ROK the death knell of EQ2?

dawy · #1 (**permalink**) 06-05-2008, 08:27 AM

Firstly i'm resevering the right to add to this post (at my age you forget things).

Right before i start i'll say this Echoes of Feydwer was the best MMO expansion pack i've ever played,EQ2 reached its golden age,no level increase (i had three level 70 toons so i could explore and do what i wanted while just enjoying the game with no pressure to get to max level) and for 12 blissful months EQ2 was IMO the best PVE MMO bar non (i'm biased i know).

Then last spetember i got the ROK beta invite and hell i'll admit i got a bit moist at the thought,more of the original game coming back to the new game,what could go wrong?

Seeing Kylong plains for the first time was wonderful,i didnt think the games engine could make something look that good but there it was in all its glory and my first thoughts where simple,the games gonna get a whole lot better now.

So i started testing it with my wizzy main and frankly i spent the first two weeks /bug reporting the fact i was being one kill hit for 20k damage from a rooted mob at max spell range,something was wrong but the devs sorta listened to us and it was fixed to a degree where it was a bit challengeing without it being "easy mode".

So onto the quests the first couple of levels where as i thought they would be was usual fair,kill x amount and return,rinse and repeat but it soon became very clear that this was what it was like to get to level 80,just maindless faction quests non of which once you had enough faction with the various,well factions meant all that much,this went on till the beta ended when i was level 76.

One of the things i did notice in the beta was the usual cry of "where to grind",there was no answer to this other maybe chardock and karners castel,but these remained closed for a good part of the beta,anyway more or that later.

Onto the launch and if you can believe it runnyeye was heaving,the most instances of zones i saw was 9 for Kylong Plains and it was like this for the month or so till people moved on to other zones leveling up.

The answer to the "group grind" question became clear within hours of launch tbh,there wasnt any,you solod your way to level 80 and hit a few dungeons along the way,this happened till people realised the xp and loot just wearnt the effort,so off you went and solo'd..the first level 80s i saw came along about 3 days after launch,it took me a month to the day to get there,my conjy lies left alone on level 79 becuase i just cant be arsed going back to the ROK zones.

Now onto the quest rewards themselves they far out stripped anything in the game,even raid gear and this was a bone of contention for many players (even the starter area has madly overdone gear) it almost rendered high level crafting worthless tbh.

The new area was done by the tiawan team and apart from the overpowered armour is done very well indeed,the quests work very well together and are alot of the time fun (they even threw ina little quest a bit like pokemon,but sadly it wasnt taken any further and thats sad).

But thinking back now even the devs seemed muddled by what they wanted to bring into ROK,firsstly gorowin was a new city and this was going to be neutral,then no its evil,KOS to the good guys,then it changed again and now while its evil an alt i made goes in there happily at level 7 and its this lack of focus thats hurt the game IMO.

Everything thats come post ROK,epic weapons and other bit and peices seem to be an after thought and wildly uneven,certainly in regards to the epic weapon quests..an exapmle of this is on my wizzy i have to go into the hardest dungoen in the game just to find a book to get it going..monks though just have to find a bloke on a beach,pally go into freeport

but i digress.

The game servers where full-ish till just after christmas in fact i'd say till about march time when i really noticed the population dropping off and with the release of AoC the server has no fucker on it even at peak times.

I think the best way to sum up ROK is this,look at it as a single player game and frankly it fails in so many different ways,its quests are dull and boring,its bugged to hell and back (still is too).

Every LU there seems to be yet more changes to crafting (now i'll grant you it needed toneing down as it was far to over complicated) but not to the point it is now mash 3 buttons and your done once again its all part of this lack of focus thats present in the game at the moment.

So where and what does this mean for EQ2 as i see it? well the first bit of good news for me at least was the change of prodecers back in december,Bruce Ferguson who was the games original producer has come back and in his first post wondered "if it was right you could solo to max level",now of course it is BUT you also have to have the option to group and hell just grind a nigth away if thats what you wanted to do,ROK took those last 2 options away from players.

The next expansion is called the Shaodw Oddysey and by the looks of it there wont be a level increase this time round (huzzah) but of course theres no word fully as yet on it,and i do have hopes for it after all surely it cant be as bad as ROK was for me and many other players.

Anyways for now thats it but i'll grab the next post down in reserve for anything else i think about through the day (or i'll post a piccy of a big titted woman)

dawy · #2 (**permalink**) 06-05-2008, 08:27 AM

*mine all mine*

pboy · #3 (**permalink**) 06-05-2008, 08:46 AM

I dont get it

dawy · #4 (**permalink**) 06-05-2008, 08:53 AM

Get what?

Crixx · #5 (**permalink**) 06-05-2008, 11:59 AM

There needs to be an expansion where the Staggehs and scarecrows take back what is rightfully theirs.

Jedel · #6 (**permalink**) 06-05-2008, 12:37 PM

tl;dr

also, STAGGEHS!

st0nedpenguin · #7 (**permalink**) 06-05-2008, 12:56 PM

EQ2 was the death knell of EQ2.

Kasroa · #8 (**permalink**) 06-05-2008, 02:34 PM

tl;dr

Mo0k · #9 (**permalink**) 06-05-2008, 03:15 PM

tl;dr

Crixx · #10 (**permalink**) 06-05-2008, 03:42 PM

nes;dr
(Not enough Staggehs; Didn't read)

Mo0k · #11 (**permalink**) 06-05-2008, 03:44 PM

not enough sex?

st0nedpenguin · #12 (**permalink**) 06-05-2008, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dawy

Firstly i'm resevering the right to add to this post (at my age you forget things).

Right before i start i'll say this Echoes of Feydwer was the best stag expansion pack i've ever played,EQ2 reached its golden age,no level increase (i had three level 70 toons so i could explore and do what i wanted while just enjoying the game with no pressure to get to max level) and for 12 blissful months EQ2 was IMO the best PVE stag bar non (i'm biased i know).

Then last spetember i got the stag beta invite and hell i'll admit i got a bit moist at the thought,more of the original game coming back to the new game,what could go wrong?

Seeing stag plains for the first time was wonderful,i didnt think the games engine could make something look that good but there it was in all its glory and my first thoughts where simple,the games gonna get a whole lot better now.

So i started testing it with my stag main and frankly i spent the first two weeks /bug reporting the fact i was being one kill hit for 20k damage from a rooted stag at max spell range,something was wrong but the devs sorta listened to us and it was fixed to a degree where it was a bit challengeing without it being "easy mode".

So onto the quests the first couple of levels where as i thought they would be was usual fair,kill x stags and return,rinse and repeat but it soon became very clear that this was what it was like to get to level 80,just maindless stag quests non of which once you had enough faction with the various,well factions meant all that much,this went on till the beta ended when i was level 76.

One of the things i did notice in the beta was the usual cry of "where to grind",there was no answer to this other maybe stag and inc castel,but these remained closed for a good part of the beta,anyway more or that later.

Onto the launch and if you can believe it runnyeye was heaving,the most instances of zones i saw was 9 for stag Plains and it was like this for the month or so till people moved on to other zones leveling up.

The answer to the "stag grind" question became clear within hours of launch tbh,there wasnt any,you solod your way to level 80 and hit a few stags along the way,this happened till people realised the xp and loot just wearnt the effort,so off you went and solo'd..the first level 80s i saw came along about 3 days after launch,it took me a month to the day to get there,my conjy lies left alone on level 79 becuase i just cant be arsed going back to the stag zones.

Now onto the quest rewards themselves they far out stripped anything in the game,even stag gear and this was a bone of contention for many players (even the starter area has madly overdone gear) it almost rendered high level crafting worthless tbh.

The new area was done by the stag team and apart from the overpowered armour is done very well indeed,the quests work very well together and are alot of the time fun (they even threw ina little quest a bit like pokemon,but sadly it wasnt taken any further and thats sad).

But thinking back now even the devs seemed muddled by what they wanted to bring into stag,firsstly stag was a new city and this was going to be neutral,then no its evil,KOS to the good guys,then it changed again and now while its evil a stag i made goes in there happily at level 7 and its this lack of focus thats hurt the game IMO.

Everything thats come post stag ,epic stags and other bit and peices seem to be an after thought and wildly uneven,certainly in regards to the epic stag quests..an exapmle of this is on my stag i have to go into the hardest dungoen in the game just to find a book to get it going..monks though just have to find a bloke on a stag,pally go into freeport

but i digress.

The game servers where full-ish till just after christmas in fact i'd say till about march time when i really noticed the population dropping off and with the release of AoC the server has no fucker on it even at peak times.

I think the best way to sum up stag is this,look at it as a single player game and frankly it fails in so many different ways,its stags are dull and boring,its bugged to hell and back (still is too).

Every LU there seems to be yet more changes to crafting (now i'll grant you it needed toneing down as it was far to over complicated) but not to the point it is now mash 3 buttons and your done once again its all part of this lack of focus thats present in the game at the moment.

So where and what does this mean for EQ2 as i see it? well the first bit of good news for me at least was the change of prodecers back in december,Bruce Ferguson who was the games original producer has come back and in his first post wondered "if it was right you could solo to max level",now of course it is BUT you also have to have the option to group and hell just stag a nigth away if thats what you wanted to do,stag took those last 2 options away from players.

The next expansion is called the stag Oddysey and by the looks of it there wont be a level increase this time round (huzzah) but of course theres no word fully as yet on it,and i do have hopes for it after all surely it cant be as bad as stag was for me and many other players.

Anyways for now thats it but i'll grab the next post down in reserve for anything else i think about through the day (or i'll post a piccy of a big titted stag)

Translated for Crixx.