Soloing in the Revamp
Soloing in the Revamp
Brenden "Magi" Gardner - 08/19/2005
The solo aspect of EverQuest II has been such an important aspect for myself, and others, and truth be told it is the reason I have been playing the game for as long as I have. So naturally I've been concerned about soloing in the post combat revamp era.
Last week Moorgard put most of those concerns to rest.
Though before I get too far ahead of myself, I wish to reiterate one point I made earlier in the week: I play a Ranger and we are a "gimped" class. With that said it must be understood that soloing as a Ranger and Warlocks, for instance, are two completely different things.
For a Ranger soloing means surviving green and blue non arrow cons. For Warlocks, Necromancers, Guardians and Berserkers, soloing means, at the very least, taking down white and yellow cons with the opportunity for orange and dare I say red?
So not surprisingly what Moorgard was talking about yesterday in reference to the con system pleased me greatly yet it may displease others, such as Warlocks and Guardians.
"A solo player in handcrafted gear and Apprentice III spells should be able to defeat a white no-arrow solo mob. It is not meant to be a trivial fight, but (assuming reasonable tactics) most of the time the player should win." (Moorgard)
Taking into consideration what I quoted Moorgard for, from the official message boards, doesn't this system make absolute perfect sense? If you want to look at what each con level means, white is ideal: it is an even fight, it is suited to [your] level. In accordance with what Moorgard said as well, if we use reasonably good tactics then the player should win with an appropriate challenge in place.
What doesn't make sense is what is used currently. Yellow, orange and red cons, at least based on how they are described, should be above our abilities, or at least to the point where we can't take them out with ease.
This is exactly what it meant when myself and others talk about "increased challenge." Ever since these quotes came out yesterday I heard a number of times the words "making the game harder." No. This is not making the game harder simply more challenging and there is a world of difference between the two.
If, for instance, EverQuest II was becoming harder, as some are trying to make us believe, then white cons would be near death experiences. Now how is this done? The AI would be modified so that better tactics are used so it is in fact a much tougher experience and subsequently we will receive more debt.
This my friends is not happening.
This is simply balancing to level the playing field. Yes in one perspective the Warlocks, Necromancers and Guardians will feel "nerfed" because they cannot take on yellow cons and white cons are much tougher than they were (though still defeatable if appropriate tactics are used). But now classes that have been gimped, like the Ranger, will be able to take down white cons with appropriate strategy.
It is just illogical for things to continue as they have been, for the gimped classes, like the Ranger, to be forced to fight blue cons while others can take on oranges and be immensely successful. This is a necessary change that is going to keep soloing intact going forward.
The Future of the Solo Game
While the topic of the solo game is being discussed it would be good to look at the future of the solo game and as a soler - and casual gamer - to look ahead and say what first of all could be done going forward and what I would like to see.
As I have stated earlier I've been quited pleased with the solo game in EverQuest II and there are three major changes that were made to the game to allow this.
The first change was the increased amount of solo mobs in outside areas. This was huge, absolutely huge. When this change was first put into effect there was a lot of complaints from the players who are primarily in groups but this was a change that was necessary. Under the old system, before this was put in place, soloers had some encounters to fight - though they were few and far between - and advancement was incredibly slow. Now this has changed and it is fantastic.
The second change was the introduction of solo dungeons. Yes, I know, these dungeons aren't the greatest thing in the world but this is a first step to something better (which we see in the third change). It is a change that is not huge in its own right - clearly not even close to the first change - but a step in the right direction.
The third and latest change came in the form of the adventure pack, the Splitpaw Saga. Dungeon Instances (including solo ones) that scaled to your level. This is the second step which started with the second change. Yes, there is more to Splitpaw then solo instances (in fact it is by and large mostly group) but the adventure pack has proven that there is a crowd to appeal to and by and large we've been tremendously happy because of it. Especially Harclave. Real, serious advancement in both experience and gold can be found there (which is also something we've needed for awhile now).
That is what has happened but what is going to happen next, moving forward? The answer: more dynamic solo dungeons.
Make no mistake: the solo community has immensely enjoyed the solo dungeons that have been given to us but they are rather bland at times, without too much challenge. I understand as well that there is only so much that can be done with such dungeons and how there is a much larger crowd to appeal to in the form of the groupers. Though with all of that in mind, the solo dungeons need to be improved upon if nothing more than appearance. Instead of primarily caves give us some castle dungeons or something of the like.
Or maybe something more radical?
I may be wrong on this and in fact I think I'm going too far ahead of myself but what if all non-raid dungeons became soloable? We're talking about Fallen Gate, the Wailing Caves and the like? These dungeons, typically, have been used for exploration, experience and gold. There are some named enemies but they haven't been much more powerful, or bountiful, then what we see in the Trials of Harclave.
We'll have to wait and see.
Regardless of what is happening in the future, what I would like to see, the bottom line is the solo game in the revamp is going to be improved dramatically. MMORPGs are about transition, after all, and it'll be rough for some classes, like Warlocks, but it is for the better of the game and your fellow players.
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Brenden "Magi" Gardner - 08/19/2005
The solo aspect of EverQuest II has been such an important aspect for myself, and others, and truth be told it is the reason I have been playing the game for as long as I have. So naturally I've been concerned about soloing in the post combat revamp era.
Last week Moorgard put most of those concerns to rest.
Though before I get too far ahead of myself, I wish to reiterate one point I made earlier in the week: I play a Ranger and we are a "gimped" class. With that said it must be understood that soloing as a Ranger and Warlocks, for instance, are two completely different things.
For a Ranger soloing means surviving green and blue non arrow cons. For Warlocks, Necromancers, Guardians and Berserkers, soloing means, at the very least, taking down white and yellow cons with the opportunity for orange and dare I say red?
So not surprisingly what Moorgard was talking about yesterday in reference to the con system pleased me greatly yet it may displease others, such as Warlocks and Guardians.
"A solo player in handcrafted gear and Apprentice III spells should be able to defeat a white no-arrow solo mob. It is not meant to be a trivial fight, but (assuming reasonable tactics) most of the time the player should win." (Moorgard)
Taking into consideration what I quoted Moorgard for, from the official message boards, doesn't this system make absolute perfect sense? If you want to look at what each con level means, white is ideal: it is an even fight, it is suited to [your] level. In accordance with what Moorgard said as well, if we use reasonably good tactics then the player should win with an appropriate challenge in place.
What doesn't make sense is what is used currently. Yellow, orange and red cons, at least based on how they are described, should be above our abilities, or at least to the point where we can't take them out with ease.
This is exactly what it meant when myself and others talk about "increased challenge." Ever since these quotes came out yesterday I heard a number of times the words "making the game harder." No. This is not making the game harder simply more challenging and there is a world of difference between the two.
If, for instance, EverQuest II was becoming harder, as some are trying to make us believe, then white cons would be near death experiences. Now how is this done? The AI would be modified so that better tactics are used so it is in fact a much tougher experience and subsequently we will receive more debt.
This my friends is not happening.
This is simply balancing to level the playing field. Yes in one perspective the Warlocks, Necromancers and Guardians will feel "nerfed" because they cannot take on yellow cons and white cons are much tougher than they were (though still defeatable if appropriate tactics are used). But now classes that have been gimped, like the Ranger, will be able to take down white cons with appropriate strategy.
It is just illogical for things to continue as they have been, for the gimped classes, like the Ranger, to be forced to fight blue cons while others can take on oranges and be immensely successful. This is a necessary change that is going to keep soloing intact going forward.
The Future of the Solo Game
While the topic of the solo game is being discussed it would be good to look at the future of the solo game and as a soler - and casual gamer - to look ahead and say what first of all could be done going forward and what I would like to see.
As I have stated earlier I've been quited pleased with the solo game in EverQuest II and there are three major changes that were made to the game to allow this.
The first change was the increased amount of solo mobs in outside areas. This was huge, absolutely huge. When this change was first put into effect there was a lot of complaints from the players who are primarily in groups but this was a change that was necessary. Under the old system, before this was put in place, soloers had some encounters to fight - though they were few and far between - and advancement was incredibly slow. Now this has changed and it is fantastic.
The second change was the introduction of solo dungeons. Yes, I know, these dungeons aren't the greatest thing in the world but this is a first step to something better (which we see in the third change). It is a change that is not huge in its own right - clearly not even close to the first change - but a step in the right direction.
The third and latest change came in the form of the adventure pack, the Splitpaw Saga. Dungeon Instances (including solo ones) that scaled to your level. This is the second step which started with the second change. Yes, there is more to Splitpaw then solo instances (in fact it is by and large mostly group) but the adventure pack has proven that there is a crowd to appeal to and by and large we've been tremendously happy because of it. Especially Harclave. Real, serious advancement in both experience and gold can be found there (which is also something we've needed for awhile now).
That is what has happened but what is going to happen next, moving forward? The answer: more dynamic solo dungeons.
Make no mistake: the solo community has immensely enjoyed the solo dungeons that have been given to us but they are rather bland at times, without too much challenge. I understand as well that there is only so much that can be done with such dungeons and how there is a much larger crowd to appeal to in the form of the groupers. Though with all of that in mind, the solo dungeons need to be improved upon if nothing more than appearance. Instead of primarily caves give us some castle dungeons or something of the like.
Or maybe something more radical?
I may be wrong on this and in fact I think I'm going too far ahead of myself but what if all non-raid dungeons became soloable? We're talking about Fallen Gate, the Wailing Caves and the like? These dungeons, typically, have been used for exploration, experience and gold. There are some named enemies but they haven't been much more powerful, or bountiful, then what we see in the Trials of Harclave.
We'll have to wait and see.
Regardless of what is happening in the future, what I would like to see, the bottom line is the solo game in the revamp is going to be improved dramatically. MMORPGs are about transition, after all, and it'll be rough for some classes, like Warlocks, but it is for the better of the game and your fellow players.
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