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Originally Posted by Onte ...The itemization is bland. Sure, there are items you want to camp or quest or items you look foward to using, but if you're a player such as me, one who does not raid, you're wearing player-crafted or sub-par quested gear your entire tenure in the game. Or, if you're lucky, you've gotten a couple drops off a heroic named or two to spice up your kit... |
The biggest problem is crafted gear sits so close to its counterpart/mob-dropped items. So instead of there being 5 tiers (Fabled, Legendary, Mastercrafted, Treasured, Crafted) there are really just 3 (Fabled, Legendary/Mastercrafted, Treasured/Crafted), two of which you just sit at the broker and buy immediately upon levelling. This equates to two glaring holes in the game:
1) Two of the five tiers of equipment (and I never counted store-bought as even a tier), throughout the entire level-range of the game, are 95% pointless.
2) When I can sit at the broker every few levels, especially every 10th level, and equip myself with B+ gear instantly, I have very little reason to make groups, dungeon-dive, camp named, etc...all of which have proven to be essential in developing "community" and attachment to the game for players.
This makes most equipment, and the act of getting said equipment, bland.
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Originally Posted by Onte ...I have not had a single evening where I have logged on, joined a group and headed down into EQ2's version of Lguk or Seb to camp an incredibly awesome item that'd completely change the performance of any of my characters. I have never had a moment where I have been completely elated to obtain any item since I started the game in Feb '05... |
Following up on the above, 1) there is just too much equipment out there and 2) it is too easy to get "really good stuff" (Legendary/Mastercrafted) and not that big of a deal to skip the "great stuff" (Fabled). Due to quick levelling (compared to our original EQ beginnings), why work so hard (camp) or pay so much (on the broker/market) for Fabled when I'm better off just gaining a couple levels and getting the mastercrafted/legendary item for that new level that obsoletes the "great" Fabled item of my current level.
In my opinion, EQ2 needs to:
1) Cut out two of its "tiers". Officially make it Fabled, Legendary and Treasured since that is how the game functionally plays now, anyway. Match crafters to at least two of those tiers and make sure the production of those items is equivalent in "work/difficulty" as they are in the adventuring field.
2) Make sure the difference between each tier, but most importantly between the "good" and "great" tier, is significant in terms of acquisition cost and usefulness
3) Maybe most importantly, increase the lifespan of equipment to be much longer (not "durability", in case that confused anyone, but how long you will use the item before upgrading).
If you get that back in the game, you once again have an item-centric game that will create attachment between the player and their character. Once you have the equipment a functional, defining part of the game, you can enhance that by making sure the great stuff looks great and unique.
