wide sweeping changesFollow

I hopped into my Inquisitor last night and made the Nek run to the thundering stepps to further add to my undead count by bashing orange and yellow cons in the Karana area.. when I noticed a few of the centaurs in TS were not double arrow up heroic...

I thought "well maybe they never were.." since I hardly paid them much attention because they don't aggro and I don't want centaur hate....

the closer I got to my undead kill zone the more I saw and not a single centaur was double arrow up, some bigger groups were even single arrow down.. none were heroic.. I thought.. now wait a minute, was it always this way, no.. I don't think so.... wait... giants.. I *KNOW* those were double arrow heroic 'cause I have a quest for them I can't solo.. So off I went to see the giants....

no arrows, not heroic... simply a yellow con "solo" mob.. I thought.. "0_o strange".. that's not how it was.. maybe there's a bug.. I'll fight one and see if I get schooled...

he hit hard... a little harder on average than the yellow con skeletons... but I won. Then I took a long look around and noticed a LOT more of the double ^^ heroic mobs had changed to solo'able..
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now how do you all feel about this?.. personally I was a bit worried about it at first but then after thinking on it and playing in the new reality for a short bit of time I discovered that I like it a lot..

many of the overland quest I have that were just not do-able solo til the mobs turned gray (or if I want to waste time group hunting and hope it's a decent group that acutally *WANTS* to kill my quest mobs) just became an option I can do *now*..

I like this..

at first I thought.. well is SOE making the game too easy? But I don't think that's the case at all...

the basic thought seems to be:

group = hard
solo = easy

I think this is a misconception in this case.. I find solo'ing to be as challenging as grouping.. truth be told, the hardest part about being in a group is dealing with the players not understanding their limits or class, or worse.. dealing with an asshat player in the group. *groan*

'course then there's the flipside.. if you can solo nearly everything, why group at all? This is a valid point.. I suppose people will begin grouping because it's someone they want to game with and actually build a solid community instead of *NEEDING* a group for a quest and dealing with not-so-nice people all because they're needed in a group... I think this will push guilds to the fore-front.. people will be more likely to group with guildies or go solo rather than a pick up group.

now I can't say for certain since I'm a pretty devout solo'ist...it's just my opinions... any thoughts? opinions? dissertations?

if not.. then I'll assume I'm right.

Among other points, the lovely Iaini stated:

I quite agree and believe that degree of challenge is based in the fact that you have no one to lean on but yourself.

When I group, I only have one job to do. I play a warden and a ranger so in either case, my role almost always boils down to a single simple task.

But when I solo, I have to take responsibility for every aspect of the hunt. In my oppinion, this is both more challenging and more demanding.

Naitchil mentioned:

Since SOE is basicly against the concept of PLing, they might be more inclined to just ignore that particular whine and leave the changes in place... One can only hope...

Now, regarding your sig...

Custer did have a plan. He was arrogant and ultimately mistaken. He acted on bad intelligence and even in the midst of mounting doubt voiced by his officers, still stubbornly insisted that he was right, but he did have a plan!!!

If there are more PC groups nearby, mobs like that are supposed to con higher, so as to be more geared towards a group.

Otherwise they con more towards a solo, as I understand the current test.

I think as it's turned out, there are a lot more soloers than SoE thought there might be. So this is a good move. And there were quite a few quests that said they were for soloers but included group mobs.

The giants in around the crater are still grouped btw, so they're not all solo now, just most of them.

What this change should also do is push the hardcore grinders into the dungeons more.

So will be interesting to see how it all pans out, but I highly doubt they'll change it back.

I would personally like to see the Dungeon zones used more than they are. Runnyeye is typically vacant after 8 pm central on Lucan. Ruins of Varrsoon has heritage groups only in it, trying to get those mobs then they leave. Fallen Gate same way. Other than a few AQ groups the place is vacant. And Zek...forget about getting a group for Death Fist Citadel...

Everyone wanted the easy outdoors heroic mobs. If you can get ruffly the same exp from grouping on crows in EL as you can in Runnyeye, why would you go through the hassel of a dungeon?
Yes there are still group mobs and ^^ outdoors but they are now deep in zones and typicaly surrounded by solo aggro mobs now. Great! Maybe now I can get some dungeon quests done by actually finding a group for them.

Also, honestly Kildarner, travel has not been an issue for me with any character since January. Nektulos was my favorite stomping ground for my necromancer but in December, before they took out the flying fish of death, it was a hyper debt zone. I never went there without a group in December. Now here it is March/April and I can run my 13 brawler from Antonica to Commons without a single death. Makes getting that lightstone done so mucheasier for Qeynos siders.EL still has alot of nasties but at 37 you are pushing the limits of EL's level cap, so the zone seems worse to you than it is. Try running around Feerott. Without invis you'll see that old thrill of the hunted again.

And my guild never recruited from a single pick up group. Especially from outdoors. Dungeon zones provided the testing grounds for us. Runnyeye, Fallen Gate, heck even Wailing Caves tested out okay members from those that excell. No, you want into House Maelthra you not only have to be a compentet RPer, but also a good team player. If you could not handel Fallen Gate at 20+ then you are not for us.

IMO, picking up a group is a fun way to meet new people... yes I realize you take a risk at playing with people less adept than you, and may share in some XP debt as a result, but there's always someone better than ALL of us out there.

Also, what does it hurt to take some time enriching those less experienced with a little of your insight and knowledge about gameplay by grouping with them? After all, EQ2 is a game that goes on and on and on... I think it would be a shame to limit yourself to the same people all the time by grouping only with your guild. Of course it's great to group with your guild when possible to foster relationships there, I won't dispute that. I just can't fathom opting to avoid grouping outside guilds at all costs. You may be missing out on someone very well suited to JOIN your guild.

Karma baby, karma. Just one person's opinion, no flames necessary. LOL! (to each his own)

I am disappointed in the changes. I honestly gave it a shot and really considered things, but over all I noticed two things which have negatively affected my gameplay.

1. Zones feel safer now. There is less thrill running through areas. Now it just feels boring and trivial. I actually feel dumber in a way, as if SOE indirectly is saying I wasn't competent enough to play in the previously harder zones, so they had to make them easier for me. Yes, I know they are not really saying that to me, but that is how I "feel."

2. XP and Challenge, took a dive. As a Paladin, who kept her gear up to date, and effectively used her abilities, I could easily solo Green and Blue Heroic Group encounters. I gained a lot of experience this way, more so than I'm making now. The challenge is so low, that yesterday I was playing my lvl 12 Rogue alt, and was soloing Red Solo lvl 16 mobs and winning most of the time. Sadly, I was only getting 2% XP from killing them. I can't imagine what I would get from Blues and Greens now.

Yesterday I formed a group with my lvl 12 Rogue alt, with an 18 Cleric, 18 Crusader, 15 Fighter, 13 Druid, and 15 Sorcerer. We were wiping through lvl 20 great bears so easily that I said, "Let's try Thundering Steppes!" We headed over to TS and were wiping the grouped gnolls lvl 20-22, just inside the entrance, as well as the undead groups nearby. I STILL only got about 2%XP per kill, but the mere fact that we were taking them on, was laughable. Granted, most of the workd was being done by the two lvl 18s and very little from me ;) I stayed with the group until the Cleric dinged 19 and I could no longer earn XP.

In regards to questing, I am a questing ho! My journal is almost constantly full, but I still like a challenging and rewarding kill. I am so, so, so disappointed in this change.

Maybe there is some deeper wisdom behind the change, I usually agree with SOE's changes, maybe it's true that they are trying to push more players into the dungeons. I have yet to go into a dungeon since the change, so I'll be sure to check it out and see if there are more heroic mobs inside.

LOL...

Kallirye Scholar wrote:

In regards to questing, I am a questing ho!

Right on, we're kindred on that note!