Gates of Discord gets retuned! (http://eqlive.station.sony.com/community/dev_view.jsp?id=62046)
Greetings Norrath!

Gates of Discord is being tuned to rework many of the experience areas to better balance the expansion for all classes. It is our hope that this re-tuning will allow for more group diversity and better use of individual class skills while maintaining the challenge of the new content. We hope to roll out these changes within the next 2 weeks. Here's a quick breakdown of what's changed -
* Experience has been increased in several zones.
* Natimbi, Qinimi, Barindu, Riwwi, and Ferubi should be tuned more appropriately for their intended level ranges.
* NPCs will no longer hit for max damage as often. Knights in particular should find it easier to tank mobs they previously had difficulty with.
* Spell drops have been increased.
* Zone travel has been made easier.
* NPC innates have been adjusted to behave a little more reasonably.
* Animals in various zones across Gates have been made non-agro.

Note: Please keep in mind that these changes do not affect every zone.
We would like to thank all of the folks on the Test Server who have been helping with the re-working of the encounters and we hope that you enjoy the changes when they go live in the very near future.

Thanks all!

The EverQuest Design Team

Holy ****.

*blinks*

Just to step OT a sec :p

Nice sig Tiane :thumbs2:

Well, they are going to retune it but can we return it and get our money back? Guess the loss of so many people made them keep one dev to work on it for future generations.

I read that as Gates of Discord to be returned, as well. Thought maybe we could return it for some odd reason.

EQ Developer 1: Man, the current player base is just getting through stuff to easy.

EQ Developer 2: Yeah, instead of handing stuff to people like in PoP lets take it back to EQ origin and make it hard to get places and do thing, that will work, then becasue it takes longer , we can actually try to FINISH the expansion.


3 months later......

EQ Developer 1: oh ****..

EQ Developer 2: dam, we even made the uber guilds quit....how can we fix this....

Looks like they're only messing with the teir 1 zones. Probably want to give something to casuals to do.

I read it as Gates of Discord to be returned...

was thinking "Wow. They finally found something they can do to make the playerbase happy".

My bad.

About time ! :)

Great! Does this mean I'll no longer get a message in my chat window that says "Sorry, druids are not allowed here." whenever I try to zone into a GoD zone? /sarcasm off

Huh?
I am not even EP let alone Time flagged.
Yet I am flagged through to Exp 6, I have the uber bracer from Exp 6 and my guild has killed the WS in Ferubi and farms there almost every night.



OH I see..........."/sarcasm off"

Guess I need more coffee.

Guess they should have listened to their beta testers. That could have saved a lot of accounts for them. SOE seems to be on the "too little too late" track. :/

I hope this keeps what's left of my guild in tact...

Guess they should have listened to their beta testers.

Naw ... They made it hard to slow people down so they could finish whatever was beyond Uqua. Rumor mill says that whatever is finished so they can set the difficulty back towards the original design specs.

They will need to do a lot of retuning (read some solo/two box/small group content) to get me to buy it.

I am yet another one who read it as "returned".

More information on Gates Re-Tune (http://eqlive.station.sony.com/community/dev_view.jsp?id=62073) (SOE Dev Corner)

Hey folks,

Here is some expanded information on the Gates re-tune happening next week. The list shows the proposed change and below it, the reason we are planning to make the change.

Zone experience modifiers were increased in all zones from Tipt/Vxed and beyond.
- To make it more appropriate and rewarding for the intended player level ranges.

Natimbi, Qinimi, Barindu, Riwwi, and Ferubi should be tuned more appropriately for their intended level ranges.
- To make the zones more appropriate and rewarding for their intended level ranges.

NPCs will no longer hit for max damage as often. Knights in particular should find it easier to tank mobs they previously had difficulty with.
- Grouping restraints were too tight. This caused groups to require a warrior/riposte tank with multiple healers.

Ikkinz -- Guilds no longer have to flag every member of their guild in order to complete Ikkinz. Only one person needs to complete all events/raids to start Ikkinz 7. At that point, all players who complete Ikkinz 7 will get full credit for the zone.
- Based on customer feedback.

NPC innates have been adjusted to behave a little more reasonably.
- Based on customer feedback and designer logic. The innates that were placed on the NPCs were inappropriate and were making encounters too difficult.

Zone travel has been made easier. Animal aggression was lowered (faction placed to dubious) and See Invis percentages were reduced on several NPCs.
- Based on customer feedback. Players needed invisibility all the time and were getting swarmed by NPCs. These changes will help reduce these issues.

Spell drops have been increased.
- Based on customer feedback.

Increase the rate of cash drops
- Based upon customer feedback

Please submit feedback using the Dev Corner feedback (http://eqlive.station.sony.com/community/dev_feedback.jsp) button to let us know what you think!

Brenlo

Who writes this stuff?

Well since it's signed "Brenlo"...

*sighs* Dumbing down the expansion is a bad idea. I can understand making the mobs not hit for max damage as much, but reducing see invis mobs and animal aggression is stupid. There should be a challenge to getting through those zones and completing the trials. Instead of dumbing it down, increase the rewards in the zones it's hard to get to. Increase the ZEM to pre-nerf Paludal Cavern levels. Increase drops. Make it fun and rewarding to finally reach those zones.

I wish SOE would get it through their head that timesinks != fun.

... meh I've been coding in NWN all day. Starting to use the operands in everything I type and I tried to enclose my paragraphs in {}'s hehe.

Guess they should have listened to their beta testers.

True that

*sighs* Dumbing down the expansion is a bad idea. I can understand making the mobs not hit for max damage as much, but reducing see invis mobs and animal aggression is stupid. There should be a challenge to getting through those zones and completing the trials.

Right, because running naked and invis through hostile zones on a CR and getting killed because you had a see invis assbeat mob warp on top of you is fun!

Right, because running naked and invis through hostile zones on a CR and getting killed because you had a see invis assbeat mob warp on top of you is fun!

Well if you're in those kinds of zones, you're prolly in a nice sized guild or else you have a fair amount of adequately geared friends. Or if you're somewhat persuasive and resourceful, you can hire an SoS rogue to snake your corpse out of whatever hole you dropped it into and then find a rez from someone in the area.

I played a 65 Rogue and spent a considerable amount of time just exploring the GoD zones I had access to and believe me, I dragged a ton of corpses around. I made more money in the first three weeks of GoD dragging corpses than I have pickpoc-- er... scratch that. *sheepish grin* Forgot about running around Cazic Thule with a backpack full of syringes, taking stealthy blood samples from the leezards.

I only died once in GoD while exploring and that's because I went AFK at the zoneline while I answered the phone. As a skilled and wary rogue, I made sure to learn the layout of the zones, where the mobs spawned, what mobs patrolled, and where the scary mobs that could see me were.

Since I am also on dial-up, I made sure to account for that lag when running past patrollers. Don't know if you know it, but mobs in the middle of spell casting don't aggro on you, even if they can see you. I used that many times pre-SoS, to scoot through Sebilis to get past see invis shamans at the front of the zone.

There's always a way to get around something. You just have to plan ahead a little and be prepared. Get to know some rogues and necros. Make friends with clerics. Enchanters, clerics, and paladin/sk's were the kind of people I made friends with. I never had a problem getting buffs, a tank, a slower, or a healer.

Now if you're trying to solo in GoD... you should really prepare yourself for corpse runs and make sure you know of several people who can help retrieve your corpse if the poopoo hits the fan.

/sigh it would be so easy to make a personal attack and get banned

It's not about dumbing down content it's about fixing content so that there are fewer brickwalls.

There's always a way to get around something. You just have to plan ahead a little and be prepared. Get to know some rogues and necros. Make friends with clerics. Enchanters, clerics, and paladin/sk's were the kind of people I made friends with. I never had a problem getting buffs, a tank, a slower, or a healer.

Ya know...I'd kinda like to hear one day someone talking about having to make friends with a druid so that you can...ummm...do...er...something.

I've got many friends of all classes. And yes, they're more than willing to help me out. I'm sure many here have the similar friends. But I know that I get a guilty feeling when I'm constantly needing them to help me out and there isnt much I can do in return. And giving them cash just feels wrong somehow. One should repay friendship with service not money in my opinion.

In any event, to a degree its a dumbing down of the expansion. But probably not much more than when they removed the need for keys to some of the PoP zones. Although, why they didnt learn from that is beyond me...

SoE's typical stance towards expansions has always been to release it unfinished and make most of it harder than hell for even the top end guilds to do, then start retuning it over the course of a year to retain interest. Encounters are always dumbed down because they always start out insane. Its the typical strategy that allows SoE to look good in the PR department when they do patches so that they can claim they took player feedback into account and changed things. See what they do for their players even though people say their CS sucks? Its just like putting a carrot in front of an ass to get it to move, then constantly putting a bigger and bigger carrot on the stick and telling the donkey that at least it has a chance at a bigger carrot.

Frankly though, I'm tired of always chasing a carrot. After 5 years of starving there really isnt a carrot large enough to make me move.

Ya know...I'd kinda like to hear one day someone talking about having to make friends with a druid so that you can...ummm...do...er...something.

Actually, pre-pop, druids were also one of the people I went out of my way to make friends with. I liked to move around a lot and sometimes I would be one the other side of the world, deep in some dank, dark Hole when something was getting ready to start in Mistmoore. So I made friends with druids so I could get to anywhere within 20-30 minutes.

But I know that I get a guilty feeling when I'm constantly needing them to help me out and there isnt much I can do in return.

I am the last person to ask for help. I hate it. Absolutely detest asking for help, but I was almost always the first person to volunteer to help someone else if they needed it. I just don't like asking for help, accepting plat/gear, and such without repaying them. No debts was always my motto.

It's not about dumbing down content it's about fixing content so that there are fewer brickwalls.

:bs: It is dumbing it down. You can't dance around that by calling it fixing content. People got lazy with Luclina and PoP... so now that something actually challenges them to be better, they give up and whine until the devs change it. Which seems to be all the rage these days. If you can't hack it, give up and whine until the devs change it. Whining is about the only thing you see on the official SWG forums these days. Whining and Petitions and petitions to stop the petitions. It's ridiculous.

You'd think people were just playing the game to find something to whine about it and lately it seems EQ players have been turning that way as well. People don't play a game to be challenged these days. They seem to just want to wallow about in mind numbingly boring, reptitive encounters and xp grinds.

It is dumbing it down. You can't dance around that by calling it fixing content. People got lazy with Luclina and PoP... so now that something actually challenges them to be better, they give up and whine until the devs change it.

I will partly disagree with this. When you have trials where you NEED a warrior a cleric and much prefer a second cleric because even a second druid doesnt cut it, all in Potime gear... It's beyond a challenge. Same with Uqua. Though it looks like the latest fixes have done a good part of the job.

As far as making mobs not see invis etc... I think its a good thing. keep in mind though that not ALL mobs will be made this way, according to the post; there will just be less of them. There is a fine balance between "challenge" and needless timesinks.

Callahad

Ya know...I'd kinda like to hear one day someone talking about having to make friends with a druid so that you can...ummm...do...er...something.
Are you SERIOUS!? I get tells all the time!

"Would you plevel my twink?"

Play a class without either invis or worse no fixed duration invis and you will change your mind. There is no challenge at all - you either cross zone after zone lugging instant cast invis potions or you die randomly. A choice between a tedious waste of time and plat or needless extra deaths. The endless halls packed with static trash mobs and tons of patrollers mean if you don't have fixed invis you better have instant cast potions or on a random duration invis drop your going to die. Toss in a few see invis mobs when your already rushing it and it's just frustration.

All a druid does in Kod'taz is evac to zone to setup a CoH chain to get late comers. No way to get into an expedition with just invis, you must either clear or use DA and run for it with usually only the cleric making it for the single group ones.

No way to get into an expedition with just invis, you must either clear or use DA and run for it with usually only the cleric making it for the single group ones.

That was the most fun Ive ever had running to a zone line. Had cleric DA and train while the rest of us followed closely behind. Overlooking the trial entrance was such an amazing sight. I swear there was hundreds of mobs on those stairs, and 2/3 of them saw invis.

All 6 people made it in safe btw. I still need to go back and get my Glyphed Ring. Hmm...

-Grendul
Storm Warden of Zeb
Iratus Lepus

you can actually get to expedition 1 and 2 (in kt) with jus tinvis and harmony if you have good timing, but i do think the amount of pain it takes get expedition is dumb and glad they are making it easier its just unwanted frustration

Play a class without either invis or worse no fixed duration invis and you will change your mind. There is no challenge at all - you either cross zone after zone lugging instant cast invis potions or you die randomly. A choice between a tedious waste of time and plat or needless extra deaths. The endless halls packed with static trash mobs and tons of patrollers mean if you don't have fixed invis you better have instant cast potions or on a random duration invis drop your going to die. Toss in a few see invis mobs when your already rushing it and it's just frustration.

All a druid does in Kod'taz is evac to zone to setup a CoH chain to get late comers. No way to get into an expedition with just invis, you must either clear or use DA and run for it with usually only the cleric making it for the single group ones.

If you watch out for mobs and know where see invis mobs roam. You can make to most of the places safely. I had alot fun training to exp zone ins etc. Alot of time I die due to lag or some unlucky stun. Challenge and fun? Heck yes !