If you could go back in time and get on the EQ dev team

[jolanar]

What would you realistically change in Classic/Kunark/Velious?

Here is my list:

1. Add a druid port to Surefall Glade and a Wizard Port to Everfrost from day 1.

2. Add a few more items with regen on them. I never understood why they took out Rubicite Breastplate. I wish they had a 2 regen breastplate, and maybe something like a 8 or 10 regen as well to help bridge the gap between the gamebreaking power of the fungi tunic and everything else.

3. Make all vendors that sell to anyone be "greedy" vendors. The fact that there are so many vendors that sell to anyone really reduces the impact that faction has.

4. Being able to sell to a vendor because your sneaking is silly, and should be removed as well. This also increases the value of faction.


What would you change?

[trite]

What would you realistically change in Classic/Kunark/Velious?

Here is my list:

1. Add a druid port to Surefall Glade and a Wizard Port to Everfrost from day 1.

2. Add a few more items with regen on them. I never understood why they took out Rubicite Breastplate. I wish they had a 2 regen breastplate, and maybe something like a 5 regen as well to help bridge the gap between the gamebreaking power of the fungi tunic and everything else.

3. Make all vendors that sell to anyone be "greedy" vendors. The fact that there are so many vendors that sell to anyone really reduces the impact that faction has.

4. Being able to sell to a vendor because your sneaking is silly, and should be removed as well. This also increases the value of faction.


What would you change?

your regen point is interesting, about more regen in classic...When they took out rubicate bp there were no regen items until Kunark. Iksar Ceremonial Chestplate is the +5 regen item they added to bridge the gap...

One change i would make would be to add special recharge merchants that only buy items with charges on them. I would also break recharging on other merchants. Recharging is such a cool "feature," I'd like to make it seem as if it were put into the game on purpose...

[Amyas]

I would try to stop the game from going over 60. Only hard mobs more AA's and gear.

[Spyder73]

1) Have dot's from different players stack
2) Beastlord from day 1
3) AA points
4) Lizards perma KoS outside of Kunark - and perma Ally in Kunark (Lizard should never be KoS to OT Fort even while cleansing KC)
5) More leveling dungeons in Velious
6) Revamp Dragon Necropolis to be more like nToV in terms of raiding
7) Add in the god d@mn LFG tool for the love of christ
8) Add in achievements like WoW...say what you want but I like achievements
9) Remove Multi Questing of items

[Jimjam]

Fix bugs that were in game for like 10 years without being addressed because devs refused to believe they were broken (taunt not working on anything above blue con, bash stun not generating aggro similar to spell stun, etc).

I'd also put in loads of broken quests and items with race/class combos that couldn't be used by players.

Edit: I also like how most of the classic gear was basically crap, and easily replaceable as nothing was really orders of magnitude better than the most simple equipment.

[LGraves]

I would get rid of those horrible Kunark trees.

[Cecily]

If I could back in time and meet the dev team.. hmm.

http://i.imgur.com/kksjgcK.gif

[Izmael]

I would get rid of those horrible Kunark trees.

...and of the ubiquitous mountains.

[maskedmelon]

1. Remove absolute race-class restrictions and replace with meaningful faction and quest based restrictions, allowing all playable races to become any class provided they complete a series of quests and satisfy specific faction requirements.

2. Implement item wear and remove no drop.

3. Make stamina meaningful

[LGraves]

1. Remove absolute race-class restrictions and replace with meaningful faction and quest based restrictions, allowing all playable races to become any class provided they complete a series of quests and satisfy specific faction requirements.

2. Implement item wear and remove no drop.

3. Make stamina meaningful


Item wear. Oh man that would be brutal, but welcomed :)

[jolanar]

2. Implement item wear and remove no drop.

Item wear would be fun, but only if it was repairable by players only, would definitely help make tradeskills much more usable. When you can walk up to any random merchant and press 1 button to repair all your armor like in other MMOs it becomes quite pointless.

I played on FV on Live so I definitely support getting rid of no drop items across the board outside of things like Epics and other meaningful quest rewards.

[maskedmelon]

Item wear would be fun, but only if it was repairable by players only, would definitely help make tradeskills much more usable. When you can walk up to any random merchant and press 1 button to repair all your armor like in other MMOs it becomes quite pointless.



Totally agree here.

[Amyas]

Ew item wear >_<

[koros]

1. Smooth out the leveling curve a bit. You end up killing in 2-3 dungeons from 51-60

2. Implement greenmist the way it was originally intended and implement the other iksar quests.

3. Change the formulas to make stats matter more, agi/dex/str etc, and figure out a way to make gear as fundamentally important for casters as it is for melee.

4. Make the default hp regeneration not so ungodly slow. Slow, but not sitting for up to 30 min to regen to full slow.

5. Change CT to the post Luclin revamp. It would become the perfect zone for a very good group of level 60s to hunt, or alternately work as a 2 group mid 50s raid zone.

6. Change hybrid spells to be more in line with PoP era spell progression. What level 57+ sk is going to cast a spell that does 189 damage over a minute?

7. Increase Druid (and maybe pre 60 shaman) healing a bit. Remove non-cleric 10% penalty for heals. Either give some upgraded spells or give druids some other form of mana regeneration, maybe replace the hp regen on skin like nature with mana regen.

8. Remove defensive and rebalance/remove ch. Rebalance mobs for this.

9. Increase standing mana regen a bit or give hybrids a way to regenerate mana. They basically need an enchanter or bard to cast consistently in any fast pulling group as it currently is.

[Jimjam]

Koros post suggesting remove defensive and rebalance/remove ch reminded me of a change in live I liked.

Shamans and druids received a spell that would teleport a player to their corpse, but wouldn't rez xp (nor block future rezzes).

I think it would be nice to break up how important warriors/clerics are for top end stuff.

I'd also broaden melee bind affinity to allow any small homestead with a supplies merchant (or at least make inns useful in another way, perhaps boosting OOC regen or something).

[lowner411]

Make life significantly different depending on your choice of your home town, either by faction or by your home town. As an example, a barb shaman and a ogre shaman are just a min/max decision, but a different experience.

[Jimjam]

1. Spirit of Dolphin. Swim way faster!

2. I'd make velious mobs lower then level 45 have lower hp+ac. It's a crime that velious leveling sucks.

3. AA's for sure. I really hope we add them in one day.

4. No hell levels, overall faster leveling. Getting my first 60 on p99 took FOR EVER. I'd LOVE to level up a couple other characters, but it's unfeasible with my playtime availability.

5. No proxy groups. Although very clever, and even a little bit cool, it's ridiculous lol. However, i'd really only appreciate no proxy groups if #4 existed.

LFG TOOL, or a way to talk to the whole server for means of finding groups. Sucks running all the way to UGuK to find that all groups full or worse, there is no groups
/ all guktop
send tells and ask people whats up.

or, if you wanna see whats happening around norrath / all x y (where x is the lowest you want to group with y is highest)

[Rygar]

One thing I always was hoping for was situational needs for using piercing / slashing / blunt items for melee. For instance, a skeleton would take less damage from piercing (harder to hit them bones), medium damage for slashing (may slip between the ribs), and heavy damage for blunt weapons.

Same can be said for chance to hit. This can add some diversity and a need for melee to carry around more weapons that can be swapped in and out depending on the fight. I think some interesting encounters could be had with this (such as rogue dps being very low on a mob with 'resistance to piercing', maybe they need to give up backstab for slashing weapons)

[Izmael]

I would hire the Dutch (?) guy who programmed the Quake 3 bots and let him do all AI of EQ.

We'd have mobs fear kiting US.

[phacemeltar]

i'd probably delete kunark. then i would make more npc skirmishes, as in have the mobs fight against one another based on competing factions.

id have npc-driven raids on cities and encampments with capturable locations.

[AgentEpilot]

1. Spirit of Dolphin. Swim way faster!

I would have loved this, and also more ocean life in general.

[Rygar]

This is a real fun topic, some more ideas:

1) Revamp armor classes:
Cloth: Mage / Wizard / Enchanter / Monk / Cleric (monks need that swift speed, clerics are more true priests)

Leather: Rogue / Ranger / Druid / Shaman / Necro / Bard (Rogues need to be quieter to sneak / hide, rangers / druid / shaman live off the lands, necros wear the flesh of others, bards need to be agile to hit them notes)

Ringmail: Paladin / Shadow Knight / Warrior (these would have increased str / dex stats and some +haste to allow them to dps when not tanking)

Plate: Paladin / Shadow Knight / Warrior (these would have some minor slow components like 0.5% per piece, heavy +sta, +% taunt increase or right click agro spells when worn, and obviously more ac)

2) Combination spells. This is seen in a lot of 'turn based' rpg games if 2 classes cast certain spells at the same time it forms a 'super spell' that does additional damage. This can add a lot of dimension to raid and group encounters. Can be difficult to achieve if 1 class has a 4 second cast and another has a 3 second cast. I think this would be real fun and take more skill than button mashing. It wouldn't hinder your group but would definitely let more quality players stand out.

3) Alcohol Tolerance should be a more useful skill. Can help you resist certain spells if intoxicated to a certain degree (maybe 'numbs you to the cold', etc)

4) Tradeskills should add stat bonuses as you level them up. Such as 100pts in Blacksmithing adds +5 str to base stats, 250 pts is +25 str. Fishing could add dexterity and agility, baking adds charisma, research adds intelligence, tinkering adds intelligence / wisdom and dexterity, etc. Begging can also increase charisma.

5) Monk special attacks could have some special abilities... like Eagle Strike could hit a cluster of nerves and slow attack rate, Dragon Punch/Tail Rake could have a small stun chance, Tiger Claw have a chance to hamstring and add a short duration snare, etc.

6) Caster dps / abilities should be more balanced with melee, as I understood it was like in Planes of Power.

7) I like 'little things', like maybe tracking success decreases when its raining or snowing (tracks disappear faster) or a full moon makes certain mobs turn to werewolves randomly.

8) Shields for tanks... duel wielding or straight 2hs 'tanking' just doesn't make sense. Should be a necessity.

9) FD revised. If you successfully FD a mob they should get a buff... they can't be 'fooled' again by you dying until buff has worn off. The buff can get counters added to it, more unlikely they'll believe you FD with the more counters it has. Kinda dumb an intelligent boss mob would stop attacking you after seeing you 'die' 5 times in a row.

So much more to think of... so little time...

[myriverse]

No race or class exp penalty.
No racial class restrictions.

[Spyder73]

You can have a character with access to two differnt class skills/spells - but that character requires double to XP to level.

My dream of the Bard Monk (Bonk) could be made whole.

[jolanar]

No race or class exp penalty.
No racial class restrictions.

Races with really high stats and amazing racial benefits need more penalties, not less IMO.

The only thing wrong with the exp penalty is that it effects how much exp others gain too.

You can have a character with access to two differnt class skills/spells - but that character requires double to XP to level.

My dream of the Bard Monk (Bonk) could be made whole.

Enchanter/Shaman combo. Why even play anything else lol.

[phacemeltar]

i'd post the entire source on github

[drktmplr12]

Item wear would be fun, but only if it was repairable by players only, would definitely help make tradeskills much more usable. When you can walk up to any random merchant and press 1 button to repair all your armor like in other MMOs it becomes quite pointless.

its only meant to remove gold from the game. so not entirely pointless

[Izmael]

Races with really high stats and amazing racial benefits need more penalties, not less IMO.

The only thing wrong with the exp penalty is that it effects how much exp others gain too.



Enchanter/Shaman combo. Why even play anything else lol.


Enchanter/Necro for taps, even more mana regen, controllable pet and FD (!)

I wonder what would be a more powerful solo combo, Enchaman or Enchancer.

[Bristlebaner]

Clerichanter

[Vexenu]

1) Stat caps for the overpowered races: Iksars capped at 200 STR and INT (tradeoff for being the best Monk and Necro race), Troll capped at 200 WIS, Ogre capped at 200 WIS and 225 DEX.

2) Give Wizards haste and clarity, refocus Enchanters entirely toward CC, illusions and charming. Wizards now desirable for groups, Enchanters still OP but to a lesser degree.

3) As was originally intended: Endurance is drained by melee attacks but can be restored by spells cast by Rangers, Druids and Paladins (not such useless raiding classes anymore, are they?)

[EdTuBrutus]

Surely there are two different answers to this question.

First is what you would do back in 1999 with the knowledge of 2016.

And its pretty obvious. You would make WoW.

Second is what you would do back in 1999 with only the knowledge of 1999. I'm fairly certain you wouldn't choose to use it as a way to punish players, the learning curve would be much, much easier and the level requirements would be smoothed so hell levels don't exist.

The thing is, eliminating hell levels isnt that damn hard. You just dont use a formula. You get someone in the firm to set the numbers, it takes a couple of hours and it stops players leaving en masse at certain points. Its numbskullingly obvious.

Then you would make stats actually matter. I still cant believe that they made this game where stats mean virtually nothing. Not only did they make stats meaningless, but they made an entire class where the rest of the game wants them to waste their time buffing those stats despite much better stuff that class could do.

And then there's camping. Does it seem even remotely reasonable that you should have to spend 14 hours to camp a spawn? Especially when the rest of the game will think that spawn drop is necessary for your class to work (as it was for FBSS). Or camp for 12 days for the Cleric Epic. 12 days. 12 DAYS.

The problem back in 1999 was that McQuaid didn't understand the genre or the bulk of the players. They didn't want punished or to spend a year on a single character. They wanted a fun game and if they got to 50, they could do another class/race combo.

The worst thing EQ did was fail to understand the players, they thought that players when they maxed would leave. (I wont rant about the terrible end game here). But they dont they go make a new char and level that.

[lowner411]

1. Change the exchange ratio between the copper, silver, gold, and platinum coins from 1:10 to 1:20 or 1:25 or even 1:50. That way the smaller coins would mean something.

2. I also wonder what would happen in the numbers had been more hidden in the game:

- No /loc
- Weapon and armor statistics given as descriptive or comparative terms
- Hits given descriptively (scratched, clawed, stabbed, skewered, mangled, destroyed)
- HP/END/CON/EXP limited to a bar.

I think the player base would spend a lot of time trying different weapon combinations to figure out what killed what most efficiently, and min/maxing would take on a different flavor.

3. Open up the boundaries to the Oceans so someone can swim or lev into the zone with out being on a boat.

4. Add more flying options than levitating, but END is drained by any flight--the higher up you are, the more endurance is drained.

[Bristlebaner]

Give rangers wolf pets.

[Izmael]

Make mage bolts to not require having something targeted - it would just fly straight ahead and hit whatever obstacle it would hit first.

[jolanar]

2) Give Wizards haste and clarity, refocus Enchanters entirely toward CC, illusions and charming. Wizards now desirable for groups, Enchanters still OP but to a lesser degree.


I've seen suggestions in the past to just get rid of the wizard class entirely and then give ports to mages and I think that's a pretty good way to handle it too.

Alternatively, give wizards an easily obtainable clicky nuke better than JBB or Burnt Staff. AFAIK they don't have one, yet Shamans and Mages do? That seems back asswards to me.

[myriverse]

Races with really high stats and amazing racial benefits need more penalties, not less IMO.

The only thing wrong with the exp penalty is that it effects how much exp others gain too.
Experience and class restrictions just are not the way to balance them. See D&D.

[Jimjam]

Experience and class restrictions just are not the way to balance them. See D&D.

It would be interesting if there was an xp cap rather than a level cap. So a Halfling warrior could reach a higher level than a troll shadow knight for advantage.

[alphys]

Iksars from classic, non KOS, can be bards, rogues, rangers, druids, clerics, enchanters

[Bummey]

halfling rangers, gnome paladins

[fadetree]

halfling rangers, gnome paladins

DIAF

It was SK's anyways, wasn't it?

[xKoopa]

DIAF

It was SK's anyways, wasn't it?

Halfling ranger/pally and gnome sk/pally

[Nexii]

Dynamic ZEM by zone popularity I think would have been good. Zones with very few players in them would essentially get a large ZEM. It would encourage players to travel to places they wouldn't normally go.

Better caster scaling with gear & removal of CH/defensive. Casters would of course need a lower baseline power but it'd even out. Warriors could just get a lesser innate damage reduction. Cleric would need a line of strong but slow heals to offset losing CH. Also better aggro for Warriors...they're a tank class.

More race/religion/class having an impact on faction and quests. It felt like what you were didn't matter as much in Kunark and Velious as Classic. Same for items that depend on race/religion.

Agree with merging Wizard/Mage, and having Beastmaster instead. Ranger should be more bow focused from the start, with or without AAs.

[Tasslehofp99]

4. Being able to sell to a vendor because your sneaking is silly, and should be removed as well. This also increases the value of faction.




Rogues would probably have a problem with this, lol.

[jolanar]

More race/religion/class having an impact on faction and quests. It felt like what you were didn't matter as much in Kunark and Velious as Classic. Same for items that depend on race/religion.


Definitely support more side effects to choosing religion.

[Llandris]

I've always liked OOC regen (http://everquest.allakhazam.com/wiki/Frequently_Asked_Questions_(EQ)).

[Izmael]

OOC regen means less dependency on healing classes - as soon as you can find a mob that gives you exp and you can kill before they kill you - you can solo for exp, regardless of your class.

One of the big things in (classic) EQ is being dependent on other players (unless you're a sociopathic necro of course).

[Norok]

Put a wall sized plaque in the middle of Freeport that says:

"Verily ye we say, there may be additional convenience modifications we will make within the game and to the interface in the eons that follow that we could not foresee as useful to players. Thy shall not interpret what ye sees here as the entire vision. We are talking to you, Ele, so piss off."

[pogs4ever]

Once you hit scowls faction it's unrepairable.

[luno]

Heh, there are so many systems in EQ that are so poorly designed you wonder if they were even play tested it (the tedium and poor scaling of crafting, for instance).

One issue with EQ is that there are a lot of unnecessary and deliberate time sinks. Things that make the game artificially hard, but don't actually demand more of you as a player. The cynical view is that these mechanics were intended as a money-grab per EQ's subscription model, but maybe it was more that the devs just didn't know how to do any better.

Poopsocking aside, the main beef I've always had with EQ is that so many of the unique abilities are concentrated in such a tiny minority of classes. Generally, casters have a monopoly on both convenience and power/diversity of abilities, and I think this is a problem.

There's an interesting interview with Rob Pardo (one of the then EQ-playing designers of vanilla WoW) where he explains how he attempted to rectify a lot of these annoying design goofs he noticed playing EQ when creating vanilla WoW. Interesting listen, especially for devs/designers:
https://www.idlethumbs.net/designernotes/episodes/rob-pardo-part-2

I enjoy classic EQ for the nostalgia and the dynamics of the virtual world/community...but certainly not for the game design.

[luno]

For example, when playing my bard AoE kiting is incredibly efficient, but the high risk and amount of fatigue burns you out really quickly. Grouping has much less friction/anguish, a social component, and the greater possibility of obtaining loot.

For some classes in EQ the incentives balance out, and I've actually done about half AoE and half grouping at this point (level 50). I wish the design was such that more classes could enjoy that dynamic.

Contrast with a game like WoW as you find it today, where *everything* is completely frictionless and efficient...and well, yeah. /endrant

[Aalderon Crystafire]

When you have a faction maxed it would grant you a powerful Final Fantasy-style summon ability on a long CD timer. :D

[Caldwin]

1) Somehow make it so older content/gear is not obsoleted by newer content/gear. This includes someway of reducing the ability or effectiveness of being twinked. I'm not sure how to go about this, but there has to be some way.

On P99, it's far worse than was on live during the classic period. Between the longer time frame for expansions and the knowledge people have now vs then, people are able to solo (due to being highly twinked and knowing the ends and outs of the game) content that used to require full groups.

I remember on live, my very first group was on the trail just over the hill from the orc lift. That is not the case on P99. Though, I also remember more roaming mobs in that area than on P99. Then, moved to orc hill. A group at entrance tunnel to CB.

Then in CB, there was a group near the zone line, one each at slavers area, trainer, lego's beyond slavers, wall, inside castle, and maybe a separate group near the slave pits. On P99, it's now mainly slavers, trainer (and that's often done solo), and the wall, which also pulls from the castle and maybe slave pits.

There just has to be a way to keep camps intended for full groups to not be taken by a soloist or a duo.

2) Something that might provide random danger is when raining, a possibility of being struck by lightening. When lightening strikes, it producing max damage at the point it strikes, then decreases damage further out up to a certain distance away. Those wearing metal take higher damage than others that are not. Being indoors or otherwise under cover, shields you from the lightening. Maybe even have one or more casters with a spell to protect the target from lightening strikes, or at least reduce the chance of being struck or reduce damage taken.

I remember when I first started on live and it started to rain, I thought you could actually get struck. Hey, I didn't know how realistic they may have made the game.

3) Like some others have mentioned, it would be nice if trade skills actually meant something.

4) Make all classes usefull in groups/raids. Others have given some ideas. But, wizards, druids, rangers and even paladins being shunned by at least the min/maxers isn't cool. Maybe wizards can get slightly better mana regen or their spells not cost as much mana. As someone else mentioned, maybe have ranger's archery skills do meaningful damage. etc.

Just some thoughts.

[jolanar]

1) Somehow make it so older content/gear is not obsoleted by newer content/gear.



They did this on live to an extent by adding recommended levels and required levels and also making A LOT more gear no drop instead of trade-able.

But ultimately gear inflation is a huge selling point for new expansions in any game.

[Yuuvy The Destroyer]

One thing I always was hoping for was situational needs for using piercing / slashing / blunt items for melee. For instance, a skeleton would take less damage from piercing (harder to hit them bones), medium damage for slashing (may slip between the ribs), and heavy damage for blunt weapons.

Same can be said for chance to hit. This can add some diversity and a need for melee to carry around more weapons that can be swapped in and out depending on the fight. I think some interesting encounters could be had with this (such as rogue dps being very low on a mob with 'resistance to piercing', maybe they need to give up backstab for slashing weapons)

This was a thing in a later expansion. Don't recall if it was one mob or one encounter.
I didn't care for it, none of our warriors had daggers and none of the rogues had blunt weapons.

[Halfelfbard]

I'd give myself winning lottery numbers, and invest in Everquest itself and just let the magic happen.

[fadetree]

For example, when playing my bard AoE kiting is incredibly efficient, but the high risk and amount of fatigue burns you out really quickly. Grouping has much less friction/anguish, a social component, and the greater possibility of obtaining loot.

For some classes in EQ the incentives balance out, and I've actually done about half AoE and half grouping at this point (level 50). I wish the design was such that more classes could enjoy that dynamic.

Contrast with a game like WoW as you find it today, where *everything* is completely frictionless and efficient...and well, yeah. /endrant

That's the great irony of game design; removing friction and pain-in-the ass stuff and 'unbalanced' stuff actually ruins the game. Nobody gets mad, but nobody enjoys it either. Kind of like Socialism.

[jolanar]

That's the great irony of game design; removing friction and pain-in-the ass stuff and 'unbalanced' stuff actually ruins the game. Nobody gets mad, but nobody enjoys it either. Kind of like Socialism.

Agreed and I hope everyone who loves P99 can attest that sometimes good game design does not always make "sense". The friction IS content. Polishing a game too much detracts from it's challenge and charm.

[Alanus]

1. Surefall ports
2. No MQing
3. Have AGI do more

[Brut]

Tell the developer who was secretly playing a monk and kept making the class more and more broken in Velious to stahp. There is no reason for MNK to be on Sactum Earring omg why.

[Biddil Arcfire]

I'd tell the developers to remove the smiling ogre face as an option at character creation. Yuck.

[luno]

Agreed and I hope everyone who loves P99 can attest that sometimes good game design does not always make "sense". The friction IS content. Polishing a game too much detracts from it's challenge and charm.

No doubt, but I'm sure you can agree that in some place the design deficit really hobbles the game. You need a balance.

For example, if you map out the unique abilities held by each class, you end up with something like, 50 in necro and 10 in rogue (at least half of which are trivial). The experience of leveling a rogue is something like wait to find a group, turn on auto-attack, and then press backstab every 5 seconds...from level 1 to 60.

I say this not to imply that EQ would be improved by making it more like modern WoW, but I would put forward a game like DAoC as having done these things way better than EQ.

[luno]

That's the great irony of game design; removing friction and pain-in-the ass stuff and 'unbalanced' stuff actually ruins the game. Nobody gets mad, but nobody enjoys it either. Kind of like Socialism.

Ah yeah, I mentioned WoW as an example of going too far in the other direction (to it's own detriment), but I could see how my original comment could be read as "WoW is better because there's no friction".

I mean, it's the p1999 forums; I would assume everyone here agrees that modern WoW is bad because it is too streamlined.

[astuce999]

I would do this:

http://www.project1999.com/forums/showthread.php?t=105887&highlight=astuce999



Astuce

[turbosilk]

Does the /whoall x y actually work. Thought the tool was wonky

Definitely works well. I make all of my groups this way.

1. /ooc CC
2. LFG [urname]
3. /who all [class] x y or /who all [class] x y [zone] (I look for players in nearby zones too. socialness works wonders)
4. /tell hey i'm starting a group in uguk. want to join?

Add more no drop.

[turbosilk]

I'm disappointed most of the posts seem to be "start implementing ezmode and anti-social mode". Daybreak has live servers for that, check them out.

[kined]

I'm disappointed most of the posts seem to be "start implementing ezmode and anti-social mode". Daybreak has live servers for that, check them out.

you must be doing some strange mental gymnastics to make this fit your narrative. who has been saying that removes social aspects or ez mode.... a couple people want an leg system but thats about it

[Boyblunder]

I would introduce a ring of power to every 10 millionth rat or snake. It would kill any target but remove 59 levels and make you kos everywhere.

[AenorVZ]

The biggest mistake Everquest and subsequent MMOs made was not respecting sense of place. My first character was a half elf druid from Surefall Glade. I log in sometimes just to visit that zone and walk around and feel a sense of home. In Vanguard, that place was Halgarad. I played there in beta and once the game launched I two boxed warrior and shaman. Both were elves so I ran them all the way from the ugly pastel elf city to Halgarad at level 1.

If I could go back in time and join the EQ dev team, I would emphasize to Brad and the other decision makers the importance of expanding vertically instead of horizontally. I think we can all agree that the classic world was too confining for populations of thousands per server and Kunark was a great and necessary expansion. However, starting with Velious and every expansion thereafter, the game added masses of empty and pointless land mass which spread out the population and made player interaction less frequent.

What I mean by expanding vertically instead of horizontally is that new content should have been continually added for all level ranges on the classic continents. I know they tried to do this with the Hole, Warrens, Jaggedpine Forrest, etc. The latter is a great example of a really half-assed attempt at adding content to the old zones. It was a laggy throw-away zone that barely drew any interest.

What I'm saying is that new dungeons should have been continuously discovered in the old zones. For example, I remember walking down the ramp to the very bottom beneath the entrance to Highkeep in East Karana. I knew there had to be some dungeon entrance down there, given how long of a walk it was to reach it. When I got there and found only a blank wall, it was a huge disappointment.

I always expected the developers to eventually add a dungeon entrance there. This would have been perfect as a post-50 dungeon location as all those players would have used Highkeep for binds/merchants and low level characters would have had access to buffs and binds. It simultaneously breaths life into classic zones while opening up higher-end content.

I was always expecting something like the Underdark from D&D (the D1-3 series of modules including Descent into the Depths of the Earth, Shrine of the Kua-Toa and Vault of the Drow) to be introduced in Norrath. Rather than expand via all these huge land masses that spread the players out, have a network of interconnected dungeons beneath the original classic land masses with connecting points in or near major classic cities. For example, a dungeon entrance could have been discovered within the Qeynos Catacombs. There could even be underground cities with merchants and trainers.

By building beneath the existing content, you would have kept a steady stream of veteran players coming back to classic starting points. The result would have been that, instead of visiting Surefall Glade and feeling that sense of home combined with a sense of loneliness, I might have found a still-thriving player hub.

[Izmael]

To be fair, long travels to reach places are part of what is good in EQ.

Velious added more necessary travel and made it dangerous for even level 60 characters, which (danger of traveling) is also good. Running FP to SFG is a seriously dangerous trip when you are level 5 or so. Not so much when you are 40+.

I still think Velious is a great expansion. I would prefer higher end Velious items to be of less spectacular quality. Also I'd put less items in ToV. It is a ridiculous loot pinata every clear.

Sebilis had it right. One dragon, couple loots, wait for next week.

[Nexii]

The biggest mistake Everquest and subsequent MMOs made was not respecting sense of place. My first character was a half elf druid from Surefall Glade. I log in sometimes just to visit that zone and walk around and feel a sense of home. In Vanguard, that place was Halgarad. I played there in beta and once the game launched I two boxed warrior and shaman. Both were elves so I ran them all the way from the ugly pastel elf city to Halgarad at level 1.

If I could go back in time and join the EQ dev team, I would emphasize to Brad and the other decision makers the importance of expanding vertically instead of horizontally. I think we can all agree that the classic world was too confining for populations of thousands per server and Kunark was a great and necessary expansion. However, starting with Velious and every expansion thereafter, the game added masses of empty and pointless land mass which spread out the population and made player interaction less frequent.

What I mean by expanding vertically instead of horizontally is that new content should have been continually added for all level ranges on the classic continents. I know they tried to do this with the Hole, Warrens, Jaggedpine Forrest, etc. The latter is a great example of a really half-assed attempt at adding content to the old zones. It was a laggy throw-away zone that barely drew any interest.

What I'm saying is that new dungeons should have been continuously discovered in the old zones. For example, I remember walking down the ramp to the very bottom beneath the entrance to Highkeep in East Karana. I knew there had to be some dungeon entrance down there, given how long of a walk it was to reach it. When I got there and found only a blank wall, it was a huge disappointment.

I always expected the developers to eventually add a dungeon entrance there. This would have been perfect as a post-50 dungeon location as all those players would have used Highkeep for binds/merchants and low level characters would have had access to buffs and binds. It simultaneously breaths life into classic zones while opening up higher-end content.

I was always expecting something like the Underdark from D&D (the D1-3 series of modules including Descent into the Depths of the Earth, Shrine of the Kua-Toa and Vault of the Drow) to be introduced in Norrath. Rather than expand via all these huge land masses that spread the players out, have a network of interconnected dungeons beneath the original classic land masses with connecting points in or near major classic cities. For example, a dungeon entrance could have been discovered within the Qeynos Catacombs. There could even be underground cities with merchants and trainers.

By building beneath the existing content, you would have kept a steady stream of veteran players coming back to classic starting points. The result would have been that, instead of visiting Surefall Glade and feeling that sense of home combined with a sense of loneliness, I might have found a still-thriving player hub.

I think a lot of this was driven by the need to develop expansion packs rather than letting the developers develop smaller amounts of content that meshed with the existing world. I guess money does have to come in to keep a MMO going but it's sort of double dipping - EQ already charged a sub fee. Was there really a need to sell copies of expansions (or even the base game for that matter)?

Everything described here could be applied to WoW - the current expansion invalidates all previous content. It's gotten so bad in modern WoW that the current patch cycle invalidates all previous content, let alone expansion. It washes away any sense of progression or character investment when the cycle is as short as six months.

I'd argue that this is one thing EQ sort of had right whether intended or not. With a deflationary economy, this is what was sort of the 'nerf' or 'catchup' mechanism over time to help newer players.

[Zuranthium]

What I'm saying is that new dungeons should have been continuously discovered in the old zones. I remember walking down the ramp to the very bottom beneath the entrance to Highkeep in East Karana. I knew there had to be some dungeon entrance down there, given how long of a walk it was to reach it. When I got there and found only a blank wall, it was a huge disappointment.

Yep, definitely. For a long time I've felt there should be a Goblin dungeon in that spot, which connects to both the basement of Highkeep and Runnyeye.

There are so many other opportunities for this as well. Such as a dungeon you enter from Kaladim, which connects to another dungeon that connects to Lesser Faydark. Another good set would be dungeons that connect Kithicor Forrest to Nektulos Forrest. There's lots of room to add more content to outdoor zones as well.

Can also add way more boat connections to the game and underwater content. Dynamic content is even more important, though. The zones should constantly be changing. Not just static drops and spawns. Just on a basic level, you can make more monsters spawn depending on how many people are around. I also don't mind the concept of less popular areas getting some kind of a boost. That's another way to make people adventure more and reward the adventuring.

Better AI, more depth in combat, and more character individuality are all things to hit upon as well. A "Warrior" and "Wizard" and a "Cleric" should have countless different options of what the character is actually able to do. Not just everyone always having the exact same skills and capability with a specific skill. You can even add multi-classing to that, for further diversification. This needs to be balanced especially well, but it can be done, if you have the experience in these systems.

[AgentEpilot]

I would introduce a ring of power to every 10 millionth rat or snake. It would kill any target but remove 59 levels and make you kos everywhere.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBPqksG9nbA

[Tankdan]

Id make all low level gear have stats so level 20-30-40s dont have empty slots. e.g. Cloth Arms would have 1 int 1 stam, stuff like that.

[AgentEpilot]

^ this idea would be good but not just regular cloth, maybe a low level enchanter enchants the cloth before its made or its mob drop off lower level mobs.

[Jimjam]

Id make all low level gear have stats so level 20-30-40s dont have empty slots. e.g. Cloth Arms would have 1 int 1 stam, stuff like that.

I think AC is enough stats for mundane equipment. I don't really see how it would grant anything else, except for maybe charisma on some of the prettiest pieces of armour.

Getting your first stat armours felt really special (until you realise that stats except strength do next to nothing at low level)!

[Boyblunder]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBPqksG9nbA

You just don't get it, think of all the people passing by a snake or rat not being bothered to kill it. Now some new level 3 player can /ooc I got one I got one, taking offers, want PL to 60 and end game gear PST.

[lonmoer]

I would make a skill above flying kick that does like 10% more damage and cycles through all the eagle strike/kick/ tail rake/ flying kick animations so you look like the martial artist that you are.

[phacemeltar]

a second level and basement in crushbone keep.

[AenorVZ]

Yes.

[Bristlebaner]

I'm still team "Give Rangers wolf pets".

[DoucLangur]

What would you realistically change in Classic/Kunark/Velious?

Here is my list:

2. Add a few more items with regen on them. I never understood why they took out Rubicite Breastplate. I wish they had a 2 regen breastplate, and maybe something like a 8 or 10 regen as well to help bridge the gap between the gamebreaking power of the fungi tunic and everything else.

Someone also mentioned the Ikki regen BP - and I would like to point out there is also Zlandicar's Heart, at +7 regen (and for casters this time). Also Aura of Battle (Belt of the Great Turtle) has +2 regen. And Ring of Dain Frostreaver IV +10 regen.

So I think in Velious, they balanced out the gaps between nothing and Fungi quite nicely.

4. Being able to sell to a vendor because your sneaking is silly, and should be removed as well. This also increases the value of faction.

After thinking about this, I agree, BUT I would like to see the faction system extended to where you could fix ANY faction (at the expense of others), given enough effort.

It has ever annoyed me that some factions are unfixable - OR the effort is not realistic for the time/level when the faction is useful:
Take Overthere outpost (Venril Sathir): The options you have (as non FD/illusion class) are
- get a pro team to pull out Rottgrime, calm him, and keep him outside while you do turnins of berzerker warbraids
- kill Esorpa of the Ring (shitty loot, AE silence) over and over
- kill in Veeshan's Peak (which means you need Trakanon's Tooth first of all)


So my top list is probably:
1) make all (vendor or quest relevant) factions fixable (potentially to the point where you can fix all of them at the same time if you figure out the right sequence)
2) increasing XP bonus for fuller groups (like later on live: 6th group member gives 20% bonus -> same xp per kill for all, but faster killing)
3) (this lesson is from p1999 Torpor prices) make all NPC dropped spells NO TRADE & increase drop rate or have dedicated camps where certain spells have a higher drop rate


BONUS: Idea from Winter's Roar (sorry, Shards of Dalaya): introduce special "raid" NPCs for all level ranges, that can not be attacked by players higher than a level cap (there was a level 1 raid NPC in qeynos dungeons that dropped a 1/2 piercer :D)

[AenorVZ]

Second on my list would be removing massive bottle necks like Trak's Tooth. It was an overreaction to such barriers of entry that spawned the egalitarian sameness of WoW. This is what crippled Everquest and never allowed it reach the popularity of WoW. The casuals in their millions voted with their money and they voted for WoW. I wouldn't wish for Everquest to become WoW but there needed to be some happy medium between making all content accessible to most players and the caste system Brad created with EverQuest.

[luno]

Second on my list would be removing massive bottle necks like Trak's Tooth. It was an overreaction to such barriers of entry that spawned the egalitarian sameness of WoW. This is what crippled Everquest and never allowed it reach the popularity of WoW. The casuals in their millions voted with their money and they voted for WoW. I wouldn't wish for Everquest to become WoW but there needed to be some happy medium between making all content accessible to most players and the caste system Brad created with EverQuest.


here here

well that, and starting with Luclin EQ's expansions steadily departed from the core aesthetic of the game until live was a mountain of band aids. PoP itself was tolerable because the end game was exciting, but after that...yeesh it was gnarly.

[Axlrose]

I would have each and every quest queued to be entered into the live game played out on test servers first for availability and time requirements.

As an example, my Iksar monk is attempting to do the Sparring Armor quests. You need to fill a bag with four leech husks; yet killing the green leeches rarely drop the husk. Depending upon your view as good or bad design, there is a merchant that sells the husks. Also, you need to obtain three piles of granite pebbles from The Toilmaster who requires two busted Froglok slave shackles per pile. So off I go to seek out these escaped slaves while blue Fishers, green Skippers, and red everything else wander aimlessly around the swamp. I've seen Bloodgorge and Fangor more often than escaped Froglok slaves.

Now assuming you get all the components and create the monk practice body bag, there is still the random chance you will be rewarded with a piece of armor already awarded to you previously. Thus attempting to create a full set would most likely advance you far enough in level that the armor would be in need of an upgrade.

So while the game is loaded with quests, a good many are not worth the effort or time to complete. Either modify the components required or increase the overall value.

[Jimjam]

Give everyone access somehow (potions?) to troll illusion. Regen, night vision and slam! Yay!

edit: Axlrose, I remember trying to quest a full set of that here (a REALLY meaningful server first!) Not sure if I quite managed the full set or gave up. Random high level mobs unpredictably pathing through the newbie area sucked!

[Zuranthium]

a second level and basement in crushbone keep.

I wouldn't add a second level but the zone should be much bigger. This is where all the Orcs are supposed to live! There's even that tunnel at the back of the zone and it just connects to nothing.

I would make a skill above flying kick that does like 10% more damage and cycles through all the eagle strike/kick/ tail rake/ flying kick animations so you look like the martial artist that you are.

All of those different attack skills should just have their own costs and recharge timers and there should be various ways to chain them together.

[Ezrick]

1. Smooth out the leveling curve a bit. You end up killing in 2-3 dungeons from 51-60

2. Implement greenmist the way it was originally intended and implement the other iksar quests.

3. Change the formulas to make stats matter more, agi/dex/str etc, and figure out a way to make gear as fundamentally important for casters as it is for melee.

4. Make the default hp regeneration not so ungodly slow. Slow, but not sitting for up to 30 min to regen to full slow.

5. Change CT to the post Luclin revamp. It would become the perfect zone for a very good group of level 60s to hunt, or alternately work as a 2 group mid 50s raid zone.

6. Change hybrid spells to be more in line with PoP era spell progression. What level 57+ sk is going to cast a spell that does 189 damage over a minute?

7. Increase Druid (and maybe pre 60 shaman) healing a bit. Remove non-cleric 10% penalty for heals. Either give some upgraded spells or give druids some other form of mana regeneration, maybe replace the hp regen on skin like nature with mana regen.

8. Remove defensive and rebalance/remove ch. Rebalance mobs for this.

9. Increase standing mana regen a bit or give hybrids a way to regenerate mana. They basically need an enchanter or bard to cast consistently in any fast pulling group as it currently is.

In other words eliminate the warrior and cleric class, because that would be the result.

[Ezrick]

Surely there are two different answers to this question.

First is what you would do back in 1999 with the knowledge of 2016.

And its pretty obvious. You would make WoW.

Second is what you would do back in 1999 with only the knowledge of 1999. I'm fairly certain you wouldn't choose to use it as a way to punish players, the learning curve would be much, much easier and the level requirements would be smoothed so hell levels don't exist.

The thing is, eliminating hell levels isnt that damn hard. You just dont use a formula. You get someone in the firm to set the numbers, it takes a couple of hours and it stops players leaving en masse at certain points. Its numbskullingly obvious.

Then you would make stats actually matter. I still cant believe that they made this game where stats mean virtually nothing. Not only did they make stats meaningless, but they made an entire class where the rest of the game wants them to waste their time buffing those stats despite much better stuff that class could do.

And then there's camping. Does it seem even remotely reasonable that you should have to spend 14 hours to camp a spawn? Especially when the rest of the game will think that spawn drop is necessary for your class to work (as it was for FBSS). Or camp for 12 days for the Cleric Epic. 12 days. 12 DAYS.

The problem back in 1999 was that McQuaid didn't understand the genre or the bulk of the players. They didn't want punished or to spend a year on a single character. They wanted a fun game and if they got to 50, they could do another class/race combo.

The worst thing EQ did was fail to understand the players, they thought that players when they maxed would leave. (I wont rant about the terrible end game here). But they dont they go make a new char and level that.

In other words /easymode.

To me the appeal of EQ was that it was hard. I never played UO, but our initial group came from a game called The Realm (I believe it's still around www.realmserver.com). There was no endgame and no level cap. Actually levels beyond 75 or so were pretty meaningless, there was nothing to do.

EQ on the other hand was difficult. Heck those first few months were downright brutal until you climbed that steep learning curve. It kept things interesting and once you mastered it there was raiding for the select few that mastered the original game.

Indeed the reason for p99's popularity is that those that could not master EQ the first time around come here to "do it right this time." These people quit in frustration because they couldn't make the grade on live.

On Tarew Marr, at this point on live there were only two guilds (Black Company and Enlightened Dark) that could kill anything bigger than Naggy or Vox. Less than 100 total players. Raiding wasn't an entitlement like WoW, you had to be among the best. Neither guild allowed any characters (even alts) below level 60. Raids were done with tight groups half the size of a P99 raid. The only thing I've played that came close to the original EQ raiding scene was actually EQ2 (raids had a hard cap of 24 players). I actually quit EQ for about 6 months and came back in the PoP era and was appalled. Raids now consisted of zerg rushes of 80 level 50+ with minimal organization and skill while during Luclin we did a server-first kill of Seru with 23 players.

It can't be recaptured. The masses demand that everyone gets a trophy and that every class is valid in every situation. Make my paladin do what warriors do and make my druid heal like a cleric, give my wizard clarity and allow my ranger to tank a dragon. It all seems innocent enough but frankly it would have destroyed the game, or destroyed it sooner. Been on live recently?

While I think you are a bit too focused on hell levels (certainly wasn't that huge an issue on live, but it was annoying) they certainly didn't cause people to leave in droves. Their own lack of skill did that. The lure of fast levels and everyone-gets-to-raid-everything accounted for the popularity of WoW. Turns out people like /easymode.

[SDWV]

I wouldn't add a second level but the zone should be much bigger. This is where all the Orcs are supposed to live! There's even that tunnel at the back of the zone and it just connects to nothing.


Orcs are stupid! hah

[nyclin]

On Tarew Marr, at this point on live there were only two guilds (Black Company and Enlightened Dark) that could kill anything bigger than Naggy or Vox. Less than 100 total players. Raiding wasn't an entitlement like WoW, you had to be among the best. Neither guild allowed any characters (even alts) below level 60. Raids were done with tight groups half the size of a P99 raid.

Was in ED during Velious and we definitely had 60-70 people on most raids. Also we recruited 57+ for rogue/cleric/bard/mage like every other guild during Velious, and alts were allowed (and got NToV rots).

As much as people like to say that the guilds on P99 zerg content, it just hasn't been true outside of the first few months of Velious.

[luno]

In other words /easymode.

To me the appeal of EQ was that it was hard.

I feel like you (and a lot of people who like EQ) are conflating difficulty with dedication. There is nothing about a long camp that is 'challenging' in terms of gameplay.

In EQ most advancement depends on the time you invest, not your skill. I think this is part of the fundamental nature of MMOs: they let you live out this fantasy of self-efficacy where you don't necessarily need much skill to advance, you just need to spend enough time (unlike your real life).

For most classes there really isn't much in the typical 30 - 60 journey that really challenges you to improve your play in order to advance (contrast with something like Starcraft, DOTA, what have you).

It's mostly just a grind, which is OK...but let's not pretend that the reason why we all enjoy EQ is because it's challenging. It's not.

[Zuranthium]

EQ was definitely challenging back in the day. There was so much in the game that made you think for yourself and punished bad play. Your group had to coordinate well to achieve much. The mechanics may all be known now, but it was way different back then, particularly in 1999. People were discovering things that seem obvious now. Like, barely anyone even knew what the 'Harmony' spell did in the early days.

Of course a large time investment is still required but that's how it goes for most anything, at the top levels. Time investment itself didn't entirely reward people back then, however. There were such a limited number of places to hunt and the places with the best drops were death boxes. Group wipes could happen frequently and your spot in the dungeon was lost at that point. Many people were stuck at the hell levels of 35/40/45 for long, long periods of times. For every bit of progress you could make, a death would erase it and then you would have to spend more time reforming.

Simply playing the game more wouldn't get you much farther, if you sucked. Playing as Necro or Magician was really the only way to feasibly solo with any speed (also Druid and Bard before they nerfed resist rates, which happened early, and then further DoT kiting nerfs), if you stayed in safe spots. The trick of giving pets low-delay weapons wasn't widely known about at the start either, nor giving them multiple weapons to dual wield once they got to a good enough level (which also meant Enchanters didn't know how to abuse their animated pets for soloing purposes; charm soloing wasn't really understood at the start either and was mainly just reliable at higher levels). Those classes weren't widely played at the start anyway - so many people were scared of being KOS as Necro and then 'Magician' just sounded kind of lame, so people played Wizard much more frequently.

Most people weren't rushing to the top anyway. It wasn't about advancement, in and of itself. Advancement mattered mostly because it let you unlock new skills and get prettier equipment, which was fun, and of course the eventual promise of being able to kill Dragons and such. But just being in the game world and going on adventures and interacting was enough.

[JurisDictum]

The main thing that comes to mind is the itemization. I think it is too sparse until the endgame. I would never allow broken items to stay in the game (but not drop for new people lol?), and no other modern game would either.

The truth is, fixing things in EQ is a slippery slope. There is a lot of depth in the game because it is so broken and clunky on so many levels. The entire concept of "pulling," almost doesn't exist in moderns MMOs, for example.

[lowner411]

... Most people weren't rushing to the top anyway. It wasn't about advancement, in and of itself. Advancement mattered mostly because it let you unlock new skills and get prettier equipment, which was fun, and of course the eventual promise of being able to kill Dragons and such. But just being in the game world and going on adventures and interacting was enough.

And that is what cannot be recreated. Entering the world without anything, not knowing what is going on, not knowing how to get there, learning particular songs and spells and weapons and areas without dozens of websites to tell you everything.

This is why even a new green server won't be as great as anyone thinks it will be, because we all know the drill. And why we hang so many hopes on Pantheon, that it will be hard and confusing and punishing and a puzzle to figure out.

(And, for that matter, why we try to create different server rules, like race wars or city v. city, or something that will be different and force us to try something suboptimal and fun.)

[luno]

I take your point Zuranthium, although I would push back in that I think you're exaggerating about the difficulty. At least, that was not my experience on live, although I started in Kunark.

I'll grant that when information was more scarce learning the mechanics was more difficult, but that difficulty was trivialized by Allakhazam (and today, the p99 wiki).

In any case, my gripe was with artificially difficult things like extremely long camps. I mean, unless you take skill to mean the size of your poopsock...

[Zuranthium]

At least, that was not my experience on live, although I started in Kunark.

You missed out on a lot then, unfortunately. Information was much more widespread by then and the game became more of a grind.

[Ezrick]

Was in ED during Velious and we definitely had 60-70 people on most raids. Also we recruited 57+ for rogue/cleric/bard/mage like every other guild during Velious, and alts were allowed (and got NToV rots).

As much as people like to say that the guilds on P99 zerg content, it just hasn't been true outside of the first few months of Velious.

I was recruited by Black Company at 59, but wasn't allowed to be guilded or participate in raids until I hit 60 (like everyone else). I don't think we ever had 60 total people in the guild. Certainly nothing like that number on a single raid.

[ElricX]

Bards to be able to use bows....same as a SK/Pal

Barbarians able to be Bards, Rangers or Shadow Knights..

Half Elves Be Shadow Knights and Necros..

Don't understand how they failed to consider these way back when-