News from SOE Fan Faire

As most were expecting, the next EQ2 expansion will be Destiny of Velious and releases February 8. I'm crossing my fingers it's not a bunch of snowy islands high up in the sky with some sort of snowdrift-type hover board transport. The expansion will include EQ2's first flying mounts.

The EQ1 expansion releases in October and includes player housing!! Woohoo! Not that I'm playing, but maybe I'll have a look. :)

And they released some concept art for EverQuest Next, which you can find here.

DC Universe Online releases November 2. Not something I have an interest in personally. Just not into the comic books. But pre-ordering supposedly gets you a lot of free goodies.

RMT Has Arrived in EQ1&2

Servers in EQ2 came down this morning to patch in SOE's new Station Cash which they are offering in both EQ1 and EQ2. After you have added cash to your account with your credit card, you can then purchase items in game using the new Marketplace tab.

I took a look at the few items they have. It was certainly nothing game breaking and included some ugly appearance armor sets, experience potions and some pets.

Part of me isn't bothered since I could care less about any of these items. Maybe they are just breaking us in gently before adding the nice stuff. But considering how stingy they are with character slots, and many of us are already paying $30 for Station Access just for more alts, another part of me is annoyed. But I guess it was just a matter of time.

Meaningful Solo in MMO's

Not a week goes by where I don't see a remark somewhere on some forum that the current trend of soloing is ruining MMO's. But I think they have it all wrong. In comparison to older titles, the more recent ones are actually less solo friendly.

Let's look at EQ1, what many consider to have been the ultimate grouping game. A good portion of folks I knew there soloed at some point. Every one of my alts soloed, of course some better than others. It took a long while to kill something, your experience bar didn't move much, and maybe you had to stick to green/light blue mobs. But it was done. Typically, I'd go to a zone and start soloing. If someone shouted out that they were looking for more, I joined in. If someone shouted looking for a group, I invited them to join me and eventually more would join. While leveling was still slow, grouping took some of the tedium away and just made things more enjoyable overall.

In more recent titles, leveling speed is increased and quests often yield more than the kills. It's not efficient to group since many are on different quests. And forming up groups is more tedious than just going out and getting it done on your own.

All that's changed is leveling speed, color of mobs you can take on, and the introduction of quests. But there's one major difference in current titles from prior. There is no meaningful solo content anymore. In EQ1 there were numerous dungeons that could be soloed, many with placeholders for named mobs that dropped nice items. This wasn't exclusive to dungeons though. Named mobs could be found in outdoor zones as well, if you didn't mind camping a spot to get them to spawn. In DAOC also dungeons and named mobs indoors and out could be soloed, both for armor and trophy heads which could be mounted and placed in your home. I didn't have the best gear and didn't always have the best solo class. But there were meaningful things for me to do on my own while out adventuring. Even SWG was more solo friendly pre-NGE than it is today.

In the current games I've played, you solo strictly to level. It doesn't lead to eventual groups and usually gains you nothing but experience. Anything meaningful, and what I consider to be fun, requires groups, usually full ones at that. And they are organized events, not chance encounters while you're out and about. Occasionally you might meet someone on the same quest. You group up for a few minutes to get it done and then part ways. So come to think of it, not only are current games less solo friendly, but also less group friendly.

So soloing has always been around. It's just not very fun anymore.

TCoS - Small Groups and No Raiding

Over a year ago I had The Chronicles of Spellborn listed as one of my anticipated games. But as I read more about it, it seemed to be a PvP-focused game so I dropped it from my radar. However, I came across the following recent post from TCoS staff:

"So far for PvE biggest group is 4 people and we do not intend to increase it, so far for PvP biggest group is 8. We also do not intend to have EQ/WoW style raids - that sort of thing where you need numbers to be able to do it."

I may just have to try this out after all. My biggest gripes with EQ2 have been the full-group requirements for dungeons as well as the trickle down effects of raiding. We tried to do a Kunark dungeon with four guildmates last week. The mobs were seven levels below us and we couldn't do it. Our gear just wasn't good enough. I hear raiders can solo this dungeon, but four of us in regular gear couldn't. And with the upcoming expansion being centered around dungeons, I'm guessing I'm not geared well enough for that either. Just as in EQ1, I anticipate the expansions will continue to get more difficult with raid/instance gear in mind, and the casual players will get further and further behind.

Honestly, I've been so annoyed with this aspect of EQ2 lately that if it weren't for the guild, I wanted to just cancel and uninstall. But really, where is there to go? I might have tried out LotRO again with the upcoming Moria expansion. But with TCoS coming out in a month, I plan to give this a try now. While originally there was just one server type, due to popular demand they have added a FFA PvP server. So maybe it won't be quite so bad on the other servers as the gankers have found a new home.

EQ2 Expansion Speculation

Apparently, the company that operates the Russian servers for EQ2 has released information to their clients regarding the upcoming expansion. Assuming it's been translated correctly, there will be 20 new zones including Innothule Swamp and Guk. Achievement points will be increased to 200 with new class options available. Also, two more deities will be returning.

Also, these two statements:

Studies underground: The new system will allow quests to all those wishing to go to dungeons again, receiving a unique experience

Trade shrapnel: A system of points, allowing players to acquire equipment for its improvement.

Something got lost in the translation there as I'm not quite clear what those mean. If they are applied together, it may very well be something similar to the LDoN expansion in EQ1, where completing dungeon missions earned you points, which you could use to purchase some really nice armor.

Not sure yet if the information is legit but it sounds plausible enough.

When a Ranger Feels Like a Ranger

Through the years I've developed expectations of how certain classes should "feel." I don't know where I've gotten these notions from. Using the ranger as an example, I didn't enjoy that class in EQ1. This was my first MMO, so I clearly didn't develop expectations based on that. The ranger I envisioned as a lone traveler, slaying evil in the woods with a few bow shots, perhaps with an animal friend at their side.

It wasn't until I played DAoC that I fell in love with this class. The Midgard hunter perfectly fit my expectations and the whole Midgard setting cemented the deal. I played a hunter in WoW as my main up until 60, but she really felt more like a cartoon with a bow in a crowded forest. Not that I didn't enjoy it somewhat for a time, but she didn't elicit that ranger feel.

I had a short-lived experience as a ranger in EQ2. This was probably the least I've ever enjoyed a ranger. The bow seemed more like an after-thought and they just aren't set apart very much from other scout classes in EQ2. I also tried one in LotRO. The setting was great for this type of character; however, my limited enjoyment of the game kept me from leveling her far enough along.

After having filled all but one of my character slots in Vanguard, I decided to try their version of the ranger. It's turned out to be a nice surprise. On a rare occasion I can one-shot, but for the most part mobs are nearly dead on arrival. And there is so much land to explore to keep her busy in the woods. Was disappointing to learn my pet only lasts a few minutes and can only be summoned on occasion. It's not perfect, but I'm enjoying it over the other classes I've tried there.

My husband as well has certain expectations when he plays a warrior. EQ1, EQ2, and DAoC all fit the mold for him, while the WoW and LotRO versions were quickly abandoned. And to date, I've yet to play a cleric that feels like a cleric as the EQ1 version did.

Vanguard broke a lot of the molds and created some other very interesting classes. And while they are fun to a point, I also feel some sort of disconnect as if they don't really make sense or fit into the world. Maybe it's the lack of deities and a feeling that your power is drawn from somewhere. Or maybe I've been reading too many books.

The Big Easy

There are times when challenges just become frustrations and I'm in the mood for easy mode. Such was the case yesterday. My husband and I had become accustomed to duoing dungeons in EQ2. However, the dungeons in that last two expansions have gotten progressively more difficult so that we have not been able to even attempt them when green. And the new Runnyeye instance is out of the question unless you have a full group in legendary gear and two healers. He logged in briefly, not knowing what to do with himself and logged off to play his necro in EQ1, which to him feels easier and more fun than any class he plays in EQ2. I tinkered with with an alt, but most of them are in those yucky levels where a lot of the mobs and quests are heroic.

So I thought I'd play a bit of Vanguard and do something more relaxing like diplomacy. I have a ranger who was in the middle of a quest series and thought I'd pick up where I left off. So off I went to parley with some mean looking fellows. I failed the parley and he killed me. Ok I loot my corpse, change card strategy, and win the parley. He hands me some items and tells me I will fall to my death unless I summon some spirits to aid me. Next thing I know I'm up in the sky falling to my death. I look at the items he gave me that call upon the spirits and they are a level higher than I am so I can't use them. So splat I go. I couldn't see my corpse anywhere on the map so had to use the altar and take the loss. I logged off quite frustrated, particularly that they would even give me the quest at that level when I had no means of being successful.

I checked my desktop. Hmm, let's see what other options there are. EQ1? Errmm definitely not tonight. SWG? Used to be easier but not so much today. So I went to bed instead.

Just like in real life, challenges here and there can be fun. But honestly I don't want to be hit with it every day. Sometimes I want easy and why can't there be both? I understand the allure of WoW because if I had it installed, I might have played it last night. Even DAOC was sounding tempting again. Maybe it's an age and situational thing. I have so many exhaustive challenges at home, I am just not in the mood for more of it at night. Maybe when I was younger and had fewer responsibilities, the MMO hardships would have filled a void. And maybe that's a whole different subject to get into later.

More Abilities = More Challenge?

Lately I've been spending a bit too much time thinking about hotbars. Browsing some forums yesterday I came across a post where someone was leaving Vanguard and going back to WoW. One of the top reasons they listed was they only had X number of skills on their hotbar in Vanguard, while in WoW they had X; and therefore, WoW required more thinking and Vanguard was too easy.

I don't know when giving you a multitude of skills that do the same thing suddenly became the norm, but more complex it is certainly not. It gets to a point where you lose immersion because of those dang buttons. Our guild in EQ2 got together for the final fight of a heritage quest. This involved waves of mobs coming at us which I never actually saw because I was so focused on my buttons. Take a look at these hotbars:


So what I have here are four heals that I use. And the reason for them? Because they each have refresh timers, so I must switch to another heal while the other is refreshing. Now really why not one heal that refreshes right away? Am I more skillful because I know how to use my other heals? The same goes with my cures. I have four cures for various ailments. There is a cure for them all, but it's got a very long refresh so the single versions are better. I won't even go into the other buttons plus the bars you don't see that I keep at the top of my screen.

I've used my mystic here as example, but the same goes for my melee alts. All these damage dealing buttons that do the same thing with varying degrees of damage. I'm playing a button MMO. Press, press, press, keep watching for refresh, press, press.

I especially became more aware of this after sticking my nose back in EQ1. Their recent expansion pack dropped in price and hubby wanted to see what things were like now (but that's another story for later). I logged in my beastlord to see my one lonely hotbar:


Now there is a limited spellbar off to the side with my slow I use at the beginning of the fight and a heal for emergencies. And also there are special abilities on a separate bar I can only use once every few minutes. But for the most part it's attack on and kick. I took her out for a trial run to get a feel for the gameplay again. When things get tough or adds come, you're relying on non-hotbar abilities to get through. The biggest difference I noticed while playing was that I saw everything going on around me because I wasn't having to stare at my bars. I could actually enjoy my environment. What you're really relying on here is your gear and quick responses.

EQ1 may be a bit too extreme as far as limited abilities go in today's market but really I think things have gone overboard in some MMO's. You're getting the same thing disguised with different names and long refreshes so that it "feels" like you're getting more for your buck. I realize not all MMO's are as extreme as EQ2 as far as the volume of abilities go. But I do hope it's not a trend in upcoming MMO's. I'd really like to get back to enjoying the environment around me.

Creating Content for the Majority

Keen and Graev's recent blog, while stirring up some fond memories of DAOC, also reminded me of my annoyances with my current game EQ2, as well as previous MMO's.

As I mentioned before, EQ2 recently released epic quests for each class. Whenever someone obtains their epic, a message is broadcast to everyone with their name, guild, and a link to the weapon they've acquired. On our server, only one raid guild has been able to acquire these. It's getting to where I'm starting to get annoyed each time I have to see the message. I'm certain it's no exaggeration that 95% of the players will likely never acquire these. All this effort and time creating content for such a small player base. And for what purpose? To annoy the majority and appease the few? I'm starting to get that discouraged feeling I had in EQ1 all over again.

Which is why I had mentioned in Keen's post that DAOC was the most enjoyable PVE experience for me. We obtained epics with a group of three. And why is this such a bad thing in other MMO's? I had a blast doing these. No camping of mobs hoping the right one spawns after eight hours. Just a fun series of challenging dungeon crawls. None of this carrot on a stick nonsense. The carrot was finally obtainable.

Conquering keeps and such is a different matter. I understand the need for volumes of people when you're taking over territories. And even DAOC gathered large forces for taking down a dragon. But it was for the experience of doing it and not to benefit one single individual with some wonderful armor piece few will ever see. We all pay the same fee and all want nice stuff without having to sacrifice our families to acquire things.

DAOC had added raid content in the form of the ToA expansion, which gave a select few an advantage over everyone else. But when players left in droves, they did eventually implement classic servers which included everything but ToA, and these servers did really well. I think had EQ1 added pre-PoP servers a couple years back, they would have also been successful, but think it's a bit too late for that now.

Mythic created one of the few MMO's with the majority of its players in mind, and that is why I will be trying Warhammer.

The Illusion of Power

Years ago in the early expansions of EQ1, when you upgraded your armor, it was noticeable. When you acquired alternate advancement points, it made a huge difference. Just leveling and gaining spells you didn't have before made you different. My main had become a beastlord, while my husband was a warrior. We could not duo these two in dungeons in our 20's, 30's or 40's. But we could do so at level 60. We had access to abilities at 60 that made us more powerful so that fights were much easier than they had been previously. And because of this playing at level 60 was a heck of a lot more fun than it had been at 20.

In the early days of SWG, we'd wait in line for our doctor buff and charge into lairs with a dozen mobs pounding on us and survive. But of course this was removed when devs realized we weren't paying $15 a month to have fun, but really to have balanced game play. /sarcasm off

Fast forward to current MMO's. In the latest EQ2 expansion, armor rewards are unlike any I have ever been able to obtain previously. Beyond the usual stat increases, there are also effects such as + to power and health regeneration, spell damage, and healing abilities. At first glance it was a bit exciting. My mediocre mystic might actually be more powerful! But alas, it was not to be. In order to compensate for the better armor, mobs have been tweaked up in difficulty so that if you don't have this armor on, you will be worse off than before. I'm finding as I level, that my characters become weaker.

In LotRO, while I didn't feel weaker as I leveled, my characters were stagnant. It didn't matter that I equipped purple armor much better than what I had. My survivability was the same. Stats were very soft and just didn't make a tremendous difference to game play.

The current trend is to offer just the illusion of power so we think there actually might be something to look forward to as we level. So while the dungeons of Norrath sit empty, we can rejoice in fact that all is fair and balanced. I miss being the hero.

Knowing Your Player Base

Anyone that's spent any amount of time in a particular MMO gets a pretty good feel for the type of players that reside there. And if you spend any amount of time reading up on future MMO's and seeing what players have to say on the forums, you can get an idea of what type of player will be playing in the future.

But sometimes companies make decisions that have me wondering if they spend any time at all playing their own game and mingling with players. So many times I've heard that some developers belong to raiding guilds. But this does not represent in most cases your typical player. Do they know who the majority of players really are? Or are they making their judgments by the complainers on the forums?

Putting the NGE aside and going forward, I've been looking at the most recent SWG expansions as well as the upcoming chapter and I'm just really baffled. My experience in both original and current SWG is that it consists of a lot of players who like to do their own thing. Back then people grouped up to get the mission bonuses, but everyone spread out and did the missions solo. We chatted together while grouped, but we were all on our own. Currently, when I'm out and about, about half of the players I run into are on their own. This is not to say there isn't a group presence because their certainly is, but I think the strong solo presence has been forgotten. These latest expansions have no resemblence to the existing content in SWG and the upcoming chapter will be adding yet more heroic encounters. Alienation of the casuals -- it's like witnessing EQ1 all over again.

Speaking of EQ1, I was going to add them to the pot here of not knowing their customers, but I've had a change of heart. Originally I had thought the progression servers were added to attract back the old casual players. And I thought clearly they don't know those players. I was one of them. Why would I go back to a server that raiders would flock to so they can be the first to unlock the content? In a short time, these servers would be no different than the rest once everything was opened up. But then the light bulb went off. I don't think we were the target at all. It was the existing raiders they were attracting all along. It gave them something new to do and I guess it worked.

Another company I think needs to be careful here is Turbine. LOTRO has a very strong pure PVE player presence. I recall talking about monster play in guild chat one day. Turned out my husband and I were the only ones in the guild who had even dabbled with it. The rest of our guild mates had absolutely no interest in it and no plans to participate. This was the case for the majority of players I met in game. However, if you were to read my server's forums, about 95% of the posts are about monster play. Turbine has responded to the complaints by adding some features to monster play. To their credit, they continue to push out content for the majority players but I think they really need to be careful about how much focus they put on PVP. People say it all the time but it often gets ignored -- the majority forum posters do not represent the majority players.

As I said, regarding most upcoming MMO's I have a pretty good idea who their target player is. However, one game I can't quite figure out is Chronicles of Spellborn. This will be a questing-based game with very little experience gained from combat. You will belong to one of five houses and it's been recommended that guild members all belong to the same house as they will all be in conflict with one another. Most zones will not be PVP-enabled; however, from what has been stated recently, you will be required to enter PVP zones to gather crafting materials and access certain content. This type of setup is slightly similar to Ryzom which hasn't fared well. So clearly they are not aiming for the PVE crowd. But I don't hear the PVPers talking about Spellborn. What about the folks in between who want to dabble in both? Most of my fellow bloggers fall into this category and I don't hear them talking about Spellborn either.

Spellborn has a lot of really really neat features. It had been on my radar for a long time but I just don't want PVP forced on me in any form. So who is their target player? I've heard it said several times now that many believe Spellborn will be a sleeper hit. Maybe it's unique enough but I think they need to define more clearly who they are to avoid becoming another Ryzom.

Preconceived Notions and Expectations

I was browsing the LOTRO forums and came across a heated and ultimately closed post initiated by one of the forum's long-time members. http://lotro.turbine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19985

Basically, the gist of the post had to do with the game not sticking to the lore of the books and many of those who had supported the game for years will not be playing. Being nosy, I followed a link over to the Arda Post where many of the disgrunted veterans have settled in. It seems several have moved on to Vanguard and report it to be so much more "intellectually stimulating."

Oh my goodness.

I was one of those who followed the development of Vanguard for years. I read the official forums regularly and had built up so much anticipation as had others. I was aware of LOTRO and glanced at the forums but otherwise didn't pay much attention to it, since my focus was Vanguard. Performance issues aside, it turned out to be not the game for me. While I thought I really did want to re-experience EQ1 all over again, the reality of it was that other games had spoiled me. I read so much hatred on forums regarding Vanguard, and I can't help but wonder how much of that comes from those who had been long-time followers and had built up so much expectation over the years.

I entered LOTRO with few expectations. I read the books over 20 years ago but had no intention of comparing the two. The movies took some liberties to make them appealing to the masses and I enjoyed them tremendously, so had no issues with the game doing the same as long as I had fun. And I did.

So now reading the posts from the long-time followers of LOTRO I again wonder if those built-up expectations have clouded thinking somewhat. Do you play and look for fun? Or play and look for inconsistencies and what's wrong? If you look for what's wrong, you will always find something no matter what you play.

Or maybe one man's boredom really is another's intellectual stimulation.