Everquest II

Big Changes for Soloists and Small Groups!

With all the recent buzz generated by Scott Hartsman's EverQuest II Producer's Letter, we thought we would take a moment to call out all the big changes in experience gain that have just occurred for soloists and small groups of adventurers. Yes, that's right, solo and small group experience gain has been boosted across the board. Loot drops have been increased for these soloers and small groups too! These changes went into effect after Wednesday's patch and immediately spurred a spirited discussion between player and developer alike. Here's a recap of yesterday's big news:

* For soloists and small groups, dozens of new quests and hundreds of new NPCs have been added all over the game world since launch. Expect the steady stream of additions like this to continue over the coming weeks and months.

* In yesterday's update, a significant boost in small group and solo experience across the board will allow for advancement that will be much more visible and feel much more satisfying.

* Brand new item rewards will be added for soloists and small-groupers. Additionally, some of the rewards that have been reserved solely for groups will also make their way, though more rarely, to the solo and small group encounters in the world.

* Group rewards have improved as well. The chances for some of the group-only ultra-rare drops have been increased.

* In the weeks following, expect new dungeon instances to be made available for those who solo, duo, and trio.

* Soloing and small grouping should be a way to advance at a satisfying rate. You should be able to earn good rewards that are exciting in their own right. Soloing and small grouping should also provide a chance at the great rewards that people might not expect in anything except the traditional six-person group.

* Grouping will still provide the fastest overall experience gain, but the advantage won't be as drastic as it is today. Grouping will also provide better chances at the spectacular ultra-rare rewards.

Yeah I've been able to solo in nekutolos forest much better than I could before. It's refreshing to know I can hop on and not have to find a group all the time.

It is so good in fact, ( and please do not forward this to SoE ) that a good 2-3 man group out XP any 4-6 people group you can possibly find.

Me, ( 37-38 warden at the time ) and a friend 35-36 wizard did just about 80% XP in about 3 hours time hunting lvl 38 group mobs, later when we were 38 and 37 we did 50% in about the same time on same mobs. Regardless of what group you get there is little chance of beating that XP gain. 

I also think these annonced changes are for the better.

Now, my question is for anyone who bashed all the games that are soloables and that let you get significant XP in like, what, 90 minutes? Is EQ2 now going to turn into a "newb" game? Too easy for the "Oh So L33T" hardcore player?

Were we right to turn to other game to get this? Isn't it the way EQ2 should have been from start? Don't you think beta testing should have clearly showed this?

Well those i know with 2 accounts are jumping with joy.

While small group experience might be good news for the zerkers,monk,bruisers and healers for the rest it just spells less chance of getting a group espically if early indications continues to show 2 man group been as effective in exping like a full 6 man group.

But guess no way everyone is going to be happy.Luckily as a guardian i am guilded or else no one would duo with me due to my horrible dps.

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Originally posted by dexter25ca

I also think these annonced changes are for the better.

Now, my question is for anyone who bashed all the games that are soloables and that let you get significant XP in like, what, 90 minutes? Is EQ2 now going to turn into a "newb" game? Too easy for the "Oh So L33T" hardcore player?

Were we right to turn to other game to get this? Isn't it the way EQ2 should have been from start? Don't you think beta testing should have clearly showed this?

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I think the point people have made about some other games is that they are TOO easy to solo all the way through, or close to it.  I agree that the changes in EQ2 are positive, and, from what I've seen so far, they've maintained a good balance between what you can do soloing and what requires a group or raid.  But if as Hercules says a 2-man group is now as effective as a 6-man group, that's a bit off and will need adjustment.

As for whether it should have been done in beta, who knows, who cares.  It's a lot different once you have hundreds of thousands of people playing constantly to see where things might need a bit of modification ... and people don't play the same way in betas.  Anyway, I'm not one who lays awake nights tormenting myself over what should have been done in a beta ... I just like what they are doing now.

Addition though:

They swiftly put the soloer back again with todays patch, maybe even further back then they were before.

The agility "nerf" or fix influences everyone, so solo or small group people are now stuck with either the solo mobs they hunted before, these still give crap XP regardless of XP bonus or not. Or they can hunt the new semigroup or halfgroup mobs the put in, these are few and mostly placed in the middle of large groups of not-so-solo mobs.

At the very least solo or small group is back to what it was from the beginning, in my opinion maybe even a bit further back.

So in all honesty, solo or one to two friend groups with limited online time should honestly stay away from the game until further notice. I feel they migth change this somewhat again but as of now you travel in groups of 6 or yer dead.

They increased the overall difficulty of the game by my estimate by about 20%, furthermore grey mobs are no longer so grey, sure you will not get XP from them but they sure as hell can kill you pretty fast. Meaning you need to wait even longer to finnish of them quests alone just to clear the log.

Allthough many many things were fixed and the balancing of the high end game was needed I dare say this will go down as one of the black days in eq2 history.

There is no need, at all, to launch a SS-22 intercontinental ballistic thermonuclear device at the fly that annoys you while sleeping, chances are it will hurt yerself somewhat.