No Level/Quest Reqs for Main Zones? Test Only, or will it go Live?

themysterious · 07-20-2005, 08:52 AM

Will last nights patch, removing quest and level requirements from all core zones be going live, or is it a test only modification to improve testing?

Gaige · 07-20-2005, 09:51 AM

themysteriousne wrote:
Will last nights patch, removing quest and level requirements from all core zones be going live, or is it a test only modification to improve testing?

What change are you referring to?

Macross_JR · 07-20-2005, 10:42 AM

They are refering to the no quest/level requirment for Zek, EL, EF, LS, Draffling, and some other zones. I saw a post that confirmed this in the Zones and Populations forums.

themysterious · 07-20-2005, 11:05 AM

Last nights patch message on test.Blackgaurd/Moorgaurd, which ever is responsible for keep the updates section of the test forum is just a bit slack (or away sick or something) and didn't post it in the forums yet.

*** Zone Access and Travel Changes ***-There are no longer level restrictions or quest requirements on the following zones: Fallen Gate, the Orcish Wastes, the Enchanted Lands, Drafling Tower, the Feerrott, Everfrost, and Lavastorm.- The access quests that were restricting travel to the Orcish Wastes, the Enchanted Lands, the Feerrott, Everfrost, and Lavastorm are now optional and provide item rewards. After you complete any of these quests (or if you have done so in the past), speak to Scholar Milnik on the docks of the Thundering Steppes to receive your reward. All boat rides associated with the overland access quests are now instanced adventures that can be repeated once you have completed the quests.- Harbormasters in East Freeport and Qeynos Harbor now only sell tickets to the Thundering Steppes and Nektulos Forest. These two locations now function as travel hubs to the rest of the world. From the Thundering Steppes you can travel to the Orcish Wastes, the Feerrott, and Everfrost. From Nektulos Forest you can travel to the Enchanted Lands and Lavastorm.- As Kizdean Gix's key is no longer needed to enter Fallen Gate, he has retreated from the Commonlands.*** Epic Encounters ***- Varanak the Everlasting will no longer immediately attack those who revive in the zone after being defeated by him. In addition, the statue has once again been reminded that his duty is to aid Venekor.*** Items ***- Status loot can now be sold to regular merchants for an appropriate price.*** Tradeskills ***- Each stage of the "Seeking a Profession" quest will now award a different volume of the Artisan Essentials series. The amount of cash awarded has been increased slightly, and citizenship should now be properly granted upon completion of the final quest.

Message Edited by themysteriousne on 07-20-200512:06 AM

Message Edited by themysteriousne on 07-20-2005 12:06 AM

Dae · 07-20-2005, 12:06 PM

What possible reason is there for this? You got free access at the appropriate level as it was. Kizdean Gix is traditional. You can't get rid of him. A better solution would be to make him a level 25 highly aggressive wandering mob. Oh and while you're at it bring back the griffons as well. Not sure what this would achieve since there's only ever 5 low level people in the commons at any time any more but damnit it's traditional.

BrizaOr · 07-20-2005, 02:26 PM

themysteriousne wrote:

- Harbormasters in East Freeport and Qeynos Harbor now only sell tickets to the Thundering Steppes and Nektulos Forest. These two locations now function as travel hubs to the rest of the world. From the Thundering Steppes you can travel to the Orcish Wastes, the Feerrott, and Everfrost. From Nektulos Forest you can travel to the Enchanted Lands and Lavastorm.

I have to admit that this is the scary part for me, personally I often bought tickets directly to EF just to avoid going through Zek. Why? I am not sure why exactly it is, but for me, Zek has absolutely the hugest loading time from the zones - usually after some hours of playing. Lets take writs at EF for example, loading Zek can easily take 4-5mins (1 minute mostly for other zones) and results in absolutely choppy performance for a while.

Of course, unless the change means that bells for Zek, Feerrott & EF are actually at Steppes and bells for EL & LS are at Nek forest. But I don't know if thats the case here. SMILEY

Message Edited by BrizaOrin on 07-20-2005 01:28 PM

Fire&ice · 07-20-2005, 03:16 PM

I can confirm that yes the bells to Zek, EF and Feerrott are in TS on the docks and EL & LS are in Nek on the docks at least on Test :smileyhappy: so you go to either of these 2 zones and then pick the bell to where you want to go :smileytongue:

WuphonsReach · 07-20-2005, 05:49 PM

For those that tuned in late... originally, the zones were as follows (going from memory):EL - quested at 25, auto-access at 32Zek - quested at 25, auto-access at 32Feer - quested at 37, auto-access at 37 (later changed to quested at 32)Lava - quested at 37?, auto-access at 42EF - quested at 32, auto-access at 42? (or was it 37?)Then, they changed EL/Zek... the quest still couldn't be started until 25, but you got auto-access at 30.Here were the issues (as I saw them):Fallen Gate - none of the Antonica dungeons had access quests. Auto-entry was at 20 for Fallen Gate (as there are AQs to be done there starting at 20). EL - auto-access at 30 was fine, but could have been lowered to 28 (beach mobs are level 31ish, no sense going there until 2 SMILEY

Zek - same issue as EL, the auto-access could have stood to be lowered to 28Feer - the auto-access at 37 was too high, the beach mobs are only level 34-35(?) and were going green by the time you got there at 37. So they would've needed to lower the auto-access on this zone to 33 or 34.EF - auto-access for this zone needed to be high 30s, maybe even as low as 35. Lava - auto-access for this zone needed to be lowered to 38ish (beach mobs are level 41)So, rather then go through another round of tuning, it looks like they decided to simply remove the access requirements for the overland zones and let the players make the decision.Ultimately, it's not going to make a huge amount of difference, but I can think of a few things that need to change (some quest NPCs need to now be coded to not offer quests to players below a certain level, especially NPCs that spawn nasty mobs).

Nabu_g · 07-20-2005, 06:24 PM

i personally like this idea because i like going where i should not go one of my best memorys is at 20 something i made a mad dash into the portal in the CL to the Obelish of lost souls which was very way cool becasue i think i was probably one the first people in the zone (no way to prove it either way) since beta and because of a bug of getting killed by the door guard lizard thing i got inside the obelish at my level but i could not use any of the portals inside because of level requirements so i had to call of the overlord out i like the idea that you can almost level a character at the low levels by just exploring the game and running like a little girl when something big looks at you this also teachs everyone the real way to sneak around

Norb · 07-20-2005, 06:30 PM

This, in my opinion, is a great change.

Why should zones be restricted to someone's level? It's a world. Let people explore, see what's out there and what they can look foward to.

Asif · 07-20-2005, 06:38 PM

Yes i agree with Norbix i think this is a great change ,we should beable to go where ever we want if its to tough people will learn quickly i hope

ChrisRay · 07-20-2005, 06:49 PM

I think this is a wonderful idea for many reasons. I always felt the access quests for outdoor overland zones such as this was a bad idea to begin with. The beauty of this is it will allow low levels players to sneak a peak at higher level zones which will give them something to look forward too. Definately a good move IMO.

vinegarlov · 07-20-2005, 06:53 PM

I'm sure going to miss Kizdean Gix!

quetzaqotl · 07-20-2005, 06:56 PM

Id say leave all the acces quests for the zones in auto acces is already to easy/lame, It was a blast questing and doing the boatride and entering a new continent.

Part of the fun was you had to work to get acces to the new zones, they already lowered the auto acces and thats lame imo.

Doloi · 07-20-2005, 06:58 PM

RIP Kizdean Gix.

Ashlian · 07-20-2005, 07:04 PM

Baleout wrote:
Yes i agree with Norbix i think this is a great change ,we should beable to go where ever we want if its to tough people will learn quickly i hope

Yes, especially with the relatively easy shard retrieval and no permanent penalty. I have to admit, there was nothing like being chased across North Karana in EQL at level 10 by a level 30+ speedy griffon or being stepped on by the first hill giant I had ever seen while medding. Certainly kept me on my toes, and we were in awe of the people who could make the long trips from places like Erudin to Faydwer. That was an epic journey at level 10!

I've had a few of these experiences in EQ2, mainly because I hit 30 with my tradeskill level at adventure level 27. Doing the quest for Bogstrutter in Zek at 27 was a true thrill. I got killed three times in the Steam Caves portion, those orc casters were vicious! When I finished the quest, there was a real sense of achievement.

I don't think they should change the quest mobs, though...part of the thrill is the chance of doom if you try something too far above your level. That can happen now, anyway.....on her first trip to Everfrost, I had a friend trapped atop an island by a named shark she spawned. And then when she thought evac would let her escape, he followed her to the dock evac point, killed her there, and camped her shard.

It's moments like those you remember. The really great accomplishments don't sem quite as great without a few stellar frights and bad moments thrown in for comparison, at least that contrast makes them more special to me.

Ashlian Liadan, 42 Fury, 32 Tailor of Mistmoore

Jeridor · 07-20-2005, 07:28 PM

It gets really old seeing people say things should be X way just because they were that way in EQ1. This isn't EQ1. Although I do like the idea of characters / descendants making appearances, even if only cameos. Anyway as far as this actual change, is this definitely for live server also or could this be test specific to help testers get around?

Midomiko · 07-20-2005, 07:45 PM

According to patch notes on the launcher this morning, this change goes live today.

Kenazeer · 07-20-2005, 07:53 PM

Gage-Mikel wrote:

themysteriousne wrote:
Will last nights patch, removing quest and level requirements from all core zones be going live, or is it a test only modification to improve testing?

What change are you referring to?

What kind of buttwipe would one star this post? For god's sake all he was doing was aksing a question. Grow up someone.

Norb · 07-20-2005, 08:00 PM

I just checked the launchpad. Not only is this going live, but so is LU12! Today is a great day for Everquest. SMILEY

Ashlian · 07-20-2005, 08:10 PM

Jeridor wrote:
It gets really old seeing people say things should be X way just because they were that way in EQ1. This isn't EQ1. Although I do like the idea of characters / descendants making appearances, even if only cameos.

Anyway as far as this actual change, is this definitely for live server also or could this be test specific to help testers get around?

No....I don't think things should be just like EQ1. If I want to play EQ1, I play EQ1, since I still have my Station Access and my characters. I don't think that means that nothing that was good in EQ1 shouldn't ever be applied to EQ2. They have different focuses, but this isn't really a gameplay issue. With the level limitations as they are now, actually completing content is going to remain a purview of the people who are at that content level. It's an immersion issue.

To me, it might be common sense to tell someone that they shouldn't sneak into the horrible dungeon or go to the scary zone filled with lava. But they should have the choice, I really don't see that there was any reason to prevent people from going where they wished, except to create a further time sink for the people blowing through the content in short amounts of time. And no boatride quest was more than a brief blip to those people, anyway.

What this bottleneck did was mainly prevent people from just going to look at content they couldn't kill yet; it kept them from exploring. Anyone good enough to do the content at 25 was likely to do the quest at 25. I couldn't finish the boatride to save my life at 27, but I had a ton of fun in Zek running around, getting killed occasionally, but exploring, since I could get in on tradeskill level. I couldn't kill much besides a few of the zin mobs, but that didn't matter.....I LOVED the exploration quests, just being able to climb that lookout tower or run like a little girl to get that DFC castle update.....that was fun. Should I have had to wait till my adventurer could complete the boatride quest?

I didn't mean to imply that EQ2 should become EQ1, that's the last thing I want. But the world in Two does sometimes feel much smaller than it did in One, and the access requirements were one of the big reasons why.

Ashlian Liadan, 42 Fury, 32 Tailor of Mistmoore

Aegori · 07-20-2005, 11:36 PM

For simple reasons of immersion, i can see why they did what they did. Immersion is a key factor in games like this and being able to go to places you're not really supposed to can be exciting for some. Limitations of travel based on level, while meaningful in where one is SUPPOSED to be, really makes no sense as it's an artificial barrier holding you back. We may see lvl 14 people running around EL, but i imagine they wont last long if they take too many risks. Giving them the option to take those risks, however, is really the key to this change and makes travel much more realistic IMHO.

-Aeg

ReturnOfMadness · 07-21-2005, 12:40 AM

this makes me feel like gettin my lvl 7 priest to EF....be4 my main actually can get tehre lol (41, stupid acces was bugged for me SMILEY

)

Moorgard · 07-21-2005, 01:36 AM

vinegarlover wrote:
I'm sure going to miss Kizdean Gix!

You never know when he might pop up again.

Scott Hartsman summed up the reason for this change well: It should be the content that prevents you from getting to dangerous parts of the world, not artificial barriers.

Access quests for dungeons (aside from Fallen Gate and Drafling Tower) are still there, because those are driven by story rather than simply being roadblocks. But really, if someone wants to stage the great newbie race through the Feerrott, more power to 'em. SMILEY

ArivenGemini · 07-21-2005, 01:45 AM

Moorgard wrote:

vinegarlover wrote:
I'm sure going to miss Kizdean Gix!

You never know when he might pop up again.

Scott Hartsman summed up the reason for this change well: It should be the content that prevents you from getting to dangerous parts of the world, not artificial barriers.

Access quests for dungeons (aside from Fallen Gate and Drafling Tower) are still there, because those are driven by story rather than simply being roadblocks. But really, if someone wants to stage the great newbie race through the Feerrott, more power to 'em.

I love the concept of the change, many great things were added in this update.. SMILEY

Plus on the idea of the newbie race.. one of the mistmoore guilds did a rat race at level 3 from freeport to qeynos... so I can see them doing a ferrott, lavastorm, etc version soon SMILEY

Ci · 07-21-2005, 01:45 AM

YAY, Now I get to plant lvl 3 alts at all congested mobs!!!

Xibi · 07-21-2005, 02:27 AM

This is a great direction that the game is going in!! Excellent move. Hopefully the expansions will continue on this track. It was one of the few things that was fun in EQ 1. Going to areas that were way higher than you were, whether it was to just run past in order to take a shortcut to somewhere else, or just going to explore. I'll never forget my first trip into Skyfire when Kunark went live and I was about level 30 or so. Yikes.... Now that was some scary stuff. Please continue on this path in future expansions.

Bravnik · 07-21-2005, 02:48 AM

Moorgard wrote:

vinegarlover wrote:
I'm sure going to miss Kizdean Gix!

You never know when he might pop up again.

Scott Hartsman summed up the reason for this change well: It should be the content that prevents you from getting to dangerous parts of the world, not artificial barriers.

Access quests for dungeons (aside from Fallen Gate and Drafling Tower) are still there, because those are driven by story rather than simply being roadblocks. But really, if someone wants to stage the great newbie race through the Feerrott, more power to 'em.

Nice to see that comments made in Beta are finally getting put into the game.......gratz Moorgard, one immersion killing idea down....many many community/immersion killing ideas needing to die with this one. Great Work! I look forward to more changes like this in the future.....its good to see someone woke up.

Tockl · 07-21-2005, 02:48 AM

Ilee, 50 sage, 50 warlock. Check, Check, Check.

Splitpaw!

themysterious · 07-21-2005, 03:17 AM

Moorgard wrote:

vinegarlover wrote:
I'm sure going to miss Kizdean Gix!

You never know when he might pop up again.

Scott Hartsman summed up the reason for this change well: It should be the content that prevents you from getting to dangerous parts of the world, not artificial barriers.

Access quests for dungeons (aside from Fallen Gate and Drafling Tower) are still there, because those are driven by story rather than simply being roadblocks. But really, if someone wants to stage the great newbie race through the Feerrott, more power to 'em.

Thats all good and well, but what stops Jonny Teentoon running to all the discovery points in these zones and getting massive amounts of free xp? Are the L&L books in EL going to be moved to prevent level 5 toons getting L&L goblin? And Kizdean better pop up, or the guy who removed him should be dragged out the back and pummled with nerf balls.

07-20-2005, 09:51 AM	#2
Gaige Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Arizona Posts: 9,500	themysteriousne wrote: Will last nights patch, removing quest and level requirements from all core zones be going live, or is it a test only modification to improve testing? What change are you referring to? __________________

07-20-2005, 10:42 AM	#3
Macross_JR Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 547	They are refering to the no quest/level requirment for Zek, EL, EF, LS, Draffling, and some other zones. I saw a post that confirmed this in the Zones and Populations forums. __________________

07-20-2005, 12:06 PM	#5
Dae Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 330	What possible reason is there for this? You got free access at the appropriate level as it was. Kizdean Gix is traditional. You can't get rid of him. A better solution would be to make him a level 25 highly aggressive wandering mob. Oh and while you're at it bring back the griffons as well. Not sure what this would achieve since there's only ever 5 low level people in the commons at any time any more but damnit it's traditional. __________________ Wormwood Hex - Ratonga! - [Warlock (50) / Tailor (50)] Ponk Fury - Ratonga! - [Berserker (not 50)] D Khar - Splitpaw Server

07-20-2005, 02:26 PM	#6
BrizaOr General Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 86	themysteriousne wrote: - Harbormasters in East Freeport and Qeynos Harbor now only sell tickets to the Thundering Steppes and Nektulos Forest. These two locations now function as travel hubs to the rest of the world. From the Thundering Steppes you can travel to the Orcish Wastes, the Feerrott, and Everfrost. From Nektulos Forest you can travel to the Enchanted Lands and Lavastorm. I have to admit that this is the scary part for me, personally I often bought tickets directly to EF just to avoid going through Zek. Why? I am not sure why exactly it is, but for me, Zek has absolutely the hugest loading time from the zones - usually after some hours of playing. Lets take writs at EF for example, loading Zek can easily take 4-5mins (1 minute mostly for other zones) and results in absolutely choppy performance for a while. Of course, unless the change means that bells for Zek, Feerrott & EF are actually at Steppes and bells for EL & LS are at Nek forest. But I don't know if thats the case here. Message Edited by BrizaOrin on 07-20-2005 01:28 PM __________________

07-20-2005, 03:16 PM	#7
Fire&ice Tester Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 81	I can confirm that yes the bells to Zek, EF and Feerrott are in TS on the docks and EL & LS are in Nek on the docks at least on Test :smileyhappy: so you go to either of these 2 zones and then pick the bell to where you want to go :smileytongue: __________________ Liria Firetail, 43 Kerra Wizard Azato Bearclaw, 60 Woodelf Mystic, 61 Woodworker Children of War on Test Server Jamin, 42 Gnome Brigand Aggro Fish on Kithicor Server

07-20-2005, 08:52 AM	#1
themysterious Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 41	Will last nights patch, removing quest and level requirements from all core zones be going live, or is it a test only modification to improve testing?

07-20-2005, 11:05 AM	#4
themysterious Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 41	Last nights patch message on test.Blackgaurd/Moorgaurd, which ever is responsible for keep the updates section of the test forum is just a bit slack (or away sick or something) and didn't post it in the forums yet. * Zone Access and Travel Changes -There are no longer level restrictions or quest requirements on the following zones: Fallen Gate, the Orcish Wastes, the Enchanted Lands, Drafling Tower, the Feerrott, Everfrost, and Lavastorm.- The access quests that were restricting travel to the Orcish Wastes, the Enchanted Lands, the Feerrott, Everfrost, and Lavastorm are now optional and provide item rewards. After you complete any of these quests (or if you have done so in the past), speak to Scholar Milnik on the docks of the Thundering Steppes to receive your reward. All boat rides associated with the overland access quests are now instanced adventures that can be repeated once you have completed the quests.- Harbormasters in East Freeport and Qeynos Harbor now only sell tickets to the Thundering Steppes and Nektulos Forest. These two locations now function as travel hubs to the rest of the world. From the Thundering Steppes you can travel to the Orcish Wastes, the Feerrott, and Everfrost. From Nektulos Forest you can travel to the Enchanted Lands and Lavastorm.- As Kizdean Gix's key is no longer needed to enter Fallen Gate, he has retreated from the Commonlands. Epic Encounters - Varanak the Everlasting will no longer immediately attack those who revive in the zone after being defeated by him. In addition, the statue has once again been reminded that his duty is to aid Venekor. Items - Status loot can now be sold to regular merchants for an appropriate price. Tradeskills *- Each stage of the "Seeking a Profession" quest will now award a different volume of the Artisan Essentials series. The amount of cash awarded has been increased slightly, and citizenship should now be properly granted upon completion of the final quest. Message Edited by themysteriousne on 07-20-200512:06 AM Message Edited by themysteriousne on 07-20-2005 12:06 AM

07-20-2005, 05:49 PM	#8
WuphonsReach Tester Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 558	For those that tuned in late... originally, the zones were as follows (going from memory):EL - quested at 25, auto-access at 32Zek - quested at 25, auto-access at 32Feer - quested at 37, auto-access at 37 (later changed to quested at 32)Lava - quested at 37?, auto-access at 42EF - quested at 32, auto-access at 42? (or was it 37?)Then, they changed EL/Zek... the quest still couldn't be started until 25, but you got auto-access at 30.Here were the issues (as I saw them):Fallen Gate - none of the Antonica dungeons had access quests. Auto-entry was at 20 for Fallen Gate (as there are AQs to be done there starting at 20). EL - auto-access at 30 was fine, but could have been lowered to 28 (beach mobs are level 31ish, no sense going there until 2Zek - same issue as EL, the auto-access could have stood to be lowered to 28Feer - the auto-access at 37 was too high, the beach mobs are only level 34-35(?) and were going green by the time you got there at 37. So they would've needed to lower the auto-access on this zone to 33 or 34.EF - auto-access for this zone needed to be high 30s, maybe even as low as 35. Lava - auto-access for this zone needed to be lowered to 38ish (beach mobs are level 41)So, rather then go through another round of tuning, it looks like they decided to simply remove the access requirements for the overland zones and let the players make the decision.Ultimately, it's not going to make a huge amount of difference, but I can think of a few things that need to change (some quest NPCs need to now be coded to not offer quests to players below a certain level, especially NPCs that spawn nasty mobs). __________________ -- Snabbik of Test Pre-order/account canceled on Sep 8 2005

07-20-2005, 06:24 PM	#9
Nabu_g Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 14	i personally like this idea because i like going where i should not go one of my best memorys is at 20 something i made a mad dash into the portal in the CL to the Obelish of lost souls which was very way cool becasue i think i was probably one the first people in the zone (no way to prove it either way) since beta and because of a bug of getting killed by the door guard lizard thing i got inside the obelish at my level but i could not use any of the portals inside because of level requirements so i had to call of the overlord out i like the idea that you can almost level a character at the low levels by just exploring the game and running like a little girl when something big looks at you this also teachs everyone the real way to sneak around __________________

07-20-2005, 06:30 PM	#10
Norb General Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 61	This, in my opinion, is a great change. Why should zones be restricted to someone's level? It's a world. Let people explore, see what's out there and what they can look foward to.

07-20-2005, 06:38 PM	#11
Asif Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 391	Yes i agree with Norbix i think this is a great change ,we should beable to go where ever we want if its to tough people will learn quickly i hope

07-20-2005, 06:49 PM	#12
ChrisRay Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 161	I think this is a wonderful idea for many reasons. I always felt the access quests for outdoor overland zones such as this was a bad idea to begin with. The beauty of this is it will allow low levels players to sneak a peak at higher level zones which will give them something to look forward too. Definately a good move IMO. __________________ http://www.nzone.com SLI Forum Support mod.

07-20-2005, 06:53 PM	#13
vinegarlov Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 1	I'm sure going to miss Kizdean Gix!

07-20-2005, 06:56 PM	#14
quetzaqotl Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 1,336	Id say leave all the acces quests for the zones in auto acces is already to easy/lame, It was a blast questing and doing the boatride and entering a new continent. Part of the fun was you had to work to get acces to the new zones, they already lowered the auto acces and thats lame imo. __________________

07-20-2005, 06:58 PM	#15
Doloi Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 23	RIP Kizdean Gix. __________________ ------------------------------------------------ Eelpout: Berserker35/Carpenter27 (Freeport) Dolo: Dirge24/Jeweller20 (Queynos) Vinegar: Brigand22/Tailor18 Crushbone Server

07-20-2005, 07:04 PM	#16
Ashlian Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 432	Baleout wrote: Yes i agree with Norbix i think this is a great change ,we should beable to go where ever we want if its to tough people will learn quickly i hope Yes, especially with the relatively easy shard retrieval and no permanent penalty. I have to admit, there was nothing like being chased across North Karana in EQL at level 10 by a level 30+ speedy griffon or being stepped on by the first hill giant I had ever seen while medding. Certainly kept me on my toes, and we were in awe of the people who could make the long trips from places like Erudin to Faydwer. That was an epic journey at level 10! I've had a few of these experiences in EQ2, mainly because I hit 30 with my tradeskill level at adventure level 27. Doing the quest for Bogstrutter in Zek at 27 was a true thrill. I got killed three times in the Steam Caves portion, those orc casters were vicious! When I finished the quest, there was a real sense of achievement. I don't think they should change the quest mobs, though...part of the thrill is the chance of doom if you try something too far above your level. That can happen now, anyway.....on her first trip to Everfrost, I had a friend trapped atop an island by a named shark she spawned. And then when she thought evac would let her escape, he followed her to the dock evac point, killed her there, and camped her shard. It's moments like those you remember. The really great accomplishments don't sem quite as great without a few stellar frights and bad moments thrown in for comparison, at least that contrast makes them more special to me. Ashlian Liadan, 42 Fury, 32 Tailor of Mistmoore __________________

07-20-2005, 07:28 PM	#17
Jeridor Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 248	It gets really old seeing people say things should be X way just because they were that way in EQ1. This isn't EQ1. Although I do like the idea of characters / descendants making appearances, even if only cameos. Anyway as far as this actual change, is this definitely for live server also or could this be test specific to help testers get around?

07-20-2005, 07:45 PM	#18
Midomiko Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 27	According to patch notes on the launcher this morning, this change goes live today. __________________ Zzketza, 70 Iksar Shadowknight Lepros Marteler, 70 Human Inquisitor Hansum Debbil, 70 Troll Provisioner Forgotten Dominion Innothule Server Raids attended Tier 5-7: zero

07-20-2005, 07:53 PM	#19
Kenazeer Loremaster Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 1,178	Gage-Mikel wrote: themysteriousne wrote: Will last nights patch, removing quest and level requirements from all core zones be going live, or is it a test only modification to improve testing? What change are you referring to? What kind of buttwipe would one star this post? For god's sake all he was doing was aksing a question. Grow up someone. __________________ Come play EQ2...we have SOEmote, Dungeon Finder, and Dungeon Maker.

07-20-2005, 08:00 PM	#20
Norb General Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 61	I just checked the launchpad. Not only is this going live, but so is LU12! Today is a great day for Everquest.

07-20-2005, 08:10 PM	#21
Ashlian Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 432	Jeridor wrote: It gets really old seeing people say things should be X way just because they were that way in EQ1. This isn't EQ1. Although I do like the idea of characters / descendants making appearances, even if only cameos. Anyway as far as this actual change, is this definitely for live server also or could this be test specific to help testers get around? No....I don't think things should be just like EQ1. If I want to play EQ1, I play EQ1, since I still have my Station Access and my characters. I don't think that means that nothing that was good in EQ1 shouldn't ever be applied to EQ2. They have different focuses, but this isn't really a gameplay issue. With the level limitations as they are now, actually completing content is going to remain a purview of the people who are at that content level. It's an immersion issue. To me, it might be common sense to tell someone that they shouldn't sneak into the horrible dungeon or go to the scary zone filled with lava. But they should have the choice, I really don't see that there was any reason to prevent people from going where they wished, except to create a further time sink for the people blowing through the content in short amounts of time. And no boatride quest was more than a brief blip to those people, anyway. What this bottleneck did was mainly prevent people from just going to look at content they couldn't kill yet; it kept them from exploring. Anyone good enough to do the content at 25 was likely to do the quest at 25. I couldn't finish the boatride to save my life at 27, but I had a ton of fun in Zek running around, getting killed occasionally, but exploring, since I could get in on tradeskill level. I couldn't kill much besides a few of the zin mobs, but that didn't matter.....I LOVED the exploration quests, just being able to climb that lookout tower or run like a little girl to get that DFC castle update.....that was fun. Should I have had to wait till my adventurer could complete the boatride quest? I didn't mean to imply that EQ2 should become EQ1, that's the last thing I want. But the world in Two does sometimes feel much smaller than it did in One, and the access requirements were one of the big reasons why. Ashlian Liadan, 42 Fury, 32 Tailor of Mistmoore __________________

07-20-2005, 11:36 PM	#22
Aegori General Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 192	For simple reasons of immersion, i can see why they did what they did. Immersion is a key factor in games like this and being able to go to places you're not really supposed to can be exciting for some. Limitations of travel based on level, while meaningful in where one is SUPPOSED to be, really makes no sense as it's an artificial barrier holding you back. We may see lvl 14 people running around EL, but i imagine they wont last long if they take too many risks. Giving them the option to take those risks, however, is really the key to this change and makes travel much more realistic IMHO. -Aeg __________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dev Tracker Search Function

07-21-2005, 12:40 AM	#23
ReturnOfMadness Loremaster Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 213	this makes me feel like gettin my lvl 7 priest to EF....be4 my main actually can get tehre lol (41, stupid acces was bugged for me ) __________________ - Signed Kungao -lvl 80 buffbot - 80 alchemist - 400 tinkerer

07-21-2005, 01:36 AM	#24
Moorgard Developer Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 604	vinegarlover wrote: I'm sure going to miss Kizdean Gix! You never know when he might pop up again. Scott Hartsman summed up the reason for this change well: It should be the content that prevents you from getting to dangerous parts of the world, not artificial barriers. Access quests for dungeons (aside from Fallen Gate and Drafling Tower) are still there, because those are driven by story rather than simply being roadblocks. But really, if someone wants to stage the great newbie race through the Feerrott, more power to 'em. __________________ =========================== Steve Danuser, a.k.a. Moorgard Game Designer, EverQuest II

07-21-2005, 01:45 AM	#25
ArivenGemini Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 1,260	Moorgard wrote: vinegarlover wrote: I'm sure going to miss Kizdean Gix! You never know when he might pop up again. Scott Hartsman summed up the reason for this change well: It should be the content that prevents you from getting to dangerous parts of the world, not artificial barriers. Access quests for dungeons (aside from Fallen Gate and Drafling Tower) are still there, because those are driven by story rather than simply being roadblocks. But really, if someone wants to stage the great newbie race through the Feerrott, more power to 'em. I love the concept of the change, many great things were added in this update.. Plus on the idea of the newbie race.. one of the mistmoore guilds did a rat race at level 3 from freeport to qeynos... so I can see them doing a ferrott, lavastorm, etc version soon __________________

07-21-2005, 01:45 AM	#26
Ci Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 33	YAY, Now I get to plant lvl 3 alts at all congested mobs!!!

07-21-2005, 02:27 AM	#27
Xibi Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 81	This is a great direction that the game is going in!! Excellent move. Hopefully the expansions will continue on this track. It was one of the few things that was fun in EQ 1. Going to areas that were way higher than you were, whether it was to just run past in order to take a shortcut to somewhere else, or just going to explore. I'll never forget my first trip into Skyfire when Kunark went live and I was about level 30 or so. Yikes.... Now that was some scary stuff. Please continue on this path in future expansions.

07-21-2005, 02:48 AM	#28
Bravnik Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 80	Moorgard wrote: vinegarlover wrote: I'm sure going to miss Kizdean Gix! You never know when he might pop up again. Scott Hartsman summed up the reason for this change well: It should be the content that prevents you from getting to dangerous parts of the world, not artificial barriers. Access quests for dungeons (aside from Fallen Gate and Drafling Tower) are still there, because those are driven by story rather than simply being roadblocks. But really, if someone wants to stage the great newbie race through the Feerrott, more power to 'em. Nice to see that comments made in Beta are finally getting put into the game.......gratz Moorgard, one immersion killing idea down....many many community/immersion killing ideas needing to die with this one. Great Work! I look forward to more changes like this in the future.....its good to see someone woke up. __________________ --------------------------------------- Emalia - 50 Coercer - Oasis --------------------------------------- My Junk

07-21-2005, 02:48 AM	#29
Tockl Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 96	Ilee, 50 sage, 50 warlock. Check, Check, Check. Splitpaw!

07-21-2005, 03:17 AM	#30
themysterious Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 41	Moorgard wrote: vinegarlover wrote: I'm sure going to miss Kizdean Gix! You never know when he might pop up again. Scott Hartsman summed up the reason for this change well: It should be the content that prevents you from getting to dangerous parts of the world, not artificial barriers. Access quests for dungeons (aside from Fallen Gate and Drafling Tower) are still there, because those are driven by story rather than simply being roadblocks. But really, if someone wants to stage the great newbie race through the Feerrott, more power to 'em. Thats all good and well, but what stops Jonny Teentoon running to all the discovery points in these zones and getting massive amounts of free xp? Are the L&L books in EL going to be moved to prevent level 5 toons getting L&L goblin? And Kizdean better pop up, or the guy who removed him should be dragged out the back and pummled with nerf balls.