What's the point? The game can be fixed but will SoE do what it takes?

Bauglir · 12-07-2011, 03:05 AM

So the servers are down? Big deal, grab a book, watch TV, spend time with your spouses or family. I enjoyed the game after returning from many years b eing away. I enjoyed obtaining my epic and my epic repercussions with minimal help, no guild behind me. I even enjoyed factioning for crappy rygorr armor and scraping up the plat for a few pieces of that to supplement my grabage RW armor. There was and is a sense of achomplishment there. Finding people to group with is still impossible in my opinion. Right now its pretty boring.

I spend most nights watching chat and seeing uber guildies auction off loot I will never be able to afford and poke fun at people like me looking for DoV dungeon groups.

While I hope the game gets some new players and grows in population I am not all that hopeful. The playerbase is set in their ways, super arrogant, virtually unwilling to accept new players, and for the most part complains about everything. Some of this is just the affect of so many people leaving and all there being left are raiders. I was a raider once in another game so I get the mentality, it dosen't help attract new players by the way.

Basiclly at this point the game for newer players (like those returning after multiple years away) is logging on and spamming for a group while they try to get into one of the ring war events or solo quests/kill mobs for AA progression and plat for rygorr armor jems (or factioning for rygorr), the gems are by the way insanly expensive on the auction house. You can try to use dungeon finder but no one is there. You might get a Kael group.. maybe.. once every 3 days when uber guildies are bored and need a few extra bodies to farm for their many alts. Mostly you will be bored waiting and soloing because there is no one there that will group with you.

Trying to break into the active part of this game is nearly impossible and making a new character to start the leveling treadmill again is a bit much to ask.

SoE needs to do the following:

1. Free character transfers so people can find active servers with enough population for their play style.

2. Cross-Server Dungeon Finder so the few hundreth or thousand people using the system can be matched.

3. Work on developing merc NPCs so that they can be used by a single player to form an affordable group to solo the group level (not raid) content (yes this meand dungeons).

The above will provide a progression path for new players and they will have, at the end of this path, the gear and stats to perhaps form their own raid guilds.

If changes similar to the above are not made the game will continue its slow decline. Currently new players are too spread out, on too many servers. They lack the numbers and thus the chance to group and engage content and thus obtain gear to progress.

Raffir · 12-07-2011, 01:52 PM

Not true on Freeport...c'mon over and check it out. The server population is pretty decent in all levels and a lot of Guilds are much more casual. I've never had a problem getting a group. And you can, if you need help, just ask someone in zone and they'll more than likely drop what they are doing and help you out.

Sent you a PM.

Raf

Questall · 12-07-2011, 02:22 PM

I agree for most part with OP, finding a group is nearly impossible, and worse so if ur under 90. Making all content and dungeons under 90 so trivial makes it that way imo, forcing ppl to start boxing. So, the veteran players, that already know the mechanics of most classes, they dont have a problem with soloing/boxing up to 90, grinding up the AA andsoforth....

New players, on the contrary, are expected to solo their way up (once i saw an 81 bruiser asking for a grp....man, did he get ripped apart, and this was NOT an isolated incident, ppl get scorned regularly for not soloing certain content), and, and here comes the good part : the minute they turn 90 they are considered to be at parse AND to be experienced. I blame SOE mostly for this. Trivializing lower lvl content resulted in boxing, resulting in even less groups and making lvl 90 content only attractive makes new players rush, resulting in them not knowing their class.

Other players are to blame also ofc, enforcing their high standard requirements on other players to be accepted in guilds/groups. But that depends on the player, and there are still a lot of friendly, laidback ppl on our server.

But what im ultimately asking for is a slower.steadier learning curve. I know i would like that, and i think newer players would too.

One way to learn ur class is of course to make lower lvl content attractive again, so that more groups are around of any lvl tier. Cos, so far, grouping experience starts at 90.

Luterin · 12-07-2011, 02:25 PM

Raffir wrote:

Not true on Freeport...c'mon over and check it out. The server population is pretty decent in all levels and a lot of Guilds are much more casual. I've never had a problem getting a group. And you can, if you need help, just ask someone in zone and they'll more than likely drop what they are doing and help you out.
Sent you a PM.
Raf

I totally agree with this, on Freeport no matter what char I play or what I am doing, there are always alot of people around, and most are very friendly and helpfull.

I spend alot of time being chronoed running around in old dungeons for fun, and I am always surprised with the amount of people I meet in all the different levelranges.

Gorpier · 12-07-2011, 02:27 PM

Bauglir wrote:

So the servers are down? Big deal, grab a book, watch TV, spend time with your spouses or family. I enjoyed the game after returning from many years b eing away. I enjoyed obtaining my epic and my epic repercussions with minimal help, no guild behind me. I even enjoyed factioning for crappy rygorr armor and scraping up the plat for a few pieces of that to supplement my grabage RW armor. There was and is a sense of achomplishment there. Finding people to group with is still impossible in my opinion. Right now its pretty boring.
I spend most nights watching chat and seeing uber guildies auction off loot I will never be able to afford and poke fun at people like me looking for DoV dungeon groups.
While I hope the game gets some new players and grows in population I am not all that hopeful. The playerbase is set in their ways, super arrogant, virtually unwilling to accept new players, and for the most part complains about everything. Some of this is just the affect of so many people leaving and all there being left are raiders. I was a raider once in another game so I get the mentality, it dosen't help attract new players by the way.
Basiclly at this point the game for newer players (like those returning after multiple years away) is logging on and spamming for a group while they try to get into one of the ring war events or solo quests/kill mobs for AA progression and plat for rygorr armor jems (or factioning for rygorr), the gems are by the way insanly expensive on the auction house. You can try to use dungeon finder but no one is there. You might get a Kael group.. maybe.. once every 3 days when uber guildies are bored and need a few extra bodies to farm for their many alts. Mostly you will be bored waiting and soloing because there is no one there that will group with you.
Trying to break into the active part of this game is nearly impossible and making a new character to start the leveling treadmill again is a bit much to ask.
SoE needs to do the following:
1. Free character transfers so people can find active servers with enough population for their play style.
That'd be nice. Especially with the F2P changes. Seems like it'd be a wonderful time to allow folks to find the spot that suited them best.
2. Cross-Server Dungeon Finder so the few hundreth or thousand people using the system can be matched.
I agree with this as well. From the beginning, I loved the idea of the Dungeon Finder and was sad when I realized it only sort of worked because of populations. I'm on AB and we have a high server population and still there are few lower level ques to enter. the average wait on anything below 80 is 2-13 hours. Maybe a cross server set up would bring this into manageable ranges.
3. Work on developing merc NPCs so that they can be used by a single player to form an affordable group to solo the group level (not raid) content (yes this meand dungeons).
This one confuses me. Isn't AoD adding mercs already?
The above will provide a progression path for new players and they will have, at the end of this path, the gear and stats to perhaps form their own raid guilds.
If changes similar to the above are not made the game will continue its slow decline. Currently new players are too spread out, on too many servers. They lack the numbers and thus the chance to group and engage content and thus obtain gear to progress.

I understand your reluctance to switch servers, but in the event that SOE doesn't allow free server transfers, you might consider AB or Freeport. Both have excellent populations and might be a better fit for you. I know it'd require a reroll or a transfer, but 90 is easy to achieve these days. If you come out to AB, give me a yell. I'm always happy to help out and I have characters in a wide variety of level ranges who dont' mind mentoring. I won't be getting AoD for a while so no DYOD or mercs for me, but I can certainly help out in other areas.

Also, if you do decide to go with a guild and you happen to be 30 years old or more, check out Oldschool. Great group of people who are always willing to pitch in and kill bad guys. (Or good guys depending on your faction and views SMILEY ) We aren't an RP guild but I think a few of the memebers do RP sometimes.

Raffir · 12-07-2011, 02:28 PM

Guys...the F2P model should start to change that. More and more players will start coming in. New Guilds will begin to pop up where people are starting at the same levels. Freeport has been like that from the beginning. Eventually, the other servers will catch up.

That said...its now the beginning. Maybe you guys ought to start a guild / guilds that caters to new players incoming? Especially if the crit mit / mitigation wall exists for the older guilds?

Raf

12-07-2011, 02:22 PM	#3
Questall Server: Runnyeye Guild: The Eternal Rank: Milite Lord Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 191	I agree for most part with OP, finding a group is nearly impossible, and worse so if ur under 90. Making all content and dungeons under 90 so trivial makes it that way imo, forcing ppl to start boxing. So, the veteran players, that already know the mechanics of most classes, they dont have a problem with soloing/boxing up to 90, grinding up the AA andsoforth.... New players, on the contrary, are expected to solo their way up (once i saw an 81 bruiser asking for a grp....man, did he get ripped apart, and this was NOT an isolated incident, ppl get scorned regularly for not soloing certain content), and, and here comes the good part : the minute they turn 90 they are considered to be at parse AND to be experienced. I blame SOE mostly for this. Trivializing lower lvl content resulted in boxing, resulting in even less groups and making lvl 90 content only attractive makes new players rush, resulting in them not knowing their class. Other players are to blame also ofc, enforcing their high standard requirements on other players to be accepted in guilds/groups. But that depends on the player, and there are still a lot of friendly, laidback ppl on our server. But what im ultimately asking for is a slower.steadier learning curve. I know i would like that, and i think newer players would too. One way to learn ur class is of course to make lower lvl content attractive again, so that more groups are around of any lvl tier. Cos, so far, grouping experience starts at 90. __________________

12-07-2011, 02:25 PM	#4
Luterin Lord Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 86	Raffir wrote: Not true on Freeport...c'mon over and check it out. The server population is pretty decent in all levels and a lot of Guilds are much more casual. I've never had a problem getting a group. And you can, if you need help, just ask someone in zone and they'll more than likely drop what they are doing and help you out. Sent you a PM. Raf I totally agree with this, on Freeport no matter what char I play or what I am doing, there are always alot of people around, and most are very friendly and helpfull. I spend alot of time being chronoed running around in old dungeons for fun, and I am always surprised with the amount of people I meet in all the different levelranges.

12-07-2011, 02:27 PM	#5
Gorpier Loremaster Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: USA Posts: 320	Bauglir wrote: So the servers are down? Big deal, grab a book, watch TV, spend time with your spouses or family. I enjoyed the game after returning from many years b eing away. I enjoyed obtaining my epic and my epic repercussions with minimal help, no guild behind me. I even enjoyed factioning for crappy rygorr armor and scraping up the plat for a few pieces of that to supplement my grabage RW armor. There was and is a sense of achomplishment there. Finding people to group with is still impossible in my opinion. Right now its pretty boring. I spend most nights watching chat and seeing uber guildies auction off loot I will never be able to afford and poke fun at people like me looking for DoV dungeon groups. While I hope the game gets some new players and grows in population I am not all that hopeful. The playerbase is set in their ways, super arrogant, virtually unwilling to accept new players, and for the most part complains about everything. Some of this is just the affect of so many people leaving and all there being left are raiders. I was a raider once in another game so I get the mentality, it dosen't help attract new players by the way. Basiclly at this point the game for newer players (like those returning after multiple years away) is logging on and spamming for a group while they try to get into one of the ring war events or solo quests/kill mobs for AA progression and plat for rygorr armor jems (or factioning for rygorr), the gems are by the way insanly expensive on the auction house. You can try to use dungeon finder but no one is there. You might get a Kael group.. maybe.. once every 3 days when uber guildies are bored and need a few extra bodies to farm for their many alts. Mostly you will be bored waiting and soloing because there is no one there that will group with you. Trying to break into the active part of this game is nearly impossible and making a new character to start the leveling treadmill again is a bit much to ask. SoE needs to do the following: 1. Free character transfers so people can find active servers with enough population for their play style. That'd be nice. Especially with the F2P changes. Seems like it'd be a wonderful time to allow folks to find the spot that suited them best. 2. Cross-Server Dungeon Finder so the few hundreth or thousand people using the system can be matched. I agree with this as well. From the beginning, I loved the idea of the Dungeon Finder and was sad when I realized it only sort of worked because of populations. I'm on AB and we have a high server population and still there are few lower level ques to enter. the average wait on anything below 80 is 2-13 hours. Maybe a cross server set up would bring this into manageable ranges. 3. Work on developing merc NPCs so that they can be used by a single player to form an affordable group to solo the group level (not raid) content (yes this meand dungeons). This one confuses me. Isn't AoD adding mercs already? The above will provide a progression path for new players and they will have, at the end of this path, the gear and stats to perhaps form their own raid guilds. If changes similar to the above are not made the game will continue its slow decline. Currently new players are too spread out, on too many servers. They lack the numbers and thus the chance to group and engage content and thus obtain gear to progress. I understand your reluctance to switch servers, but in the event that SOE doesn't allow free server transfers, you might consider AB or Freeport. Both have excellent populations and might be a better fit for you. I know it'd require a reroll or a transfer, but 90 is easy to achieve these days. If you come out to AB, give me a yell. I'm always happy to help out and I have characters in a wide variety of level ranges who dont' mind mentoring. I won't be getting AoD for a while so no DYOD or mercs for me, but I can certainly help out in other areas. Also, if you do decide to go with a guild and you happen to be 30 years old or more, check out Oldschool. Great group of people who are always willing to pitch in and kill bad guys. (Or good guys depending on your faction and views ) We aren't an RP guild but I think a few of the memebers do RP sometimes. __________________

12-07-2011, 03:05 AM	#1
Bauglir Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 136	So the servers are down? Big deal, grab a book, watch TV, spend time with your spouses or family. I enjoyed the game after returning from many years b eing away. I enjoyed obtaining my epic and my epic repercussions with minimal help, no guild behind me. I even enjoyed factioning for crappy rygorr armor and scraping up the plat for a few pieces of that to supplement my grabage RW armor. There was and is a sense of achomplishment there. Finding people to group with is still impossible in my opinion. Right now its pretty boring. I spend most nights watching chat and seeing uber guildies auction off loot I will never be able to afford and poke fun at people like me looking for DoV dungeon groups. While I hope the game gets some new players and grows in population I am not all that hopeful. The playerbase is set in their ways, super arrogant, virtually unwilling to accept new players, and for the most part complains about everything. Some of this is just the affect of so many people leaving and all there being left are raiders. I was a raider once in another game so I get the mentality, it dosen't help attract new players by the way. Basiclly at this point the game for newer players (like those returning after multiple years away) is logging on and spamming for a group while they try to get into one of the ring war events or solo quests/kill mobs for AA progression and plat for rygorr armor jems (or factioning for rygorr), the gems are by the way insanly expensive on the auction house. You can try to use dungeon finder but no one is there. You might get a Kael group.. maybe.. once every 3 days when uber guildies are bored and need a few extra bodies to farm for their many alts. Mostly you will be bored waiting and soloing because there is no one there that will group with you. Trying to break into the active part of this game is nearly impossible and making a new character to start the leveling treadmill again is a bit much to ask. SoE needs to do the following: 1. Free character transfers so people can find active servers with enough population for their play style. 2. Cross-Server Dungeon Finder so the few hundreth or thousand people using the system can be matched. 3. Work on developing merc NPCs so that they can be used by a single player to form an affordable group to solo the group level (not raid) content (yes this meand dungeons). The above will provide a progression path for new players and they will have, at the end of this path, the gear and stats to perhaps form their own raid guilds. If changes similar to the above are not made the game will continue its slow decline. Currently new players are too spread out, on too many servers. They lack the numbers and thus the chance to group and engage content and thus obtain gear to progress.

12-07-2011, 01:52 PM	#2
Raffir Loremaster Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Texas Posts: 308	Not true on Freeport...c'mon over and check it out. The server population is pretty decent in all levels and a lot of Guilds are much more casual. I've never had a problem getting a group. And you can, if you need help, just ask someone in zone and they'll more than likely drop what they are doing and help you out. Sent you a PM. Raf

12-07-2011, 02:28 PM	#6
Raffir Loremaster Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Texas Posts: 308	Guys...the F2P model should start to change that. More and more players will start coming in. New Guilds will begin to pop up where people are starting at the same levels. Freeport has been like that from the beginning. Eventually, the other servers will catch up. That said...its now the beginning. Maybe you guys ought to start a guild / guilds that caters to new players incoming? Especially if the crit mit / mitigation wall exists for the older guilds? Raf