Game Update

[Levatino]

I'm also curious if a next update also has a fix for feather icons stopping from dissappearing after zoning. Or at least a confirmatiion they're working on it? Cause it still happends to me and others.

[Zhern]

Thanks for the communication, most of us are devout fans and love this game and only want to see it improve.Since everyone here is throwing their ideas into the forum, I thought I might as well.Lord of the Rings online and Warhammer Online, both good games in their own right (just not EQ2). I have two separate items I would like to see brought to EQ2. From LOTRO the skirmish system. If you haven’t played it. It is a scenario that when setup by a player or group leader, starts a mission that auto generates random creatures. If you complete objectives, you get a few points. But completing the mission you get a good amount of points. The kicker is that all players get a pet that can be customized with the points. People can also use those points to spend on equipment. In the mission, only the bosses or lieutenants drop items, the rest do not.From Warhammer online, it is the public quest. But I would like to see this done with a twist.In the Battleground scenarios it is PVP only. Why not have an objective for NPCs trying to complete a mission. And the PCs are trying to help their side complete their objective or stop the other side from completing theirs. Of course each side can kill the other team’s PCS also. As an example:Team A and B has a caravan to escort to a point. Team A and B can send teams out to destroy/hamper the other team’s caravan, while having another team guards their own caravan. Something like this would be good for a 12 vs. 12 team match.I know this has been said a lot, but please more hair styles for all races, except human.

[Liral]

Brenlo wrote:

 

 

Shader 3.0: Is going well.  Yup this is taking a lot longer than we had planned.  The reason?  We had hoped to make performance gains for all Shader 3.0 cards, but as we continued to progress, we actually saw diminishing returns on all but the most high end cards.  This lead to the Graphics Coder, reworking the lighting engine and other systems to try and get those performance gains back.  We are starting to see some success and we should be pushing this live with the next update.  In fact, I think it is already enabled on Test where we encourage you to give it a try.

 

Excited about this and hopefully i can afford an upgraed computer to take advantage of this. My computer and graphics card is old and hopefully i can upgrade this very old computer to enjoy this upgrade.

 

New Halas:  We shifted around some of our priorities leading up to the expansion launch and this included shifting New Halas back one update.  Frankly we needed more time.  New player zones actually require a lot more work than a dungeon, overland, or raid zone.  Significantly more work in fact, so rather than rush it, we moved it back.  You will be pleased to know that it is progressing quite well.  The zone art is amazing, as is the housing. I think a lot of players may be moving their homes in the near future.  We have a team of designers working on the quests and population, along with a team of artists working on items.  There has been a good deal of excitement from the team as they watch it all come together.  New Halas is coming in the next update, barring some unforeseen event, like a comet smashing into the Earth or something.  Oh and no, there will not be guild halls available in New Halas at launch.   Sorry folks.

 

Am EXTREMELY excited about this as I am an altaholic and will enjoy a new city to start from. That said, I'll state right now that if the stated "move away from Qeynos and Freeport" includes what appeared to be from a dev the promiose of not allowing people to start in those two cities anymore I will quit the game. I never complain and often defend SOE but if this happens it will almost certainly make me quit the game. While i certainly understand the desire to improve the new plater experience for people I think it would REALLY suck to have to greatly diminish the game for loyal players who have paid money to SOE for years. I HIGHLY suggest you take posters advice from another thread and either A) allow new accounts access  to only the golden path starting cities and change that after 7 days, etc. basically use a lockout timer for new accounts or B) Place a warning that those two cities should only be used as starting cities until after a person has run through one of the "Golden Path" cities and are more familiar with the game.

 

Travel Revamp:  As we look at the systems in the game, one of the most deficient and illogical, in our opinion, is our current travel system.  We used many mixed systems which often do not make sense.  Some zones have bells, some have spires, etc. . .  So we are in the process of cleaning all of those up for our next update.  Expect a more streamlined, logical system that makes a lot more sense, coming to Norrath in the near future.  Expect more details on the forums as we get closer to May.

 

Travel isn'tthat bad at all IMHO. I can see minor improvements here and there but hope you don't over homogonize it. If I could change one travel feature in the game it would be the Kingdom of Sky. I despise travel in those zones as it is a pain in the rear going to one foating island to get to another and havign to remember what island spot can go where. I try and avoid those zones as much as possible because of it.

 

Storyteller System:  Just in time for Halas, and hopefully an influx of new players, we will be adding the Storyteller system.  A new UI element that tracks quests together, in a meaningful way, to tell a larger story.  When you are sent out to kill ten rats, we hope to provide a deeper understanding of why and how it fits into a larger picture, as well as showing how far along you have progressed in the story.  This is the system that will tie the Golden Path together, giving new players a guided experience, if they choose, through some of our best content. 

 

See New Halas above. I'm all for the Golden path but don't get rid of two starting cities for veterans because of it.

 

Itemization:  We know that there are many concerns over the itemization in Sentinel’s Fate and we are already working to make those items more desirable and chase worthy.  Frizznik has done some of the messaging on the forums, and Kander is implementing those and other changes as I type this.  We appreciate all of the feedback we have received from you on the items and ask that you please continue to look over the adjustments we make.  We need and value your opinions, so get back to us if you can.

 

Since i'm an altaholic and couldn't care less about raiding I'm not worried about this at all. But as it concerns a lot of people I'm glad you guys are woking on the isue to keep other players it affects more happy and in the game.

 

We will continue to support the Battlegrounds, making changes to abilities that we find to be over- or under-powered, adding new rewards, and some new maps for players to enjoy.   Battlegrounds are going to be a constantly evolving feature as we tweak it towards perfection.   Remember this is still the pre-season, while we work out some of the issues, most of which are related to the amount of database traffic they generate, as they seem to be pretty popular.

We do have a solid plan for the next fiscal year, which runs from April to March around here, and while I will not go into all of the details, we do have quite a bit planned.  Some of the items planned are:

                UI Revamp – Allowing for more customization from the community       

                Reworking the Welcome Screen, so it becomes more relevant to your play sessions

                Class adjustments, although as you all know this is never ending

                Alternate Rule Set Server: Something similar to the progression server used in EQ, or a permadeath server or a special PVP ruleset server.  The possibilities are endless.  We plan to make this a cycling system allowing for new sets to be popped up every few months, using the same server hardware.

 

Extremely excited about a special ruleset server. Hope this means we get 7 new character slots to use on it. :&gt) That said, set up as a cycle type system that really defeats the purpose and the server will likely be a big failure. I would suggest two seperate special ruleset servers. One for PvPers and one for RPers. You can't mix the two and expect the server to succeed.

Don't really care about battelgrounds. End ganme stuff isn't my thing so don't worry about it. But as people seem to enjoy it happy to see it being worked on.

UI revamp- don't use a custiom UI but am always tempted to. I think EQ has a great UI that is easy to use. Don't break the ease of use and I'll be quite happy.

Welcome screen- not a big deal but better utility is a good thing.

Class adjustments- again, I rioll with the changes here. Not as concerned as others about this.

 

And of course, new content to include raids, quests, and goodies.  You should see at least one raid each update, of which there are four major updates planned for the next fiscal year.  Details of those to follow but I can say they will be a mix of reworked content e.g. Lavastorm revamp, and all new content.  Through the next year, we plan to bolster our events as well, eventually having one event each calendar month, providing more entertainment for you.

 

Raids aren't important to me but the rest sounds good. I really like the holiday and other event type stuff so the more of that the better. Alos, reowrked content has for the most part been very good so far so am ecitied to see what results that brings about. I would suggest also hiring/reassigning/finding someone just to do regular GM events across all the servers.

[Jrral]

Brenlo wrote:

We will continue to support the Battlegrounds, making changes to abilities that we find to be over- or under-powered, adding new rewards, and some new maps for players to enjoy.   Battlegrounds are going to be a constantly evolving feature as we tweak it towards perfection.   Remember this is still the pre-season, while we work out some of the issues, most of which are related to the amount of database traffic they generate, as they seem to be pretty popular.

We do have a solid plan for the next fiscal year, which runs from April to March around here, and while I will not go into all of the details, we do have quite a bit planned.  Some of the items planned are:

                UI Revamp – Allowing for more customization from the community       

                Reworking the Welcome Screen, so it becomes more relevant to your play sessions

                Class adjustments, although as you all know this is never ending

                Alternate Rule Set Server: Something similar to the progression server used in EQ, or a permadeath server or a special PVP ruleset server.  The possibilities are endless.  We plan to make this a cycling system allowing for new sets to be popped up every few months, using the same server hardware.

 

I like most of the things you're describing. But two things I'd like to comment on.

First, the alternate ruleset server. If it cycles, it may not be popular. If characters I create on it are going to disappear, or even just suddenly be subject to completely new rules, I'm not likely to play on that server. It doesn't make sense to me to put in time and effort on a character knowing that just about the time I get that character set up properly the world's going to change on me or I'm going to have to start over from scratch.

Second, battlegrounds. The database traffic seems to be the cause of a lot of zoning problems and general lag in the rest of the game. It might be a better idea to leave battlegrounds turned off on the production servers until dev has a chance to get the database issues under control. And frankly I think the only reason battlegrounds are popular is the gear. We've had PvP areas on the PvE servers before, twice as I recall, and both withered on the vine due to lack of interest. And I'm not sure I agree with the idea of needing to PvP to gain gear on a PvE server. My immediate reaction is "If I wanted to progress by way of PvP, I'd've rolled on Nagafen or Vox.".

[Huene]

I don't care what else you do, please do not implement another plane of knowledge.

Brenlo wrote:

Travel Revamp:  As we look at the systems in the game, one of the most deficient and illogical, in our opinion, is our current travel system.  We used many mixed systems which often do not make sense.  Some zones have bells, some have spires, etc. . .  So we are in the process of cleaning all of those up for our next update.  Expect a more streamlined, logical system that makes a lot more sense, coming to Norrath in the near future.  Expect more details on the forums as we get closer to May.

[CorpseGoddess]

Zhern wrote:

Thanks for the communication, most of us are devout fans and love this game and only want to see it improve.Since everyone here is throwing their ideas into the forum, I thought I might as well.Lord of the Rings online and Warhammer Online, both good games in their own right (just not EQ2). I have two separate items I would like to see brought to EQ2. From LOTRO the skirmish system. If you haven’t played it. It is a scenario that when setup by a player or group leader, starts a mission that auto generates random creatures. If you complete objectives, you get a few points. But completing the mission you get a good amount of points. The kicker is that all players get a pet that can be customized with the points. People can also use those points to spend on equipment. In the mission, only the bosses or lieutenants drop items, the rest do not.From Warhammer online, it is the public quest. But I would like to see this done with a twist.In the Battleground scenarios it is PVP only. Why not have an objective for NPCs trying to complete a mission. And the PCs are trying to help their side complete their objective or stop the other side from completing theirs. Of course each side can kill the other team’s PCS also. As an example:Team A and B has a caravan to escort to a point. Team A and B can send teams out to destroy/hamper the other team’s caravan, while having another team guards their own caravan. Something like this would be good for a 12 vs. 12 team match.I know this has been said a lot, but please more hair styles for all races, except human.

I'd like to see public quests instituted, but *not* in battlegrounds.  Put them in the regular zones - it would certainly go a long way towards populating certain areas, as well as adding some needed group options for lower levels.

[Huene]

Kain-UK wrote:

Brenlo wrote:

Alternate Rule Set Server: Something similar to the progression server used in EQ, or a permadeath server or a special PVP ruleset server.  The possibilities are endless.  We plan to make this a cycling system allowing for new sets to be popped up every few months, using the same server hardware.

Despite saying you won't consider it on Dev Chat, I highly recommend considering a permenant role-play enforced server. Quite a few people on Antonia Bayle have stated they would happily move to such a server if it became available. The proportion of non-rp'ers to rp'ers on the server is ridiculous... role-play has been driven out of spacial chat and into guilds/private taverns due to the amount of griefing we receive...

...and people feel this is appropriate as Antonia Bayle is only "Role-play Preffered".

Instead of completely and utterly saying no to the idea of an RP Enforced server, I highly recommend you to consider it. There are people who want it... just like people want PvP, Battlegrounds, easier levelling... etc. SOE has stated they will try to cater to all playstyles, so consider catering to the role-players.

Before I say anything else, let me say that I agree with you, a role play enforced server would be a great thing.  But that said all spacial chat are out of chararacter channels with the exception maybe of shout and say.

[Huene]

Aule@Guk wrote:

More communication, that's what we like to see, thanks.

[Xelrek]

Travel Revamp

I can understand why it's necessary but if the intention is to remove a load of bells and give a selection box to choose zone, don't forget zones where mobs are near the bells, as there's nothing more annoying than running from a mob and dying while dealing with zone selection boxes. Quick zoning without the selection box would be good if still in combat or low health...

^ Thinking of Zek and those mobs in the water while I write this

Having npcs providing teleportation services on the docks (like EQ1 gnomes after the boats were removed) would probably be more interesting than bells though I'd think (with same solution for above issue). But I do like the boats that are currently in game and I hope these are left in as an option for those that want to use them...

[Qandor]

Well communication is great and all but......

I remember a bit of previous communication. Remember SF was going to take 3 more months development time so it could be launched polished? That didn't work out so well now did it?

The proof is in the pudding and right now I view this type of communication, namely vague promisies, as nothing more than propaganda.

[Bunji]

Levatino wrote:

I'm also curious if a next update also has a fix for feather icons stopping from dissappearing after zoning. Or at least a confirmatiion they're working on it? Cause it still happends to me and others.

The fix for this went live with yesterday's Hotfix (3/30).

[Jrral]

Qandor wrote:

Well communication is great and all but......

I remember a bit of previous communication. Remember SF was going to take 3 more months development time so it could be launched polished? That didn't work out so well now did it?

The proof is in the pudding and right now I view this type of communication, namely vague promisies, as nothing more than propaganda.

One thing to remember is that any communication reflects the current state of affairs. Said state is always subject to change, and one has to take that into account. I'd rather have the devs talking than not talking, which means accepting that sometimes what they say now won't still be true a month from now.

Gods alone know how many times I've had my project schedules disrupted because my boss dropped an unexpected last-minute this-takes-priority-over-everything-else project on me and I have to explain to everybody else why I'm not going to have my scheduled work completed on the original schedule.

[Eugam]

Rijacki wrote:

MY definition of roleplay runs counter to many of the so-called "hard-core" RPers since I don't think the mechanics of the game has to be played seperate from RP nor does RP need to be confined to Events, Taverns, gatherings, or scripted stories.

/clap. VERY good post.

I had the luck to be in a RP guild for maybe two years that roleplayed while wacking on mobs, crawling dungeons and doing quests. There was a weekly tavern or a Scarecrow raid on Haloween. But people basically have been IC all the time, even when doing the hardest content.

Id change guild and server if i could get that back. Roleplaying is a mindset and not a ruleset. It can not be diverted between RPing and adventuring. If such a server crowded by such people would exists, then i d want it to be protected by regular visits of a GM with godlike powers and enough humor to use his powers proper

[Qandor]

Jrral@Unrest wrote:

Qandor wrote:

Well communication is great and all but......

I remember a bit of previous communication. Remember SF was going to take 3 more months development time so it could be launched polished? That didn't work out so well now did it?

The proof is in the pudding and right now I view this type of communication, namely vague promisies, as nothing more than propaganda.

One thing to remember is that any communication reflects the current state of affairs. Said state is always subject to change, and one has to take that into account. I'd rather have the devs talking than not talking, which means accepting that sometimes what they say now won't still be true a month from now.

Gods alone know how many times I've had my project schedules disrupted because my boss dropped an unexpected last-minute this-takes-priority-over-everything-else project on me and I have to explain to everybody else why I'm not going to have my scheduled work completed on the original schedule.

Boss must be dropping a lot of "this takes priority over everything else" stuff here in EQ2. Three additional months added to launch schedule for "polish" and then you end up launching the poorest polished expansion to date. That three month extension had nothing to do with polish. It had everything to do with lack of resources and they knew that going in but we were fed the "polish" malarkey. 

That is the one signature thing about SOE and particularly EQ2. They constantly play their customers  for dopes. Remember the fabled skeletal revamp that was going to end the appearance woes? They strung everyone along on that for nearly 2 years before they let trickle out that it was cancelled because it was too hard to do. How about the pre-launch video where a designer was bragging about how easy it was to morph an armor set across all races? Post launch the mantra was armor had to be hand designed for each race individually and that was a bridge too far. So which was it? Where was the lie? Pre-launch or post launch? Or is that the boss dropping something again?

Communication is great when it is factual and honest. If it is just PR spin, it's worthless.

[Kain-UK]

Huene@Crushbone wrote:

Kain-UK wrote:

Brenlo wrote:

Alternate Rule Set Server: Something similar to the progression server used in EQ, or a permadeath server or a special PVP ruleset server.  The possibilities are endless.  We plan to make this a cycling system allowing for new sets to be popped up every few months, using the same server hardware.

Despite saying you won't consider it on Dev Chat, I highly recommend considering a permenant role-play enforced server. Quite a few people on Antonia Bayle have stated they would happily move to such a server if it became available. The proportion of non-rp'ers to rp'ers on the server is ridiculous... role-play has been driven out of spacial chat and into guilds/private taverns due to the amount of griefing we receive...

...and people feel this is appropriate as Antonia Bayle is only "Role-play Preffered".

Instead of completely and utterly saying no to the idea of an RP Enforced server, I highly recommend you to consider it. There are people who want it... just like people want PvP, Battlegrounds, easier levelling... etc. SOE has stated they will try to cater to all playstyles, so consider catering to the role-players.

Before I say anything else, let me say that I agree with you, a role play enforced server would be a great thing.  But that said all spacial chat are out of chararacter channels with the exception maybe of shout and say.

Oh, I know that... /shout is generally OOC cos there's really no way you could shout across an entire zone!

That'd take one impressive set of lungs right there.

But it would be nice to have an RP Enforced server just so the RP'ers actually feel like they have a leg to stand on when people try to grief them... for RP'ing on an RP server. It'd also be nice so RP-esque names could be enforced... I'm sick of seeing names like "Healerbot" or the like on a supposedly Role-play server.

I'm waiting for someone to say "Oh, but they probably have an RP reason for such a name!". Um... just no.

[Ashlian]

Qandor wrote:

Jrral@Unrest wrote:

Qandor wrote:

Well communication is great and all but......

I remember a bit of previous communication. Remember SF was going to take 3 more months development time so it could be launched polished? That didn't work out so well now did it?

The proof is in the pudding and right now I view this type of communication, namely vague promisies, as nothing more than propaganda.

One thing to remember is that any communication reflects the current state of affairs. Said state is always subject to change, and one has to take that into account. I'd rather have the devs talking than not talking, which means accepting that sometimes what they say now won't still be true a month from now.

Gods alone know how many times I've had my project schedules disrupted because my boss dropped an unexpected last-minute this-takes-priority-over-everything-else project on me and I have to explain to everybody else why I'm not going to have my scheduled work completed on the original schedule.

Boss must be dropping a lot of "this takes priority over everything else" stuff here in EQ2. Three additional months added to launch schedule for "polish" and then you end up launching the poorest polished expansion to date. That three month extension had nothing to do with polish. It had everything to do with lack of resources and they knew that going in but we were fed the "polish" malarkey. 

That is the one signature thing about SOE and particularly EQ2. They constantly play their customers  for dopes. Remember the fabled skeletal revamp that was going to end the appearance woes? They strung everyone along on that for nearly 2 years before they let trickle out that it was cancelled because it was too hard to do. How about the pre-launch video where a designer was bragging about how easy it was to morph an armor set across all races? Post launch the mantra was armor had to be hand designed for each race individually and that was a bridge too far. So which was it? Where was the lie? Pre-launch or post launch? Or is that the boss dropping something again?

Communication is great when it is factual and honest. If it is just PR spin, it's worthless.

I couldn't say it better. The one thing I wanted to hear news about was that we were getting a definite fix for the server lag/latency, zoning, and database issues, and telling us that they're "working on a solution" for MAY is just.....really unbelievable. My brother is an IT head for an internet provider, and if they had database or service issues lasting this length of time or affecting this number of customers, he'd be out of a job.

My guild is seeing a lot of returning players, and quite a few new players, and it's very hard for those of us who have stayed with the game over the years to tell them we have no idea when the sudden periods of dropping to character select, freezing on zoning and/or simply taking 45 minutes to get everyone in a group to the same place at the same time are going to end. I feel sometimes like I'm back in EQ1 spending hours to get somewhere and do anything because people are going linkdead so often while we group that we might as well be running naked across West Karana shouting "has anyone seen my corpse?" like the good old days. And frankly, while I remember my time in EQ1 with fondness, I have no desire to suffer that kind of delay and frustration in EQ2. That is, in fact, why I started playing EQ2.

I don't think your engineers need to be fired, but I certainly do think that SOE needs to look at the amount of resources they have allocated to them, because there is just no question the issues should have been identified and fixed by now.

[Levatino]

Bunji wrote:

Levatino wrote:

I'm also curious if a next update also has a fix for feather icons stopping from dissappearing after zoning. Or at least a confirmatiion they're working on it? Cause it still happends to me and others.

The fix for this went live with yesterday's Hotfix (3/30).

thanks for confirming, and yes I have noticed it! Gladly I can now switch chars again instead of log off log in

[andycunny]

any news on account linking?  it's been a long time since it last reared it's head and as someone who pays to run 3 accounts  this feature is HIGH on my want things now list .  any news will be appreciated.

Thanks

[Rainmare]

I have a major beef with Battlegrounds. well two in particular.

1. people that claim they are 'wildly popular'... thier not. I'm in a guild of 180 people. wanna know how many use Bgs? 5. every pug I've been in, wanna know thier response to Bgs? Scrap them.

2. When this concept was introduced. and the PvE people predicted that the BG gear was going to be forced on us, you the dev team told us not to worry, becuase the BG gear would be restricted in PvE. Well, we were right. in order to be competitive now, you are FORCED to PvP for BG gear, because while you did take away the potency effects, you DIDN'T take away all the healing procs, fatal lifetap procs, ward procs, and the like.

there is nothing outside of a few peices of raid gear that has Fatal Lifetap. there's NO rings that have 1k wards on them. there's again nothing but a few raid drops that have some of the healing procs. adn these require KILLING the mobs to even think about them.

the only thing you have to go in a BG is show up. you'll get your token regardless of what you do. So while raiders spend days and weeks or longer working out strats and waiting for thier classes stuff to drop, someone who joins BGs while they watch TV can get the same or better equipment.

Yes, I understand that unless you put in hugely powerful gear no one will use the BGs. just like no one used the Arena in majdul. banners, titles, house items weren't good enough to make PvE players deal with the griefing and annoyance of PvP.

But you should also have kept your word. and made all the procs and effects on BG gear just for BG content.

I bet you'd find about 90% of the people playing bg would probably leave though if you did. out of the 5 peopel in my guild that used them, 3 have quit. why? becuase they only did it to get the gear for the procs that work in PvE...but I am sick of my raid paladin being a weaker tank then someone that doesn't raid solely because of an extra 2k in wards and a huge dps increase from Fatal Lifetap being on 3 or more peices of gear. Especially since this was EXACTLY WHAT YOU PROMISED WOULDN'T HAPPEN. People in Raid gear SHOULD be the most powerful in PvE, beucase that's the hardest PvE content. that's the endgame stuff. the most powerful shouldn't be the BG people who basically join the bg, and sit and die becuase it doesn't matter if they win. they'll get thier token and join another until they get all the tokens they need for the hugely overpowered gear.

If I WANTED to PvP for progression/gear, I'd have ROLLED ON A PVP SERVER.

[Myrrhia]

Ashlian@Mistmoore wrote:

Qandor wrote:

Jrral@Unrest wrote:

Qandor wrote:

Well communication is great and all but......

I remember a bit of previous communication. Remember SF was going to take 3 more months development time so it could be launched polished? That didn't work out so well now did it?

The proof is in the pudding and right now I view this type of communication, namely vague promisies, as nothing more than propaganda.

One thing to remember is that any communication reflects the current state of affairs. Said state is always subject to change, and one has to take that into account. I'd rather have the devs talking than not talking, which means accepting that sometimes what they say now won't still be true a month from now.

Gods alone know how many times I've had my project schedules disrupted because my boss dropped an unexpected last-minute this-takes-priority-over-everything-else project on me and I have to explain to everybody else why I'm not going to have my scheduled work completed on the original schedule.

Boss must be dropping a lot of "this takes priority over everything else" stuff here in EQ2. Three additional months added to launch schedule for "polish" and then you end up launching the poorest polished expansion to date. That three month extension had nothing to do with polish. It had everything to do with lack of resources and they knew that going in but we were fed the "polish" malarkey. 

That is the one signature thing about SOE and particularly EQ2. They constantly play their customers  for dopes. Remember the fabled skeletal revamp that was going to end the appearance woes? They strung everyone along on that for nearly 2 years before they let trickle out that it was cancelled because it was too hard to do. How about the pre-launch video where a designer was bragging about how easy it was to morph an armor set across all races? Post launch the mantra was armor had to be hand designed for each race individually and that was a bridge too far. So which was it? Where was the lie? Pre-launch or post launch? Or is that the boss dropping something again?

Communication is great when it is factual and honest. If it is just PR spin, it's worthless.

I couldn't say it better. The one thing I wanted to hear news about was that we were getting a definite fix for the server lag/latency, zoning, and database issues, and telling us that they're "working on a solution" for MAY is just.....really unbelievable. My brother is an IT head for an internet provider, and if they had database or service issues lasting this length of time or affecting this number of customers, he'd be out of a job.

My guild is seeing a lot of returning players, and quite a few new players, and it's very hard for those of us who have stayed with the game over the years to tell them we have no idea when the sudden periods of dropping to character select, freezing on zoning and/or simply taking 45 minutes to get everyone in a group to the same place at the same time are going to end. I feel sometimes like I'm back in EQ1 spending hours to get somewhere and do anything because people are going linkdead so often while we group that we might as well be running naked across West Karana shouting "has anyone seen my corpse?" like the good old days. And frankly, while I remember my time in EQ1 with fondness, I have no desire to suffer that kind of delay and frustration in EQ2. That is, in fact, why I started playing EQ2.

I don't think your engineers need to be fired, but I certainly do think that SOE needs to look at the amount of resources they have allocated to them, because there is just no question the issues should have been identified and fixed by now.

 If I told my clients or other departments within my company who were waiting on my part of a complex job of constant delays, "the omg-my boss just dropped another-this takes priority over everything" excuse, etc, me and my department would be looking for work elsewhere.  There comes a point where the excuses or delays will no longer be acceptable to clientele and reeks of unprofessionalism.  Either you complete your projects or pass them to another department to have them FINISH the job, not leave it unresolved for an indeterminate amount of time.  How about this for a priority?  Fix what is broken, some issues have been outstanding for years. 

I am not bashing the game, I love EQ2 but I also cannot overlook the fact that game issues have been left to wayside while "new and exciting" features are implemented.  Stabilize and repair first, then throw us the new goodies SOE has planned for the EQ2 community.   

[KheldarEQ2]

Wow, lots of interesting stuff here.

I agree with the revamp of the travel system, assuming of course it can be kept within the lore of the game (still have spires, druid rings, etc.).  Several people posted far better ideas than I have on this, so I'll let it go.

I like BG for what it is slowly becoming (truancy for people who try to BG and do nothing, "watch TV" as Rainy said), and think in the end it will become something good once the performace is fixed and the cheaters are finally banned like they need to be.   Everything has growing pains, so I can be patient.   Heck, I can remember having to wait 72 to get rid of my stat penalties because I couldn't get back to my ghost in Runnyeye.   This game has come a long way, so I have faith.

As for alternative ruleset servers....HOORAY!   I have so many things I'd like to see, its crazy.   Boo to alternative PvP rulesets though.  I think there is a reason there are only two servers left (because the population supports one, and the other is LG so it can't go.   *sigh*) 

I know one of the things mentioned in the past at Fan Faire (I think ) was a 50/51 server where characters could start at 50 with 51 aa.   I'd give that a shot, since you could self mentor and try some harder group stuff solo.

As for the RP only server, SIGN ME UP!    I will readily admit that 1. I am lazy, and 2. I only play twice per week for about 4 hours a time, so the only way I have been able to keep up with the game LEGALLY is by being on an exchange server.   I'd love to be on an RP server, but I tried Antonia Bayle and found the stress of starting over COMPLETELY was not balanced by the level of RP (since I saw or could get involved in NONE).   Something where I KNOW I could get some RP would make me willing to live the copper-scraper life once again.

Anyway, all and all, thanks for at least bouncing ideas off of us, Brenlo.   I know ther was some cynical naysayers harping about how none of this will ever come about and how it will just break the game more, but knowing that there are people thinking interesting things to do for the game and sharing them is a plus in my book.

[Myrrhia]

Rainmare@Oasis wrote:

I have a major beef with Battlegrounds. well two in particular.

1. people that claim they are 'wildly popular'... thier not. I'm in a guild of 180 people. wanna know how many use Bgs? 5. every pug I've been in, wanna know thier response to Bgs? Scrap them.

2. When this concept was introduced. and the PvE people predicted that the BG gear was going to be forced on us, you the dev team told us not to worry, becuase the BG gear would be restricted in PvE. Well, we were right. in order to be competitive now, you are FORCED to PvP for BG gear, because while you did take away the potency effects, you DIDN'T take away all the healing procs, fatal lifetap procs, ward procs, and the like.

there is nothing outside of a few peices of raid gear that has Fatal Lifetap. there's NO rings that have 1k wards on them. there's again nothing but a few raid drops that have some of the healing procs. adn these require KILLING the mobs to even think about them.

the only thing you have to go in a BG is show up. you'll get your token regardless of what you do. So while raiders spend days and weeks or longer working out strats and waiting for thier classes stuff to drop, someone who joins BGs while they watch TV can get the same or better equipment.

Yes, I understand that unless you put in hugely powerful gear no one will use the BGs. just like no one used the Arena in majdul. banners, titles, house items weren't good enough to make PvE players deal with the griefing and annoyance of PvP.

But you should also have kept your word. and made all the procs and effects on BG gear just for BG content.

I bet you'd find about 90% of the people playing bg would probably leave though if you did. out of the 5 peopel in my guild that used them, 3 have quit. why? becuase they only did it to get the gear for the procs that work in PvE...but I am sick of my raid paladin being a weaker tank then someone that doesn't raid solely because of an extra 2k in wards and a huge dps increase from Fatal Lifetap being on 3 or more peices of gear. Especially since this was EXACTLY WHAT YOU PROMISED WOULDN'T HAPPEN. People in Raid gear SHOULD be the most powerful in PvE, beucase that's the hardest PvE content. that's the endgame stuff. the most powerful shouldn't be the BG people who basically join the bg, and sit and die becuase it doesn't matter if they win. they'll get thier token and join another until they get all the tokens they need for the hugely overpowered gear.

If I WANTED to PvP for progression/gear, I'd have ROLLED ON A PVP SERVER.

I agree with you on Point #2, I believe the programmers either missed the fact that anything & everything associated with BG gear should have been coded/restricted to PvP only, or this is what they had planned all along.  Stat bonuses, proc effects, ability modifiers, etc should be enabled to work in the BG instances/maps.  Once they leave those areas, everything returns to normal.  We have more than enough room on our characters to carry another set of gear: whether it be for PvE raiding or your set of PvP gear.     

[BChizzle]

So basically we can expect the first game update of this expansion to just be stuff that was supposed to be in the expansion anyways?  Your production has really gone down hill and it wasn't a big hill to begin with.

[Dareena]

Rainmare@Oasis wrote:

I have a major beef with Battlegrounds. well two in particular.

1. people that claim they are 'wildly popular'... thier not. I'm in a guild of 180 people. wanna know how many use Bgs? 5. every pug I've been in, wanna know thier response to Bgs? Scrap them.

(snip)

But you should also have kept your word. and made all the procs and effects on BG gear just for BG content.

I bet you'd find about 90% of the people playing bg would probably leave though if you did. out of the 5 peopel in my guild that used them, 3 have quit. why? becuase they only did it to get the gear for the procs that work in PvE...but I am sick of my raid paladin being a weaker tank then someone that doesn't raid solely because of an extra 2k in wards and a huge dps increase from Fatal Lifetap being on 3 or more peices of gear. Especially since this was EXACTLY WHAT YOU PROMISED WOULDN'T HAPPEN. People in Raid gear SHOULD be the most powerful in PvE, beucase that's the hardest PvE content. that's the endgame stuff. the most powerful shouldn't be the BG people who basically join the bg, and sit and die becuase it doesn't matter if they win. they'll get thier token and join another until they get all the tokens they need for the hugely overpowered gear.

If I WANTED to PvP for progression/gear, I'd have ROLLED ON A PVP SERVER.

After seeing your post, I feel compelled to make some counter points.

Popularity

Congratulations on having a raid guild full of people who are "satisfied" with SF.  Yes, I know that word is subjective.  But for myself (and others like me who I've talked to), the BG system is the only reason why I'm still playing this game.  I've discovered that after having gone through enough void shards in TSO to gear out x3 sets worth of T3 armor (with upgraded WoE jewelry), I'm extremely burnt out on the whole concept of shard / mark grinding.  Especially considering the average Mark price tag on the T2 Heroic pieces.

Unlike the Mark system, the BG token system provides an attractive ratio of cost vs rewards.  Ever with items costing between 60 - 100 tokens, the end result items are actually attractive when compared to our TSO T3 / T4 gear.  Also unlike the token grinding of the TSO era, I'm actually having fun in the BG.  Getting to play on a "cohesive" team that is against mobs which have an ever evolving AI is actually making me have to think to play EQ2.  Gasp!  The BG system is drastically different from a true PvP server and I'm really liking these BG events.  It also fullfills my instinct to raid since I'm unwilling to commit myself to a raiding lifestyle at this point in my life.

Progression

First off, Raid gear is superior at 90th level to PvP gear in a PvP environment.  Period.  Red adornments (and even Yellow adornments) are making a supreme difference since they can't be used on PvP gear.  As if the armor isn't enough, we also have the issues with PvE Raid jewelry too.

PvP jewelry (with a few exceptions) has +0 Resists on each piece.  The few items which were an exception to this rule have been changed as of this week to only having their +Resists function during PvP.  This means that in a PvP environment, Raid jewelry will often be superior on the survivability side due to having various +Resist bonuses.  Also since the PvP jewelry lacks resists, it's really a mixed bag when used in PvE circumstances.  Yes, they can have powerful abilities.  But at the same time, they will inherently cost the wearer permanent survivability issues.

From all of the various reports that I've heard, it seems that PvE Heroic mobs in SF aren't criting.  Assuming that this is true, Critical Mitigation has become a Raid only stat.  In that kind of a scenerio, the PvP armor is basically the best thing that you can find for PvE Heroic content.  Even though it lacks Yellow adornment slots, it's still mostly surperior to the T2 SF Heroic armor.  (Though since PvP +Potency only works in PvP, the shoulder armor in the PvP set may be worthless for many PvE classes.)  Having said that, you need Critical Mitigation to raid.  So no matter how powerful PvP armor might be, it will get you drop kicked in SF raiding.  Also since PvP armor lacks the Red adornment slots, it's rather weak for raiding.

All in all, Raid gear is flat out superior to PvP in a lot of circumstances.  The only difference for PvE servers is that the BG gear is easier to get than SF raid gear (if you aren't part of an active raiding guild).  People are using the BG system to gear up for 90th level play.  Then they're taking that gear to run through SF Heroic content.  After having enough SF Heroic gear, BG gear, and TSO raid armor, people are moving onto SF Raiding.  Or if you were part of a strong TSO raid guild, then you can bypass these steps.

How is this a bad thing?  People may still run a few pieces of BG gear and accept the costs of not having Critical Mitigation or +Resists.  But in general, people who raid will want to be decked out in raid gear.  Though SOE has changed the path of progression to get to this end result, the final destination is still the same as it's always been.

[Wingrider01]

BChizzle wrote:

So basically we can expect the first game update of this expansion to just be stuff that was supposed to be in the expansion anyways?  Your production has really gone down hill and it wasn't a big hill to begin with.

If you are speaking of Halas - that was never part of the expansion, but it was stated is would be part of the normal GU, that the expansions was not needed to be able to access Halas - what else are you referring to?

[Dasein]

Rainmare@Oasis wrote:

I have a major beef with Battlegrounds. well two in particular.

1. people that claim they are 'wildly popular'... thier not. I'm in a guild of 180 people. wanna know how many use Bgs? 5. every pug I've been in, wanna know thier response to Bgs? Scrap them.

2. When this concept was introduced. and the PvE people predicted that the BG gear was going to be forced on us, you the dev team told us not to worry, becuase the BG gear would be restricted in PvE. Well, we were right. in order to be competitive now, you are FORCED to PvP for BG gear, because while you did take away the potency effects, you DIDN'T take away all the healing procs, fatal lifetap procs, ward procs, and the like.

Your two points seem to contradict each other. If the gear is required, as you claim, then shouldn't you be seeing many more people using the BGs? I would think, if you were forced to be competative, that many people would be using the BGs, yet as you claim, this is not the case, so perhaps BGs are not as required as you think.

[Kiara]

One thing I'd like to point out that you guys are confused about.

Part of Brenlo's post has to do with stuff that is coming with the next update in May, yes.

However that doesn't apply to the work being done on the server performance issues.  They're working on this NOW to get it fixed asap.  If they find a way to fix it tomorrow, it'll be implemented.  They aren't working to fix it for May.  They're working to fix it as quickly as they can find a way to make it work.

It's easy to assume that anything talked about in the note has only to do with May... So I wanted to clear that up for you.

[Liral]

Kiara wrote:

One thing I'd like to point out that you guys are confused about.

Part of Brenlo's post has to do with stuff that is coming with the next update in May, yes.

However that doesn't apply to the work being done on the server performance issues.  They're working on this NOW to get it fixed asap.  If they find a way to fix it tomorrow, it'll be implemented.  They aren't working to fix it for May.  They're working to fix it as quickly as they can find a way to make it work.

It's easy to assume that anything talked about in the note has only to do with May... So I wanted to clear that up for you.

That should be obvious to people but needed saying anyways. Thanks Kiara. :&gt

[BChizzle]

Wingrider01 wrote:

BChizzle wrote:

So basically we can expect the first game update of this expansion to just be stuff that was supposed to be in the expansion anyways?  Your production has really gone down hill and it wasn't a big hill to begin with.

If you are speaking of Halas - that was never part of the expansion, but it was stated is would be part of the normal GU, that the expansions was not needed to be able to access Halas - what else are you referring to?

Halas, shader 3.0, battlegrounds were all supposed to launch with the expansion.  It doesn't matter if you want to get technical and split hairs saying Halas was not part of the expansion it was still supposed to launch with it.

[kronas]

Brenlo wrote:

 

New Halas:  We shifted around some of our priorities leading up to the expansion launch and this included shifting New Halas back one update.  Frankly we needed more time.  New player zones actually require a lot more work than a dungeon, overland, or raid zone.  Significantly more work in fact, so rather than rush it, we moved it back.  You will be pleased to know that it is progressing quite well.  The zone art is amazing, as is the housing. I think a lot of players may be moving their homes in the near future.  We have a team of designers working on the quests and population, along with a team of artists working on items.  There has been a good deal of excitement from the team as they watch it all come together.  New Halas is coming in the next update, barring some unforeseen event, like a comet smashing into the Earth or something.  Oh and no, there will not be guild halls available in New Halas at launch.   Sorry folks.

 

Has any SOE employee confirmed weather or not Guild Halls are coming to new Halas once so ever. I know not at launch but is it planned to come out anytime?  Also made a small request on this post http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/...topic_id=475646