The future for SoD

Rarok

Dalayan Elder
I'd like to know what the roadmap is for SoD.

I have been lurking here for a long time, have played for a week or so to find out how current players attitudes are, and generally giving the game a shot to try out the most recent changes. I took some advice from my other thread to obtain a ringer and I did some light playing. I am now researching quests to improve one of my characters.

While playing I have generally received negative comments over the buff changes. Most of the comments revolve around taking away buffs without replacing them with anything. Everyone has loved the AA changes. Some people pointed out it saves new characters a ton of time and plat to not have to gather tomes. To me, this kind of make up for the buff changes after learning what a pain that used to be. Then there are people who have quit over the stat changes. They claim their character is significantly weaker and they have no interest in the game. There have been a few references to the prior changes (before these most recent patches) and the direction the game is heading to be generally negative. Some believe the top end guild was keeping the server alive, and they disbanded... though I honestly have no idea what that was about. There are still groups going on and people seem to be having fun.

Which leads me to the question about the future. Do you guys have a road map? From what I gather, the current goal is to balance the game in someones vision. What is the goal with the balancing? Are there any target values on things that you are trying to hit? What happens once the current game is balanced? Where will the focus be? Is the end game solid enough for a while? Is there a plan at some point to attract more players?

Just curious- I am sure the goal is to make the game better and not just take away everyone's toys.

Thanks developers and administrators for reading!
 
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The game is by no means unplayable, but the loss of full raid buffs while doing certain content with less than a full raid makes certain things impossible at the appropriate tier. One such example is 6man content - much of it was designed around six characters equipped with gear of roughly a certain tier, fully pre-buffed. Try taking a group that could just barely kill a specific 6man mob before (an on-tier group) - now, unless they have a group makeup that somehow provides them with all the same buffs, it's impossible until they get better gear (which by then, they probably won't need the loot off of said 6man anymore). It's like putting all 6man content on hardmode, but the reward isn't changed at all.
 
The game is by no means unplayable, but the loss of full raid buffs while doing certain content with less than a full raid makes certain things impossible at the appropriate tier. One such example is 6man content - much of it was designed around six characters equipped with gear of roughly a certain tier, fully pre-buffed. Try taking a group that could just barely kill a specific 6man mob before (an on-tier group) - now, unless they have a group makeup that somehow provides them with all the same buffs, it's impossible until they get better gear (which by then, they probably won't need the loot off of said 6man anymore). It's like putting all 6man content on hardmode, but the reward isn't changed at all.

This is always something we can look at and adjust the numbers to fit the current meta we're heading for. So far I will say I haven't heard too much complaint with 6, 12, or 18 man content, but if you find yourself at a complete impasse with something a typical, solid group has done in the past, say, t13 6-man content, we can look into tweaking things if it is needed.
 
6man content - much of it was designed around six characters equipped with gear of roughly a certain tier, fully pre-buffed.
Do we know that the opposite isn't true? Were these encounters maybe designed around having only limited buffs but people with an army of buff bots made it easier than intended?
 
Using an amount of hyperbole to communicate feelings on changes is understandable but does cause confusion when addressing real issues.

I doubt anyone considered the magnitude of buffs when developing a fight. Examples of mechanics that developers do take into consideration are: Melody of the Shield, Vah Back, Paladin with Undead Crits, or Enchanter curses. If anything, the apparent 2.5 health boost made all Pre-Fuwok/Cole/Rymy content easier?

Are there any long duration 6-man fights where not having flowing thought causes healer/dps mana issues?
Are there any 6-man fights that a melee-stacked group with potion haste would see an inability to kill the target?
 
Do you guys have a road map?

Yes.

What is the goal with the balancing?

Ill quote the patch notes:

Existing spells that specific classes have had for years, but never cast, now are functionally useful. The thematic elements that buffs bring to their classes become more apparent and useful. This new system removes cross-class power creep and allows for easier identification of individual class weaknesses. This allows us to now more easily identify and buff/fix class power disparities moving forward. Lastly, it creates an opportunity to make Alchemy relevant by increasing its usefulness and function.

Are there any target values on things that you are trying to hit?

For the most part, yes. If balance can be simplified to a number, then that number is definitely 2.

What happens once the current game is balanced? Where will the focus be?

Content, Quality of Life Enhancements, Networking, Advertisement, Balance. These are current discussions.

Is the end game solid enough for a while?

Not sure what your asking here.

Is there a plan at some point to attract more players?

Yes.

I am sure the goal is to make the game better and not just take away everyone's toys.

Correct.
 
Thanks for the reply, it is honestly really interesting to me to review the different phases for a project like SoD that has stretched on for over 17 years. Hopefully people look back on these changes as the start of the new golden age for the server ;)
 
The frog 6 man... Super super hard now without full buffs... His throw up in the air mechanic thing is way harder to heal now.. To a paladin druid cleric mage wiz bard.. All on tier / done it before.. and barely made it thru... So idk we had all the hps buffs I guess.. Just seems quite a bit harder.. I dont think we could have done it without 2 healers and a pally or maybe and sk.. Warriors are dogshit on that fight.. Maybe look into that as well??? Idk cant immagine killing like eniva or curator now days without fill buffs
 
This is always something we can look at and adjust the numbers to fit the current meta we're heading for. So far I will say I haven't heard too much complaint with 6, 12, or 18 man content, but if you find yourself at a complete impasse with something a typical, solid group has done in the past, say, t13 6-man content, we can look into tweaking things if it is needed.
i' m not doomsaying here, but some of our folks that regularly go after prime six man targets have been saying "meh" and not even trying since the patch. To be fair we should try them some and give some feedback rather than just balking at doing it. but part of the reason there's not much feedback is partially that a lot of folks don't even want to try.

to clarify i'll try to convince folks to give them a try so we have actual feedback instead of just number-based presumption.
 
I'd like to know what the roadmap is for SoD.

Here is my interpretation of the vision based on what I have seen so far:

"Players, in the coming months SoD will be undergoing profound changes. The goal of these changes is to restore SoD to it's original intent; EQ-like play with custom content. We will be making changes to increase class interdependence, incentivize grouping, and restore the significance of death penalties. Established players, this will be toughest for you. In the past 10 years, (due to power creep, persistent bugs, and individual developer decision) SoD has moved towards soloing/duoing as the most efficient way to progress outside of 6 man and raid content. In order to incentivize grouping and increase class interdependence, character power will have to be reduced. Now for the easier part; we also plan to introduce changes meant to smooth the leveling process. We will fold tomes into AAs, increase the power of low level quests rewards and item drops, and smooth spell acquisition. In the end this should increase our appeal to our base: EQ players. By returning to our roots and smoothing the leveling process, we hope to increase server population. New players will get to experience 10+ years of custom content. Established players will have new friends to share the world they love with."
 
I doubt anyone considered the magnitude of buffs when developing a fight. Examples of mechanics that developers do take into consideration are: Melody of the Shield, Vah Back, Paladin with Undead Crits, or Enchanter curses. If anything, the apparent 2.5 health boost made all Pre-Fuwok/Cole/Rymy content easier?

lol what? most fights were actively developed by working with players and seeing how they were doing on various attempts, they were tuned live and on the fly each attempt. Those players had buffs....... Are you actually a dev? Also: "yes" to all of your plans without going into details pretty much means "No, but we have some ideas that we don't think are even good enough to share because we know people will call us out on how dumb they are"
 
Ahh the good old days. I miss playing with you all.
lol what? most fights were actively developed by working with players and seeing how they were doing on various attempts, they were tuned live and on the fly each attempt."
 
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