EQII: Live Update 27

This post will probably be even less informed than usual because I haven't played EQII in a while. That has zero to do with EQII. I just needed a change of pace after well over a year of solid play. I will definitely be back in Norrath though and I still follow the news and forums pretty closely.

Because I like to be difficult, I'm refusing to start calling the Live Updates "Game Updates" now, even though SOE is.

Before we get into LU27 itself, it's worth noting that SOE recently implemented several anti-gold-spammer measures. There's more I'd like to say about that whole phenomenon but it's beyond the scope of the current post. For now, I'll just point out that these measures were direly needed and I hope they have some degree of success. I'm sure SOE is constantly pursuing other lines of attack against this problem because they know how detrimental it is to players' enjoyment.

As for LU27:

Tradeskill Work Orders

I really like the idea of timed work orders. There's nothing wrong with a little action and excitement while tradeskilling. I saw some complaints about not being able to finish orders on time. But if everyone could always finish all of the time, what would be the point? You need a little drama. I'd want the average success rate to be something like 80%. And it's better to start off on the hard side and make things easier if necessary. Taking the reverse route just doesn't go over well.

Raid XP Increase

I actually like this idea. From 60-68 my leveling speed was something like a level every 3-5 days. But from 68-70 it was one level per month. Why? All of my play time was spent raiding with friends who were already at 70. It would have been nice to have gotten just a few percent xp for each raid. I'm sure my guildmates wouldn't have minded me eventually leveling either.

I might be the only one who had that problem. But since I did, I'm certainly not going to complain about this change (as long as the xp increase is not too big). And I'm guessing most raiders are usually max level anyway, so I'm not sure what the big deal is. I see people on the forums coming up with exploit scenarios but hopefully SOE thought those through already.

Gods Returning

The buildup for the Gods returning to Norrath continues. I don't know the specifics of the quest/event this Update adds, but it definitely sounds like something cool to do.

Profession Hats

I happen to think they look excellent. Plus, I believe you can still keep the "shared" version if you want. Discussion in this thread along with some really funny parody pics.

On the negative side, it's been a while since KoS launched. If I had to point to the number one flaw in EQII it's the lack of armor model variety and the time it takes to add new armor pieces.

Player vs. Player

There are some tweaks there but I believe SOE needs to add some actual PvP content, preferably soon, if they want EQII PvP to be viable.

You can read about the changes I haven't mentioned here.

While you're checking out the forums you might want to stop by this thread entitled "Unforgettable Comments" for a laugh. There are definitely some clunkers in there but there's also some great comedy. The thread also contained a link to this Canonical List of Famous Last Words in Roleplaying. I'd never seen that before and I thought it was pretty amusing.

Speaking of the forums, I noticed the transition for the official forums was indefinitely postponed. I have no idea if this transition will make the forums better, worse, or the same. But I will say this: I've visited the official forums for practically every existing or upcoming MMO. And the EQII ones are easily the best (and that includes the forums for other SOE games). I'm not sure if it's the graphical look, organization, moderation or the posters themselves. It's probably a combination of all those factors. If you disagree, just tell me which official forum you prefer and I'll take another look at it.

Finally, while I'm on the EQII subject, Anskiere recently notified me that Richie Truxillo has some remastered versions of old songs out. I know I linked his site before, but it was over a year ago. I just listened to a bunch of his tunes today and I'm still a big fan. "If I Had a Billion Platinum" is my personal favorite.