Going to give it a shot.

OK, been doing a lot of thinking and talking with some friends.  This blog, is going to become more.  The process has already been started.  I’ll continue to update this site, till hopefully later this week, when the full site will be put up.

So now your getting lazy, huh?

As long as video games have been around, you have had to mash a button of some sort.  Be it the 1 little red button on the side of the Atari Joystick, or one of like the current 2145 on the 360 controller.  If you didn’t mash a button, you would basically just be watching TV.  Now some folks are crying that EQ is becoming to “button mashy.”  What the FUCK?  REALLY?  To button mashy? I mean, I know we are all getting old.  A recent interview with ol Smedly boy, said the current average age of the EQ player 33-34.  Which seems about right on, from my experience in gaming in general.  I fall barely outside this average, but only just.

I mean, is our eye-hand coordination getting so bad, we can’t incorporate pressing an extra button every so often.  Something that has really brought this up is the current talked about revision to a Monk AA called, Quickfoot.  Long story short.  It did not work, sucked, and was broke.  So they decided to be lazy and just change it lowering the refresh time on the Flying Kick skill.  I think most people know this skill, it’s basically what Monks press all the time.

Insert Related EQforum Whining post here!

Personally, I welcome some new button to press.  The game while being all new, was not very interactive at release, when a lot of melee classes turned on auto attack, and pressed kick….kick…kick…. ooo bash..  kick.

Now some folks are gonna be like.. I’m old and getting Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Ya know, if your hands and wrist hurt too much to press some buttons in a video game.. maybe it’s time to hang it up.  I used to play a lot of FPS’s and yeh, I know what it feels likes for your hands to go cold and numb, so don’t whine to me.

Others are going to be on the side that, EQ is a social game.  So I can’t send cyber messages to the toon that is female, but I’m lonely and don’t care it’s a guy behind the toon, about wanting to shove my fist up their ass.  Again… EQ IS A VIDEO GAME.  It is about killing shit and getting stuff.   While you kill shit and get stuff, yes, you work with others, but at its base… KILL SHIT..GET STUFF.  nuff said.  If you wanna sit around in nothing but fireman boots and a cowboy hat, while typing with one hand as you beat off with the other, go find a tranny chat room.  Get outta my game.

Sure we have seen a huge increase in buttons to mash over the years.  With the addition of lots of skills, Discs, AA’s..  If your not mashing a bunch of buttons your taking up room in a raid where others would be more useful.  I know one Rogue, who I swear, only uses auto attack and backstab.  He is normally like 15-20th on the parse list, while being in some of the best gear in my guild.  I take that back.  In tower, on the head scryers, who stand there, and don’t move, he breaks the top 6-7… sometimes.

Anyhow, as the things we have to do increase from all these options, I think it’s what defines a good player from the bad, when they are able to keep up with the changes, and increase what their character can do.  Sure the Quickfoot AA is going to reduce the refresh on flying kick from 6 seconds, to 3 seconds.  But ya know, if you can’t keep up, that doesn’t mean you HAVE to press it every time it refreshes.  Instead it will mean you just suck.  But that’s ok.  The world needs sucky players.  Otherwise the good players wouldn’t have anything to compare themselves too…and point and laugh.

In the end, if you want to start automating skills, log out and go watch some TV.

I know they gave us an auto attack for ranged, and made it so bards have melody to twist.  And to that.. the auto attack for ranged made sense as we have the auto attack for melee And well melody.. only shitty bards use this.  The good ones still twist manually, in order to be more fluid and have more control over their lineup, incase they need to switch on the fly.

So go..KILL SHIT, GET STUFF.

In the beginning, God created… EQranter?!?

First and foremost, this is EQranter’s Blog. This is not some class forum. This is definitely not the EQ forums.

Here EQranter is god. Deal with it. EQranter is here to hopefully inform, maybe enlighten, and possibly even entertain you.

EQranter is NOT here to be EQ-Correct. Not even Politically Correct. If you can’t deal with the language or ideas, please feel free to move your ass back to some more child friendly website.

EQranter is a player, just like you, who has been playing the game since release. Yes that long. Not as super cool as those beta folks still lurking around, but long enough to be able to talk about every expansion with some knowledge.

EQranter has been a newbie, and remembers the days of full sets of banded armor.

EQranter has been a grouper, boxer, solo’r, molo’r, and last but not least a raider. He understands the fights between these groups. But also realizes most of the people posting on the EQforums are complete fucking idiots, with blinders on, not open to the others groups needs.

EQranter also KNOWS with 100% certainingly that REALLY only maybe 2% of the EQ population are GREAT players. 38% are Good enough/Decent. 20% get by on their class being needed, and the ability to smash their heads into the keyboard at the right time, pressing appropriate keys. While the bottom 40% just suck, and need to keep doing MM’s and Boomerangs, and whining about how hard the game is.

*to the tune of ACDC* We Salute you.

As most folks have become aware. On March 10th, UF raids in particularly is getting some retuning, along with some new content being released.  I think a lot of folks will agree that is needed for the game, as it will allow those who suck at playing their classes and leading raids, to now get happy shiny new loots from UF.  Unfortunately, I am in one of these guilds that has been banging their heads against UF.  We have not made any progress, but as my server options are limited, I put up with what I have too.  (on a side note: my guildies are nice, but sometimes I’d prefer asses who could play their characters instead of nice folks who can’t really follow basic tactics)

Before this update goes live, though, I’d like to salute all those guilds, who don’t suck.  And also, shake a fist at all those players whining about how hard UF is.  UF really is not any more difficult then say even Kunark was when it came out.  It’s not more difficult than ToV was.  People just have gotten either lazy, or what I really think has happened.. the majority of quality hardcore players has decreased to a point, that even “higher-end” raiding guilds have a majority of crap filling their ranks.  GoD was hard.  Most guilds could not progress into it when it came out.  Not even the bleeding edge ones.  But UF isn’t like that.  UF is challenging.  But not impossible.

I know, I know, I can hear the crys now.  “UF is to difficult for the casual gamer”,”UF is tuned to easy”, “BLAH blah Insert Random 102828page UF EQforum Crying Thread. Now sure. The people whining do have a point.  They want to progress.  And I’ll give them that.  Everyone wants to progress.  But we all know the problem was SoD was to easy, which resulted in lots of folks progressing to fast past their play skill.

In case you live in an EQ cave, you can check most of the remaining progression guilds status from this page:
http://www.lavanet.no/progress/index.php?expansion=UnderT6

Really, I must be fucking totally bias and blind.  I expect folks to play well, and know their classes.  Is that REALLY to much to ask?  Is that REALLY to much to expect?  Someone on the EQforums has a sig that I love, something along the lines of “For you $14.99 a month, play like you want to…For the Raids $809.46 know your role.”

I find this true, and to the point.  You wanna raid.  GREAT!  It’s your responsibility to learn everything, your responsibility to keep up on the current issues dealing with your class.  Your RESPONSIBILITY to try to better yourself, your guild, and those around you, while working as a fucking TEAM.  If YOU fuck up, don’t get mad when someone points it out.  Say thanks, appreciate the info, I’ll try that, and work to improve.  Don’t think you know everything, because you don’t.  Hell I don’t.  But ya know what, I damn well try to learn everything I can about my class.  If I’m getting out dps’s I send a tell to the other memebers of my class, and ask them what are they doing.  Do they have some tricks I’m not aware of.  Is this sort of behavior REALLY that outrageous to ask of your fellow guildies.   Now sure, this doesn’t apply to those in “family” style guilds.  And “family” style raid guilds just make my heart cry when I hear that term. I small part of me dies from that.

Now, I know a lot of folks will be like, but daddy, I paid my $40 for UF, I EXPECT TO PROGRESS.  Then I’ll say, what entities you to see everything?  If I paid $50 for a concert ticket, should I be entitled to fondle the lead singers girlfriends tits if I want?  No.  If I wanted to fondle her tits, I’d have to work for it.  Paying off roadies, maybe taking it up the ass from the drummer, whatever.  It’s the same thing.  You wanna experience all the content.  Awesome.  It’s here for you.  Now put in a little effort.  Learn some tricks.  Maybe bring back some old ones, gear up in the opening areas if needed, and rock that shit out.

I have a buddy, who started UF in full t3 SoD/MM gear.  You hear my right.  Not even fucking T5 Sod Gear.  His group even includes 2 healer mercs, and 1 tank merc.  And ya know what.  He is LOVING UF.  Why? B/c its a fucking challenge.  Does he die.  Yep.  Is he progressing fast.  Nope.  But is he slowly gearing up, and getting better everyday, and learning to handle mobs better everyday.  Goddamn right he is.

This shows me, not by hearsay, not by some Forum baby whining.. that it CAN be done, And not even in that good of gear.  People just don’t want to spend the time to work for it.

And back to the reason for this whole post in the first place.  I salute all those who put in the work, time, effort, sweat, to progress in UF before the retuning.  Keep rocking on.