How to make leveling more interesting

[eqravenprince]

This is all a completely hypothetical topic, not asking for the server to be changed. Just bored at work and seeing if anyone also feels the same as I do.

I always thought it was kind of retarded that a person could be powerleveled or simply grind away in easy zones and stay close to zone lines and make it to max level. My ideal MMO encourages travel and dungeon crawling to the deepest part of the dungeon where you can't just run to the zone line. I want it so when I bump into a high level character, I know they have been everywhere and earned the skills that come from going everywhere. With that being said, I thought it would be cool to somehow involve all the major dungeons in quest lines that were required to level.

Let's take Runnyeye as an example, no one goes there. What if you had to collect some things from them as part of a bigger quest in order to level beyond 25. Maybe the quest also sends you to Najena and Permafrost to collect things. I wouldn't make the quest involve killing named, I would make it collecting an uncommon drop off anything that gives experience. I would want some kind of code put in place that high levels couldn't trivialize this for people. I would want it so you have to earn it the hard way and encourage grouping with people near your level.

[fadetree]

I've always thought a diminishing return of exp for killing the same mob in the same zone would be interesting. The system would keep track, and everytime you kill a particular mob in a particular zone, then exp would be slightly degraded according to some curve. Eventually, you would get next to no experience. This would be in addition to level-based exp reductions.

This even makes sense, sort of, since 'experience' is supposed to mimic you 'learning' from encounters, which is why its called 'experience'. How much new are you going to learn from whacking a mob for the 1000th time? I mean, I killed crags for FIVE levels on my shaman. If, after the first 100 or so, the exp dropped off, I would have had to relocate. Say, to mammoths, which I am now killing by the truckload.

This sort of happens anyway, in terms of levelling out of the range of a zones mobs, but it would be interesting to apply it on a per mob basis and make it happen a little faster.

[Andervin]

Would you also like fries with that Sir? [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Yumyums Inmahtumtums]

Paging Swish to the thread!!!

Catsdoingfunnythingsnotclassic.gif

[Abner]

I thought we were all here to play classic Everquest. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Shoran91]

ZEM is in here to kind of do that.

[myxomatosii]

Originally Posted by eqravenprince [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

This is all a completely hypothetical topic, not asking for the server to be changed. Just bored at work and seeing if anyone also feels the same as I do.

I always thought it was kind of retarded that a person could be powerleveled or simply grind away in easy zones and stay close to zone lines and make it to max level. My ideal MMO encourages travel and dungeon crawling to the deepest part of the dungeon where you can't just run to the zone line. I want it so when I bump into a high level character, I know they have been everywhere and earned the skills that come from going everywhere. With that being said, I thought it would be cool to somehow involve all the major dungeons in quest lines that were required to level.

Let's take Runnyeye as an example, no one goes there. What if you had to collect some things from them as part of a bigger quest in order to level beyond 25. Maybe the quest also sends you to Najena and Permafrost to collect things. I wouldn't make the quest involve killing named, I would make it collecting an uncommon drop off anything that gives experience. I would want some kind of code put in place that high levels couldn't trivialize this for people. I would want it so you have to earn it the hard way and encourage grouping with people near your level.

I do like incentives to go to unused zones. I don't like a potential farming requirement on X mob.

So many unused zones. This brings another point which I will get to at the end of my post.

Perhaps a rotating exp bonus (either a changing ZEM or on top of ZEM) to encourage exploration outside of the typical ZEMd zones, which while not classic, does fit with some of the things that have been going on lately with introducing a bonus to help the potential MACers transition.

We are all here for the same reason, to experience EQ as we never did, or to re-experience it as we imagined it had been. The once impossible. But how many zones? I myself can say to certainty there are a variety of zones I have zero to no familiarity with, personally:

sola
befallen
south ro
guk top (aside from scryer)
freeport catacombs
paw <~ always been interested in this zone
kithicor (aside from RV wall..)
either rathe
kerra island . . .
etc

And how many fun camps must there be in those zones that I and so many others have yet to experience? Just a side-note.

point
A lot of you may know about my recent involvement on the red server and the bridging of KWSN into a purple guild, taking part in both servers actively. Its story time, I lack the gift of brevity.

So I made my red enchanter, dark elf. Melee/cast my way to level 10. Neato, where next? Well lacking bind I don't want to venture off into the commonlands, makes for long CR, so where is the default DE bind point close to? Lavastorm! O man I miss that place, such a cool zone. But nay, when I arrived I found the mobs to largely be red and yellow cons with a rare even. So, into najena I went.. o a blue skellie, nice! It was here that I found a perfect cycle of 6-10 mobs that could excellently support a group of 8-12s which is never ever camped or utilized on blue.

And why was I here? Covertness. That brought back memories, the need to be covert on a PvP server led me to amazing discoveries and explorations, essentially walling oneself off within a crypt of monsters where even a higher level pk would struggle at the annoyance of arriving at you. In fact on Sullon Zek I think my mage spent 8 levels at the Ancient Croc spawn in Luclin era because everyone had forgotten about it. Went all that time, 65s zoned in, 65s zoned out, hunting players but would never find me. So, I see that obviously this can be twisted into a negative light where the need to undertake this kind of action is seen as unnecessary and hindering I see it quite differently. Struggle makes the gains fought for sweeter to the taste.

/point

[Andervin]

Originally Posted by myxomatosii [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Perhaps a rotating exp bonus (either a changing ZEM or on top of ZEM) to encourage exploration outside of the typical ZEMd zones, which while not classic, does fit with some of the things that have been going on lately with introducing a bonus to help the potential MACers transition.

EQLive has been doing this for awhile now. Every few months they change it around.

[Shoran91]

i went into befallen to check it out on my level 12 rogue and died from a ghoul that was either trained there or patrols to the entrance. Bad first experience [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] read the first level is really low level so I wanted to see lol

[myxomatosii]

Originally Posted by Andervin [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

EQLive has been doing this for awhile now. Every few months they change it around.

And while I didn't wanna make p99 more like EQEMU, I think with the intelligent community and staff that I like to think we have it could be a well thought out addition to the server.

I'm not saying it'd be exactly like live, just like everything else it would be talked over for some time and the possibilities worked out. I'd assume it could be automatic. Once a month seems frequent enough for me to not get stale, once every few months feels slow but that's just me... maybe once per patch. Not really sure how hard this stuff is to change.

Originally Posted by Shoran91 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

i went into befallen to check it out on my level 12 rogue and died from a ghoul that was either trained there or patrols to the entrance. Bad first experience [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] read the first level is really low level so I wanted to see lol

That was certainly a train, no ghouls on the first level. I think Skeleton Llrodd is the highest dude before you use your first key and he doesn't even agro. You should've been fine.