To Sum up all the War/Pal/Clr threads:
This is a tank n spank server.
If it tanks, it wears plate.
If it heals, it wears plate.
If it group heals, it wears plate.
If it heals while it is dpsing, it wears plate.
No amount of customization short of completely overhauling classes outside of the EQ scope is going to make up for that.
Shamans can't slow.
Enchanters can't charm.
Pets aren't build to handle mobs that hit for 50k, and any real tweaking to the pets to make them viable t2+ is going to make them wreak havoc and decimate lower / solo content.
All your dps classes do dps. They are essentially interchangable, while some (Rangers, Monks) are prefered over others (rogues, wizards, etc) because they require less upkeep and attention while boxing.
T5 will likely change quite a bit of this. I sincerely hope it's a legit change, and not the cop out so many EMU servers with scripting fall victim to (HEY! lets make this mob unkillable without an ENC! Hey, lets toss a buncha locked doors in here! Hey, lets have this guy spawn a zillion adds with no hitpoints (bad example here with warriors, but on other servers it was *hell*) etc.... The worst mistake that can be made is to tweak things late in the party specifically to make the ubers reroll into some new 'needed" class they have to race qvic thru T4 to deal with some silly trigger, it's downright spiteful to make a class you've neglected for 2 full years to be somehow immediately necessary.
That's my 2 cents, we're in good hands here, this server is the absolute bomb and we all know it. i just needed eyes to see that during T5 development.
You want my random brainstorm of the day?
Make clerics chain classes.The database work alone would be hell swapping out all the armor tags. But if we're gonna be 99% tank n spank, it's inane to have all the tanking and legit healing classes all plate-based when it accounts for 25% of the drops.
Instead of banging heads against the wall figuring out how to juggle the balance of power between clerics and paladins, just make it so it's less of a pain to have both.
Imagine a viable class that doesnt wear plate. It's not that out of reach.
