POSITIVE CHANGES IN EVERQUEST

Normally, everything that changes in Everquest changes for the worse. The developers watch as a handful of fanatical gamers go through their toughest code as if it was soft cheesecake and then react by making everything much harder and more difficult (witness the entire expansion of The Scars of Velious). Unfortunately, this makes that much more of their game utterly inaccessable by the other 99.5% of their clientelle. Not because we're incapable of doing it, but simply because we choose not to play the game as a second profession.

Recently, however, Sony Online Entertainment altered a few things that give hope to the masses that, perhaps, they are redirecting their attention and efforts away from the loud insiders and hardcore gamers and towards making the game more playable by those that are actually paying the bills - the great mass of casual gamers.

One such change was the new light-blue conning category. This dramatic change in policy increased the range of MOBs from which higher-level PCs could gain experience by a wide margin. In other words, many creatures that have long since been green and offered no experience, even though they could readily kill the PC, now give experience.

Hardcore players might see this as a meaningless change, because the new light blue conning category offers a diminished return on experience compared to dark blue cons. However, to many players - perhaps most - this is a compelling difference; now we can log on and be productive in a solo capacity. I've personally acquired two full blue bubbles of experience at level 52 in three days time killing light blues, whereas before I gained zero experience in two months of play.

I enjoy playing in low-risk scenarios, because I simply cannot afford to place too much attention on the game. I have other things I have to do concurrently. I also do not wish to risk others through my inattentiveness, so I rarely even attempt to find a group. I prefer haunting low or mid-level areas, buffing others, healing them, and looking for or buying trade supplies. However, I can also now hunt for experience at the same time, which rounds out my pleasure in playing the game.

Another pleasant change was the alteration in how Yew Leaves could be found, and the rate at which Drake Eggs could be foraged. These were incredibly difficult to obtain main ingredients for raising tailoring skill and making high-end tailored products, making high level tailoring virtually impossible to pursue for your casual player. If casual players cannot pursue the high-end combat game, and cannot pursue the high end trade craft game, what exactly are they supposed to pursue? Nice change here, SOE.

Third, there was a dramatic new method of conducting a GM-run "special event", which was on display for about a week following Halloween. Essentially, several different zones were set up with scripts that governed the appearance of entirely new sets of MOBs, that randomly and rarely dropped some very nice no-drop equipment for levels appropriate to kill them. Each script had scenarios built in that would end the event with some sort of culminating action, and then a few hours later the script would begin again anew. Since this lasted for a week, and ran 24 hours a day, it allowed just about everyone who wanted to to participate at least at some level in the proceedings. This is a great advance for inclusion of the masses instead of running tailored events for the privileged few. In other words, you didn't have to be in an Uberguild or be playing 24/7 in order to have fun in the events and even make positive gain through them.

So, a hearty congratulations to Verant for taking a trio of steps in the right direction, and giving me something positive to write about here.

 

Might as well discuss this HERE, because nobody ever uses my forums.