Last night, I was watching the EQ1 and EQ2 keynotes from SOE Live. There was quite the shocking announcement made as we were introduced to the idea of starting characters at level 85 with gear, a mount and spent AAs in EQ2. Details are still unknown and being worked out. All they really said is anyone can play them, even F2P folks. It sounds like a good way to get people into the game without putting them on the exact same level as everyone else. It’s no secret that most folks tend to skip the first x levels of any MMO. EQ1 sorely needs to do the same. The game is up to 100 levels with about 14,000(?) AAs. EQ1 is a non-stop grindfest and it’s about time they did something to alleviate that.
At any rate, there’s a great deal of speculation over this announcement , whether or not it’s good and how it will be implemented. I see them only giving the 4 basic classes in good and evil flavor. It can only be good for the long term health of the game. Having people come in at that level is frightening to some, but it also makes it easier for new people to find guilds if they don’t have to work through all that old content to be considered for membership. It puts people right in range of being able to group with level-capped people. Those at cap might be more willing to run some of those dungeons that are closer to their own level.
The Diary of an Evli Genius 