New AAs appearing already - new numbers now appearing

[Galelor]

[Finori]

[Draglin Stoneshield]

[Brohg]

By my observation, "casual" players do a lot more random exp grinds than my friends and I (all high end raiders, very high play time) do. I've never in my career sat LFG to whack mobs for exp in WoS/Creators/Icefall, but there are non-raiders who do nothing but that. Those who have the good group-scale rewards are actually pretty few-and-far-between, because they don't branch out and seek them. Playing to get exp (and maybe some cash for more bazaar gear) is grinding.

[Kiru]

Playing to get XP does not equate to grinding. It's only grinding if you're pushing yourself to stay longer than you would for a normal play session just to get that extra bit of sweet, sweet, XP.

[Unmei]

[Brohg]

[Kianor]

[Ughbash]

[Tugela]

[Tugela]

[WaringMcMarrin]

[Unmei]

[Tugela]

[Beafly]

[WaringMcMarrin]

[Beafly]

[WaringMcMarrin]

[Draglin Stoneshield]

[Kiru]

[ThraallFV]

[Tugela]

It wouldn't be necessary since newer expansions would include bridging tasks that will bring new people up to speed relatively quickly, as well as allowing those who for whatever reason lagged behind and couldnt do the current content normally to catch up again.

Tying leveling to content rather than grinding would allow developers to control the rate at which people can consume content, be they power players, casuals or newbies. It would be a more powerfull mechanism for managing the game than simple grinding. EQ was never designed to be around 14 expansions later, grinding was an acceptable mechanism in the early days but as the game ages it becomes increasingly the proverbial albatross around the games neck. There has to be a better approach where people can be entertained but without being constrained by the historical baggage of a game over 7 years old. Bridging tasks would bring newbies up to levels where they can find groups quickly since leveling would be tied to doing content rather than whacking 70000 (and more with every expansion) moles. Using grinding as a mechanism makes it more and more difficult for new players to catch up because of the sheer volume of grinding needed and the lack of groups at lower levels.

[Draglin Stoneshield]

[WaringMcMarrin]

[Finori]

[Tugela]

Not really. You are thinking about tasks as they are now, where all are trivial and just need to be done, in this case X times. Sure, that is no different from leveling. What I'm suggesting is that tasks be progressively more difficult, so, for example, to get to level 76 you would need to 10 of 15 easy tasks, to get to 77 you would need 10 of 15 more difficult tasks, and ultimately to get to 80 you would need to complete 10 of 15 very difficult tasks. it wouldnt matter how many times you did a particular task, because you would only get credit for it once. To get to 80 you would have to complete at least 50 different increasing difficult tasks. Each task would drop appropriate gear and completion of levels would give you improved spells and combat arts that would allow you to complete the next tier. When I say tasks, I am talking about raid style group events like Tipt or IK single group events, not things like DoN or PoR tasks.

Coupled with that you would have AAs which would come through conventional grinding.

Coupled with that you would have a comprehensive set of progressively improved gear sets modeled off epic weapon quests or the ring/shawl quests of Velious.

Leveling tasks would be instanced, while progressive gear quests would be handled in the open world.

Raid and group progression paths would be handled the same way. You could have enough content in such an expansion to keep people occupied for a very long time.

That sort of approach would give people multiple goals to work on, which would keep them occupied for a long time and, more imprtantly ,occupied doing different things all the time, as opposed to the "sit in one spot/task and whack a mole for 16 hours" approach used in the current game.

[Kianor]

[WaringMcMarrin]

[Beafly]

[Finori]

[Tugela]

[Tugela]

[Ughbash]

[Beafly]

So, you're saying that...

Instead of finding groups or raids to complete the tasks/quests required to reach the next level, they will just sit around until they get bored and quit the game?

So... am I'm supposed to feel bad for them because they would be unwilling to do a quest? in Everquest?

I would also argue, that if they lack the skills/gear/guild to complete a progressive task/quest system in the new expansion, then there is a TON of content already available in Everquest for them to build up in. Or, <gasp> that path could be built right into the expansion.

Just say no to whack-a-mole levels!


And you misunderstand the whole point of this mental exercise. It is not to prevent anyone from achieving max level. It is to make achieving that level mean something. With a task/quest progression system it would mean that you've been to and succeeded in the content of that expansion.

[Unmei]

New Rhetorical question.

Why do you think gaining levels "means" anything, has ever meant anything or should mean anything other than how much experience your character has accrued? Why do you believe a paradigm change in this regard is good for the game? Discuss, and provide examples.

[WaringMcMarrin]

[Beafly]

[Beafly]

[Unmei]

[Ughbash]