Please Remove the 280AA Requirement to go to 92! - Page 17

Coffee_Hound · 06-26-2012, 12:43 PM

In theory, I like the idea of having level/AA gates to content for many of the reasons posted in this thread; however, the way it is now with only a 280AA requirement to raise above 90 needs to be changed or removed.

I just recently raised my AA above 280, and it wasn’t a natural (or fun) gaming experience. Some quick background -

I started playing EQ2 a while back with a few friends. We all created characters to adventure together (I got stuck being the bard… Haha!), and we leveled up almost entirely in dungeons doing heroic content. We also grabbed every heroic quest we saw along the way. Now you would think that would be the best way of leveling in a MMO (doing group content almost exclusively), but it actually leaves you FAR short of 280AA – I had 130-something AA when I hit 90 (my soloquest alt hit 90 with 260AA).

Now here’s my issue with the 280AA gate to rise above 90 – there is not an intuitive way to progress your character when you hit that wall. There are no groups in pre-SS content, I can’t group in SS group content, and soloquesting SF and DoV still left me about 100AA short of the 280AA. The way to bridge the AA gap is to chrono-mentor down and solo old group content. While that is an easy decision to make when you know the game, it is not an intuitive thing to do in a MMO. In addition, it is not a very fun thing to do, especially for some classes (e.g. my dirge). I leveled doing exactly what I should do in a MMO, grouping up in group content, and I was rewarded with a very long and un-fun grind to get past 90 so I could group again.

Again, I like the idea of having level/AA gates, but having only one gate at level 90 with no clear in-game path or indicator on how to progress beyond that point when you are far short of AAs is really lame.

Outkast1980 · 06-26-2012, 12:49 PM

Atan@Unrest wrote:

There are a number of things they could do to immediately make this better:
You could allow people to continue to level but not accept group invites until they reach 280 aa. That is a simple 'stop-gap' solution.
You could make their names all be an alternate color to call them out as underpowered. So players can decide to carry them or not. Personally, I would carry a dirge box with 200aa over a dirge merc for example.
You could just auto ding to 280 aa when you ding level 90. Lets face it here nearly everyone is in agreement that if you know the game the process of getting those aa is trivial, so lets just remove the timesink. Deliver it in potion form, player can consume it or not, but then they are not road-blocked (gated).
I'm sure there are many other solutions, but throwing this gate up at the end of level progression without setting it up over the entire player experience is really a teribad design decision.
Game designers know gating players is a terrible thing to do, and that each time they place a gate in their game they run the risk of losing some players. The way this thing is implemented, its the Brandenburg Gate of player gates i

1) That would mean you couldn't box your other account(if u had more then one) . This is not a good solution

2) Not a fan of this either, because the person could just say Swash LFG, they filll last spot, you think your good to go. They get to zone, then u have to decide if u want to wait longer, or find someone else. - Not a fan again

3.) Absolutely not. I am so tired of all these handouts. Trivial or not . OTHERS had to do that way. I have spent countless hrs getting LOTS of toons to 280+ AA. I would be very annoyed knowing OTHERS now get it just handed to them. Trivial or not.

Yimway · 06-26-2012, 12:51 PM

Outkast1980 wrote:

3.) Absolutely not. I am so tired of all these handouts. Trivial or not . OTHERS had to do that way. I have spent countless hrs getting LOTS of toons to 280+ AA. I would be very annoyed knowing OTHERS now get it just handed to them. Trivial or not.

I understand your feeling here, but fact is we can't afford to lose players, we've lost too many already. If a handout keeps them playing long enough to actually start grouping and raiding, then I support the hand-out.

Telling them to suck it up, I'm afraid results into more people logging into Diablo 3 instead of EQ2.

Outkast1980 · 06-26-2012, 01:01 PM

Atan@Unrest wrote:

Outkast1980 wrote:
3.) Absolutely not. I am so tired of all these handouts. Trivial or not . OTHERS had to do that way. I have spent countless hrs getting LOTS of toons to 280+ AA. I would be very annoyed knowing OTHERS now get it just handed to them. Trivial or not.
I understand your feeling here, but fact is we can't afford to lose players, we've lost too many already. If a handout keeps them playing long enough to actually start grouping and raiding, then I support the hand-out.
Telling them to suck it up, I'm afraid results into more people logging into Diablo 3 instead of EQ2.

I am a pvper, so my thoughts on that is this. If they want to go play a completely pve game , that from everyone I talked to is fun, but other little bits of time at a time. Something to play here and there basically. Then I say, go ahead.

Yimway · 06-26-2012, 01:09 PM

Outkast1980 wrote:

Atan@Unrest wrote:
I understand your feeling here, but fact is we can't afford to lose players, we've lost too many already. If a handout keeps them playing long enough to actually start grouping and raiding, then I support the hand-out.
Telling them to suck it up, I'm afraid results into more people logging into Diablo 3 instead of EQ2.
I am a pvper, so my thoughts on that is this. If they want to go play a completely pve game , that from everyone I talked to is fun, but other little bits of time at a time. Something to play here and there basically. Then I say, go ahead.

Aaah.

Yes, from a pvp standpoint I can see why you wouldn't want to see a handout, and I don't think one needs to exist on the PVP server.

The thing is, in PVP play, the importance of getting every AA possible while leveling up is already prevelant. You don't run into people being gated the same way on the PVP server as the gameplay has conditioned them to getting as much aa as possible as they level up as its far more needed to stay alive and function well.

In PVE, you can almost ignore AA gains and just cruise on up. There just isn't the same motivation for the player to slow down in order to amass more AA.

Elebu · 06-26-2012, 01:24 PM

Coffee_Hound wrote:

In theory, I like the idea of having level/AA gates to content for many of the reasons posted in this thread; however, the way it is now with only a 280AA requirement to raise above 90 needs to be changed or removed.
I just recently raised my AA above 280, and it wasn’t a natural (or fun) gaming experience. Some quick background -
I started playing EQ2 a while back with a few friends. We all created characters to adventure together (I got stuck being the bard… Haha!), and we leveled up almost entirely in dungeons doing heroic content. We also grabbed every heroic quest we saw along the way. Now you would think that would be the best way of leveling in a MMO (doing group content almost exclusively), but it actually leaves you FAR short of 280AA – I had 130-something AA when I hit 90 (my soloquest alt hit 90 with 260AA).
Now here’s my issue with the 280AA gate to rise above 90 – there is not an intuitive way to progress your character when you hit that wall. There are no groups in pre-SS content, I can’t group in SS group content, and soloquesting SF and DoV still left me about 100AA short of the 280AA. The way to bridge the AA gap is to chrono-mentor down and solo old group content. While that is an easy decision to make when you know the game, it is not an intuitive thing to do in a MMO. In addition, it is not a very fun thing to do, especially for some classes (e.g. my dirge). I leveled doing exactly what I should do in a MMO, grouping up in group content, and I was rewarded with a very long and un-fun grind to get past 90 so I could group again.
Again, I like the idea of having level/AA gates, but having only one gate at level 90 with no clear in-game path or indicator on how to progress beyond that point when you are far short of AAs is really lame.

Very well said. Of all the things this game has flat-out stolen/copied from other titles in the genre, they stand alone in having some of the most brutal and tedious character advancement around.

Not a selling point for new (or returning) subs when stacked against the newest titles.

@Atan nails it pretty well several posts up.

Elebu · 06-26-2012, 01:25 PM

Atan@Unrest wrote:

Outkast1980 wrote:
3.) Absolutely not. I am so tired of all these handouts. Trivial or not . OTHERS had to do that way. I have spent countless hrs getting LOTS of toons to 280+ AA. I would be very annoyed knowing OTHERS now get it just handed to them. Trivial or not.
I understand your feeling here, but fact is we can't afford to lose players, we've lost too many already. If a handout keeps them playing long enough to actually start grouping and raiding, then I support the hand-out.
Telling them to suck it up, I'm afraid results into more people logging into Diablo 3 instead of EQ2.

If it were only DIII. There are so many other options currently why would a company NOT give those handouts without even thinking twice? Weird.

Neiloch · 06-26-2012, 01:30 PM

I like the restriction but as pointed out it is atypical and abrupt. I still don't think it should be removed.

I like the idea of the slider being kind of 'automatic.' Make it so players get about 3-4 AA's per level at minimum, and they can adjust the slider to get more in a level if they wish. Basically making it so they will already have 280 or more when they reach 90.

Implementing that now would cause some problems though. Such as if someone is level 60 with a small amount of AA they would basically be stuck at 60 until they get caught up, the same problem people have at 90.

Alternatively they could just give people the AA every level like prestige points but still allow for the slider so people can earn more without leveling if they wish. So PRESTO everyone who is 90 has at least 280 AA, everyone who is 89 has at least 276.5, 88 = 273 AA, etc.

Senara · 06-26-2012, 01:36 PM

I do not see a problem with the requirement of 280+ AAs. That part is fine.The only problem I see, is how it can completely catch people by suprise.If I make a new character right now, and start working on it, I know what lays ahead. I know I can smash it to 90 then grind AAs. Alternatively, I know I can take my time levelling to 90 but collect a lot of AAs along the way. The main point, is I know what I am in for, and can act accordingly.But if I did not read forums, I would not know what lays ahead, until it hit me. This is not good.The 280+ requirement is perfectly fine. Just increase the awareness.

Raffir · 06-26-2012, 02:06 PM

How many toons does it take a person to realize that getting to 90 with 100 AA's kinda stinks? Only took me one. Now I know why I died so often questing in Velious.

I make sure, now, that all subsequent toons hit 90 with a good portion of 320. My Mystic hit 90 with 300. My level 89 Brig has 287 right now...yeah...slacked on that one.

Raf

shots01 · 06-26-2012, 02:10 PM

I like what the person above me wrote, but not entirely sure I agree with it.

From my personal experience, my monk was in progress when the change occurred. Had I made her after the 280 requirement, yes, I would have done things a little bit different.

But since she was already in existence, and when the change went into place, she was not put at 280 AAs with the increase they gave us.........I, like many others, had to do the grind.

Let's not go into how easy you all find it. You know how I feel about that. Anyways, so, I have doing the grind to 280 for what several weeks? I forgot when I hit 90, about two weeks ago.

Long story short....I did what I knew about, had some help from several groups doing Skyshrine, and managed to get myself up to 272. Last night I had my PoF run because the nice guy noticed I had been working hard to get my 280.

The long and short of this was..........grinding to 280 from 180 was NOT FUN. It completely took the fun aspect out of the game for me. Made it so much like work to the point I almost quit the game three or four times but I refused to give up.

I don't like the requirement, but I cannot say its a bad thing either. If you aren't prepared for it, it hurts.

Yimway · 06-26-2012, 02:11 PM

Raffir wrote:

How many toons does it take a person to realize that getting to 90 with 100 AA's kinda stinks? Only took me one. Now I know why I died so often questing in Velious.

Better question is, how many players would keep playing and roll another toon when they hit that gate on their first one?

I'd argue you would be an exception and not the rule.

shots01 · 06-26-2012, 02:12 PM

Raf, many many people in game are not aware of the requirement.

My personal problem is the fact that I just don't like to level lock and go out for AAs only. Not leveling just BUGS me.

shots01 · 06-26-2012, 02:13 PM

Knowledge is power. Those people that know about the 280 are working to that end.

Those people that are clueless............hit 90 and get slammed with it.

I agree that awareness of this requirement needs to be increased.

Perhaps a MOTD type thing for new players to see.

Ahlana · 06-26-2012, 02:15 PM

Raffir wrote:

How many toons does it take a person to realize that getting to 90 with 100 AA's kinda stinks? Only took me one. Now I know why I died so often questing in Velious.
I make sure, now, that all subsequent toons hit 90 with a good portion of 320. My Mystic hit 90 with 300. My level 89 Brig has 287 right now...yeah...slacked on that one.
Raf

+1

My latest character is a guardian. I didn't even go past level 70 til I had 280 AAs.

Yimway · 06-26-2012, 02:16 PM

shots01 wrote:

Perhaps a MOTD type thing for new players to see.

Even that wont get far. Players either need to be presented with challenges as they level up that enforce the need for AA, or they need to have many mini-gates as they come up so they don't hit this one so hard.

Shadus · 06-26-2012, 02:26 PM

I disagree, the gating mechanism was put in place for the 90+ raids so the devs would be able to balance things better. there is a significant difference in ability between a 120aa 90 and a 280aa 90. I think the gateway is a GOOD thing.

That being said, the difficulty of grinding aa at 90 is absurd, you're better off starting a new level 1 and grinding out 220 at 15... it's 100x faster and easier.

At a 50% slider you should have 280aa at 90. Right now on 50% slider you're no where NEAR 280aa at 90. You've got to put xp slider to 93% to aa to hit 320 at 90 (if you get 45aa at 15)... that's a bit absurd.

It's not hard to get 280 aa... it's trivially easy (grind, grind, grind), its just hideously teadius and mind numbingly boring.

shots01 · 06-26-2012, 02:38 PM

Shadus wrote:

I disagree, the gating mechanism was put in place for the 90+ raids so the devs would be able to balance things better. there is a significant difference in ability between a 120aa 90 and a 280aa 90. I think the gateway is a GOOD thing.
That being said, the difficulty of grinding aa at 90 is absurd, you're better off starting a new level 1 and grinding out 220 at 15... it's 100x faster and easier.
At a 50% slider you should have 280aa at 90. Right now on 50% slider you're no where NEAR 280aa at 90. You've got to put xp slider to 93% to aa to hit 320 at 90 (if you get 45aa at 15)... that's a bit absurd.
It's not hard to get 280 aa... it's trivially easy (grind, grind, grind), its just hideously teadius and mind numbingly boring.

As I have previously stated, I, myself, did NOT find it easy, hideously tedious and mind numbingly boring.....yes..

No more wolves to kill!

shots01 · 06-26-2012, 02:40 PM

Shadus wrote:

I disagree, the gating mechanism was put in place for the 90+ raids so the devs would be able to balance things better. there is a significant difference in ability between a 120aa 90 and a 280aa 90. I think the gateway is a GOOD thing.
That being said, the difficulty of grinding aa at 90 is absurd, you're better off starting a new level 1 and grinding out 220 at 15... it's 100x faster and easier.
At a 50% slider you should have 280aa at 90. Right now on 50% slider you're no where NEAR 280aa at 90. You've got to put xp slider to 93% to aa to hit 320 at 90 (if you get 45aa at 15)... that's a bit absurd.
It's not hard to get 280 aa... it's trivially easy (grind, grind, grind), its just hideously teadius and mind numbingly boring.

Yer option to move the slider is well and good for those that are gold.

But for those players that are bronze/silver.. that option is taken away from them. They play the game because it is free to play. I don't think they should be put in a potion where they MUST be gold in order to advance at least at a faster rate.

Senara · 06-26-2012, 02:41 PM

Atan@Unrest wrote:

shots01 wrote:
Perhaps a MOTD type thing for new players to see.
Even that wont get far. Players either need to be presented with challenges as they level up that enforce the need for AA, or they need to have many mini-gates as they come up so they don't hit this one so hard.

I am completely against "mini-gating" for old content. The 280+ AA requirement for 91+ was implemented so that SOE could balance the NEW content accordingly. This is not relevant to the old content.If I want to smash it to 90 with barely 10-15 AAs, then grind AAs so I can go beyond 90, I should be able to.If I want to mass grind AAs at low levels, and have over 300 AAs before I hit level 90, I should be able to.SOE could implement a check every time someone dings a 15 level interval (15/30/45/60/75), where if their ratio of AAs is low, the player is made aware of the requirement once level 90 is obtained. This way, no one, new or old, is caught by suprise. They are either doing fine, or warned well in advance.

Neiloch · 06-26-2012, 02:48 PM

Senara wrote:

SOE could implement a check every time someone dings a 15 level interval (15/30/45/60/75), where if their ratio of AAs is low, the player is made aware of the requirement once level 90 is obtained. This way, no one, new or old, is caught by suprise. They are either doing fine, or warned well in advance.

This would probably be the simplest and fastest solution they could implement almost immediately. At least it would stop reasonable people from being surprised.

They could even forgo the periodic 'check' and just constantly have a message somewhere, on the AA window perhaps or player window some where, telling them they are 'behind' on having 280 by level 90. Message goes away when meeting or exceeding that goal.

Yimway · 06-26-2012, 02:49 PM

Senara wrote:

I am completely against "mini-gating" for old content. The 280+ AA requirement for 91+ was implemented so that SOE could balance the NEW content accordingly. This is not relevant to the old content.If I want to smash it to 90 with barely 10-15 AAs, then grind AAs so I can go beyond 90, I should be able to.If I want to mass grind AAs at low levels, and have over 300 AAs before I hit level 90, I should be able to.

A game that tries to cater to everyone in all cases ends up being a pretty bad game.

I think they should mini-gate. If not, then they need to make the player go WAY out of his way to bypass it. And I mean WAY out of the way. Like warning messages and an unlock quest, to break from the preferred path.

Currently the game presents no challeges level 1-90. The absense of challenge accompanied by gear that is grossly OP compaired to the orriginal dificulty setting of the mobs associated with the content, all works to present the players with an overly easy game that doesn't need any time spent building AA to coast thru.

You need significant barriers added to teach players to build that AA pool up as they go so they don't run into this thing.

Allowing those barriers to be bypassed could be allowed, but I'm not sold on it being an overall healthy option for the game.

Senara · 06-26-2012, 02:53 PM

shots01 wrote:

Yer option to move the slider is well and good for those that are gold.
But for those players that are bronze/silver.. that option is taken away from them. They play the game because it is free to play. I don't think they should be put in a potion where they MUST be gold in order to advance at least at a faster rate.

If anyone wants to move the slider, to advance at a more desirable ratio... They can click the Subscribe button. The slider bar being locked for FTP accounts is absolutely not an accident.I subscribed, and it is great. I can wear legendary+fabled equipment. I can carry lots of plat. I get lots of inventory and bank space. I can pick any race I want. I can pick any class I want. Full quest journal access. Master spells. 7 character slots... Much better than what I would get on a FTP account.Free to play is there to give people a taste for the game. The goal is still to get them to subscribe. The Devs have stated as much, and the restrictions on FTP reflect this. Subscribe, or deal with it.

Senara · 06-26-2012, 03:00 PM

Atan@Unrest wrote:

Senara wrote:
I am completely against "mini-gating" for old content. The 280+ AA requirement for 91+ was implemented so that SOE could balance the NEW content accordingly. This is not relevant to the old content.If I want to smash it to 90 with barely 10-15 AAs, then grind AAs so I can go beyond 90, I should be able to.If I want to mass grind AAs at low levels, and have over 300 AAs before I hit level 90, I should be able to.
A game that tries to cater to everyone in all cases ends up being a pretty bad game.
I think they should mini-gate. If not, then they need to make the player go WAY out of his way to bypass it. And I mean WAY out of the way. Like warning messages and an unlock quest, to break from the preferred path.
Currently the game presents no challeges level 1-90. The absense of challenge accompanied by gear that is grossly OP compaired to the orriginal dificulty setting of the mobs associated with the content, all works to present the players with an overly easy game that doesn't need any time spent building AA to coast thru.
You need significant barriers added to teach players to build that AA pool up as they go so they don't run into this thing.
Allowing those barriers to be bypassed could be allowed, but I'm not sold on it being an overall healthy option for the game.

I noticed you chopped off the section of my post where I suggested a warning system. You do not need significant barriers that require players to go above and beyond to level as they desire between 1-90. You do not need people to climb mount Everest to hit 90 with under 280 AAs. You simply need to let people know about the 90/280 requirement.If someone has clicked "OK" on a warning message 5 times (as proposed in my idea that you snipped), informing the player that their AAs are low, and they will have to be at 280AAs to pass level 90, they have NO ONE to blame but themselves if they hit 90 with low AAs.

Alenna · 06-26-2012, 03:19 PM

shots01 wrote:

Shadus wrote:
I disagree, the gating mechanism was put in place for the 90+ raids so the devs would be able to balance things better. there is a significant difference in ability between a 120aa 90 and a 280aa 90. I think the gateway is a GOOD thing.
That being said, the difficulty of grinding aa at 90 is absurd, you're better off starting a new level 1 and grinding out 220 at 15... it's 100x faster and easier.
At a 50% slider you should have 280aa at 90. Right now on 50% slider you're no where NEAR 280aa at 90. You've got to put xp slider to 93% to aa to hit 320 at 90 (if you get 45aa at 15)... that's a bit absurd.
It's not hard to get 280 aa... it's trivially easy (grind, grind, grind), its just hideously teadius and mind numbingly boring.
As I have previously stated, I, myself, did NOT find it easy, hideously tedious and mind numbingly boring.....yes..
No more wolves to kill!

Fine but why should those of us who don't want to grind be forced to to get hte best xp/aa gain hmm?

shots01 · 06-26-2012, 03:23 PM

Senara wrote:

Atan@Unrest wrote:
shots01 wrote:
Perhaps a MOTD type thing for new players to see.
Even that wont get far. Players either need to be presented with challenges as they level up that enforce the need for AA, or they need to have many mini-gates as they come up so they don't hit this one so hard.
I am completely against "mini-gating" for old content. The 280+ AA requirement for 91+ was implemented so that SOE could balance the NEW content accordingly. This is not relevant to the old content.If I want to smash it to 90 with barely 10-15 AAs, then grind AAs so I can go beyond 90, I should be able to.If I want to mass grind AAs at low levels, and have over 300 AAs before I hit level 90, I should be able to.SOE could implement a check every time someone dings a 15 level interval (15/30/45/60/75), where if their ratio of AAs is low, the player is made aware of the requirement once level 90 is obtained. This way, no one, new or old, is caught by suprise. They are either doing fine, or warned well in advance.

I like yer idea.

shots01 · 06-26-2012, 03:25 PM

Senara wrote:

shots01 wrote:
Yer option to move the slider is well and good for those that are gold.
But for those players that are bronze/silver.. that option is taken away from them. They play the game because it is free to play. I don't think they should be put in a potion where they MUST be gold in order to advance at least at a faster rate.
If anyone wants to move the slider, to advance at a more desirable ratio... They can click the Subscribe button. The slider bar being locked for FTP accounts is absolutely not an accident.I subscribed, and it is great. I can wear legendary+fabled equipment. I can carry lots of plat. I get lots of inventory and bank space. I can pick any race I want. I can pick any class I want. Full quest journal access. Master spells. 7 character slots... Much better than what I would get on a FTP account.Free to play is there to give people a taste for the game. The goal is still to get them to subscribe. The Devs have stated as much, and the restrictions on FTP reflect this. Subscribe, or deal with it.

I agree with what you are saying. But the mention of moving the slider is not going to apply to those people that CHOOSE to remain bronze or silver. That is all I am saying.

Yimway · 06-26-2012, 03:26 PM

Senara wrote:

I noticed you chopped off the section of my post where I suggested a warning system. You do not need significant barriers that require players to go above and beyond to level as they desire between 1-90. You do not need people to climb mount Everest to hit 90 with under 280 AAs. You simply need to let people know about the 90/280 requirement.If someone has clicked "OK" on a warning message 5 times (as proposed in my idea that you snipped), informing the player that their AAs are low, and they will have to be at 280AAs to pass level 90, they have NO ONE to blame but themselves if they hit 90 with low AAs.

I snipped it, as I think a warning message will be read as much as those newbie popups are. IE, not at all.

A warning message, that if I ignore, I have no immediate consequence for, is not a meaningful warning.

Raffir · 06-26-2012, 03:33 PM

shots01 wrote:

Shadus wrote:
I disagree, the gating mechanism was put in place for the 90+ raids so the devs would be able to balance things better. there is a significant difference in ability between a 120aa 90 and a 280aa 90. I think the gateway is a GOOD thing.
That being said, the difficulty of grinding aa at 90 is absurd, you're better off starting a new level 1 and grinding out 220 at 15... it's 100x faster and easier.
At a 50% slider you should have 280aa at 90. Right now on 50% slider you're no where NEAR 280aa at 90. You've got to put xp slider to 93% to aa to hit 320 at 90 (if you get 45aa at 15)... that's a bit absurd.
It's not hard to get 280 aa... it's trivially easy (grind, grind, grind), its just hideously teadius and mind numbingly boring.
As I have previously stated, I, myself, did NOT find it easy, hideously tedious and mind numbingly boring.....yes..
No more wolves to kill!

You don't "Have" to grind. You can quest within 5 levels and get plenty good xp...and even chrono and quest. There are more questlines than a person can count in this game.

Why the rush to 320 / 92 anyway? Skyshrine isn't going anywhere...its not a race. Its not going to run out of loot. I quested my mystic to 92/320 and now she just languishes off to the side, since I don't raid and don't care about grinding for the next piece of uber gear. I just pull her out when someone in the guild want a mystic.

In the meantime, I have a new ratonga assasin to take through lands I haven't fully explored.

Its the journey thats fun...endgame is just blah and repetitive.

Raf

Sigtyr · 06-26-2012, 03:35 PM

Atan@Unrest wrote:

I understand your feeling here, but fact is we can't afford to lose players, we've lost too many already. If a handout keeps them playing long enough to actually start grouping and raiding, then I support the hand-out.
Telling them to suck it up, I'm afraid results into more people logging into Diablo 3 instead of EQ2.

This is the reason why this must be fixed, this thing makes people stop playing as no new player would even imagine a game company putting in a barrier like this very late in game.

06-26-2012, 12:49 PM	#482
Outkast1980 Loremaster Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 79	Atan@Unrest wrote: There are a number of things they could do to immediately make this better: You could allow people to continue to level but not accept group invites until they reach 280 aa. That is a simple 'stop-gap' solution. You could make their names all be an alternate color to call them out as underpowered. So players can decide to carry them or not. Personally, I would carry a dirge box with 200aa over a dirge merc for example. You could just auto ding to 280 aa when you ding level 90. Lets face it here nearly everyone is in agreement that if you know the game the process of getting those aa is trivial, so lets just remove the timesink. Deliver it in potion form, player can consume it or not, but then they are not road-blocked (gated). I'm sure there are many other solutions, but throwing this gate up at the end of level progression without setting it up over the entire player experience is really a teribad design decision. Game designers know gating players is a terrible thing to do, and that each time they place a gate in their game they run the risk of losing some players. The way this thing is implemented, its the Brandenburg Gate of player gates i 1) That would mean you couldn't box your other account(if u had more then one) . This is not a good solution 2) Not a fan of this either, because the person could just say Swash LFG, they filll last spot, you think your good to go. They get to zone, then u have to decide if u want to wait longer, or find someone else. - Not a fan again 3.) Absolutely not. I am so tired of all these handouts. Trivial or not . OTHERS had to do that way. I have spent countless hrs getting LOTS of toons to 280+ AA. I would be very annoyed knowing OTHERS now get it just handed to them. Trivial or not.

06-26-2012, 12:51 PM	#483
Yimway Loremaster Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 9,707	Outkast1980 wrote: 3.) Absolutely not. I am so tired of all these handouts. Trivial or not . OTHERS had to do that way. I have spent countless hrs getting LOTS of toons to 280+ AA. I would be very annoyed knowing OTHERS now get it just handed to them. Trivial or not. I understand your feeling here, but fact is we can't afford to lose players, we've lost too many already. If a handout keeps them playing long enough to actually start grouping and raiding, then I support the hand-out. Telling them to suck it up, I'm afraid results into more people logging into Diablo 3 instead of EQ2. __________________

06-26-2012, 01:01 PM	#484
Outkast1980 Loremaster Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 79	Atan@Unrest wrote: Outkast1980 wrote: 3.) Absolutely not. I am so tired of all these handouts. Trivial or not . OTHERS had to do that way. I have spent countless hrs getting LOTS of toons to 280+ AA. I would be very annoyed knowing OTHERS now get it just handed to them. Trivial or not. I understand your feeling here, but fact is we can't afford to lose players, we've lost too many already. If a handout keeps them playing long enough to actually start grouping and raiding, then I support the hand-out. Telling them to suck it up, I'm afraid results into more people logging into Diablo 3 instead of EQ2. I am a pvper, so my thoughts on that is this. If they want to go play a completely pve game , that from everyone I talked to is fun, but other little bits of time at a time. Something to play here and there basically. Then I say, go ahead.

06-26-2012, 01:09 PM	#485
Yimway Loremaster Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 9,707	Outkast1980 wrote: Atan@Unrest wrote: I understand your feeling here, but fact is we can't afford to lose players, we've lost too many already. If a handout keeps them playing long enough to actually start grouping and raiding, then I support the hand-out. Telling them to suck it up, I'm afraid results into more people logging into Diablo 3 instead of EQ2. I am a pvper, so my thoughts on that is this. If they want to go play a completely pve game , that from everyone I talked to is fun, but other little bits of time at a time. Something to play here and there basically. Then I say, go ahead. Aaah. Yes, from a pvp standpoint I can see why you wouldn't want to see a handout, and I don't think one needs to exist on the PVP server. The thing is, in PVP play, the importance of getting every AA possible while leveling up is already prevelant. You don't run into people being gated the same way on the PVP server as the gameplay has conditioned them to getting as much aa as possible as they level up as its far more needed to stay alive and function well. In PVE, you can almost ignore AA gains and just cruise on up. There just isn't the same motivation for the player to slow down in order to amass more AA. __________________

06-26-2012, 01:24 PM	#486
Elebu Server: Antonia Bayle Guild: Ancient Prophecy Rank: Skirmisher Loremaster Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 189	Coffee_Hound wrote: In theory, I like the idea of having level/AA gates to content for many of the reasons posted in this thread; however, the way it is now with only a 280AA requirement to raise above 90 needs to be changed or removed. I just recently raised my AA above 280, and it wasn’t a natural (or fun) gaming experience. Some quick background - I started playing EQ2 a while back with a few friends. We all created characters to adventure together (I got stuck being the bard… Haha!), and we leveled up almost entirely in dungeons doing heroic content. We also grabbed every heroic quest we saw along the way. Now you would think that would be the best way of leveling in a MMO (doing group content almost exclusively), but it actually leaves you FAR short of 280AA – I had 130-something AA when I hit 90 (my soloquest alt hit 90 with 260AA). Now here’s my issue with the 280AA gate to rise above 90 – there is not an intuitive way to progress your character when you hit that wall. There are no groups in pre-SS content, I can’t group in SS group content, and soloquesting SF and DoV still left me about 100AA short of the 280AA. The way to bridge the AA gap is to chrono-mentor down and solo old group content. While that is an easy decision to make when you know the game, it is not an intuitive thing to do in a MMO. In addition, it is not a very fun thing to do, especially for some classes (e.g. my dirge). I leveled doing exactly what I should do in a MMO, grouping up in group content, and I was rewarded with a very long and un-fun grind to get past 90 so I could group again. Again, I like the idea of having level/AA gates, but having only one gate at level 90 with no clear in-game path or indicator on how to progress beyond that point when you are far short of AAs is really lame. Very well said. Of all the things this game has flat-out stolen/copied from other titles in the genre, they stand alone in having some of the most brutal and tedious character advancement around. Not a selling point for new (or returning) subs when stacked against the newest titles. @Atan nails it pretty well several posts up.

06-26-2012, 12:43 PM	#481
Coffee_Hound Elder Join Date: Dec 2011 Posts: 46	In theory, I like the idea of having level/AA gates to content for many of the reasons posted in this thread; however, the way it is now with only a 280AA requirement to raise above 90 needs to be changed or removed. I just recently raised my AA above 280, and it wasn’t a natural (or fun) gaming experience. Some quick background - I started playing EQ2 a while back with a few friends. We all created characters to adventure together (I got stuck being the bard… Haha!), and we leveled up almost entirely in dungeons doing heroic content. We also grabbed every heroic quest we saw along the way. Now you would think that would be the best way of leveling in a MMO (doing group content almost exclusively), but it actually leaves you FAR short of 280AA – I had 130-something AA when I hit 90 (my soloquest alt hit 90 with 260AA). Now here’s my issue with the 280AA gate to rise above 90 – there is not an intuitive way to progress your character when you hit that wall. There are no groups in pre-SS content, I can’t group in SS group content, and soloquesting SF and DoV still left me about 100AA short of the 280AA. The way to bridge the AA gap is to chrono-mentor down and solo old group content. While that is an easy decision to make when you know the game, it is not an intuitive thing to do in a MMO. In addition, it is not a very fun thing to do, especially for some classes (e.g. my dirge). I leveled doing exactly what I should do in a MMO, grouping up in group content, and I was rewarded with a very long and un-fun grind to get past 90 so I could group again. Again, I like the idea of having level/AA gates, but having only one gate at level 90 with no clear in-game path or indicator on how to progress beyond that point when you are far short of AAs is really lame.

06-26-2012, 01:25 PM	#487
Elebu Server: Antonia Bayle Guild: Ancient Prophecy Rank: Skirmisher Loremaster Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 189	Atan@Unrest wrote: Outkast1980 wrote: 3.) Absolutely not. I am so tired of all these handouts. Trivial or not . OTHERS had to do that way. I have spent countless hrs getting LOTS of toons to 280+ AA. I would be very annoyed knowing OTHERS now get it just handed to them. Trivial or not. I understand your feeling here, but fact is we can't afford to lose players, we've lost too many already. If a handout keeps them playing long enough to actually start grouping and raiding, then I support the hand-out. Telling them to suck it up, I'm afraid results into more people logging into Diablo 3 instead of EQ2. If it were only DIII. There are so many other options currently why would a company NOT give those handouts without even thinking twice? Weird.

06-26-2012, 01:30 PM	#488
Neiloch Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Southern California Posts: 1,430	I like the restriction but as pointed out it is atypical and abrupt. I still don't think it should be removed. I like the idea of the slider being kind of 'automatic.' Make it so players get about 3-4 AA's per level at minimum, and they can adjust the slider to get more in a level if they wish. Basically making it so they will already have 280 or more when they reach 90. Implementing that now would cause some problems though. Such as if someone is level 60 with a small amount of AA they would basically be stuck at 60 until they get caught up, the same problem people have at 90. Alternatively they could just give people the AA every level like prestige points but still allow for the slider so people can earn more without leveling if they wish. So *PRESTO* everyone who is 90 has at least 280 AA, everyone who is 89 has at least 276.5, 88 = 273 AA, etc. __________________

06-26-2012, 01:36 PM	#489
Senara Defender Join Date: Dec 2011 Posts: 23	I do not see a problem with the requirement of 280+ AAs. That part is fine.The only problem I see, is how it can completely catch people by suprise.If I make a new character right now, and start working on it, I know what lays ahead. I know I can smash it to 90 then grind AAs. Alternatively, I know I can take my time levelling to 90 but collect a lot of AAs along the way. The main point, is I know what I am in for, and can act accordingly.But if I did not read forums, I would not know what lays ahead, until it hit me. This is not good.The 280+ requirement is perfectly fine. Just increase the awareness.

06-26-2012, 02:06 PM	#490
Raffir Loremaster Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Texas Posts: 308	How many toons does it take a person to realize that getting to 90 with 100 AA's kinda stinks? Only took me one. Now I know why I died so often questing in Velious. I make sure, now, that all subsequent toons hit 90 with a good portion of 320. My Mystic hit 90 with 300. My level 89 Brig has 287 right now...yeah...slacked on that one. Raf

06-26-2012, 02:10 PM	#491
shots01 Lord Join Date: Jul 2010 Posts: 452	I like what the person above me wrote, but not entirely sure I agree with it. From my personal experience, my monk was in progress when the change occurred. Had I made her after the 280 requirement, yes, I would have done things a little bit different. But since she was already in existence, and when the change went into place, she was not put at 280 AAs with the increase they gave us.........I, like many others, had to do the grind. Let's not go into how easy you all find it. You know how I feel about that. Anyways, so, I have doing the grind to 280 for what several weeks? I forgot when I hit 90, about two weeks ago. Long story short....I did what I knew about, had some help from several groups doing Skyshrine, and managed to get myself up to 272. Last night I had my PoF run because the nice guy noticed I had been working hard to get my 280. The long and short of this was..........grinding to 280 from 180 was NOT FUN. It completely took the fun aspect out of the game for me. Made it so much like work to the point I almost quit the game three or four times but I refused to give up. I don't like the requirement, but I cannot say its a bad thing either. If you aren't prepared for it, it hurts.

06-26-2012, 02:11 PM	#492
Yimway Loremaster Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 9,707	Raffir wrote: How many toons does it take a person to realize that getting to 90 with 100 AA's kinda stinks? Only took me one. Now I know why I died so often questing in Velious. Better question is, how many players would keep playing and roll another toon when they hit that gate on their first one? I'd argue you would be an exception and not the rule. __________________

06-26-2012, 02:12 PM	#493
shots01 Lord Join Date: Jul 2010 Posts: 452	Raf, many many people in game are not aware of the requirement. My personal problem is the fact that I just don't like to level lock and go out for AAs only. Not leveling just BUGS me.

06-26-2012, 02:13 PM	#494
shots01 Lord Join Date: Jul 2010 Posts: 452	Knowledge is power. Those people that know about the 280 are working to that end. Those people that are clueless............hit 90 and get slammed with it. I agree that awareness of this requirement needs to be increased. Perhaps a MOTD type thing for new players to see.

06-26-2012, 02:15 PM	#495
Ahlana Loremaster Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 2,238	Raffir wrote: How many toons does it take a person to realize that getting to 90 with 100 AA's kinda stinks? Only took me one. Now I know why I died so often questing in Velious. I make sure, now, that all subsequent toons hit 90 with a good portion of 320. My Mystic hit 90 with 300. My level 89 Brig has 287 right now...yeah...slacked on that one. Raf +1 My latest character is a guardian. I didn't even go past level 70 til I had 280 AAs. __________________

06-26-2012, 02:16 PM	#496
Yimway Loremaster Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 9,707	shots01 wrote: Perhaps a MOTD type thing for new players to see. Even that wont get far. Players either need to be presented with challenges as they level up that enforce the need for AA, or they need to have many mini-gates as they come up so they don't hit this one so hard. __________________

06-26-2012, 02:26 PM	#497
Shadus Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 142	I disagree, the gating mechanism was put in place for the 90+ raids so the devs would be able to balance things better. there is a significant difference in ability between a 120aa 90 and a 280aa 90. I think the gateway is a GOOD thing. That being said, the difficulty of grinding aa at 90 is absurd, you're better off starting a new level 1 and grinding out 220 at 15... it's 100x faster and easier. At a 50% slider you should have 280aa at 90. Right now on 50% slider you're no where NEAR 280aa at 90. You've got to put xp slider to 93% to aa to hit 320 at 90 (if you get 45aa at 15)... that's a bit absurd. It's not hard to get 280 aa... it's trivially easy (grind, grind, grind), its just hideously teadius and mind numbingly boring. __________________ Shadus

06-26-2012, 02:38 PM	#498
shots01 Lord Join Date: Jul 2010 Posts: 452	Shadus wrote: I disagree, the gating mechanism was put in place for the 90+ raids so the devs would be able to balance things better. there is a significant difference in ability between a 120aa 90 and a 280aa 90. I think the gateway is a GOOD thing. That being said, the difficulty of grinding aa at 90 is absurd, you're better off starting a new level 1 and grinding out 220 at 15... it's 100x faster and easier. At a 50% slider you should have 280aa at 90. Right now on 50% slider you're no where NEAR 280aa at 90. You've got to put xp slider to 93% to aa to hit 320 at 90 (if you get 45aa at 15)... that's a bit absurd. It's not hard to get 280 aa... it's trivially easy (grind, grind, grind), its just hideously teadius and mind numbingly boring. As I have previously stated, I, myself, did NOT find it easy, hideously tedious and mind numbingly boring.....yes.. No more wolves to kill!

06-26-2012, 02:40 PM	#499
shots01 Lord Join Date: Jul 2010 Posts: 452	Shadus wrote: I disagree, the gating mechanism was put in place for the 90+ raids so the devs would be able to balance things better. there is a significant difference in ability between a 120aa 90 and a 280aa 90. I think the gateway is a GOOD thing. That being said, the difficulty of grinding aa at 90 is absurd, you're better off starting a new level 1 and grinding out 220 at 15... it's 100x faster and easier. At a 50% slider you should have 280aa at 90. Right now on 50% slider you're no where NEAR 280aa at 90. You've got to put xp slider to 93% to aa to hit 320 at 90 (if you get 45aa at 15)... that's a bit absurd. It's not hard to get 280 aa... it's trivially easy (grind, grind, grind), its just hideously teadius and mind numbingly boring. Yer option to move the slider is well and good for those that are gold. But for those players that are bronze/silver.. that option is taken away from them. They play the game because it is free to play. I don't think they should be put in a potion where they MUST be gold in order to advance at least at a faster rate.

06-26-2012, 02:41 PM	#500
Senara Defender Join Date: Dec 2011 Posts: 23	Atan@Unrest wrote: shots01 wrote: Perhaps a MOTD type thing for new players to see. Even that wont get far. Players either need to be presented with challenges as they level up that enforce the need for AA, or they need to have many mini-gates as they come up so they don't hit this one so hard. I am completely against "mini-gating" for old content. The 280+ AA requirement for 91+ was implemented so that SOE could balance the NEW content accordingly. This is not relevant to the old content.If I want to smash it to 90 with barely 10-15 AAs, then grind AAs so I can go beyond 90, I should be able to.If I want to mass grind AAs at low levels, and have over 300 AAs before I hit level 90, I should be able to.SOE could implement a check every time someone dings a 15 level interval (15/30/45/60/75), where if their ratio of AAs is low, the player is made aware of the requirement once level 90 is obtained. This way, no one, new or old, is caught by suprise. They are either doing fine, or warned well in advance.

06-26-2012, 02:48 PM	#501
Neiloch Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Southern California Posts: 1,430	Senara wrote: SOE could implement a check every time someone dings a 15 level interval (15/30/45/60/75), where if their ratio of AAs is low, the player is made aware of the requirement once level 90 is obtained. This way, no one, new or old, is caught by suprise. They are either doing fine, or warned well in advance. This would probably be the simplest and fastest solution they could implement almost immediately. At least it would stop reasonable people from being surprised. They could even forgo the periodic 'check' and just constantly have a message somewhere, on the AA window perhaps or player window some where, telling them they are 'behind' on having 280 by level 90. Message goes away when meeting or exceeding that goal. __________________

06-26-2012, 02:49 PM	#502
Yimway Loremaster Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 9,707	Senara wrote: I am completely against "mini-gating" for old content. The 280+ AA requirement for 91+ was implemented so that SOE could balance the NEW content accordingly. This is not relevant to the old content.If I want to smash it to 90 with barely 10-15 AAs, then grind AAs so I can go beyond 90, I should be able to.If I want to mass grind AAs at low levels, and have over 300 AAs before I hit level 90, I should be able to. A game that tries to cater to everyone in all cases ends up being a pretty bad game. I think they should mini-gate. If not, then they need to make the player go WAY out of his way to bypass it. And I mean WAY out of the way. Like warning messages and an unlock quest, to break from the preferred path. Currently the game presents no challeges level 1-90. The absense of challenge accompanied by gear that is grossly OP compaired to the orriginal dificulty setting of the mobs associated with the content, all works to present the players with an overly easy game that doesn't need any time spent building AA to coast thru. You need significant barriers added to teach players to build that AA pool up as they go so they don't run into this thing. Allowing those barriers to be bypassed could be allowed, but I'm not sold on it being an overall healthy option for the game. __________________

06-26-2012, 02:53 PM	#503
Senara Defender Join Date: Dec 2011 Posts: 23	shots01 wrote: Yer option to move the slider is well and good for those that are gold. But for those players that are bronze/silver.. that option is taken away from them. They play the game because it is free to play. I don't think they should be put in a potion where they MUST be gold in order to advance at least at a faster rate. If anyone wants to move the slider, to advance at a more desirable ratio... They can click the Subscribe button. The slider bar being locked for FTP accounts is absolutely not an accident.I subscribed, and it is great. I can wear legendary+fabled equipment. I can carry lots of plat. I get lots of inventory and bank space. I can pick any race I want. I can pick any class I want. Full quest journal access. Master spells. 7 character slots... Much better than what I would get on a FTP account.Free to play is there to give people a taste for the game. The goal is still to get them to subscribe. The Devs have stated as much, and the restrictions on FTP reflect this. Subscribe, or deal with it.

06-26-2012, 03:00 PM	#504
Senara Defender Join Date: Dec 2011 Posts: 23	Atan@Unrest wrote: Senara wrote: I am completely against "mini-gating" for old content. The 280+ AA requirement for 91+ was implemented so that SOE could balance the NEW content accordingly. This is not relevant to the old content.If I want to smash it to 90 with barely 10-15 AAs, then grind AAs so I can go beyond 90, I should be able to.If I want to mass grind AAs at low levels, and have over 300 AAs before I hit level 90, I should be able to. A game that tries to cater to everyone in all cases ends up being a pretty bad game. I think they should mini-gate. If not, then they need to make the player go WAY out of his way to bypass it. And I mean WAY out of the way. Like warning messages and an unlock quest, to break from the preferred path. Currently the game presents no challeges level 1-90. The absense of challenge accompanied by gear that is grossly OP compaired to the orriginal dificulty setting of the mobs associated with the content, all works to present the players with an overly easy game that doesn't need any time spent building AA to coast thru. You need significant barriers added to teach players to build that AA pool up as they go so they don't run into this thing. Allowing those barriers to be bypassed could be allowed, but I'm not sold on it being an overall healthy option for the game. I noticed you chopped off the section of my post where I suggested a warning system. You do not need significant barriers that require players to go above and beyond to level as they desire between 1-90. You do not need people to climb mount Everest to hit 90 with under 280 AAs. You simply need to let people know about the 90/280 requirement.If someone has clicked "OK" on a warning message 5 times (as proposed in my idea that you snipped), informing the player that their AAs are low, and they will have to be at 280AAs to pass level 90, they have NO ONE to blame but themselves if they hit 90 with low AAs.

06-26-2012, 03:19 PM	#505
Alenna Server: Guk Guild: Defenders of the Light Rank: Count Loremaster Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 1,938	shots01 wrote: Shadus wrote: I disagree, the gating mechanism was put in place for the 90+ raids so the devs would be able to balance things better. there is a significant difference in ability between a 120aa 90 and a 280aa 90. I think the gateway is a GOOD thing. That being said, the difficulty of grinding aa at 90 is absurd, you're better off starting a new level 1 and grinding out 220 at 15... it's 100x faster and easier. At a 50% slider you should have 280aa at 90. Right now on 50% slider you're no where NEAR 280aa at 90. You've got to put xp slider to 93% to aa to hit 320 at 90 (if you get 45aa at 15)... that's a bit absurd. It's not hard to get 280 aa... it's trivially easy (grind, grind, grind), its just hideously teadius and mind numbingly boring. As I have previously stated, I, myself, did NOT find it easy, hideously tedious and mind numbingly boring.....yes.. No more wolves to kill! Fine but why should those of us who don't want to grind be forced to to get hte best xp/aa gain hmm? __________________

06-26-2012, 03:23 PM	#506
shots01 Lord Join Date: Jul 2010 Posts: 452	Senara wrote: Atan@Unrest wrote: shots01 wrote: Perhaps a MOTD type thing for new players to see. Even that wont get far. Players either need to be presented with challenges as they level up that enforce the need for AA, or they need to have many mini-gates as they come up so they don't hit this one so hard. I am completely against "mini-gating" for old content. The 280+ AA requirement for 91+ was implemented so that SOE could balance the NEW content accordingly. This is not relevant to the old content.If I want to smash it to 90 with barely 10-15 AAs, then grind AAs so I can go beyond 90, I should be able to.If I want to mass grind AAs at low levels, and have over 300 AAs before I hit level 90, I should be able to.SOE could implement a check every time someone dings a 15 level interval (15/30/45/60/75), where if their ratio of AAs is low, the player is made aware of the requirement once level 90 is obtained. This way, no one, new or old, is caught by suprise. They are either doing fine, or warned well in advance. I like yer idea.

06-26-2012, 03:25 PM	#507
shots01 Lord Join Date: Jul 2010 Posts: 452	Senara wrote: shots01 wrote: Yer option to move the slider is well and good for those that are gold. But for those players that are bronze/silver.. that option is taken away from them. They play the game because it is free to play. I don't think they should be put in a potion where they MUST be gold in order to advance at least at a faster rate. If anyone wants to move the slider, to advance at a more desirable ratio... They can click the Subscribe button. The slider bar being locked for FTP accounts is absolutely not an accident.I subscribed, and it is great. I can wear legendary+fabled equipment. I can carry lots of plat. I get lots of inventory and bank space. I can pick any race I want. I can pick any class I want. Full quest journal access. Master spells. 7 character slots... Much better than what I would get on a FTP account.Free to play is there to give people a taste for the game. The goal is still to get them to subscribe. The Devs have stated as much, and the restrictions on FTP reflect this. Subscribe, or deal with it. I agree with what you are saying. But the mention of moving the slider is not going to apply to those people that CHOOSE to remain bronze or silver. That is all I am saying.

06-26-2012, 03:26 PM	#508
Yimway Loremaster Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 9,707	Senara wrote: I noticed you chopped off the section of my post where I suggested a warning system. You do not need significant barriers that require players to go above and beyond to level as they desire between 1-90. You do not need people to climb mount Everest to hit 90 with under 280 AAs. You simply need to let people know about the 90/280 requirement.If someone has clicked "OK" on a warning message 5 times (as proposed in my idea that you snipped), informing the player that their AAs are low, and they will have to be at 280AAs to pass level 90, they have NO ONE to blame but themselves if they hit 90 with low AAs. I snipped it, as I think a warning message will be read as much as those newbie popups are. IE, not at all. A warning message, that if I ignore, I have no immediate consequence for, is not a meaningful warning. __________________

06-26-2012, 03:33 PM	#509
Raffir Loremaster Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Texas Posts: 308	shots01 wrote: Shadus wrote: I disagree, the gating mechanism was put in place for the 90+ raids so the devs would be able to balance things better. there is a significant difference in ability between a 120aa 90 and a 280aa 90. I think the gateway is a GOOD thing. That being said, the difficulty of grinding aa at 90 is absurd, you're better off starting a new level 1 and grinding out 220 at 15... it's 100x faster and easier. At a 50% slider you should have 280aa at 90. Right now on 50% slider you're no where NEAR 280aa at 90. You've got to put xp slider to 93% to aa to hit 320 at 90 (if you get 45aa at 15)... that's a bit absurd. It's not hard to get 280 aa... it's trivially easy (grind, grind, grind), its just hideously teadius and mind numbingly boring. As I have previously stated, I, myself, did NOT find it easy, hideously tedious and mind numbingly boring.....yes.. No more wolves to kill! You don't "Have" to grind. You can quest within 5 levels and get plenty good xp...and even chrono and quest. There are more questlines than a person can count in this game. Why the rush to 320 / 92 anyway? Skyshrine isn't going anywhere...its not a race. Its not going to run out of loot. I quested my mystic to 92/320 and now she just languishes off to the side, since I don't raid and don't care about grinding for the next piece of uber gear. I just pull her out when someone in the guild want a mystic. In the meantime, I have a new ratonga assasin to take through lands I haven't fully explored. Its the journey thats fun...endgame is just blah and repetitive. Raf

06-26-2012, 03:35 PM	#510
Sigtyr Server: Antonia Bayle Guild: Secret Keepers Rank: Main Loremaster Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 96	Atan@Unrest wrote: I understand your feeling here, but fact is we can't afford to lose players, we've lost too many already. If a handout keeps them playing long enough to actually start grouping and raiding, then I support the hand-out. Telling them to suck it up, I'm afraid results into more people logging into Diablo 3 instead of EQ2. This is the reason why this must be fixed, this thing makes people stop playing as no new player would even imagine a game company putting in a barrier like this very late in game.