The New Hotzones of Everquest
by Loral on July 01, 2006
For the past few years, SOE used hotzones as a way to bring players together and help newer players experience older zones and encounters. This technique increased the experience reward of each hotzone to help entice players into traveling to these underused zones. However, SOE had sometimes gone as long as a year before hotzones had been updated.
In the last Everquest patch, SOE refreshed the concept of hotzones by adding new creatures and new loot to these hotzones as well. Last week I had the opportunity to talk to the designer of these new hotzone techniques, Nodyin, and the following article is based on these discussions.
Traditional hotzones were limited in a few different ways. First, since experience is a global reward, the only way to make a hotzone more enticing than an existing zone is to make the experience higher than the other. For example, in order to make a hotzone more popular than Paludal Caverns, a zone known to have a high experience reward per hour, the designers must increase the experience in an equal difficulty zone higher than Paludal. Sometimes, given that these zones offer a higher reward than the designers prefer, the designers are apprehensive about increasing the reward too much.
Other factors also affect the use of hotzones. If the zone is significantly more difficult to reach - Tower of Frozen Shadows at level 30 for example - players will still avoid it.
The new techniques included in the latest batch of hotzones entice players not only with experience, but loot. Loot, being unique items unavailable in other zones, can help bring players to new hotzones even if the experience reward per hour isn't as high.
Nodyin included two techniques for rewarding new items: global drops and named drops.
Named drops are the same drops we typcially expect. Every so often a unique NPC shows up. When killed, this NPC drops a new fancy item.
Global drops are items that can drop off of any mob in a zone or region. They are far more rare and higher in power than typical named drops. This type of drop will keep players interested in slaying the normal "trash" mobs of a zone on the chance that one of these mobs drops a global rare.
A new technique called "Call for Help" adds another twist. Regular mobs have a chance to "call for help" when their health gets low. A new named NPC will assist the original NPC against the party, forcing the party to handle two critters instead of just one. This named assisting NPC drops loot as often as typical named NPCs.
This mechanic, like the strange NPC behavior in Arcstone, adds a new flavor to typical fights players are used to seeing. Any mechanic that forces players to adapt to a changing battlefield helps keep players interested - as long as the mechanic is not simply frustrating.
Since experience is a global commodity, loot is the main driving force that takes players from one zone to another - especially at the high levels. The new itemization of older zones can help push players to these new zones instead of simply finding the most profitable experience reward available.
However, since level matters more than any other factor up until about level 65, players are still likely to "grind levels" more than worry about equipment until they reach the higher levels where gear is required for progression.
Right now, these techniques only affect zones from level 60 and below. Since recent expansions have all offered a lot of content at level 60 and above, there seems little need to revitalize zones for this level range. Hopefully, SOE should continue to use these interesting techniques in future.
Loral Ciriclight
1 July 2006
loral@loralciriclight.com
Comment Posted by: Simkine on July 1, 2006 12:19 PM
I played in various hot zones in the past and I never saw any noticeble experience gains. To me they were nothing more than advertisements to other zones you might of ignored (your level up ding included a pop up window suggesting these zones).
This new method is a little better. You'll get 2-4 decent items for your level each place. On their first go at it all the named were 1 hour spawns and drops were tradeable so people were farming them for good pp. They stealth nerfed them last patch to nodrop - at least the ones I was farming >< I especially got a kick out of the 2 bazaar toons that bought mine and trid to resell them for 3x what I was selling them for. They got a surprise. *cough*
Comment Posted by: Wolfkinder on July 1, 2006 03:49 PM
There's also talk of doing level 65 hotzones in the future. And apparently, if done the way the developer wants, all of these hotzones will be changing 2 to 4 times a year based on a theme (this time was Kunark). Also, changes made as far as new drops and call for help and such will remain in the zone even after it loses its hotzone status (unless the dev has changed his mind since last I read his postings on the subject)
At least on my server, the increase of people in these zones is noticeable. I'm just glad to have more zones with options for grouping.
BTW, Loral, another interesting thing that has happened recently is the global changing of all Old World mobs pre-PoP. A lot of voices raised in frustration right now (happened with the Progression patch), but curious to see how it falls out once the dust has settled. Basically, they've been supposedly brought into line with the PoP and above global settings on mobs, but suddenly we have mobs hitting harder, resisting more often, and having a higher HP. It's throwing a wrench into the theory that the older zones were good places to level because of the mobs' easier HP. Ah, well, we'll see what happens.
Current explanation by devs is that this is part of a bigger change to bring Older World zones (Luclin and before) more in line with current EQ zones.
--Wolfkinder
Comment Posted by: Teremar on July 2, 2006 02:57 AM
Please tell me the change isn't as dramatic as it sounds. As a former enchanter I'm trying to envision doing CC in LGuk or Old Seb with the froggies hitting (and resisting) like PoP mobs. It's not a pretty picture.
I've always felt like the increase in mob DPS in PoP was a huge mistake. Tactics became very rigid when no one but the tank could survive being hit for more than a few seconds at most. Ironically a change meant to speed up the game actually made it boring. It's disappointing to hear that it's being applied everywhere now.
Comment Posted by: Crumpkin on July 2, 2006 07:43 AM
I can definitely say that resists can't be that bad. While playing my twink necro and agro kiting, I have been able kite red mobs 4-5 levels higher the my necro and have very few reisists.
Comment Posted by: Cedor on July 2, 2006 12:22 PM
I'll have to disagree with you Crumpkin. Just posted some results on EQ Vet forum of Engorging Roots (level 56 druid spell) durations since the patch. Root used to last the full 3 minutes on all mobs in Skyfire when cast by my 68 druid. Now it frequently wears off in less than a minute.
Comment Posted by: Sunshadow on July 2, 2006 06:17 PM
Noticed the mobs in Dreadlands had been given a 1/3more HP recently. This change is really sucky for casters, who now need to burn more mana to drop a mob. My mage was suddenly getting owned by mobs which he could beat with like 20% to spare. This is really a very crappy change.
Comment Posted by: Wolfkinder on July 3, 2006 12:42 AM
You wouldn't notice it on all mobs. First, it's zones prior to PoP, although there's some people saying that they're having issues in other zones that shouldn't have been affected. Second, it's supposed to only be mobs 50 and below who are not boss type mobs. Third, the changes may not affect all mobs, and in some cases supposedly may lower HP or make the mobs easier, But, generally, it's supposed to have raised HP, lowered AC, and I can testify that mobs that didn't resist my wizzy snare and magic-based nuke are now doing both consistently, not to mention these particular mobs use up about 20 to 30 percent more of my mana (although I truthfully am a mana deprived wizzy by nature and choice)
--Wolfkinder
Comment Posted by: JuneauEQ on July 3, 2006 02:14 AM
Considering how much more powerful players, their spells, and their equipment have become since the game was released, any changes to make NPC's more challenging in the lower levels in old world zones were long overdue.
Comment Posted by: Teremar on July 3, 2006 05:27 AM
Considering how much less rewarding the older zones are, many people came to them not by choice but by necessity. You and your friends make up a less than ideal group? Go to an older zone. Want to solo but you're not one of the real soloing classes? Go to an older zone. Now that's gone.
Comment Posted by: Zolina on July 3, 2006 08:20 PM
The snakes in Ssra Temple have been changed, more hp and lower AC. It evens out for me since I melee most of the time, but I imagine casters will have a tougher time soloing there. I don't like the undead snake priests much now, used to be I could nuke them twice at 50% to kill them before they complete healed, now it takes three nukes, and sometimes even that's not enough. Experience farming in there will be nasty for people who have to wait until the priests run out of mana.
Comment Posted by: Quesci on July 4, 2006 12:04 AM
"This mechanic, like the strange NPC behavior in Arcstone, adds a new flavor to typical fights players are used to seeing."
What strange NPC behavior in Arcstone? Can someone describe this?
Comment Posted by: Sunshadow on July 4, 2006 06:08 PM
I believe he is talking about the all but unresistable AE's they all have and/or the high chance of spawning an add.
Comment Posted by: Jason on July 8, 2006 02:22 PM
Who the hell is a low mana wizzy by choice, that doesnt even make sense.
Comment Posted by: Wolfkinder on July 8, 2006 02:56 PM
Someone who waited to kill Naggy and Vox before leveling. Someone who's gathering their Thurgadin armor set. Someone who shuns MM armor and Bazaar shopping because, frankly, it just doesn't add to my enjoyment of the game.
And soneone who doesn't feel a need to do what everyone else is doing because the path I walk is a bit more interesting for me:)
-Wolfkinder
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. Email Mike at mike@mikeshea.net for more questions or comments.