Why are mobs removed?

[Daysy]

A quest calls for the slaying of 7 Timberclaw gnolls, which we're told only come out at night. But in reality there is only one, which is there at any time of day, and the only way to complete the quest is to sit at his spawn place and wait for one at a time to spawn and then kill it. Better bring a book.Another quest calls for 12 blood shrillers. Shouldn't be a problem, there's a road near the citadel which they inhabit. Or used to. In over an hour of running up and down the road, there have only been two to kill. After another half an hour of fruitless search, it's just too boring and even the rubbish on television starts to look entertaining.A writ calls for rumbleroot saplings. That should be fine, there's a road in the southeast well-populated with all kinds of rumbleroots. Except the saplings have gone. Kill every rumbleroot in the area and still no saplings. Spread the search a little wider and then a lot wider. It's a level 20 quest and I'm 22 so it can't be too difficult. After spending two afternoons doing nothing but looking for saplings, I change to a level 35 character so I can search more thoroughly. Another three afternoons are spent doing nothing but combing the entire forest without finding a single sapling. This is neither relaxing nor my idea of fun, which is supposed to be the point of playing the game.What is the point of removing these creatures when there are quests that require them? It entirely removes the enjoyment and leads only to frustration.

[funkmasterflex]

try bringing a scout along to help find them?

[Guy De Alsace]

<p>Many quests use shared spawns. For example I was doing a quest in Steamfont that required Deranged Clockwork Gnomes. Initially there were none but there were Wayward Clockwork Gnomes and Haywire Clockwork Spiders in the same area. As is usually the case, all three mob types shared the same spawn so repeatedly killing the mobs I didnt need eventually spawned the ones I needed.</p><p>Very many quests of this nature are around in EQ2. Try killing mobs that spawn in the area, especially ones with similar sounding names and roam.</p>

[Chondrichtheyia]

<cite>Daysy wrote:</cite><blockquote>Another quest calls for 12 blood shrillers. Shouldn't be a problem, there's a road near the citadel which they inhabit. Or used to. In over an hour of running up and down the road, there have only been two to kill. After another half an hour of fruitless search, it's just too boring and even the rubbish on television starts to look entertaining.A writ calls for rumbleroot saplings. That should be fine, there's a road in the southeast well-populated with all kinds of rumbleroots. Except the saplings have gone. Kill every rumbleroot in the area and still no saplings. Spread the search a little wider and then a lot wider. It's a level 20 quest and I'm 22 so it can't be too difficult. After spending two afternoons doing nothing but looking for saplings, I change to a level 35 character so I can search more thoroughly. Another three afternoons are spent doing nothing but combing the entire forest without finding a single sapling. This is neither relaxing nor my idea of fun, which is supposed to be the point of playing the game.What is the point of removing these creatures when there are quests that require them? It entirely removes the enjoyment and leads only to frustration.</blockquote>I can distinctly remember these 2 quests from Nektulos Forest. There was a quite a HUGE nerf a few weeks ago when that zone was altered to supposedly make it more user-friendly. A lot of the mobs were either removed or tremendously weakened; with a portion of certain parts seriously thinned out. Quest-giving NPC's that were far from the camp and in random areas of the forest were also moved to the camp.I did those quests before that nerf and mobs were densely packed in the zone, but easy to find. When I went back there to help a guildie, I noticed the same thing as the OP - the zone was thinned of mobs and it was much harder to find quest mobs.I'm just glad I got to do those quests while they were still mildly challenging and interesting. When quests and zones are nerfed like this, I just feel either bored or insulted...

[Daysy]

Thank you Guy, I know that killing placeholders sometimes causes the sought creatures to spawn. Sometimes the idea is logical, such as having to kill the minions before their boss appears, and other times a stretch of the imagination can see some kind of relationship such as between the bees and trees. Other times it's just a case of having to kill whatever is in the place of what you need, in the hope that it will appear. That can work if you know where the creatures will appear, but not if they've moved off to points unknown, or disappeared completely.With the three examples I gave above, it didn't seem that placeholders were the problem. Killing every gnoll in Archer Woods doesn't invite any more Timberclaws. I killed every rumbleroot in that road, as well as a multitude of spiders and owlbears, and still no saplings appeared. The same applies to bats, wolves, snakes and anything else that moved in the road where the blood shrillers are.<span class="genmed"><span style="color: #cc00ff;">Chondrichtheyia </span></span>I also did the quests some months ago, which is why I thought it wouldn't be difficult to do them again with a younger character, and also to help guildies as you say. Thinning populations would be fine, or even moving them further along a road or to the other side of a river. Cackling cadavers, for instance, have disappeared from next to the camp but weren't too difficult to find in the southwest. The Kerra NPC also had disappeared from his spot but again was easy to find at his new location.

[Chondrichtheyia]

<cite>Daysy wrote:</cite><blockquote>With the three examples I gave above, it didn't seem that placeholders were the problem. Killing every gnoll in Archer Woods doesn't invite any more Timberclaws. I killed every rumbleroot in that road, as well as a multitude of spiders and owlbears, and still no saplings appeared. The same applies to bats, wolves, snakes and anything else that moved in the road where the blood shrillers are.</blockquote>Nope, the "Saplings" were intentionally removed. Before the nerf, it was very difficult to walk down that road as you'd always end up aggroing at least half a dozen saplings and regular rumbleroots. This wasn't an issue if you either fought them 2 or 3 at a time or you kept running...but apparently the whiners got their way...

[Daysy]

<cite>Chondrichtheyia wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite></cite>Nope, the "Saplings" were intentionally removed. Before the nerf, it was very difficult to walk down that road as you'd always end up aggroing at least half a dozen saplings and regular rumbleroots. This wasn't an issue if you either fought them 2 or 3 at a time or you kept running...but apparently the whiners got their way...</blockquote>As you say, fighting them as you went wasn't too difficult. Keeping your head down and making a run for it could work too if you could withstand the occasional rooting by the trees.If the saplings have been removed, that begs the question of why there are still quests requiring that they be killed.

[Sedenten]

If it helps, they moved the saplings elsewhere in Nektulos Forest.  There was also another kind of rumbleroot that "counts" the same as saplings, and spawns all around where they used to spawn.  I can't remember the name, but have you tried killing all types and seeing if any of them get the update?  I had a quest from Kleron that required saplings but some other kind of rumbleroot (only one other type) updated for the quest as well.

[Daysy]

I was trying to get saplings for the writ and when I saw one of Kleron's quests also asking for them, I deleted it and took another. Thanks for that info, I'll take the wrist one again and see if the ordinary rumbleroots will work for that.

[Kasar]

<cite>Chondrichtheyia wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Daysy wrote:</cite><blockquote>With the three examples I gave above, it didn't seem that placeholders were the problem. Killing every gnoll in Archer Woods doesn't invite any more Timberclaws. I killed every rumbleroot in that road, as well as a multitude of spiders and owlbears, and still no saplings appeared. The same applies to bats, wolves, snakes and anything else that moved in the road where the blood shrillers are.</blockquote>Nope, the "Saplings" were intentionally removed. Before the nerf, it was very difficult to walk down that road as you'd always end up aggroing at least half a dozen saplings and regular rumbleroots. This wasn't an issue if you either fought them 2 or 3 at a time or you kept running...but apparently the whiners got their way...</blockquote>I miss Nek the way it was.. coming from the docks, wandering down the road with a mass of shrillers on your head as you fled for your life, only to run into either the patrol or the owlbears on the road waiting to swarm.  Doing that for betrayal once or twice at level 15 were good times.Now it's more dangerous to run through Thundering Steppes than Nek.

[Armawk]

<cite>Daysy wrote:</cite><blockquote>A quest calls for the slaying of 7 Timberclaw gnolls, which we're told only come out at night. But in reality there is only one, which is there at any time of day, and the only way to complete the quest is to sit at his spawn place and wait for one at a time to spawn and then kill it. Better bring a book.</blockquote><p>There ae groups of 3 timberclaws that spawn at the southern edge of the woods at night. Took me ages to find them, and they are weak downs that die quick so people often turn up, kill them, then leave.. possibly why you havent seen them. Once I knew about them the quest became easy for future characters.</p><p>Shaun</p><p>EDIT: This seems to no longer be the case, as the area has been broken in a recent update. apologies</p>

[Treggar]

Same with shadowmen in nek forest, they used to be just to the left as you exited the docks area, but now I have a quest from the docks that needs me to catalog a shadowed man and I can't find them anywhere since the zone got made more "noob-friendly".

[Kenazeer]

<p> <cite>Daysy wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>A quest calls for the slaying of 7 Timberclaw gnolls, which we're told only come out at night. But in reality there is only one, which is there at any time of day, and the only way to complete the quest is to sit at his spawn place and wait for one at a time to spawn and then kill it. Better bring a book.</p><p><span style="color: #ff0000;">It might have been broken recently, but I am pretty sure they are still there as I remember doing this on an alt not too awfully long ago. They did come out night, but if I remember correctly it still took me two day/night cycles to get enough.</span>Another quest calls for 12 blood shrillers. Shouldn't be a problem, there's a road near the citadel which they inhabit. Or used to. In over an hour of running up and down the road, there have only been two to kill. After another half an hour of fruitless search, it's just too boring and even the rubbish on television starts to look entertaining.</p><p><span style="color: #ff0000;">I can't remember for sure whether these are the ones or not, but I think these are on top of a ridge over near the owlbear valley. Hope that is them anyway.</span></p><p>A writ calls for rumbleroot saplings. That should be fine, there's a road in the southeast well-populated with all kinds of rumbleroots. Except the saplings have gone. Kill every rumbleroot in the area and still no saplings. Spread the search a little wider and then a lot wider. It's a level 20 quest and I'm 22 so it can't be too difficult. After spending two afternoons doing nothing but looking for saplings, I change to a level 35 character so I can search more thoroughly. Another three afternoons are spent doing nothing but combing the entire forest without finding a single sapling. This is neither relaxing nor my idea of fun, which is supposed to be the point of playing the game.</p><p><span style="color: #ff0000;">This one might be broke also, but I am pretty sure this was one of the ones I did on the same alt as above. If I remember right I had to go quite a bit more back to ding them all. It is probably a case of all the rumbleroots sharing spawns so you may have to clear a few to get them to respawn.</span>What is the point of removing these creatures when there are quests that require them? It entirely removes the enjoyment and leads only to frustration.</p><p><span style="color: #ff0000;">Good luck anyway. You might also consider getting the EQ2maps UI as it has a lot of mob spawn points on it.</span></p></blockquote><p>As to the shadowed men of the latter poster....</p><p>There are two places I know of to find shadowed men in Nek now. One is over near the snakes, which if I remember correctly is also to the left as you exit the beach, just not in the little bottleneck area, the other is up at the very top of Nek past the druid ring. There may be more, but this is two spots I have seen them in.</p>

[Birn]

Also young brown bears are quite rare in antonica. I had to kill roughly 100 badgers and occasional wolves before I got the 12 bears I needed.

[Babatte]

The regular rumbleroots will <b>not </b>give updates for the writ Slash and Burn.  We've killed every type of rumbleroot available and none of them give updates for the writ.So far I can't tell that the mobs were moved anywhere.  They appear to be wholly absent from the zone.  Multiple people have searched the whole zone and not found them.  If you have information about where they went, I'd love to hear it.The same thing happened with Bloodskull pawns in Commonlands.  There's still a quest for them in the game, but I have yet to find them anywhere in the zone.  They used to be with all the warriors and priests over by Ohlgren, but after killing hundreds of warriors and priests, they never spawned.Really, if Sony is going to remove mobs from the game, they need to do a search on what quests use those mobs and remove or change the quests.

[Seffrid]

<p>I agree that revamped zones are often a problem in this way.</p><p>If I'm stuck for a mob's location I (a) use EQ2Map and (b) ask /ooc and there's usually someone who knows where the mobs are.</p>

[Ogrebe]

O man i so so so so so so so hated that quest.

[Iseabeil]

<p>Unfortunatly, they often do massive changes without taking a full view of what it will do to other things. Writs in t2-t3 are often painfull to do, as the changes made to the zones are not reflected in the quests at all. All quests are suffering from this issue, but having had a girl level locked in her 20's to do writs in freeport, its driving me nuts *grins*. I can understand that changing every single quests in the changed areas might be tough, but there is no reason to not have lists of what mobs are <i>required</i> for quests and make sure they have a healthy population. It seems that in their efforts to make the game 'easier', they instead make it harder by de-populating quest mobs, move them or simply remove them.Its not only the mobs tho, one of my favorite quests around those tiers was the one taking you to the prison of admiral grimgadget... Naturally, this quest cant be completed anymore from what I heard, as in one step you have to repeatedly kick an engine, many times and fast, well with 3s delay, that engine wont be starting this millenia and I havent heard anything implying they have fixed this.</p><p>They really need to stop and fix all these things before they do any more 'revamps', Im dreading them going for Zek and EL next..</p>