The Spirit Realm

Hows it going in Norrath? I saw that SoD was beaten already? That's kinda sad.

As most know I haven't played since just about last March. Guild couldn't field the number of Clerics / Chanters required etc etc.. so we ended it. Sabby and I are still playing WoW, recently hit 80 and are slowly working our way through the Heroic dungeons while the rest of the people who left our EQ guild and went to wow climb their way to 80. We may do some 10 man raiding then, we may not, I dunno.

Trying out the Arena for the first time and it's been interesting. Definitely not for everyone tho. I still enjoy playing Capture the Flag the most ;p

I still lurk here off and on but I try to refrain from posting as the majority of my information is now dated. Glad to see Tharkis is still around, I mean seriously, what would PoK do without the Statue there for the birds to sit on?

EQ was way fun, I think about coming back now and then, but I've been keeping up on the patch messages and I am really not sure I would have much fun. sitting in the same camp for hours to hit the new cap doesn't really appeal to me either. ah well.

Happy New Year to you and yours, I'll be around.

-Fenier

Ahhh, another player lost to level caps.

They gotta slow down with those.

Nah it ain't that, but sitting in one zone killning mobs over and over again just isn't fun after 7 years ;/

Hey Fenier! Glad to hear you and Sabby having a good time.

The new expac is fun. It is a little easier than previous expacs, and Mercs have definetely been a major change on the landscape.
The group game is back in strength. I am seeing more and more raiders in group game areas, I think they are either gearing up for raiding, realizing that the group gear stuff is GOOD, or they are just gearing up twinks. Either way there is room for all and it's a good expac imho. The grind is still the grind, but you can move around the new expac to do it, but it is still gonna be a grind no matter what. Spell drops seem higher too, so less angst about getting the new spells than in the past I believe.

I've been Jonesing a bit for WOW, having left last September, give or take, to come back to EQ... might be a dual gaming or a break from EQ coming up for me!

Kind of the wrong place, but I think they deleted the WOW forum. How are you finding the new expac for WOW? Were there any major gameplay changes? New faster mounts? That kind of thing. How have the classes faired vs. the new Dreadknight?

As to battlegrounds. I found the first 10 or so to be a blast, then it just becomes a grind. It's such a hodgepodge when they just dump 40 people into a scenario. They seem to break down in to a few predictable kinds. Gauranteed win because you got the A team draw, or because the opposition came in specifically expecting to lose, and just get easy points by losing, or the opposition is the Z team of their side and couldn't find their backsides in front of a mirror using both hands. .. Spin that 180 degrees and you also describe losses for your team.

Are there new 10 man scenarios in the new expac?

Is Sabby doing WOW art now?

At least in the context of SoF progression, Zeka and MMM not to mention Crystallos Golems were drastically easier to do at 80 then any level prior. Which is pretty much how it's been in EQ since as long as I can remember. It's more time efficient to max cap then go back and do everything due to the fact you are drawing on the benefits of being max level while doing raid level content, even if that content isn't current.

The extra resist rates and DPS increases across the entire game far outweigh most single group content in the current expansion. While an older example, look at from GoD to Omens of War, where trash in Uqua was suddenly stunable. Made the traps far far easier to handle for guilds fielding less then 5 warriors as it allowed Knights to step in more.

If you are -only- doing single group content, it may be more time efficient to do certain things while leveling but if you are spending any amount of time raiding, the stronger debuffs/buffs/dps and so forth will outweigh any single or possibly even several items you may acquire otherwise.

Leveling to 75 to 80 I can't think of a single instance where I was like "Ya know, I wish I did this at lower level" simply due to the fact a lot of stuff in SoF, esp on launch had a pretty high risk factor to begin with (IE Tier 3+ named) and I ended up really counting on the AA which unlocked at 80 (White Wolf 2) and the Mask upgrades, etc for the extra mana regen in order to complete content which was intended to be doable at 78~ or higher. Zeka esp with the rapid respawn rates that it had on launch, you couldn't hope to move far with an average geared group if you were anything below 80, and it was even difficult for most 80 groups. Hence why they nearly doubled the respawn rate several months later.

If EQ was tuned better for missions which encouraged you to do them at level it might be different, but all the DoD missions were designed for 70 players, and DoN had lower level instances but it wasn't worth the time to run them in most cases. I can't think of a recent expansion where EQ encouraged people to do instances or quests a level lower then max, and really - that's part of the problem.

-Fenier

Frankly, I think that' youv'e dug your own grave with your mentality. It's sortof like asking why you would do instances in WoW instead of just rushing to level cap and then doing them. Uh. Fun?

If you do content -while- levelling up, it's -not- appreciably harder. The differences between 80 and 85 are not so monstrous that you need 85 to do anything but the top end stuff.

Additionally, SoD features a bunch of themes, all of which need to be completed to reap the benefits of the visible loot drops. Imagine having to "finish" a set of quests in Bloodmoon, Hills of Shade, Loping Plains, The Mechamatic Guardian, and Dragonscale hills before you could make Crystallos armor. That's not quite the picture, but suffice it to say that there's no benefit in being 85 when you're doing progression in Oceangreen and Bloody Kithicor. But you -need- to do that stuff, or you won't be able to make your new armor. (You can skip the easy themes for a while, but what's the point of going back when they're light blue?)

Unmei is right. I'm finding it no problem at all to go through the progression of Oceangreen hills and Kith with my girlfriend (cleric) and our tank mercs. It wasnt bad xp either. We're on FoS progression now and both 83. By the time we're done with prog, we'll probably be 85. Would it be easier if we were both 85 from the start? Sure, but where's your sense of challenge? I played WoW. I get it. My biggest problem was the fact that I could solo (almost) everything. Too easy (for the majority of the content, dungeons and "elite" quests were another story). There wasnt much of a challenge after getting used to EQ.

*shrugs* different games. EQ I found I formed bonds much easier because i was forced to group. In WoW, I could solo just about everything. No reason to group and form any bonds. Just my 2 cents though. And for the record, I think the SoD expansion has been pretty good so far. We'll see how i think of it when we finish progression and are 85 with a bunch of AAs.

Don't trap yourself in the old school EQ mentality where you are just fighting for levels... Grinding levels is not the design of today's EQ - there are plenty of tasks/quests (many required for progression) that have generous experience rewards and allow anyone to level without the grind mentality.

The Journey is the Prize... lots of ways to enjoy the game without having to just grind levels and AA's.

Don't become that person who bashes EQ after years of playing just because you found highlights of WoW you prefer ... lots of us have tried both and stick with the game we enjoy... G'luck !

*mauls Fenier and Sabby happily*

Good to hear from you two. I'm still around, though i've retired from active raiding, too much work and stuff. I've got a wow account too but i'm only 73.5, a long ways from 80. Do whatever you find fun, that's what I do! Games are a way for me to unwind, contact friends, and have a good time, i dont stress over them =)

Not to derail the topic but as a side note...

If you really want to make quest experience even better, bank 5 quests ( just hit exit when you are offered the reward at completion ) and cash them in later when you are running your next lessons.

You will get double the experience from the quests.

Tracor