Last week a patch came that would change the price of Kael gems forever – that’s right, the removal of shards required for Thurgadin and Ry’Gorr armor. I was lucky, I purchased gems that were relatively cheap (at the time at least) and stockpiled them for my alts. I had enough of the two common gems to supply all of my characters with Ry’Gorr helms and gloves, and enough gems left over to gear up a few of the neglected characters. with 12 level 90 alts, that’s a lot of crafting. I don’t quite understand the decision to remove shards as a component, I think it reduces players incentive to do the zones that drop shards. Although they are still required in order to purchase adornments. I know this is probably just preparation for the “features” expansion coming out in November, (can it even be called an expansion?) preparing players for any new content that may be released.
Despite my feelings about SoE’s direction with EQ2 on the adventuring side of things, I still think the crafting side is very well taken care of. I spent most of my weekend working on crafting quests,working faction for Sentinel’s Fate factions (there are four dailies, one for each crafting faction) completing my Sentinel’s Fate crafting epic (a very nice carpenter hammer) and doing my Thurgadin daily so that I can obtain my 3rd shawl some time. I also completed the crafting chains that take players through Butcherblock Mountains and Steamfont Mountains, gathering a nice supply of rares and some cheap crafting books at the same time. I love the idea that players can choose this aspect of the game to play and not have to bother with adventuring in the traditional manor if they so choose. You can complete a crafting version of the leaper and glider mounts, as well as the flying mounts.
There isn’t as much for crafters to do in game as adventurers, but there’s a fair amount none the less. Particular factions to work on with their own crafter related rewards and all sorts of goodies.
Speaking of goodies. If you haven’t done the starter quests in the beginner zones recently, and you’re a fan of housing items – you may want to check them out. A while back rewards were revamped to grant housing items, so I went and completed the Darklight woods quests and came out with a handful of new items. If you’ve already completed the quests on your character it’s too late to get the newer rewards now, but you can always run through with an alt or a higher level character who hasn’t done them yet.
How did everyone else spend their weekend? I actually spent less time in game and more time working on a cross stitch – real life crafting is always a great fall pass time. Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!
P.S. Trying to fight an urge I’ve had lately to play LotRO. But I think I’m losing that battle.
I too really enjoy the crafting aspect of EQ2. There are days when I want nothing more than to go out and destroy innocent (and not-so-innocent) creatures.. and there are days I want something different. From house item creation and decorating, to assisting with other folks’ gear, to working on faction with Tupta or Hua Mein or Thurgadin, there’s a nearly limitless amount of work to choose from that needs to be done. I’m still a ways away from your insane (in a good way) collection of alts, but I’m just a couple levels away from having my 6th level 90 crafter, and a couple days away from having my 4th Coldain Prayer Shawl.
I too feel that removing the shard requirement for the armor wasn’t the best idea. If SOE is worried that folks aren’t exploring (or aren’t able to explore) all the new content, they need to look deeper at the reasons why. I can think of a few reasons why, and how I’m not sure that the removal of shards will make it better, based on observations:
– Many, many people are still stuck with the level 86 quested chest piece, unable to get the PQ one to drop, and have issues getting into the groups that run the instances that drop them (Fortress Spire and Temple of Rallos Zek). Unless they happen to have a few hundred plat to drop in the Auction channel, it’s going to be very difficult for them to move forward. Dropping the shard requirement means even less people running Fortress Spire, and focusing more on the Kael zones (for gems), which means less chance for those without a decent chest piece to acquire one.
– There (still) seems to be a basic lack of understanding, mostly among new players, returning players, and long-time casual players, about the usefulness (and requirement) of adornments, along with critical mitigation and critical chance. There’s still lingering issues of people ripping aggro and not monitoring their threat, as well as just a genuine lack of understanding with regards to how to play their class properly. I’m not sure how to improve this, other than perhaps sitting down and writing a “everything you need to know about being successful in DoV” guide. People who just genuinely don’t know this stuff (the ones that /aren’t/ stuck-up idiots who /ragequit when you mention they should try not rip aggro and cause the group to wipe for the 10th time) need to be educated, so that they /can/ move on to the “bigger and better” zones. While many of us try to educate them, I guess the question is, is it really our job, or does SOE need to do a better job of addressing “advanced game play education”?
– It’s difficult to judge, because the introduction of the dungeon finder may have a little to do with this, but I have already seen a reduction of the number of advertised runs into the Rime and Tower of Frozen Shadow zones, which as I mentioned, is going to impact the “DoV newbie” population. There has also been a significant price increase in the gem prices, which put them well out of reach for many of the casual players. This means that for them, “gearing up” is going to be extremely difficult.
I really feel SOE missed the target entirely with the shard requirement removal, and should have tried to engage players in a more direct manner rather than just throwing a large hammer at the problem (and missing, and hitting the innocent people in the face instead).
As someone who got into crafting in order to facilitate future adventuring, I’m a bit disappointed with the current direction of EQ2. Yes, there is still new crafting content, and it is among the game’s best. Unfortunately, the “why” that used to be part of the crafting game from 1-72 or so is largely gone. With the level cap at 90 for the foreseeable future, I’ve already upgraded all my best spells. The consolation prize is that we now need a crafter to turn certain dungeon drops into items we can actually equip, which feels more like an inconvenience to my adventurer half than a bonus to my crafting half.
I’ve been trying to figure out Champions Online lately, so that’s where I spent my time this weekend. Crafting’s insanely easy, just annoying trying to get materials. Though since getting materials levels up your skill, it’s not so bad, I suppose.
Heyo.
If you do play LOTRO, let me know! I’d love to chat with you in-game. :D
As for the Age of Discovery thing, I”m so going to be there. :D