Quote:
Originally Posted by DMN
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Enchanter should not have clarity for a couple months.
Necros get charm and beguile. 90% of their pets are research only after 16-20?
Shaman get charm.
Magicians have to research all pets after 20, and they can't equip weapons.
I haven't been able to keep up with everything here with some RL health issues, so if any has the 411 on "if they stay or if they go"? Or are we still in the dark on this?
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I don't think it's unreasonable to realize that Everquest was released as an unfinished game back in 1999. At launch it was plagued with many problems. Underdeveloped classes, balance issues, almost zero end game content and many other features were missing that were the original part of Brad's "Vision" at launch. Especially those that pertained to classes and abilities.
All of SOE's games were basically released as barely a Beta product back then (See SWG (<- Totally unfinished Disaster at launch) / EQ2 / Planetside, ect) WOW (cough) learned a lot from those initial mistakes and released a game that was relatively polished for it's time.
The reason why EQ2 launch was a mess was because they rushed the game to get it released before WOW which ended up hurting the game in the long run.
In all of this discussion to "recreate Classic" exactly as it was, many important specifics are never discussed. For one, the game was originally released in March to gain steam for the Summer Market and give development time to polish it up. Fiscal considerations were put ahead of development/balancing issues and like many games at that time, the assumptions were made details would be ironed out as Summer hit with patches. You paid to play Betas that were comically characterized as a finished product to sell units. They needed the money to continue development. It's not cheap.
It was all about money. The finished product took a distant second place.
They didn't know what they were making at the time. They didn't know how popular the game would become. It was a massive gamble that paid off. We wouldn't be playing the game 20 years later otherwise. It was a perfect accident.
I don't think I've ever played an MMO since the original EQ (and there have been many) that can hold a candle to it. The immersion, sense of danger, character and fantastical realized world we now call home.
There were many absurdly broken mechanics during original launch that were removed for a reason. Many initial mistakes that were quickly fixed. I don't see any threads demanding they be implemented because that was "Classic" (None that should be taken seriously anyways)
IMO there needs to be a balance between creating that Classic feel and launching a new server with completely gimped, needless, and broken class mechanics. I see all these Wayback Detectives trying to piece together their "vision" in how the classes should be on Green at launch now 20 years later. Parsing patch notes from some 20 year old forgotten news group like it's forensic evidence at a murder trial.
It's Aspergers. This isn't 1999/2000. It's almost 2020.
We've had 20 years of data and testing to iron out the kinks. Putting that into perspective, it's basically been at the minimum a 10 year Beta test to get to this point on P99.
I think this is actually a golden opportunity for Rogean and his team to give Classic Everquest the launch it truly deserved back in 1999. Releasing it all the way back in that obvious original broken state, (that had nothing to do with the game itself) would be big mistake. Especially with vast improvements and changes literally right around the corner that were intended at launch.
As an example I point to how Bard kiting/swarming has been changed specifically for Green. An improvement over the original design because frankly the mechanic was beyond broken and abused for so long on Blue the Bard class is literally despised by the stigma it has created.
I implore the Devs to learn from past mistakes. Just because they were past mistakes that were "Classic" doesn't mean we have to all be masochists and repeat them. Many of the changes were done for a reason. To improve gameplay, balance, and the overall gaming experience for the players that are still playing.
What's the definition of Insanity again?