Clue to new expansion (from ogaming)Follow

For those who don't visit ogaming you might be interested in this thread:

http://eq2.ogaming.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=17214&st=0&#entry165532

Hopefully its not raising the cap to 80 and goign to be lvl 65 to 80 content. There is stil plenty of players who have not maxed their cap since the grind from 50+ is terribly slow and it seems to be alot harder to get a group together. As for the level 70's let them make alts in a expansion for at least say lvl 35 or 40 +. Give new players a reason to play again. New players are not going to be intriqued by a game where they have to grind for a solid year to be able to play in the newest expansion, and if SOE continues the cap raising every expansion that is exactly what will happen.

Anyways somebody said it looks like the symbol from plane of hate. I have no clue though.

EDIT

For some reason when I put it in the link it was not showing up, so just copy and past I Guess.

Edited, Tue Apr 11 21:35:09 2006 by fronglo

SoE did say that we shouldn't expect an automatic level increase with every expansion and I'm hoping there won't be another with this expansion.

There's a lot of content in this game and I really don't understand people who just want to grind it out as fast as they can and bypass most of the quests.

Ne Plus Ultra on Guk server is a entire guild of those type of players. Within 1 week of KOS almost all of them was lvl 70. They will have nothign to do with anybody unless your in their guild and they generate alot of Smug in the virtual eq2 enviroment (southpark joke there btw for those who didn't catch it).

They are also probably the same people you see on these FPS servers. You know the types who have 10X more frags then everybody else. They do nothing but eat sleep and live the game and know every powerup, every secret, and normally they kill you in 1 shot before you even have time to turn around and move

Anyways once again I REALLY hope they skip a level increase with this expansion though.

I read something about it being Faydwer.

A large new continent with content for all levels would be awesome. New starting towns would be very cool too, if they can work it into the existing Qeynos vs. Freeport mechanic. The whole area fillled with corrupt versions of it's former inhabitants (think EL) at all levels would be great. Then Kelwithe, Kaladim and the other large cities would be dungeons and raids. Imagine raiding corrupt Qeynos with the Queen as the main target :)

Running around Butcherblock, Crushbone, Greater and Lesser Fay, Unrest again? Be still my heart :)

Something like what I outlined would greatly ease my concerns about this game (more on that) and keep me around for a long while.

My concerns? Well, when the game shipped they promised 4 adventure packs and 2 expansions per year. The last adventure pack was Splitpaw and there has been no mutterings from anywhere about another. One major reason I went with a Station Access account was to get the adventure packs for free. What am I paying for now? Reports from the Fan Faire have it that they’re pulling back from 2 expansions per year as well. I haven’t seen a whole lot of KoS, but what I have seen is nothing special. Relatively few and small new areas packed with semi-new MoB’s and re-used graphics. Anyone else notice Bonemire = Lavastorm re-colored, TT is just more Feerott and Nektulos and the other one (Barren Sky?) is DoF in a slightly different shade. There’s nothing really new about it other than the floating island concept, and in fact we saw that graphically in Maj’Dul. It just seems like they rushed it out to have something to sell. Crafting in the expansions is nothing but a copy and paste from previous tiers with new stats.

They’ve made many changes in the game at least in part in the interest of simplifying it for the developers rather than enhancing it for players. Examples are no-subs crafting and removal of advancement path (easier to add or remove classes and change their abilities). I’m not saying these things are all bad for players, but I’m sure they were done in part in the interest of reducing development and support person-hours.

IF they did that because they were putting their real effort into a major new expansion like I outlined above then I’ll know they intend to keep this game going. If they put out another KoS I’ll know they’re in a “hold onto existing customers at the lowest cost” mode and that EQ2 is no longer their flagship game with all their resources and effort behind it. I likely won’t stick around to watch the sad decline. I still think this is a great game and I would recommend it to anyone. It still has a lot of potential, but they have to take advantage of it.


Edited, Wed Apr 12 10:59:07 2006 by Lydiaele

Apparently SoE has copyrighted the name Echoes of Faydwer.

Also I read they've admitted the plan for 2 expansions per year has been shelved and that there could be 1 or 2 Adventure packs released prior to the next expansion.

I seem to remember reading a few months back that the plan for 4 Adventure packs per year had come off the rails.

Another whole continent would be very nice, so far I'm finding KoS quite restrictive. I much preferred DoF, with all the throwbacks to Oasis, and Maj with all its quests is a great zone.

I too get excited thinking about faydark being brought back. I still think they should make Orcs a playable race and Crushbone could be their starting city. Could have some tier 1 newbie zones like qeynos has within Crushbone, and the Faydark could be tier 2 to 3ish and so on so on. I have a couple of alts but like somebody above said leveling alts is boreing because its the same quests, same zones, etc. They need more variety in the game and releasing nothing but high level expansions doesn't do that.

Current rumours suggest there WILL be another level increase

With each new expansion we have seen a 10 level increase and frankly, I don't see where all the concern over this next increase, (or either of the previous ones), comes from.

I have not yet managed to crack T7 with either of my main characters, (my warden is just starting to hunt in T6 and my ranger is firmly mired in T5!). Never the less, I am unconcerned over whether or not we see an 80 lvl cap in the next expansion.

It simply doesn't affect me. If there is nothing of interest at the time of release, I don't have to buy the new package and if there is something in it for me, it is easily obtained. Either way, the event just means that those players at lvl 70 will have someplace new to hunt if SoE raises the cap and no place new to go if they don't. Those of us who are not at lvl cap will just keep moving forward irregardless of the discovery of new zones.

I see it the same way as when I first started playing. At that point, with a new character at lvl 10 or so, I wasn't concerned that there were players who were hunting in the Feerott or Everfrost. That was T5 and I was a long way away from T5 so it just didn't affect me.

In fact, it was kind of comforting to know that I had somewhere to go in the far distant future... new zones to aspire to. And it's kind of like that now... I know that when I am ready to head for KoS and/or the next new zone, they will be there waiting for me. The mobs will all still be available and the zone will still be brand spanking new to me!

So why the concern over another rise in the cap? Maybe some of you can explain it to me...

I can see a few reasons:
- SOE wanting to hold onto the upper level of players by giving them a reason to stick around (new content). Of course they will blow through it all in 2 weeks and begin raid farming.
- Something to brag about as an upcoming perk of the new adventure pack. Kind of like the amazing new climbing ability.
- SOE staying ahead of the WoW level curve. What is thet WoW level cap, by the way?

I may simply leave the game if they add another level increase. Well if they add another level increase and pull the same crap where you must be 5 levels from maxed to use the new expansion. Rumors don't mean nothing though and hopefully they stay as just that. I can see DOF raising the cap as their was TONS of lvl 50 pl players, but I think KOS was too soon.