XP gain boost with last patch

[fornarina]

<b>Di</b><b><font color="#cc66ff">d I read it right?</font><font color="#cc66ff"> </font><font color="#cc66ff">Is it real?</font><font color="#cc66ff"> </font><font color="#cc99ff"> </font><font color="#cc66ff"><font color="#cc99ff">From yesterday's update note:</font> </font></b>---------------------------------------------------------------------------- <font color="#ffcc00"><b>*** Combat Changes ***</b></font> - Experience gain has been increased at all levels of play. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- <b><font color="#cc66ff"> </font><font color="#cc66ff">Is it just for test and to check higher level of play on test or it is something that will go through to live servers?</font><font color="#cc66ff"> </font><font color="#cc66ff"> </font><font color="#cc66ff">I mean... isn't the leveling threadmill already fast enough??!</font></b> -- <div></div>

[Brendie]

Well, when you can only kill 1 mob every few minutes because each blue fight brings you to half health and power or lower, you kinda have to raise exp to compensate... <p>Message Edited by Brendien1 on <span class=date_text>09-09-2005</span> <span class=time_text>12:59 AM</span>

[Dragonslapp]

Leveling treadmill? Muhahaha. No wait, you don't have a toon on test do you? How reading the almost 20+ thread over in the combat revamp forum before you start complaining about an XP boost. That is gonna be the LEAST of your worries in a few days.

[K3mik4l]

<blockquote><hr>Brendien1 wrote:Well, when you can only kill 1 mob every few minutes because each blue fight brings you to half health and power or lower, you kinda have to raise exp to compensate... <p>Message Edited by Brendien1 on <span class=date_text>09-09-2005</span> <span class=time_text>12:59 AM</span><hr></blockquote>Yeah, that would make sense <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> There won't be any more fast nonstop killing. Except maybe a group killing solo mobs.So all in all, leveling shouldn't be faster than it is now.

[EQoobTa]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> K3mik4l wrote:<BR><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Brendien1 wrote:<BR> Well, when you can only kill 1 mob every few minutes because each blue fight brings you to half health and power or lower, you kinda have to raise exp to compensate... <P>Message Edited by Brendien1 on <SPAN class=date_text>09-09-2005</SPAN> <SPAN class=time_text>12:59 AM</SPAN><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR><BR>Yeah, that would make sense <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> There won't be any more fast nonstop killing. Except maybe a group killing solo mobs.<BR><BR>So all in all, leveling shouldn't be faster than it is now.<BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR> <DIV>That's not fun imo.  I don't play to kill one mob then stand around for 3 mins, kill another, stand around, rinse, wash, and repeat.  I want nonstop killing, that's fun!  I don't care if they have to adjust it so that I can only kill blues and whites nonstop and the xp isn't anything to scream woot about, but I refuse to "play" a game where I'm standing around with nothing to do half the time and am forced to group in order to have any resemblance of fun or progression.  Give a boost in xp to Heroic encounters(since we can't solo them anymore), give a group xp boost, give a con xp bonus, whatever you have to do but I'm not playing a game where I can't do anything without a group at all times and in every situation.  You take away the ability to solo in this game and I'm taking away my account.  I've already cancelled my DoF download and I'm not afraid to pay someone else 20 bucks a month to play a game that doesn't require 4 hours of nonstop attention and 5 other people who can readily abandon all RL responsibilities in order to get 10% of a level...</DIV>

[Loltheb]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> EQoobTank wrote:<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE>That's not fun imo.  I don't play to kill one mob then stand around for 3 mins, kill another, stand around, rinse, wash, and repeat.  I want nonstop killing, that's fun!  I don't care if they have to adjust it so that I can only kill blues and whites nonstop and the xp isn't anything to scream woot about, but I refuse to "play" a game where I'm standing around with nothing to do half the time and am forced to group in order to have any resemblance of fun or progression.  Give a boost in xp to Heroic encounters(since we can't solo them anymore), give a group xp boost, give a con xp bonus, whatever you have to do but I'm not playing a game where I can't do anything without a group at all times and in every situation.  You take away the ability to solo in this game and I'm taking away my account.  I've already cancelled my DoF download and I'm not afraid to pay someone else 20 bucks a month to play a game that doesn't require 4 hours of nonstop attention and 5 other people who can readily abandon all RL responsibilities in order to get 10% of a level...</BLOCKQUOTE><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR> <DIV>If I could still rate posts that would get 6 stars!</DIV>

[Magiocracy]

Given it's been universally accepted that combat has been slowed down by quite and bit, they've probably increased the xp gain accordingly to maintain roughly the same xp per hour rate. <div></div>

[Mafdet]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Magiocracy wrote:<BR>Given it's been universally accepted that combat has been slowed down by quite and bit, they've probably increased the xp gain accordingly to maintain roughly the same xp per hour rate.<BR> <BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P><BR>If that's true, then I have to pitch my hat in with EQoobtank. </P> <P>If I now take a couple of minutes to recover between mobs and get the same exp killing 20 mobs now as I did before killing 60, that means the only thing has changed is dragging out my game experience, making me fall asleep at my keyboard. Makes no sense.</P> <DIV>edited for grammar</DIV><p>Message Edited by Mafdet on <span class=date_text>09-09-2005</span> <span class=time_text>10:15 AM</span>

[beylanu]

total disagreement.  I prefer harder mobs, and better xp gains per mob.  During rest, I will take the time to socialize with my groupmates.  I played a bit on test yesterday, and while I don't have a high level char on it yet, I was overly ecstatic with the changes I saw.  Yup, that's right.  Here is one customer that thinks the game is moving in the RIGHT direction.  Tougher mobs and a bit more downtime between fights.   Let's stop the "clubbing baby seals" mentality that is so prevalent on live. <div></div>

[KBern]

<DIV>I just have one  F word for SOE...and no, not that word.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM><U>FUN</U></EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM><U></U></EM></STRONG> </DIV> <DIV>Keep that in mind with all changes SOE...I think you are losing track of why people play "GAMES"</DIV>

[Shirodan]

All this talk about the xp modifier, any ideas on the % increase?

[Telka]

<DIV>I agree whole hartitly in EQ I love the fact people would talk and get to know eachother a lil bit as we played form having some downtime.... in eq2 ive been in groups where except for stuff like OOP or INC X mob ect people dont say ANYTHING to eachother and i get bord and quit those groups.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>so I am all for a bit more downtime but to be fair I think a EVEN solo mob / enouncter should be all the average chacacter can do because that mob or group of mobs should be roughly as good as you ... if it was cake it shoudnt be white.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>and I think the average player should be able to kill 2 - 4 blue mobs between rests.... but that should only be about = in exp as 1 white mob.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>and green mobs should be able to kill several between rests .... for those that just want mindless kill kill kill kill kill kill kill.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>ofcourse better / worse players and better/ worse gear will make your mileage differ.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>and normal heroic group mobs IE made for 3 people should follow the same stream as for solo... with more people = more / higher killing </DIV>

[a6eaq]

<P></P> <HR> beylanu wrote: <P><FONT color=#ff0033>I played</FONT><FONT color=#ff0033> a bit on test yesterday, and while I don't have a high level char on it yet, I was overly ecstatic with the changes I saw.  Yup, that's right.  Here is one customer that thinks the game is moving in the RIGHT direction.  Tougher mobs and a bit more downtime between fights.  <BR></FONT><BR></P> <HR> <DIV>I too have lower level toons on test, and if you think not being able to solo GREEN mobs at low levels is fun then someone check that paystub; SOE has got to be written all over it!  I was on for 45 minutes and could not kill a single mob!  Grouping might be different, but since I am lvl 10 atm and there were no others on in my range, I tried soloing green moat rats and got killed every time!.  Large downtime is people that would RATHER socialize than ADVANCE thier toon!  Go join a chat channel if good conversation bout life in general is what you want.  It might not be a apealling to the eye as EQ2, but it is a hole lot cheaper! </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>As for the XP bonus, hell, you will need that because it will be virtualy impossible to level with any decent speed without an XP bonus.  The bonus is just another way the devs show how [expletive ninja'd by Faarbot] they are:</DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#6666ff>Dev1</FONT>  "Lets make it impossible to solo our ^^'s and ^^^s by drastically increasing every mobs stats and SLASHING every player stat!"</DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#6666ff>VP</FONT>      "Sounds good, lets put the patch on test 5 days before we go live so we can't change it back."</DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#6666ff>Dev2</FONT>  "Wait we can't kill anything at low levels which means debt progression vice XP Progression.  Now we we never get any new subscribers due to the inability to level!  We are going to go bankrupt!" </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#6666ff>Dev3</FONT>  "How do we fix it?"</DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#6666ff>Dev4</FONT>  "I know, let's give them an XP bonus to be happy about so that the dumba$$es will forget that we focked up the combat system to begin with!"</DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#6666ff>Dev1</FONT>  "Great Idea!"</DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#6666ff>VP</FONT>      "Do it!"</DIV> <DIV><BR> </DIV> <DIV>Oh to be a fly on the wall!</DIV>

[Mafdet]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> beylanu wrote:<BR>total disagreement.  <BR><BR>I prefer harder mobs, and better xp gains per mob.  During rest, I will take the time to socialize with my groupmates.  <BR><BR>I played a bit on test yesterday, and while I don't have a high level char on it yet, I was overly ecstatic with the changes I saw.  Yup, that's right.  Here is one customer that thinks the game is moving in the RIGHT direction.  Tougher mobs and a bit more downtime between fights.   <BR><BR>Let's stop the "clubbing baby seals" mentality that is so prevalent on live. <BR> <BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P>Currently in my groups, when taking heroics (group content), the only one who doesn't have time enough to chatter away is the MT. When I'm MT, I don't chat,,, too much to do,,, everyone else (and me when just in assist mode) is just gabbing away,,, go any slower and everyone will forget they actually need to hit a button by the time the next "inc" message sounds. </P> <P>When soloing, when I wanna chat with my buds, I stop and chat,,, do it all the time,,, no need for forced "time outs" for me to talk to someone. </P> <P>People who don't want to socialize won't do so just because you make the game a pain,,, they might leave so it seems like more peeps socialize cause the ones that just wanna kill stuff are gone,,,,</P> <P>And peeps that do want to socialize are gonna socialize, whether they need to park for a sec to do so or not,,,</P> <P>In summary, "Socializing" and "Combat" are apples and oranges,,, slowing combat to encourage socializing is like saying you're going to make mandatory pit stops for road traveler's,,, you can now go 90mph on the highway but you have to stop for five minutes every fifteen miles,,, will encourage everyone to get to know each other at the stops,,, yeah, right <img src="/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></P>

[Numela]

I agree with the downtime and harder fights being a good thing, I have also been in those groups where no one talks for like a 3 hour grind, that causes my interest to dwindle much more than a few minutes of downtime inbetween hard fights where you can catch up with guildies etc.  This latest patch puts the game in a direction its sorely been needing to go for quite some time now, and I havent looked more foreward to a release date since EQ2 went live.  Just my 2 cp, keep up the good job soe!

[beylanu]

a6eaq, before you get all wound up, let me be a bit more clear... I played at 9pm-midnight CST , USA.  It's entirely possible that You and I had differing experiences if You and I played different versions of the test server.  Were you playing before the patch? I found my experience to be very enjoyable, and will encourage the devs to continue down this path. Oh by the way, if you want to start the "go somewhere" else routine, I'll happily respond that if you didn't want to play and socialize with other folks, there are plenty of solo computer games that don't require any socializing to advance and have fun in.  Perhaps you can try one of those... <div></div>

[KBern]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Numelael wrote:<BR>I agree with the downtime and harder fights being a good thing, I have also been in those groups where no one talks for like a 3 hour grind, that causes my interest to dwindle much more than a few minutes of downtime inbetween hard fights where you can catch up with guildies etc.  This latest patch puts the game in a direction its sorely been needing to go for quite some time now, and I havent looked more foreward to a release date since EQ2 went live.  Just my 2 cp, keep up the good job soe! <BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P><BR>No offense, but if you want to be social and chat, you have ALL the time in the world to do it.</P> <P>SOE does not need to force downtime on everyone else because you dont feel you have enough time to play and chat.</P> <P>Gimme a friggen break.</P> <P>How is sitting around with your thumb up your *** fun and an improvement?!?!?</P>

[Vampy]

The above Paladin sums up my feelings on the chat time/downtime matter. Downtime is a bad thing to start wishing for............

[JonMichael Gardn]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> beylanu wrote:<BR>a6eaq,<BR><BR>before you get all wound up, let me be a bit more clear...<BR><BR>I played at 9pm-midnight CST , USA.  It's entirely possible that You and I had differing experiences if You and I played different versions of the test server.  Were you playing before the patch?<BR><BR>I found my experience to be very enjoyable, and will encourage the devs to continue down this path.<BR><BR>Oh by the way, if you want to start the "go somewhere" else routine, I'll happily respond that if you didn't want to play and socialize with other folks, there are plenty of solo computer games that don't require any socializing to advance and have fun in.  Perhaps you can try one of those...<BR> <BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P>I'd rather TAKE downtime to chat than be forced to chat because of downtime anyday!</P> <P>Forcing downtime on players is nothing but another time sink.  Yes, make mobs harder, but don't make me have to take downtime to recover from a fight if I don't want to.</P> <P>I will continue to encourage the developers to stop adding time sinks to this game. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></P> <P> </P> <P><BR> </P>

[beylanu]

But no one is forcing you to have downtime either...feel free to pull the next mob, as soon as you're done with the current mob. <div></div>

[Im-post]

<P>3 minute downtime?  Are we maybe exagerrating a bit to try and make a point?   Although my toon is only level 10 using island food and drink,  it took me 32 seconds to recover approx 70% health.  No time to talk now, my toon is waiting for me to quit posting and fight.</P> <P>To quote the late great Jack Webb  "Just the facts"</P>

[beylanu]

<span><blockquote><hr>Im-poster wrote:<p>3 minute downtime?  Are we maybe exagerrating a bit to try and make a point?   Although my toon is only level 10 using island food and drink,  it took me 32 seconds to recover approx 70% health.  No time to talk now, my toon is waiting for me to quit posting and fight.</p> <p>To quote the late great Jack Webb  "Just the facts"</p> <div></div><hr></blockquote>Thank you Im-poster! I will quote some fact right here.  At roughly midnight, Thursday Sept 8, my lvl 8 priest grouped with a lvl 8 mage, and we took on some heroic mystail matriarchs in Oakmyst.   For the record, we were killing heroic lvl 5 ^^^.  Yup that's 3 up arrows, heroic designation.  Neither of us are twinked.  This is my only toon on test and I started on this server knowing nobody.  The mage had a previous toon, but she told me she wasn't twinked either.  I'll have to take her word for it, since I can't examine her spellbook. The mage nuked and tanked, while I healed and nuked.  All fights were won by us, no deaths for either person.  Usually we finished with the following situation: Mage 30-40% hp, 10-20%power Priest 100%hp, 20-30% power Those are rough estimates based upon a glance at our bars.  Between fights we had a few lines of dialogue(usually telling each other how fun that last fight was), and then we were ready to fight again.  We kept 4 matriarchs down.  In other words, we killed all 4 that we could find, before the first one repopped. I realize this is a low level test.  But if this is what is to be expected at higher levels, I will be happy.  Larger groups could do more with no down time.  That is to be expected from large groups taking on lower cons.  But what I expect is that a white heroic ^^^ should stress a group of 5-6 people enough so that they can't simply chain pull. ----- On the isle of refuge, we had that exact encounter.  It was rockbelly.  He is lvl 6 ^^^.  We could not kill him with 4 people, 1 fighter, 2 priest, 1 mage.  We added another mage, and we were able to kill him with great difficulty.  We had to rest afterwards, for sure.  It lends a sense of great achievement to kill something that stresses you enough to make you take a break.  I know alot of people just want uber xp, all the time, everytime, non-stop.  It's apparent that they and I don't want the same game. ---- There, my experiences on test.  I was so happy and having so much fun on test, that I will be playing again tonight.  And probably all weekend.   I will be happy to post some more results as I get them.</span><div></div>

[Rykairn]

<DIV>I've got to agree with some of the above posts about the downtime-- I do NOT think of it as a benefit.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>You want to have some time to chat with friends in the game?  Well, you can do that already!  That isn't hindered a bit at the moment... take a break from pulling in your friendly group to chat, then go back at it.  However, if the downtime is REQUIRED do to changes, those that don't want the "extra" time to chat, are forced to sit and wait it out.  Presently (for the most part) you have the option to do either:  1) take a break between pulls and chat or 2)pull at a constant and continual state.  How can you say removing one of these options completely, is a good thing for customers?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Additionally, I'm not always grouped or looking for a group and due to my work schedule, I'm forced into casual gaming (believe me, as the game is presently I would play more often if I could).  This means I do spend more time logging in for an hour to xp for a bit, work on quests, then logging out.  I don't always have the time or luxury to go looking for groups.  Also, while my guild is very supportive and I enjoy their company/chat, I don't necessarily want to continually burden them with my shortened time.  I'm a healer, and it's no fun to say (once we've gathered) "um, hey folks.. I can only stay for about 30 to 45 minutes...".  If the minimal amount of time I have to do anything productive (group or otherwise) is significantly impacted by changes in the revamp, both myself and my wife may be forced to take a break.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[KBern]

<DIV>I appreciate you all being positive about your IoR and newbie zone expriences (not being sarcastic here) but even MG himself has said that the game is night and day and between the lower levels and the higher due to the scaling.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>When you are lvl 10 and have 100 hps, it of course will be quicker than having 3000 hps.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[beylanu]

<span><blockquote><hr>KBern wrote:<div>I appreciate you all being positive about your IoR and newbie zone expriences (not being sarcastic here) but even MG himself has said that the game is night and day and between the lower levels and the higher due to the scaling.</div> <div> </div> <div>When you are lvl 10 and have 100 hps, it of course will be quicker than having 3000 hps.</div> <div> </div> <div> </div><hr></blockquote>While I have restrained from doing the <font color="#ccff99" size="5">big text obnoxious color</font> thing to grab attention, I will try once again to explain this to you. As pulled from my previous post: </span><font color="#ffcc66"><span> I realize this is a low level test.  But<b> <font size="3">if</font></b> this is what is to be expected at higher levels, I will be happy.  Larger groups could do more with no down time.  That is to be expected from large groups taking on lower cons.  </span></font><span>That is a big IF.  I reserve my judgement on the higher levels, because I cannot experience it yet.  Therefore I can only tell the devs that I am happy with what I've seen at the lower levels. Happy? </span><div></div>

[KBern]

<P>My post was not just to you, but also to the poster above you saying how he regened 70% hps in 32 secs at lvl 10.</P> <P>But thanks for restraining yourself from being obnoxious.</P>

[Wil]

slow is the right word for it so far the exp bonus is no where near the lvl of exp I was getting before the changes...  I could get 5% in about 10-15 minutes now I can get 5% in 30-40 minutes mind you this is at lvl 21 killing solo blue cons.  For a soloer this newest change is gonna be the worst thing... makes soloing harder with more time standing around with thumb up patootie waiting for health and power regen.  That down time for soloer has no value for social aspects we just stand there and wait...  that downtime is terrible and with all the regen rate nerfs its gonna be worse the higher your lvl...  all I can say is SOE just cannot fid they grey middle ground ealier this year it was solo people asking for more content so what does soe do drops all heroics for solo now it seems they are gonna tick off soloers again by making any exp gain vs. time spent require a group to be worth the time investment. the mobs are harder and tougher the resists are higher the reward is still the only part of this whole revamp we have yet to see...  if risk/reward is true then loot drops and item quality should get a nice bump as well as exp since these mobs most certainly are much riskier than anything we're used to. I expect the first few days of live to be disasturous as people used to playing a certain way find out they can't anymore its gonna be shard city... lol <div></div>

[Galeden]

Just a question, if it takes so much longer to kill a mob, and more downtime between them, how will this effect crawls? How can you even get through a few mobs before respawns swamp you? And on that how can you even handle adds as easy since its not as simple to kill 1 let alone have more beeting on you for a much longer time?  I personally can't stand sitting in one place long, or taking forever to kill through mobs to get where we are headed, so just wondering what changes will be made to make this reasonably the same level, the way it sounds it would be impossible to get anywhere since respawn will get you before you get far, or even if you do it would take an extreamly long time to get even a short ways through a dungen.  Anyone play higher areas that could answer this concern?

[daboa]

<P>This is exactly like EQ1 a blue fight or even green fight takes you down so much you have to spend time to med up.  and at higher lvl's even with a monk who can bind wound to 100% that is almost 1 to 2 min downtime.  I personally do not like that i like to the mow things over for exp and loot. But some people do like that and that fine you should be able to kill yellows that way, and then if you want to mow down mobs kill blue's.  BUT at this momet in time you can barly kill whites and thats loseing almost all health and power.  You cant even mow down mobs period for exp becuase only mobs you can constantly kill without downtime are greys.</P> <P>Also these guys were mentioning solo. Seeing as almost 70% of the game is grouped encounter mobs(weather heroic or not) how can you solo?  Unless they changed that on test, you have to be able to take out grouped mobs to solo effectivly.  I believe you should be able to take out blue grouped mobs with substantial downtime, but now you can barly take out blue solo mobs.  Not everyone likes to group and the fact there forcing you to group is just stupid, they should make you want to group not force you.</P> <P>This game is EXACTLE like EQ1 and the only reason taking a month to gain 1 lvl in EQ1 worked is becuase there were not other MMORPG's out there. So people stuck with the game.  But now there are so many MMORPG's out there people are just goign to quit EQ2 if these changes stay and go to other game that more tailor to them.</P> <P>There restricting the content of this game so much and tailoring it so much to 1 group of people there just gonna lose everyone else, then try and find a group!</P>

[j]

<DIV>I'm a solo player . Sure I love to group but i'm no longer in a guild and between pick up groups there is nothing to do. On test right now soloing is just as pointless as waiting on the pier in el  with lfg  on while reading a book and once in awhile  spaming  /ooc  lvl 37 conjuror looking for group </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[neria]

<DIV><FONT size=2>Forced downtime to <EM>make </EM>people socialize is like your mom making you play with the neighbor kid you can't stand. Maybe the neighbor kid has some great qualities, but you're never going to find out because you've been forced to play with him, which makes you resent him.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>People will socialize if they want to. If the only way you're finding that people socialize is if they're forced to, I think you've run into the wrong people, or maybe you're doing something wrong yourself. Large amounts of forced downtime are completely not fun. More: they're dangerous. If you're somewhere red-lined mobs pop up often and you're standing around forever until your power and health return (even with eating and drinking), you might be able to survive that mob that just popped, but now you have more downtime. How are you ever supposed to advance?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>And that's what this game is, or should be, about: fun. It's not about forced grouping, forced socializing, forcing other people to play with you. I'm not exactly an outgoing, chatty person, but I've both grouped and socialized with strangers a LOT in this game, and made quite a few friends that way. Everyone involved was able to choose to do that, and so we enjoyed it -- or at least I did and assume they did :smileytongue:. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2>There are lots of chat rooms around if all I want to do is talk to people. I could go hang out in an inn in the game if all I wanted to do was talk to people. If I'm adventuring, standing around talking for long periods of time, praying more mobs don't pop up right next to me, is not what I want to do. "Multiplayer" -- yes. Multiplayer GAME. Not Multiperson Graphical Chatroom.</FONT></DIV>

[Roaan]

I see that almost everybody here complains about slower killing because of the rest need. The worst is, im sure most of the people played EQ1 for many years.  Go back on EQ1 as i did and go check out the real waste of time you have there specialy from 10 to 45 right before c3, you better have a book nearby LOL. I guess we just need to give it a try, im sure it will never be as bad as EQ1 even though that we were happy then because we dint knew faster killing in those days. Im really happy that mobs will stay up longer as a caster because nothing is worst then having to cast a couple second nuke and the mob beeing already dead when im done.  Way to go...

[EQoobTa]

<BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> jvd wrote: <DIV>I'm a solo player . Sure I love to group but i'm no longer in a guild and between pick up groups there is nothing to do. On test right now soloing is just as pointless as waiting on the pier in el  with lfg  on while reading a book and once in awhile  spaming  /ooc  lvl 37 conjuror looking for group</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV>This is what I'm talking about.  I'm not exactly a solo player, I'm more of a hardcore casual.  Some nights and weekends I can be on this game non-stop for periods of 6 hours+ and only take breaks for nature and refreshing my glass, I'm hardcore and I'm loving it.  Other nights I'm bouncing all around the house doing yard work, home improvements, entertaining guests(mostly the in-laws who live 15 mins away :smileyindifferent: ), cooking, playing with my two dogs, or spending the evening watching a movie with my wife to make up for all those nights I'm glued to the comp playing EQ.  On days like that I can't group, oh I'd love to group up and go on a dungeon crawl or fight some heroics but I just can't.  On these nights I'm a casual soloer/crafter.  I loved EQ2 because it catered so well to both of my playing habits.  No matter what RL had in store for me each night I was still able to log into EQ and when I logged out I felt good knowing that I had accomplished something whether it was restocking my harvests, grinding a craft level or finishing up an order for some friends, finishing some quests, doing a slow run through Harclave or the solo undead around RoV entrance, messing around in RoV and laughing at how me and poor Fracas(cool guy Berserker I know) are always the only two to die, him first then me soon after. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Now I'm looking at being forced to only log in on those days when I can be hardcore and I don't like it, at all.  I want to play EQ everyday, not on those days when I have nothing going on.  I refuse to get so immersed into this game when I can't find it accessible to me every day.  Right now I am immersed because I can access it every day no matter what as long as I have an hour or two of free-time I can do stuff.  When it gets to the point that all you do with an hour of game time is log in and chat with some friends, check the broker, then log off because there's no use going into a zone and killing all of 10 blue mobs that net almost no xp, etc. it makes me feel like I'm playing EQOA again. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Guys I love to group, but it's not as if I find myself receiving a group invite within 5 mins of registering every time I log in.  I wish to be so lucky but the harsh reality is people have different goals in mind each night, the list of available players to group with isn't exactly printworthy(how about you release some sub and pop numbers? :smileytongue: ), and sometimes there just isn't a need for all the DDs or tanks or even healers that are logged on.  Some nights groups are dying for a certain archetype some nights there are just too many to go around.  Before this update that wasn't a problem, you could solo or duo or even run around with a makeshift reject group(I dinged 27 by killing orcs right off the Zek dock with two 29 pallies, it was a blast!).  Now it's looking like every group has to have a tank, a healer, and a battery and exactly 6 members or it's just not gonna be productive or fun.  I don't want to be forced to group or just find something else to do with my time, I want just want to have fun playing Everquest at whatever capacity I find I have time to do.</DIV>

[Wil]

I personally never played eq1 and my expereince is stated from test I have lvl 50 conjuror on live which has been building vitality and losing debt from raiding in the mean time i figured i better spend time learning how to play my class all over again... which i recommend to everyone or you will be way behind the curve on day one.  Anyways prior to the 9/7 patch soloing was perfect I could maybe solo blue con heroics but it was close and I would lose often maybe i would win 1 out of 3 fights of course mobs that healed themselves or nukes were not even worth trying too hard but if I was selective and planned out tactics i could do it just barely... now i find myself doing what i did for heroics on solo mobs waiting for full health and power before even trying them and getting all buffs refreshed and ready to go for the pull...  if half way into the fight my health is below his its time to run as i will never catch up... this is white and yellow con solo's.  Now why in the world should a soloer have the same downtime and prep time as a group should... especially when the risk is the same now but the reward is drastically diffrent. I used to finish heroics solo with 5% health if I was lucky but the exp reward for the time invested and risk was worth the challenge...  however heroics are way out of limits now and solo mobs are just as risky and require the same downtime but with much less reward. I primarily soloed my lvl 50 live toon and most of that was with the old heroic mobs ruling the overland...  but that was because i spent lots of time tuning my charcater to the best he could be to enable me to take on green and blue heroics on live...  and at 50 i was even able to take on white and yellow heroics with a 1 out of 3 success rate but thats with  a lot of masters and fabled gear. I have no idea what my toon will be able to do post 9-13 I look farward to testing my mettle in the new zones and seeing how far i can push things but I for one will dread the grinding as a soloer it will put me a huge disadvantage to grouping and will slow down my progress considerably...  I am not excited for this and hope that SOE seriously retunes rewards on this prior to launch i would even say tune it high as in huge exp bonus and loot for the first few days just to keep people playing and testing abilities otherwise the people who go out a die trying to solo white solo mobs and find out when they do actually kill one they get the same exp they got pre revamp they will be seriously miffed... I saw galientte say they will do a exp bonus for pre 50 lvl's only but i sure hope they do it accross the board maybe only do lvl 50;'s for a few days just to entice them to get in there and play for a few days and really hash it out...  either way soloers are gonna complain on day one. <div></div>

[Proudfoot]

<span><blockquote><hr>EQoobTank wrote: <div>That's not fun imo.  I don't play to kill one mob then stand around for 3 mins, kill another, stand around, rinse, wash, and repeat.  I want nonstop killing, that's fun!  I don't care if they have to adjust it so that I can only kill blues and whites nonstop and the xp isn't anything to scream woot about, but I refuse to "play" a game where I'm standing around with nothing to do half the time and am forced to group in order to have any resemblance of fun or progression.  Give a boost in xp to Heroic encounters(since we can't solo them anymore), give a group xp boost, give a con xp bonus, whatever you have to do but I'm not playing a game where I can't do anything without a group at all times and in every situation.  You take away the ability to solo in this game and I'm taking away my account.  I've already cancelled my DoF download and I'm not afraid to pay someone else 20 bucks a month to play a game that doesn't require 4 hours of nonstop attention and 5 other people who can readily abandon all RL responsibilities in order to get 10% of a level...</div><hr></blockquote>10,000 STARS FOR YOU. Those who want the above mentioned gameplay, try EQ1 <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></span><div></div>

[Brendie]

<DIV> <HR> This is what I'm talking about.  I'm not exactly a solo player, I'm more of a hardcore casual.  Some nights and weekends I can be on this game non-stop for periods of 6 hours+ and only take breaks for nature and refreshing my glass, I'm hardcore and I'm loving it.  Other nights I'm bouncing all around the house doing yard work, home improvements, entertaining guests(mostly the in-laws who live 15 mins away <IMG height=16 src="http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/i/smilies/16x16_smiley-indifferent.gif" width=16 border=0> ), cooking, playing with my two dogs, or spending the evening watching a movie with my wife to make up for all those nights I'm glued to the comp playing EQ.  On days like that I can't group, oh I'd love to group up and go on a dungeon crawl or fight some heroics but I just can't.  On these nights I'm a casual soloer/crafter.  I loved EQ2 because it catered so well to both of my playing habits.  No matter what RL had in store for me each night I was still able to log into EQ and when I logged out I felt good knowing that I had accomplished something whether it was restocking my harvests, grinding a craft level or finishing up an order for some friends, finishing some quests, doing a slow run through Harclave or the solo undead around RoV entrance, messing around in RoV and laughing at how me and poor Fracas(cool guy Berserker I know) are always the only two to die, him first then me soon after.  <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Now I'm looking at being forced to only log in on those days when I can be hardcore and I don't like it, at all.  I want to play EQ everyday, not on those days when I have nothing going on.  I refuse to get so immersed into this game when I can't find it accessible to me every day.  Right now I am immersed because I can access it every day no matter what as long as I have an hour or two of free-time I can do stuff.  When it gets to the point that all you do with an hour of game time is log in and chat with some friends, check the broker, then log off because there's no use going into a zone and killing all of 10 blue mobs that net almost no xp, etc. it makes me feel like I'm playing EQOA again. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Guys I love to group, but it's not as if I find myself receiving a group invite within 5 mins of registering every time I log in.  I wish to be so lucky but the harsh reality is people have different goals in mind each night, the list of available players to group with isn't exactly printworthy(how about you release some sub and pop numbers? <IMG height=16 src="http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/i/smilies/16x16_smiley-tongue.gif" width=16 border=0> ), and sometimes there just isn't a need for all the DDs or tanks or even healers that are logged on.  Some nights groups are dying for a certain archetype some nights there are just too many to go around.  Before this update that wasn't a problem, you could solo or duo or even run around with a makeshift reject group(I dinged 27 by killing orcs right off the Zek dock with two 29 pallies, it was a blast!).  Now it's looking like every group has to have a tank, a healer, and a battery and exactly 6 members or it's just not gonna be productive or fun.  I don't want to be forced to group or just find something else to do with my time, I want just want to have fun playing Everquest at whatever capacity I find I have time to do.</DIV> <DIV> <HR> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Amen! Beautiful post! Couldn't have said it any better myself. This almost describes my playstyle and thoughts to a "T".</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I'm really getting tired of all the people trying to turn this game into EQ1 with different graphics and classes. If what you want is EQ1's gameplay, go uh...play EQ1? Stop trying to feed down our throats how good it was in the "old days" and how you had to walk 14 miles barefoot in the snow, all uphill. Times have changed, people have grown older/matured, and a lot of us won't put up with the same crap SOE fed us in EQ1. There's plenty of options now and we'll simply move on.</DIV></DIV> <P>Message Edited by Brendien1 on <SPAN class=date_text>09-10-2005</SPAN> <SPAN class=time_text>07:23 AM</SPAN></P><p>Message Edited by Brendien1 on <span class=date_text>09-10-2005</span> <span class=time_text>07:24 AM</span>