I will survive.... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Wednesday, January 26, 2005 -- Telegareth
It has been a trying time in EverQuest since the release of EQII and World of Warcraft. Those two new games have had an interesting effect on the Nameless Server. Population is down, which we all knew would be coming, but those that remain generally enjoy playing EverQuest and it's in that enjoyment of the game where the Evil Empire continues to be strong.
So, what have we been doing since the previous update by Gnattil? Killing stuff, of course, lots of it, and while we are doing it with generally fewer people, we are still doing it which is more a testament to the current members sucking it up and playing hard in order to pull some amazing stuff off.
Riftseekers Royals? Met their demise.
Trials of Mata Muram? Passed
Access to Citadel of Anguish? Obtained
Have we done everything there is to do? Nope, we have plenty on our agenda to complete yet, including Anguish Progression and I’d really like to see first hand how SOE could screw up the end of Tacvi.
Speaking of SOE, there are some frustrations I’d like to express which I’m sure not everyone will agree with. First, while I’m happy to read that you are going to do a class re-balancing and actually use player input, I must remain skeptical, as you’ve been saying this for the past 5 years. Considering that the most recent attempt to gain player input via the guild summit has resulted in no net change whatsoever. Be that as it may, my largest problem has not been in the request for input by the player base, but has to do with the reception it receives when it hits the developers. I swear to god they don’t want to hear anything contrary to their way of thinking. They know how it all works on paper, how it should work in game, and there is no changing their minds. That is the biggest problem SOE has. How much input was given over the past 6-months that was simply stuffed in the circular file because “that’s not the way it really works”? There comes a point in time when you have to be open to a little constructive criticism, and in my opinion, the developers simply aren’t. Another point concerns internal communication, I don’t believe you actually have good internal communication. I’d be surprised if the class balance guy ever talked to the encounter designers. Theoretical DPS of a wizard vs. theoretical DPS of a rogue yet toss that into any high-end encounter and the balance goes kaput. Why is this? Are we to accept the fact that we are balanced on paper and not in actual play? I’m just a little sick and tired of the “Trust me” line of crap that I’ve been hearing from SOE over the years. It’s time to put the goods on the table. I don’t want to read about improvements, I want to SEE THEM.
Last thing to SOE, at least for this update. Thanks for making MPG trials more difficult; your timing was impeccable. After losing people to WoW and EQ2, we then faced the challenge of re-flagging to trials buffed beyond recognition while also trying to gear up recruits so that they can actually survive. Setting a guild back 4 months and causing even more people to leave was not the best decision. Leaving it that way for more than a month was even worse.
If any of you readers are wondering if you have the right stuff to be a part of Legacy of Steel, we are always on the lookout for solid, hardcore players who still love to log in and kill the big stuff. Feel you are up to the challenge? Send me an email and we’ll go from there.
Hopefully by the next update I will have mastered the use of pictures, the English language, and grammar, but then again, maybe not….