Also it's not technically free. If it is the case that mana isn't working properly currently, then when it does work, you shouldn't  be able to just spam cast the same spell without going OOM quickly.

it isn't a handout. As it stands there is no reason to box casters. It's not about effort. It's about what makes sense. Do you want to use one button or five? People will say that you can /twist spells but that sort of defeats the purpose and it's not that great for casters.  Moreover, melee don't have to worry about mana. If it is the case that mana isn't working properly, surely there should be some respite for this when it does work.

Sure, it costs money but when you're t8 it doesn't take long to get strike 9 augs. So it's not as if it's that hard to get the augs.

Wizards as you have pointed out are capable of 6.5 crits with almost 0 plat and time invested.  Couple that with UW Greatstaff twincast and maybe best dps in game?       All free dps.  

Enchanters pretty much rock and bring so much group utility to the table.    They keep toons alive, manage aggro, break camps.   In addition they have some fairly solid dots and dd spells.    Enchanter has never been a pure dps class and probably shouldn't be.   If you don't have a chanter you're a nublet.

Mages can add IA3 to group for added dps, they have nukes and if you get the gear available to you the pet can be very viable in high end tiers.      Never really checked out their dps so they may indeed need luv.  

I have two t8 enchanters. Also i never said they needed to be good dps as you mention it brings a lot of utility to the table. They should be in line with bards as I stated above in terms of the melee hierarchy.

Again, unless you can invest in them, the "free" dps argument is null. Berserkers have "free" dps but you can also get FS augs.

My point is there is no alternative right now. So telling me that you have to invest money into melee is sort of pointless.

it isn't a handout. As it stands there is no reason to box casters. It's not about effort. It's about what makes sense. Do you want to use one button or five? People will say that you can /twist spells but that sort of defeats the purpose and it's not that great for casters.  Moreover, melee don't have to worry about mana. If it is the case that mana isn't working properly, surely there should be some respite for this when it does work.

Sure, it costs money but when you're t8 it doesn't take long to get strike 9 augs. So it's not as if it's that hard to get the augs.

It would make sense if casters had a choice in investing time other than UW.

I have two t8 wizzies and two t8 mages. All UC2'd.

That's why i said mana necklace which is basically equivalent to NS in terms of essences and SLS.

Yes, maybe we don't need to spend money on it  currently but it's not like there is a choice.

Like i said, casters are much harder to box than melee. In turn, they should get some sort of advantage to balance that out.

I have two wizzies with UC2 and yes it crits for 6.5 mil, but my monk can also crit for 6 mil in less time it takes to cast it. Not to mention the fact it can do it simply by assisting. Also, that's a t8 spell.

Hm, what will this do to the server lag if it encourages more people to log in and be afk (with their 20 boxes).

I know hateborne is in the process of caster augs, but i'm not sure on the ETA for those. Here are my opinions and suggestions to  change casters.

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Caster vs. Melee classes DPS

I personally feel that casters (excluding enchanters) should have a slight edge over all melee classes simply because they are much harder to box than melee. To get a melee to kill a mob you only need one command, whereas casters have to be played actively like healers. Twist healing may work, but twist damage spells does not for obvious reasons.

The hierarchy of caster dps should be in my opinion:
Wizard
Mage / Necro
Enchanter (relegated to bard level of dps)

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Semblance of Augs


There is no UW in the game for casters (afaik, correct if i'm wrong) and the only thing casters can make in the crafter's guild is the mana necklace (again, afaik, correct if i'm wrong). Since the mana necklace recipe is there, i feel it would be best to tweak it rather than trying to create something from nothing. As it stands, hardly any one uses a mana necklace. Indeed, mana is not a big issue if you have an enchanter or you are higher tier (tserrina's symbol etc). My suggestion is to add a buff to the mana necklace.

Suggestions
- buff depending on tier of mana necklace
- 50% proc equivalent dmg to the corresponding NS level
- Depending on the tier, differential percentages of twincast, triplecast, quadruple cast
 on the fly let's say for mana necklace 1 : 10% twincast, 2% triple cast, 1 % quadruple cast
                                 mana necklace 10 : 100% twincast, 50% triple cast, 10% quadruple cast

I would suppose each twin/triple/quad cast would have to have its own spell and such that you get charges that last 30 seconds. But for example if you get a triple cast proc, then it overrides a twincast, and so on.   I'm not sure how hard this would be to make (please advise).


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Pets

As many are aware, pets are pretty much useless and annoying to use at higher tiers but op at lower tiers. What I suggest is to have a buff that eats your pet, like the warlock spell in world of warcraft, and in return, you get extra spell damage  or a proc dmg etc.


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Spell damage

In my opinion, the base damage of direct damage spells needs to be boosted by 100%.

-- that's it for now, I will write later when i get more time.

Again these are just my opinions, feel free to voice your opinion too.

it has nothing to do with whether people are anti-social.

One reason why I chose this server is that I didn't have to rely on someone else, if i didn't want to. There is no worse feeling than in a game where you have to be dependent on others to progress. Not everyone has time to wait in finding a group nor are there many groups to be found, which is why Eqlive has such a low population of new players.

Whether it was your original goal to make this is a boxing server or not, it clearly has become one.

Why even comment if it doesn't affect you in any way?

I have helped at least 20 new players since I've started about 2 months ago, so maybe I have a little more experience in helping other people. The whole point of it is to make new players more self sufficient so that they don't have to ask the same questions or find themselves in the same situation.

except you don't need mq2 or eqbcs to box technically nor do you need to have UF client.

yeah you're reading it wrong. I'm just suggesting that new players know the basics so they don't have to feel the need to rely on other people so much.

I'm sure many quit at this point.

If they quit that quick, those people, if they made it to higher level tiers, would quit at the grind involved with them, specifically t5.

And? So, what? There have been people playing for months or even years in t5 from what i've read. My point is that people should know the bare essentials of the server sooner rather than later, so they can decide whether they want to box etc. Citing the website is okay,  but I doubt many people, if any, will check it before they reach 70.

Leveling to 20 is not the biggest concern for new players.

 The same scenario is played over and over. A person somehow levels to 70 or 52, and asks for help to get to 70 or get 1.5 / 2.0 etc.  People DO help them, because they know there's no way they can do it themselves solo. Once they do get that, the person is in limbo because they cannot progress nor can they really help their other chars to get their 1.5 / 2.0 (again depends what class they picked) because it isn't such a big boost that they can solo it themselves now. I'm sure many quit at this point.

It would make sense to me that they are fully aware that this is a boxing server from the start, they need UF client, mq2/eqbc etc to make the server playable for the most part. I never looked into the forums until i had to when i was level 55 and was going no where as I was solo.