Announcing EverQuest II - Destiny of Velious

[Amnerys]

<p>Last Thursday night at the Fan Faire Welcome Reception, SOE President John Smedley revealed the name and logo for the next EverQuest II expansion; Destiny of Velious.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://eq2players.station.sony.com/images/en/logos/destiny_of_velious/EQII_DOV_Logo_500.jpg" width="500" height="258" /></p><p><a href="http://everquest2.com/news/read/082010/3642" target="_blank">Read More</a></p>

[Vinyard]

<p>I was there!</p>

[Aerfen]

<p>Amnerys the link takes me to the </p><p><span style="color: #c4cfc6; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><h2><span style="font-size: small;">The Gamer Petition: Supporting First Amendment Rights for Video Games</span></h2><p><img src="/eq2/images/smilies/ed515dbff23a0ee3241dcc0a601c9ed6.gif" border="0" /></p></span></p>

[Aneova]

<p>I'm still waiting on the vid <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Who's got the fly over vid that's been mentioned?</p>

[Wullail]

<p>Sorry , but having read everything about it......Meh...</p>

[Titigabe]

<p>So, this is the only official thing that has been annouced?</p><p>The name and the logo ... No vids, no screens?</p><p>I guess one could expect a bit more ... still 6 months to wait but if you wan't us to be patient, we need to be feed with visuals <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[CrazyHandsMatt]

<a href="http://everquest2.com/news/read/current/3642" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://everquest2.com/news/read/current/3642</a>

[Zabjade]

<p><span style="color: #00cc00;">Not seeing the flyover yet. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" /></span></p>

[lordxaveir2000]

<p>This will be another fail xpac brought to you by smed  they have nothing cuz they have done nothing . They will be selling people a name not a great xpac .</p>

[Deathbyshadow]

<p><cite>Siden@Butcherblock wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>This will be another fail xpac brought to you by smed  they have nothing cuz they have done nothing . They will be selling people a name not a great xpac .</p></blockquote><p>Siden be quiet, they work hard every day and don't say they don't they have about 20+ games to monitor every day and it's people like you that stress them out and make them feel bad.  Amnery, SJohn, and everyone else you are doing an awesome job, I was at the fan faire to woot =D and you to Brasse lol</p>

[Gaige]

<p><cite>Deathbyshadow@Nagafen wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Siden be quiet, they work hard every day and don't say they don't they have about 20+ games to monitor every day and it's people like you that stress them out and make them feel bad.</p></blockquote><p>Come to my job and make my customers be nice too, imo.  Especially the unsatisfied ones.</p>

[Calthine]

<p><cite>Zabjade wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><span style="color: #00cc00;">Not seeing the flyover yet. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" /></span></p></blockquote><p>Gotcha covered:  <a href="http://eq2.zam.com/story.html?story=22951" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://eq2.zam.com/story.html?story=22951</a></p>

[Amnerys]

<p>Link fixed, and video coming tomorrow! <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[Jevangal]

<p><cite>Titigabe wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>So, this is the only official thing that has been annouced?</p><p>The name and the logo ... No vids, no screens?</p><p>I guess one could expect a bit more ... still 6 months to wait but if you wan't us to be patient, we need to be feed with visuals <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" /></p></blockquote><p>Some slides here at EQ2wire:</p><p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://eq2wire.com/2010/08/06/gallery-eq2-destiny-of-velious-expansion-slides/" target="_blank">http://eq2wire.com/2010/08/06/galle...pansion-slides/</a></p><p>Vid here:</p><p><a href="http://eq2.zam.com/story.html?story=22951" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://eq2.zam.com/story.html?story=22951</a></p>

[Jevangal]

<p>Just to add, regarding the flying mount idea. I heard it's a quest reward (at least at this stage in development).  The idea is great, but in practice I can see it polarising the community.  There will be some who argue the questline should be difficult enough that owning one of these things will be a significant status symbol, some will argue that the quest should be easy but mildly time-consuming (like the cloud mount questline) and some small minority will say you should be able to purchase these mounts on station cash.</p><p>Personally, I think offering these mounts on SC will annoy a lot of people, who will see this route as devaluing the ingame effort and reward.</p><p>Also what about existing "flying" mounts such as clouds and carpets?  Will these gain the same ability?  If not, how are you going to explain the difference to lore junkies who will see this as a jarring inconsistency?  And then there's the fae issue <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>Again, a great idea, but to make the idea become great in practice will take a lot of thought.  I'd value your comments on this please Amnerys.</p>

[ke'la]

<p><cite>Siden@Butcherblock wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>This will be another fail xpac brought to you by smed  they have nothing cuz they have done nothing . They will be selling people a name not a great xpac .</p></blockquote><p>Your right:</p><p>remapping every single zone in-game so they can support flying mounts.</p><p>Plus Adding:</p><ul><li>10 new group instances</li><li> 6 new raid instances</li><li>2 New overland zones</li><li>1 Huge Contested Dungon</li><li>300 new quests</li><li>Lots of new armor and weopons baised on Valinous</li><li>Lots of new traidskill stuff, including all new and differant harvestables specifically made for the brand new Valinous recipies.</li><li>4 new heritage quests</li><li>30 new creatures to fight</li><li>as well as new Battle grounds stuff.</li></ul><p>with all those things being MINIMUMS, and they haven't even go into what they are going to do with AAs yet, though we know they are going to be adding some.</p><p>yeah all that is doing NOTHING what so ever.</p><p>Oh and Gaige, yes if your customers claim that all the work you do in a day is nothing, and it wasn't I would defend your work too.</p>

[Gaige]

<p>Smaller than SF with flying mounts /shrug.  Its also half of an expansion.  Hard to get excited about.</p>

[Calthine]

<p><cite>Gaige wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Smaller than SF with flying mounts /shrug.  Its also half of an expansion.  Hard to get excited about.</p></blockquote><p>It's half the Velious story.  How many xpaks did the Void story take?</p>

[ke'la]

<p><cite>Calthine wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>Gaige wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Smaller than SF with flying mounts /shrug.  Its also half of an expansion.  Hard to get excited about.</p></blockquote><p>It's half the Velious story.  How many xpaks did the Void story take?</p></blockquote><p>More to the point how many xpaks did the END of the void story take, cause the build up to it was contained in vertually every expainsion to date, including the launch game.</p>

[Gaige]

<p><cite>Calthine wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>It's half the Velious story.  How many xpaks did the Void story take?</p></blockquote><p>No, its half of the continent, according to EQ2wire.</p>

[Gladiolus]

<p><cite>Deathbyshadow@Nagafen wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>Siden@Butcherblock wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>This will be another fail xpac brought to you by smed  they have nothing cuz they have done nothing . They will be selling people a name not a great xpac .</p></blockquote><p>Siden be quiet, they work hard every day and don't say they don't they have about 20+ games to monitor every day</p></blockquote><p>We're paying for this one, and over the years have contributed considerable amounts to fund mounts that might have been nice before we had a worldwide teleport system.</p>

[lordxaveir2000]

<p><cite>Deathbyshadow@Nagafen wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>Siden@Butcherblock wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>This will be another fail xpac brought to you by smed  they have nothing cuz they have done nothing . They will be selling people a name not a great xpac .</p></blockquote><p>Siden be quiet, they work hard every day and don't say they don't they have about 20+ games to monitor every day and it's people like you that stress them out and make them feel bad.  Amnery, SJohn, and everyone else you are doing an awesome job, I was at the fan faire to woot =D and you to Brasse lol</p></blockquote><p>Last time I checked I pay to play one game I could careless about the other 19+ games sony has to offer. Like I said this will be another fail xpac </p>

[denmom]

<p>This is not said to be mean, cruel, or to offend...and the "you" is collectively meant.</p><p>If you feel it'll be fail, don't buy the expansion.</p><p>If you feel that Sony is a fail company, don't give them your money.</p><p>If negativity is all you can find in Sony and EQ2, then it's time to just stop and find another place to give you your happy.</p>

[Jevangal]

<p>Personally, I'm looking forward to this one; I think the flying mount thing is a fantastic idea and a really exciting addition to the game.  I would love to hear more details about the mechanics though (as well as the quest/SC/fae issue I mentioned earlier): By what I hear, you can't fight from the mount so I would expect it would work exactly the same way as a griffon (except controlled manually by the player).  In that case, will it work like a climbing wall or griffon mount where you can /yell then jump onto it to get out of trouble?</p><p>I'm surprised they are making the othmir non-playable though; I thought they would have seen the money-making opportunity of all the people buying the race change tokens on SC :p</p>

[Loxus]

<p>I'm looking forward to this one, I think it will really show us what this team is made of, however, you can already see the panic setting in.  Sony is behind the 8-ball currently and the next 6 months are gonna be interesting.  How long have we been asking for flying mounts?  How long have they told us it can't be done?</p><p>Looking forward</p><p>The New Star Wars is very close to release</p><p>The New Wow expansion is due Nov 10 (I believe)</p><p>Rift is due Feb 11 (or about) and starting closed beta shortly </p><p>Combined with</p><p>Smokejumper dropping the bombshell of F2F/RMT on a different server with no real direction timeline other then "we'll play it by ear".</p><p>They are jumping back into the balancing quagmire (always tends to upset at least one or 2 classes)</p><p>all wrapped up in the very high hopes/expectations of the playerbase for sentimental value of this expansion.</p><p>The conclusion is simple to see; Velious needs to be, hands down, the best expansion they release in EQ2 history to carry that much working against you.  If they expect the flying mount aspect to carry them through a lack-luster content or a unforseen botched mechanic/nerf it's seriously going to damage customer confidence. </p><p>I'm not one to place bets on "Game-killers" and i'm not going to now, however, the development team has alot riding on this expansion.  It's Gut-Check Time.</p>

[Sola]

<p><cite>Loxus@Everfrost wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>I'm looking forward to this one, I think it will really show us what this team is made of, however, you can already see the panic setting in.  Sony is behind the 8-ball currently and the next 6 months are gonna be interesting.  How long have we been asking for flying mounts?  How long have they told us it can't be done?</p><p>Looking forward</p><p>The New Star Wars is very close to release</p><p>The New Wow expansion is due Nov 10 (I believe)</p><p>Rift is due Feb 11 (or about) and starting closed beta shortly </p><p>Combined with</p><p>Smokejumper dropping the bombshell of F2F/RMT on a different server with no real direction timeline other then "we'll play it by ear".</p><p>They are jumping back into the balancing quagmire (always tends to upset at least one or 2 classes)</p><p>all wrapped up in the very high hopes/expectations of the playerbase for sentimental value of this expansion.</p><p>The conclusion is simple to see; Velious needs to be, hands down, the best expansion they release in EQ2 history to carry that much working against you.  If they expect the flying mount aspect to carry them through a lack-luster content or a unforseen botched mechanic/nerf it's seriously going to damage customer confidence. </p><p>I'm not one to place bets on "Game-killers" and i'm not going to now, however, the development team has alot riding on this expansion.  It's Gut-Check Time.</p></blockquote><p>Don't forget FFXIV will be released the end of September!  From what I've read, the original FF Online is very close to how EQ1 made it feel like you earned things.  It has fallen into the same trap as EQ1 with not a lot of lower level user base and therefore difficult to level up and find groups.  the FFXIV sounds like it'll really bring back the epicness to MMO's (*crosses fingers*).</p>

[Anestacia]

<p><cite>Pheep@Unrest wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>This is not said to be mean, cruel, or to offend...and the "you" is collectively meant.</p><p>If you feel it'll be fail, don't buy the expansion.</p><p>If you feel that Sony is a fail company, don't give them your money.</p><p>If negativity is all you can find in Sony and EQ2, then it's time to just stop and find another place to give you your happy.</p></blockquote><p>+1</p>

[Mustang8259]

<p>I've got high, high hopes for this expansion and if the flyover video on Zam is anything to go by I think they're off to a great start!  The only concern i've had is the comment that they might have to split it into 2 expansions and that they "intend" to finish all of Velious,  but if they keep movin along with the same quality that is demonstrated in the video I think we're in for a treat, RoK may even have some competition for favorite expansion in my book =P I'm admittedly not the optimistic type most of the time, but this prview looks awesome, way to go Devs!</p>

[Deathbyshadow]

<p><cite>Pheep@Unrest wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>This is not said to be mean, cruel, or to offend...and the "you" is collectively meant.</p><p>If you feel it'll be fail, don't buy the expansion.</p><p>If you feel that Sony is a fail company, don't give them your money.</p><p>If negativity is all you can find in Sony and EQ2, then it's time to just stop and find another place to give you your happy.</p></blockquote><p>Exactly, and u should car about the other 19 because they have to worry about updates for everquest 1, 2 SWG and everything else, it isn't just about eq2 or everquest itself for some people and u weren't even at the Fan Faire to see how awesome it was siden, I rest my case no let's stop fighting and stop stressing these guys out</p>

[Brook]

<p>They don't have the staff to roll out a good expansion anymore.</p><p>If LU 57 is any indication of what we will be seeing from this company for the future of this game I will pull a Steven Slater and move on before Velious gets here. I got my monies worth for entertainment from this company but I refuse to pay for lower quality spell graphics and a declining population to play with, not to mention the haphazard way class balance or lack thereof has been done for the past couple of years. I am sick and tired of being jerked around by a company that says it listens but continues to change things that drive away customers and bring in new ideas to try without ever slowing down to figure out WHY what they are doing isn't working.</p><p>I don't foresee flying mounts bringing anymore of a fun factor to the game than for about 3 weeks tops while everyone gets used to it because we have instant travel everywhere now anyway.</p>

[Joc]

<p>I can only hope sony makes velious what it could, and should be. I remember a much younger me spending every second playing velious, on a 28.8k modem that made play almost unbearable at the time... but I was enthralled! Velious has the chance to bring a lot of life back into this game, but with all of the other MMOs coming out here soon, Sony has got to step it up and wow our socks off. I don't think they will completely dissapoint... But hey, They can't make everyone happy! :-/</p>

[lordxaveir2000]

<p><cite>Brook wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>They don't have the staff to roll out a good expansion anymore.</p><p>If LU 57 is any indication of what we will be seeing from this company for the future of this game I will pull a Steven Slater and move on before Velious gets here. I got my monies worth for entertainment from this company but I refuse to pay for lower quality spell graphics and a declining population to play with, not to mention the haphazard way class balance or lack thereof has been done for the past couple of years. I am sick and tired of being jerked around by a company that says it listens but continues to change things that drive away customers and bring in new ideas to try without ever slowing down to figure out WHY what they are doing isn't working.</p><p>I don't foresee flying mounts bringing anymore of a fun factor to the game than for about 3 weeks tops while everyone gets used to it because we have instant travel everywhere now anyway.</p></blockquote><p>+1 </p><p>Funny they have all these games to do updates for but they just let 35 employees go and one of them was the dev that made the Rohn Theer fight which is the only raid mob worth mentioning this xpac. Me and my wife have already cancelled 2 of our accounts the last 2 will be cancelled after we send off our plat to friends being left behind.</p><p>You dont have to like what I have to say but I'm entitled to my opinion soe has seen me and my wifes money since 12/04. Your naive if you think this xpac will be spectacular in any way flying mounts shouldn't be the only reason someone buys this xpac they introduce a new BG without saying anything about how there gonna fix the current ones.</p><p>Why would I go to the fan faire to be lied to in person ....lol no thank you the biggest thing that even came out of that fan faire was the announcement of soe's eqnext game which if ran the way there other games are will result in fail.</p><p>Now I'm done with this thread and these forums ...Good day  </p>

[cougeropand]

<p>how it going to be with the heads from raid mobs?</p><p>do it going to be able to pot them in house for players?</p>

[quiarrah]

<p><cite>Brook wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>They don't have the staff to roll out a good expansion anymore.</p><p>If LU 57 is any indication of what we will be seeing from this company for the future of this game I will pull a Steven Slater and move on before Velious gets here. I got my monies worth for entertainment from this company but I refuse to pay for lower quality spell graphics and a declining population to play with, not to mention the haphazard way class balance or lack thereof has been done for the past couple of years. I am sick and tired of being jerked around by a company that says it listens but continues to change things that drive away customers and bring in new ideas to try without ever slowing down to figure out WHY what they are doing isn't working.</p><p>I don't foresee flying mounts bringing anymore of a fun factor to the game than for about 3 weeks tops while everyone gets used to it because we have instant travel everywhere now anyway.</p></blockquote><p>I think the Flying mount would be great. . if they also take into consideration all the other existing things they have that are supposed to "Fly". . such as the Carpets, Fae, trinkets form collections like this dino/dragon thing I got recently.</p><p>On another note. . .any of you people commenting negatively. . .have you ever been on WoW and they're flying mounts?? You cannot fight from the the flying mount. It is nice to view the landscape from the air. . .for us "lower" level people who want to see and gain the exploration exp from higher zones it is really fun to do from the air. Just because we have instant travel doesn't mean anything. Yeah we can get from one place to another in a blink of an eye. . .but you dont see anything. The only problem I see would be crossing zones with your mount.</p><p>If it's a status item from a quest. . . than only those chosen few who are high enough to do the quest will be able to get it. (in WoW they have an area where you have to have Cold-weather flying in order to fly there. . . it costs an arm and a couple of legs to get. I do not have it. . .and do not see myself ever being able to get it because I do not play all that often. I would NOT want to see this for EQ.) A couple of different versions perhaps that you can purchase at the stables just like horses would be nice. Say the normal flying mount for 1 or 2 plat. . .another special one for 6 -9 plat and an ungldly amount of status points. . . .that would be better.</p><p>I have seen the video on Youtube. . . .in my opinion. . . .I think It's about time! (now we just need newer fashion and longer Hair and I will be happy. Maybe SOE should consult me on my ideas for Hair and fashion. . . .They really need some help in that department, although I will give them credit for the new clothing crates <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" /></p>

[ke'la]

<p><cite>Gaige wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>Calthine wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>It's half the Velious story.  How many xpaks did the Void story take?</p></blockquote><p>No, its half of the continent, according to EQ2wire.</p></blockquote><p>Accually its BOTH gaige, so she is right. BTW, her same statment can be said about landmass addtions. How many landmass addtions did the Void story take? Remembering that Velious is atleast twice the size, in total, of Odus in EQL as such there is plenty of room for 2 expainsions of SF/TSO size.</p>

[ke'la]

<p><cite>Loxus@Everfrost wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>I'm looking forward to this one, I think it will really show us what this team is made of, however, you can already see the panic setting in.  Sony is behind the 8-ball currently and the next 6 months are gonna be interesting.  How long have we been asking for flying mounts?  How long have they told us it can't be done?</p><p><span style="color: #00ff00;">They never said it can't be done, they have always said it was DIFFICULT to do, and that they would only do it if you could accually fly everywhere at launch, making it even more difficult.</span></p><p>Looking forward</p><p>The New Star Wars is very close to release</p><p><span style="color: #00ff00;">its Bioware, it will be delayed again, and I seriously doupt it will be as big as people think.</span></p><p>The New Wow expansion is due Nov 10 (I believe)</p><p><span style="color: #00ff00;">and it will be old news by the time this expainsion comes out, and really most of the people who play EQ2 don't like nor would play WoW so it really won't effect EQ2.</span></p><p>Rift is due Feb 11 (or about) and starting closed beta shortly </p><p><span style="color: #00ff00;">The latest in a LONG line of "games that will kill EQ2" not one of them has done it yet, I doupt this one will ether.</span></p><p>Combined with</p><p>Smokejumper dropping the bombshell of F2F/RMT on a different server with no real direction timeline other then "we'll play it by ear".</p><p><span style="color: #00ff00;">IMO, more Money entering SoE flagged comming from EQ2 = more money for the EQ2 Dev team = more content for everyone.</span></p><p>They are jumping back into the balancing quagmire (always tends to upset at least one or 2 classes)</p><p><span style="color: #00ff00;">They clearified what they ment by the class definition thing. They are not intending to change many classes, they are just giving us thier vision about what the classes should be. Something we have been asking for, sence launch.</span></p><p>all wrapped up in the very high hopes/expectations of the playerbase for sentimental value of this expansion.</p><p>The conclusion is simple to see; Velious needs to be, hands down, the best expansion they release in EQ2 history to carry that much working against you.  If they expect the flying mount aspect to carry them through a lack-luster content or a unforseen botched mechanic/nerf it's seriously going to damage customer confidence. </p><p><span style="color: #00ff00;">Um, again the only Nerfs changes they are CURRENTLY looking at is the Crusader nerf, and BUFFING 2-handed weopons and Bows. As I said befor the class definitions thing is just them telling us their vision for the classes. Also they did say at Fan Faire that if there is something unblanced between two classes and what one class is doing is not way OP then they will more likly buff the other class up, and adjust the content accordingly.</span></p><p>I'm not one to place bets on "Game-killers" and i'm not going to now, however, the development team has alot riding on this expansion.  It's Gut-Check Time.</p></blockquote>

[Gaige]

<p>More money to the EQ2 team.  That's pretty laughable Ke'la since they've said that since Live Gamer, and then LoN and then SC and now EQ2x and all that's resulted in is a smaller dev team, layoffs, less GUs, less content and smaller expansions that are released farther apart.</p><p>Rift = Gallenite = Will be getting my money simply because he is there and the things he did while leading EQ2.</p>

[Malacha]

<p><cite>kela wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><cite>Gaige wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><cite>Calthine wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">It's half the Velious story.  How many xpaks did the Void story take?</p></blockquote><p style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">No, its half of the continent, according to EQ2wire.</p></blockquote><p style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Accually its BOTH gaige, so she is right. BTW, her same statment can be said about landmass addtions. How many landmass addtions did the Void story take? Remembering that Velious is atleast twice the size, in total, of Odus in EQL as such there is plenty of room for 2 expainsions of SF/TSO size.</p></blockquote><p>I'm sorry but 2 overland zones does not equal half of Velious, unless the zones are so unimaginably gigantic they make ROK zones look like a deserted island. If they are this unimaginably huge zones, they will lag. If they aren't, then Velious is getting short changed. There were a dozen overland zones in EQ1, and many of them were huge by EQ1 standards. I can't imagine a zone as epic as Eastern Wastes being butchered into a tiny quest and instance hub. Alot of the overland zones didn't flow well together either. Sirens Grotto connected some of them, Kael was between another set. I just don't think that this skeleton team has it in them to even produced HALF of Velious and make it be the expansion it needs to be. It will feel lacking, hacked up and slapped together.</p><p>And they "intend" to finish Velious... but they don't say when, or how, or if we have to pay more money to see it, or how many expansions it will take. I really really don't like "the Velious story" being compared to "the Void story" because the Void story was horrible, and it went on for so flipping long. I would hate to see Velious have its story hacked up, slashed, and then led out for display over 3 years to the point that people are sick of it and begging us to just end it already.</p>

[Yimway]

<p>Velious distilled down to soloable progression is pretty much fail out of the box though.</p><p>I'd honestly would have been happier with them going in a new direction vs spoil what was my favorite period of eq1.</p>

[dawy]

<p>Keeping expectations very low over this one,honestly flying mounts should be a fun feature not a major selling point of an xpac as it seems to be being pitched.</p><p>For me and i've thought this for awhile now EQ2 should be ploughing its own path,not going back to EQ for its inspiration it worked with EoF becuase of a brilliant dev team at the peak of its powers with that xpac,since then the dev team has dwindled and it has to be said the quality has gone down so to me rather than set themselves up for a spoil with what players will be left they've set themselves up for the stones that will come thier way when it doesnt meet expectations,they're a brave bunch the current dev team i'll give them that.</p><p>Not sure who said it but i'm sorry you're well off the pace if you think the star wars MMO will "not be as big as everyone thinks" it will be huge Bioware rarely make turkeys and while its not my cup of tea and no i wont be buying it,even i can see that game when it comes is going to be huge.</p>

[Jevangal]

<p>This sounds like a classic case of making a rod for their own backs;this is a huge responsibility, and the level of anticipation for this xpac will be massive. Get it right and EQ2 goes straight to the top of the class; screw it up (like they did with Fail of Kunark with itemisation, killing of grouping etc) and the timing will be disastrous with all this other stuff being released.</p><p>Let's just hope the devs (and us) don't end up wishing they had made something new rather than rehashing classic EQ1 content.  I'm sure they will have to go a long way to make it worse than Fail of Kunark tho...</p>

[Sola]

<p>The one MAJOR thing I think will kill not only EQ2, but the entire SOE franchise in the next year or two is their continued drive to charge their customers more and more dollars for less content.  It's a very competitive market out there now in the MMO world and EQ2 is known for having a large staff compared to other MMO companies.  As SOE continues to make sub par 'flops' of MMO games and milk their good profitable games to cover losses, more and more of us will become completely discouraged and Sony which has been turning billion dollar losses the last couple of years will start making large cuts.</p><p>One of those cuts is sure to be SOE.</p>

[DirectDamageF]

<p>By what I've seen so far on previews of the expansion, it appears the level cap will stay at 90.</p><p>Is that correct?</p>

[Ulrazaj]

<p><cite>Jevangal@Splitpaw wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Just to add, regarding the flying mount idea. I heard it's a quest reward (at least at this stage in development).  The idea is great, but in practice I can see it polarising the community.  There will be some who argue the questline should be difficult enough that owning one of these things will be a significant status symbol, some will argue that the quest should be easy but mildly time-consuming (like the cloud mount questline) and<span style="color: #ffcc00;"><strong> some small minority will say you should be able to purchase these mounts on station cash.</strong></span></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ffcc00;">Personally, I think offering these mounts on SC will annoy a lot of people, who will see this route as devaluing the ingame effort and reward.</span></strong></p><p>Also what about existing "flying" mounts such as clouds and carpets?  Will these gain the same ability?  If not, how are you going to explain the difference to lore junkies who will see this as a jarring inconsistency?  And then there's the fae issue <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" /></p><p>Again, a great idea, but to make the idea become great in practice will take a lot of thought.  I'd value your comments on this please Amnerys.</p></blockquote><p>With SmokeJumper around, you can bet your buttons there will be flying mounts for $OE Cash.  Lots and lots of them, that look cooler than anything obtainable in game without RMT.</p>

[ke'la]

<p><cite>DirectDamageFan wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>By what I've seen so far on previews of the expansion, it appears the level cap will stay at 90.</p><p>Is that correct?</p></blockquote><p>In the words of Phil Harman impersonating Ed McMann.You are correct, Sir!</p>

[ke'la]

<p><cite>Sola wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>The one MAJOR thing I think will kill not only EQ2, but the entire SOE franchise in the next year or two is their continued drive to charge their customers more and more dollars for less content.  It's a very competitive market out there now in the MMO world and EQ2 is known for having a large staff compared to other MMO companies.  As SOE continues to make sub par 'flops' of MMO games and milk their good profitable games to cover losses, more and more of us will become completely discouraged and Sony which has been turning billion dollar losses the last couple of years will start making large cuts.</p><p>One of those cuts is sure to be SOE.</p></blockquote><p>First off um other then FreeRealms wich according to SoE is doing well, what MMO has SoE developed and released sence EQ2 launched? Let alone "sub-par flops". Right now at 1:22 EDT FR is running 10 servers, and as it expands and contracts servers dynamically as they are needed instead of having them always on, that means they are fairly busy over there.</p><p>And befor you say it</p><p>MxO, VG and PotBS where NOT SoE products, they where produced by other companies and where ether resqued by SoE from becoming Vaperware(VG), Resqued from an early death(MxO), or Released but completly controled by a 3rd party(PotBS and Flying Labs).</p><p>As far as upcomming Titles are conserned I have not seen enough of Agency to comment on it. However, IMO DCUniverse Online will be a major game changer in regards to how Superhero MMOs are done. Gone are the whole click and wait thing that is commin with all previous MMOs, and in are REAL action interactions with real phyics, such as the ablity to throw a Bus at someone, and have that person Chetch said bus and chuck it back at you, or have your "Travel" powers do much more then just get you quickly from A to B, but instead have them have a real impact in the fight. Playing the game feels a lot like Spiderman 2 infact, wich by all accounts is one of the best Superhero games on the market.</p>

[Pieceof8]

<p>I for one will not pay for an xpac which does not include a lvl cap increase.</p>

[ke'la]

<p><cite>Pieceof8 wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>I for one will not pay for an xpac which does not include a lvl cap increase.</p></blockquote><p>That is totally your choice, and I hope you will enjoy whatever game you move to come Feb. cause I can guarantee you won't want to be playing EQ2 if you don't buy the expainsion.</p>

[Winter]

<p><cite>Pieceof8 wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>I for one will not pay for an xpac which does not include a lvl cap increase.</p></blockquote><p><span style="color: #cc99ff; font-size: medium;">With all due respect, you're going to miss out on a lot of amazing content that way. Trust me, SOE makes it worth the while even without a level cap increase.</span></p>

[denmom]

<p><cite>Pieceof8 wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>I for one will not pay for an xpac which does not include a lvl cap increase.</p></blockquote><p>Level cap addition is every other expac.</p><p>For example: RoK had an increase.  The Shadow Oddessy didn't.  Sentinel's Fate did.  Velious won't have it.  The expac after Velious should/will.</p>

[MurFalad]

<p><cite>Loxus@Everfrost wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>I'm looking forward to this one, I think it will really show us what this team is made of, however, you can already see the panic setting in.  Sony is behind the 8-ball currently and the next 6 months are gonna be interesting.</p></blockquote><p>I'd actually agree the next few months are going to be tough for EQ2, its because SF was released with a lot of broken mechanics (survivability is borked, itemisation is woeful with too many capped stats) and core gameplay that just has not been refreshed (more and more AOE). </p><p>That's the real problem, WOW's next expansion is a threat as that's somewhere we've been getting a lot of new players from, and unlike SF they have been refreshing their gameplay (something that they didn't get right the previous expansion and at best they didn't grow the user base).</p><p>Personally I find it hard to look at the rubbish graphics now, or put up with the cartoony storylines, but its a threat if they start growing again and start retaining players.  I have a feeling the star wars won't be a threat though as it'll be very linear and solo, the rift one too has a lot of links with the EQ2 players so sounds dangerous, although I don't care for it due to only human style races.</p><p><cite>Loxus@Everfrost wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Smokejumper dropping the bombshell of F2F/RMT on a different server with no real direction timeline other then "we'll play it by ear".</p><p>They are jumping back into the balancing quagmire (always tends to upset at least one or 2 classes)</p><p>all wrapped up in the very high hopes/expectations of the playerbase for sentimental value of this expansion.</p><p>The conclusion is simple to see; Velious needs to be, hands down, the best expansion they release in EQ2 history to carry that much working against you.  If they expect the flying mount aspect to carry them through a lack-luster content or a unforseen botched mechanic/nerf it's seriously going to damage customer confidence.</p></blockquote><p>Totally agree, too much community goodwill has been spent on the pet RMT project, every player I know is annoyed by recent events on Runnyeye.  But still to do are a lot of big changes to make item progression work properly, and the core gameplay new and fun again.</p><p>Its itemisation and gameplay that will sink or swim the next expansion, unless these are renewed it'll just feel like a reskinned SF.</p><p>Personally too I'd like to see something new from Velious too beyond the marks for items formulae (it was great for TSO, but its no longer new).  Thinking about having a dynamically changing zone where NPC factions battle it out and players take part, it would suit Velious fine with three factions, each time you log in your faction might control different areas etc.</p><p>That would be refreshing.</p>

[Rixan]

<p><cite>Pheep@Unrest wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>Pieceof8 wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>I for one will not pay for an xpac which does not include a lvl cap increase.</p></blockquote><p>Level cap addition is every other expac.</p><p>For example: RoK had an increase.  The Shadow Oddessy didn't.  Sentinel's Fate did.  Velious won't have it.  The expac after Velious should/will.</p></blockquote><p>According to the ending cinematic dialogue from killing 4 runes Roehn Theer recently, Velious is possibly the last expansion before EQ2 dies because of Lord Kerafyrm/The Sleeper I'm guessing. Although I could be wrong...who knows.</p>

[juggalo0385]

<p>so another 40 bucks to be bored.....not going to buy it.....I will just play FF14 when it comes out</p>

[Hamervelder]

<p><cite>kela wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><span ><span style="color: #00ff00;">IMO, more Money entering SoE flagged comming from EQ2 = more money for the EQ2 Dev team = more content for everyone.</span></span></blockquote><p>If that were the case, then SOE wouldn't have let 35 people go recently, including one of the best devs that EQ2 had.  I'm not in the doom-and-gloom crowd, but come on, let's be realistic.  EQ2X is <em>not</em> going to benefit EQ2.  The marketplace hasn't apparently done anything to benefit this game, so why would opening another version of EQ2 be any different?</p>

[ke'la]

<p><cite>Illiam@Antonia Bayle wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>kela wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><span><span style="color: #00ff00;">IMO, more Money entering SoE flagged comming from EQ2 = more money for the EQ2 Dev team = more content for everyone.</span></span></blockquote><p>If that were the case, then SOE wouldn't have let 35 people go recently, including one of the best devs that EQ2 had.  I'm not in the doom-and-gloom crowd, but come on, let's be realistic.  EQ2X is <em>not</em> going to benefit EQ2.  The marketplace hasn't apparently done anything to benefit this game, so why would opening another version of EQ2 be any different?</p></blockquote><p>Ok, first other then that one dev, how many of that 35 came from EQ2? and how many came from say VG, or DCUO wich is wrapping up major development, and hence would be starting to let people go. Or from the card game group who I hear is also having issues. Then there is FreeRelms who is wrapping up the PS3 port version of thier game, wich again would cause a reduction in staff. Second, um they let those people go BEFOR EQ2X launched as such that money hadn't started entering the SoE coffers yet, and who knows if it ever will, in any meaningful amounts, SoE sure isn't sure, so they will do what every other succesfull company on earth does, and baise thier staff levels on what they know, the income of the EQ2 group prior to EQ2X's launch, and not what they will hope will happen once EQ2X launches. Now if EQ2X takes off and becomes a HUGE money maker for them, then we will likly see new staff, as they would want to keep it going. If it does what alot of players here think it will and dies, then we will likly see more staff reductions in the comming years, as this game slowly dies, as all MMOs eventually do.</p>

[dawy]

<p>I keep seeing the same,tired old argument from the same people about how SC,loN and every other scheme is going to benefit the game,theres no proof whatsoever that this has happened,over the last few years content through the year has decreased its not hard to work out why the game hasnt done as well as SOE would have hoped and cutbacks have quietly happened either by staff leaving and not being replaced or being asked to leave,the game has suffered for it.</p><p>I do fear this could well be a very poor xpac purely becuase the small dev team is so utterly focused on making EQ2X succed no matter what the cost its bound to have an impact on it,i predict a very generic xpac incoming.</p>

[Hamervelder]

<p><cite>kela wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><span ><p>Ok, first other then that one dev, how many of that 35 came from EQ2? and how many came from say VG, or DCUO wich is wrapping up major development, and hence would be starting to let people go. Or from the card game group who I hear is also having issues. Then there is FreeRelms who is wrapping up the PS3 port version of thier game, wich again would cause a reduction in staff. Second, um they let those people go BEFOR EQ2X launched as such that money hadn't started entering the SoE coffers yet, and who knows if it ever will, in any meaningful amounts, SoE sure isn't sure, so they will do what every other succesfull company on earth does, and baise thier staff levels on what they know, the income of the EQ2 group prior to EQ2X's launch, and not what they will hope will happen once EQ2X launches. Now if EQ2X takes off and becomes a HUGE money maker for them, then we will likly see new staff, as they would want to keep it going. If it does what alot of players here think it will and dies, then we will likly see more staff reductions in the comming years, as this game slowly dies, as all MMOs eventually do.</p></span> <div></div></blockquote><p>I think you're missing the point, my friend.  RMT didn't begin with EQ2X.  Sony has been cashing in on it for some time now.  If RMT was indeed making a positive difference at SOE, then there wouldn't be a need to let 35 developers go.  Hence, my point was this: If RMT was making Sony the kind of money that some folks seem to think that it is, then we'd be seeing <em>increased</em> activity from SOE, not the decreases that we are seeing.  I honestly doubt that we on the live servers will see any benefit from EQ2X. </p><p>Sure, Smokejumper says that we will, but he's said a lot of things that turn out to be untrue.  EQ2X is nothing more than Sony trying to make a quick buck, while there's a quick buck to be made, in my opinion.  If you think that it's going to benefit you as an EQ2 player, then you're probably a bit too optimistic for your own good.</p>

[Tyrus Dracofire]

<p>those "free games but buy in-game items" with cash are just another "fad", it wont last long once the folks get budget get tighten up as bad economy goes.</p><p>folks would rather have food to eat than getting "imaginary pixels", then what happen if hackers decide to strip or expose.</p><p>geez, talk about selling your milk cow for lousy 3 beans? when you could sell milks for better foods on daily basics.</p><p>i cant imagined by spending so much cash for game items and suddenly they (SOE) decided to pull the plug, all that cash were spend on vapors. that how i feel like.</p><p>monthly sub isnt that bad as long it is reasonable, paying 15 dollar a month, and other players think it is free to play but end up spending $45-$75 a month, then suddenly they no longer need more or move on to better games.</p><p>people will get tired of station cash's gimmicks. it is way too pricey.</p><p>i can only able to afford to buy 500 pts a month or 3-5 booster packs to try my luck with loot cards, and some months i may not able to buy, maybe taking 6 months of inactive account, time away from eq2's funless and heavy nerfed contents.</p><p>GU57 make this way too dry of any new contents, and i am afraid about another major letdowns with DoV expansion.</p><p>i have seen preview trailer, i am still in doubt, it look good, but economy forecast for this coming winter is very slim.</p>

[Aneova]

<p><cite>Illiam@Antonia Bayle wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>kela wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><span><p>Ok, first other then that one dev, how many of that 35 came from EQ2? and how many came from say VG, or DCUO wich is wrapping up major development, and hence would be starting to let people go. Or from the card game group who I hear is also having issues. Then there is FreeRelms who is wrapping up the PS3 port version of thier game, wich again would cause a reduction in staff. Second, um they let those people go BEFOR EQ2X launched as such that money hadn't started entering the SoE coffers yet, and who knows if it ever will, in any meaningful amounts, SoE sure isn't sure, so they will do what every other succesfull company on earth does, and baise thier staff levels on what they know, the income of the EQ2 group prior to EQ2X's launch, and not what they will hope will happen once EQ2X launches. Now if EQ2X takes off and becomes a HUGE money maker for them, then we will likly see new staff, as they would want to keep it going. If it does what alot of players here think it will and dies, then we will likly see more staff reductions in the comming years, as this game slowly dies, as all MMOs eventually do.</p></span></blockquote><p>I think you're missing the point, my friend.  RMT didn't begin with EQ2X.  Sony has been cashing in on it for some time now.  If RMT was indeed making a positive difference at SOE, then there wouldn't be a need to let 35 developers go.  Hence, my point was this: If RMT was making Sony the kind of money that some folks seem to think that it is, then we'd be seeing <em>increased</em> activity from SOE, not the decreases that we are seeing.  I honestly doubt that we on the live servers will see any benefit from EQ2X. </p><p>Sure, Smokejumper says that we will, but he's said a lot of things that turn out to be untrue.  EQ2X is nothing more than Sony trying to make a quick buck, while there's a quick buck to be made, in my opinion.  If you think that it's going to benefit you as an EQ2 player, then you're probably a bit too optimistic for your own good.</p></blockquote><p>Maybe they were let go due to player feedback? /ducks</p>

[Sola]

<p><cite>kela wrote:</cite></p><blockquote>First off um other then FreeRealms wich according to SoE is doing well, what MMO has SoE developed and released sence EQ2 launched? Let alone "sub-par flops". Right now at 1:22 EDT FR is running 10 servers, and as it expands and contracts servers dynamically as they are needed instead of having them always on, that means they are fairly busy over there.<p>And befor you say it</p><p>MxO, VG and PotBS where NOT SoE products, they where produced by other companies and where ether resqued by SoE from becoming Vaperware(VG), Resqued from an early death(MxO), or Released but completly controled by a 3rd party(PotBS and Flying Labs).</p><p>As far as upcomming Titles are conserned I have not seen enough of Agency to comment on it. However, IMO DCUniverse Online will be a major game changer in regards to how Superhero MMOs are done. Gone are the whole click and wait thing that is commin with all previous MMOs, and in are REAL action interactions with real phyics, such as the ablity to throw a Bus at someone, and have that person Chetch said bus and chuck it back at you, or have your "Travel" powers do much more then just get you quickly from A to B, but instead have them have a real impact in the fight. Playing the game feels a lot like Spiderman 2 infact, wich by all accounts is one of the best Superhero games on the market.</p></blockquote><p>"According to SOE" - SOE is in business to make money.  Of course they are going to state their games are doing well to keep the trust of the customer that the game isn't going away.  They said similar things about "Matrix Online" but where is that game now? (*cricket's chirping*) .  Yeah, I know you said they were not SOE products, but it is a game that failed on their watch and they are going to say whatever to keep their customer base.  Free Realms is NOT doing as great as SOE leads us to believe.  Here's a good article on F2P and how much money they actually generate:</p><p><a href="http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/4046/what_are_the_rewards_of_.php?page=3">http://www.gamasutra.com/view/featu..._of_.php?page=3</a></p><p>And in my opinion, you are right, DCUniverse will be a big game changer.  Just NOT in the way you think.  Don't get me wrong, I think it will do "ok".  However, the amount of money and time invested into the project, it will have a negative return on profits.  Smedley is betting on it being a game changer and taking a huge gamble.  So much of a gamble that I believe it will send SOE in a downward spiral. </p><p>EQ1 did wonders for the MMO industry.  It basically set the trends because there was nothing else out there like it.  SWG did outstanding upon release because it built on a genre many MMO subcribers grew up enjoying and it came out when Star Wars was reaching millions of people with it's latest movies.  Those are the two major success stories for SOE.  Though I love EQ2, it's poor release versus WoW's outstanding release set it up to our small niche of player base.  WoW capitalized by building on what made EQ1 great.  EQ2 was built as an effort to compete with the game genre already out (FFO, DAoC, etc...).  DCUniverse is entering a world of competition and there is not a large release of DC Hero movies out at the moment (mostly Marvel Heroes have been hitting the big screen).</p><p>Anyhow, I'm not a big fan of Smedley and was glad to see Crosby no longer at SOE.  Smedley was in the right place at the right time to get where he is today.  Beyond that, I don't see him being a qualified individual for his position.  Sony is pressuring him like all their departments to turn a profit because they are literally losing billions the past couple of years and they will soon have no choice but to start making cuts where they are losing money.</p><p>One thing we can agree on though is this:  whatever happens with DCUniverse will determine SOE survivability.  I'd love to be proven wrong and see EQ2 live a long and prosperous life, EQ3 to hit the scene and bring back what made EQ1 so great in it's day, and for SOE to continue to prosper.  However, I'm a realist and the numbers just don't add up for that...</p>

[Miapa]

<p>There are a few things that I think would make this a great expansion:<ol><li>Don't release an incomplete flying system.  Many features have been released over the years that have been either incomplete or don't work properly on implementation into the game.</li><li>Character advancement besides the current AA system.  It is easy to max out the number of AAs you have leaving you with a feeling of no character progression when doing quests or dungeons.  The current shard system doesn't really count as character progression IMO either, especially when the reward takes so long to get.</li><li>Have less quests, but make them more meaningful.  Throwing 1000s of quests at a player may seem like a good way to force character advancement, but it is boring.  The quests in Sundered Frontier are a great example of this; they are <em>extremely</em> repetitive and have you running across the entire zone for a single update far too many times.  I ringe at the thought of doing these quests again on an alt to progress past 80.  Please please please stop making quests like these.</li><li>Make shared dungeons meaningful and less confusing.  The Hole is a great example of this.  I didn't return until a couple of months after the expansion was released so I'm not completely sure what the Hole was originally like, but it seems vacant and the only people I see in there are for the Enervated update.</li><li>Velious needs to reflect the continent in the original game by it's enormity.  I also loved the fact that you, originally, had to explore yourself to actually open up a new area for yourself (example is getting through Skyshrine to open up a portal location and Siren's Grotto in order to get to the Western Wastes).  Travel had to be opened up by exploring and advancing first.</li></ol></p>

[Xierce]

<ol><li>I rather liked the quest system in SF. I liked the way that it shells out armor and jewelry that provide a decent starter set for max level classes to begin instance runs. Plus if you're a lore fan the quests give provide you with the story about what's going on etc. If anything I think they've improved on the quest lineups over the last few expansions. While some people don't like 'questing' there are others who don't like 'PVPing' and still others who don't like raiding etc. So it's a nice thing that EQ2 provides a choice of ways to get your aa/xp.</li><li>I would really like to see Sony take some time to fix some of the on-going problems that plague EQ2 these days from the current expansion such as the Call of the Veteran issues and the final boss from The Vigilent: Final Destruction.</li><li>I have to agree that the hole was pretty confusing but on that note it has always been somewhat confusing, even in EQ1. </li><li>I really enjoyed the faction challenges from EQ1 for Velious and I hope we will see similar challenges in this version of velious.</li><li>I'm excited to see the flying mount mechanics. </li><li>It doesn't bother me that there's no level increase for this xpac. It seems to be the standard that it increases every other xpac.</li></ol>

[Neldor]

<p>I just want them to balance out bg's more so its not just toons decked out with bg gear against people who are just starting makes it annoying.</p>

[Filox]

<p>I am an ex-<em>WoW</em> player that came to make a return to EQ2.. I will have to say this about the two upcoming expansions for both EQ2 and WoW.. I am <span style="font-size: small;"><strong>MORE</strong></span> excited about EQ2 expansion than I am <em>WoW</em>'s expansion.. This is my opinion of course so dont reply with oh well this is this and that is that.</p><p>Also someone stated that <em>WoW</em> was going back and refreshing gameplay?  EQ2 does this a lot lately do they not. Was there not a Everfrost and Lavastorm revamp? Maybe more than that, I dont know cause I havent been here that long. Also in <em>WoW</em> the sad part is you will have all this "New" stuff 1-60 and then have to go back to thier oldest expansion to get to 58-68 then to another old expansion 68-78, then can go back to the new stuff for 78-85.. That doesnt sound good to me. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>But again thats just my opinion. Others might like that and thats ok too. Everyone has thier own taste in things and theres nothing wrong with anyone playing anything. But to flame companies cause you do not like thier product and like another is childish.</p><p>And to that other poster that stated he would not buy this expansion cause no level cap, really?? Well your going to miss out. Trust me.</p>

[Exelance]

<p>Personally i am glad there are no more level increses for DoV.  i hope there are no more increses at all.  max level of 90 is bad enough.   if i need to level a pile of alts from 90-100 in another years time.  and any new alts from 1-100...  not fun for me.</p><p>I would rather see more Character Advancment through more AA trees.  More options and enhancments.  i am tired of having 1 set AA spec oor DPS.  1 spec for soloing.  give classes more choices.  make a New kind of system.  </p><p>Its getting old looking at the top tiers of classes and seeing.   10 of the same AA spec with there only difference being what gear they have.I'd like to see advancments that have detriments,  boosts to one area but take away from another. </p><p>or maybe the yshould just consolidate the most common classes and take all there class defining abilitys and add them to 2 or 3 level spacific advancment trees.</p><p>or maybe i am just tired after going at it all night.  shoot,  i don't even know if anything is spelled right.  to tired to care.</p>

[ShinGoku]

<p>I have several wishes for this expansion.</p><p>1) Actually be a complete and polished expansion.  None of the "ran out of time and will have to be added in a later GU" stuff.</p><p>2) Actually think about itemization.  SF items are terrible till you get to 90.  At 84 I haven't found a lot of stuff that is an upgrade to the gear I have.  I'm only in tier 1 shard so the theory goes it SHOULD be easy to upgrade..</p><p>3) Try to polish up old zones and add new stuff in there.  The 50-60 level range is horrible to work through at the moment.  Revamp feerott or something to make it more fun etc.</p><p>4) If additional AA's are to be created please actually think class specifically about what they are.</p><p>5) The quests should feel like an adventure, not a run here, run back, run there, come back and turn in thing.  Those quests are boring as hell.</p>

[Kolorean]

<p>I am sure it's somewhere, and I just missing it, but what is the release date for this old time favorite of mine being made into an EQ2 expansion?</p>

[Ashlie]

<p><cite>Kolorean wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>I am sure it's somewhere, and I just missing it, but what is the release date for this old time favorite of mine being made into an EQ2 expansion?</p></blockquote><p>At Fan Faire we were told February for the release.</p>

[DeathtoGnomes]

<p>My personal fellings about EQ1 is that its a huge timesink, it takes too long to accomplish anything in a resonable amount of time. Unless you multi-box, then you can eliminate the need of a group right off. I dont box, never have, this made gaining levels harder and take longer with the declining population on most servers. AA progression is a major joke now, unless you pay 10k+ for the POK missions. Pick-up groups are fewer and fewer and everyone expects you to be an expert at the missions now. It seems that the declination of EQ1 sprouted from too many guilds (too easy to make a new one) so larger guilds got smaller and smaller (active participating members). Active raiders slowly disappeared this way too.  It used to mean something to belong to a guild but if someone doesnt like someone else, instead of hashing things out they just run away and start another guild if it takes to long to join another one.  Larger Guilds mean more people to talk with and group with which make exp grinds more fun and more often but even then 400+ kills to gain a normal exp level is over doing it and this is where the EQ1 lame time sink kicked in. If this expansion hints of excessive time to get anywhere, I will cancel my account and go play WoW (I havent yet) but if i wanted "mentally stupid" play I dont see how it would be much different.</p>

[Faeward]

<p><cite>Exelance@Butcherblock wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>10 of the same AA spec with there only difference being what gear they have.</p></blockquote><p>The funny thing is that you can inspect almost anybody these days and they are wearing the Challengers whatever gear from Battlegrounds or PVP. Very little variation in gear at the top end right now.</p>