Dead Zones

[Davler]

<p>I, for one, am very disturbed by the fact that so many zones have died. As the expansions continue, the old content is less and less useful and the lands appear to be shrinking. For the most part, this is directly caused by the new loot available in the new expansions.</p><p>While I understand SOE's desire to promote sales of the expansion packs, I beleive they are cripiling the game and causing the base to shrink. I left the game shortly after RoK because of this and am now considering it again. I hate the fact that we are confined to the newer zones if we want to get decent loot. Why cant SOE share these items, or at least a significant portion of them with the other zones? If sales of the expansion is the problem, make i so you cannot loot the item without the expansion... Dont limit the drops to new expansion zones.</p>

[habby2]

<p>Well, since the older lands are for a different level range, why would they have the same loot drops???</p>

[zaneluke]

<p>As the game ages older zones get less and less traffic. I always make sure to go back and get all the AA i can. In a couple months people will be running ROK instances again. EOF instances? i see groups running every so often.</p>

[Davler]

<p><span style="font-size: 9pt; color: #ffffff;">True, the over realm is below the level cap and therefore less frequently traveled. And yes, you do see SOME traffic in older zones/instances. However, the traffic is nothing when compared to that of the newer zones. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 9pt; color: #ffffff;">As to the same loot drops. I believe my point was either poorly worded or misunderstood. The point is that the loot that drops from older expansions, when compared to the newer expansion zones from the same level range, is junk. Because the loot in other level 55-70 zones drop better loot, people don’t go to the over realm except for the AA. Further, why aren't new level 70-80 zones or introduced to the over realm? Wouldn’t this, in combination with some loot revisions revitalize these zones?</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 9pt; color: #ffffff;">Don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe that all of the older zones are dead... I believe they are headed towards a lonesome death. The trend seems to continue with each expansion introduced. </span></p><p><span style="color: #000000;"> </span></p>

[Banditman]

<p>This is how MMO's work.  As new content comes along, old content is pushed to the wayside.  How many expansions in EQLive now?  How many of these "dead" zones?  Too many to count, I'm sure.  Even at the time I left EQLive for EQ2, already there were numerous "dead" zones.</p><p>As a game evolves, the world expands.  People don't want to go back to KoS . . . we've already done KoS . . . people want "new".  New zones, new mobs, new loot, new challenges.</p><p>Actually, you will note that the "new" expansion brought "new" subzones to some older parent zones like Lavastorm, Everfrost and Loping Plains.  You might see a continuation of that sort of idea.</p>

[fawdown]

<p>I just started a new character, now level 32.  I spent a lot of time in Nek forest, and butcherblock.  I'm going to Zek next.  Along the way I did a lot of things I missed before.  It's not unheard of to go back and revisit.</p>

[Thanon]

<p><cite>Banditman wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>This is how MMO's work.  As new content comes along, old content is pushed to the wayside.  How many expansions in EQLive now?  How many of these "dead" zones?  Too many to count, I'm sure.  Even at the time I left EQLive for EQ2, already there were numerous "dead" zones.</p><p>As a game evolves, the world expands.  People don't want to go back to KoS . . . we've already done KoS . . . people want "new".  New zones, new mobs, new loot, new challenges.</p><p>Actually, you will note that the "new" expansion brought "new" subzones to some older parent zones like Lavastorm, Everfrost and Loping Plains.  You might see a continuation of that sort of idea.</p></blockquote><p>I'd be willing to bet that one of the upcoming expansions sees us re-visit Velious. Which I would absolutely die over, since Velious was my favorite EQ1 expansion.</p><p>at the OP: this is the nature of any expanding game/universe. Now granted, I haven't played EQ1 in a long time (I played launch until just before EQ2 went live, and then went back again for about 4 months when DoF released and EQ2 combat changes were fluxuating) but it's the same thing. People don't want old...they want new. When the majority of the population has seen something a few times, they move on. I know I don't want to have to go back to Varsoons, for example, 5 years later and on my umpeenth alt. While at times I may have questioned the exp gains and leveling curves that allow people to level so fast anymore, it really does serve a purpose. It allows new players to catch up with their friends quicker, and it allows old players to bypass the content they've seen a million times before.</p><p>It's the nature of an expanding game. EQ2 is now 5 years old and the only way you keep an ongoing subscriber base happy is by providing new and exciting content. Which people will play in favor of old and re-hashed.</p>

[Jrral]

<p>Part of it's that the new zones (TSO and RoK) are the only T8 areas. Anybody running characters from 68 up is going to be in those zones. And with TSO being so new, most people are going to be working on mains (who already have most of their gear from the RoK instances) instead of less well-geared alts who could use RoK instance gear before moving into TSO.</p><p>Personally me and most of my guildmates are taking our mains back through lower-level zones mentored down to alts we're bringing up. We get AA from the quests we didn't do the first time around, plus the AA bonus from mentoring down. With 60 AA points to earn, every quest helps. But I expect the lower-level zones to be relatively deserted while people are concentrating on running their 80s through Moors and then running their T8-capable toons through RoK and Moors. It's only been what, less than a month since TSO came out? I expect the lower-level zones to pick up again in the spring as people turn back to bringing up alts.</p>

[Dreyco]

<p>This is the hesitation with releasing content for already well populated tiers (populated with content that is).  If you add more and more of it, sure it's new, but the population gets spread thinner, and it creates an illusion of the game not doing as well as it really is.</p><p>Revamping old zones though? Happens.  Which will get people back into the swing of things in those seemingly "forgotten" zones <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[Killerbee3000]

<p><cite>Banditman wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>This is how MMO's work.  As new content comes along, old content is pushed to the wayside.</p></blockquote><p>No, that is how mmo's have worked so far, but who said there cant be one that is different? wow took the leap and is different as in you can play it 1 hour per week and still have a feeling of achievment and bang, millions of subscriptions, so why not take a leap with eq2 and be different as in keep old content updated so it doenst become worthless?</p><p>point is, just because somethings always been a certain way doesnt mean its the right way.</p><p>also, what do you suggest then for the old content instead of revamping it to be up to par? let it rot? leave the hundreds of zones empty of players? delete it?</p>

[glowsintheda]

<p>If they revamp the old content to bring it up to current level, unless they do like they die with RE then they will take away places that people on the way up are using to level.</p>

[M0rticia]

<p>This is a natural progression of any MMO. Some of the original zones or ones from older expansions will seem 'dead'. However, look at what they have done to Everfrost, Lavastorm, The Commonlands and the Loping Plains lately. They added new quest lines and instances that start in those older zones. I'm thrilled they did this. I always thought that Everfrost and Lavastorm were beautiful zones and it was a shame to see them so unpopulated. Now everyone is going there for one reason or another (instances, questing, etc.).</p><p>I have a feeling that SOE will probably continue to do this. As they add new quest lines and instances to the older zones, you will start seeing an increase in population.</p><p>I myself love going to the older zones. I am a quest addict so I travel through old zones quite frequently. Sure, you're not going to see any older zone absolutely jam packed like they were at launch or on an expansion day but I hardly think the older zones are completely 'dead' and I think we will see more quests and instance zones added in the future.</p><p>Some people like to level, quest, etc in new content exclusively. True, they are missing out on the fun the old zones had to offer but that's certainly not the mindset of every player out there. Some people still like leveling in older zones and taking their time while they are there for exploring, etc. They're not in a rush to reach level cap and move on to strictly TSO content.</p>