The Return of Neriak

[Jait]

Don't mind him. His mother used to beat him and tell him that at the same time.

[UnchainedAcolyte]

Very pleased to hear about this, and to see EQII still heading in the right direction (especially in the lore development/free content depts). Heck, I may even grab the Station Pass and squeeze in a few hours here and try out the Fay.

Recommendations on a server? I'd probably pick Antonia Bayle for pockets of RP'ers, but wouldn't mind playing with some of the FOH crowd as well.

[Cuppycake]

Server choice is a toughie.

We still have Mistwalkers on Permafrost, although I'd say there are like 2 people who actually play full time still in the guild. The rest of the people only come back for expansions. (Admittedly, I've been one of the latter lately.) Everyone in the guild has invite abilities though, and I'd guess that when this expansion drops the guild will be hopping again.

Alternatively, there is the option to play on another more populated server. Antonia Bayle seems to be the best choice for population - but like you said it is RP which might turn some people off to that server.

Regardless, I think I'll hang my character out in Permafrost anyway. The population is not so bad where you can't get a pickup group if you want one...especially when this adventure pack drops and people will be rolling new toons again. Its really up to you - we'd be happy to have anyone here in Mistwalkers, but alternatively there are other servers that regretfully have a better population than Permafrost. =/

[Aegdaien]

Ahhhh I may have to come back for this...damn. I was MMOless for 3 weeks. That's some kind of record Way to go dev teams who actually care about their playerbase.

[Cuppycake]

I plan to get on the test server Friday evening and take some good screenshots of all this newbie stuff..so be prepared =)

[guanna]

where are you getting the testing is open tomorrow info?

[Cuppycake]

Originally Posted by guanna

where are you getting the testing is open tomorrow info?

From Grimwell's post in this thread:
Producer's Letter - May 2007

If everything goes as planned, we will be pushing this to Test tomorrow. If something holds us back, then it will be "Soon(tm)"

[Noah EQ2]

Originally Posted by Muligan

I think people would be like "McQuaid who?"... i'm just kidding. Anyway, I believe Scott and the current EQ2 team are actually a group who really believe in what they develop. They are make stride after stride to make EQ2 the best it can be, regardless of subscribers in comparison to any other game or they nay-sayers.

I had become frustrated with EQ2 at one point, mostly because of the lack of players I see day to day, and went to WoW / TBC. To me, WoW just isn't in depth enough for me and I realize that's just a matter of an opinion, but once I went back to EQ2 it seem to have gained quite a bit of momentum. Now with the movelogs, Nagafen is really booming.

Ultimately, subscribers do not mean a whole lot to me. You really have what, 3-5k per server? EQ2 is a fantastic game in so many aspects and if this trend continues, as these games swing and miss, EQ2 will have become the best kept secret in MMO's today. Because of Vanguard, TBC, LOTRO, and the Warhammer delay, I believe I have regained my loyalty and faith in a game I enjoy. It's so easy to get caught up in all the critisms and other people analysis to where you forget what "you" personally really enjoy playing regardless of any outside influence.

I look forward to this move and future expansions. I hope Scott and his team maintain their heart and devotion to this game. It speaks so much louder than what companies are putting into their products today.

EQ2 might be fun for a while but once you hit end game - its a huge let down of cut/paste and shitty itemization. I banked 2 years into that game at the high end and nothing got better ... end game got fucked with originality and reward. WoW and EQ1 had 100x better raid content.

If you are going into EQ2 with hopes of "leet endgame fun omgzzz", just stop, keep playing WoW, resub to EQ1 or just uninstall all the games if you are fed up.

[Everlast]

nvm..

[Cuppycake]

What Noah says is basically pretty much the consensus of the EQ2 end game from what I've heard.

I guess if you look at what a stellar job Scott and team have done with making the newbie and leveling experience kickass, and focusing on drawing in new players - there hasn't been much development time focused towards end game content and itemization.

If you have to pick between concentrating on raid content/itemization for the stagnant playerbase at high levels, or draw in more subscriptions with adding nostalgia and new races and starting zones - its basically a no-brainer. A perfect world would say enhance both (I think they've tried with adding things like Unrest)...but its clear where the priorities really have been with EQ2 the past year +. Now the people are going to come in the door, hopefully SOE will start inviting them to sit down for dinner and stay awhile.

Edit: Forgot to point out this quote from the same thread from Scott:

Will there be additional high level content added as we continue with our live plans? Definitely.

For now, though, this particular letter is about the upcoming release of Neriak and Darklight, which is very intentionally 1-20, with a new city and its housing to call home for those who choose, to help round out our starting experiences and set the stage for additional coolness in the future.

[Grave]

This sounds really cool.

I only hope the Arasai are not simply reskinned Fae, with like, bat wings or something (how evil).

[Tsabrae]

The worst decision they ever made was to jigsaw the lore rather than do research. Banking on nostalgia would hook alot of ex EQ1 players who are generally jaded and floating from game to game. Neriak is a good place to start, I suppose.

Class balance still a trainwreck? Are there still like 5 coercers per server?

[LadyVex]

Alright, I really want to try EQ2. EVIL FAERIES?! Queen Cristanos Thex in the flesh?!

I am so there. Evil fae cleric here I come.

[Jait]

Originally Posted by Tsabrae

The worst decision they ever made was to jigsaw the lore rather than do research. Banking on nostalgia would hook alot of ex EQ1 players who are generally jaded and floating from game to game. Neriak is a good place to start, I suppose.

Class balance still a trainwreck? Are there still like 5 coercers per server?

Endgame is the real problem for a couple classes. All classes however are great to level up with. But once you get to the endgame....some classes are absolutely fucked. Mainly mine =p I have all the luck.

I spend quite a lot of time talking mechanics with some of my guildmates, we have more than a few nerds. But basically...Mez isn't important in the endgame. That's the coercers main problem. However Coercers are pretty damn uber for their other buffs. We *always* have at least one when available.

Troubadours however are fairly screwed in the endgame, but great in groups levelling up and doing heroic content. Getting "bumped" when you're the only Troubadour in your guild can be a bit demoralizing. Basically you have two bards, the Dirge has a group rez, Troubadour has Mez/Charm. The single most important buff Bards get is a 7.5% to crit. It's the end all be all of buffs. But both have access to it. Unfortunately the Mez/Charm does not work on raids/epics, even if it did, it would *not* be used. Dirges also outnumber Troubs 3:1. Which do you take? The one with a group rez, or the one without? Here's even more info:

Both bards get the same debuffs. Dirges however get AA's that vastly improve their debuffs, while Troubs don't. The Dirge main CA debuff slows the mob, while the Troubadour one (-32 def) has less effect than a Hex Doll. And we all know how important slowing the mobs attack speed is, it's King.

Troubs are caster-oriented while Dirges are melee oriented, but unfortunately Dirges get the same Mana regen spell, the same 7.5% buff to crits, and the same bonus to casting speed. What they don't get is Precision of the Maestro which adds a whopping 400 dmg to spells (some spells hit for 20k now) for only 20 seconds while making the Troub unable to auto-attack due to Daze. Instead Dirges get the godly Cacophony of Blades. Troubadours also get a +casting skill but sadly Warlocks get one with 1/3rd more stats, but it doesn't matter anyway since no Mage worth his salt has less than 400 disruption to begin with. Not a single end-game Troub uses their Dove Song except on 1-2 mobs.

Don't get me wrong, Dirges do suck too, but you need that 7.5% to crit, so if you're going to take a Bard, you want a Dirge =p

As a Troubadour the only thing I can offer that a Dirge cannot is a 280 dmg ward to resists (absolutely worthless outside of PvP), and Maestro which I have to constantly lie about to make my Magi feel it's important. Jesters Cap is decent as well, but Time Compression flat out owns it. Wizards now get Freezing Wind which is utterly superior to Maestro anyway. But it's still a good spell, just needs a huge boost to damage.

So long answer short, yes there are still massive class imbalances which sometimes only get worse with each expansion. However, don't get me wrong. The game gets better and better, and class problems like these are not unique to EQ2. There's plenty of recourse, I could easily reroll if I had the time and wait until my other char is more desirable as most Troubs have done. But for me time is a bit of a factor atm.


edit: Solutions? Other than the 500 on the Troub boards: Add a buff for Troubs-only to grant 5% increase to Magic damage. Change Maestro to a flat rate of 25% damage increase to Magic damage. There's not an abundance of Mage's compared to Melee, and two of the Mage classes are pet dmg (meaning Dirges supercede Troubs again). So keep Troubs valuable to INT casters as is their want, while not annoying Dirges. You could also make Jesters Cap a group buff and lower the %. But that's a lot of work I'd rather see them spend on making more of the great content we've seen recently.

/bi-monthly Troub whine off

[Digits]

Maybe it's because I've been walking outside listening to great music for the past hour, or perhaps it's the nostalgia that will forever permeate my person, but this whole ordeal sounds beautiful. I'm not going to be one of those 'Well, I'm resubbing for sure!' idiots, but I certainly give a round of applause for Gallenite spear heading this patch. I will also express how much I'd love it if I could enjoy the game.