From GM comments on E'ci nite before last I got the impression that the
Kithicor spawn would be changing once Paw was up and running. Changing by
how much was unclear. The spawn was turned on E'ci for a night for some
reason as well.
What Verant failed to predict was so many people reaching such high levels
so quickly. I know that GZ for one did not expect there to be any level
50's before September. The vast number of high level players has caught
Verant totally flat-footed and they are trying to figure out what to do
about it. They blew it I think when they lowered the xp loss for dying.
They should have increased the xp needed to gain a level at the same time
cause all they did was exacerbate their other big problem which was too many
people advancing too quickly. They also should have realized that most of
the people who were quitting because dying was too painful were going to
quit anyhow even when dying became less painful. Oh well, evolution
continues, personally the next online game I am looking forward to is
Neverwinter Nights, so WE can write the stories.
Kitasi
-----Original Message-----
From: Kyle Q [mailto:
kyleq@...]
Sent: Friday, November 19, 1999 8:20 AM
To:
eqbards@onelist.com
Subject: Re: [eqbards] OT: Feign Death nerf (long)
From: "Kyle Q" <
kyleq@...>
> From: <kim@...>
>
> On Fri, 19 Nov 1999, Kyle Q wrote:
> >
> > All I have to say is perception counts for a lot.
>
> I don't dispute that. I was just wanted to make it clear that
> the difference being pointed out was entirely illusionary.
> Once you understand that, you start to see that monster
> boosting is just another step in the downward spiral the mud
> wimping article describes. Slowly advancing people
> get screwed while the quickly advancing people the changes are
> aimed at are relatively unaffected since they're already high
> level. *That* is what frustrates me most about this whole
> process - it's regressive in that the lowest levels are nerfed
> the most.
>
What it really boils down to is lack of room for both parties (advanced vs
lower lvl). After experiencing the kind of openess that Asherons Call
allows, Everquest is really starting to feel like an apartment with 3
families living in it. The Kithicor change is a classic example of this.
They took a well used travel corridor and turned it into a death trap so
that high level players wouldn't have to fight 90 other people for a spot in
lower guk. The problem is that since travel is so restrictive (through zone
points) that the younger players don't have much alternative.
Everquest simply cannot expand fast enough to support the players. A new
continent in March? Oh joy.....we need it now. For the average high level
player (between lvl 40-50) you can count on one hand the number of zones
that are desirable to go to, and in all of those zones, you are gonna find a
large number of players already there.
Monster boosting would be a better choice than player nerfing, but it
requires more new places to go where the new creatures could be added in,
leaving the lower level creatures in tact for the newer players.
Unfortunately Verant has already proven to us that this will never happen.
They simply do not have the capability to add on new zones quickly. Since
retail release (and correct me if I'm wrong) a grand whopping total of 3
zones have been added, two of which are only for extremely high level
players, and the other is just for quests. 3 zones have been completely
revamped (Kith and Kedge and Perma), but again, revamping takes away from
the younger players and gives to the higher levels.
EQ is stagnating because it isn't growing. Stagnation is slow death.
Oh well.......here is hoping that the next crop of MMRPG's (Heroes Journey
and Shadowbane) allow for the easy expansion of the world by the game
designers. Then maybe these problems would have a chance of being solved.
Dank
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