Account Drive Brainstorming

[JarL]

I want to second what robots said about the dream. I have tried to get friends to play Sod only to have them log off and never give the game another chance solely based on the dream. It gives such a bad impression of the game.

The dream teaches you the most basic functions of the game, so it is intended for players that have never played EQ. Ask yourself if you had NEVER played EQ before how interested would you be in playing SoD after completing the dream?

Beyond that there needs to be MORE global drops, they need to be exp'able, more gear in general needs to be exp'able, and bounty hunting rewards need reduced costs.

We want a larger player base, but so many people seem so hell bent on making the new players experience as bad as their own back in '99.

 

[Sodshaman1]

We want a larger player base, but so many people seem so hell bent on making the new players experience as bad as their own back in '99.

After playing on SoE's recent "progression" server for almost the entire duration until GoD's first vote fail, I came to realize that all the *hardcore* aspects of the game that I once loved were actually just a giant headache. I'm so glad SoE decided to make things better for new players, because it was their only hope in getting subscriptions. You and I may not know each other, but we agree on this issue. It has been quoted many times(from players, devs, and random forum goers) that there is just a major resistance in making new players have an easier time getting up there.

I checked with my GW2 guild. A few people will give SoD a try, but they said they will probably quit pretty early on. They read over some of the wiki and just don't find general server too appealing. I'm still working on getting at least 12-14 people from my EQ guild to get here.

 

[darksabbath]

Perhaps if the dream didn't take place in such a dreary freaking zone, it wouldn't be quite so bad? Can we change the sky file for it to something bright instead?

 

[Tarutao]

All of the skies are dark and dreary in that zone at night.

 

[Ulandx]

quote sodshaman:
"that is what gets your players these days. You hit cap level reasonably fast, you gear up through dungeons, and you start raiding. That is the mind-set of gamers in 2012"

Glad those players do not come to here and hopefully never will.

quote sodshaman:
" not many want to make things easier(because they had it so rough)"
Thats not the reason,or isnt a 15% haste item from a level 15 mob easy enough?

"But all the advertising in the world probably isn't going to help if they log in and get kicked in the nuts by the huge shitty grind that stands in front of them and instantly lose hope."

So the solution is to let new players start at 65/250 with the 5 CoPs done decked out in T10
gear?

 

[Sodshaman1]

No, the solution is for people like to chill with the attitude and quit flaming every person's idea. In the last 6 hours, you have added nothing constructive to any post. You just shit on everything and act like you are the greatest person ever.

1) The server pop needs more people. Why not change some things up? Does it hurt you personally if they get a little boost?

2) 15% haste item from a level 15 mob, big deal. They still have a 500 AA grind, and another 2k AA grind worth from the codex x5 and tomes ahead of them, and then the charm farming. You are taking things way too out of context.

3) Nobody said they should start with any AA's or any raid gear.

I don't know how you get these ideas, where they form in your head, and what you are trying to get at with the last few posts on various subjects. I suggest you either take your meds or stop posting because you are looking like a complete fool.

 

[Ulandx]

you have added nothing constructive to any post. You just shit on everything and act like you are the greatest person ever.

All I see is requests how to dumb the game down and skip content.
I think this cant be the solution to attrack new players.

 

[burt6]

New players often find not so many people to play with, the newbie zones and even mid level zones are basically abandoned most of the day. Every once in a while maybe someone less than 65 puts a group together but most of the server is max level so a new person joining up doesn't have as many experiences to group with and play with other people and make those friendships and connections that keep them playing. Grouping to level 65 is pretty rare to non existent except in special premade circumstances.

The answer is to change codexs of power.

Instead of having to fill up 200aas worth of xp of whatever it is at level 65. Opening a codex should reset your character back to level 1, you should be able to keep all of your gear/skills/aa's. and just have to level up to 65 again. Obviously a character that is already equipped and has high skill points would be able to level up quickly without a lot of difficulty but it would breath new life into old zones and allow you to meet people who were at all places in their progression rather than pooling at the higher end. This is a rough idea and I am sure there would need to be some balance and tuning of the finer points to make it roughly equivalent.

 

[Sodshaman1]

All I see is requests how to dumb the game down and skip content.
I think this cant be the solution to attrack new players.

Because, quite frankly, even people who have gone through the content think it is a stupid waste of time(and by waste of time, we mean 1-4 years worth of time...not two weeks). Nobody is asking to skip content, nobody has said anything about dumbing down the game such as making the Newport Ring Events solo-able inside Blackburrow. These are all allusions in your head. We are trying to throw out ideas to bring a bigger player-base to the game. Sorry, so very sorry, if that effects your gameplay and you choose to not participate. But please, don't flame my threads when you can't figure out the differences between "is" and "are" and "attract" and "attrack"

Good day, sir. Now I'm going to worried about GM-Tao yelling at me.

 

[Moraelintz]

The game is all about preferences. There is no right or wrong way to play nor is there a right or wrong way to "progress". It is all about having fun and playing a game. I know people that log in an tradeskill for hours each week because it's fun for them. Some people enjoy farming and some ppl enjoy questing and some raiding. The great thing about the game is that none of it is required you do whatever you want. There are things naturally built in that if you want to be on the top that you should do but in the end you don't have to. 100% of the game has been beaten without everyone having a supreme. Without 100% of raid even beeing fully tomed. The game is all of what you make of it. The biggest factor is skill at pushing buttons and being at a computer at specific times.

I like the majority of the mechanics but think instead of exp deflation making it harder for people to catch up there should be more exp inflation every 6 months to a year give 25-50% additional exp to help the newer plays close a bit of the gap.

 

[burt6]

also I think the game needs more nudity

 

[Velden]

I tend to consistently agree with Ulandx on these discussions. I personally do not want to attract WoW type players to this server. The devs have done a fantastic job in my personal opinion. And I really like how they are thoughtful and calculated when they do make updates instead of rushing to do this and that. There is a fine line between keeping the game challenging and hand-holding noobs. Obviously, there is somewhat of a divide on this server of: Old school EQ players that enjoy a challenge and a grind / newer players that want a game like WoW where this is no challenge and no thought required. I agree with above poster that there are different play styles on the server. I am the type that doesn't mind my character taking 2 years to get to 65, I just log in when I want, complete some quest or grind and I'm satisfied. I'm parking at 55 for a while currently. tl;dr - It's summer and the population is a little low. We make the game more like WoW or current EverQuest and the pop jumps to 5000 people, the server crashes and no one gets to play.

 

[darksabbath]

I don't want a WoW type game, never tried that shizz, have no intention too. But making the game more noob friendly would do wonders for the population. Do I want people to be handed the keys to 65/400 toons the moment they sign up? No, we have enough idiots badly playing pl'd toons like that. But making it so new people have access, and some ability to ctach up is not far-fetched. I have friends who played and quit because of that insurmountable climb into relevance. You can say it's not needed, but as long as people "/ooc for 65++ group looking for more" that disparity will continue to be there, and drive people away.
Except for a few guilds that will take in most anyone, most require A aa's, B codex, and C charm to even apply. Do new people understand that the content these guilds do require them to try to fill holes with people some what on par stats? No, they won't. Instead, they will see the server as filled with elitist people who have been here a long time, and get discouraged long before they can see how much time it takes to catch up. Recent forum posts haven't been about dumbing down the game, they have been about eliminating some of that elitist mountain a new player would have to climb.
If you don't think it is so bad, go make a new toon, don't twink anything, and don't pl him, don't recruit five of your present guildies to join you at it, and see how far you get before the frustration kicks in. Not that you would attempt this, or admit to the real results.

 

[Moraelintz]

I still do not see what is that difficult in this game. I started about 2 to 2 1/2 years ago and this was my first toon. It is all about personal motivation a touch of luck and knowing when to push what button. The biggest issue new people face is the continual nerf of exp and pp that the older people got to reap the benefits of. For instance since I have been playing elds has had at least 2 nerfs, remnants has had at least 2 nerfs (and remnants is the most casual and new person friendly zone) citadel/bq has had at least 2 nerfs, kaesora has had at least 1 nerf, and I think even hhk and fr have been nerfed. Thus putting a larger gap in time/exp/pp needed/invested to get to a certain point where to be new person friendly all those nerfs should have been buffs to make it a little easier to get exp/pp and less time investment required.

 

[Velden]

"I still do not see what is that difficult in this game."

Um, you occasionally die in this game. Other MMOs don't have this problem as you almost have to try to die.

 

[Sodshaman1]

The remarks about not wanting to become "WoW" makes me(and probably most other WoW vets laugh - WoW vets being those of us who played before or at launch). Both games are pretty easy. Difference between the two? One has a shitty client and was poorly managed from release to now(EverQuest) and the other decided to change things much faster and much more frequently for the mass pleasing of the customer base(WoW). In the first 3-4 years of both releases, they were very very very similar in difficulty, time-sinks, and raiding difficulty. If any of those would be different, it would be that WoW had harder raid encounters The only pre-expansion fights that would compare in difficulty was 4-Horsemen and possibly like..........., I dunno, doing Isles 5-6 in Plane of Sky at the same time? Time-sinks were still there(unless you magically became Exalted with anyone you talked to). Tradeskilling was a massive time and money sink. So, where is this information you guys are getting that suggests WoW is easy-mode? Nobody cares about hearing this shit anymore. So why even try to make these obscure claims about two COMPLETELY different styles of games as if it even matters?

We want solutions to problems that are on SoD.

Now, back on subject...

Recent forum posts haven't been about dumbing down the game, they have been about eliminating some of that elitist mountain a new player would have to climb.

If you don't think it is so bad, go make a new toon, don't twink anything, and don't pl him, don't recruit five of your present guildies to join you at it, and see how far you get before the frustration kicks in. Not that you would attempt this, or admit to the real results.

I have offered that exact challenge to people who always reply to my posts saying I am insane for even ATTEMPTING to bridge the gap between new players and the 4-7 year old vets of SoD. I'd say I have asked maybe fifteen or sixteen people to do this, and offered them platinum(up to 100k for the week of leveling a character) as a reward for their time spent. Not a single person said they would do it. All the responses were "This isn't WoW" or "lol your dumb"

One guy sort've tried it out. He said he played a necro up to lvl 53 but quit the necro because he realized he couldn't solo the undercaverns main quest and didn't feel like grinding anymore until we was of appropriate level to do so. I guess he liked questing and just ran out of quests or he was that stuck on finishing his main quest. I seem to remember you being able to do it earlier with the help of some 65's, but once again, during the challenge you can't just ask for help...it has to randomly walk into your zone and be like "Hey, you need help little guy?"

"I still do not see what is that difficult in this game."

Um, you occasionally die in this game. Other MMOs don't have this problem as you almost have to try to die.

Every game in the world aside from EverQuest and SoD is total easy-mode and has no concept of death or risk at all. /sarcasm off! Did you play DAoC at all? How about Shadowbane? How about Tera? Did you ever die playing EverQuest 2? Diablo 3? GW3 beta weekends? Warhammer? WoW? Death is in every single game. Posts like this are posts that are irrelevent to the conversation and are not what the community needs.

tl;dr - It's summer and the population is a little low. We make the game more like WoW or current EverQuest and the pop jumps to 5000 people, the server crashes and no one gets to play.

The population of SoD has been low for longer than just the summer. It isn't like summer destroys gaming population in general. Other EQemu servers are having NO problems getting attendance(and by that, I mean there are multiple servers with 250+ accounts online at all times - even 5am EST) and holding it well. So the "It is summer time, guys" excuse that comes up every time the population is discussed don't really work. And why would you assume that the servers crash and we can't play if the population jumps? Do you have no faith in our Admin/GM/Dev team to find a solution to hardware upgrades and the community to support them?


Edit: Darksabbath, I just accepted that challenge. I will make a character tomorrow when I wake up and start grinding. I will give it no platinum, no gear, and no support from any of my characters. I will use Notepad to record my progress every four or five hours through this journey. Are there any other requests you want me to stray from? What is my ultimate goal on this character? I have the race/class picked out already.

 

[TapeinV]

I agree with the thoughts of not understanding what is hard about this game.

The only thing that holds anyone back from being able to do anything is time. That is it. I have seen people who only have an hour or two a day be able to make large strides over a large period of time - but it's all about organizing your play ahead of time, coordinating things with friends, camping out where you're going to XP/farm the day before, etc.

 

[Charley]

I agree with the thoughts of not understanding what is hard about this

it's all about organizing your play ahead of time, coordinating things with friends, camping out where you're going to XP/farm the day before, etc.

You make playing SOD sound a lot like work. Who the fuck wants to spend time PLANNING to play a computer game? Obviously raids are an exception but a casual player isn't going to do this.

 

[Sodshaman1]

Nothing is hard about this game. Nobody said this game was hard. "Having to spending 40+ hours a week grinding for new players to have a chance at 'raiding' within a non-retarded frame of time" is what most are saying. Others are saying "We get it, but plan your time accordingly and just put in the time. Eventually, you will get there! It make take a year, make take three, but it is ok...the game is about having fun!"

So, devs/GMs/admins --- the account brainstorming thread has quite the ideas in it. Any thoughts on any of it?

 

[Tarutao]

So, devs/GMs/admins --- the account brainstorming thread has quite the ideas in it. Any thoughts on any of it?

This thread could use an idea or two about the account drive. The off-topic discussion about the perceived "you have to exp grind for a year to be relevant" requirement is one that would be better served elsewhere.

EDITED TO ADD -- The thing about The Dream being a bit of a downer and giving a first-impression dark-dreary feel is a concern I do appreciate, albeit equally off-topc. None of the other skies seem much better, but that comment does at least have me thinking about that. Keeping the feeling of dreaming while losing the "this is just plain dark" feel is a bit of a balancing act... except changing the sky has proven just not helping in and of itself.