Early October News
by Loral on October 04, 2004
This week we take a look at some of the news appearing throughout the Everquest community.
On Halloween SOE hosts the New Orleans Fan Faire. SOE posted the schedule for this year's Fan Faire last week. Your favorite cleric (that's me in case you forgot) will be in attendance armed with an all new agenda to stuff into the pockets of anyone with an SOE badge. Like the summit agenda, I will post this agenda here a week or two before the Fan Faire.
This week SOE announced SOE Worlds a print magazine devoted to Everquest, Everquest 2, Everquest Online Adventures, Star Wars Galaxies, and the rest of SOE's army of massive online games. The magazine includes strategy articles, general reviews, fiction, and interviews. I expected something like this to come out eventually; I'm surprised it took as long as it did.
The largest buzz and attention in the last couple of weeks appears to focus on Epic 1.5s. Every class board, hundreds of discussions on the EQ Live forums, and most of the developer and community feedback follows the progression of these quests. Epic raids pour into most chat channels and even the non-raiders seem to have epic fever. Why people seem to be more interested in epics than levels, AAs, spells, or other gear seems beyond me. It may be the most popular Omens feature for high-level players.
A bit of nastiness hit quite a few people last week. People's Omens accounts shut off without warning and sent level 66+ players back to their level 65 self. At first rumors spoke of credit transaction problems but reports came in from people who bought their copy in the store. Sony jumped on it and posted this statement. I heard of nearly half a dozen people losing their level in this manner but all of them seemed to get it back without too much of a hassle. This seems to be the only major bug in an otherwise smooth expansion release; certainly smoother than Gates of Discord which suffered from random linkdeaths for nearly a week.
A new feature on test has bards cheering. Bards will soon have the ability to auto-twist songs using a new "/melody" command. Typing "/melody 1 2 3" will play each of the three songs in sequence. The change helps bards become more social creatures, giving them the time to chat with friends and watch Tivo until their friends shout "Heal Me, Dolt!". Some bard purists complain that it removes one of the great tests of skills for bards but most bards agree that the loss of challenge is worth the reduction in repetitive motion stress.
66+ spell costs dropped from 140,000 plat on the first few days to 60,000 plat today on Quellious. I expect to see them drop to 10k before they meet the balance of supply and demand. This should probably happen in a month or two. I still know little about the location of 69 and 70 spells. The no-drop requirement worries me. Instead of living the twilight of my levels where I choose, I will probably have to hunt in Muramite Provingrounds and Riftseeker's in order to receive 69 and 70 spells.
People continue to migrate in long lines to the Wall of Slaughter. Though better experience and loot awaits discovery in Ruined City of Dranik and its two sets of instances, people prefer the easier hunting ground and higher drop-rate of the Wall. I cannot blame them and it is better to have one zone like the Wall than none at all, but it will be nice to see people spread out a bit more into the other lands. In the mean time, for great fun and high adventure, travel to the Ruined City of Dranik through the Bloodfields. If you are truly a band of hearty adventurers, attempt the Sewers and Catacombs expeditions.
One thing that definitely appears to be missing are random rare drops on normal mobs. Instead of spending hours camping the same two spawn areas in the Hollows, I'd prefer to have a low chance (1/100) of receiving a rune drop or a loot item off of a normal beast. Perhaps they haven't been found and reported yet, but so far I have seen none.
Expect a new system for the loading screens between zones. People in beta had problems with the original one looking too much like a system hanging forever so they put in the loading screen. The loading screen, however, breaks the flow of the game too much. Sony builds a new system as we speak. Perhaps we will see it in the mid-October patch.
I look with narrowed eyes to find problems for the single-group hunter in Omens and I find few. Spell drops seem reasonable. I received a piece of loot in a single-group battle I could immediately use, something that hasn't happened to me in a long while. High level players can reach high level loot without required raiding. We have so many useful zones that some excellent hunting areas like the Ruined City of Draniks sit empty. Most of the problems I find and report are little more than nitpicks. Overall I still give Omens a big thumbs-up.
Loral Ciriclight
4 October 2004
loral@loralciriclight.com
Comment Posted by: Scott Adams on October 5, 2004 09:20 AM
I subscribed to the magazine. Hopefully it will be worthwhile and not a fluff advertising rag.
Won't really know until we get it though.
Comment Posted by: feday on October 5, 2004 11:03 AM
Just though I would butt in about random drops. Though they are rarer then 1/100 there are some random drops in WoS, so far I've seen a melee necklace and a caster mask.
p.s. OoW deserves a big thumbs up indeed!
Comment Posted by: Phegus on October 5, 2004 12:19 PM
Loral, I agree with you about the loot that you can instantly use in a group. I found a neck item in WoS off a trash mob! Thats right Good loot from trash mobs!! It wasn't only an upgrade, but it blew away my previous item. We also had 2 Veil's drop that had a focus effect to increase damage of DD's to level 70. It's very exciting to see items drop of normal mobs while exp'ing. I haven't been into Dranik City yet, but sooner or later I will make my way there.
Comment Posted by: Tefflon on October 5, 2004 01:03 PM
I agree whole-heartedly, this is one of the best things to happen to EQ in a long time!!
/cheer
A few "nit-picky" things I have found are: the mana pres on the mage summoned focus earring is capped at lvl 65, and not 70 like the rest of the focus items obtained from the 1st lvl 66 rune turn in. The lvl 67 summoned pet weap carrries very (none) difference for the pet then the lvl 61 pet weap.
All and all, they are fairly trivail nit-picks, but 2 that have are leaving a mark on my enjoyment of OoW.
Comment Posted by: on October 5, 2004 09:43 PM
I use internet explorer...latest version and continue to get textual errors such as this Loral's when viewing your articles.
Comment Posted by: Loral on October 5, 2004 10:48 PM
My text editor (openoffice) likes fancy schmancy apostrophes and quotes. I thought I converted them properly but I missed some. Thank you for the feedback.
Comment Posted by: Droo on October 6, 2004 12:30 PM
What they don't tell you about the new magazine though is that it is ONLY available for their US players. Players from elsewhere around the globe can't order it. I hope they change their minds on this
- Sad UK player :(
Comment Posted by: on October 6, 2004 01:34 PM
In regards to the magazine perhaps they are seeing how well it does in the US first in subscribers before allowing other countries in on the fun.
Comment Posted by: icki shadowspawn on October 6, 2004 06:16 PM
OOW is one of the best expansions so far from what i have seen. Sony needed this before WoW and EQ2 came out and so far i havent seen many glitches. i have hunted a fair amount in Ruined city but the drop rate is much better in WoS from what i have seen. keep up the good work Loral
Comment Posted by: Wolfshead on October 6, 2004 08:35 PM
"I look with narrowed eyes to find problems for the single-group hunter in Omens and I find few. Spell drops seem reasonable."
I beg to differ. The spell drops are very rare and have already been nerfed hard in instances. Read this thread from the Druid's Grove for what others are saying about poor spell drops in Omens.
http://thedruidsgrove.org/forums/showthread.php?t=9807
Grade: F
"I received a piece of loot in a single-group battle I could immediately use, something that hasn't happened to me in a long while. High level players can reach high level loot without required raiding."
Here I agree with you. Yes it is refreshing to finally actually kill a mob and get loot you can use without having to buy it in the bazaar or get it from a raid. The problem is the zone where this happens is Wall of Slaughter and it is full to capacity and the few named spawns are camped 24/7 by uberguilds and professional plat pharmers.
Grade: B minus
"We have so many useful zones that some excellent hunting areas like the Ruined City of Draniks sit empty."
Ruined City of Dranik's is a terrible zone for hunting/grouping. Why? It was over-populated much like Dranik's Scar and Bloodfields. I wager the very same zone designed designed DS, BF and RCoD. Each of these zones are full of mobs that blend in with the scenery (Nocs, Kyvs, etc.), mobs that run at Selo's speed, mobs that roam and come out of nowwhere and mobs that occupy every square inch of real estate.
Good zone design means that there are viable spots in the zone from which to pull from. Good zone design doesn't mean you fill up every square inch of land with a static or roaming mob. Ruined City of Dranik is empty on most zones.
Also good zone design means you fill zones with appropriate mobs and critters. Omens has no animals, undead, summoned mobs or dire charm pets to speak of. Here's another thread discussing this problem in detail.
http://thedruidsgrove.org/forums/showthread.php?t=9558
Grade: D minus
"Overall I still give Omens a big thumbs-up."
Although it's still to early to properly evaluate Omens of War with respect to it's place among all EverQuest expansions I think it's premature to give it a thumbs-up. Many classes are complaining about how the 3 Wisemen SOE devs Rytan, Rashere and Zajeer have nerfed their classes and utility but of course that is not reported on Mobhunter. Both of 2 major EQ websites GUcomics and Mobhunter both have had their owners make statements that they do not believe in the concept of class balance as being good for EQ. This stance conveniently let's the current regime at SOE off the hook. I find it interesting that both of these people (Woody and Loral) are also official EQ Community Correspondents with priviledged access and status with SOE.
I openly challenge SOE to open up those private EQ Community Rep forums at least on read-only basis. I'd like to see how vocal our esteemed community members are along with seeing the arguments of the EQ devs. No more Star Chambers please. Stop hiding the most important behind the scenes discussions about EQ from your thousands of paying customers. If you as devs lack the decency to communicate with the players on various class forums then at least let the EQ community read your discussions and explanations for themselves.
The story line of how the greatest dragorn of all named Dranik was killed by some mysterious force that wanted to end all dragonkind (Mata Muram, Sleeper, old Norrath gods, etc.) is interesting and has some potential. What I don't like is how although there are 2 main factions (Dragorn and Mata Muram) both of them are KOS to everyone. There seems to be no "war" (Omens of War?) or conflict between them except for a few lines of zone spam in Ruined City of Dranik. Where is the uprising and the conflict? How can we as adventuers immerse ourselves in this regional conflict? What is our purpose in this strange land of Kuaa (Discord)? Are we liberators, conquerors or just bystanders? Good online gaming design and programming "immerses" players and let's them get involved in the story. Poor design and implementation does the opposite.
And what of the Norrathian gods? What steps are they taking to stem the tide of these extra-planatery forces coming to destory Kuaa and now Taelosia? Do the gods even care about their children and creations?
At least with Scars of Velious players could immerse themselves in a continent-wide conflict between 3 opposing factions. Faction actually meant something before EverQuest sunk to it's lowest point in a Morden "We are the world" Rasp version of the Norrath United Nations where DE's SK's hang out with High Elf Pallies all in the name of greed/treasure.
My biggest problem with EverQuest is that it's a stale franchise. It's not growing. It's not expanding on the amazing possibilities and potentials of online gaming--live dynamic events, the chance for the single player to make an impact and change the world. EverQuest is treading water with the same safe, predictable formula introduced in 1999. If you like eye candy instead of good gameplay and story implementation then you'll like Omens.
Omens of War needed to be amazing and unstoppable from the outset. It's not. It needed to revolutionize EQ and put it back on the map like Planes of Power did. It didn't. Despite the EQ Guild Summit, Omens was still rushed out and untested. Omens lacks gravitas and will do nothing to help EQ in light of the looming release of Worlds of Warcraft which will easily dethrone SOE's cash cow.
Overall grade for Omens: C minus
-Wolfshead
Comment Posted by: on October 7, 2004 07:22 AM
"My biggest problem with EverQuest is that it's a stale franchise. It's not growing. It's not expanding on the amazing possibilities and potentials of online gaming--live dynamic events, the chance for the single player to make an impact and change the world. EverQuest is treading water with the same safe, predictable formula introduced in 1999. If you like eye candy instead of good gameplay and story implementation then you'll like Omens."
You talking about EQ LIve here or EQ2?? Your comment covers both of them quite well with the change of one word "Omens"
Comment Posted by: Talaen on October 7, 2004 08:58 AM
There are plenty of Undead in Omens - you just have to know where to look :) You're missing them because they're not "traditional" undead.
I can't speak to animals, but in a world supposedly decimated by war, I can see the animal population being fairly sparse. I think it's important to remember that we are seeing only a very small portion of this world as well - not even an entire continent.
Summoned mobs and dire charmed pets are not necessary for any zone, continent, or expansion. Period. Summoned mobs are something that should only exist as part of a specific setting and not be freely roaming around. Dire Charmed pets have caused at least as many complaints about class balance since the ability was put in as they have helped to resolve. You can't have it both ways. In this expansion, you're playing crowd control, not charm soloing. Deal with it.
Like many other players, Wall of Slaughter annoys the heck out of me and I avoid it. I think all of the zones, including Wall of Slaughter, really need more loot from more mobs - especially the instanced dungeons.
Nowhere is it written in stone that you have to be able to sit on a zone wall or in a safe spot and single-pull mobs. Pulling was a tactic that was never considered when the game was initially designed, and that the devs eventually had to come to terms with. Over the years lots of different things have been done in zone designs to try and defeat the pulling tactic.
As far as mobs blending in with the scenery...give me a break. While you're at it, let's go on and have all mobs start mezzed until you decide to tag one and break it. Who ever said adventuring was supposed to be a safe occupation? If you're careful, you can spot them in Omens before they spot you, and in my opinion, that's all that's required.
The problem with most Omens zones, in my opinion, isn't mob overpopulation. It's the length of time it takes to kill an individual mob. Because you're looking at very long battles, it's very difficult to deal with more than 3 mobs at a time, and even that's rough unless you're a very good group.
I will agree that it's non-immersive for the Children of Dranik to be standing side by side with the Muramites in most places, and yet all be KOS to everyone. To my mind, the zones should be mostly one or the other, or spawn in distinct areas of the zone.
Planes of Power did not revolutionize the game. It removed challenge from basic gameplay, destroyed itemization and item balance across the game, made being part of a raiding guild practically a requirement to play, took the greed of players to all new heights, and jaded players with insanely high rates of experience gain. The expansion singlehandedly trivialized more content, in terms of areas, items, and encounters than all the expansions that came before it combined. All it did was dumb things down quite a bit and make it so that the live team can't create anything even halfway challenging without having a bunch of players whine about how there's actually some risk associated with the reward again.
I like Omens of War. I think it has a few problem areas that need to be corrected, but overall I like it. It has, to some extent, kept myself and my guild playing EQ until EQ2 releases - which we are all moving to. We're not moving because we don't like the basic gameplay of Everquest. We're moving because we want to play in a world that is balanced and challenging at the same time. One where you have to think in order to survive and prosper. One where low-level characters actually use low-level gear, and actually hunt in low-level areas. One where tradeskills mean something at all levels more than being a barrier to entry in certain quests and a big money sink. And ultimately, one that suits the type of people we are, and our play style and schedule, better than the current raiding-required version of EQ does.
Hopefully, we'll have at least a few years to enjoy the game there before we find the frustrations start outweighing the fun, as we have in EQ1.
Comment Posted by: JAGVAP on October 7, 2004 04:53 PM
The Murkgliders in the cave expeditions in Dranik's Scar are undead.
Comment Posted by: Teremar on October 8, 2004 01:55 AM
"In this expansion, you're playing crowd control, not charm soloing. Deal with it."
Ah, if only that were true. Most of the time in OoW an enchanter is a second rate slower, fourth rate nuker, and sixth rate pet class. Maybe every fifth pull or so there might be something to mez. The mobs are so powerful now that more than one add usually means a wipe before it's even possible to lock them down. So crowd control is done by the puller, not then enchanter.
SOE badly needs to find a new role for enchanters. Mez is almost dead, charm is dead. And people who are used to thinking fast, taking risks, and pitting their skill against the mobs with the lives of their entire group at stake are not going to be happy casting buffs no matter how good SOE makes them.
Comment Posted by: on October 8, 2004 07:58 AM
"We're not moving because we don't like the basic gameplay of Everquest. We're moving because we want to play in a world that is balanced and challenging at the same time. One where you have to think in order to survive and prosper. One where low-level characters actually use low-level gear, and actually hunt in low-level areas. One where tradeskills mean something at all levels more than being a barrier to entry in certain quests and a big money sink. And ultimately, one that suits the type of people we are, and our play style and schedule, better than the current raiding-required version of EQ does"
Oh so you are moving to WoW?? You sure won't find what you say in EQ2 unless they radically change it within the next few weeks before it ships (ROFLMAO like that is going to happen)
Comment Posted by: Talaen on October 8, 2004 08:16 AM
Teremar, can you give more detail on what prevents mez from working? Generally I don't have the luxury of an enchanter in group, so we end up root parking stuff - and that works just fine in Omens as far as I've seen.
Our shaman was kind of upset about the slow mitigation the first time it happened to him, but after he thought about it for a little bit he did say he could see why the change was made. Plus, in a particularly nasty fight in the Causeway we discovered that while things might mitigate slow, it's still helpful, and dispells and melee debuffs work wonders.
I have no sympathy for druids/necros/etc. who complain that they basically can't farm things in Omens, which is what the post I responded to mostly amounts to. As far as enchanters go, mez is their class-defining ability, and if that's not working, then it should be looked at.
Comment Posted by: Talaen on October 8, 2004 08:24 AM
"(ROFLMAO like that is going to happen)"
It's negative, trolling remarks like this that give gamers a bad name with devs, and make them less likely to listen when we want something added or changed.
I have some advice for you. First, quit posting. Second, go find a local psychiatrist and schedule regular sessions. Third, get a prescription and take it daily. You need it.
Oh, and have fun in WoW~
Comment Posted by: on October 11, 2004 07:55 AM
Wow Taelen delusional are we? Think we are a doctor do we?
It's morons like you that give gamers a bad name. The other poster is right about EQ2 BTW, it is a POS and beta testers are throwing in the towel daily.
So sorry that your almighty Sony blew it this time but guess what I don't f'ing care.
Comment Posted by: on October 11, 2004 06:46 PM
Talaen:
The problem isn't the mez spells don't work. They more or less do what they've always done. It's the environment that has changed.
First off, the mobs do way more damage. Pull five frogloks in Seb and even at level 55 the tank will still be standing by the time a competent enchanter can mez four of them. Pull five OoW mobs and the odds are your tank is dead by the time the spell gems have refreshed for a second mez. Or if the first mez is resisted, the enchanter has a good chance of dying before they can do anything else.
The designers know that. So they just don't design zones such that you're going to get five mobs unless you really try hard (outside raids, of course). In fact most of the time you have to try hard to get more than one, and if your puller is at all competent you'll get just one the vast majority of the time.
And that's just a warrior shooting a bow or something. Add in pacify, fading memories, and all the other new tools for pulling (let alone good old feign death) and it's very easy to pull singles essentially all the time. And it's much safer.
So yes, mez works. But the evolution of the entire game makes it rarely needed. And unless SOE can come up with a way to make encounters more challenging other than just piling on more and more DPS, that's not going to change.
Comment Posted by: Talaen on October 11, 2004 07:02 PM
Teremar, thanks for the explanation. That makes a lot of sense.
Of course, with DPS so high, rearranging spawn points so that pulls are risky again really wouldn't help much. Of all the things the devs have done since SOE, the whole strategy of making fights harder by giving mobs bigger damage and more hit points really irks me the most.
Perhaps the best way to address it would be to make more of the mobs roam about, instead of just standing around waiting for someone to come smack them upside the head.
I'm reminded of the Plane of Fear. It's still one of the hardest places to get into in the game and an Enchanter is pretty much required. It's not hard because the mobs hit hard, or because there are a lot of them close together, but more because nearly every single mob in there walks around. It's the adds that kill you in Fear - and that's where an enchanter shines the most.
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