So the altaholics and new people to the game got their expansion....

[Kizee]

<p>How about a whole expansion dedicated to the people who raid.</p><p>All you casuals better not say its a stupid idea because its not anymore stupid than releasing a 1-70 expansion when the majortity of people are at the cap already.</p>

[Leafbringer]

Some more raid content would be cool. Meanwhile, I like your sig.

[Ealthina]

As a " casual altaholic" I say.......... I AGREE!  While I do not want them to raise level caps I would like to see more love given to "those of you which have no life".  I would like to see some innovation for once in radis and high end content that did not rely on just gaining 10 more levels and ph4t l3wtz.

[Thunderthyze]

Not a HUGE raid fan but I do tend to agree with the OP. The next expansion should really just concern iteself with t7 and incorporate a sensible amount of raid zones. The problem I foresee however is that if it is to be Kunark then SOE may well feel that it has such a huge amount of inherent lore that they can't fit it all into t7.

[Norrsken]

Holymoly@Runnyeye wrote: <blockquote>Not a HUGE raid fan but I do tend to agree with the OP. The next expansion should really just concern iteself with t7 and incorporate a sensible amount of raid zones. The problem I foresee however is that if it is to be Kunark then SOE may well feel that it has such a huge amount of inherent lore that they can't fit it all into t7.</blockquote>then let them fit it into t8 & 9. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Galithdor]

Lol Im casual too and i also agree that the next expansion should cater to 70-80...or maybe 60-80 lol. I have a feeling that they could add the new city onto Faydwer for evil people and just add the new race there too...in lore there was supposed to be an outpost of iksar somewhere lol.

[Kendricke]

Holymoly@Runnyeye wrote: <blockquote>Not a HUGE raid fan but I do tend to agree with the OP. The next expansion should really just concern iteself with t7 and incorporate a sensible amount of raid zones. The problem I foresee however is that if it is to be Kunark then SOE may well feel that it has such a huge amount of inherent lore that they can't fit it all into t7.</blockquote><p> The level cap hasn't been raised since February of 2006.  If the current development cycle holds, the next expansion will release sometime around the end of 2007, with the following expansion sometime around the end of 3rd quarter 2008.  In a game with an engine predesigned to handle at least 200 character levels, are you really suggesting no level increase for <i>nearly three years</i>?</p>

[sayitaintso]

<cite>Kizee wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>How about a whole expansion dedicated to the people who raid.</p><p>All you casuals better not say its a stupid idea because its not anymore stupid than releasing a 1-70 expansion when the majortity of people are at the cap already.</p></blockquote>I doubt you would see a full blown expansion for such a minority of players...there just aren't that many raiders compared to casual/pug/guild grouping grinders....But they MIGHT consider a raiding adventure pack....Hell, they could tune the exsiting adventure packs into raid zones by just replacing the current MOBs with some end game bosses that require leet guilds and new strats to kill....Of course most of us would rather see them fix what's still broken in the game and MARKET IT so the current population dive would reverse...

[sayitaintso]

<cite>Kendricke wrote:</cite><blockquote>Holymoly@Runnyeye wrote: <blockquote>Not a HUGE raid fan but I do tend to agree with the OP. The next expansion should really just concern iteself with t7 and incorporate a sensible amount of raid zones. The problem I foresee however is that if it is to be Kunark then SOE may well feel that it has such a huge amount of inherent lore that they can't fit it all into t7.</blockquote><p> The level cap hasn't been raised since February of 2006.  If the current development cycle holds, the next expansion will release sometime around the end of 2007, with the following expansion sometime around the end of 3rd quarter 2008.  In a game with an engine predesigned to handle at least 200 character levels, are you really suggesting no level increase for <i>nearly three years</i>?</p></blockquote>That would most certainly kill the game...I already have 4 level 70 toons and 2 more within a few weeks of being there...If they don't raise the level cap soon after the summer I am gone...I am already starting to kill my bordum by playing Vanguard....

[Spyderbite]

I'm no where near ready to raid... Why not more content for everyone? Just cause everyone is sitting around the spires bored, why should I be punished? I asked somebody who played since release if they wanted to help me on Zek with a quest recently.. their response was "Never been there... what kind of mobs?" /shakes head No demanding new content without experiencing he existing..

[Dasein]

FOr the next expansion, people will want an evil-alligned starting city, and likely a new race to balance out Kelethin and the Fae. This means new starting zones for levels 1-20 or so. What I would like to see is for the expansion to have the newbie zones and maybe a lower level dungeon or two, and then have the rest focus on higher levels, like 50+. I do not want an expansion devoted to raiding, but I would like to see more x2 raids, and I would love for them to add a new series of guild raids. I am mixed about a level cap increase, but right now, I am leaning towards adding in more alternative forms of advancement, like subclasses or expanded AA trees, or perhaps faction-based spells similar to deity powers.

[Kizee]

<p>Leafbringer wrote: </p><blockquote> Meanwhile, I like your sig.</blockquote><p>Thanks. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>Spyderbite@Venekor wrote: </p><blockquote>I'm no where near ready to raid... Why not more content for everyone? Just cause everyone is sitting around the spires bored, why should I be punished? I asked somebody who played since release if they wanted to help me on Zek with a quest recently.. their response was "Never been there... what kind of mobs?" /shakes head No demanding new content without experiencing he existing.. </blockquote><p>Because raiders are being punished this expansion. We get a couple of raid zones and now we need to wait a year for something new.</p><p>Alot of people are bored out of their minds and I am seeing lots of friends pack up and leave.</p><p>You might see how much of a minortity the raiders are if they all leave.... or maybe they arnt the minortity as people think.</p><p>Dasein wrote: </p><blockquote>FOr the next expansion, people will want an evil-alligned starting city, and likely a new race to balance out Kelethin and the Fae. This means new starting zones for levels 1-20 or so. What I would like to see is for the expansion to have the newbie zones and maybe a lower level dungeon or two, and then have the rest focus on higher levels, like 50+. I do not want an expansion devoted to raiding, but I would like to see more x2 raids, and I would love for them to add a new series of guild raids. I am mixed about a level cap increase, but right now, I am leaning towards adding in more alternative forms of advancement, like subclasses or expanded AA trees, or perhaps faction-based spells similar to deity powers. </blockquote><p>Yeah, more guild raids that nobody does as it is. That makes sence, :p  </p>

[liveja]

<p>Am I the only one that finds all this hoopla premature, thus quite amusing?</p><p>Consider: people see that the name "Rise of Kunark" has been trademarked, & immediately, the following conclusions have been drawn:</p><p>A. It's the name of the very next expansion.</p><p>B. It's going to include a new evil race.</p><p>C. Cabilis is going to be this, that, or the other, depending on what you choose to believe.</p><p>D. It's going to be another 1-70 expansion, with n00b yards & the like.</p><p>To mention just a few.</p><p>Have any of these conclusions been given any weight? Or are they all a lot of message board hot air?</p>

[Fortai]

An expansion for just one gameplay style, whether it be solo, group, or raid, is a stupid idea and if they want to keep subscriptions, it will never happen.  It would be a bad financial move.  And suggesting an expansion should only cater to one play style is selfish, especially considering the % of players that raid. I mostly raid, but any expansion should accommodate all 3 playstyles.  I agree with you that, it should mostly cater to the high end though, with emphasis on 65-80, or 55-70 (depending if the cap is raised or not), although it will probably have areas for lower levels to fight, since it has been hinted an evil race is coming. I don't know what kind of gameplay Rise of Kunark will have, but since it will probably have an evil starting race, I'm guessing it will have newbie zones.  As for jumping to conclusions about the name of the next expansion, people predicted the name of Echoes of Faydwer and The Serpent's Spine before it was announced.  If SOE trademarked it, that means they are least CONSIDERING naming the expansion that, and it almost certainly means it will have Kunark content, considering it's much too late to change the expansion now, and also considering it has been hinted at for months.  They are valid assumptions.

[Foolsfolly]

EQ2 will NEVER see lvl 200 characters. That was an early development idea, but it's clearly not going to happen now. They've got waaay too much invested into lvl 70 content at this point. If they raised the cap to 80, all of that raid content would never again be used, and they would have to come up with a TON of new raid content so that the new lvl 80 raiders wouldn't be bored. At most they will raise the limit to 75 like eq1 did, and then keep it there until EQ3 comes out and they stop making new content for EQ2.

[Galithdor]

<p>NM this lol post messed up</p>

[Mirander_1]

<cite>Foolsfolly wrote:</cite><blockquote>EQ2 will NEVER see lvl 200 characters. That was an early development idea, but it's clearly not going to happen now. </blockquote>I don't even think it was a development idea; they were simply saying that the coding behind the game allowed the level-cap to be raised easily, unlike EQ1, where it was apparently a complete [Removed for Content] to code in a level raise, hence why it happened so rarely. As for raising the level cap in the next expansion, I have mixxed feelings about it.  On one hand, it does seem about time for a level raise; I am perhaps the most sporadic, slowest leveler in the game, and I'll likely hit the cap before RoK comes out.  On the other hand, this expansion is likely going to include the new evil race and city, and that would likely come with content for all levels.  It seems unlikely that any expansion done in a reasonable timeframe could pull off both doing content for all levels and increasing the level cap without shortchanging one or both. One other poster's idea of just including content from like 1-20 for the new city, then making the rest of the content for 50 or 60-80, could be one way of pulling it off properly.  Another option could be to not raise the level cap, but instead add new ways of advancement, such as new AAs, new Deity system stuff, epic weapon or armor quests, things like that.

[Owilliams]

<cite>Foolsfolly wrote:</cite><blockquote>EQ2 will NEVER see lvl 200 characters. That was an early development idea, but it's clearly not going to happen now. They've got waaay too much invested into lvl 70 content at this point. If they raised the cap to 80, all of that raid content would never again be used, and they would have to come up with a TON of new raid content so that the new lvl 80 raiders wouldn't be bored. At most they will raise the limit to 75 like eq1 did, and then keep it there until EQ3 comes out and they stop making new content for EQ2. </blockquote><p> Nah, they just revamp old raid zones where needed to reflect the current status of the game. Scalability is part of the plan.</p><p>Oh, although I tend to agree with the assessment that Rise of Kunark is a good bet on being our next EQ2 expansion, I would also be smiling if it turned out to be something along the lines of Odus and making Paineel the new evil starting city. (I think I recalled the old EQ1 continent and city names correctly, off the top of my head)</p><p>Happy Gaming,</p><p>--Orv</p>

[liveja]

Owilliams wrote: <blockquote><p>Oh, although I tend to agree with the assessment that Rise of Kunark is a good bet on being our next EQ2 expansion, I would also be smiling if it turned out to be something along the lines of Odus and making Paineel the new evil starting city. (I think I recalled the old EQ1 continent and city names correctly, off the top of my head)</p></blockquote><p>Yes, you got the old school geography right.</p><p>My thought all along has been that the next expansion will be along the lines of DOF/KOS: content intended primarily for characters of 50+, with a mix of solo, small group & raid zones. This doesn't preclude Rise Of Kunark from being that next expansion of course, but it would mostly/wholly preclude the next expansion from including the new evil race & starting city, etc.</p><p>Personally, though, I would rather see Odus return, or (this would make me leap with JOY) the Innothule Swamp & GUK. I think either Odus or the Innothule area would be outstanding choices for the n00b yards of a new evil race, & in fact, I think either of them would be superior to Kunark.</p><p>In any event, I don't think the new race is coming out in the next expansion, regardless of what it's called.</p>

[Rrys]

I'd like to see something that goes T5 through T8 in the next expansion.

[Cusashorn]

Releasing an expansion pack with nothing but raid zones = Bad marketing. Targeting the top 10% of the game's population for an expansion pack means that 90% of the players wont buy it.

[Dragowulf]

i agree 100% w/ cusa

[DobyMT]

<cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite><blockquote>Releasing an expansion pack with nothing but raid zones = Bad marketing. Targeting the top 10% of the game's population for an expansion pack means that 90% of the players wont buy it.</blockquote><p>Its alot more than 10% who raids.  Its probably over 50% of the individual persons who have accounts go on some sort of regular raids in the game.   The problem is that there ismore content in this gamethan ANYONE 1-60 can even experience. Unless you level lock, which is fine.  But even then, 1-60 deserves no more content.  60-80 is where the content should lie, and progession needs fixed.  I never lose my faith in SoE, so I'm hoping for the best.  Here's to a 60-80 expansion, full of contestes raid mobs inside of ultra hard dungeons, and so many raid instances you can't do them all in 7 days of raiding.  Now THAT'S an expansion.</p><p>And you have tiered raid zones.  Easy, hard, and hardest.  That way people can pick their own progression.  Newer guilds can start easy, then move up, more hardcore guilds can start on hard and have their worlds rocked.  Either way everone is happy, there is STILL more content in the game than anyone 1-60 can see just progressing up in levels, and raiders would at least be motivated to raid.</p>

[Matia]

<cite>Kizee wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>Spyderbite@Venekor wrote: </p><blockquote>I'm no where near ready to raid... Why not more content for everyone? Just cause everyone is sitting around the spires bored, why should I be punished? I asked somebody who played since release if they wanted to help me on Zek with a quest recently.. their response was "Never been there... what kind of mobs?" /shakes head No demanding new content without experiencing he existing.. </blockquote><p>Because raiders are being punished this expansion. We get a couple of raid zones and now we need to wait a year for something new.  </p></blockquote> A total misrepresentation.  Punishment is some form of penalty or something being withheld or taken away. Nothing was taken away from raiders. They received additional content and things to do just like everyone else did. Saying that because everything or a majority of things in it weren't for one playstyle is them being punished would be like a chocoholic claiming that a candy store not selling only chocolate is punishing them by selling to other tastes or someone complaining because everyone in the house got presents for Christmas that they are being punished because all of the presents under the tree weren't the things on their own list. Raiders and top end players have had new content with every expansion. This was just the first one where the majority wasn't aimed at the top 10 levels of the game.

[erin]

<cite>DobyMT wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite><blockquote>Releasing an expansion pack with nothing but raid zones = Bad marketing. Targeting the top 10% of the game's population for an expansion pack means that 90% of the players wont buy it.</blockquote><p>Its alot more than 10% who raids.  Its probably over 50% of the individual persons who have accounts go on some sort of regular raids in the game.   </p> </blockquote>What are you basing this statistic on?  I guess it depends on what you consider a "raid"... I would generally agree that less than 10% of the game population does high end raiding.  50% may raid occasionally, but people who raid very infrequently are highly unlikely to buy a raid dedicated expansion, don't you think?  My numbers are made up too, of course.  We have no way of knowing truly how many raid.  But 50% go on regular raids?  I really challenge that.  20% maybe, 25% unlikely, more than that, hardly.  But I have no data to back it up either.  Just my gut feel from all the people I know in the game, and how little they raid.  Its all a matter of perspective.  If you are a raider, you tend to hang out with other raiders and get the gut feel that raiding is common.  If you don't raid, the reverse is true.  /shrug.  I wish we did have some real numbers, would be very interesting to know.

[Galithdor]

<cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite><blockquote>Releasing an expansion pack with nothing but raid zones = Bad marketing. Targeting the top 10% of the game's population for an expansion pack means that 90% of the players wont buy it.</blockquote> Lol i agree with Cusa too...an expansion with nothing but raid content is a bad idea...now if they raise the cap then yes,they will need to add raid content and higher level zones.

[Ealthina]

Cusa nailed it....

[baddogshaun]

<p>There have been 3 addons, the first two seemed totally dedicated to capped out players, the third one was a total level range addon (including some content for capped out players). The third addon has been astronomically more succesful than the other two..</p><p>I cant imagine how this represents a reason to go make another capped out player addon, a product which most purchasers will be dissapointed by. Why? because after buying an addon a player will usually expect to see something new when they start a character. They bought DoF and expected to go on the cool looking carpet from the docks and see the new places, did so, died fairly instantly, went back to the original game in many cases. EoF is in contrast a wonderful addon, because whoever you are there is something there for you.</p><p>I think most people are not capped out at all, raid in varying degrees and quite regularly start new characters, with which they are looking for variety of experience. Did anyone REALLY get EoF and not start a Fae?</p><p>I also think a raiding adventure pack would be a wonderful idea too. Clearly sold as such, adding big new zones and ideas for capped out raiders.. but not marketed as a major expansion, cos it aint.</p>

[Ellrin]

<span style="color: #ffcc00">If they raised the cap to 80, all of that raid content would never again be used, and they would have to come up with a TON of new raid content so that the new lvl 80 raiders wouldn't be bored.</span> <hr />Like they did with T5 to T6 with stuff such as Spirits of the Lost etc being grey, like they did with T6 to T7 with stuff like Courts and Living Tombs going grey? You are wrong with your above statement. I am level 70, i am [I cannot control my vocabulary] near 100 AA, I raid (only zone we have yet to see is Emerald Halls because quite frankly we cannot as a guild of casual players devote the time investment needed for it) and guess what I have a life <img src="/smilies/385970365b8ed7503b4294502a458efa.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> I play 3 days a week and im struggling for things to do <img src="/smilies/2786c5c8e1a8be796fb2f726cca5a0fe.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />. Unrest needs to happen and happen this week but even that will only semi stem the tide. I am losing good players, players who have been here since the original beta to Vanguard because of the lack of things to do for higher end people. EQ2 needs something and I pause before I say this but something akin to Planes of Power in EQ1 which was a whole expansion that had very very little content for anything but higher level people. If you are lower level and do not agree with me then dry your eyes, there is plenty for you to do and lots for you to experience!

[liveja]

<cite>baddogshaun wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>Did anyone REALLY get EoF and not start a Fae?</p></blockquote><p>I started a couple Fae, played around with them, & deleted them. Had it been up to me, the new race released with EOF would not have been the Fae. I don't know what I would have chosen, but it wouldn't have been Fae.</p><p>Having said that, I think that SOE did a very fine job implementing the Fae & almost all of Faedwyr, so I'm happy with the whole expansion. OTOH, I also love both DOF & KOS.</p><p>I think that one thing the game could really use right now is another "mid-level" dungeon: something in the 35-45 range. More dungeons are always nice to have. What I don't think this game needs at all -- either right now, or in the forseeable future -- is more content for characters 1-30. There's already quite a lot, & you can burn through those levels so quickly that the low level content quickly greys out anyway, probably long  before you'll ever experience even half of it. So, regardless of what the next expansion is, or where its located, I think it should focus PRIMARILY on content for characters above level 30.</p>

[ChildofHate]

<cite>Foolsfolly wrote:</cite><blockquote>EQ2 will NEVER see lvl 200 characters. That was an early development idea, but it's clearly not going to happen now. They've got waaay too much invested into lvl 70 content at this point. If they raised the cap to 80, all of that raid content would never again be used, and they would have to come up with a TON of new raid content so that the new lvl 80 raiders wouldn't be bored. At most they will raise the limit to 75 like eq1 did, and then keep it there until EQ3 comes out and they stop making new content for EQ2. </blockquote><p> +1 to this sentiment.  My feelings and ideas are the same.  I dont forsee SOE ever breaking the L80 cap, much less raising it that high.  It took SOE forever to bump EQ1's max to L75.  I think that was done simply because people bawled so much about it.  EQ2 works just fine at L70.  No need or reason to raise the cap except to meet with the incessant whinings of people wanting it raised to 80.  There are plenty of alternatives SOE can impliment besides simply raiseing the cap.</p><p>Honestly i think SOE was a bit premature in taking it so high so fast.  They should have held off getting to 70 in such a short period of time.  It could have been handled more along the lines of how EQ1 was done instead.  but that's just my take on it.  i know many will disagree.  that's fine.  /starts playing bobby brown  But aside from just <i>wanting</i> the cap raised to 80, what benefit would it bring to the game?  Not much, just one more thing to grind out and then sit and whine about wanting L85 or 90 next.  </p><p>Keep it at 70 cap and explore alternatives to just raising the cap.</p>

[Cragger]

Well according to an interview with Smed we won't be seeing another expansion for 1 or more years in EQ2. No adventure packs are currently in development. They are going to beef up the live team and double the holiday schedule. There will be occassional free content additions along the lines of the return to nektolous zones and unrest (Which smed denies was suppose to be ever in EoF and was a box art and list mistake.) The interview can be read in full at : <a href="http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm?setview=features&loadFeature=1063&gameID=2&bhcp=1" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">MMORPG.COM</a> Personally as someone having 4 lvl 70 characters that I did not grind to 70 EoF is a giant snooze fest to me. I have absolutely no desire in seeing the old content again on another alt, which you have do with a Kelethin character anyway from 30-40, and there is so little content each level in EoF directly. As all my characters are also well equipped from KoS raiding continoually rerunning the 3 short and poor instances of T7 in EoF is also a bore. Mistmoore catacombs and castle are about the only 'intresting' places for me to go and because of faultering server populations at the T7 range getting groups for that is sit and look for hours proposition. If the next expansion is to be another 1-70 or 50-75 or anything like that and not an expansion into T8 then EQ2 will be a completed experience for me and I will be moving on. Its already highly likely I'll be leaving the game in the next year or more that its going to be to get to the next expansion as two promising games to me will have released and I'll get to explore their intrest and value to me. All I see at this point in time is that EQLive is getting more development investment then EQ2 is. And the tactic in EoF of taking away from classes and then giving it back as AA was a lazy and sad way off adding new gameplay content in EoF. An unfortunate tactic that is being continued in the next update. Read up on how their finally giving a runspeed buff spell upgrade to bards and yet altering the harbinger AA so that with 8 points you will once again be running at the same speed you where before.  And how their reducing bow range by 5 so that rangers will be back to the previous standard range with their AA.

[Sekhau]

<p><span style="color: #0033ff">How about a whole expansion dedicated to the people who raid.</span></p><p><span style="color: #0033ff">All you casuals better not say its a stupid idea because its not anymore stupid than releasing a 1-70 expansion when the majortity of people are at the cap already.</span></p><p>1 - 70 Expansion brings in FRESH paying customers.</p><p> More customers that play EQ2 = More effort that goes into making ... MORE EQ2.</p><p>Treat new players / "altoholics" / casuals as NICELY AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN.</p><p> Without the majority of the player base, you've got NOTHING.</p><p>Raiders need the majority of the player base to keep paying their monthly fees, so that there can be a game for you to play.</p>

[TaleraRis]

A Planes of Power expansion for EQ2 would be a failure. It was viable in EQLive because we had already been faced with having to group and raid up to get anywhere in the previous expansions. With EQ2's more casual-friendly atmosphere, not many are going to buy an expansion with the majority  of content locked away behind a series of increasingly higher level raids.

[Cragger]

<cite>Sekhau wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>1 - 70 Expansion brings in FRESH paying customers.</p><p> More customers that play EQ2 = More effort that goes into making ... MORE EQ2.</p><p>Treat new players / "altoholics" / casuals as NICELY AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN.</p><p> Without the majority of the player base, you've got NOTHING.</p><p>Raiders need the majority of the player base to keep paying their monthly fees, so that there can be a game for you to play.</p></blockquote>Actually they do not. Most new players are going to come to this game on the word of mouth of friends playing the current game and most likely high level or at cap. As it is any truely new player to this game has a huge derth of 1-70 content to explore and be content with. The only thing new 1-70 content brings is for those that choose to start a new character and don't want to play thru the old content again. Which leveling from 70 to 80 or from 1 to 70 on a new character effectively accomplishes the same thing of keeping you entertained and hopefully relieved of boredom. But for those that do not want to start new characters or even have all their character slots filled with high level characters these 1-70 bring nothing for them. So those loyal customers that once recomended the game to all their friends are now gone. Also the more and more play area for each tier is increased the more spread out the population will become, therefore making forging groups more difficult and generally deteriating the game experience for new players.

[Kizee]

<cite>Sekhau wrote:</cite><blockquote><p><span style="color: #0033ff">How about a whole expansion dedicated to the people who raid.</span></p><p><span style="color: #0033ff">All you casuals better not say its a stupid idea because its not anymore stupid than releasing a 1-70 expansion when the majortity of people are at the cap already.</span></p><p>1 - 70 Expansion brings in FRESH paying customers.</p><p> More customers that play EQ2 = More effort that goes into making ... MORE EQ2.</p><p>Treat new players / "altoholics" / casuals as NICELY AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN.</p><p> Without the majority of the player base, you've got NOTHING.</p><p>Raiders need the majority of the player base to keep paying their monthly fees, so that there can be a game for you to play.</p></blockquote><p>Typical SoE....looking at the phantom player that doesn't play yet instead of the loyal people that have stuck around thru all the crap.</p><p>Seriously tho...how many "new" people has the expansion brought. The majortity of people I see are twinked to hell (hence alt of some high level).</p><p>Also, I don't know where casuals think they are the majortity. There are a good % of raiders out there. It seems that everybody I meet do some kind of raiding. </p>

[kcirrot]

<cite>Kendricke wrote:</cite><blockquote>Holymoly@Runnyeye wrote: <blockquote>Not a HUGE raid fan but I do tend to agree with the OP. The next expansion should really just concern iteself with t7 and incorporate a sensible amount of raid zones. The problem I foresee however is that if it is to be Kunark then SOE may well feel that it has such a huge amount of inherent lore that they can't fit it all into t7.</blockquote><p> The level cap hasn't been raised since February of 2006.  If the current development cycle holds, the next expansion will release sometime around the end of 2007, with the following expansion sometime around the end of 3rd quarter 2008.  In a game with an engine predesigned to handle at least 200 character levels, are you really suggesting no level increase for <i>nearly three years</i>?</p></blockquote>I'm suggesting no more level cap increases EVER.  Just add new achievement trees.  It's easier and it doesn't trivilize old content.  We've already been to a magical realm in the clouds and explored a gigantic vampire's hold.    How would it make sense if they open Kunark and we have level 85 lizards?  <img src="/smilies/e78feac27fa924c4d0ad6cf5819f3554.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> By creating new achievement trees, you can give an advancement path and then pack T7 with so much content that you log on and will have dozens of choices of where to go. One of the things I would love to see would be a Master Class achievement tree similar to EQOA's Master Classes.  This would allow the feeling of meaningful advancement without creating all the infrastructure new level cap do.

[Cusashorn]

<cite>kcirrot wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Kendricke wrote:</cite><blockquote>Holymoly@Runnyeye wrote: <blockquote>Not a HUGE raid fan but I do tend to agree with the OP. The next expansion should really just concern iteself with t7 and incorporate a sensible amount of raid zones. The problem I foresee however is that if it is to be Kunark then SOE may well feel that it has such a huge amount of inherent lore that they can't fit it all into t7.</blockquote><p> The level cap hasn't been raised since February of 2006.  If the current development cycle holds, the next expansion will release sometime around the end of 2007, with the following expansion sometime around the end of 3rd quarter 2008.  In a game with an engine predesigned to handle at least 200 character levels, are you really suggesting no level increase for <i>nearly three years</i>?</p></blockquote>I'm suggesting no more level cap increases EVER.  Just add new achievement trees.  It's easier and it doesn't trivilize old content.  We've already been to a magical realm in the clouds and explored a gigantic vampire's hold.    How would it make sense if they open Kunark and we have level 85 lizards?  <img src="/smilies/e78feac27fa924c4d0ad6cf5819f3554.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> By creating new achievement trees, you can give an advancement path and then pack T7 with so much content that you log on and will have dozens of choices of where to go. One of the things I would love to see would be a Master Class achievement tree similar to EQOA's Master Classes.  This would allow the feeling of meaningful advancement without creating all the infrastructure new level cap do. </blockquote> The levels of the monsters is only a game mechanic and does not reflect on the mob's actual strength. Stop thinking that a level 85 rat would be more powerful than Lord Vyemm or Mayong Mistmoore.

[Illmarr]

<cite>Kizee wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Sekhau wrote:</cite><blockquote><p><span style="color: #0033ff">How about a whole expansion dedicated to the people who raid.</span></p><p><span style="color: #0033ff">All you casuals better not say its a stupid idea because its not anymore stupid than releasing a 1-70 expansion when the majortity of people are at the cap already.</span></p><p>1 - 70 Expansion brings in FRESH paying customers.</p><p> More customers that play EQ2 = More effort that goes into making ... MORE EQ2.</p><p>Treat new players / "altoholics" / casuals as NICELY AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN.</p><p> Without the majority of the player base, you've got NOTHING.</p><p>Raiders need the majority of the player base to keep paying their monthly fees, so that there can be a game for you to play.</p></blockquote><p>Typical SoE....looking at the phantom player that doesn't play yet instead of the loyal people that have stuck around thru all the crap.</p><p>Seriously tho...how many "new" people has the expansion brought. The majortity of people I see are twinked to hell (hence alt of some high level).</p><p>Also, I don't know where casuals think they are the majortity. There are a good % of raiders out there. It seems that everybody I meet do some kind of raiding. </p></blockquote><p>I'm betting joining random pick-up groups on a regular basis isn't high on your list of how to spend your playtime. If that is the case, it's not really surprising you run into people who raid almost exclusively aside from the unwashed masses you ride past or over to get to the banker or broker in town.</p><p>The game needs more challenging content. It needs a thriving high-end game just as much as it needs the "altaholic" You'd probably find a bit more open minded support for your position if you didn't use semantically aggressive language that is easily interperted as telling said altaholics that their opinions do not matter if they disagree with yours.</p>

[Gungo]

<p>The one major reason we need a level cap increase is this game is not designed to sustain an increasing stat cap which comes with new expansions. </p><p>This game is designed on hard caps. Skills are all capped at 455 at lvl 70. Stats are capped at 1070 at 70. Resists and mitigation are capped at 75% or ~11k. These are all tied to the level of a character and are raised when a level cap increases.</p><p>Alternatively it is in my opinion the developers need a clean progression slate for itemization and character advancement. Raising the cap requires everyone to search for new masters. Everyone to get new legendary gear. The devs can then use whatever they learned from the last 3 years to properly itemize and create a fluid and progressive T8 system. </p><p>Master spells should be reduced in drop rates in T8 from heroic named. Solo rare master drop rates are fine. Heroic mobs should drop crafterable components used for adept 3 and legedary gear. Epic named should drop a master in every chest. This way they can have many Epic x2's on a 2-6 hour repop that always drops masters and has a chance to drop nice uncommon legendary or rare fabled loot that anyone could acquire becuase of its fast repop. Instead of having epic x2 drop treasured gear.  </p><p>I do however agree that the current T7 content shouldn't be totally left behind. I think the con system should be strengthened at lvl 80. I would like it to increase in size blue con mobs to include levels 79-71; green 70-65. This way very little T7 content will be out of reach. I always felt the eq2 progression was constricting in scope. </p><p>This expansion needs to have its lvl raised and additional 1-70 content is not needed. I agree a pop style game w locked content is not healthy for eq2. If a large area was locked content. I would suggest a one time aproach, where 1 guild is needed to unlock content. steps with in a T8. For instance imagine PoP in eq1 where at first everyone had access to the first 4 lesser planes, Then when the 4 main bosses were killed BY ANY guilds on server. The next 4 lower plains became avaiable to the entire server. Then when those 4 lesser gods are killed on that server. The 4 elemental planes become open to the server. Then each guild needs to kill the 4 elemental plane bosses to get into the final raid zone. In kunark this could instead be access into deeper harder areas of the continent. </p>

[DobyMT]

<cite>kcirrot wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Kendricke wrote:</cite><blockquote>Holymoly@Runnyeye wrote: <blockquote>Not a HUGE raid fan but I do tend to agree with the OP. The next expansion should really just concern iteself with t7 and incorporate a sensible amount of raid zones. The problem I foresee however is that if it is to be Kunark then SOE may well feel that it has such a huge amount of inherent lore that they can't fit it all into t7.</blockquote><p> The level cap hasn't been raised since February of 2006.  If the current development cycle holds, the next expansion will release sometime around the end of 2007, with the following expansion sometime around the end of 3rd quarter 2008.  In a game with an engine predesigned to handle at least 200 character levels, are you really suggesting no level increase for <i>nearly three years</i>?</p></blockquote>I'm suggesting no more level cap increases EVER.  Just add new achievement trees.  It's easier and it doesn't trivilize old content.  We've already been to a magical realm in the clouds and explored a gigantic vampire's hold.    How would it make sense if they open Kunark and we have level 85 lizards?  <img src="/smilies/e78feac27fa924c4d0ad6cf5819f3554.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> By creating new achievement trees, you can give an advancement path and then pack T7 with so much content that you log on and will have dozens of choices of where to go. One of the things I would love to see would be a Master Class achievement tree similar to EQOA's Master Classes.  This would allow the feeling of meaningful advancement without creating all the infrastructure new level cap do. </blockquote>Horrible idea.  EQOA is doing such great things, go play that.  Don't suggest slowing down progression in this game please.  I say remove AAs alogether.  Get rid of the whole mechanic.  You've got some classes that really get hooked up cause of them, and other classes that don't get crap.  Let us level to 80, slowly.  VERY slowly.

[ke'la]

<cite>DobyMT wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite><blockquote>Releasing an expansion pack with nothing but raid zones = Bad marketing. Targeting the top 10% of the game's population for an expansion pack means that 90% of the players wont buy it.</blockquote><p>Its alot more than 10% who raids.  Its probably over 50% of the individual persons who have accounts go on some sort of regular raids in the game.   The problem is that there ismore content in this gamethan ANYONE 1-60 can even experience. Unless you level lock, which is fine.  But even then, 1-60 deserves no more content.  60-80 is where the content should lie, and progession needs fixed.  I never lose my faith in SoE, so I'm hoping for the best.<span style="color: #cc0000">  Here's to a 60-80 expansion, full of contestes raid mobs inside of ultra hard dungeons, and so many raid instances you can't do them all in 7 days of raiding. </span> Now THAT'S an expansion.</p><p>And you have tiered raid zones.  Easy, hard, and hardest.  That way people can pick their own progression.  Newer guilds can start easy, then move up, more hardcore guilds can start on hard and have their worlds rocked.  Either way everone is happy, there is STILL more content in the game than anyone 1-60 can see just progressing up in levels, and raiders would at least be motivated to raid.</p></blockquote><p>You mean you want what it was befor DoF was released... they had over a year prior to DoF to add Raids and such and there where plenty of raiding for everyone.</p><p>Also would you still be complaining if every other update or even every third update from now until RoK is released included a new Raid. Would you still be board? You see they CAN add Raid Content between expaintions, its FAR harder and costs Far more dev time to add a New Player City, new starting zones etc. </p><p>I also never understood the big deal with raising the Lvl cap, I mean come off it, all 70-80 will be is a carbon copy of the game 14 lvls ago, and it at most will add 2 weeks worth of "content". How about this if you are lvl 70/50/0 you are now lvl 80 and if you are 70/50/50 you are now lvl 90 does that make you feel any better because in reality that all adding a lvl really is.... that is unless you want the ablity to Solo instances that now require groups that is the only vaild reason I can see for demanding a lvl cap incress. Personally the ablity to goto KoS OR Looping Planes makes me much less board then only having Bonemire as the only place to go. And don't give me you will get more raids because if DoF and KoS taut us anything raising the LvL cap(atleast Temporarily) LOWERS not raises the number of available Raids. </p><p>As for going 3 years without a lvl increase killing a game, well your absolutly right that is why WoW has no population, after nearly 3 years of no cap increass, oh wait its doing fine. If they keep adding content for higher lvls with each live update(there is no need AT ALL for 1-65 content added though LUs). I think they could have a 1-70 expaintion that is waited to 60+ without causing boardom. </p>

[Pins]

ke'la wrote: <blockquote>Also would you still be complaining if every other update or even every third update from now until RoK is released included a new Raid. Would you still be board? You see they CAN add Raid Content between expaintions, its FAR harder and costs Far more dev time to add a New Player City, new starting zones etc.</blockquote>They aren't doing that, now are they? ke'la wrote: <blockquote>As for going 3 years without a lvl increase killing a game, well your absolutly right that is why WoW has no population, after nearly 3 years of no cap increass, oh wait its doing fine. If they keep adding content for higher lvls with each live update(there is no need AT ALL for 1-65 content added though LUs). I think they could have a 1-70 expaintion that is waited to 60+ without causing boardom. </blockquote>You bring up WoW, but you don't realize why people keep on playing it even when the Level cap didn't ever get changed.  Because there was progression.  There was still something to progress towards.  Of course you either had to spend a lot of your time PvPing to get those rewards, or a lot of your time raiding.  Which, they added content for both throughout the entire life-cycle of vanilla WoW.  If you wanted to just group in WoW, once you hit the ceiling, you had 4 choices, roll up a new alt, quit, PvP, or Raid.  There was nothing else to do.  So please, don't bring up WoW as a comparison to EQ2, because WoW added the vast majority of raid progression for their "T5" after the game had been out for over a year. However, I do agree that not going 3 years without a level increase will not kill a game, IF there is proper progression offered throughout those 3 years.  If there is no progression that is worth anything, then it will kill the game.  People play to be able to progress.  If there is no progression people will quit.

[kcirrot]

<cite>DobyMT wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>kcirrot wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Kendricke wrote:</cite><blockquote>Holymoly@Runnyeye wrote: <blockquote>Not a HUGE raid fan but I do tend to agree with the OP. The next expansion should really just concern iteself with t7 and incorporate a sensible amount of raid zones. The problem I foresee however is that if it is to be Kunark then SOE may well feel that it has such a huge amount of inherent lore that they can't fit it all into t7.</blockquote><p> The level cap hasn't been raised since February of 2006.  If the current development cycle holds, the next expansion will release sometime around the end of 2007, with the following expansion sometime around the end of 3rd quarter 2008.  In a game with an engine predesigned to handle at least 200 character levels, are you really suggesting no level increase for <i>nearly three years</i>?</p></blockquote>I'm suggesting no more level cap increases EVER.  Just add new achievement trees.  It's easier and it doesn't trivilize old content.  We've already been to a magical realm in the clouds and explored a gigantic vampire's hold.    How would it make sense if they open Kunark and we have level 85 lizards?  <img src="/smilies/e78feac27fa924c4d0ad6cf5819f3554.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> By creating new achievement trees, you can give an advancement path and then pack T7 with so much content that you log on and will have dozens of choices of where to go. One of the things I would love to see would be a Master Class achievement tree similar to EQOA's Master Classes.  This would allow the feeling of meaningful advancement without creating all the infrastructure new level cap do. </blockquote>Horrible idea.  EQOA is doing such great things, go play that.  Don't suggest slowing down progression in this game please.  I say remove AAs alogether.  Get rid of the whole mechanic.  You've got some classes that really get hooked up cause of them, and other classes that don't get crap.  Let us level to 80, slowly.  VERY slowly. </blockquote>That's just EQ1 grinding.  If that's what you want, go play that.  See how that works both ways. <img src="/smilies/2786c5c8e1a8be796fb2f726cca5a0fe.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Daarom]

<cite>Foolsfolly wrote:</cite><blockquote>and they stop making new content for EQ2. </blockquote>Well you really think that they have stopped creating new content for EQ1?

[Northern]

<p>I have an even better idea.</p><p>Adventure packs that have x4 or regular content based on the version you get (and you can get both if you like)</p><p>Also, we are all guilty of leveling too fast.  We skip about 60 percent of this game then complain there is no content left or we are bored.  The amount of quests in this game is just insane.  Even if you have over 3000 quest completed you have just scratched the surface.  </p><p>Its the attitude of getting your next character to 56 so they can group with the big ones or getting your main all ubered out that makes missing sooo much content an easy thing to do.</p><p> If you are really that bored go and do all the quests in the game and come back and post here when your done.  About 2 years from now, unless you don't have a job and are constantly online.  If that is the case then you really need to rely less on Sony giving you content to fill your life.  This is a game.  It should not take up 8+ hours a day of your life.  There is almost too much content if you only play 2-4 hours a day.  If you play more then that.  Then you are pretty much asking this game to fill the boredom in your life and not the boredom in the game.</p><p>There is sunshine out side and family people to talk to.</p><p> Ask yourself.  Do you know what happened with your guild the past month?  Now do you know what happened with your rl friends and family this past month?</p><p> Scary thing is many people on here with multiple 70s would know more about their guild. </p>

[Louro]

<p>Although I am one who generally stays completely away from these in depth, opinionated posts largely due to the fact no one will ever be "completley" happy, I have to say, Northern, your post pretty much summed it up. For me at least. </p><p>I have a level 70 and all of my character slots are filled (this is with Station Pass mind you..lol). Also, I tradeskill and I am trying to maintain my guild who's numbers have dwindled mainly due to the release of new games and, more recently, because they want to raid and are not patient enough to wait until the guild they were in was in a position to raid. I'll be honest, I do not raid. Have I raided? Yes but limitedly so take my position for what it's worth. Every experience I have had with raiding has been bad but more so with the human element rather than with the man made pixels on the screen we deal with everytime we log on.</p><p>However, just because my own personal experience with certain content has not been a good one doesn't mean I am against ANY type of playstyle. When I read threads like this one, I have to smile to myself. We all have our own visions for what we want out of this game and for our character(s). The one important thing I have learned, the hard way in some cases, is that this IS just a game. We all have different playstyles and generally gravitate to others of like minds. Given that this is just a game, one playstyle is not more superior than another and if one thinks that way then they need to seriously evaluate why they play MMO's and games in general.</p><p>In an effort to not fall victim to the "speculation" game, I say any content they add to game is beneficial to all players as long as they do follow some parameters,i.e. new content makes sense, adheres to the lore of the world it applies, is just good story telling, and makes an attempt to satisfy it broad customer base. With that said, I have to say if one is no longer happy with there game play experience then there are other options. There are other MMO's to consider as there are single player games that have vastly detailed worlds and content. Try them and take a break.</p><p>Although I may not understand many of the playstyles out there it doesn't make them wrong. Play the way you want to play as long as you are not abusive and arrogant towards others. We all have different playstyles and, as a result, have to live with their unique consequences. If you level quickly, zoom through everything, and have multiple characters at the level cap as a result; fine. Just don't sit around wondering why you are bored. If you are bored then move on to another game. I have a lot of "alts". My playstyle is casual and I do not race through everything. The consequence of that playstyle is that I know many of my toons may never reach the level cap or some of my friends may out distance me. To me, I am fine with that because I pay $24.95 a month for my subscription and that is how I prefer to play. If I get to a point where I think Sony is no longer putting out good content and not meeting some of my playing needs then I'll leave. People who leave to go to other games is a given. Many come back after the "newness" wears off and those who stay have to wait it out.</p><p>Just my two copper pieces worth.</p>

[Louro]

<p>Although I am one who generally stays completely away from these in depth, opinionated posts largely due to the fact no one will ever be "completley" happy, I have to say, Northern, your post pretty much summed it up. For me at least.<img src="/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>I have a level 70 and all of my character slots are filled (this is with Station Pass mind you..lol). Also, I tradeskill and I am trying to maintain my guild who's numbers have dwindled mainly due to the release of new games and, more recently, because they want to raid and are not patient enough to wait until the guild they were in was in a position to raid. I'll be honest, I do not raid. Have I raided? Yes but limitedly so take my position for what it's worth. Every experience I have had with raiding has been bad but more so with the human element rather than with the man made pixels on the screen we deal with everytime we log on.</p><p>However, just because my own personal experience with certain content has not been a good one doesn't mean I am against ANY type of playstyle. When I read threads like this one, I have to smile to myself. We all have our own visions for what we want out of this game and for our character(s). The one important thing I have learned, the hard way in some cases, is that this IS just a game. We all have different playstyles and generally gravitate to others of like minds. Given that this is just a game, one playstyle is not more superior than another and if one thinks that way then they need to seriously evaluate why they play MMO's and games in general.</p><p>In an effort to not fall victim to the "speculation" game, I say any content they add to game is beneficial to all players as long as they do follow some parameters,i.e. new content makes sense, adheres to the lore of the world it applies, is just good story telling, and makes an attempt to satisfy it broad customer base. With that said, I have to say if one is no longer happy with there game play experience then there are other options. There are other MMO's to consider as there are single player games that have vastly detailed worlds and content. Try them and take a break.</p><p>Although I may not understand many of the playstyles out there it doesn't make them wrong. Play the way you want to play as long as you are not abusive and arrogant towards others. We all have different playstyles and, as a result, have to live with their unique consequences. If you level quickly, zoom through everything quickly, and have multiple characters at the level as a result; fine. Just don't sit around wondering why you are bored. If you are bored then move on to another game. I have a lot of "alts". My playstyle is casual and I do not race through everything. The consequence of that playstyle is that I know many of my toons may never reach the level cap or some of my friend may out distance me. To me, I am fine with that because I pay $24.95 a month for my subscription and that is how I prefer to play. If I get to a point where I think Sony is no longer putting out good content and not meeting some of my playing needs then I'll leave. People who leave to go to other games is a given. Many come back after the "newness" wears off and those who stay have to wait it out.</p><p>Just my two copper pieces worth.</p>

[Killerbee3000]

an expansion for raiders? sure... but only if: free sever transfer to give the ability to join a actual raiding guild (yes, im on crushbone).... fixed itemization. (i dont need to raid and then continue to wear loot from heroic [Removed for Content] cause its better)....

[Louro]

<p>ACK! Double post...grrr....</p>

[TaleraRis]

Lack of level increase didn't kill EQ Live. Kunark, the first expansion, raised the level from 50 to 60. Velious, the second, was just new content. Luclin, the third, IIRC added a new race and the AA system but had no level increase. Those beginning AA were just basic things, too, in comparison to what came later. Planes of Power, the fourth, I believe raised the game to 65 and gave more AAs to get. Ykesha, LDoN, GoD, OoW, DoN, DoDH and Prophecy of Ro had no level increase, just different kinds of content increase. The Serpent's Spine raised the level cap to 75 and added a new race and the latest, The Buried Sea, is another content expansion. A game can survive just fine without raising the level cap, and without constantly raising the level bar, developers have the opportunity to make the game creative in other ways. EQ Live has the shroud concept, the ability to play monsters in instances, mission systems like LDoN, DoN and DoDH provided, progressional items, and other things I've probably lost track of because I don't play as much lately. But it still has a wealth of things to do, even though the game has only gotten 25 levels higher since 1999.

[Chefren]

They should start by upgrading the original and DoF higher-end raids to T7 (some should be left as they are) or simply introduce alternative T7 versions of some older raiding content. Perhaps also raidable T7 versions of other lower level instances. Why not create new T7 variants of condemned catacombs, Gobblerocks hideout and the Tower of the Draftling for example? This way they can use the old zone layouts but still produce more raiding content. More contested x2s and x4s everywhere would also be nice. And the game still doesn't have even one proper x3 zone for smaller guilds interesting in raiding their own tier.

[Arleonenis]

<cite>Kendricke wrote:</cite><blockquote>Holymoly@Runnyeye wrote: <blockquote>Not a HUGE raid fan but I do tend to agree with the OP. The next expansion should really just concern iteself with t7 and incorporate a sensible amount of raid zones. The problem I foresee however is that if it is to be Kunark then SOE may well feel that it has such a huge amount of inherent lore that they can't fit it all into t7.</blockquote><p> The level cap hasn't been raised since February of 2006.  If the current development cycle holds, the next expansion will release sometime around the end of 2007, with the following expansion sometime around the end of 3rd quarter 2008.  In a game with an engine predesigned to handle at least 200 character levels, are you really suggesting no level increase for <i>nearly three years</i>?</p></blockquote> yes thats how i would like it, more content to t7, no new tier

[Red_Rider]

<p>   I don't think anyone would mind a raid oriented expansion.  The problem is that to maximise sales they always put in a couple of things that non raiders need to make us buy the expansion.  So if we are going to have to buy the expansion, we want more than a couple of new features.  Also its pretty evident that the next expansion will include an evil race and city,  since they always seem to balance things out and if there is a new race and city, they will need some low level content to support them.</p>

[Wilin]

<cite>Foolsfolly wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>If they raised the cap to 80, all of that raid content would never again be used</p></blockquote><p>Actually that level 70 content will be used more often if the cap is raised to 80. There are a huge number of casual folks out there who raid regularly but not often and they can't touch EoF raids now. But, they'll start hitting it regularly as they start going through the 70s to 80th. There are still alot of folks who raid T6 because it's still there, it's still green, and some of the named are still fun. To alot of folks, an EoF fabled piece will still be good at 80th level.</p>

[Aelfric_Runnyeye]

<p>I have to agree with Northern, the problem is that some players are in a mad dash to level as fast as possible almost avoiding the majority of the game and then when they arrive at the end of the game complain that there is nothing to do.</p><p>It is better to travel than to arrive so they say.</p><p>It seems logical that it takes longer to design new content than it does to plough through it, particularly in the case of those who play for more than a working day, seven days a week.</p><p>Having said that as long as they make T5/6/7 more solo orientated to allow for the lack of players in that level range, I can't see a problem with upping the level cap. What this game does not suffer that EQ1 still does is the inability of players to bridge the gap between starting and the 'main pack'.</p><p>If they do though up the level cap I would hope that people would not be striving to hit level 80 within one week of the expansion's release or we will soon be seeing when is T9 coming out messages.</p>

[forr]

<p>OoW increased the lvl cap from 65 to 70.</p><p>I think they should raise the lvl cap often so as not to create a huge gap in gear between the  raiders vs non raiders.</p>

[TaleraRis]

<cite>forren wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>OoW increased the lvl cap from 65 to 70.</p><p>I think they should raise the lvl cap often so as not to create a huge gap in gear between the  raiders vs non raiders.</p></blockquote> I knew that >.<   Brain fart Still thought, OoW was 3 expansions after PoP, so there were 3 content expansions without any sort of a level increase. How will increasing the level constantly help with the gear gap? The only thing that will do that is either capping the strength of raid-acquired gear, or scaling raid gear down in a non-raid setting. The ability of raid gear to grow exponentially better than non-raid gear is what caused all the problems in EQ1, not the lack of a level increase. I would argue too that AAs added between level increases also had a huge amount to do to contribute to the problem.

[Ultimatum]

Einina@Runnyeye wrote: <blockquote>They should start by upgrading the original and DoF higher-end raids to T7 (some should be left as they are) or simply introduce alternative T7 versions of some older raiding content. Perhaps also raidable T7 versions of other lower level instances. Why not create new T7 variants of condemned catacombs, Gobblerocks hideout and the Tower of the Draftling for example? This way they can use the old zone layouts but still produce more raiding content. More contested x2s and x4s everywhere would also be nice. And the game still doesn't have even one proper x3 zone for smaller guilds interesting in raiding their own tier. </blockquote>I'm with you on SOE adding higher level raid zones to existing zones...Kind of like they have 3 versions of Nek Castle, or the Living Tombs/Gates based on the same zone leyout.  I would absolutely LOVE a raid zone made out of Solusek's Eye...might be a bit too huge like Emerald Halls, but aww MAN would that make for fun times.  Especially if you get to engage Naggy at the bottom, or possibly save him from another dragon.  Also, now that I think about it, a full x4 version of Nek Castle would be crazy fun, as would an x4 Unrest or x4 Draftling as you mentioned.  These are things that could easily be added with a LU patch like they did with previous instances. That said, I still hope that the level cap gets raised to 80 with the next expansion.  70 is getting stale, and 5 levels just won't work IMO since everything is based off of tiers.  Plus, level 80 will give other guids an easier time in some of the harder T7 raids. <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[gi]

<cite>Dasein wrote:</cite><blockquote>FOr the next expansion, people will want an evil-alligned starting city, and likely a new race to balance out Kelethin and the Fae. This means new starting zones for levels 1-20 or so. What I would like to see is for the expansion to have the newbie zones and maybe a lower level dungeon or two, and then have the rest focus on higher levels, like 50+. I do not want an expansion devoted to raiding, but I would like to see more x2 raids, and I would love for them to add a new series of guild raids. I am mixed about a level cap increase, but right now, I am leaning towards adding in more alternative forms of advancement, like subclasses or expanded AA trees, or perhaps faction-based spells similar to deity powers. </blockquote> I agree with Dasein , Starting City. 1-20 Low starter areas + Dungeon. The Rest Concentrating on L50+ Including new raid Zones. They could do an adventure pack with just raid zones, but I don't see a new Expansion just for raiding happening. I can See the Level Cap being raised to 80. But to be honest, I would like to see something different, and not just more AA's.. How about the ability to multiclass???

[ZachSpastic]

<cite>Northern wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>Also, we are all guilty of leveling too fast.  We skip about 60 percent of this game then complain there is no content left or we are bored.  The amount of quests in this game is just insane.  Even if you have over 3000 quest completed you have just scratched the surface.  </p><p>Its the attitude of getting your next character to 56 so they can group with the big ones or getting your main all ubered out that makes missing sooo much content an easy thing to do.</p></blockquote><p> Speak for yourself. While there are many players who are obsessed with rushing to get to the level cap as fast as possible by only focusing on game content that provides maximum experience point rewards, there are also many players who enjoy playing the game and take a 'I'll get there when I get there' approach.</p><p>On the topic of this thread, I believe that a level cap increase is needed. It does not necessarily have to be a full ten level increase, but the bored level 70 players need somewhere to go to do new things. I hear the whines about how a level cap increase will render masters and legendary gear "useless". That's just whining. The same thing happened when the level cap was raised from 50 to 60, and again from 60 to 70. Just think of how well your masters and legendary gear will serve you as you pursue the new levels!</p><p>So everyone stop whining, suck it up, and go kill the dragon.</p>

[Leatherneck]

<cite>TaleraRis wrote:</cite><blockquote>Ykesha, LDoN, GoD, OoW, DoN, DoDH and Prophecy of Ro had no level increase, just different kinds of content increase. </blockquote><p>You're slightly off.</p><p>RoK -> Increase to 60 (Took a long time to get over that one, by the way.  They really weren't set up well to raise the limit and made some substantial mistakes in that time concerning both mechanics and balance)</p><p>PoP -> Increase to 65</p><p>OoW -> Increase to 70</p><p>TSS -> Increase to 75.</p><p>All that said, I agree with the intent behind the OP, though not the execution.  </p><p>If they're gonna flip-flop expansions, it should go something like a 70/30 or 60/40 split.  One expansion would have 60% raiding content/40% "casual" content.  The next would reverse that.</p><p>I would say a 70/30 or even a 80/20 split if there is going to be a significant period of time between expansions.  60/40 if it's going to be relatively short.</p>

[Truebow]

<p>Not to offend, but this OP is coming from someone whose guild, to my knowledge, hasn't even beaten all the raid content in EoF. And you are saying that you want more? That's like playing halfway through a console game then quitting because it's too short.</p><p>Meanwhile, I do agree. It would be nice to see more raid content. However, all I see are posts that claim either: "we need a raid only expansion! screw solo'ers and low level players!" or: "we need more 1-70 expansions! screw raiders!" Maybe... we could have both? EoF could have very easily catered to all genres of players by putting in just a few more raiding zones with required progression/access.</p><p>So where is the expansion that covers all level ranges AND provides great and plentiful raid zones so that everyone is happy? Or is that too much content for $40?</p>

[Kizee]

<cite>Truebow wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>Not to offend, but this OP is coming from someone whose guild, to my knowledge, hasn't even beaten all the raid content in EoF. And you are saying that you want more? That's like playing halfway through a console game then quitting because it's too short.</p><p>Meanwhile, I do agree. It would be nice to see more raid content. However, all I see are posts that claim either: "we need a raid only expansion! screw solo'ers and low level players!" or: "we need more 1-70 expansions! screw raiders!" Maybe... we could have both? EoF could have very easily catered to all genres of players by putting in just a few more raiding zones with required progression/access.</p><p>So where is the expansion that covers all level ranges AND provides great and plentiful raid zones so that everyone is happy? Or is that too much content for $40?</p></blockquote><p> We have beaten everything minus Mayyong and EH....so thats a good chunk of EoF content. (which wasn't alot to begin with) The only reason we haven't progessed into EH is the time it takes to clear that place. Most of us can't spend all day (12+ hours) clearing trash.</p><p>All I know is that they will lose alot of people if they make another 1-70 expansion with minimal end game content. It is bad enough they threw the majority of the playerbase (capped people) a bone (by adding a few more raid zones) and made a 1-70 expansion to "try" to get new people to play.</p>

[Cuz]

They almost have to add more levels. If they add a 3rd layer to T7 it will be ridiculously difficult to balance T8 when ever that comes. Also a lot of people are in a similar situation as I find myself; I'm really sick of doing the same zones for nothing because what we get is no trade and not for anyone in the group, on top of having max alts.

[TwistedFaith]

<cite>Wilin wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Foolsfolly wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>If they raised the cap to 80, all of that raid content would never again be used</p></blockquote><p>Actually that level 70 content will be used more often if the cap is raised to 80. There are a huge number of casual folks out there who raid regularly but not often and they can't touch EoF raids now. But, they'll start hitting it regularly as they start going through the 70s to 80th. There are still alot of folks who raid T6 because it's still there, it's still green, and some of the named are still fun. To alot of folks, an EoF fabled piece will still be good at 80th level.</p></blockquote> I agree with this, I remember being level 70 and wow all the zones the casual guild I am in became fun and we spent a great deal of time working through them and learning how to raid. We currently have cleared KoS but are a long way off EoF clearing. I'd have no problem with a lvl 80 level increase, maybe make it twice even three times as difficult though to level. Leveling is pretty fast in this game, and I feel they need to slow it down some. I'd also love to see more AA's, gimme another 100 to work towards please.

[DngrMou]

<cite>TwistedFaith wrote:</cite><blockquote> I'd have no problem with a lvl 80 level increase, maybe make it twice even three times as difficult though to level. Leveling is pretty fast in this game, and I feel they need to slow it down some. I'd also love to see more AA's, gimme another 100 to work towards please. </blockquote> What I'd like to see is a level cap increase, (to 90, instead of just 80), an expansion of the AA system, with the ability to toggle experience between AA, and adventure, (leveling), xp.  In addition to new areas, and raid instances, many new contested epic's would be nice.....a giant gnoll that spawns in antonica, for instance, (non aggro to characters under level 'X', so the helpless lowbies are'nt slaughtered, of course), ditto for other existing zones.  Invasions of existing hunting areas, and zones by armies of high level heroic, and epic mobs, (with plenty of advance warning, again for the lowbies).  New content does not have to mean new maps...they can do a mix.  I would imagine it's easier to 'build' a new epic mob, than it is to build a new zone.  I agree that it should also be much more difficult to get to that new level cap....because if it is'nt that cap will be reached in short order, and they'll all head here to complain about the lack of high end content.

[Vonotar]

Youris@Antonia Bayle wrote: <blockquote><cite>TwistedFaith wrote:</cite><blockquote> I'd have no problem with a lvl 80 level increase, maybe make it twice even three times as difficult though to level. Leveling is pretty fast in this game, and I feel they need to slow it down some. I'd also love to see more AA's, gimme another 100 to work towards please. </blockquote> What I'd like to see is a level cap increase, (to 90, instead of just 80), an expansion of the AA system, with the ability to toggle experience between AA, and adventure, (leveling), xp.  In addition to new areas, and raid instances, many new contested epic's would be nice.....a giant gnoll that spawns in antonica, for instance, (non aggro to characters under level 'X', so the helpless lowbies are'nt slaughtered, of course), ditto for other existing zones.  Invasions of existing hunting areas, and zones by armies of high level heroic, and epic mobs, (with plenty of advance warning, again for the lowbies).  New content does not have to mean new maps...they can do a mix.  I would imagine it's easier to 'build' a new epic mob, than it is to build a new zone.  I agree that it should also be much more difficult to get to that new level cap....because if it is'nt that cap will be reached in short order, and they'll all head here to complain about the lack of high end content.</blockquote><b>Whenever</b> the new race/city arrives I would much rather see a minimal number of zones added to cover level 1-20 than see another set of 1-2 zones for each Tier like Eof. Maybe the evil race could be based on a much smaller island off the coast of Faydwer.  They could use a boat (or an undersea tunnel) to get to Butcherblock.  (In fact I rather like the idea of an underground city hidden deep within Butcherblock Mountains). This could then be combined with additional content for 65-75. I also agree that the highest level chars should be encouraged to revisit older zones, Epics spawnable via level 65+ quests that appear in zones like CL, Ant, Nek, TS etc are a good idea.  Make them only attackable by somebody grouped with a character who has the quest and that protects the low levels. I would also consider instanced versions of many existing zones (right-click door to choose) which would be much higher level (Instanced RoV with a bigger badass Varsoon?). This reduces the need to create complete new zones, instead more time can be spent on upgrading current zones.

[EQscoob]

<p>kunark was originaly desinged with the whole player spectrum taken into consideration in eq1 ie high end raids and newbie yards.</p><p> There is no reason it can not be similar to what eq1 kunark was.</p><p>Maybe  having raid instances or epic bosses in </p><p>Chardok</p><p>Nurga/ whichever was the higher lvl one</p><p>Veeshans peek</p><p>Charsisis</p><p>sebelis</p><p> i mean if they are still there and all kunark is huge with a ton of lore if this is the next expansion they would have a ton to work with maybe kunark was shattered im not exactly up to date on all the eq2 lore. There is a lot to work with for all level ranges, why get all up and having fits. They havent said much on it yet, be patient young padawan. Things will work out in a manner to meet all sorts of players. Id think the days of like gates of discod type of expansions as in catering only to the high end would be over. this dev team seems so far to try and take everyone into consideratio. We must just trust that they will continue this into the future, as it does hit them close to home in their bottom line. They seem to want this game to continue to grow, and i doubt they would do anything to ruin the chance of that.</p>

[roces9]

I've been a lurker on the RoK "Casual vs Raider" threads for a little while now. There are two distinct camps, the "Raiders" that have finished all the KoS end game and most of the EoF end game, and the "Casual" that focus more on enjoying the game at their pace. Both camps try to discredit the other's position by crying "SONY IS IGNORING MOST OF THE PLAYERBASE!!!11!!``!!oneoneone" if they focus RoK on one or the other. And I just want to know, contested mobs and underpopulated Old World zones aside, does anyone have any data to back up their statements? I hear that 70% of EQ2 players raid X hours a week or that only 15% of players are 70 with 100AAs. Everyone throws out these nebulous statistics, but no one backs them up or proves where they got them from. Everyone has a bias. I'm biased to palyers that enjoy leveling at a "smelling the roses" pace but that also casualy raid with their 50AAs non Master/Fabled 70s. But seriously, let's get some god damned numbers before claiming that the next expansion should have this much End Game, vs that much "other" stuff.

[Penguin1]

<p>The fact is that the game has been out forever.  If you don't have atleast 1 level 70 character by now,  you are absolutely  ultra casual.  And if that is the case, why should SOE cater to you when you barely play the game?</p><p>Why add more content when you havent even explored all the content the original 0-70 release had???</p><p>We don't need more content for low level people.  Theres 2 full expansions of 0-70.   Thats double the content than what any of old school players had when they 1st started.</p><p>IMHO expansions need to focus on the 60-70+  and  completely expand the AA system like EQ 1 had.   </p><p>D</p>

[EQscoob]

<p>What id like to see</p><p>An expansions along the same lines as original Ruins of kunark expansion for eq1 with lots of raid and group content ( mostly instancing for the raid zones as copies of the group zones )</p><p> a lvl cap increase</p><p>Expanded aa's much to the style of eq 1's aa system</p><p> possible heroic quest for the old shcool epic weapon with a choice to select the one you feel benefits you the most</p><p> a higher lvl expansion catering more to 50 to 80 or along them lines</p><p>and any other goodies you deign to toss us all</p>

[Terron]

<cite>Penguin123 wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>The fact is that the game has been out forever.  If you don't have atleast 1 level 70 character by now,  you are absolutely  ultra casual.  And if that is the case, why should SOE cater to you when you barely play the game?</p></blockquote>It is not the case.

[Vyrance]

i believe they will be adding in Neriak as a free update to the game as the "evils" second city. then i believe they will be releasing Kunark, which will cater to the higher-end, say, levels 50-80, with a good amount more raid zones.

[ke'la]

<cite>Penguin123 wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>The fact is that the game has been out forever.  If you don't have atleast 1 level 70 character by now,  you are absolutely  ultra casual.  And if that is the case, why should SOE cater to you when you barely play the game?</p><p>Why add more content when you havent even explored all the content the original 0-70 release had???</p><p>We don't need more content for low level people.  Theres 2 full expansions of 0-70.   Thats double the content than what any of old school players had when they 1st started.</p><p>IMHO expansions need to focus on the 60-70+  and  completely expand the AA system like EQ 1 had.   </p><p>D</p></blockquote><p>So you are saying if you just picked up the game yesterday and are not doing the high end Raids today then to heck with you!!!</p><p>The reason you HAVE to cater to the low end is if you ONLY have new content for High-End players then you WILL NOT sell expaintions to a)newer players that currently are working there way up and b)Brand New players wanting to check the game out for the first time.</p><p>The biggest question asked pre-EoF was "What expaintions are required?" the answer was always until you get to 45ish None, or just buy KoS and Skip DoF all together. </p><p>Providing new stuff for low lvls gets new people into the game and without new people the game will eventually die.</p><p>That said they could probly go with say a 1-20,60-cap expaintion without much difficulty by adding an evil city into an area near exsiting 30-60 content(say just off Nek Forest).</p><p>Personally again all a cap raise does is make all that raid gear you just earned completly usless as even the most casual gamer will be able to get equivilant gear from crafters. While at the same time making all current Raid content into a ghost town, and forcing Raiders to gear up on non-Raid content in order to start raiding again.</p><p>IMO what they should do is leave the cap where it is, add 5-10 raid zones with Mobs that have ablities to do things like ignore armor dropped from KoS Raid mobs(forcing you into EoF gear) or even better certain MoBs can't penitrate armor droped from Dragons so you need KoS gear for those MoBs while others require you to have Undead armor, this would require you to kit out based on MoB type your fighting. At the same time I think ALL contested Raid MoBs that where origanally at the lvl cap when they were put in game, should be raised to the current lvl cap and have their gear adjusted aproperatly.</p><p>So add atleast 5-10 instanced raid zones, 4 or 5 more Raid Contesteds,  2 or 3 contested raid zones(that are large enough for 3 full raids to be inside without seeing one another), and possably an overland Raid zone(the size of say SS). Adding that should keep the high end busy without a lvl cap raise... as long as they add say 100aa points and make them harder to get(more AAxp per point after the first 100) and have them give much better ablities, including atleast 2 or 3 new good spells no matter how you spend your AA points(you would only get 2 or 3 new spells anyway at most) while at the same time buffing some of the exsisting spells(again same as with raising the lvl cap) </p>

[Of_mice_and_men]

<p>I hope they do up the level cap to 80 and fill the place with a lot of lvl 80 raid instances/contested content.  Make that stuff so [Removed for Content] hard you will have to farm current raid content to death just to stand a chance of completing the new raid content.  That will pretty much ensure the old raid zones see some use for the future... a full progression if you will.</p><p>I also hope they do introduce a new race and some starting zones.  Maybe not the full spread but something to attract new players and adding diversity to leveling.</p><p>Some more 60ish + content for everyone too.</p><p>Win, win IMHO.</p>

[Hohum]

I dont mind if they had a expansion which catered to raiding to be honest.   I rarely do raid and those which I do go on are always well run being pickups.  However. What I really would like them to do is go back and look at the itemisation on all of the older content. With the release of EoF the items and drops now in the old lands are really not up to the quality of what is dropping in EoF.  Any type of content 0-70 or 70+ for me is well received.  Not picky?!  <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Ho

[Lleinen]

<p>IMO, from grouping out of guild and everything a lot I can easily say : 40-50% casuals 30-40% raiders 10% tradeskillers 10% farmers</p><p>this is a guess, just like everyone else saying raiders are 10%, which is utterly false im 100% sure on that at least. Specifics? How can anyone really know? Raiders have alts that may look like casuals...but raiders are easily EASILY higher than 10%</p><p>I agree with OP though, we need more raid zones.  FTH is 55min IS is 1.5hr CW is 10min and EH is like 8hrs. There honestly isnt much to raid in EoF, I dont count Avatars too much cause there is normally a monopoly on them</p>

[AbsentmindedMage]

First off, the expansion did have a good amount of upper level content. Kaladim, New Tunaria, Loping Planes, Castle Mistmoore, etc...  There was a greater percentage of zones that went to higher level content than lower. Making an expansion that was solely about raid content wouldnt work.  It wouldnt have the necessary appeal.  So, why invest all that time and money into something that not many people will buy?  They have put a hold on doing things like adventure packs since there really was not the interest in them to support their development.  And the adventure packs were heavily raid oriented as all of their questlines ended with a raid. I disagree with whole idea that increasing level equals better content.  They have said that they will only increase the levels when the content requires it.  We have been fighting some of the most powerful encounters on Norrath and these are lvl 75. 

[Novusod]

I don't think they should wait for the next expansion. They need to release a new Raid zone or two in the couple of updates.

[retro_guy]

Stinkii@Guk wrote: <blockquote><cite>Kendricke wrote:</cite><blockquote>Holymoly@Runnyeye wrote: <blockquote>Not a HUGE raid fan but I do tend to agree with the OP. The next expansion should really just concern iteself with t7 and incorporate a sensible amount of raid zones. The problem I foresee however is that if it is to be Kunark then SOE may well feel that it has such a huge amount of inherent lore that they can't fit it all into t7.</blockquote><p> The level cap hasn't been raised since February of 2006.  If the current development cycle holds, the next expansion will release sometime around the end of 2007, with the following expansion sometime around the end of 3rd quarter 2008.  In a game with an engine predesigned to handle at least 200 character levels, are you really suggesting no level increase for <i>nearly three years</i>?</p></blockquote>That would most certainly kill the game...I already have 4 level 70 toons and 2 more within a few weeks of being there...If they don't raise the level cap soon after the summer I am gone...I am already starting to kill my bordum by playing Vanguard.... </blockquote> Friends don't let friends, play Vanguard.

[Lleinen]

<cite>AbsentmindedMage wrote:</cite><blockquote>First off, the expansion did have a good amount of upper level content. Kaladim, New Tunaria, Loping Planes, Castle Mistmoore, etc...  There was a greater percentage of zones that went to higher level content than lower. Making an expansion that was solely about raid content wouldnt work.  It wouldnt have the necessary appeal.  So, why invest all that time and money into something that not many people will buy?  They have put a hold on doing things like adventure packs since there really was not the interest in them to support their development.  And the adventure packs were heavily raid oriented as all of their questlines ended with a raid. I disagree with whole idea that increasing level equals better content.  They have said that they will only increase the levels when the content requires it.  We have been fighting some of the most powerful encounters on Norrath and these are lvl 75.  </blockquote> Only challenging zone in the game with a group is Mistmoore Castle at the moment...New Tunaria is green, Loping Planes is mostly green, Kaladim is mostly green...so no, theres not a good amount of upper level content, I have to disagree.  Mistmoore Castle is the only hard dungeon out there right now.  All the rest, you HAVE to admit, is so easy its not funny (time consuming like unrest, but EASY, CoV, easy, etc). I miss Nizaraish zones...SoS was cool because it was huge and a lot of quests took you there, hardly any take you to Mistmoore (FT gear, oh got that already).  I dunno, I really think they needed to add 1 more raid zone that takes 3-4 hrs to do, then that would have kept the raiders a bit more busy.

[rubels]

<p>I honestly hope theres not more additional levels IMO .... I just enjoy farming PP on v hard with no healer as much as the next person but ..... I think you get the point. As for high end content the guy above basicly hit it on the head. There is no hard single group zones in the game. Unrest ZZZzzz and as for Castle MM once you have it down its so simple its not even funny.... Off the top of my head from back door the pull patern to sage is 1 , 3 , 2 , 2 , 2 , 1 , 5 , heading left 4 , 1 , 3 , single pulls to clear ball room, 1 up the stairs to the right , single pulls to the door , 2 door guards , charm one of the 5 pull in sage room so you have a nice comfy chill spot next to table , 1 , 1 then sage crew. The point is we been beating the crap out of the same stuff since EoF came out and that was at 50 AA now with 100 AA even that content is a joke. I personally like to see Crab like zones you die too bad. Niz type encounters where the zones are unforgiving. The point is right now level 70 means nothing there is no "end" game type of content single group or Raid. I mean [Removed for Content] this expansion didnt even have a "DT" type zone.</p><p>- Krovax</p>

[Talz]

The biggest single problem I see in EQ2 is the tier system.  Now granted EQ2 has an asinine community that feels the need to label everyone, draw lines in the sand and then fight the others, you can see how EQ1 and its lack of tiers was good. In EQ1 players didn't whine about what the other guy was doing nearly as much as here.  I like to think that's because most people had the common sense to see that the content they were unable to do today for whatever reason would still be there when they wanted it. You just don't see that here because who in their right mind would lock the guilds experience to work through the progression we have here?  LDoN spoiled a lot of people that wanted whack-a-mole lower-EP caliber gear but it didn't change the fact that, up until I left for EQ2, each era had items most players could use.  EQ2?  Ding... level 60... good bye forever T6 unless I just have to have 14 power regen.  I'm sure there are newer players raiding in T7 that don't even know what the Angler is. The bottom line is that EQ2 progression sucks.  Labs is the only reason a lot of casual raid guilds can even learn parts of EoF.  Players level very fast and every expansion you'll find more and more people from every label you can think of that are out of content. I like to hope that developers have seen that eras should blend together instead of starting and stopping at every tier but I won't know that until T8 comes around.

[Liral]

<cite>Kizee wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>How about a whole expansion dedicated to the people who raid.</p><p>All you casuals better not say its a stupid idea because its not anymore stupid than releasing a 1-70 expansion when the majortity of people are at the cap already.</p></blockquote> I can't think of a business move by Sony that would be more boneheaded to do.  Nothing like doing an expansion centered ONLY one one small part of the game so as few people buy their expansion as possible. Yeah.. that's smart busines. NOT!

[Jvaloth]

<p>New folks coming into the game have twice the content as players had when the game 1st came out.</p><p>I could care less about new players coming into the game because there is PLENTY of content for them.  And if they are indeed ultra casual, it will take YEARS for them to explore it all.</p><p>Why do they need more? Why should they be entitled to more when they arent even going to get through all of the current content in existance?</p><p>Thats just silly.</p>

[MadTexan3]

<cite>Kizee wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>How about a whole expansion dedicated to the people who raid.</p><p>All you casuals better not say its a stupid idea because its not anymore stupid than releasing a 1-70 expansion when the majortity of people are at the cap already.</p></blockquote><p>I'm all in favor of a focused high end raiding expansion pack and would hope they including something for crafters in support of it.</p><p>Of course, even if they did that within 2 months of release there would be plenty of raiders who 1) would already be tired of the content, 2) would be loudly clamoring here for more and 3) would insist that the next expansion be still even more high end content even if it would be fair to include some low to mid level content for those who aren't so fast to level.</p>

[Bjerde]

As someone mentioned already...Neriak isn't even an expansion, just an update with a new race and starting zone. RoK is the next expansion and it is rumoured that it will push the lvl cap to 80. There was a lot of raid content in EoF, with lots more contested with the Avatars. Unrest is your "Nizara-ish" zones. They can't keep lvl 70's busy all the time. They are pushing out a lot of content.

[Kizee]

<cite>Bjerde wrote:</cite><blockquote>As someone mentioned already...Neriak isn't even an expansion, just an update with a new race and starting zone. RoK is the next expansion and it is rumoured that it will push the lvl cap to 80. There was a lot of raid content in EoF, with lots more contested with the Avatars. Unrest is your "Nizara-ish" zones. They can't keep lvl 70's busy all the time. They are pushing out a lot of content. </blockquote><p> Alot of raids? <img src="/smilies/0320a00cb4bb5629ab9fc2bc1fcc4e9e.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>Clockwork (10 minutes)</p><p>FTH (1ish hours)</p><p>MMIS (2ish hours)</p><p>EH (6-12 Hours) Tons of trash for the win! <img src="/smilies/136dd33cba83140c7ce38db096d05aed.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>Thats alot? Definately not alot to last us a year.</p>

[Talz]

<cite>Kizee wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Bjerde wrote:</cite><blockquote>As someone mentioned already...Neriak isn't even an expansion, just an update with a new race and starting zone. RoK is the next expansion and it is rumoured that it will push the lvl cap to 80. There was a lot of raid content in EoF, with lots more contested with the Avatars. Unrest is your "Nizara-ish" zones. They can't keep lvl 70's busy all the time. They are pushing out a lot of content. </blockquote><p> Alot of raids? <img src="/smilies/0320a00cb4bb5629ab9fc2bc1fcc4e9e.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>Clockwork (10 minutes)</p><p>FTH (1ish hours)</p><p>MMIS (2ish hours)</p><p>EH (6-12 Hours) Tons of trash for the win! <img src="/smilies/136dd33cba83140c7ce38db096d05aed.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>Thats alot? Definately not alot to last us a year.</p></blockquote>I think this is where somebody tells you to roll an alt because doing the Commonlands quest series for the third time mystically solves all your problems.

[therodge]

i am not in favor of an all raid xpack but i am in favor of an all teir 6-8 xpack half raid half group and ill be happy if 50% of the populace dont raid thats 50% who will never see any content

[Rufio]

<p>I think eq2 will just wait and copy something from WoW just to stay in the race with population deminishing the rate it is. Like seriously - A special fae race - nightelves anybody or watever the wow ppl call em. Um tinkering / adorning ....serious started in wow from the start - Sony couldn`t think of anything better? </p><p>Ok what next, oh that`s right, the big one. From the beginning, or I should say in the beginning, eq2 had some decent difficult mobs in general, remember the scarecrows in Ant? like lvl 18^^^ that hit very hard for an example. Then all of a sudden they dumb down mobs abd make everything a ton easier, and why? To match the play style of the WoW crowd in hope of luring ppl over.</p><p>Then we have the god powers.........sigh.</p><p>I think Sony added too much crap to this game, they should just [Removed for Content] fix the classes and lock them as is instead of updating every [Removed for Content] day. Develop the game around the core architecture, not the reverse. Ppl come to a game because of it`s core game style and a large part of that is its characters and core skills/ talents.</p><p>Yes Sony you [Removed for Content] my troubadour up and it is spelt troubadour you [Removed for Content] [Removed for Content], after what almost 3 years you haven`t changed the spelling mistake. Sony are a bunch of noobs tbh and that is why when I log on now and do lfg 2 ppl show up on list, that is why when I log in to play my character I wonder if it is the same as when I last logged in, or have they done yet another update.</p><p>Fix you game and stop milking ppl for money with exp packs.</p>

[Galithdor]

Rufio@Everfrost wrote: <blockquote><p>I think eq2 will just wait and copy something from WoW just to stay in the race with population deminishing the rate it is. Like seriously - A special fae race - nightelves anybody or watever the wow ppl call em. Um tinkering / adorning ....serious started in wow from the start - Sony couldn`t think of anything better? </p><p>Ok what next, oh that`s right, the big one. From the beginning, or I should say in the beginning, eq2 had some decent difficult mobs in general, remember the scarecrows in Ant? like lvl 18^^^ that hit very hard for an example. Then all of a sudden they dumb down mobs abd make everything a ton easier, and why? To match the play style of the WoW crowd in hope of luring ppl over.</p><p>Then we have the god powers.........sigh.</p><p>I think Sony added too much crap to this game, they should just [Removed for Content] fix the classes and lock them as is instead of updating every [Removed for Content] day. Develop the game around the core architecture, not the reverse. Ppl come to a game because of it`s core game style and a large part of that is its characters and core skills/ talents.</p><p>Yes Sony you [Removed for Content] my troubadour up and it is spelt troubadour you [I cannot control my vocabulary] [I cannot control my vocabulary], after what almost 3 years you haven`t changed the spelling mistake. Sony are a bunch of noobs tbh and that is why when I log on now and do lfg 2 ppl show up on list, that is why when I log in to play my character I wonder if it is the same as when I last logged in, or have they done yet another update.</p><p>Fix you game and stop milking ppl for money with exp packs.</p></blockquote>Uhhhh...was this a post to blow of steam about something? lol

[Polywogus]

@ Rufio - Faes & Night Elves look alike huh? & last I knew, tinkering was in games at least as far back as EQ1... Why am I replying to this...

[Galithdor]

<cite>Polywogus wrote:</cite><blockquote>@ Rufio - Faes & Night Elves look alike huh? & last I knew, tinkering was in games at least as far back as EQ1... Why am I replying to this...</blockquote> I dont know...i just recently asked myself that <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Illmarr]

<cite>Polywogus wrote:</cite><blockquote>@ Rufio - Faes & Night Elves look alike huh? & last I knew, tinkering was in games at least as far back as EQ1... Why am I replying to this...</blockquote>It's a trainwreck facination combined with the completely unrealistic hope that you can impart a clue to the clueless

[Galithdor]

Ilmaaaaah@Lucan DLere wrote: <blockquote><cite>Polywogus wrote:</cite><blockquote>@ Rufio - Faes & Night Elves look alike huh? & last I knew, tinkering was in games at least as far back as EQ1... Why am I replying to this...</blockquote>It's a trainwreck facination combined with the completely unrealistic hope that you can impart a clue to the clueless </blockquote> Hmm...lol maybe we will be able to bring clue to the clueless!

[Arinwulf]

<p>Frankly, I don't know why SoE continues to cater to hard core raiders at all.  They are the first to burn through the game without any appreciation of the art or the story of the game.  They are first to complain when they have burned through content and they are the first to leave when they don't get catered to.</p><p> Raiders have this idea they are better than everyone else in the game and the changes they whine for negatively affect everyone else.  Personally, I think this is where SOE screwed up to begin with even in EQ live.   They should just wave adios to the raiders and make a game for the majority of people who are the most loyal subscribers, the casual and rp players. </p><p> Raiders are just more trouble than what they are worth.</p><p> Oh and for all you brilliant prognosticators, how about that new level cap of 80?</p>

[Maroger]

<cite>AbsentmindedMage wrote:</cite><blockquote>First off, the expansion did have a good amount of upper level content. Kaladim, New Tunaria, Loping Planes, Castle Mistmoore, etc...  There was a greater percentage of zones that went to higher level content than lower. Making an expansion that was solely about raid content wouldnt work.  It wouldnt have the necessary appeal.  So, why invest all that time and money into something that not many people will buy?  They have put a hold on doing things like adventure packs since there really was not the interest in them to support their development.  And the adventure packs were heavily raid oriented as all of their questlines ended with a raid. I disagree with whole idea that increasing level equals better content.  They have said that they will only increase the levels when the content requires it.  We have been fighting some of the most powerful encounters on Norrath and these are lvl 75.  </blockquote><p>I think an expansion which catered to only high levels would not sell ver well. As a matter of fact it would be a financial FLOP.</p><p>I tihink they should have followed the model from EQ1 and only set the cap at level 75 and added More AAs etc. </p><p><b><i>Arinwulf wrote: </i></b></p><blockquote><p>Frankly, I don't know why SoE continues to cater to hard core raiders at all.  They are the first to burn through the game without any appreciation of the art or the story of the game.  They are first to complain when they have burned through content and they are the first to leave when they don't get catered to.</p><p> Raiders have this idea they are better than everyone else in the game and the changes they whine for negatively affect everyone else.  Personally, I think this is where SOE screwed up to begin with even in EQ live.   They should just wave adios to the raiders and make a game for the majority of people who are the most loyal subscribers, the casual and rp players. </p><p> Raiders are just more trouble than what they are worth.</p><p> Oh and for all you brilliant prognosticators, how about that new level cap of 80?</p></blockquote>I agree with you 100%

[Makkaio]

Maroger wrote: <blockquote><p>I think an expansion which catered to only high levels would not sell ver well. As a matter of fact it would be a financial FLOP.</p><p>I tihink they should have followed the model from EQ1 and only set the cap at level 75 and added More AAs etc. </p> </blockquote><p>You know, I would have disagreed with you until I did some research.  I spend a lot of time looking into the guilds and characters on my server for recruiting purposes.  It's interesting to see the number of characters that are sitting at level 50 and level 60...never to be played again because it was the end of the road for advancement at one time in the game.  High level expansions would cater to a very small amount of players.  Being level 70, even after this amount of time, still makes you a pretty elite character on any server in the grand scheme of things.  The amount of people who actually still play their level 70 characters are even more uncommon.  When Rise of Kunark comes out, you'll see another bench mark of unplayed characters.  The level 71-80 will be an even smaller part of the character population.  Hence, creating strictly a high-end expansion would not make good financial sense.</p>

[sandwarrior]

Arinwulf, how in the world did you draw that casual players are more loyal than HC raiders? Casual players are the most fickle out of the two. They play for a few hours a week and that is it. HC raiders are by far more loyal the casual players. HC raiders  will stick with the game until they have defeated all the raid content. EOF was mostly for casual players, and the reason it was such a success was because "casual players outnumber HC raiders" not because casual players are more loyal, and that is why we will never see an expansion just geared for endgame players.

[Nitn]

<p>Original Kunark was FULL of dungeons and high-end zones, why do you think you won't see a lot of raid content? I'm not saying all of these will be raid zones, obviously, but off the top of my head.....</p><ul><li>Cabilis</li><li>Sebilis</li><li>Chardok</li><li>Charasis/Howling Stones</li><li>Dalnir</li><li>Karnor's Castle</li><li>Kurn's Tower</li><li>Nurga</li><li>Droga</li><li>Veeshan's Peak (better be a raid zone!)</li><li>Veksar</li></ul><p>And that's just counting existing zones. They said they'll be adding new zones.</p>

[kcirrot]

Pyratt@Unrest wrote: <blockquote>Arinwulf, how in the world did you draw that casual players are more loyal than HC raiders? Casual players are the most fickle out of the two. They play for a few hours a week and that is it. HC raiders are by far more loyal the casual players. HC raiders  will stick with the game until they have defeated all the raid content. EOF was mostly for casual players, and the reason it was such a success was because "casual players outnumber HC raiders" not because casual players are more loyal, and that is why we will never see an expansion just geared for endgame players.</blockquote> Just because you play a few hours a week doesn't mean you're not committed to the game.  I only play that much, but I've been here since they turned the servers on.   I'm a casual player.  I raid, quest, do a bit of everything.  I don't think this argument is sound on either side.  I've seen hard core raiders who play forever and others who play until they're done with the content.  Same with casuals.  It's irrelevant.  The devs DO know however how much their raid content is used.  And if it's used sufficiently enough then yes, there should be a lot more. But I still believe that the Legendary and solo content should be the focus of the game.  There are plenty of options for people who consider raiding their first love, both in this game and others.

[ke'la]

<cite>kcirrot wrote:</cite><blockquote>Pyratt@Unrest wrote: <blockquote>Arinwulf, how in the world did you draw that casual players are more loyal than HC raiders? Casual players are the most fickle out of the two. They play for a few hours a week and that is it. HC raiders are by far more loyal the casual players. HC raiders  will stick with the game until they have defeated all the raid content. EOF was mostly for casual players, and the reason it was such a success was because "casual players outnumber HC raiders" not because casual players are more loyal, and that is why we will never see an expansion just geared for endgame players.</blockquote> Just because you play a few hours a week doesn't mean you're not committed to the game.  I only play that much, but I've been here since they turned the servers on.   I'm a casual player.  I raid, quest, do a bit of everything.  I don't think this argument is sound on either side.  I've seen hard core raiders who play forever and others who play until they're done with the content.  Same with casuals.  It's irrelevant.  The devs DO know however how much their raid content is used.  And if it's used sufficiently enough then yes, there should be a lot more. But I still believe that the Legendary and solo content should be the focus of the game.  There are plenty of options for people who consider raiding their first love, both in this game and others. </blockquote><p>well consitering they are spending a whole year on what is for all intence an perposes 1 tier of content I would think there will be Plenty of T8 stuff for everyone, remember EoF was built in slightly less then a year, so they accually will have more time with RoK then EoF. Now think about this for a min. look at Faydwar... now remove Gfay and Kelethin from the contenent, then make every other zone in Faydwar for 65-80. That is the kind of expaintion we are talking about here. Heck they don't even have to make the Cruchbone area(they don't have it in Darklight woods) so that area would also be part of the 65+ content. </p><p>Look at the zone list</p><p>Crushbone</p><p>Kla'kanon</p><p>CoI</p><p>Mines</p><p>Obalisk</p><p>Unrest</p><p>Keledim</p><p>Mistmore Castle</p><p>Mistmore Caticomes</p><p>and I know I am missing some and this list is just Heroic dungons, all of that could be 65-80. Heck most of that could be 75-80+ or even just 80+. </p>

[Bezado]

Spyderbite@Venekor wrote: <blockquote>I'm no where near ready to raid... Why not more content for everyone? Just cause everyone is sitting around the spires bored, why should I be punished? I asked somebody who played since release if they wanted to help me on Zek with a quest recently.. their response was "Never been there... what kind of mobs?" /shakes head No demanding new content without experiencing he existing.. </blockquote> I hope your joking. Just because your a late bloomer and or have not played the game that long you think your entitled to benefits of holding those who have been here the longest and thus have all CONTENT cease to be put on hold till you level up or get to the raiding scene. Ceriously people, what is wrong with you. The game is a dynamic evolving thing, it doesn't stay the same because you can't be the best or be the same as everyone else. With your logic a person who finished college and became a CEO of a major company should not have that job till you and everyone else in college can get the same education and all be on a list for the same job. To the OP, I think I agree here. I am a hardcore raider myself and have finished most EOF end content. The game is seriously lacking in that its boring that we have been sitting at 100 aa's for months now and nothing new to do. The biggest problem I am having is with current Tier 7 loots as the itemization is so off its hurting the game. Give us more tier 7-8 raid content in ROK, even though the tier 7 stuff lvl 70-74 epic raid instances will be green to us it doesn't mean you can't create genuinely harder raid instances of this. Level 75-80 raid instances would be nice with shorter lockout timers of 3days instead of 5-7days which is typical of where bordom comes into play now because if your a hardcore raider you knock-out 90% of your EOF raid content in 1 night. MMIS, FTH, Clockwork all finished in 1 nights raid time leaves little left to do for the week except the long drawn out EH raid which is even more boring then standing around. Right now my guild and friends are so bored with EQ2, nothing to really do but farm fabled and legendary to transmute or play alts which isn't to fun either.

[Bezado]

<cite>Arinwulf wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>Frankly, I don't know why SoE continues to cater to hard core raiders at all.  They are the first to burn through the game without any appreciation of the art or the story of the game.  They are first to complain when they have burned through content and they are the first to leave when they don't get catered to.</p><p> Raiders have this idea they are better than everyone else in the game and the changes they whine for negatively affect everyone else.  Personally, I think this is where SOE screwed up to begin with even in EQ live.   They should just wave adios to the raiders and make a game for the majority of people who are the most loyal subscribers, the casual and rp players. </p><p> Raiders are just more trouble than what they are worth.</p><p> Oh and for all you brilliant prognosticators, how about that new level cap of 80?</p></blockquote> Don't be shallow and insecure just because your jealous you are not a raider. I mean if you had time to raid after work or whatever you would probably do so. The games content is primarily a storyline, a story that you progress with raiding. You raid because the game is meant to be raided. The intention and draw to any MMORPG is to advance so that you can be the best you can be, and everyone else who is helping you to do so. Hardcore raiders have more appreciation for the game then you think. Hardcore raiders are the first to know all the ins and outs of the game. They know the content, the lore the places and many other aspects of the game then most casual players will ever know of the game. I hate when people stereotype things just to make themselves feel better because they don't have what others have.

[JohnDoe058]

<cite>Bezado wrote:</cite><blockquote>Don't be shallow and insecure just because your jealous you are not a raider... <p>I hate when people stereotype things just to make themselves feel better because they don't have what others have. </p></blockquote><p>Um...you just did the same thing.  </p><p>And I, for one, am as jealous of you as I am of Hitler and Osama.  Just because I hate someone doesn't mean that I'm jealous of them.</p>

[Winter]

<span style="font-size: small; color: #ff66cc; font-family: comic sans ms,sand">While I think it is a good idea, I don't think it takes into account the fact that raiders are only a percentage of the higher level player base. Being that RoK is primarily focusing on higher-end content, I imagine we will see more raids. I could be wrong of course... but I think it would be logical to assume that. I could see content updates for raiders, but I couldn't personally see an entire expansion for the raiding community - the high level community as a whole, yes, but the raiders, no... But there's a first for everything. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></span>

[initoci]

Im a raider and I hope they dont make the expansion for just raiders....but I hope they have more than 3 or 4 raid zones and maybe 6 or 8....makes things a little more interesting and this should be the largest EQ2 expansion ever....seeing how Kunark is HUGE. There should be many contested mobs also so that 1 guild cant camp all of em like they can with Avatars.

[Rayle]

<p>its not a matter of "if" they raise the cap to 80, they have alrdy stated that they plan on doing just that with RoK...as to an all raiding expansion, wouldnt that be kind of like... PoP?? or GoD??? (i suppose pop was only mostly raid, not all raid, which i didnt mind, i liked the way you had to do a bunch of crap to unlock new zones) dont ask for a new and improved GoD... plz <img src="/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>im not saying its a stupid idea to have an all raid content expansion, i just think they would have to be careful about it, they started doing it with EQ1 and it killed the old world zones, i would hate to see that happen...</p>

[KGr]

<p>I'm mostly a solo guy, been playing since day one, and I don't find that there is particularly abundant amount of stuff for us solo players to do.  There are many places that solo players simply cannot go...and there are lots of loot/items that are really not available to solo players...and there are some things that, if they are available, they cost a ton of money.  I'm not saying it shouldn't be that way...and I understand why it is that way.</p><p>This is all complicated even more when, like me, you're a casual player and don't keep up on all the changes.  I simply cannot play more than an hour or two at a time...often just once a week on a Saturday night...it just isn't possible for me with kids, work...and all the usual.  Thus, when I can play, I don't want to spend gobs of time trying to read all the last zillion updates on what has changed...I just want to get on and do a little adventuring in the time that I have.  It's hard to ask questions in-game sometimes, some people seem to live to pound on anyone who asks the "obvious" and they let you know swiftly to "...read the [Removed for Content] manual...that was three updates ago...don't you dare ask a question that everyone should know..." although there are a few helpful people who do take the time to assist casual players like me...thanks to those of you that do.</p><p>Granted, like I said, it's probably right that more cool stuff is available to large groups of people...it's pretty much that way in the real world...I don't really have too much of a problem with all that.  But, some of you guys talk as though every expansion that comes along has tons of uber-great stuff for casual-solo types and hardly anything for Raiders.</p><p> As it is now, I'd like to see some more instances or zones or quests (or something) where I can go and get a good challenge for an hour or two and occasionally end up with a decent reward for my effort.  About the best I can hope for now is to whack a few mobs, maybe go up a teenie bit in AA (I'm already an adventure level 70 but lag behind in AA), and maybe find a rare or a collectible...and that is life. </p>

[KGr]

<p>What I'd love to see for us solo, casual, occasional players is an instance or a repeatable quest or a zone (or all of these) for solo guys that can't play often...an Adventure place.</p><p>Anyway, this "Adventure Place" would offer a 90 minute (etc) challenge to accomplish something for a single player after which we would get at least a small chance to get something worthwhile along with a little experience.  </p><p>When you can play only once a week for a couple hours, it's too hard to do much raiding or even grouping.  Players like me forego tons of the group quests that most of you take for granted...we simply cannot get them done.  I've never even been able to do those quests for things like the large multi-slot packs and so forth, armor quests, and I couldn't even do the carpet quest until I got to level 70, got some better equipement, and then could solo it.  It's too hard for players like me to get into groups.</p><p>Some of us solo-casual players would love to get access to some of that stuff.</p><p>I'd like to see every zone (or at least SOME of them) have something to fit the bill for my style of play so we can get a master spell or two, or maybe some upper-end armor...or something.</p>

[KGr]

<p>Anyway, while I'm sitting here at work wasting valuable employer time, pounding away at the keyboard, sounding really busy... <img src="/smilies/2786c5c8e1a8be796fb2f726cca5a0fe.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>Here's what I'd like to see for me...and then you Raiders and Groupers can have EVERYTHING else.</p><p>Give me one instance each in two or three zones and maybe one or two repeatable quests and maybe something else...</p><p>Have the instance (or quest) randomize a bit so that you don't see the same stuff all the time.  Make it so it can be completed in 90 to 120 minutes.  Give it enough variety so that what you see is a little different, what you have to do is a little different, and everything is a little different every time so it's a little less of a grind.</p><p>Allow at least a CHANCE to get some high end armor/wpns, etc. once the instance or quest is finished.</p><p>Maybe one of the instances would offer a chance to get Super-Duper armor...another would offer a chance to get Uber-Buff spells...another might offer the chance to get other items such as Zillion (?) slot bags,  and so forth.</p><p>I've seen other MMORPGs that randomize these instances including size and shape and content...and...also randomize equipment and weapons and other completion prizes...it would be nice to have something like that in the game IMO.</p>