It outlines the fact that they are scrapping the arch-class/sub-class system in favor of the system where players choose the class they want right at the beginning and that PVP servers are coming.
Player vs Player
PvP has been a topic we've been discussing quite a bit on the team for the past few months, and it's time we start talking about it openly.
While it's true that we wanted to focus purely on PvE for the launch of EverQuest II, PvP has always been a direction that we've wanted to expand into when the time was right.
We've had a number of ideas for ways we could introduce PvP. Some weeks ago, we ran a poll on the boards asking what kind of action would interest people the most. The majority indicated they'd first want to see us bring PvP to separate servers containing a distinct ruleset.
One of the potential plans that we were fond of fit well with that sentiment, and we've been expanding on it for the past few weeks.
We think it's the best choice for EverQuest II, and we're glad to see that most everyone agreed. After all, EverQuest II has the perfect setting for it. A post-cataclysmic world with factions bitterly divided. Qeynos vs Freeport . Good vs Evil. We couldn't ask for a better setting for this kind of gameplay.
Expect more details to surface soon in the PvP Forums. For now, here are some of the concepts we've been developing:
There will be two new, separate PvP Ruleset servers to begin with. One will most likely be Exchange-Enabled, the other will not. We will have the ability to add more of either kind when the need arises.
One huge concern is that no one wants PvP balance to ever impact PvE balance. There will not be PvE combat nerfs because of PvP. We have separate controls for what goes on in PvP. Since this is a piece that we knew we'd need no matter which direction we went, this is something we've already implemented.
This is strict good vs. evil. You're only grouping with others of your alignment, and opposing aligned PCs highlight to you the same way that NPC encounters would. If you're betraying or don't have a city to call home, you're an Exile, and a target for everyone.
PvP will not be restricted to specific zones. It will take place all across the world of EverQuest II. Fight in dungeons, fight out in the wilds, defend your town, or attack the opposing side.
EQ2 will be introducing the concept of Honorable, Neutral, and Dishonorable victories. Honorable victories are where the rewards lie.
The first of the rewards for defeating your city's enemies include: Status and Standing with your PvP faction.
Additionally, we would like to include adventure experience rewards. While exceptionally difficult, it would be theoretically possible to level up purely by defeating other players in combat. This is a concept that we are working hard to be able to include, and hope that we are able to prevent friend-farming enough to where it is a concept that can see the light of day.
Once you earn PvP standing, you can buy valuable and useful items from your faction's merchants. This is real, desirable equipment, not just tokens, trophies, and trinkets, though we will be trying to include these as well for flavor. You wouldn't be able to dress yourself head to toe in them, though, as Adventuring and Crafting still play an important role in this ruleset.
Stay tuned to the forums in the coming weeks for more information on both the ruleset and how you can help playtest it on the PvP beta server.
It's time to heat up the cold war.
Classes and Cities
The main idea behind the Archetype, Class, Subclass progression was to ease people in to playing EQ2 and give them time to explore playstyles behind their main archetype, eventually "growing into" their final profession. It's an idea that's unique to EQ2, and I think we executed on it well.
That said, there are a few places where it hasn't worked out as well as we'd have liked. In this section, I'm going to talk about a few changes that are coming for the under level 20 crowd and the benefits we see in making these changes.
In a coming update, tentatively set for mid to late January, people will be able to pick their final class right at character creation and begin earning appropriate abilities and spells right from the outset.
In addition, the good island and evil island will become very different experiences. Further, the starting town zones and their adventure areas will be redone to support an experience that's much more racially distinct. It's the same EQ2 gameplay you know and love, but all new population, rewards, quests, and goals. A little less handholding, and lot more involvement with your racial background through quests and lore.
In practical terms, here's what we see as the benefit of all of this:
1) Getting people into their class right away means less time playing a generic Archetype or a slightly less generic Class, before playing the Final Class they are interested in.
When people start up an MMO, especially a fantasy RPG, many already have a picture of who they are and what they want to be playing. It's less of a profession exploration process for them and more of a barrier that's between them and where they're used to being on day one. "If I'm going to be rolling up my Shadowknight, I want to be playing one right away." The attraction isn't the same if they have to play a generic Fighter for a time, followed by a somewhat less generic Crusader for a longer time, and only then end up where they really wanted to be in the first place.
2) The classes will start earning their abilities from the outset. All classes will get their crucial class-defining spells much earlier instead of having to wait until level 20.
To use the Shadowknight example again, from levels 1-19, we can't currently emphasize the Evil side for the person wanting to be that Shadowknight, since the path is shared with Paladins. Therefore, that path isn't quite as exciting as it really could be. Necromancers are another example here where the fictional progression doesn't quite hold. They are masters of the earth right alongside Conjurers, but only until level 19, at which point they suddenly grow into their Necromantic abilities. Instead, these two classes should both be getting pets early on and getting into using them right away.
3) The gameplay you start with will much more accurately reflect the gameplay you can expect later on.
In some cases, the current system actually does people a disservice by making it appear as if the final classes down the tree are essentially the same, when this isn't the case.
The best example of this is the Mage archetype. The generic Mage is an excellent introductory class if you plan on eventually becoming a Wizard or Warlock. Coercer, Conjurer, Illusionist and Necromancer gameplay ends up being drastically different. The pet classes are very much about cool pets later on, as their direct-damage spells end up being less of the overall play. Likewise, the control classes of Illusionist and Coercer become much more focused on controlling enemies and empowering their allies, as opposed to inflicting direct damage.
4) Significantly more fun to experiment with different classes, right away.
One thing that many people enjoy doing is starting new characters. Replay value is really important in MMOs. There has to be something interesting for people to do when they want a break from their main character, have capped out between expansions, or just want to see how the other side lives.
Under the current system in EQ2, there's a pretty large barrier to checking out a new character in an archetype you have played before. The extreme example here would be Conjurers and Necromancers. The two play drastically differently. (Do you want to do more kinds of both Direct and Area damage, or do you want to do good single damage, some debuffing, and maybe even some backup healing?)
Yet in the current system, if you have a Conjurer, there's 20 levels of barrier in trying out a Necromancer. In most cases if you want to pick a new class farther away in the class tree, where the barrier is only 10 levels, that chasm is still too large for many to cross, since you've already played much the same experience.
Then, with all new starting content and quests on top of this, replaying a character of a different race or a different class will truly be a lot more like starting something completely new.
Once this goes live, for those who are under level 20 and whose path wasn't already preordained in the current system, you'll be presented with a choice to make when you log in for the first time. At that point, you'll be able to directly pick which final class to become.
If you have upgraded any existing pre-20 skills or spells, they will be mapping to your final class spells in a similar manner. As a practical example, this means that if you upgraded your level 18 spell to Adept III quality, you won't have the original spell anymore, but a similar spell in your new class will be automatically granted to you at Adept III.
You can expect this to start making its way to the Test Server in the coming weeks, and we'll be talking more about it in the forums.
From all of us on the EverQuest II team, happy holidays to you and yours, both in game and out!
And, as always, good hunting,
- Scott