Now that it's the end of July, and we've been in it almost 6 months, it's time for a re-look at the GoD expansion and it's construction. :box:

Progression is linear, the deeper you get into it, the more risk there is at being able to get to back to where you need to be (we were all tremendously spoiled by PoP zones for access and corpse retrieval). But the rewards are very very nice for guilds who stick with it and make progress.

Mob graphics? Of course, they all look the same. The bad guys have one purpose, they don't want you there, you are intruders, and they will do anything to stop you. Unforgiving for mistakes? Of course.

Am I enjoying it? Yes, it's a tough challenge, new strategies and tactics to figure out. Is it the best thing ever? Not hardly, it's a fairly small expansion (not like a kunark or velious - but we were young then and the world "seemed" much larger), but we have two or three months of conquest yet to go.

Group or guild friendly? It's a raiding expansion. But groups can progress slowly through the first stages, group exp is there. Guild raids in instanced dungeons have the 54 limit, which in hind sight has been bad and good. Bad because it makes folks be left out of a raid. Good because it means when you field only 40-48 for a raid, you still have a good chance of beating the expedition. Instanced dungeons with lockout timers are good for setting up raiding schedules without conflicting with another guild's.

So, at this point, I would say many of the early criticisms, while justified at the time, really don't hold up after several months have gone by. The rewards for working through this expansion are too good to skip. (That's said without knowing what OoW will bring.)

Tipt = super retarded suckage x3. That is all.

I play on Sullon Zek. For us, GoD was the best thing to ever happen. Instanced raids cannot be trained. We were not able to enter EPs due to the other 2 teams messing up our PoP raids constantly. In the end, we were hardly able to be in VT for longer than an hour before trainers came in. And trainers in VT who ghost anywhere or use /warp hacks are lethal.

We did what many people didn't think was possible. We raided GoD without being EP flagged. We killed Primals several times and farmed the 3 Ikkinz raids. No, we didn't beat Ikkinz 4 and we didn't kill a single named in Uqua. But we were able to raid with almost no disturbance and got some loot that is of Quarm quality.

Yes, we have trouble flagging everybody and his mother for KT, and several people were left behind. A pvp server is about endurance and persistance. If you got used to getting trained on 30 RZtW attempt in a row before you even engage him, then you won't mind wiping on GoD trials a few times and spending much time there.

Finni

I've got a divided opinion about GoD. (As a preface, my guild is currently working it's way thru Txevu so we've seen all but the final zone so far).

On the one hand, they did a whole lot of things right. As the posters above mentioned, instanced raids are nice as a way to prevent scheduling conflicts. The stuff that isn't instanced doesn't have a 5000 year respawn time either. The progression events, for the most part, are actually new, different, and interesting (ie, Inktu'ta is actually a fun zone... Several different events that require some thought to get thru the first time). After so long sleep-raiding Plane of Time it is nice to have a decent challenge in the game again.

The any-class-can-use-it spells and armor drops are also a nice change from the perpetually rotting armor (PoP) and Spells (Previous to PoP).

However, GoD was a HUGE disappointment in the graphical arena. Any single zone in any previous expansion (or the old world) is likely to have a larger variety of mob models than the entire GoD expansion (Yes, I know that is a slight exaggeration, but not by much!).

Cut-and-paste zone design has reached all new heights in GoD as well. In playing and talking about other games, I have always maintained that one of the things EQ had going for it was the fact that it used zones. Zones had character. You could look around and just KNOW that you were in Lavastorm, Sebilis, The Burning Woods, etc. In zoneless games you were just somewhere nondescript all the time. That's how GoDs zones feel. Randomly pop up in nearly any GoD zone and neither the monsters or the terrain will help identify the place.

And while I know they are prepping us for whatever event destroys Norrath so we can start EQ2 with just Odus, Antonica, and Faydwer, I just really can't find myself at all interested in the "story" of GoD. Gimme dragons, demons, that sort of thing...

Sekira I agree almost completely with you. So far, you are the one that most aptly expressed the cookie-cutter zone design of GoD. THe zones themselves are well designed, as are the events. but there is no distinct flavor. Or rather, there is a flavor, but that flavor is constant through the whole expansion. As opposed to before, where each zone had a distinct flavor. Well, LdoN had 5 flavors, out of the whole package. Still it's better than just one. For example, look at PoD as opposed to PoN or HoH.

The events themselves are well thought out. I like especially Uqua. We are only starting Inktuta, couldnt tell ya much about that zone. The ikkinz raids are decent, though some events seem rather random. Contrary to a majority, I dont mind much that this takes place in the same zone. I view this like the HoH A trials, or better yet, as the ring events in PoE or PoAir. I do think 6 of them is a bit much, but still. Some good quests, decent rewards, etc.

The alien theme, to me, is ok, as long as it stays into the fantasy genre type. The mob models are good, especially the golems, but they suffer in placement and numbers. It seems like most zones use all models in an almost random fashion, and frankly, there isnt enough models. I havent made a study, but I would say there is half as many new models in GoD as there was in PoP. With the random placement through all zones, you quickly feel like you've seen them all, and like there isnt a whole lot of them.

I loved the progressive aspect of it. But in retrospect, it could have been a little wider, less linear. For example, KT access lets you roam KT, Yxxtta, and do the 6 KT trials. That one was pretty decent, with lots of choices. However, beating Uqua gives you only access to Qvic. That's a bit disappointing. And Qvic doesn't allow a whole lot of variety, though it's a candyland. 3 mobs, 2 events. I would have liked to see a second zone, or 2 or 3 1-2 hours instanced events starting in Qvic. I expect something similar for Txevu.

The current version of spell drops is quite decent, as well as the armor drops. The loss of tradeable spells hurt a bit, and might wanna consider a quest to allow a NPC to exchange a No Drop Version for a Droppable version, so trade can happen. Perhaps you need to TS an item, perhaps just need to give pp, perhaps something else...

There is still the flagging nightmare, with Uqua and Inktuta. However, its much less pronounced than the PoP flagging, due to having one event to progress, instead of 4 for PoTime, and a bunch for the EP.

Overall, it's not bad at all.

Callahad

I stopped thinking in terms of a story-line after Velious.

There are elements I call of a story in PoP, and I guess in GoD and LDoN (if loy had one I never found it), but they are so disjointed as to be nothing but background noise.

However, beating Uqua gives you only access to Qvic. That's a bit disappointing. And Qvic doesn't allow a whole lot of variety, though it's a candyland. 3 mobs, 2 events. I would have liked to see a second zone, or 2 or 3 1-2 hours instanced events starting in Qvic.
Callahad


beating cynosure in Qvic gives you access to expeditions in Inktu'ta.
doesn't that count for something?
and i think Qvic is a reward zone for all the hell of Uqua.

GoD's biggest problem is more of a PR thing too. While I fully don't expect non-elemental guilds to make it to Kod'Taz, I think too many are staying away from the expansion thinking it's way over their heads.

I've been working with some friends, every now and then, tying to get them to play in GoD more. While it's tougher than what they've done in the past, most of them have been enjoying it.

Regular mobs in Ferubi have posed no difficulty for them. Most sewer runs are extremely viable for them. Heck, I've even taken a group of them to Tipt and had my warrior friend Tank the Enraged Maternal Cragbeast. They have been getting amazing loot, Great EXP, and having fun. All great things.

While I don't expect the Tipt thing of other people, Certainly the rest should be actively used by the rest of the EQ world. Especially given that the group of friends that have been doing this aren't even close to Uber. None have ever seen the inner chambers of Sshra, VT, or even Tactics. Even the warrior has only 7.5 hp fully buffed. Yet, they do extremely well in these places.

At least it's nice to see Natimbi hopping with people these days. Hehe, I even use it to solo with my level 46 Wizard. :P Ok, I cheat a little, I debuff the mobs with Hand of Ro for him, but, still.

I'm really hopefull that the new ports on test will encourage non elemental players to visit the sewers. They really are a great place to be for non-Elemental players. And once the level cap is increased in OoW, I fully expect to start seeing bolder people braving Vxed and Tipt, eventually making their way to Kod'Taz where they will be very happy.

Druids, especially, should give Vxed a try for Soloing. Yes, Soloing. It's pretty simple to get a solo pull there, and as long as you avoid the summoning mobs, rooting and rotting is a very viable method of earning around 7% AA exp a kill. I can solo kill a mob and have 80% of my mana after I am done. Any non-Elemental Druid should be able to have enough mana to do EXP there.

beating cynosure in Qvic gives you access to expeditions in Inktu'ta.
doesn't that count for something?
and i think Qvic is a reward zone for all the hell of Uqua.

Expeditions? What expeditions? AFAIK there is only one possible expedition in Inktuta. And I wouldnt call Uqua hell. It's simply a tough zone.

I think you missed the point entirely. My point is linearity : Uqua->Qvic->Inktuta->Txevu->Tacvi

The progressive aspect is nice, but it's a bit disappointing to see how linear it is.

Compare it to some variety : Ep flag -> (PoAir, Poearth, PoFire, PoWater) -> PoTime

Callahad

Hmmmm.... solo in Vxed? Never thought of that... must try it.

I think GoD had a terrible beginning, but it's starting to grow on me. The guild I'm in isn't EP flagged but we've got 8 in KT and the number is growing.

I avoided GoD for many months because of terrible crashes in Natimbi. I used to log on gingerly after crashing numerous times, immediately look down, set clip plane to zero, mem gate, cross my fingers and get out.

The single group encounters are very good. It's what made LDoN a good expansion. This includes Sewers, Tipt, Vxed and KT.

Initially I would have rated GoD a 1 out of 10. Right now, I'd give it 6/10.

Thicket

I am just starting out in GoD and so far I have enjoyed the battles in abstract. Meaning the challenges and strategy now that they have been repaired. I cant stomach the graphics. Its like a bondage dungeon from hell. I would prefer something a bit more G rated. I'm not talking Mary Poppins or anything but that doesnt make my gaming experience enjoyable.

If they just fix that damn **** Tipt i would have been much happier with that.
But doing Tipt so many time and wipe at the end due to all kind of reason is simply fubar, haveing to relay on enchanter charm for that is BS.

I do it without a chanter often... sure its hard but thats the point. Its the first CB of GoD.

In fact, when using a chanter, the chanter pet has killed us as many times as it has helped when dealing with that Kyv bastard. Charm loves to break mid fight or even better on pull - even if you just recharmed.

However, chanters remains perfect for buffs after losing people - especially casters - which is bound to happen at some point in there. But NOT neccessary for killing the boss.

Try dispelling him on pull. He's buffed by the Aneuk that roams near him -- including a haste.