10-17-2002, 12:16 PM
I guess I fell into the “sweet spot.” My monk is right at the level that appears to have gotten hit hardest by the defensive adjustments made to my class in yesterday’s patch.
After playing for a little while last night, I realized that like many of the posters before me, I am angry. Those who come here to troll, or gloat, or those who cite “making the game more realistic” as justification for these adjustments are in my opinion really missing the point.
I started playing EQ right around this time last year. In that time the monk class has changed relatively little. We have received almost nothing in the way of “nerfs,” but we also have seen very little in the upgrade department as well.
What I can say is that for me, at least, the game has gotten harder, rather than easier. I’m referring specifically to the caster upgrades and resists adjustments that have taken place earlier this year.
I certainly didn’t cry foul over either the resists or the caster upgrade. I had to admit that deep down, when I thought about it, casters used to be pathetically easy to kill for experience. I looked at the caster changes and resist balancing as a creative way remove a source of nearly free XP for players, but also as taking a constructive path toward making the game more challenging.
Now, I play on Furor’s server. I see him and his guild fairly regularly, and while I find his style to be immature and the general attitude of Fires of Heaven to be that courtesy rules do not apply to them, I have to say that unless there’s material that I have not read, I never took Furor’s diatribe to be a “nerf monks” petition. I saw it as his legitimate gripe that at the endgame, warriors were in some cases made obsolete. From his perspective, what he did would be no different than monks lamenting that their pulling roles will be usurped by Shadowknights.
So, say next week Shadowknights get some nerf that makes pulling very difficult to impossible for them. Their natural reaction is going to be “blame the monks” since in many ways, we’ve done the same thing Furor did – Make a legitimate complaint that our class has had its role eroded by another class that traditionally and by definition should not be able to perform it as well.
Now, my problem is not that Verant made a mistake, or even that they’re trying to fix it. My problem comes from the fact that they’re going about it in a manner that has no other possible outcome than angering and alienating those most affected.
Granted, I’ve only been playing a year, but that’s a HUGE investment in time and effort. Considering I do not have any alts, and play my monk exclusively, I identify very strongly with that one character, as I am sure many of you do. That said, I’ve gone from level 1 to 59 treasuring every skill-up, spending endless hours with a stupid fishing pole and bait, camping all those rites-of-passage quests, like Journeyman Boots, as well as chasing down tailors with farmed components in hopes that they’ll be able to fashion some new and better armor for me.
In the course of all this labor, one becomes accustomed to how their character performs. One learns what will kill them and what will generally not. One learns how to apply their strengths in a group, and when pulling aggro is an acceptable risk.
I’m reminded of the conversation between Lando Calrissian and Darth Vader in “The Empire Strikes Back” where Lando is furious that the negotiated terms surrounding the capture of Han Solo are dismissed after Vader gets what he wants.
Lando says, “That wasn’t part of the deal…”
Vader responds, “I am altering the deal…Pray I do not alter it further.”
This is precisely what the Verant/Sony folks have done. They have allowed us to spend countless hours playing their game and achieving a certain level of effectiveness only to take it away from us…And if we don’t like it, tough.
This is where the game balance issue breaks down. If an item unbalances the game, you nerf it, or simply don’t let it drop anymore. If a quest unbalances the game, you alter it, or change the reward. If Manaburn unbalances the game, you implement some controls, and give the wizards back their AA points so they don’t feel (as) cheated for all the time and effort they put into purchasing the ability.
But you do NOT ever, ever ever take away something inherent to the character a person has devoted the last umpteen weeks of their life improving upon. A fair comparison would be to shop around for a car, do your research, make the purchase, and after getting the car home, having the dealer show up, take out your V-6 and replace it with straight 4.
You did the work, you earned the skills and bought the armor based upon what you’ve learned of the game mechanics, you’ve refined your tactics, explored the envelope of your inherent strengths and weaknesses, and only after you’re comfortable, the rules change…
It’s arbitrary, it’s contrary to the stated goal of the change, and it’s unfair and disheartening to those who worked hard and faithfully to get their character to where they’re at.
What we should be enraged about isn’t the adjustments to game balance. Verant/Sony has a commitment to ensure the game maintains an acceptable level of challenge to the casual gamer as well as the uberguild. What we should infuriate each and every player in the game, regardless of class is that Verant has shown that if they don’t like the deal, they will simply change it, without regard to the efforts and feelings of those affected. It’s been said with varying degrees of elegance in previous posts, “laugh now, you could be next.”
I submit none of us should be laughing. And none of us should ever wish anything like this on another. If they’ll do it to one class, they’ll do it to another. We, as players, need to stick together and make it eminently clear to Verant/Sony where we collectively draw the line.
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</p>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub35.ezboard.com/ubelgalad.showPublicProfile?language=EN>Belgalad</A> at: 10/17/02 8:22:07 am
After playing for a little while last night, I realized that like many of the posters before me, I am angry. Those who come here to troll, or gloat, or those who cite “making the game more realistic” as justification for these adjustments are in my opinion really missing the point.
I started playing EQ right around this time last year. In that time the monk class has changed relatively little. We have received almost nothing in the way of “nerfs,” but we also have seen very little in the upgrade department as well.
What I can say is that for me, at least, the game has gotten harder, rather than easier. I’m referring specifically to the caster upgrades and resists adjustments that have taken place earlier this year.
I certainly didn’t cry foul over either the resists or the caster upgrade. I had to admit that deep down, when I thought about it, casters used to be pathetically easy to kill for experience. I looked at the caster changes and resist balancing as a creative way remove a source of nearly free XP for players, but also as taking a constructive path toward making the game more challenging.
Now, I play on Furor’s server. I see him and his guild fairly regularly, and while I find his style to be immature and the general attitude of Fires of Heaven to be that courtesy rules do not apply to them, I have to say that unless there’s material that I have not read, I never took Furor’s diatribe to be a “nerf monks” petition. I saw it as his legitimate gripe that at the endgame, warriors were in some cases made obsolete. From his perspective, what he did would be no different than monks lamenting that their pulling roles will be usurped by Shadowknights.
So, say next week Shadowknights get some nerf that makes pulling very difficult to impossible for them. Their natural reaction is going to be “blame the monks” since in many ways, we’ve done the same thing Furor did – Make a legitimate complaint that our class has had its role eroded by another class that traditionally and by definition should not be able to perform it as well.
Now, my problem is not that Verant made a mistake, or even that they’re trying to fix it. My problem comes from the fact that they’re going about it in a manner that has no other possible outcome than angering and alienating those most affected.
Granted, I’ve only been playing a year, but that’s a HUGE investment in time and effort. Considering I do not have any alts, and play my monk exclusively, I identify very strongly with that one character, as I am sure many of you do. That said, I’ve gone from level 1 to 59 treasuring every skill-up, spending endless hours with a stupid fishing pole and bait, camping all those rites-of-passage quests, like Journeyman Boots, as well as chasing down tailors with farmed components in hopes that they’ll be able to fashion some new and better armor for me.
In the course of all this labor, one becomes accustomed to how their character performs. One learns what will kill them and what will generally not. One learns how to apply their strengths in a group, and when pulling aggro is an acceptable risk.
I’m reminded of the conversation between Lando Calrissian and Darth Vader in “The Empire Strikes Back” where Lando is furious that the negotiated terms surrounding the capture of Han Solo are dismissed after Vader gets what he wants.
Lando says, “That wasn’t part of the deal…”
Vader responds, “I am altering the deal…Pray I do not alter it further.”
This is precisely what the Verant/Sony folks have done. They have allowed us to spend countless hours playing their game and achieving a certain level of effectiveness only to take it away from us…And if we don’t like it, tough.
This is where the game balance issue breaks down. If an item unbalances the game, you nerf it, or simply don’t let it drop anymore. If a quest unbalances the game, you alter it, or change the reward. If Manaburn unbalances the game, you implement some controls, and give the wizards back their AA points so they don’t feel (as) cheated for all the time and effort they put into purchasing the ability.
But you do NOT ever, ever ever take away something inherent to the character a person has devoted the last umpteen weeks of their life improving upon. A fair comparison would be to shop around for a car, do your research, make the purchase, and after getting the car home, having the dealer show up, take out your V-6 and replace it with straight 4.
You did the work, you earned the skills and bought the armor based upon what you’ve learned of the game mechanics, you’ve refined your tactics, explored the envelope of your inherent strengths and weaknesses, and only after you’re comfortable, the rules change…
It’s arbitrary, it’s contrary to the stated goal of the change, and it’s unfair and disheartening to those who worked hard and faithfully to get their character to where they’re at.
What we should be enraged about isn’t the adjustments to game balance. Verant/Sony has a commitment to ensure the game maintains an acceptable level of challenge to the casual gamer as well as the uberguild. What we should infuriate each and every player in the game, regardless of class is that Verant has shown that if they don’t like the deal, they will simply change it, without regard to the efforts and feelings of those affected. It’s been said with varying degrees of elegance in previous posts, “laugh now, you could be next.”
I submit none of us should be laughing. And none of us should ever wish anything like this on another. If they’ll do it to one class, they’ll do it to another. We, as players, need to stick together and make it eminently clear to Verant/Sony where we collectively draw the line.
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</p>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub35.ezboard.com/ubelgalad.showPublicProfile?language=EN>Belgalad</A> at: 10/17/02 8:22:07 am