Yes, Brad's major challenge then, is creating a player ecosystem and a requirement for interdependence in this modern, screwed up, ADD-riddled market that forces so many single-player elements.
Getting a buff as a newbie in FP or EC from higher level players is a good example of where a player begins to see this interdependence. EverQuest, by a mix of design and accident, fostered this. But just take a moment to reflect about everything involved just to get this: a level 5 necro wanting the same buff as a level 50 at the EC tunnel, SoW.
First and most obvious, making the skill available to every class by multiclassing or a unique skill system dilutes the power of the spell. So then, buffs should only be available to the most minimum of classes. And buffs that do the same thing with different names as window dressing counts towards this minimum. It has to be as exclusive as it is useful, else it will no longer be useful, but almost expected or required.
Secondly, for a utility spell like SoW, it actually has to provide utility. And what I mean is, if travel is quick and painless like WoW, if I could hop on a flying mount that I purchased in the Pantheon online store or obtained via the super exclusive dildo edition, then its utility is further diluted to near useless.
Thirdly, if these two criteria, that it's exclusive as possible & provides actual utility because the world design supports that utility, then people have to actually have areasonfor that utility. Why would you care about SoW when in combat if the death penalty is wimpy and painless? If I lose no experience dying to the young kodiak (fuck you young kodiaks), and I actually run faster than SoW as a ghost back to my corpse, what is the reason for this spell? Its utility is greatly lessened due to the screwed-up design of another mechanic, the death penalty, which goes back to the second point.
You can see that many, many factors influence one another in design. You can't have useful spells if everyone has them, the world isn't designed for them, and the penalties are so lax that it actually offsets the benefit of the damned utility in the first place.
SoW was exclusive enough by the class design, useful enough due to the world design, and provided enough benefit through other design elements like the death penalty that people actually sought it out. Those kinds of mechanics working so well together is what made EverQuest what it was.
Getting a buff as a newbie in FP or EC from higher level players is a good example of where a player begins to see this interdependence. EverQuest, by a mix of design and accident, fostered this. But just take a moment to reflect about everything involved just to get this: a level 5 necro wanting the same buff as a level 50 at the EC tunnel, SoW.
First and most obvious, making the skill available to every class by multiclassing or a unique skill system dilutes the power of the spell. So then, buffs should only be available to the most minimum of classes. And buffs that do the same thing with different names as window dressing counts towards this minimum. It has to be as exclusive as it is useful, else it will no longer be useful, but almost expected or required.
Secondly, for a utility spell like SoW, it actually has to provide utility. And what I mean is, if travel is quick and painless like WoW, if I could hop on a flying mount that I purchased in the Pantheon online store or obtained via the super exclusive dildo edition, then its utility is further diluted to near useless.
Thirdly, if these two criteria, that it's exclusive as possible & provides actual utility because the world design supports that utility, then people have to actually have areasonfor that utility. Why would you care about SoW when in combat if the death penalty is wimpy and painless? If I lose no experience dying to the young kodiak (fuck you young kodiaks), and I actually run faster than SoW as a ghost back to my corpse, what is the reason for this spell? Its utility is greatly lessened due to the screwed-up design of another mechanic, the death penalty, which goes back to the second point.
You can see that many, many factors influence one another in design. You can't have useful spells if everyone has them, the world isn't designed for them, and the penalties are so lax that it actually offsets the benefit of the damned utility in the first place.
SoW was exclusive enough by the class design, useful enough due to the world design, and provided enough benefit through other design elements like the death penalty that people actually sought it out. Those kinds of mechanics working so well together is what made EverQuest what it was.
