointing. It is clearly a copy of Warcraft and not nearly as complete. I looked and had all my achievements dated today, achievements like [level 10] and [level 20]. I don't know if that was a bug because it was the test server but it would be nice to actually know when I had hit those levels. There were a lot of achievements that were just basically made up fillers - like making an achievement out of hitting 50 skill in all your weapons. Quest achievements are mostly non existent. They definitely placed emphasis on Underfoot progression, occupying a full 1/3rd of the entire achievement system.
The target window is really nice. It annoys me daily that I have to manually target a stack of mobs trying to pick out the most damaged one, or whatever. With the new target window, if I haven't set up a lot of preset targeting, they all auto-fill it... beautiful. Tab targeting would have worked too but this is even better.
Now, a target window isn't enough to buy an entire expansion for, but I'd be getting SoD along with it, and that's not a bad deal at all. I'm still surprised though that 14 months since SoD this is all they came up with.
Yathozemli is right on target - the achievement system is rudimentary and disappointing. It is clearly a copy of Warcraft and not nearly as complete. I looked and had all my achievements dated today, achievements like [level 10] and [level 20]. I don't know if that was a bug because it was the test server but it would be nice to actually know when I had hit those levels. There were a lot of achievements that were just basically made up fillers - like making an achievement out of hitting 50 skill in all your weapons. Quest achievements are mostly non existent. They definitely placed emphasis on Underfoot progression, occupying a full 1/3rd of the entire achievement system.
The target window is really nice. It annoys me daily that I have to manually target a stack of mobs trying to pick out the most damaged one, or whatever. With the new target window, if I haven't set up a lot of preset targeting, they all auto-fill it... beautiful. Tab targeting would have worked too but this is even better.
Now, a target window isn't enough to buy an entire expansion for, but I'd be getting SoD along with it, and that's not a bad deal at all. I'm still surprised though that 14 months since SoD this is all they came up with.
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