Krixus said:Spells and items are key to a game like this. It drives what we as players do. What are you crafting? An item. What are questing for? A spell. What are we killing that mob for? Spells and items.
Devaluing spells and items has far reaching consequences. Making someone feel less value about their reward for doing something in the game is not good. It also hampers the economy. Not always, but one of the drivers in trade is selling something to someone who can't get it on their own. Another level 50 is perhaps less likely to buy my level 35 sword, because they can go get it themselves. But a level 25 player cannot. We have just nerfed that item so that it has lost value to the main demographic that would be buying it. Again, far reaching consequences when we start messing with items.
The sword is still better than anything else they can use though so why is it devalued? What is being devalued in that situation is level 25 swords, the player has no incentive to find a level appropriate sword because they can just buy better. This leads to a situation where no gear is valuable except the highest level of gear, because who wants a 20ac 5sta 25hp level 20 chest when they could get the literally straight up better version of the same thing that is level 35 that is maybe 30ac 8sta 8str 50hp. This is a bad thing to me that leads to the devaluation of most low level items because there is always a superior high level version of the same thing.
Amsai said: @Krixus Over-reach and over-dramatic reaction. The items wont be devalued? They will just have a correct value. And the devs didnt say they would nerf them into uselessness. They just wont be completely OP for your level. I expect higher level items with nice stats to give a good bonus over a lower level or more plain stated item. But you shouldnt get upset the devs want to keep gamplay fair and challenging by taking away godmode. What you want would ruin gameplay.The economy will be just fine. People will still buy and hand down high level items.
Plus this works well with the progeny system since you can get geared up use the progeny system and put on your gear again, with it being scaled down you won't be in god mode but you woud be ebtter off than when you started playing the game.
torveld said:Krixus said:Spells and items are key to a game like this. It drives what we as players do. What are you crafting? An item. What are questing for? A spell. What are we killing that mob for? Spells and items.
Devaluing spells and items has far reaching consequences. Making someone feel less value about their reward for doing something in the game is not good. It also hampers the economy. Not always, but one of the drivers in trade is selling something to someone who can't get it on their own. Another level 50 is perhaps less likely to buy my level 35 sword, because they can go get it themselves. But a level 25 player cannot. We have just nerfed that item so that it has lost value to the main demographic that would be buying it. Again, far reaching consequences when we start messing with items.
The sword is still better than anything else they can use though so why is it devalued? What is being devalued in that situation is level 25 swords, the player has no incentive to find a level appropriate sword because they can just buy better. This leads to a situation where no gear is valuable except the highest level of gear, because who wants a 20ac 5sta 25hp level 20 chest when they could get the literally straight up better version of the same thing that is level 35 that is maybe 30ac 8sta 8str 50hp. This is a bad thing to me that leads to the devaluation of most low level items because there is always a superior high level version of the same thing.
It doesn't devalue anything, yes they might be abe to afford like one piece like that maybe i doubt it but maybe, money will probably be a hard thing to acquire in this game i believe like it was in EQ cept for a few spots, i see this returning so feeling like you can buy gear 15 levels above you all the time to me is naive, plus the loot seemed to be generous in a way for what i noticed i saw some gear drop in the stream that looked fairly decent at their level so maybe always searching for that higher lvl gear to buy all the time might not be the best route to go.
This is a good thing. A lot of people like to "remember" the glory days of EQ. The realities of EQ once you relive it just are not that great. Sure, everyone remembers it being great to twink a toon with end game loot and get their friend to buff them to godly purportions... What they don't remember is going to every noob zone or leveling area of decency and finding large swaths of mobs being pulled by two toons and having nothing left to kill. Or on the pvp server, finding that toon like mine that will be unkillable by virtually all of you because I have him at lvl 10 or 20 with raid level no drop faction armor.
Nothing could compete with my rogue walking around with an epic at lvl 6 (because the epic quest would instantly level you to 6), super buffed by a 60 shm/druid using AOE buffs to negate the "this buff is too powerful" then claiming all of upper guk as camped because I could kill the mobs before anyone else could touch them. Lol. I put groups out of the zone. Or on my tanks, just having a few people go AFK and do relatively nothing because 1 or 2 people were slaughtering everything, yawn. It's all about how fast you can kill, how much exp you can grind at that point. It steals the challenge and complexity.
I for one am looking forward to having some way of trashing potential twink toons to obtain more powerful gear for mains (a loot sink so to say) instead of seeing hyper twinked toons again. So I am loving that they are keeping the system that delevels items and buffs. All twinking and high end buffing does is trivialize content, which is to a certain extent what we want. We want to cheat. That is what twinking is in a sense. It's legal and acceptable cheating. Using cheatcodes you obtained because you "beat the game" already on a higher toon. Let's not forget this. Dropping +3 rings on sl1 toons in DS3 anyone??
After spending .. what... 6 or 7 years on Project 1999, I am over the "nostalgia" of being super powered and see it as it is. It's a frustration that is all about getting from 1-60 as fast as possible or as god mode as possible. Granted P99 is significantly worse than live because there is no more content. We are in Velious and that is the final form. So all there is left to do is raid, then twink alts. Then raid twink alts.
torveld said:Krixus said:Spells and items are key to a game like this. It drives what we as players do. What are you crafting? An item. What are questing for? A spell. What are we killing that mob for? Spells and items.
Devaluing spells and items has far reaching consequences. Making someone feel less value about their reward for doing something in the game is not good. It also hampers the economy. Not always, but one of the drivers in trade is selling something to someone who can't get it on their own. Another level 50 is perhaps less likely to buy my level 35 sword, because they can go get it themselves. But a level 25 player cannot. We have just nerfed that item so that it has lost value to the main demographic that would be buying it. Again, far reaching consequences when we start messing with items.
The sword is still better than anything else they can use though so why is it devalued? What is being devalued in that situation is level 25 swords, the player has no incentive to find a level appropriate sword because they can just buy better. This leads to a situation where no gear is valuable except the highest level of gear, because who wants a 20ac 5sta 25hp level 20 chest when they could get the literally straight up better version of the same thing that is level 35 that is maybe 30ac 8sta 8str 50hp. This is a bad thing to me that leads to the devaluation of most low level items because there is always a superior high level version of the same thing.
If they have the money, why shouldn't they buy better? I explained why it's devauled, it's very clear. The item is worse. The spell doesn't work as well. How is that hard to understand? Also, it's immersion breaking, it feels false to me. Why suddenly is a 10/35 a 10/39? We already have skills that increase each level that improve our damage cap and accuracy. How is the sword physically changing to be better or worse based on the user's level? I understand this is a fantasy game, but come on, "suspend your disbelief, it's MAGIC" only goes so far.
Bazgrim said:This has been discussed and theorycrafted in the past, but of course VR's stance on it had not been confirmed until today.
I still say we have to wait and see exactly to what degree buffs scale. Ideally, they can find a middle ground where being buffed by a higher level is still really helpful and special, but not game-breaking. Granted, that's probably a pretty fine line. But I think it's possible. We don't know any real numbers yet.
I'm sorry you've missed the posts but I've been saying this in posts, blogs, interviews, etc. consistently for years.
Krixus said:torveld said:Krixus said:Spells and items are key to a game like this. It drives what we as players do. What are you crafting? An item. What are questing for? A spell. What are we killing that mob for? Spells and items.
Devaluing spells and items has far reaching consequences. Making someone feel less value about their reward for doing something in the game is not good. It also hampers the economy. Not always, but one of the drivers in trade is selling something to someone who can't get it on their own. Another level 50 is perhaps less likely to buy my level 35 sword, because they can go get it themselves. But a level 25 player cannot. We have just nerfed that item so that it has lost value to the main demographic that would be buying it. Again, far reaching consequences when we start messing with items.
The sword is still better than anything else they can use though so why is it devalued? What is being devalued in that situation is level 25 swords, the player has no incentive to find a level appropriate sword because they can just buy better. This leads to a situation where no gear is valuable except the highest level of gear, because who wants a 20ac 5sta 25hp level 20 chest when they could get the literally straight up better version of the same thing that is level 35 that is maybe 30ac 8sta 8str 50hp. This is a bad thing to me that leads to the devaluation of most low level items because there is always a superior high level version of the same thing.
If they have the money, why shouldn't they buy better? I explained why it's devauled, it's very clear. The item is worse. The spell doesn't work as well. How is that hard to understand? Also, it's immersion breaking, it feels false to me. Why suddenly is a 10/35 a 10/39? We already have skills that increase each level that improve our damage cap and accuracy. How is the sword physically changing to be better or worse based on the user's level? I understand this is a fantasy game, but come on, "suspend your disbelief, it's MAGIC" only goes so far.
It's really not rocket science. If the sword is meant for advanced users, you just are not going to be as good with it. For instance, if you haven't spent years IRL practicing and "leveling up" with let's say for basic example, a karambit. You are not going to be as good utilzing a karambit as you would a normal knife. Why? Because you don't have the experience to be good with it. Sure, some things xfer over but you are lvl 10 and the guy who can use it well is lvl 100. You are only 10% as good as him.
Granted, you could really pick this a part, it's not meant to be a rock solid idea. The "general point" is that, if a weapon drops in a high level zone and it's designed for combat hardened vets, then it won't be "as useable" to a lower level toon. The only way to make this feasible as a real life comparison would be to make it of a unique design requiring a special set of knowledge to use appropriately but this is why we have a leveling system instead of a skill based system.
Now, since I have indulged in this little tale of immersion...
The real reason this is being done is because twinking sucks. I've been reminded of this recently as I just spent 5 hours factioning my level 12 wizard to wear level 50+ no drop raid gear I am going to MQ. Yeah, "yet another" one of my toons is going to be insanely powerful at low level and have an easier time... This isn't something I want to have to repeat in a modern game. If you are upset that you can't use the twink weapon, maybe instead find a weapon that is best for your level of experience and use the systems available to either empower another weapon or sell it.
Going back to the original comment about the level 35 sword. The level 25 buys the sword and knows that for each level until he gets to 35 the sword will grow with his abilities, thus it will still probably be better than any sword for his current level, thus there is still a reason to buy higher grade weapons.
I'm personally done with Pantheon due to this. Even when I was younger, one of the most powerful motivators for me to level up specific classes was because of the joy I could bring to other people by buffing them with it. I used to collect 'goodies' to give out to newbies.
They certainly seem to be working hard to regain the gameplay of Everquest, but they are killing the spirit of Everquest. The spirit of Everquest was people, it was kindness, it was community. From that arose the negatives, yes... but VR is so focused on preventing the negatives that they don't have sight of how the negatives were so much less important than the tremendous benefits.
Don't worry, I get it. I'm one person and they don't care that I'm walking away. My disappointment and discouragement has been increasing the more I watch the streams. Every character melees. Buffs will scale. Items will scale. Corpse runs will be trivialized by ending up in the same zone, not at a bind point...
I'm very delighted that so many will be happy with the game, but it is not for me. The social aspects that I love (to this day) about original EQ are not going to be there. I played WoW for a long time, and it has all these "focus on killing the negatives" mindset that VR has. It was easy to walk away from WoW, but I'm back in P99 again, and yep, there are power levelers and twinks and it's STILL a hundred times more fun an addictive than WoW on its best day (or any other game on its best day that I've found so far).
Most of my entire gaming experience has all been focused on being able to better myself to help others. I'm an inborn healer, but the non-healers who all play healers because "we need more clerics/ priests/ etc." destroy natural healers... because they want healers to be less healer and more "fun". Their idea of 'fun' being it not necessary to actually heal, but rather melee.
In short, everything I see in Pantheon right now is exactly what I did NOT love about subsequent games, and almost nothing that I DID love about EQ. I played EQ for years, and have played P99 for years again. Despite all these oh-so-terrifying monstrous game-killers like power leveling and twinking and mudflation... people are STILL addicted to THAT game over all others. The things that can be abused are often the same things that create intense, incredible joy... CRs, as hard as they were, brought people together in remarkable, extraordinary ways. Yet people, short-sighted, wanted nothing more than to mitigate or even end them. They are not able to see that the very teeth-grinding difficulty of it is what created the feeling of extraordinary accomplishment.
Anyway. This game is not for me. Individually, I could and eagerly, with great desire to do so, dismiss each step away from what I ultimately want in a game. Unfortunately, the accummulation of deviation is too much for me to accept, despite my die-hard fan-girl status (if I'm allowed to claim that at my age :p ). I dismissed my misgivings with Vanguard, and with a few other games. More so with Vanguard, because I was such a huge fan of Brad and co. and had great faith. I can't continue to ignore what are, to me, numerous red flags of how "prevention" has overtaken "creation".
Early in WoW, I had the urge to buff newbies and give out stuff. It was literally like a punch to the gut to realize that the buffs and items scaled... it was actually are MORE worthwhile for that noob to sell the item to someone for whom it was actually useful than to keep the present for themselves. Buffing was, in the words of the stream, "Nice, BUT..." not memorable, not wonderful, not a day-making magical experience (pun intended). But don't get me wrong, "nice". A waste of mana, but "nice". Zero motivating factor there.
Everything I want in a game has a 'bad apple ruined the barrel, so screw you' factor to it. Pantheon, like all the other games, is focused on prevention.
"I want to buff newbies!" Sorry, powerleveling.
"I want to give newbies cool extra gear I won't use!" Sorry, twinking.
"I want to have difficult CRs and need people's help." Sorry, takes too much time.
"So... what did you leave that I'll really ENJOY?!" Oh, we got this, EVERYBODY melees!! "... I hate to melee..." Oh, you'll do it, and you'll LIKE IT. We swear!
All that's left is 'gameplay'. Great, I love a challenge, but I don't love a challenge in the vacuum of the pleasures afforded by giving to others. I don't love being forced into grouping with people in the absence of a cooperative, warm, engaging social environment.
I get it. The problem isn't VR, it's exploiters who PL or twink or whatever. But the focus here is in the wrong direction in my personal opinion... prevening these 'exploiters' alienates the people who bring the warmth, the inclusiveness, the aspects of welcome and compassion and friendliness. By making everyone melee, they isolate those of us who prefer to watch what's going on and react instead of having a mob's arse in our face watching our DPS. Nothing wrong with people liking that, but I'd like there to be nothing wrong with the way that I like to play, too... and most people who see themselves as 'natural healers' prefer not to melee and to need to pay attention to the environment.
Some things I like. Limited spell/ ability slots. CR at least exists, despite its abbreviated, truncated form; a step the right direction. Unfortunately, too many things I don't like are stacking up, and fast.
My most respectful best wishes to VR, and to all the people happy with and looking forward to the game. While it isn't for me, I hope absolutely for a new MMO home for those for whom it is desirable. I'm very happy for you and wish VR a roaring success in this venture!
Can I have your stuff? Why must MMO players go on multi-page rants when they decide to leave a game?
I think you are exaggerating most of your points. Simply put, the game is meant to be a challenge, not get some uber-level to help you bypass the content.
Then, after they claim they have left, they stay around to continue to argue and respond to every little comment. Clearly, these type of people are just looking for drama, and have no intention of actually leaving.
See you in-game, like everyone else.
If that's your idea of a rant, I want to know where you're hanging out. I simply made my statement, I'm sorry that you feel a childish need to falsely accuse me of wanting to "get some uber-level to help you bypass the content." I appreciate that you don't understand or relate to my position, but deliberately restating it falsely is infantile and beneath you.
@Amris - Sorry that you were the target of childish lashing out. There's just no reason for it. I'm also sorry that what made EQ fun for you doesn't seem to be making a return in Pantheon, despite my stance being on the opposite end on this topic. I hope that you either find a game that works, or (better) find that you can make Pantheon work for you. It would be nice to see you give it a try and see if the sense of community, kindness, and giving appears in a new form, even if the old one is removed. Perhaps we'll see high level players protecting lowbies through a dangerous climate they aren't acclimated to with their druidic spells and the like :).
Amris I think you are probably wrong and definitely premature. Wait and see how it looks at least in alpha.
Even if this is the only part of the game that matters to you - and if so I'm not being critical we all have things we care a lot about - a somewhat watered down buff from a maximum level may *still* prove to be Godslike and overpowering to the level 1 or 5 recipient. Which is precisely what you want to see.
@Amris
I get that you're pissed off about the buff and weapon scalling, and you have all the right to be, Brad confirmed it will be a thing and it will prevent Overpowered powerleveling and Overpoere low level characters.
All your other complaints are void.
Not all are characters melee, only the melee ones (duh ofc), casters cast spells, healers heal and archery will be a viable DPS source. Don't know why you have the idea that all classes are melee.
Brad said this a million time, "Death penalty is a mechanic we want to implement during the alpha and beta, so we can have player feedback and adjust it correctly" but for some reason you think this is the final version, Why?. Also the reason they're spawning at the entrance of the zone and not at the bind point, is because they want to save time so they can show more in one stream (more than likely teleportation to this new zone is still bugged, so they decided to avoid crashes like the one that happened at the start of the stream with coh in Amberfaet).
Amris said:If that's your idea of a rant, I want to know where you're hanging out. I simply made my statement, I'm sorry that you feel a childish need to falsely accuse me of wanting to "get some uber-level to help you bypass the content." I appreciate that you don't understand or relate to my position, but deliberately restating it falsely is infantile and beneath you.
Don't pay too much attention to the intentional trolling. It happens all the time on this forum with no apparent rhyme or reason. Don't let it affect you and just realize that as some folks lash out on others, it's washing crankiness out of their system and pushing them one step closer to returning to their cave. As far as your assessment on the game goes, I would ask you to be patient and see how things go during testing. They want to balance buffs in a way so that the higher level spells can still feel very rewarding for low level players, but not to the point where they can be exploited. The key to note here is that they do want to balance it, and have acknowledged that it will be tricky to find the sweet spot. To me, that sounds like they will be paying pretty close attention to this and that they are aware of the pros/cons of each side of the equation. Pantheon is too great of a game to give up on. Likewise, the Pantheon community is second to none. We'll have plenty of people who have a similar mindset to you who will be dedicating a year plus to testing the game and providing feedback on situations exactly like this. I understand your concern and the passion behind your stance but let's give VR the benefit of the doubt on this and see what kind of balance they have in mind.
This issue is just sort of the 'iconic symbol' of what I see as a larger problem. Tremendous focus on "prevention" kills enjoyment, creativity, and innovation. It's an intense issue for me, yes, but it's endemic of a greater underlying disease in the MMO community; secondary to the 'money first'/ pay-to-win sickness.
This issue bothers me a lot, but watching the streams, I'm very bothered by the fact I'm finally seeing people hang back for spells and the like, but then I see them still meleeing in multiple fights. I only saw someone sitting once in the whole stream during combat. I'm hoping that I just missed it, but that's still enough to make me feel like it's missing something that I, personally, wanted.
What I'm saying, however, is that this is okay. I want them to know how I feel, and if they havern't looked at the perspective, to have opportunity to do so. If they already understand it, and don't care, then that's okay, too... we both know where we stand. I'm not saying that angrily. It's a very good thing to know and understand where we each stand in any form of relationship, business or otherwise.
That doesn't mean I'm angry. I'm not at all angry. Sad, disappointed? Yes, I am that. Not angry. It's their game, it's not about me s a person, so why be angry? They must do things the way that is right and best in their own viewpoint. My comments are in case they don't really understand what kind of person (natural healers) feel as i do, and what the final cost might be if they place prevention first.
Not only good things should be said, that's not honesty or open discourse, it's dishonesty.
Im a little disappointed by this. I get that they are trying to preserve level scale and difficulty. No one want to watch someone solo where a team is needed. Everyone has to admit they loved it when some level 50 druid stopped by and made you a demi god for 15 min. I am a little sad that wont happen but I understand why :\
@Amris
You probably didn't notice but there's a new meditation animation in combat, instead of sitting down, they put their hand together, tilt the head down, there's also a particle effect around their hands.
Also, remenber that they're not playing perfect (actualy far from it, I cringe at the spell clicking xd), a healer using auto attacks instead of mediating is beyond stupid (unless they're on full mana), they're wasting so many mana ticks and just being overall less effective.
I am competely for the scaling. You can help someone with a buff, gear, coin, etc. But you don't need to make them uber-powerful. The current scaling method keeps the challenge of the game in place.
When I give my kids great level 50 gear when they start at level one, they don't need to be gods. But, they also will not need to upgrade their gear for a long time, since the gear I gave them will scale as they grow. Now, they don't have to constantly grind for gear.
They are level appropriate, still need to learn to play the game right, but don't have to worry about looting.
(edited. Comment and counter argument not worth the effort here for this...suffice to say not every "natural healer" agrees with the game quit rant.)
back to the topic at hand, I believe the scaling buffs will solve many more problems than the convenience of a power level is worth.
What "kills a game" is stuff like this!
If you'll remember, it happened to V:SoH, too, and got absolutely insane without anyone actually knowing how the game will work. The release with it's problems was encumbered with people flying off pre-release and not even wanting to give devs a chance to fix things. Thus the reason Brad and Co. are so adamant that it won't release until THEY say it's ready (and thank you SO much!).
Until release, we can listen to stuff, read stuff, surmise stuff... but not until we are IN the world will we really know how it all fits together.
To quote a phrase, "Give peace a chance..." and be patient.
Beef is right... scaling isn't all bad and there will be ways to help newbies. One of my joys, as well, and it will all work out; if not one way, then another.
I certianly have fond memories of my high level druid buffing alts in EQ, having them go off and destroy low level content, leveling quickly, and rushing to gain levels. But I have even fonder memories of all the hard work, sweat, and tears of leveling up that high level druid. My understanding of what Pantheon hopes to create is a game where the journey is the real goal and not reaching any end destination. For myself, that is what I've been longing for ever since leveling up that first toon. Part of what makes the journey so rewarding are the moments when you want to scream and cry and throw things across the room out of frustration and then sigh, pick up and trudge onwards. So while PLing was fun, I'm glad that it will be mitigated. This does not take away community, high levels can still buff low levels and they will get a boost that they wouldn't have otherwise. If the game is as challenging as we hope, any benefit will be seen as a great and welcome help. It just means that content can't be trivialized. I think that is a good thing. And like others have said, this is all in pre pre alpha so what we see now can change quite drastically from what happens at releae. The people that are interested in this game are drawn to it by the main tenants Brad has laid out, a challenging, immersive, group centered, pve world. (My take and hope anyway). My understanding is that a lot of balancing in the game is going to come from community feedback as they progress through the various testing stages of the game so the devs will rely on the community to help fine tune mechanics. So I would encourage everyone who is drawn to the game because of the main tenants to actually try out, play the game before making any decisions whether it is really the game for them or not. EQ had a great community and I have faith Pantheon will have a great community too because the founding principles are similar.
Amris said:
They certainly seem to be working hard to regain the gameplay of Everquest, but they are killing the spirit of Everquest. The spirit of Everquest was people, it was kindness, it was community. From that arose the negatives, yes... but VR is so focused on preventing the negatives that they don't have sight of how the negatives were so much less important than the tremendous benefits.
Don't worry, I get it. I'm one person and they don't care that I'm walking away. My disappointment and discouragement has been increasing the more I watch the streams. Every character melees. Buffs will scale. Items will scale. Corpse runs will be trivialized by ending up in the same zone, not at a bind point...
I'm very delighted that so many will be happy with the game, but it is not for me. The social aspects that I love (to this day) about original EQ are not going to be there. I played WoW for a long time, and it has all these "focus on killing the negatives" mindset that VR has. It was easy to walk away from WoW, but I'm back in P99 again, and yep, there are power levelers and twinks and it's STILL a hundred times more fun an addictive than WoW on its best day (or any other game on its best day that I've found so far).
Most of my entire gaming experience has all been focused on being able to better myself to help others. I'm an inborn healer, but the non-healers who all play healers because "we need more clerics/ priests/ etc." destroy natural healers... because they want healers to be less healer and more "fun". Their idea of 'fun' being it not necessary to actually heal, but rather melee.
In short, everything I see in Pantheon right now is exactly what I did NOT love about subsequent games, and almost nothing that I DID love about EQ. I played EQ for years, and have played P99 for years again. Despite all these oh-so-terrifying monstrous game-killers like power leveling and twinking and mudflation... people are STILL addicted to THAT game over all others. The things that can be abused are often the same things that create intense, incredible joy... CRs, as hard as they were, brought people together in remarkable, extraordinary ways. Yet people, short-sighted, wanted nothing more than to mitigate or even end them. They are not able to see that the very teeth-grinding difficulty of it is what created the feeling of extraordinary accomplishment.
Anyway. This game is not for me. Individually, I could and eagerly, with great desire to do so, dismiss each step away from what I ultimately want in a game. Unfortunately, the accummulation of deviation is too much for me to accept, despite my die-hard fan-girl status (if I'm allowed to claim that at my age :p ). I dismissed my misgivings with Vanguard, and with a few other games. More so with Vanguard, because I was such a huge fan of Brad and co. and had great faith. I can't continue to ignore what are, to me, numerous red flags of how "prevention" has overtaken "creation".
Early in WoW, I had the urge to buff newbies and give out stuff. It was literally like a punch to the gut to realize that the buffs and items scaled... it was actually are MORE worthwhile for that noob to sell the item to someone for whom it was actually useful than to keep the present for themselves. Buffing was, in the words of the stream, "Nice, BUT..." not memorable, not wonderful, not a day-making magical experience (pun intended). But don't get me wrong, "nice". A waste of mana, but "nice". Zero motivating factor there.
Everything I want in a game has a 'bad apple ruined the barrel, so screw you' factor to it. Pantheon, like all the other games, is focused on prevention.
"I want to buff newbies!" Sorry, powerleveling.
"I want to give newbies cool extra gear I won't use!" Sorry, twinking.
"I want to have difficult CRs and need people's help." Sorry, takes too much time.
"So... what did you leave that I'll really ENJOY?!" Oh, we got this, EVERYBODY melees!! "... I hate to melee..." Oh, you'll do it, and you'll LIKE IT. We swear!
All that's left is 'gameplay'. Great, I love a challenge, but I don't love a challenge in the vacuum of the pleasures afforded by giving to others. I don't love being forced into grouping with people in the absence of a cooperative, warm, engaging social environment.
I get it. The problem isn't VR, it's exploiters who PL or twink or whatever. But the focus here is in the wrong direction in my personal opinion... prevening these 'exploiters' alienates the people who bring the warmth, the inclusiveness, the aspects of welcome and compassion and friendliness. By making everyone melee, they isolate those of us who prefer to watch what's going on and react instead of having a mob's arse in our face watching our DPS. Nothing wrong with people liking that, but I'd like there to be nothing wrong with the way that I like to play, too... and most people who see themselves as 'natural healers' prefer not to melee and to need to pay attention to the environment.
Some things I like. Limited spell/ ability slots. CR at least exists, despite its abbreviated, truncated form; a step the right direction. Unfortunately, too many things I don't like are stacking up, and fast.
My most respectful best wishes to VR, and to all the people happy with and looking forward to the game. While it isn't for me, I hope absolutely for a new MMO home for those for whom it is desirable. I'm very happy for you and wish VR a roaring success in this venture!
Agreed. I hope the devs read this. The direction right now is extremely discouraging. Sharding, respawn in zone, item and spell scaling, caravans, Brad himself saying there will a mechanism to fast travel people to the bottom of a dungeon to join their party(beyond something like COTH), acclimation looking like nothing more than a keying blocker, perception looking so far like just a ? replacement. It seems like they've gone off the rails. I don't see how any of these things capture the spirit of EQ or differentiate this game from others.