Here's why people are frustrated, note the date on this:
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Further Down the Line - May 9, 2003
Further Down the Line
In the next month or so we will be implementing some changes designed to bring more fun back into the game. Our experience with Planes of Power has taught us a lot about what we did right and what we should avoid in the future. Building an online game like EverQuest offers us the unique opportunity to see how customers react to our ideas and to adjust them if needed. We'll be taking the opportunity to put some of our experience to work to improve the play experience in EverQuest.
1) Partial Zone Revamps.
These consist of improvements in the experience gain, monster density and/or item rewards in some of the older zones. The goal is to improve the playability and reward for adventuring in these zones without completely remaking the contents of the zone. We plan to do several of these, and we'll keep you updated as we move through these. Currently we are working on a partial revamp of Veeshan's Peak.
2) Experience Range Adjustment.
When Planes of Power was released and the level cap was raised from 60 to 65, the range of NPCs that characters in the new levels could kill to gain experience was smaller than it is for characters of lower levels. This was done to encourage characters to fight more challenging enemies and allowed us to increase the experience reward given for that increased challenge. Unfortunately, this has limited the locations available to 61+ level characters for experience gain, as well as making it more difficult for solo players to gain experience.
This is something that we don't like, and it has had a negative affect on the "fun factor" involved in playing in Planes of Power. To correct this, we will be increasing the level range of NPCs that will give 61+ level characters experience. They will have approximately the same range of NPCs available to them as they did at level 60, and should be able to gain experience in some of their old hunting grounds, as well as in Planes of Power zones.
3) Planar Progression.
Planes of Power has provided us with valuable insight into the group and guild dynamics that are involved in large scale games. The way that we had expected guilds to advance through the story of Planes of Power has become a roadblock for some guilds, and some members have fallen behind and found it difficult to catch up. Obviously this was not our intention. We want players to play with their friends and guild mates.
To correct this issue, we will be removing the flag requirements for entry into the following Planes of Power zones:
Bastion of Thunder
Plane of Tactics
Halls of Honor
Plane of Nightmare
Plane of Storms
Plane of Torment
Plane of Valor
Crypt of Decay
This will make the majority of Planes of Power zones available to everyone, and should allow most guilds to travel and adventure together. We understand that those that have already earned the entry flags for these zones have put some effort into that accomplishment. We will be giving a reward to those that have done so, though you'll have to wait to see what that reward is.
4) Items in the Planes of Power
We will be looking at the quality of Planes of Power item rewards and improving them where appropriate. Items for many of the lower tier gods will be upgraded and more rare items and NPCs will be added to the following zones as needed:
Crypt of Decay
Plane of Torment
Halls of Honor
Plane of Tactics
Plane of Innovation
Bastion of Thunder
5) Class Balance
We are going to look at improving the damage capabilities of melee classes, as they've fallen behind their magic-using counterparts at the very high end of the game. Some options being considered are:
Improve melee damage-increasing disciplines
Improve Planes of Power melee weapons
Additionally, we're looking at the concerns from players about their spells, and changing them where appropriate. The goal here is to remove annoying issues with spells, not necessarily to increase caster power overall.
- The EverQuest Team
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Thats what was suppose to happen in MAY.....which was still LONG after the problems started. Now, lets see and compare what they said they were going to do in August:
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Future Plans for August, 2003
Those of us behind the scenes here on the EverQuest team have plans for the future of the game. Further Down the Line is where we will keep you informed about what those plans are. Please understand that these are our long-term plans and may require a fair amount of research or development time.
Several partial zone revamps coming to the Live servers. Though delayed several weeks, we are working to complete the partial revamps of several zones: The Deep, Charasis (Howling Stones), Dragon Necropolis, Siren's Grotto, The Hole, The City of Mist, and Velketor's Labyrinth. We chose these zones to update based on feedback from players, and plan to implement changes that will make these zones more entertaining to play in.
Plane of Mischief changes going to the Legends server later next month. The Plane of Mischief is the home of the trickster, Bristlebane. One of the most unusual places to visit in EverQuest, this zone is in need of a revamp. We're looking at it now and plan to have changes ready for Legends later in August. We'll be keeping the wacky style of the place while at the same time making it a bit more playable.
Items in the Planes of Power
We will be looking at the quality of Planes of Power item rewards and improving them where appropriate. Items for many of the lower tier gods will be upgraded and more rare items and NPCs will be added to the following zones as needed:
Crypt of Decay
Plane of Torment
Halls of Honor
Plane of Tactics
Plane of Innovation
Bastion of Thunder
Class Balance
We're still planning to take a look at improving the damage capabilities of melee classes, as they've fallen behind their magic-using counterparts at the very high end of the game. Finding the proper solutions for this situation will take some time. Some options being considered are:
Improve melee damage-increasing disciplines
Improve Planes of Power melee weapons
Additionally, we're looking at the concerns from players about their spells, and changing them where appropriate. The goal here is to remove annoying issues with spells, not necessarily to increase caster power overall.
Shields and blocking
We're planning on reviewing the possibility of giving an innate chance to block when using a shield. We've been hoping to do this for a while, and it should be getting a realistic review in the near future. We'd like to increase the value of shields, and make it a worthwhile choice for players who might normally dual-wield weapons or use a two-handed weapon. We plan on balancing this against classes which use shields by default, and therefore wouldn't be making any trade-offs to equip a shield.
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Now, scroll back up and look at the patch message, notice how theres nothing about pop zones being itemized. Notice how they aren't fixing the RvR in Tier 1 - 3 PoP zones. Notice how there's no mention about any melee concerns. Notice how there is no mention of upgrading any weapons in PoP despite the fact about the only place most melees find any decent ones are in time (yet casters get their best spells LONG before even getting in the elemental planes).
Thanks for fixing stuff, it will no doubt be at least a little better, but what about the concerns of todays gamers.....newsflash, Sirrenst Grotto sucked 2 years ago, fixing it now will do next to nothing. Howling Stones was great when you could xp there, with post 60 levels you see a few people there to kill Dus for a quest every 3 days. My point, fix things when they will have an impact on the playerbase, not 2 years later.