After all these years, a weakling

[Hrann]

So, I've been mostly out of the game for about 8 or 9 months now, mainly because I was trying out some of the other stuff out there.  I always knew I would come back, and for the last three months I've been logging on from time to time to try.  But I'm starting to think I'm not going to now.

Here's my problem.  I've been playing EQ since release, and my Beastlord since about 10 months after Luclin came out.  I've put a ton of time into Hrann, building him up very slowly since I was never into raiding much.  I was starting to feel decently powerful, with almost 200 AAs, and equipment that was finally a little better than you could buy in the bazaar.  However, when I come back now, I feel so weak.  I feel like I'm almost starting all over again; soloing in DoN is almost too dangerous; if I get two I have to run.  Everybody I used to know has literally twice the hps I have unbuffed.

One of the reasons I've always liked EQ was that you got to continually build your character up.  But now I'm realizing that there are people that can get powerlevelled past my strength in a couple weeks.  After all these years its difficult to come back to that.  Is it just that everyone is raiding now, or has mudflation just really taken hold in the last 10 months?

I guess I'll hang around to see if DoD can catch my interest.  Getting completely crushed by everything lately is just not fun anymore; I'd like to feel somewhat powerful after putting 100s of days of work into my character.

[Jkal_Shihar]

I feel for ya. When I came back I was in same boat. I had to keep trekking along till I got 70 and some semi decent things to me. Not much for raiding either (mostly just cant find anyone for the time frame I really would like to raid). Tried solo'n a DoN zone and ran with my tail between my legs. It took me since March to get back up to speed though. It literally felt like I had to relearn everything (I left just before OoW release).

[Grbage]

Really, its the mudflation you are seeing.
-DoN armor is much easier to get then LDoN ever thought about being and a whole lot better so you see more of it running around.
-DoN cultura,l fully auged out, is extremely nice.
-OOW tier 1 and single group armor drops again are better then what most casuals would of been able to get prior to OOW.

The last year has seen a large jump in casual gear that is available in the game. You could catch up in a very short time without the help of a raiding guild.

[kabbus]

The game has become too complicated anymore for people to come back to it after being away for a long while.  It mostly has to do with the fact of Verant making certain skills/features only available with certain expansions.  Its just too dang confusing anymore.  And standing around for hours waiting to get a buff has become real time consuming, provided you ever get one..  I refuse to play anymore without KEI.  They could have spent their effort making KEI merchants or potions instaed of the npc's that morph you into whatever you want to become.

And to top it off, now everything in the bazaar is so insanely priced, the economy is shot in the game.  People keep claiming the muramite runes are so plentiful and easy to get, however if that was actually true, then they would not be charing 20,000p for one rune in the bazaar, and it keeps going UP.

[DontPetBear]

Actually they do sell kei in a bottle now.  Elixir of Clarity X i belive its called.  gogo no more waiting for chanter buffs in Pok.

[Koullyn]

LOL, Verant has not been part of EQ since the Velious release. :)

[Sorien]

The game has become too complicated anymore for people to come back to it after being away for a long while.  It mostly has to do with the fact of Verant making certain skills/features only available with certain expansions.  Its just too dang confusing anymore. 

True as the above poster said.  Verant isn't the ones calling the shot any more.

And standing around for hours waiting to get a buff has become real time consuming, provided you ever get one..  I refuse to play anymore without KEI.  They could have spent their effort making KEI merchants or potions instaed of the npc's that morph you into whatever you want to become.

Umm, they do have potions for KEI, etc...  The fact that you refuse to play without KEI, is your decision.  I'm lvl 62 and chain solo Grieg's End mobs for hours on end without any breaks in between, etc...  with my own self buffs.  Learn to play and maybe you will have a little more enjoyment rather than sit in PoK doing nothing while waiting for buffs.

And to top it off, now everything in the bazaar is so insanely priced, the economy is shot in the game. 

Not true.  Just gotta hire a Bazaar trader to find your items cheap.  I have a relationship with a guy who enjoys bazaar mule'ing quite a bit.  I tell him the equipment that i am looking for and the price that I would like to pay.  He finds it 90% of the time at the price I am asking for and I give him a 2Kpp finders fee.  I got my DFC for 20K way back in the day.  My spell Spirit of Snow for 300pp or something low like that, etc...  I also have a Guilded Drakeguard Wrist item for cheap from him, a Copper Hammer of Striking, ummm... The list goes on and on.  I have over half of my gear from him for very cheap.

People keep claiming the muramite runes are so plentiful and easy to get, however if that was actually true, then they would not be charing 20,000p for one rune in the bazaar, and it keeps going UP.

Muramite runes are definately very very very very easy to get.  Get yourself a group to WoS.  Every named that is killed, usually drops a rune for 66, 67, or 68 spells.  I'm only 62, and I now have almost all of my 66, 67, & 68 spells banked and ready for me to level up.  To put it in perspective, SP'S (63 & 64 PoP spells) are way more difficult to get than the Muramite Runes for 66, 67, & 68 spells, since I still do not have all of my 63 & 64 spells yet.