Hello again Istari***

[Eve]

I have been away from Istaria for a VERY long time. I played the game from OB and for 4 months after is Retail Release. There were things that I didn't like about the game that drove me away. I heard a rumor of Bankruptcy and such.

Today I happened to be surfing one of my many websites with the Ad for Horizons poped up. So I thought I might test the waters again. But first I'd like to hear some feedbackfrom Current Members.

How are the servers? I would be play from NA of course.
How is the support for the game? When I played it was awefule.
Has Character Advancement changes?
Any information on Dragons? When I left there were a lot of "black holes" surronding draongs and their advancement.
Any Server that is best to join?

And of course any other helpful information you could give.

Thanks in Advance

Eve

[Nosdracir]

In no particular order...

NA Servers:

Blight for testing
Order for Roleplay
Chaos for non-roleplay

Support is better. No it isn't. About the same. Depends. Many people get decent response from customer support and some don't. Devs are more responsive as they get in the game sometimes and read the forums.

Dragons are much more powerful now. They got boosts to armor and there's the Rite of Passage that gives them flight (long quest) and the Adult Rite of Passage is in progress. No lairs yet. Dragons are quite powerful now.

No huge changes in character advancement, 'cept there's lots of oldtimers who have take many schools to level 100 now.

Lots of lag problems have been fixed. It's possible to move during big attacks.

The world that you knew has changed completely. Almost no mob or resource locations are the same as you remember, except for the newbie islands. (There's a new special newbie tutorial island for dragons.)

Look in the downloads sections of these forums for Pekka's map pack and download and install it so you can find things. Note that Lesser Aradoth (Kion-Sslanis island) just got redesigned last week and the map does not reflect the new mobs and locations there.

If you have questions in-game, ask in the General and then Marketplace chat channels (Dragons if you're a dragon) and you'll get plenty of answers. There's lots of returning players these days so you can get a lot from just listening.

[imported_Stromgard]

Hello Eve and welcome back to Istaria. I think Nosdracir did a pretty good job of answering your questions fairly. There have been noticeable improvements over time, although there remainswork to be done. Best of luck in youradventures.

*sidenote*-If this is Eve who played on Expanse and was a member of The Mistwalkers good to see you.I posted an "ad" for our guild (Strata-Order server if you wish)over at MMORPG last week which Malice responded to and said he might be coming back also, I haven't run across him yet if he made it in.

[arseovrteakettl]

I just came back this week too and the game is so different from what I was when I left (just before merger) that I wouldn't have time or abuility to list all of the differences I have seen. It is worth coming back just to see that!!!

I reconnected with my guild and with old friends whom I missed while I was our exploring Norrath and Paragon City.

If you do come back, don't forget that your game may need to be tweaked a bit to get smooth performance. When you are first back on, there seems to be a lot of lag because of new files being downloaded -- sort of like when you first visit a new webpage? At least, I am guessing that's true. But quickly your performance will get better and comparable to any otehr game you have been playing.

As for support: you are not dealing with a big company like Sony. If you go into the irc channel you will see that the devs maintain a constant, streaming contact with the players who sign-on (and anyone can). If you submit support tickets and/or PM people in the forums you will get very good support, at least I have.

[GreenEyedDragoness]

Welcome back!

[Eve]

Well I was in little bit of shock when I came back. I did have two characters left both ended up on the chaos server. My beloved Dragon was still there but it had been so long I couldnt remember how to craft. And well I still don't. I started a new character to relearn some skills. I did however try and ask some of the other dragons that were around if they could assist me a momentand help me with a few questions only to be ignored completely.

Is it really this snobish? I know dragons like to think they are but to not even help out a fellow dragon trying to learn again was alittle surpriseing.

[Snowdonia Honeythorn]

I hear comments a bit about the Dragon channel and being ignored but there is always a good chance they either 1) missed it or 2) are afk. If they were running around right in front of you and ignored you then that is most definately rude and no, that isn't the norm at all.

I suggest trying the Marketplace channel for some answers to general questions. Usually someone there who can answer any question being posed.

[LaughingOtter]

Is it really this snobish? I know dragons like to think they are but to not even help out a fellow dragon trying to learn again was alittle surpriseing.

Sorry your request for help went unanswered; that really is not the norm, but it does happen sometimes. Dragon and General have fewer people than Marketplace, but requests for help usually get results. You might introduce yourself as a returning player in need of a refresher course in game play. If there is a conversation going on, you might get lost in the shuffle, especially in MP, but don't let that discourage you. If I'm on, feel free to send me a /tell and I'll do my best to answer your questions.

It's not uncommon for folks to help you get re-equipped, buff up your hoard, and/or slide you a little walking-around money. Oh, and be prepared for a mess of guild invitations to be headed your way. [;)]

Welcome back!

[Nosdracir]

One of the strengths of HZ is that you can have a dozen chat channels open at once, both private tells and public ones. [:D]

One of the weaknesses of human players is that they can't monitor a dozen chat channels at once. [:S]

If an unanswered questions, followed by a "Bueller?....Bueller?..." doesn't get at least a "lol" out of someone, then the problem is just that all those names listed on the right are looking elsewhere. Like the other said, try the Marketplace and you'll generally find someone who can answer, or who is even willing to take a long Q&A session back to Dragon or General or a private tell.

[imported_Twelvebagger]

There are plenty of helpful hands on chaos, be it dragon or biped.

Being ignored is NOT the norm in HZ.

I am on Chaos, feel free to look me up if you need help. If I cannot help you I will find someone who can and will.

Best of luck,
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