Are the Outposts fun and will they entice new players?

[Maroger]

<div>I assume the real purpose of the makeover is not for us to create alts, but to lure newbies away from WoW and to EQ2. So I am asking all of you how well does the outpost zones do at luring new people into the game?</div><div> </div><div>My take on it is that you need, for most classes, to be at least level 8 to do all the quests solo.</div><div>Also the mobs are way too tough and the players too weak. I started a new mage class over on the told IOR and got a spell that did about 20 pts damage at like level 2 or 3. In the outposts you don't get anything that powerful -- you get somethings that does 2-4 points of damage. That simply is not enough to make a dent in this mobs who are a lot more aggressive than the old gobs on the IOR.</div><div> </div><div>Whether or not you have fun may well depend on the class you select. Some classes can deal with those mobs others are too underpowered.</div><div> </div><div>I think the area with respect to both mobs and player classes needs some serious balancing. I don't think you want to discourage people by having them die 10 times at level 3. After all you can get to about 8-9 in WOW without dying and I suspect if they have played that game they will be rather shocked by the frequence of death in this newbiew zone.</div>

[Happyfunba]

<div></div><p>My feeling is that it's far and away a better introduction into the game, is easier to become emersed in, and allows instant access to other players.</p><p>The boat ride was fun the first time for me, but mostly because I was anticipating the game already so this was my first chance to play a portion of it. I truly don't feel it would have been a strong selling point for me if I were not already interested in playing the game however, and I've known several people who have stated exactly that -- people who have ended up not playing EQ2 beyond the boat ride and the Trial of the Isle. So in my opinion, removing the boat ride is simply eliminating the 10 to 20 minutes of alone-time a new player might spend there and instead puts them in a setting where they can immediately interact with other newly created characters. Additionally, whomever they meet on the isle will be starting in the same city as them which creates the opportunity to carry over any adventuring partnerships they might have created.</p><p>The way class selection works should also be seen as a big improvement as well. Being able to use lines which are unique to their class will instantly give new players the impression that they are in fact different from other healers, other tanks, other mages, other scouts. The old setup on the other hand had all healers working off the same set of spells, etc. Most players, even new ones, usually have some idea what type of role they would like to play in the game. To not be able to establish that from the very outset probably turned a lot of people off.</p><p>And really the last thing is the fluidity of the progression which again I'd have to say is a major improvement. It holds the hands of people who don't have a clue about playing MMO's but allows others to skip thru anything they don't care to see or think they already know. It directs players to each new step of the game but doesn't force players to participate in anything in order to progress. And at least from a Dwarven character's perspective, the new progression offers players a bit of their own race's history which in turn provides a source for emersion. In fact, the entire newbie progression seemed much more emersive to me.</p><p>So all in all, I think the changes are good. I don't think this will immediately cause WoW players to transfer over just because the first 20 levels in EQ2 are now different. But I think in terms of retention the people who do try out EQ2 will be more inclined to stick with it because the first 30 minutes of playing are a great deal more fun and emersive now than they were before.</p>

[Moontayle]

<div></div>I think it'll work to bring new players in. The setup is quite similar to WoW in that you're basically led by the nose through the newbie areas and then shuffled off to somewhere else once you've outgrown the place. I left the Island at level 7 after completing all the quests, which is about what I used to leave it at in the previous iteration. The difference is that I'm not forced to run all over the island just to get things done. Each portion of the quest line is contained within a certain area so it keeps people moving. Also, I spent very little time actually grinding mobs. It was, to be blunt, fun. Which is the point after all.

[WascalWabb]

<div></div>Since they fixed CA and spell damage in the last update I have had a fun experience on both islands with all of my characters, except one. The Coercer.I found the class very frustrating to play. I really think they need to be given a charm spell (even a short duration one) in the early levels to give them some soloability. The assortment of CC powers are nice but having only 1 DD spell (the level 1 that does 5 - 7 damage), still not being able to complete half my HO's (my only real damage) at level 6 because I didn't have a spell with the matching symbol and no charm make for a very negative experience IMO.Learning to charm pets, and more importantly, learning to mez and re-charm when they break mid-fight is I think a rather important aspect of playing a Coercer (especially solo) and should be learned before leaving the island. I could quite happily live without Cure Arcane or the ever-useless Bind Sight for a few more levels if it meant getting  a charm instead.Apart from that I've found both Islands to be quite a lot of fun. The ability to pick your class from the outset is nice and not having to play 20+ levels just to discover that you don't actually like the class after all is <b>very</b> nice <span>:smileyhappy:.</span><div></div>

[Maroger]

<div></div><blockquote><hr>WascalWabbit wrote:<div></div>Since they fixed CA and spell damage in the last update I have had a fun experience on both islands with all of my characters, except one. The Coercer.I found the class very frustrating to play. I really think they need to be given a charm spell (even a short duration one) in the early levels to give them some soloability. The assortment of CC powers are nice but having only 1 DD spell (the level 1 that does 5 - 7 damage), still not being able to complete half my HO's (my only real damage) at level 6 because I didn't have a spell with the matching symbol and no charm make for a very negative experience IMO.Learning to charm pets, and more importantly, learning to mez and re-charm when they break mid-fight is I think a rather important aspect of playing a Coercer (especially solo) and should be learned before leaving the island. I could quite happily live without Cure Arcane or the ever-useless Bind Sight for a few more levels if it meant getting  a charm instead.Apart from that I've found both Islands to be quite a lot of fun. The ability to pick your class from the outset is nice and not having to play 20+ levels just to discover that you don't actually like the class after all is <b>very</b> nice <span>:smileyhappy:.</span><div></div><hr></blockquote><p>I agree in principle I just thinkg that it needs a lot more work and balancing to be suitable for a true newbie. All of us have characters on the main servers so we are more accustomed to the mobs and quests and how they work in EQ2.</p><p>But I think the failure to have crafting on the Islands really hurts casters as you can't work at upgrading your pathetic spells. I tried a wizard and gave up -- spells just too weak to do anything with.</p><p>It is my understanding that this area is theoretically supposed to be soloable by all classes and I think it has a way to go to reach that level. I have a newbie SK who is doing fine -- my illusionist is pathetic and close to joining my wizard by being hit with the delete key. The Warlock seems to get pretty powerful spells at the start and can deal with the island but so far that is the only caster I have that can do so. They need to beef up the spell damage more if all you can get are APP I spells or they can give up APP3 spells - casters have to do more damage than is currently the case.</p><p>I play a coercer and I agree they should get a charm and a mez to practice their skills with and see if that is the class they really want.  I agree with you about Cure Arcane and Bind Sight - I have considered Bind Sight pretty useless as a soloer. I don't know why they don't substitute better spells for those two.</p>

[Igu]

<div>I think that the best part is that you start getting a feeling for your class at level 1 instead of 10 and 20.</div><div>This is the way it should have been from the beginning.</div>

[Wblast]

<div>I was able to solo through the majority of the new island with my wizard just fine.  The only parts I needed help with were Direspike (the big spider) and The Cave.</div>

[YourTypicalEQIIPlay]

I think they are doing a good job on the new 'isle of refuge', and I cannot wait to see the tradeskill changes.Before, priest and fighter apprentice recipes were not able to be created on the isle- which was really dissapointing, considering all they had to do was add suspension to the vendor and I could have been able to make skill upgrades for my young fighter.Err- where was I?Ah, yes.  Good luck with this go-around, SoE developers.<div></div>

[Vindicare]

<div></div><div></div>While I can't decide whether I like the new IoR or not (the old one had far more quests - especially "hidden" ones) I really do like the new content <i>after</i> leaving the isle.Never been fond of the old citizenship quest; the new "racial quest" -with less zoning (!!)- is a lot more fun. Also I really, really like the revamped Sunken City, Sprawl and Ruins zones (with all the factions and gangs there, who even fight each other, so that these zones now feel lively and.... "real" ), as well as the quest path which connects them (and takes new players by the hand for a bit longer -<i> if they want it</i>).The new char-advancement is hands down a blast, compared to the old one with it's boring-to-play and ugly-to-look-at generic ATs and ultra-annoying  level caps and class quests at 10 and 20.I am so glad they got rid of it...So I can finally PLAY (i.e. level) my class for the first hours (or days, in case of a new player) instead of getting interrupted frequently ("Sorry, great group but I have to leave. Reached the level cap, and gotta do the class quest for the next 2 hours" ).And yes, the more unique playstyles of the 24 "newb classes" as well as the specific looks (which are partially awesome) will more likely get new players hooked to EQ2 than the old system.As for the outposts themselves... let's wait until they are finished. The tutorial-NPCs are a good start for sure, but there needs to be some tweaking for the rest (difficulty, hidden quests, empty space where once the supply-camps were).PS: Didn't check the Queen's Outpost so far. My post only refers to the Freeportian way of life.<div></div><p>Message Edited by Vindicare on <span class="date_text">01-20-2006</span><span class="time_text">11:45 PM</span></p>

[Snublefot]

<div></div><div>I feel a complete newbie will become frustrated fast with the new island. Its "easy" for us that know how the game plays, but it might be a tiny bit steep learning curve for a first timer to mmorgs.</div><div> </div><div>1. The starter quest where your supposed to look around for spots is confusing. It just doesnt make sense. I would suggest leading the player with a glowing path to each of the locations, and have them talk to the NPC at each location.</div><div>2. The followup be a choice of "More detail" or "I want to fight"</div><div> * More detail. Reward for talking to the diffrent mentors on the island. Same aproach as above, lead them trough each NPC with a glowing path.</div><div> * Fight. Send the player to a <strong>class specific trainer,  </strong>like it was on the old island. More work yes, but right now the first hour of a new character is same old same old.</div><div> </div><div>I would also suggest opening 3 hotbars in the default UI, and divide the starter arts more logical. Make the backgrounds Opaque. Right now they disapear. Sure, looks nice on screenshots, but a complete newbie need to find stuff.</div><div> </div><div>I also feel the island is too small. With more then 10 players starting at the same time it will become congested. Bottlenecks where obvious to me at test. Again, by moving the players to individual trainers they will work on diffrent quests and as a consequence the island can take more simultanous players.</div><div> </div><div>Maybe gearing the island toward level 2-3-4 and leaving the 5-6 content to instances would help making the island feel bigger.</div><p>Message Edited by Snublefot on <span class="date_text">01-21-2006</span><span class="time_text">12:28 AM</span></p>

[Snublefot]

<div></div><div>*Double post</div><p>Message Edited by Snublefot on <span class="date_text">01-21-2006</span><span class="time_text">12:19 AM</span></p>