What small changes would you make to the unpopular classes?

[Lojik]

I think for wizards, just reduce recast time on harvest 3 ticks every level. That means at level 60 you can recast every 2.2 minutes.

[Nixtar]

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

Also "ruins the fun for everyone else in the zone"... lol. Bards swarmed in the worst zones like Overthere and South Karana. They're terrible zones for standard play. Go to a dungeon instead and let Bards enjoy outdoor zones.

False. Our apologies to all the poor bards for disrupting your disruption of zones which you consider "yours" because swarming is a class mechanic.

[loramin]

Originally Posted by Spyder73 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

There is no way possible this will happen unless they open a new server that is "classic reimagined" and is classic EQ the way it "should have been". Blue is, and I imagine will always be, a museum/civil war reenactment.

The one point I'd make about that is Green. Once Green is released it will be the true "museum/civil war reenactment", so it seems possible that when that happens (2020?) Blue might be re-imagined in some way. Most likely though it would just be new custom zones, with very little change to the classic stuff.

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

Release Luclin and PoP. Fixes most class issues.

Also "ruins the fun for everyone else in the zone"... lol. Bards swarmed in the worst zones like Overthere and South Karana. They're terrible zones for standard play. Go to a dungeon instead and let Bards enjoy outdoor zones.

I don't play a bard, but you can't you still AoE with only 25 mobs?

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

I don't know you. I'm reasonably certain you don't know me.

I had fun with this classic mechanic and never had any negative interactions with other players because of it.

You're right, I don't know you or your experiences ... but the simple fact is AoEing in classic (especially for the majority of players, who were on modems) had risks that it doesn't on P99. We saw what happened when it was left un-checked here: both Overthere (a lot of the time) and Chardok (all of the time) were all but unplayable for non-AoErs.

[Nagoya]

Originally Posted by port9001 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

The other night I used /who to generate a graph of class popularity, which showed that the least popular classes are: Wizard, Ranger, Paladin, SK, Rogue, and Warrior (in order of least played). This got me thinking of what small changes could be made to these classes that might make them as popular as the other classes (which were Druid, Enchanter, Shaman, Bard, Magician, Monk, Cleric in order of most played).

So here's the challenge. Take those bottom 6 classes and tweak them as little as possible to solve their pain points and bring them in line.

By the way, this is not in any way a plea to actually make any changes to P99. I acknowledge and respect the goals of this server, which means having the classes be this way, even if it means they will never be as popular. This is just for fun and to inspire some discussion about some of the less popular classes.

It's too bad nobody understood your topic Port9001 lol.

I, too, love /who all count and population statistics, however a "less popular" class does not necessarily mean it is less strong. Exemple of this is warrior/rogues, which are two very strong classes, but with a very specific role that does not catter to everyone. On the other hand, Necros and Druids are very popular because they're very independent classes able to solo/duo easily, but they aren't exactly overpowered.

That being said, let's play your game! here is my take:

Wizard: add a quest line akin to the Magician Focus items that would be some kinf of Solist's Icy Wand, in order to give Wizards some sustained DPS mana-free in a group, so they can use mana to root/stun/DS while still nuking every mob pulled by their group. Doing so they "don't need" the clarity line of spells...

Ranger: either rework archery to be a legit way to do sustained DPS, or make Harmony useable indoor... or give them the Ring series of druid teleports (aka the self-only ones), which wouldn't make them better per se, but more fun. The class is fine really.

Paladin: not sure. i think the class is boring too, but not underpowered... that being said it is a mix of warriors and clerics, two arguably boring classes to start with [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] Maybe give them some kind of hard-coded ability à la Warrior's Berzerk that would increase their HP regen when on low life, some kind of blessing from their gods that would make them feel even more invicible?

Shadow Knight: it is a very strong and fun class as it is [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] i think the obvious upgrade would be on Harm Touch, making it much harder to resist, and/or on smaller timer (that would be known if possible hehe)

Rogue: I agree with making Poisons easier to use! Also maybe increasing the speed of Hide & Sneak movement slightly... Would also be fun to have other Illusion masks for the other races implemented as quests/loot.

Warrior: Warrior is great 1-30 and 52+... the middle grind is absolutely awful... a little "sprint" ability à la Mend would definitely be nice... Adding a 'Taunt' element to Warrior's Kicks and Bashes and Slams could help a bit on aggro... A race-based questline that gives to each and every race of warriors a clickable necklace or other items that gate them back to their starting city? Some kind of Call for Help! from their original guildmaster... Rogues have H&S, Monks and SKs have FD, Paladins have Lull, Root, IVU... but Warriors really have nothing to get out of a no exit dungeon or other tricky spots, so sooome kind of escape item that woul be inherent to the class (as opposed to OT Hammer, Shaman Pots, Misty Thicket Port Cap, etc.) could make it more fun? otherwise more taunt/dps and it's super fine.

[CyricTheMad420]

[QUOTE=loramin;2612642]The one point I'd make about that is Green. Once Green is released it will be the true "museum/civil war reenactment", so it seems possible that when that happens (2020?) Blue might be re-imagined in some way. Most likely though it would just be new custom zones, with very little change to the classic stuff.

so green will become the new blue? does that mean they will take blue farther with xpacs?

[Loke]

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

False. Our apologies to all the poor bards for disrupting your disruption of zones which you consider "yours" because swarming is a class mechanic.

Been to Burning Wood recently? Or DL? Or how about Chardok and Skyfire? These are the zones that we're primarily used by bards and AE groups, and 99% of the time they're ghost towns these days. Pretty much the only zone where bards and other classes clashed was OT, and OT is a garbage zone for leveling anyway.

The reason we have these nerfs isn't because of zone disruption, it's because a bunch of whiny assholes spend entirely too much time concerned with how others play the game. Its the same reason we have draconian raid rules.

[NegaStoat]

In comparison to necros and enchanters, to me the magician and wizard always felt like 3/5 of a class each in their total spell range and utility. Both of them got screwed by Verant. I'd either like to see both classes gain a better range of ability or simply merge the two classes into one with a trimming of their combined spells but retain the pet.

Not a small change, I know. It's still the truth however. Both classes are lackluster. And as far as bards go, the players of that class need to ask themselves a single question.
"What single class was the source of the most petitions that the GM's had to sort through?" - The players brought this squarely on themselves.

[loramin]

Originally Posted by CyricTheMad420 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

so green will become the new blue? does that mean they will take blue farther with xpacs?

I guess that depends on what you mean by the "new blue". "Green" (not the staff's name for it) will presumably be a 100% classic (to the limits of the P99 team) server which progresses with patches and expansions along the exact same timeline as live once did. The one exception to this that I've heard of is that certain items which are removed at some point in the timeline (eg. mana orbs) might be removed from the beginning.

At the end of Green something will happen to all of the characters and it will reset and repeat (it's also sometimes called the "recycle server"). The characters might be deleted, moved to Blue ... no one knows. Blue will still be what it is today: the server where even the character you made 8 years ago is still around.

But no, no further expansions are likely. The staff has made their disdain for Luclin (et all) very clear.

[Jaxon]

The problem with wizards is that they do horrible sustained damage over time and are therefore not desirable in groups.

I would add a new direct damage line of spells that must be cast in melee range, have medium cast times, and have reduced aggro modifiers. Spells having these attributes would make them feasible in groups but difficult to use to kite or solo. These spells would have damage to mana ratios of 7 and above that would raise a wizard's sustained DPS to be comparable with meele and pet classes.

[Nagoya]

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

Man you're right. I skimmed it and replied. My bad. Seeing bard in the most popular is surprising to me. I'm often the only bard on our raids.

Do the statistics include the hordes of level 5 bard bank alts?

heh, I know I usually do my /who all ____ count with level 6 60 so that removes all the guild inviting officers, EC mules, Bank mules, will-quit-in-one-week new characters, etc... Can't vouch for Port9001 tho!