Forums » General Pantheon Discussion

Experiences We Love To Hate

    • 223 posts
    October 2, 2021 8:09 PM PDT

     

    Most of us here have been around the MMO block a few times and likely have a number of experiences that we vividly remember. Of these, which one did you despise the most at the time but would like to see its return in Pantheon?

     

    For example, for me, it would be EQ, Gfay, the first time (and every time after) I was blinded by an orc priest. The first experience was one of shock; thinking something went wrong with my computer, but thereafter it would be the very real impact of not seeing what was going on in game. For those who don't know, the entire screen went black upon blindness. Did I hate it? Yes. But it engaged me in the game and had a very real world impact to me, the person playing the character. At that moment, the fourth wall was broken.

    • 2138 posts
    October 2, 2021 9:24 PM PDT

    "Now I know why caged birds sing, for I like them have touched the sky"

    Learned death fear from naked corpse runs, high levels so tight group and class knowledge, distant dungeon, great rewards. You are 6, the pull brings 3, nothing you cant handle, intuitively you all switch into your different rolls because of the unexpected pull and...How come the tank is dying, how come the ranger isnt rooting/snaring, how come the chanter is...dead?!, how come the cleric isnt doing anything! how come...I can't move! As you watch the others in your group die off. You are left alive, the mobs, flopping casually around you. You can still communicate with your group, you are still there you let them know, but not dieing, strangely, then you can move and you take a step to be smacked almost to death and then- you cannot move or cast again- almost had a evac/gate/remove self spell off. Suddelnly through some quirk of AI logic...

    You're in a Charm loop. Only way to get out is if your group or another group kills those mobs, otherwise, as soon as the spell fades, they'll charm you again. so, you have to decide, its a 25-30min run back- those guys can do something else and leave you to it, or you can hag around until they get there to try to get you. or someone else does.

    You can only pray for death, praying for the time it breaks to annoy your captors enough that they will take umbrage and end your life. But no...you are charmed again.

    You cannot shout, but in the distance you can hear: "Disco 1". "Bugs" , "Crypt"

    • 150 posts
    October 3, 2021 1:26 AM PDT

    EverQuest: Plane of Sky, island 3. Two thirds of the raid gets gravity fluxed by an avenging gazer (we weren't desperate for more key pieces, a monk just didn't know not to pull them), flung up into the air and sent into a free fall off the side before zoning and splashing in the water in the East Freeport. Nobody, other than the monk, knew it was incoming...we were still busy finishing off a few mobs already in camp. And now, before we can even swim to the docks and regroup, the raid promptly is called by officers because a fraction of the original raid force isn't enough to contend with the higher islands. Meanwhile, the whole guild is still laughing at the sudden "wtf just happened"-ness of it all. Our monk-in-training never lives that moment down. Every sky raid after that, you remembered to have your back turned towards the center of the island on incoming while staying far away from the edges.

    Also, simulated repops on project1999, AKA earthquakes. Similar to the blind spell, having your screen shake violently in place for several seconds...you never forget that first time it caught you completely off guard. If you were on a lower level player in the wrong place at the wrong time, you needed to gate or zone out ASAP, otherwise the respawning mobs would send you back to your bindpoint, naked.


    This post was edited by Leevolen at October 3, 2021 1:38 AM PDT
    • 2419 posts
    October 3, 2021 10:53 AM PDT

    Lafael said:

    Of these, which one did you despise the most at the time but would like to see its return in Pantheon?

    That would have to be Rabies from EQ1.  An effect that completely offset your natural, sitting health and mana regen and lasted for hours at a time when the longest buffs lasted barely 20 minutes.  The amount of effort it took to dispell/cure Rabies would cost a Cleric, Shaman or Druid nearly their full manapool.  It was ridiculous and yet it was something you actually feared.  Yes, only a few NPCs could actualy give it to you (various mummies and rabid bears) and they only existed in a few zones and yet as quickly as Rabies was something you needed to be wary of, it quickly disappeared completely from the game.  Past level 15 or so Rabies was never a thing ever again (there were 2 NPCs in Tower of Frozen Shadow that could give you rabies but nothing else anywhere).  Sad, really.

    That right there, something that you dreaded, something that you never wanted to ever appear on your buff bar only ever something you come across for a few levels then never again, is the tragedy of many things in EQ1.  Gravity Flux, Blind, Fear, Knockback, Rabies, Stuns, NPCs that gate..the list goes on.  While each could be annoying at times, they were things against which you had to be prepared because you never knew which NPCs where could use these things against you. 

    My hope for pantheon is that such effects (and I really do want all these to be in Pantheon) I want them to exist across all levels of the game.

    • 223 posts
    October 3, 2021 4:28 PM PDT

    Vandraad said:

    That would have to be Rabies from EQ1... Past level 15 or so Rabies was never a thing ever again (there were 2 NPCs in Tower of Frozen Shadow that could give you rabies but nothing else anywhere).  Sad, really.

    I had completely forgotten that rabies was a thing in EQ until you mentioned it. And now that I think of it, Blind and charm were similar. 

    • 178 posts
    October 3, 2021 9:01 PM PDT

    The boats in EQ - hated them. If you weren't a porting class and could not group with someone to port, then taking the boats was a pain. Butcherblock to Freeport was 15 minutes one way and there was only one boat. Miss the boat and you had to wait for it to return (30 minutes). Then board the boat and reach your destination - potentially 45 minutes of just waiting (or rather swimming around the dock to improve your swimming skill - of what it's worth). And then nothing to do on the boat. And the potential to lag or crash (back in the days of dial up) and then stuck in the middle of nowhere and no boat.

    But I would like for boats to return. I would like a boat to essentially be a zone. Up on the top deck it could be like the boats of EQ where it travels through a zone - maybe to reach destinations otherwise unable to reach like islands, for instance.

    But once you go belowdeck then it is a different zone. Perhaps needing to find a captain and speak with him could speed up boat travel so that he may direct you up a unique set of stairs to the upper deck that would zone you into your destination (not the same as the "other" stairs that would simply zone you to the boat deck that is traveling through the zone so you end up on deck wherever the boat happens to be at that time). It isn't insta-travel (need to zone into the below deck then need to find a NPC to talk to that ultimately gets you to your desired zone) and it isn't a long-ass wait.

    Perhaps unique NPCs within the bowels of the boat. Unique drinks or crafting items. A PVP brawling room. Bulletin boards. gaming tables. Unique quests or even parts of quests. Maybe even a dungeon within the lower bowels of the boat (another zone in). Just give a reason to actually use the boat from time to time. I know, why not just make it a city and forget about the whole boat thing - but it's what I would like to see return - but with a better implementation.

    • 150 posts
    October 4, 2021 3:26 AM PDT

    muscoby said:

    The boats in EQ - hated them. If you weren't a porting class and could not group with someone to port, then taking the boats was a pain. Butcherblock to Freeport was 15 minutes one way and there was only one boat. Miss the boat and you had to wait for it to return (30 minutes). Then board the boat and reach your destination - potentially 45 minutes of just waiting (or rather swimming around the dock to improve your swimming skill - of what it's worth). And then nothing to do on the boat. And the potential to lag or crash (back in the days of dial up) and then stuck in the middle of nowhere and no boat.

    I had to look it up because it's been a while, but it turns out there were two ships that crossed the Ocean of Tears.

    Stormbreaker

    Sirensbane

    Which still isn't great because I also remember sitting at the docks waiting for what felt like an eternity. At least we had music to listen to at the Freeport docks and druids to watch quadding at Butcherblock's. But it didn't help that the ships tended to break down, so the only way to be certain that one was even coming was to /who all and ask one of the lower level players in that zone if they were on board. 

    If we're including RPGs, than I would also say Dragon's Dogma. Being stifled for the first time by a Wyvern at bluemoon tower, I assumed something was wrong with my keyboard because my go-to attacks no longer worked.

    • 223 posts
    October 4, 2021 6:16 AM PDT

    I always told myself EQ was into hyper-realism with boats that kept needing servicing.

    And Dragon's Dogma; truly if there was a(nother) game that needed a proper sequel. Thank you for reminding me of it. A game where night time was something to fear (especially early on).

    Best quotes ever.

    When the weak court death, they find it.


    This post was edited by Lafael at October 4, 2021 6:19 AM PDT
    • 9115 posts
    October 7, 2021 4:00 AM PDT

    This topic has been promoted for my CM content, please continue the discussion and have fun! :)

    "Hot Topic - Experiences We Love To Hate - Do you have any MMORPG experiences you love to hate? Join in on this community-created thread on our official forums
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    • 255 posts
    October 7, 2021 6:09 AM PDT

    Lafael said:

     

    For example, for me, it would be EQ, Gfay, the first time (and every time after) I was blinded by an orc priest. The first experience was one of shock; thinking something went wrong with my computer

     

    I had one of those moments. For me it was in the George of King Xorbb with the beholders which blinded you. I think I was farming ore or clay. I actually took a video of my monitor going blank and I banged it and the picture came back.

    I then put the 0.3mp video onto a floppy disk and took my monitor with the disk in for repair under warrenty with video to show it going blank.

    They took the PCB out and gave it a solution bath and tested it and found not fault surprising enough.

    It was only after that I realised it was the mobs blinding me and not a faulty monitor. Well I got a nice clean PCB out of it. Back then if only the UI had stayed on the screen and the picture in the middle of the UI screen back then went blank, it would have saved me some bother.

     

     

    • 724 posts
    October 7, 2021 6:46 AM PDT

    I just really loved and hated getting lost.  Discombobulated after running from a mob and finding no sense of direction.  It was exciting and stressful.  I couldn't just log out, I had to find a way.  If I died I lost items and effort. I would mark it as a learning experience and within a month be lost somewhere else.  I loved it, but it also could be frustrating, I would change a thing from that time. 

    Now I know there will be online maps on some wiki, but I'll do my best to ignore then and hold fast to the idea that when I'm playing I am role playing another entity and maps do not exist.   I'll ask direction and get lost again.  So if you come across my body in some area feel free to take note and comment somewhere that you found StoneFish's body.  

    • 438 posts
    October 7, 2021 10:14 AM PDT
    The fear of running through Kithicor during the night. Was wild for a lot of levels with those undead chasing you.
    • 122 posts
    October 7, 2021 6:48 PM PDT

    I always loved to hate (but mostly loved) being feared in EQ1.  You didn't know where you'd end up.  You could end up running into a group of angry mobs, over a cliff, or into water where it could be a pain to get out of.  Maybe I just loved the feeling of being helpless, I did enjoy naked corpse runs after all.

    • 810 posts
    October 7, 2021 7:58 PM PDT
    With all the new MMOs out I feel like it's all love to love now. Hatred/fear make the world.

    Corpse runs, begging for help, making friends. Everyone has been there.

    The grind. Avoiding death matters. Do something stupid and lose a day of play.

    Low magic world. Magic items are rare. A sword is a sword. I don't need or want 20 magic items a level to salvage or vendor. Crafting is suddenly relevant now too.

    I want the fear to keep players from being idiotic.
    • 150 posts
    October 17, 2021 9:16 PM PDT

    Lafael said:

    I always told myself EQ was into hyper-realism with boats that kept needing servicing.

    At least now we can opt to swim to another continent, since the majority of the world won't be divided with zonelines.

    And Dragon's Dogma; truly if there was a(nother) game that needed a proper sequel. Thank you for reminding me of it. A game where night time was something to fear (especially early on).

    Arise of Awakened looks to be the next best thing, due out in 2023 or thereabouts. Honestly just wish DD had been seen through to completion. Apparently the main quest would have brought the arisen to the moon, which is of course absent from the night sky. At least there is a sequel in the works, according to leaks.

    • 223 posts
    October 17, 2021 11:03 PM PDT

    I have heard that as well about the sequel. I heard DD sold well enough, so I'm puzzled that Capcom didn't do more with the IP (I.e. releasing the online version to the West).

    • 49 posts
    October 18, 2021 4:23 AM PDT

    My cleric was once charmed while in a PUG at the entrance of Paw. After the group wiped to a train, my charmed character followed the enchanter gnoll as a pet. I could only watch as I got dragged further and further into the depts of paw. It was extremy frigtening as I didn't know the place. I could basically just await the charm to break and me dying. I tried to memorize the route we took, but it was impossible.

    I don't recall how or if I ever got my corpse back, but I assume I did because my cleric lived to see a few more levels and expansions. But it was a terrifying thought not being in control and the fear of loosing your corpse.

    • 1273 posts
    October 18, 2021 1:25 PM PDT

    Learning things "the hard way" in general.  Do something stupid, pay the price.  Jumping off Kelethin because you think it's a nice short cut?  Probably won't do THAT again lol.  Run through a camp of higher level mobs thinking you can outrun them then get rooted?  That was dumb!  

     

    These things seem frustrating, but they really teach you to respect the world.