Heiro
12-06-2005, 09:36 PM
<DIV>Rumors sometimes turn out to be true...</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><IMG src="http://img273.imageshack.us/img273/3483/done7ll.jpg"></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I would like to take a minute and post a few reasons as to this decision.. read if you want.. comment if you want.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>My wife and I started EQ2 together the day it released, we started on a live server, and as luck would have it, we picked the server that just couldnt figure out how to stay up for more than 30 mins at a time (since been fixed). We restarted on a different server, which was stable , and proceded to experience the newness that was EQ2. Lush visuals, numerous quests, loot rewards on the Isle ... I stayed on the Isle of Refuge for 3 weeks with one of my characters, just so I would be able to craft ( t1 advaced books used to drop on the isle).</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>We adventured on to the mainland, and the whole introduction to housing and citizenship quests was great. We started adventuring, and met some people, and joined a guild. I started crafting ...which had just undergone a revamp in beta, 1 week prior to release. Interdependency was an awesome idea, but flawed and lopsided, as one class ruled the market for any other tradeskillers, and unless you had 1) an alchemist alt or 2) a friend who was alchemist then you were at the mercy of other players to even be able to progress in that aspect of the game. I managed to make a friend who was an alchemist, and who was a decent person so I didnt get [Removed for Content] on WORTS, and managed to lvl up to 25 Armorer... Highest on my server at that time.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Guild situations happend that were not game related, and we were on the verge of quitting due to the player base on Live, when they announced the transfer to TEST server. We talked it over, and decided that we would give EQ2 another chance, since the game itself didnt drive us away, and Transferred over (not copied).</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Test server community in a nutshell is AWESOME. People here seemed to help each other more for the sake of each others enjoyment, rather than for personal gain or status. That was exactly the type of community I had hoped to find. Also the thought of being able to assist with the idetification of bugs, and be an active part in the testing of new content, working with the DEV's , assisting with the defining of various skills, classes, quests, content... appealed to me. I had no issue continueing to pay for my 3 accts and playing solely on a Test server. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Many months pass, Many new people met, and many new friends made. Enjoying the game, but starting to realize that our Testing of bugs and content is for the most part meaningless... bugs reported and still making it to live...Issues with balance of skill reported and still going live... issues with quality of drops/loot and still going to live. This wasnt really a test server, but rather a server with a smaller, closeknit community with the occasional DEV popping on and saying hi... Most Zone testing was done by Copies from Live, who used their contacts within SOE to access new content first, for the status they would recieve on Live when they got the Server Firsts... or to plan Strategy for raiding on live, ahead of other guilds thus being the First with new discoveries.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I could go on .. but this is turning into more of a story of my online life in EQ2 .. and no one really wants to read that...</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Reasons I am gone:</DIV> <DIV>1) Archetype balance... Cookie Cutter .. every one is the same.. healers heal, fighters tank, scouts DPS and Mages DPS.. thats it.. no real need to specialize further. No ONE healer is supposed to be better than the others, no ONE tank is supposed to be better, no ONE mage is supposed to be better.. the classes are too base with their primary functions.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>2) class imbalance .. the thing that separates each class from the others of the archetype they chose comes down to utility.. and thats where the disparity really shines. Its not that each class has differing utility, but rather that some have much more utility than others, while maintaining the same base. Healers all Heal about the same, its the utility that sets them apart.. and that utility swings on the pendulum from non-existant -- to overpowered.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>3) the total revamp of the game on LU13 .. Killed my character that I had played since launch.. Totally redifined him.. which meant that he was now not the character I had created and desired. If the game I was enjoying was so flawed .. yet still made it to launch, and stayed that way for close to a year.. then it was prolly not that flawed to begin with. then WHAM .. guess what guys, we didnt mean for the game to be this way, so we are changing it. Thats their right, its their game afterall.. because its my game no more (hence this post)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>4) Tradeskills - BOOOOOOOORRRRRKKKKKKEEEDDD ... only one quality of finished good is marketable, Pristine, and that requires soo much time invested in the creation process, and the end results are so lackluster, that its insane to spend so much time crafting. Quality of items are now less than that of common trash mob drops.. and the stuff that is better requires massive amounts of time harvesting those rares, and crafting up only to have them be slightly better than the common trash. in one week of limited play time, I spent 16 hrs in game that week. Of that 16 hrs ... 12 of them were spent crafting .. Mostly sub-combines for the orders that people had needed. While I was busy crafting armor and raising skills for players, those same players were out adventuring, gaining experience and loot and quest advancement... and I was fast falling behind my friends and groupmates ... </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I realized then that I was not having fun here. This game is not the worst game in history, but it seemed more of a second job. The people here are awesome, and some lifelong friends were made here, and I truly will miss you guys (and gals). However, I dont see how or why I should continue to play.. when I dread logging in.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>New QA guys... Sephiro and Igram .. AWESOME JOB... you guys are da bomb but its too late for me.. I am jaded and fed up..</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>so Ducky, Zaanahia, Rayne, Evahgo, Labb, Alexii, Cimee, Toralu, Tranmek, Naylaa, Waji, Kumu, Syrrok (richard/syrtinis) , Kuulei, Agedone, Csantran, and all the rest of you people who I have the privilege of calling friend.. I will miss you..We will miss you... and will keep in touch and hope that nothing but good things come your way.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>TIA .. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Heiro </DIV> <DIV>retired templar / retired armorsmith / retired EQ2 player</DIV>