Good job fixing crap so we can have a merry time

Uhh... wait.. what?! Pets not being able to use UWs?! Next on the list... what?! Damn.. I got 4 pet classes with UWs being used on pets... and working on getting more but now that is gonna get nerfed? why?

Probably over-reacting but still.... was the nice thing about summoner bags and using UWs for the pets to proc the dd that comes with them, since they can't proc any strike augs in any of the non UWs you can equip them with.

Mix

I am sure there are more elegant ways of handling pet invulnerability. If anything I would not worry too much about Summoner's Pack and adding weapon procs to it, getting removed all together from the game, especially without anything to replace it to make up for any DPS loss. I think we can all agree that doing the Summoner's Pack quest allowing you to increase your pet's dps is something that should stay in the game for those that want to use it. But it may have to be altered a bit to remedy the hardcore tanking pets.

I was online that day and I caught most of the ooc chatter around how you had a project to try and kill Tunare with your pets. There was as has been noted earlier nothing secretive about what you were doing. You kept /ooc updated during the process.

After you had killed Tunare, you said this:

[Thu May 04 20:29:45 2023] Rirk says out of character, 'it's taken me almost 4 hours >< '
[Thu May 04 20:30:15 2023] Rirk says out of character, 'but i can afk and tend to my dad this way so it's all good for me.'

In the end, no one but yourself can say how much you were AFK and how much you were present at the keyboard during those 4 hours(6?) But obviously people will raise an eyebrow when you type stuff like that in /ooc. I am pretty sure you understand that. So you've explained yourself about it, nothing more to it as I see it.

How embarrassing , I hope he doesn't watch while I get intimate with Tunare!

 

WTH?! My Necro pets will die occasionally to Raulfer's dots and Tunare's dots.. and my Druid has died to Tunare. How does everyone else's pets, Druid or whomever can face tank Tunare when mine couldn't? I got 3 Druids and they get smacked down with the rest of my raid if I attempt Tunare. I guess I dont have the elite Druid class....

It's gear dependent. Does your druid have Shield of the Ages, Kote Bracer, Improved Goblin familiar? If you don't, no mitigation would be in place, except the werewolf form if you got that spell.

...It's been a well established fact that Necro pets are practically invincible in any tier, I've been tanking and killing stuff with one for years...

I find it weird that this has been allowed to remain as is if people has known about it for years. I guess the only reason I can think of is that it does not seem like a common theme on EZ that people in general use their pets as tanks.

I would not say it was your fault at all. This issue is larger than just your pets. Druids, Wizards, Enchanters and potentially other classes as well, mitigate more damage than they should. My Druids and Wizards can face tank Tunare way better than my Warrior. Druid can solo Tunare without needing any healing. Some mitigation issue is affecting the server in many ways right now, breaking the game as it's intended to work.

If anything, I would avoid AFK killing though, which is against the rules, technically speaking. I only mention this because you said you were doing it in /ooc while killing her with your pets.

Personally, I have not noticed any difference in the mobs up there. Ran up there and tested again today on Raulfers Personal Bodyguards. The max amount of rounds I get per mob is five swings. More often than not, 1-3 of those will miss or get dodged. I stayed up there for a while and when fighting single mobs, not once did I see any rounds above 5 hits. I also tried just wielding a 1 hander and no shield, makes no difference.

So this is not affecting everyone.

You know you're playing an old game when you need to tune down your computer for it to work properly! Jokes aside, good luck getting it to work!

I was in plane of tactics , clicked on Giwin Mirakon, read his dialog and tried to click on Jewelry but the link seemed to be broken?

It worked for me just now. Tested both with a character than has GoWs and one that don't.

In fields of green and rolling hills,
The flowers dance with joyful thrills.
Petals soft and colors bright,
Everquest adventurers in their sight.

The lilies sway in gentle breeze,
As players quest with great unease.
The daffodils with heads held high,
Watch as battles rage and heroes die.

The roses bloom in scarlet hue,
As guilds unite to fight anew.
The orchids rare, with beauty fine,
Observe the game's unfolding divine.

The flowers lend their peaceful grace,
To Everquest's adventurous race.
A world of wonder, a realm of power,
Where virtual blooms can truly flower.

So take a moment, amidst the fray,
And smell the flowers along the way.
For in this game of quest and lore,
Nature's beauty shines even more.

My thoughts on this matter is that there are mainly two reasons why the going rate has changed the last five to six years. The first reason is the addition of the Halloween zone and many of that events powerful items. The double/triple instances and Zone Pull spears are total game changers along with UA and GC.. The Halloween zone also seems to have started a trend that high tier zones should give end game players some interesting loot, which at the time was among other things various essences. Most people was excited by this. This trend continued in Sleepers. Do we need 400 EoFS in bank? Of course not. Their dropping rate is just stupid and not even needed. When no new content is out with items better than the previous, the day to day player that keeps on playing will grow their stacks of items past what they need themselves and the value of those items decreases. The real remedy to this is to release new content. The addition of the Halloween zone and all it's new items is in my opinion the biggest step away from the original EZ vein as there has been. But it is what it is. The cat was out of the bag and obviously people , including me, really enjoyed these new and powerful items. Farming would never be the same again. Hills of Shade has been super popular, mostly, I guess, because of the items, but also because the zone is well made and is something fresh on a server that for years had seen little development.

The second reason has to do with this being a free sandbox. This is a server that started in 2008 and by 2012-2013 we were already seeing tier 7 and 8. Tier progress hasn't been the same ever since for natural reasons. Even back then the server was already on overtime. Seven to eight tiers took a lot of time to complete back then. Todays perspective for someone that has been around to collect ZP and triples is like this: I went through LP the other day from start to finish with 4 characters. It only took me 30 minutes to complete LP from start to finish. That is the power of ZP and triples.

My point is the content has pretty much been on a stand still for a long time, so the golden standard items have been the same for a long time. I am glad to see the trend shifting though. That means new stuff is coming. In T11 we might have one or even several new golden standards. For a while after VP was released, Platinum was suddenly worth something(LRoAs). However the small difference between rank 1 and rank 10 meant many players settled with just getting rank 1. That's beside the point though. I am looking forward to new items being released. For all we know, we'll see new ranks of Earrings, SoAs, UW's that require new items, not GSoAs, but possibly just as rare as they used to be pre-triples/pre-VP.

Trading has always been a big part of the original Everquest and also on EZ. The last few years were a bit different though. Not that many players on EZ anymore, so less trades, and while I know some people don't like to hand hold new people through content, having the other players best interest in mind, there sure has been easier for new players in general to gain good trades. The reason is back in my second point. The surplus the top players have of many items, along with wanting to help a new fellow out leaves the list low for trades and just friendly giveaways. People are just nice and want to help out. This effect I am sure can deminish the adventure for new players.

After people broke into VP and started farming it, GSS's and GSoAs flowed the market more than before, just like Halloween and Sleepers flowed the market with essences, effectively diminishing their value before it. The way I look at it at this point though, is GSS's are a means to end one tier and start on another, just like farming mats in OC is part of making an armor and faction to move on, so are GSS's at this point. They are not even going to be a requirement to enter T11. They had their use for good and worse and soon we'll have new items which makes GSS's and much else not very interesting anymore except for those leveling up. And those leveling up will have an easier time than those who lead the way originally due to the item surplus again, at least if they choose to initiate trades and not do everything themselves.

Let's hope a new tier opens up the market again like it has been before it.

Also regarding a copy server with new "rules:
While I would never want to start over myself, I get that you find that an interesting proposition. Just keep in mind that we only have one GM and he spends a lot of his spare time already on dealing with one server, which probably already is more work than for one person alone. Having another copy will need a lot of work and attention as well. It will definitely not run by itself. I'd definitely like Draca's focus on the original server, helping players with issues, correcting bugs, updating files and above all, making sure new content is coming for all of us that has been waiting for a new tier for so long. Many of having already quit, gone MIA for many years because of lack of stuff to do.

Personally I really like the direction the server is taking and I am sure this thread will be useful for Draca with your thoughts as well as everyone else when he is working on new stuff.

Possibly because you wouldn't want it on every character? Would be my guess anyway.

...Would it be possible to make it mgb'able?

/agree

Are there any infos about that whole tunare thing?

EZ Wiki has not been updated yet. I am sure Chieftan will jump on that when he has a chance.

I did make a video of the fight, MAJOR SPOILER ALERT obviously.

https://youtu.be/npGisv5XkHQ

I'm taking my hat off for you again, Sir!

Thanks again for making EZ an even better playground for us kids. We're lucky to have you!

I'm offering some real Norwegian Swill, three cheers to you!