Please change that bear...

[Mystiq]

If you like the bear form great, gratz, start a "Don't change the bear form" post if you like, but quit derailing a perfectly good post in which like-minded players share their feelings about a part of the game. You can't tell people to not use a spell that provides a significant boost to hitpoints, power, armor class and melee.  You would almost be gimping yourself, and casting an extra buff that stacks doesnt' make up for it either. The bear form isn't terrible, I suppose it could be a lot worse. The suggestions shared already are great ones: Different bear species forms, different sizes relative to your avatar's size, swimming/gathering animation and an emote or two, and the /showform command. The latter might be a bit extreme, but not out of the question.

 

Regards,

[Tamq]

I think it depends on my mood.I love slowly walking around newbie areas *grins* OH OH a named bear lookie !! *chuckles*I love sitting infront of a Ore.. looks like I am going to play with that Soccer Ball.I love the Maul proc when we need that extra damage.But.. If I want to look at my good looking Woodie I click it off .. and tada.. no longer a big bear butt.

[Xerintha]

I like the bear personally.  I just wish it scaled to size or we could shrink.  I'm a tiny gnome and would love to be an itty bitty bear.  :smileyvery-happy:

[dax]

I'm not a big fan of bear either. I'm a gnome too and I was hoping for small version of it. After all, when you buff someone, lets say SoW, the wolf graphic that you see is proportional to the character size, I was hoping the same for my butt bear. I look at Fury cat and I say Wow !I look at Mystic bear and I say Hahaha !I look at Mystic hawk and I say Lol.If u don't wanna change it, at least do us a favor and change it a bit.

[Wiernu]

So you are telling me not to post in this topic? I don't see why I can't. If a bunch of people can whine about something so stupid and self explanity, I am sure I can say something also.You all want it to be changed, I don't. I am not about to start a new thread when there is already a topic discussing it. Thats something you would probably do

[lazlo1]

wiernusz why is asking for a change a whine. By that logic anytime someone voices and option it’s a whine. Lets stay on the topic. You don’t want a change fine. What I haven’t heard is a valid argument why a toggle command would negatively affect anyone.

Many people say "just done use it". But that HAS a negative effect on my char, less stats. A toggle command would allow me to use the spell and NOT negatively effect anyone else. Thats the issue I haven't hear anyone address.

The precedent for a toggle graphic command has been set with /showhood. I am sure a lot of players/devs in beta didn’t like their face always being covered but still wanted the stats for headgear. I believe this is exactly the same case.

Adding a toggle form command would add enjoyment to the game for me and other people who want to use the spell but don’t like and/or tired of the animal forms. I don’t believe it would negatively affect anyone else. It would not affect the game balance. 

I also believe variation in the animal forms is a good idea. But that would be a lot more work for the devs than a toggle command.  /showform is something I hope they could add in the near future a opposed to way down the road.

[Quilli]

I like the bear.  People give me requets to become the bear when in groups.  Wardends and Fury's that I group with tell me how they wish they had bear form.  (ofcourse the oned that like their form beter do not say anything).

 

And if you have ever seen a bear swim they often look as if they are just walking in water.

 

Perhaps a compromise like /showhood  /showillusionform off would keep effect but loose illusion for those who do not like it.

 

Just a thought.

[dax]

Fury saying they prefer bear from lion form ? Are they nuts eheh. My friend is a Fury and I can't stand being a bear when he is in the same group, im too jalous of the nice graphics compare to my clumsy bear. The only thing I like to do and sit and stand / repeat that's funy.

[Dreven88]

 

You really have only two choices:

A)  Be the bear all the time

B) Don't be the bear and be much weaker (inluding the loss of see invisible)

 

 

I for one would really appreciate the ability to show/hide the bear form as it really gets old after awhile.

 

[Jih]

We get see invisible with bear form? That's news to me.

[Dreven88]

That's what the strat guide says, as well as several web sites:

 

20Ursine Elder Fetishisms 3.0s 0.5s 4.0s 1 Augmentation that grants the form of a bear with the ability to see hidden, increased health and power pools, defense and a chance for a special melee attack.

[Dreven88]

Or is Hidden different from Invs  ?  srry

[Velokk]

Wow! Is all i can say....... EQ live shamans have been cracked on about the big bear rear end for years its a tradition GO GO BEAR FORM=)

[Shum]

I wouldn't mind bear (or hawk) from so much if I could shrink myself.

 

Also, it would be nice if in hawk form we got safe fall or floated down while falling or something, instead of just falling straight down off of a cliff like a sack of rocks.  I thought hawks could fly! lol!

[Wiernu]

lazlo1:The whole point of the spell is to become a bear. And because you become a bear; you get special buffs along with it. People complaining about that is definately whining to me It's all common sense people..

[lazlo1]

Im still listening for an argument why this would negatively affect anyone.There are lots of spell named after animals spirit of wolf, spirit of bull, spirit of badger. They dont turn you into those animals? This is a buff like any other, except it forces you into an illusion. Common sense tells me I should be able to turn it off exactly like /showhood works. Remember this is a game, I am simple asking for something that would make the game more enjoyable for me and would not negatively affect anyone else.

[Merrygr]

---

lazlo1 wrote:
Im still listening for an argument why this would negatively affect anyone.

There are lots of spell named after animals spirit of wolf, spirit of bull, spirit of badger. They dont turn you into those animals? This is a buff like any other, except it forces you into an illusion. Common sense tells me I should be able to turn it off exactly like /showhood works. Remember this is a game, I am simple asking for something that would make the game more enjoyable for me and would not negatively affect anyone else.

---

I very much doubt that something will be done to change it. As a former EQ1 shaman I sure hope they don't, but that is just my opinion. The bear shape is part of EQ lore.

Your argument about the /showform doesn't make sense to me. You change to a bear and inherit some of its attributes. Why would you then take away the form that gave you those attributes.

[Quilli]

Well /showform is like /showhood  You gain the abilty of your helm but you do not have to wear your helm.  from a design standpoint it is the same argument.

 

 

But again I do like the form and will keep using it.

[Mystiq]

Spirit of the Wolf, Spirit of the Bull, Spirit of the Badger, Spirit of the Rhino etc.

 

All of these spells imbue you and/or your group with attributes of these animals, yet they don't change everyone into said animal, so your arguments that we must be in bear form to "inherit" its attributes is pointless. I'm not saying that anyone is not entitled to their opinion about bear form, you certainly are. But some of us aren't the biggest fans of it, and that is what this thread is about.

 

On a side note, form of the Serpent rocks! I'm sure those of you who are sick of bear and beaver and even hawk, will appreciate the coolness of serpent.

 

Regards,

Message Edited by Eloora on 12-06-2004 02:08 AM

[BigDa]

Well, I just love being a bear   Would be nice to have a few emotes and the paddle in water, but *shrug*

 

Can't wait for other animal forms.

 

And you don't HAVE to have it on.  Use the conc for some other good effect instead.

[Ko]

Bear form does get tiring after a while. But staring at your Avatar for that amount of time is also boring. Staring at a Lion / Wolf / Hawk / Fire Elemental / Skeleton / Horse ... all of those also get boring after awhile. The Great thing about Bear form and about Hawk form is the versatility it grants us. We can change our look simply buy casting a spell. We can get away from the monotomy of the same dull look every day if we want. I dont see people moaning about The way Stealth looks...

 

Think of the stats you get with Bear form as a bonus, nothing Else. If you really dont like the bear form so much, why post here and moan about it? Why not just Cancel the spell and continue playing the game. Get to a higher lvl and try the snake form, or even the Great Stag, maybe one of those will tickle your fancy. But honestly what is the purpose of moaning about something so silly and inconsequential? It's just a form, cast it or dont.

 

To be honest , Everytime I sit with the bear, I get a warm fuzzy feeling...it is by far the cutest thing in the game, it is probably one of the cutest things in most games. Yet I still get tired of it, and Drop the spell when im in groups to see my normal Barb avatar.

But moaning about the bear form and asking for it to be changed completely is a very selfish thing to do. Specially to the people that like it.

 

/Showform is feasible, but why not just add a spell that grants the abilities that Bear form does. Add a special quest for the people that wish to get that spell...but if your going to cast Hawk Form and then /showform off...you deserve to fall into a pit of Hyenas, cause you realize that /showform = cancel the spell, I hope.

 

[Eats]

plain and simple theres 3 options for people who dont like bear form;1 dont use it use other buffs.2. play a cleric or another class that dont have illsuions if yer gonna cry about the ones yer lucky you do get.3. retire and never play again

[KindredHeart]

I was a shaman in EQ1, and I am so very pleased with Sony for allowing Mystics to see a sitting bear animation in EQ2 - thank you for that.  When I got my spell at level 20 I immediately tried to sit and was absolutely thrilled :smileyhappy:

I think all of the various illusion forms, which have been added to EQ2 definitely add alot of fun to the game and I'm very glad they are a part of it.  I do agree though, we all spent so much time picking out our physical appearances and tuning them to be just the way we want them - that it is a real shame to have to make a choice to either:

- see your character's physical appearance (the one you picked out) and be less effective in battle, or

- be more effective in battle, but not be able to see your character's physical appearance.

I think it was recognized early on by the developers that players enjoy customizing their appearance, that's why so much effort was put into the character selection portion of the programming, and why the command /showhood seems to exist.

For now, while the game is still fairly new to everyone (no matter how many hours you've spent playing it has still only been live for a month) I think all the forms are fine.  But I do agree that this is an issue the developers should look into.  It will substancially reduce player enjoyment over time if Mystics, and the other form changing classes, continuously need to hide their normal appearance with an illusion every time they go into battle in order to be their most effective.

It is okay with me that the bear has a larger agro radius as the downside, and I really wouldn't mind keeping a larger agro radius while the buff is in effect as long as I at least had the option of appearing normal.

If for somereason it is deamed necessary to make the buff visible to others (so your group knows you are in bear form) then maybe the programmers could do that in another way.  For example, a player in bear form with /showform off could have a bear tatoo on their face, or claws.  A player in bird form could have some feathers on their shoulders...or something like that, but overall the player's normal physical characteristics could be seen and not inhibited.

My two coppers worth,

Message Edited by KindredHeart on 12-07-2004 09:01 AM

Message Edited by KindredHeart on 12-07-2004 09:04 AM

[J3]

Here's another vote for a /showform option

 

Lyef

20 Mystic

Blackburrow Server

[Darkemo]

I love the bear.  Hopefully they'll make the bears racially unique at higher levels like they did in EQ.  I remember all shammy bears were brown until you got Form of the Great Bear at a higher level.

 

I kind of understand where you're coming from, though.  I ran around as a bear all day when I first got it.  I got tired of it and now I just use it when I'm hunting or when I'm screwing around with people.  But its there when I want it and that's how I like it.  :smileywink:

 

Darkmoon, the crotch sniffing bear

 

Save a horse, ride a Shammy Bear!

[lazlo1]

Its easy to call people whiners, cry babies, I want something also, you dont deserve it, deal with it, dont use it...What I still have not heard is a single reason why this would negatively affect another player. You cant cause it wont. This is strickly a cosmetic change nothing else. Those who like the forms can still use them, those who dont still get the stats. Exactly like /showhood works for everyone who did not like being a bucket head but wanted the helm stats.By contrast I have heard many people say this would make the game more enjoyable for them. Which im sure is how /showhood got added.

[Merrygr]

---

lazlo1 wrote:
Its easy to call people whiners, cry babies, I want something also, you dont deserve it, deal with it, dont use it...

What I still have not heard is a single reason why this would negatively affect another player.

You cant cause it wont.

This is strickly a cosmetic change nothing else. Those who like the forms can still use them, those who dont still get the stats. Exactly like /showhood works for everyone who did not like being a bucket head but wanted the helm stats.

By contrast I have heard many people say this would make the game more enjoyable for them.
Which im sure is how /showhood got added.

---

I see where you are going with the above. I would however argue that there are a gazillion things that could be changed in game and it would not affect others. That does not neccesarily validate the change. An example would be that we shuld get /showpiece for any armour and weapon item. I don't think that is a good idea, but it will not affect other players if I use it (there is no nudity, so that would not be a vaild argument against it).

For the bear I still maintain that it is part of EQ lore and as such should stay there. In that regard it can even be argued that you turning it off will actually affect the gameplay of those that care about a consistent game world.

[Dryconi]

You know what would fix all this bear/hawk talk? If they let us CUSTOMIZE our animal forms like our own normal looking counter-parts. But then again why would they waste the time to do something THAT difficult =

[Deadaccura]

An idea for sony to incorporate for the shape shifting would be somthing along the lines of a were bear. As opposed to having the form that evryone hates, make it something more of a hybrid bear/humanoid. I think that would maybe clear up some of the woes related to bear form.

 

 

 

Skywyse

19 shaman (wood elf)

Drunken Dwarf Brigade

Kithicor

[Zidab]

I love the bear.