I've been playing EQ since April 99. My first character was a druid. Why did I pick a druid? Two reasons. One is that I thought the ability to charm animals was totally KICKASS, and the other was the versatility. But quite frankly, the main reason was to charm animals. Thanks for the sick joke Verant. ;) I didn't know that SoW or ports would have the importance that they did, so they weren't even factors. Hell I don't think I even knew ports were in the game when I got it.

Anyways, in that time, I've scoured (mainly reading) message board after message board (TDG, EQDruids, EQVault, SOE board when it was active, etc) and it has always seemed like druids are the bastard-children in the EQ community. Druids, in general, are the k3w| d00dz, the farmers, the greedy, and generally seen as incompetent for whatever reason.

Druids are neither a healer, nuker, buffer and so on. They fill (or fail to do so) whatever role is needed for the group they're in. Personally I think after 3 yrs of playing a druid non-twinked, growing up in patchwork and leather, learning about my class and not powerleveling through it, I do a good job playing my class. Like ANY other class, its the PERSON playing the class that makes them good or not.

But on to my point of this whole thing.

Why are druids constantly labeled, disliked, and so forth? Why are we viewed as the bastard-children of EQ? Is it because there are so many druids that it increases the amount of people that don't know the class? Is it because people are jealous of our versatility? Or do they dislike the class because it plays no SPECIFIC role? Is there anything we can do to shake this social stigma that we carry around?

I know not everyone dislikes us, but if you've been around (and I believe most people here are veterans) you know exactly what I'm talking about. Seems like people either love druids, or hate them.

Personally, I haven't been shot down in flames by anyone or been a victim of being called a farmer, being greedy and such, but I know when some people see my little green elven self run by with my leafblower, they're thinking, "fuggin dr00d".

I'm not bitter at all that so many people dislike druids. If I had to choose again, I would do the same thing. I love my class. I'm just bored at work and looking for some input.

What do you think?

If I had to choose again, I would do the same thing.

I am right there with you. Even had my own guild members calling me greedy and farmer at one point until some of them figured out I was doing it to get my own equipment so when it was raid time I could defer on most items that were buyable since I could manage to get them through trading.. all of a sudden it became alright for me to make money. :)

I hate that Verant has abandoned us over and over again and I hate that Verant has helped cause the unwanted stigma that many of us have felt from time to time. However, having attempted every class at one point or another... if I wasnt Ligge I wouldnt stay in Norrath and thats really the bottomline. That makes my choice of not even buying EQ2 a very easy one.

Not to start anything here but doesn't every class feel they have been shafted at some point or another?

*hugs*:)

Why are druids constantly labeled, disliked, and so forth? Why are we viewed as the bastard-children of EQ? Is it because there are so many druids that it increases the amount of people that don't know the class? Is it because people are jealous of our versatility? Or do they dislike the class because it plays no SPECIFIC role? Is there anything we can do to shake this social stigma that we carry around?

Hmm, most likely a combination of all of the above, but one sentiment I've heard OVER and OVER is "it's only fair to penalize Druids in the end game because they solo so well/are easy to level/can quad/etc. pre-50." Or some variation on that theme.

In addition, most folks seem to think it takes ZERO skill to quad kite, root/rot, fear kite, charm, (insert Druid xp method here) and therefore we have some significant advantage over other classes.

/bonk self -- sorry, I keep forgetting just how hard it is to auto attack-taunt or stand-heal-sit or buff-mez or stand-nuke-sit in group situations ;)

/sigh

I really don't like being disliked by the general populace, but it seems to be our lot, no matter how hard we try to buff newbies, give to beggars, port for free, et. al.

=/

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It isn't so much that druids are doodz, it's that doodz prefer to play druids. So they become concentrated in that class. It happened enough that people noticed.

Well, that used to be true. Over the last year some of the melee classes have started to gain a more uber reputation (more twinkable at low level, more powerful at high level, and boats are obsolete) and doodz are choosing those more often.

I'm not, nor do I feel like a bastard child. Thank you.

I play, I have fun, I do all the things I want to do. I get cool toys and go to cool places.

I'm smart enough, I'm good enough, and gosh darn it people like me. ;)

Don't piss in my CornFlakes.

So Sayeth Rogue Twink_45832.

Obviously you love your druid so much you had to make a rogue twink ;)

Not to start anything here but doesn't every class feel they have been shafted at some point or another?

Your problem is that you think it's "at some point" or "another" for druids when it's been since the first expansion.

Yes yes yes!

Whether you think that Druids were overpowered in the beginning or not the facts are in...

Druids have NEVER received an increase in power. We have gotten slight bumps to "try" (and fail) to keep up with some of our abilities but overall its been....

OTHER CLASSES: 2 steps forward - 1 step back

DRUIDS: 1 step forward - 2 steps back

See the difference?

I think it's really a question of population.

Good reputations take a while to spread through the community. But bad reps spread like wildfire.

With so many druids out there, the population of bad players is much higher than the population of say ... bad enchanters. The percentages should be the same between good players vs bad players but more druids equals more bad representatives.

People do seem to think that just because a druid LIKE me ruined HIS own lands, that I'M out to ruin theirs as well!

That said, I'd like to bound my statements to low/mid level perceptions. I haven't encountered ANY level 60 druid who didn't know how to play their druids well. Most of the 1337 d00ds level their druids to 44 then twink out a warrior/cleric/rogue/enchanter.

"So Sayeth Rogue Twink_45832"

Aidon, you don't know me, so don't be a dink.

Every single class specific board has the exact same type of people. Spend time on other class boards, and you'll see that they all have a version of Sirocco (numbers guy), Sobe (uber guy), Sorrun and Liggie (everyday guy that the average player can relate), and finally, people who complain about everything and anything (you know who you are).

I feel all have thier time and place, and definately work together to make an interesting board, covering many aspects of EQ. However, too many of the last type can really drag the whole board down. When a person stops in and takes a look at the msg board during one of these days/weeks, then the perception is that the entire class feels this way. We need more everyday Joes posting IMO. All you lurkers, please start posting!

Anyway, it's rather interesting to me how things work and are percieved by others looking in on our community.

Fairweather Pure

Perhaps what Aidon was referring to was at 47 you may not have encountered some of the main "challenges" that exist in the higher-end game for the Druids.

You don't really know Aidon that well either. If he gives you a winkie, the post can't be all that harsh

;)

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mommy, that bad man called Aidon a dink!

anyways, i agree with what was said before

there used to be more druids than almost any class. so there were more bad druids than bad clerics or bad warriors. simply because there were more people. and bad people are far more noticable than the druid who saves everyone in the evac once a night.

i think the flavour of the d00dz has switched over to monks frankly. i see a LOT LOT LOT of twink monks who can't play, haven't trained FD, and are generally aweful, and those people i can tell are the d00dz

You forgot a stereo-type, Fairweather...

the resident board VAKs. Those who think Verant can do no wrong and anyone who disagrees with the "Vision" or their implementation thereof is a complainer about anything and everything.

I still remember the day the druid petition went 'live' and we got flooded by all those idiots thinking we were looking to become the uber class of Norrath. Ah, those were the days...
Sometimes it's hard to voice your opinion on a board such as this because on one controversial thread easily 10 messages can be posted a minute or less, and it is hard to keep up with all the info being posted and reply to all those points of view.
Some people are content to read and learn, others give their very valuable opinions, and others just put on their fire resist gear and start nuking right and left for no other reason than a message board allows that, while I'm sure those peeps would most probably cower in the corner in real life, such is the power of internet. /shrug
Druids or no Druids, I pay Verant to give me what they promised WHEN they promise it. EQ is too old to be at this stage considering caster balancing. The only patches EQ should have is new content, new tradeskills, new spells, new quests, etc... not any damn balancing or bug fixing.
Wash that finger Verant when you pluck it out, because it'll stink.

Ciao for now!

So anytime a significant number of posters are complaining about the same issues it only means more people of opposing views need to posts?

Maybe, just maybe, we have a "real" problem here?

I guess all those that signed the Druid Petition are just the vocal minority and we need the silent majority of the masses of Druids who think all is fine and dandy to post.

Why don't you start a "Druids are fine as-is" petition and see if you can get this hidden majority to sign it?

Where there is smoke there is often fire - maybe not a forest burning but something real that needs to be addressed.

The wildfire that started with the expansions (Druids being held back as others improved) spread throughout each expansion to the point where we just might have a full fledged fire now.

What might have been put out ages ago easily now needs a full fledged "caster balancing" as Verant lost this vision.

We all loved to knock the old "vision" (tm) LOL but at least it was consistent.

Wizards and Druids were for travel.
2 Druids/shamen = 1 Cleric
Druids and high level rangers snared
Shamen/Druids cast SOW

(other class defining abilities left out as this is a Druids board)

This same vision that was cast out some time ago do to certain silly connotations was the same thing that kept class defining abilities within the classes. It was not until the "vision" (tm) was tossed out that we got blurred lines of abilities across the classes.

The game was designed back in '97-98 with each class in a defined roll. The "vision" (tm) for better or worse kept things in check. For sure it proved inflexable when we needed flexability but when we tore it down we tore it "all" down.

"Your problem is that you think it's "at some point" or "another" for druids when it's been since the first expansion."

Actually, its been longer than that. Anyone remember when DOTs got nerfed? You could hear the cheers all across Norrath and on message boards abound.

And I'm not pissing in anyone's cornflakes. Like I said, I'd do it all over again the same way. I just always wondered why druids seemed to carry around a social stigma.

Maybe, just maybe, we have a "real" problem here?

Cassea is right. :D

Any silent majority is welcome to step forward to say things are fine.

Well I think I am probably one of the most vocal, level 60, does understand our raid roles or lack there of, and probably one of closest things to a "druids are fine as is" we have here and well... even I dont think we are fine as is :)

Yeah so I dont qualify as the silent majority. So spank me! Please. Foxxy first.

We do have a role on raids and we do do that well with what we have available to us. I like that bodyguard comment someone made earlier and I think that really hit home with me. I do do that :(

/tell druid_02 "make a hot key /tar enchanter_01 please and keep her up"
/tell druid_03 "make a hot key /tar shaman_01 please and keep him up"

We just should be able to do a lot more in relation to the newer bad guys and in relation to advances of other classes. I think there is a happy medium between "give us Cheal" and "we are fine, I can say that I am level 50 and I rock in OS" crowds.

Someone else, sorry I lose track of who said what, said that they thought maybe Verant just didnt know what to give us that wouldnt freak out other classes but would allow us to regain some purpose. I think thats probably the most accurate thing I have heard yet here.

I still stand by my proposal... PSSST Verant :p

Give us a second specialization choice at level 55.
Go to trainer and select Evocer or Healer.
This grants us a % bonus on all spells of that nature.
Make it required that we have to go and relearn the same corresponding spec from our level 30 choice if it is different.

This way at 55 we can choose. Do we want to nuke or do we want to heal and we cant choice both paths to get the best of both worlds.

A new level 60 druid nuker would be right behind a wizard with the proper AAs and focus items and be the crappy raid healer we are now.

A new level 60 druid healer would be right behind a cleric with the proper AAs and focus items and be the crappy nuker we are now.

You dont make us uber, we get to pick a niche, we get to have a role again other than a slot filler, and we become a true asset on a raid again as well as strengthen our area of desire for exps groups.

Edit: took out my side rant to keep Dad happy *snicker*

I have cared little of the so called social stigma of Druids as a class for at least 2 years of playing.

I know who the buttheads are on my server. Usually has little to do with which class they play.

I disagree with these statement that there's so many druids these days so we get the bad rep. If you really take a look around now since the expansion there are actually very few full time high lvl druids.

/who all druid 60 the other night during prime time. Less than 20 playing.

Seriena,
I've made the same observation, but will do an "informal" survey tonight at peak times to see what the class breakdown is. I realize that this is HIGHLY variable (lots of casters /anon and so forth) but might be interesting nonetheless.

More to come....

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What until PoP and city to city ports are available and many will take off anon *hides*

hmm -

Guys/Gals this is getting Ranty - change the tone or get it moved (edit and tone down if you have to).

Though I agree with many of your points, if everyone created a new post to say how bad life was the boards would become unusable and I will use the word "Depressing".

Be Well...

while the idea of a second specialization is interesting, technically it goes against our main "strength" which is suppose to be versatility, and more importantly i think it would bring forth other problems that havent been considered.

now we are specialized. i of course go alteration because ive always been a defensive druid. i apply to a guild. they tell me, sorry, we dont take alteration druids, only evocation ones. doh.

ahhh suddenly a whole new problem. now druids are specialized BUT are they specialized in what they want to be specialized in, or are they forced into it because of the desires of their guild, or the guild they hope to join?

and yes, just like the problem now with druids not being wanted, some druids would still be unwanted, and some others would be made to play an even more extensive role that they dont want to play. its like the aaxp points, some guilds require not only a certain amount of aaxp, but certain skills. and lets not delude ourselves and say this wouldnt happen with second specialization, because it undoubtedly would. perhaps even to a further degree than with aaxp, if it ended up being more specializing than that.

i just find it sad that other people are determining how we play and develop our characters. i would prefer to see something come about that makes us ALL wanted equally (as a druid, not based upon gear or person), not just some wanted and some not.

To the comment about only 20 level 60 druids on....

Last night on Solusek Ro at about 8:00pm central I could not do a full list of all the level 60 druids on, it returned too many =) I read a lot of class boards and at one time or another they all had the stage that we have (warriors back when everyone was bumped up to their abilites, necros about lack of groupability, magicians about solo exp power, etc, etc).

It's what happens after something benefical happens that makes or breaks the class board. If we got a 50% heal and the boards were still ripe with complaints then I would say we are the problem.

"I disagree with these statement that there's so many druids these days so we get the bad rep. If you really take a look around now since the expansion there are actually very few full time high lvl druids"

that was then. this is now. then there were too many and bad ones gave us bad reps.

people have long memories, the deeds of idiots in the past still haunt us today.

Druids have largely become the bastard children of EQ because of the the small percentage of bastardly 'children' who've played druids.


(Trying to be witty and say it's the droods who have ruined the name of the druids.)

Server statistics fresh off of Fennin Ro:
Friday, 9pm EST, July 12 2002

Bard
Lvl 1-40 - 15
Lvl 41-59 -13
Lvl 60 - 6
TOT -- 34

Beastlord
Lvl 1-40 - 21
Lvl 41-59 -14
Lvl 60 - 0
TOT -- 35

Cleric
Lvl 1-40 - 46
Lvl 41-59 - 47
Lvl 60 - 20+
TOT -- 113+

Druid
Lvl 1-40 - 44
Lvl 41-59 - 53
Lvl 60 - 12
TOT -- 109

Enchanter
Lvl 1-40 - 29
Lvl 41-59 - 27
Lvl 60 - 20+
TOT -- 76+

Magician
Lvl 1-40 - 24
Lvl 41-59 - 19
Lvl 60 - 12
TOT -- 55

Monk
Lvl 1-40 - 55
Lvl 41-59 - 50
Lvl 60 - 20+
TOT -- 125+

Necromancer
Lvl 1-40 - 32
Lvl 41-59 - 25
Lvl 60 - 10
TOT -- 65

Paladin
Lvl 1-40 - 23
Lvl 41-59 - 45
Lvl 60 - 10
TOT -- 78

Ranger
Lvl 1-40 - 34
Lvl 41-59 - 38
Lvl 60 - 17
TOT -- 89

Rogue
Lvl 1-40 - 22
Lvl 41-59 - 41
Lvl 60 - 20+
TOT -- 83+

Shadow Knight
Lvl 1-40 - 29
Lvl 41-59 - 19
Lvl 60 - 10
TOT -- 58

Shaman
Lvl 1-40 - 28
Lvl 41-59 - 38
Lvl 60 - 20+
TOT -- 86+

Warrior
Lvl 1-40 - 67
Lvl 41-59 - 66
Lvl 60 - 20+
TOT -- 153+

Wizard
Lvl 1-40 - 27
Lvl 41-59 - 23
Lvl 60 - 10
TOT -- 60

Obviously, I can't take ANON into the equation, which makes these numbers somewhat misleading. It's my experience that Enchanters, Druids and Clerics would be most likely to be ANON, thus skewing those numbers down artificially.

Draw your own conclusions.

Primero Aventuero
54 Druid

the resident board VAKs. Those who think Verant can do no wrong and anyone who disagrees with the "Vision" or their implementation thereof is a complainer about anything and everything.

Then there are the PvV crowd that wants to turn EQ into DAoC.

Plenty of stereotypes to go around me thinks...

To answer the original question. If you've played for awhile, think of the most obnoxious disliked player on your server. Here I'll go first for Brell...Daemonwolf. Anyone care to guess the class?

Yes other classes have obnoxious players, but for an obnoxious player to annoy the largest number of people in a given period of time what class should he have chosen in the beginning...hehe.

Loegan Wolfheart wrote, "Then there are the PvV crowd that wants to turn EQ into DAoC."

heh, asking for healing upgrades and a useful role during raids is hardly a request to turn EQ into DAoC. If anything I think it's Verant themselves who are turning EQ into DAoC. EQ2 seems to have many of the game ideas that makes DAoC an interesting alternative to EQ.

The only thing I wish EQ would copy from DAoC is the no loss of level from death rule. After xp grinding for months on end to get to 60 it's sad how easily it can be undone. If Death = Fun, I somehow wish I enjoyed less of that envisioned fun.

--
Kenuon
of the Bitter Druids

" mommy, that bad man called Aidon a dink!"

/chuckle

You folks really are encoragable.

"/who all druid 60 the other night during prime time. Less than 20 playing."

So what? I've been anon for about 30 levels. I hate being a port bitch and that is not why I play. I know a LOT and I mean a LOT of other druids that feel the same what. So less than 20 means nothing.

If you said less than 20 Warrior/Bards/Rangers/etc,, then that would be a more crediable number..

Also I did not say, " mommy, that bad man called Aidon a dink!" someone else did. I said "dont be a dink".

I may not have played my Druid to 60 yet, but I have a lot of 60 druid friends, and not only do I have a 47 on Morell-Thule, I have a 33 on Tarrew Marr that IS my main over there, thats 80 levels played as a druid in over 2 years online. I also have been contribution on this board longer that a LOT of people have played, so being called Rogue_twing IS and insult. And uncalled for. Hence the Don't be a dink.

As to my original reply if we can get back on track, even as I am typing, I am playing my druid. I LIKE my druid. I posted that I do not feel like a bastard child. My opinion.

As to folks cheering about DoT's getting nerfed, the ability to run around a mob at sow speed with full damage from a spell was not too powerful? You want to un-nerf, just dot animals and fear them. And I seem to remember when root overwrote snare. Who cheered when Verant changed that so we could root and DoT with ZERO risk?

I am not saying we are perfect, no class is. There are things I would like to see changed on us. I would like that when I finish my Epic it's effect isn't over written by every tom dick and harry, or that the snare portion makes it usless in a lot of Luclin encounters. I would like if it didn't take my whole manna bar to half heal a 52 warrior. I also signed the petition. But I am not a bastard child. I am a class that is not super uber on a 55+ raid.

Not a bastard.

So what? I've been anon for about 30 levels. I hate being a port bitch and that is not why I play. I know a LOT and I mean a LOT of other druids that feel the same what. So less than 20 means nothing.

I was waiting for this one to pop up...

Level 60 druids..most are part of some sort of raiding guild. That means during prime time most will not be anon or role. Hell about the only time I go role or anon anymore is when I hit Misty or the Commons

I never go anon anymore.

There is no need anymore. With Wizards getting TL and the nexus the amount of port requests have dropped considerably.

With the advent of horses, aa run, jboots and such the requests for sow have dropped to almost nil.

pat,
You may be a very knowledgable lvl 47 player. It really doesn't have anything to do with the subject at hand, which is mainly the frustration around being NEEDED on raids 50+.

I had an absoloute BLAST from 1-50 on my Druid (took me about 8 months - my first char). I did a lot of grouping as well as my share of quadding and root/rotting, but rarely felt underpowered or unwanted. Groups seemed to appreciate my versatility, plus I could both heal and nuke pretty well all things considered.

However, the GAME CHANGES at 50+, especially in raid situations. Druid abilities just don't scale the way other classes' do. (see CH/Manaburn thread for specifics) My guess is that you will start to see that more and more as you level into your 50s.

Many of the "old school" Druids here have seen their relative usefulness and uniqueness as a Druid decline steadily for quite some time, leading to (rightfully so, IMO) some cynicism. Don't take that personally.

Now to one of your earilier points, take a look at the Fennin server stats that I posted above. Like you mentioned, the stats are not totally accurate due to the huge number of anons, but clearly the trends are changing. Clerics (who also go anon a LOT) outnumber Druids. Lvl 60 clerics are nearly TWICE as common as lvl 60 Druids (even though Druids are supposedly so easy to lvl to 60). In fact, at peak raid hours Druids ranked tied for 8th in number of lvl 60s logged in. What does that tell you? IMO, it means most of the players with lvl 60 Druids no longer use them for raids.

Please someone explain to me how these trends do not support what folks here have been pointing to for quite some time, namely that Druids are being squeezed out of the raiding game.

Primero

P.S. I'll try to take some more server stats this weekend to enlarge the sample, but the numbers seem to be in line with what I've observed on most occasions.

I have to say that I go roleplay a lot. I don't see the request for ports as going down. I do this only when I am looking for a group as I tend to not want to turn people down when they request a port, so I will port someone, get back to a zone where I may be looking for a group then get another request for a port. Hard to get a group if you keep having to leave a zone or area you may want to group in. :)

Answer is simple: Because druids are the easiest class to play (at least up to lvl 55 or so), it attracts the most players. Why they are all looked upon as doodz I dunno...

I have a 52 cleric, 52 druid and 55 mage (mage mostly played by my daughter), and I love playing my druid.

Why do I love my druid?
- Zone camped? Poof in a few minutes im in almost zone!
- SoW all the time (outdoors anyway)
- Group hard to find? I can solo easy, in fact even quad kite.
- Want to do a trade? We can travel fast so we make great tradesmen.
- This character levels faster than any other char I have..

One thing I don't like about some druids is the /shout "Blah blah airlines are open.. tp's 10pp per seat!". It is annoying to see some fool spam this crap over and over! Sure I make money porting, and I do it without /shout'ing anything... Just hang out at druid rings and/or send tells to people who /ooc "looking for a tp...". There is no need to spam everyone. If you are 'selling' (btw, donation required = sale), then use the /auc channel.

Quote:

Why do I love my druid?

- Zone camped? Poof in a few minutes im in almost zone!

Response: After POP ALL classes can do this

- SoW all the time (outdoors anyway)

Response: Horse, AA Run, Jboots Indoor or out

- Group hard to find? I can solo easy, in fact even quad kite.

Repsonse: MANY classes can solo as good or better than us now.

- Want to do a trade? We can travel fast so we make great tradesmen.

Response: See above

- This character levels faster than any other char I have..

Response: Faster than ANY other? What classes do you play?

The only thing I wish EQ would copy from DAoC is the no loss of level from death rule. After xp grinding for months on end to get to 60 it's sad how easily it can be undone. If Death = Fun, I somehow wish I enjoyed less of that envisioned fun.


Death=fun because then there is something to lose. If there were no exp loss in a death, then there would be no satisfaction in surviving tough battles.

EQ is what it is today because people had to play hard and invest time to get their items and levels. This investment gives the items value. The more easy VI makes leveling and item acquisition, the more meaningless this game will become.

I see alot of people knocking The Vision, but it is The Vision that gave EQ the retention rate it has... and I would bet good money on that fact.

I see alot of people knocking The Vision, but it is The Vision that gave EQ the retention rate it has... and I would bet good money on that fact.

Sure, just as long as you are willing to play a Melee, Cleric, Shaman, Wizard, or Enchanter. Hybrids, Druids, Mages, Necros need not apply.

You know, all our druids would be alot less bitter if they just STOPPED GROUPING. Its just not worth it. Some say we're the second best at everything, but in groups, we're the FIRST WORST at anything we're in the group to do.

Grouped for healing? Everybody is waiting for a cleric to shout LFG cause that druid keeps saying he's OOM and asking the tank to hold on pulls.

Damage? Everybody is waiting for a rogue or a wizard to shout LFG, cause these mobs arent dieing any faster than before.

Need an evac? Sure, I can do that as well as a wizard, but Im pretty damn useless if things go well.

Snare? Yeah, I can do that, until a ranger/SK is LFG.

Most groups Im in Im there to heal, and unless I have c3, I simply cant do it without slowing the group down. Some people say its the player's skill that shows how a druid does in groups, but a good player (barring gear/clarity, which isnt skill) doesnt heal for more than a bad player, or regen mana faster than a bad player.

So... Go solo. We can do that, well. Sure, NToV melee can grind through blues like mad, but we dont need that kind of gear to go and quad somewhere nice, I recommend Skyfire.

Just stop grouping. We, quite simply, suck at it. Go quad, your group will be happy you went without them having to remove you themselves.

Hybrids are doing fine these days. Pet classes got a major fix in with all the pet changes leaving only pet viability against AE mobs a problem. Druids have gotten a few tweaks but no major upgrade. Either it's because they think druids are fine (sure hope not) or major changes like rebalancing DoTs and healing require a lot of work and aren't complete yet since they involve a lot of classes. Also waiting till after the effects of focus items are know before making more changes might not be all that bad an idea. That would leave some rebalacing due around mid to late august.

The majority of players that I consider to be jerks on the 3 servers I've played on have been druids and monks. No idea if something about those classes draws in the type or what but it seems like every time something really annoying happens to me its caused by a druid or monk. 3 servers were all PvP servers as well.

I have met a lot of cool druids and monks as well of course.

I thought "The Vision" died when those 2 well-known guys left Sony...

Kineada, how often do people think your a Ranger?

Because druids are the easiest class to play (at least up to lvl 55 or so), it attracts the most players.

I don't think so. At least not for a while. The combination of SOW and ports is too much to pass up -- at least initially. And even if you don't have a main, you might have a druid twink or worse, a port slave.

~Not to start anything here but doesn't every class feel they have been shafted at some point or another?~

Hello, Clerics?
Sure, they're pissed they have no invis.
Hi, invis potions.

Shamans, Chanters, Rogues.. What're they bitchin about?

Paladins and druids, imo, are the ones that complain the most. And rightly so.

Paladins and druids, imo, are the ones that complain the most. And rightly so.

Paladins used to suck alot. They were fixed. Let the whines cease heh.

Shadowknights should be bitching up a storm...I guess the people that play them are naturally masochists so they actually like the excrutiating agony that is playing a SK and thus don't complain.

Wizards, until recently, bitched more than we are do now. I think they stopped bitching A) When Verant answered their complaints with Translocates and showed them the awesome karma of "Beware what you wish for" and B) When Verant actually gave them what they should always have been..the supreme Class of Boom.

Warriors have some valid complaints again...the same complaints they had vs the Hybrids back when I stopped playing my warrior. Outside a raid, a Paladin is a much better choice for a tank than a warrior in many circumstances. There just isn't enough difference in tanking ability between Paladins, SKs, and Warriors. Even rangers are getting closer. Warriors need another slight boost in their ability to take damage outside of /defensive.

Rangers better not be complaining anymore. If they are, Wizards need to deal them a good dose of SITFU.

Shaman are too busy trying to solo Innoruk or whatever the ubermob of the week is for them.:P

Quote : 'Hello, Clerics?
Sure, they're pissed they have no invis.
Hi, invis potions.'

12.5pp each, non-stackable
I don't charge for rezzes, I'm not a Seb Gem Ho and pay out up to 500pp/week on Peris. I cannot spare bag space for more than 8 at a time and the expense is not insignificant.

To answer the original question, people give Druids/Dr00ds a hard time because of (misplaced or otherwise) class envy.
Also because of a vocal/visible minority that give the class a bad name. Druids are far from unique in having determental ambassadors, plenty of Clerics I wouldn't give the time of day.

<img src=http://www.afterlifeguild.org/itemdb/598.jpg>

SWEET.
The perfect mask for those who want to go invis!
Very... very... very... slowly.