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Whats your opinion on hell levels?

ZBergzZBergz Member Posts: 20
in The Pub at MMORPG.COM

Was thinking (dangerous I know!) about how looking back I actually liked the extremely slow leveling at certain milestones.   At the time it seemed awful... But it definitely encouraged you to play well and not die if you ever wanted to see the next level.   Granted i had more time back then... but i feel it ensured to some degree that you knew how to handle your character as the game difficulty increased.  Those that couldn't hack it didn't progress!  

 

So what is your opinion regarding difficult character progression milestones?  This does not have to be specific to old school EQ.

Comments

  • TorikTorik Member UncommonPosts: 2,342

    I find it a good way to turn your players into mindless zombies.

    At first there is the challenge of figuring out the most efficient way of gaining xp.  Then the endless repetition sets in, muscle memory takes over and your brain starts to atrophy.   It is a pure endurance test where you see how long you can do a mindless task before yoru brain turns to mush and you start making mistakes. 

  • maplestonemaplestone Member UncommonPosts: 3,099
    If you want this sort of thing in a modern MMO, I'd recommend some horizontal progression system.  That's essentially what raiding is for example - an optional deteur that you can skip when the next expansion comes.
  • DanerilDaneril Member Posts: 41
    I used to HATE hell levels in Everquest back in the day. But looking back i kinda miss it. All leveling used to be hell back in the day actually but when you eventually leveled after days of grinding you felt really awesome. Now you can get to max level in any game in a few short days and its not the same anymore.

    image

  • Trudge34Trudge34 Member UncommonPosts: 392

    I miss the slow experience grind of the older EQ. The hell levels were appropriately named...while they sucked at the time, it was such a relief getting out of one and seeing the exp bar move exponentially faster, making it feel like you were leveling a lot quicker after one. I don't think I'd have the time to do too much in older EQ these days after going back to a certain server that recreates that Kunark feel, but I do hope they would keep it pretty close to the same exp grind of old when EQNext comes out. Maybe about 4/5 of the grind would be fine with me, but if they kept it the same that's cool too.

    Think the biggest problem with the way the leveling structure is these days is that everything end game focuses on group content, while none of the leveling requires grouping to max level. Getting to max level, a lot of people never feel the need to group, so don't learn their characters strengths and how to play in a group dynamic.  Part of the reason I quit Rift because I had no idea what to do at max level because the game never made me explore my character at all. Path of least resistance I've seen thrown around as to why just giving the option of going out and exploring and grouping on your own just won't work in MMOs when you're looking for that game that really encourages and rewards group play and communities. Plenty of MMOs out there now where it wouldn't hurt to bring back some old school EQ into a game now.

    Played: EQ1 (10 Years), Guild Wars, Rift, TERA
    Tried: EQ2, Vanguard, Lord of the Rings Online, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Runes of Magic and countless others...
    Currently Playing: GW2

    Nytlok Sylas
    80 Sylvari Ranger

  • waynejr2waynejr2 Member EpicPosts: 7,769
    I miss it in a way but even more I think the instant gratification crowd has complained so much that the devs have created game to cater to them. 
    http://www.youhaventlived.com/qblog/2010/QBlog190810A.html  

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