Trivial Changes (The Good, The Bad and The Ugly)

[Zacatac]

Correct, the % modifier does work in the Ammo slot, but the +stats won't. Which is fine for me since I just bag mine most of the time anyway.

There are probably some people who still use it for the stats though, especially if you want the +Cha bonus, like enchanters or bards. So making it only ammo slot equippable wouldn't be a good thing for them.

[Bobaten]

What I don't understand is why people seem to want a free extra 15%. Just because you hit 300 skill, why should you be able to make something that bumps you to 345? Currently there are a few, relatively hard to get, items with 15% skill mods. Those items are goals to work for, and it lessens the accomplishment of earning them if the same skill mod was easily available. Similar difficulty drops for the other tradeskills could be added to balance it.
On an opposite note, if there was going to be a second level of trophies added, I think it would make sense if they required an additional mastery to craft. A master tailor might have a good idea of what he wants in a perfect tool, but it would take a master smith to forge it. This would benefit the master artisans as they would be the only ones who could create all the super trophies.

[Boleslav]

It's another raid vs. casual thing. Even though Luclin is several expansions old now, no individual can just walk in and camp one of those. There is no quest that would allow an individual or even a single group a chance to get one of these.

These are items that drop from raid mobs. Luclin might have been the worst of the 'time-sink' expansions for raiding. So people who don't raid, are not going to have a chance to get one of these, ever. It's not that people want them to drop from trees, just that it shouldn't require a raid to get.

So to have the best chance for success in a skill, you must be (or have been) a raider. As we can see from our poll, there is a huge diversity in who avid tradeskillers are. To make the best items only available to those who have all the other advantages already is frustrating.

On the other hand, it's not so easy to make an equitable fix. If it was something within the realm for a lower level casual to aspire to, ubers would have it done 3 minutes after it is released (or so).

I like Caladel's suggestion. He said to limit mod items to 5% above the skill cap. He got critiqued as wanting to ruin something that others have simply because he does not. However, he is a pretty uber character and if he wanted one, he would get it soon enough.

The existence of those dropping from a raid event further points out that to succeed at anything in this game you really should join a raiding guild. I don't like that message, and many others do not either.

In my opinion, people who are active raiders have more than enough advantages in EQ as it is. Allowing those who have a raid item from 3 expansions ago to have a PERMANENT 10% better chance to succeed on the hardest combines is simply not fair.

Boleslav Forgehammer
Paladin of Brell in his 67th Campaign
E'ci – Sacred Destiny

[Aavar]

the 15% hammer is not a raid event any more.
the 15% tailoring or 10% tinkering robe is still a raid event more or less.
the 15% blacksmighting gloves from VT is still a raid event or a very very very long crawl for 1 to 2 groups.

the 10% smithing belt? from seru is not a raid event anymore.

what other items are there?

[Delores Mulva]

The alchemy item from Vex Thal would still be a raid item. Shei can be killed by one group without issue as long as Va'Dyn (that big rock with the billions of HPs) is available to be charmed. Since Shei's death touch is actually just a big nuke, the big rock can absorb them without even coming close to dying.

[Ghismonda]

The alchemy item from Vex Thal would still be a raid item. Shei can be killed by one group without issue as long as Va'Dyn (that big rock with the billions of HPs) is available to be charmed. Since Shei's death touch is actually just a big nuke, the big rock can absorb them without even coming close to dying.

!!! Why didn't I think of that??

This seems way too smart. It's not an exploit, is it?

[Appren Hightowerr]

No more exploit than charming in TIPT, or charming the Spectral Trushar Worshipper in Uqua, but I have to admit, I hadnt thought about that. Certainly worth a try, the robe would be nice to have for my tinkering.

[Wyvernwill]

As for the difficulty in getting the Smithing 15% hammer and the Sheers, they are fairly easy encounters by todays standards.

I keep hearing "Oh, it's not fair that this person has this because they could do that and I can't." Everquest was never designed to be FAIR. The more time/effort you put into it the greater the rewards are you reap. I play two-4 hours a night tops, the most I really can do is exp group or solo. I realize that my friends that are on 8-12 hours a day and raid constantly are going to get better things than myself.

I mean, if you all wanted it to be fair... SoE could just give everyone 15% mod all trades, all the best pieces of gear, full exp and AA, and max skill to all tradeskills and every spell/AA ever created. That would balance the game in the realm of fair, but seriously, what would the point be of playing if you had everything in the game and had nothing to work towards?

I don't know about everyone else, but the reason I choose to start working on tradeskills is because they were difficult and that they were something that I could work towards and reap the rewards when everything was said and done. What's the accomplishment if everything is equally easy as everyone else?

[Blayze Meduenin]

I keep hearing this 'they arent a raid mob anymore'

says who exactly?

maybe people in RAID gear can 1 group them, but if people in non raid gear could 1 group them they would NEVER have been a raid mob!!

for people in non raid gear they are STILL a raid!

thats the point for non raiders, they STILL need a raid for thes mobs that RAIDERS can now 1 group due to the vast gear differences.

Yes im aware that non raiders have better gear now, but that better non raid gear is still only as good as raid gear people had at the time of the expansion, and they still needed a raid to do the mob.

Not to mention what about people who dont even have the higher non raid gear, its even more difficult for them.

If anything its a harder raid for non raid geared people now than it was for raid geared people then!

[Eggszecutor]

Just as long as I'm able to obtain the components (by myself) that are necessary to get my skills to 300, I won't complain. I'm willing to wait out the storm.

This is not directed towards anyone, but should be used as a perspective on things. I do believe that some warning should have been given and if this was a mistake, it should be fixed until it is ready to go live.

HOWEVER, this is a little hardship. No, it's a teenie tiny hardship. Even for the person that has 1000 AWHides and 1000 Chains. Sell your stuff in the bazaar and plan for the future. That may mean just saving up your plat for whatever the devs have planned. Yes, some players were inconvienced and lost hours in a game and a few bits of data on the EQ server recording how much everquest money you have. There are people in Souteast Asia who lost every "real" possession they owned (included 250,000 of their friends and family) from the tsunami 2.5 months ago. Get your priorities straight.

The game isn't over. It's just changing. It's that change that keeps us playing. We don't play super mario brothers or sonic or whatever gamecube/xbox/PS game for 6 years. They don't change and once we've had our fill, we're done with them.

This being said. We should all expect changes to every tradeskill. This nerf on the tailoring combines is our warning for other skills. If you have a plan for skilling up, you should take care of it now. You don't know when the next patch will come that will change the other tradeskill trivials.

[Bobaten]

I keep hearing this 'they arent a raid mob anymore'

says who exactly?

maybe people in RAID gear can 1 group them, but if people in non raid gear could 1 group them they would NEVER have been a raid mob!!

for people in non raid gear they are STILL a raid!

thats the point for non raiders, they STILL need a raid for thes mobs that RAIDERS can now 1 group due to the vast gear differences.

Yes im aware that non raiders have better gear now, but that better non raid gear is still only as good as raid gear people had at the time of the expansion, and they still needed a raid to do the mob.

Not to mention what about people who dont even have the higher non raid gear, its even more difficult for them.

If anything its a harder raid for non raid geared people now than it was for raid geared people then!

While gear certainly helps alot, the big difference between the Luclin raid era and today is 10 extra levels, and the spells that came with them. While Vex Thal targets were the end game of Luclin, Akheva and Ssra were prerequisites to VT access. Today's bazaar gear is much better than pre VT raid gear. Luclin era raid mobs are overall weaker than south field named in Wall of Slaughter.

[Jekrnu Lanys]

I dont mind having mods on raid encounters, but having them on raid encounters that nobody does anymore really bugs me. Adding additional modifications to current raid targets(Aka PoP+) would help distribute these more evenly as well. There is no way I would be able to get my guild to do Vex Thal again for any reason, and Shei I would probably have to box the entire group or get lucky and have a bunch of friends log on all at once.
Basically, adding them to more items would help. It doesnt have to be raid targets, but since the mods are so powerful it makes sense to put them on raid targets.(Heck, even Lord Mith Marr would be better than trying to get a group to crawl through VT)

[Delores Mulva]

No exploit, Ghismonda, but you still need to be smart to do it. Someone with a DA-type spell needs to take the first Shei touch so you don't lose the ENC by accident, you need to kill the initial adds (there won't be adds after that because they spawn when people die), you need someone who can grab snap aggro on Shei and hopefully The Va'Dyn when charm breaks, then lose that aggro when charm is back... basically, you need you!

[Wyvernwill]

Such negativity for no reason. Talendor and Severilous use to be raid mobs too. In fact, I remember whiping to them with 60 person raids. I see 3 people who've almost never been on raids walk up and beat the tar out of both of them. Granted, that's two expansions before Luclin, but it illustrates the same point.

Regardless of what one may believe, being lvl 70 makes an insane difference when it comes to older content tuned to be meant for a Max lvl of 50,60 or even 65. Yes, even the PoP expansion became a LOT easier because of the level cap increase. It may still take raids, but overall, the exp camps I use to do that were tough, PoEarth/Fire/Water, are now all rather easy without much risk vs GoD and OoW that are tuned with lvl 70 in mind. (Yes, you can argue the level cap wasn't in place for GoD, but the sheer power of the mobs you can tell was aimed at a lvl cap increase that didn't come until Omens.)

My point is, before you go saying "That's impossible for me! I have no raid gear!" I say go and try, the worst that happens is you may wipe once or twice, but then again, you could easily beat the mob and get what you have been searching for too. Try something new, you might not be disappointed.

[Cellan]

Such negativity for no reason. Talendor and Severilous use to be raid mobs too. In fact, I remember whiping to them with 60 person raids. I see 3 people who've almost never been on raids walk up and beat the tar out of both of them. Granted, that's two expansions before Luclin, but it illustrates the same point.

Regardless of what one may believe, being lvl 70 makes an insane difference when it comes to older content tuned to be meant for a Max lvl of 50,60 or even 65. Yes, even the PoP expansion became a LOT easier because of the level cap increase. It may still take raids, but overall, the exp camps I use to do that were tough, PoEarth/Fire/Water, are now all rather easy without much risk vs GoD and OoW that are tuned with lvl 70 in mind. (Yes, you can argue the level cap wasn't in place for GoD, but the sheer power of the mobs you can tell was aimed at a lvl cap increase that didn't come until Omens.)

My point is, before you go saying "That's impossible for me! I have no raid gear!" I say go and try, the worst that happens is you may wipe once or twice, but then again, you could easily beat the mob and get what you have been searching for too. Try something new, you might not be disappointed.

Funny, in Time gear Creator in Ssra still gives a single a group a run for their money for a chance at the 15% smithing mod hammer. I can solo Talendor by turning on attack and going AFK but that has nothing to do with some of the mobs that drop skillmod items. I really don't think a devoted tradeskiller in less than EP gear is going to kill creator in a non-raid.