I gotta admit, I remember this one time i was main tank for trakanon. I had to keep clicking taunt, and scream HEAL ME over vent. Almost shit my pants, oh and was also watching a great episode of family guy while eating my delicious wendys combo meal I had purchased, I gotta admit, it took a lot of skill to not get grease and ketchup all over my mouse/keyboard.

It wouldn't be difficult to decide once and for all if the actual encounters themselves are difficult. I brought this idea up a long time ago but here it is again.

1.) Put the test server back up and hold a tournament.
2.) Each guild wanting to participate agrees on 4 raid targets and number of people in raid for each target.
3.) GM spawns a raid target for each guild one at a time.
4.) Guild gets 1 chance to take out the target with the number of people agreed upon. Nobody in zone but which ever guild is up to bat and a GM frapsing the encounter.
5.) Rinse, repeat for each guild for each target.

So basically you can split this up over 4-5 days then at the end of the tournament all the videos get posted online for everyone to judge for themselves.

My theory is that the only thing making encounters difficult is the race involved and not having a suficient force available when you need it. In other words most guilds with a sufficient player base should be able to knock out any boss in the game currently when there aren't other guilds breathing down your neck and half your members are offline.

Last time I brought this up the idea was shot down by the top guild (honestly don't remember if it was DA or IB at the time). Can't really blame them because if this was allowed to take place and my theory was proven correct, then it would take away most of the bragging rights people now enjoy.

all players have same gear and you got a deal. any guild with better gear is more likely to complete an encounter.

reason for this, is for example doing trakanon with say, players lacking in poison resist is going to require more healers, or more dps. Obviously damage output and longevity is compromised if healers don't have manastone, or there's no mage online. These aren't factors of skill, but of preperation, your doing the same mindless button mashing in all encounters, I'm not bashing everquest raiding, just the brainpower involved.

It'll never happen because it would totally ruin the illusion of P99 being a public beach (when really it's a private sand-box).

Some folks would argue that the preparation is indicative of the skill; that EQ is more strategy and perseverance than pressing buttons. EQ is about planning and prioritizing on account of the harsh penalties for being unprepared, moreso than most video games.

And honestly, video games aren't hard, period. They are still a child's medium first and foremost, and MMO's in particular are designed to accomodate a wide range of ages, aptitudes, equipment, etc. They are as inclusive as herpes.

But yeah, the "skill" in EQ is in prioritization and endurance. not in the dexterity of one's fingers, which is kind of a poor measurement of skill anyway unless maybe you're like a professional clit-flicker or something, which would be pretty rad.

look at wow raids, they require quick thinking and changes you need to adapt to in order to complete most encounters, I have seen some very clever strategies to complete BC encounters. WoW is a shit game too, but their pve raids require brain juice to complete(well they did before u could get a mod for every raid that tells u what to do every single second).

Saying the prep is the skill doesn't make much sense. By that logic, the poop socking of raid targets for days and days at a time with a raid force was the pinnacle of skill. You know it will pop within a few days, so you prepare beforehand by sitting a raid force there for several days. Bam, you have prepared better than anyone else, you win the skill game!

Just the number of people involved in EQ raiding makes it more difficult. Ten people are a hell of a lot easier to coordinate than 30-40-50.

Seriously though, WoW raiding is just as easy as EQ, if not easier. I'd never contemplate doing an EQ raid black-out drunk, while at the same time I'd never consider playing WoW sober. That should be all the proof anyone needs.

Oh now you've done it. Here comes all the people who think EQ is the pinnacle of MMO difficulty to flame you.