A few questions before joining...

[Glubber]

What is the current state of the game? The goodbye forum does not leave me feeling too well about joining but I want to have an open mind. Are future expansions in the works??

[Snowdonia Honeythorn]

Not to my knowledge nor are there any planned for anytime in the near future.

One thing I love about HZ is it hasn't tried to take advantage of it's player base by forcing them to buy expansions to gain new content. Content is constantly added to the game which include new lands, mobs, formulae, etc.

If you want to get a better idea of what kind of changes, additions, etc are being added regularly to the game go here (for the most recent patch) and here (for recent and past news) and here (for what's to come) and have a read of even just the most recent patches we've had. I think they will give a bit more positive outlook on the game than a bunch of goodbye posts.

A game really should never be judged by goodbye posts or any posts on the respective games forums for that matter. It's just not the right place to garner an accurate representation of what the game really is like.

[Snowdonia Honeythorn]

Edited previous post to add some links. Just a heads up in case you reviewed the post before the changes were made. :)

[Levity]

People who are leaving are by definition unhappy. It might be financial, but more often it is because the game does not suit them. Also, people generally post more to complain than to say nice things, that being human nature. Note, however, that there are not so many goodbye posts compared to all the people still here and posting in vigorous discussions.

This is not a game that does expansions, as such. However, lots of new stuff comes free in patch after patch. We've gotten new resources, new crafting formulae, new monsters, even new land masses, on a somewhat regular basis. In the past, we got two new races, though we did have to do a lot of construction and fighting to "earn" them. Some time in the foreseeable future, we will have new things to build on our lots and Dragons will at last have lairs they can carve out.

I'll reiterate what is usually said to questions like yours: download the free 7 day trial. Explore the world, learn the game mechanics, join the public chat groups and see for yourself what Istaria has to offer in terms of community, character flexibility, and interesting things to see and do.

I've been playing HZ since day one of launch and I still find interesting things and I adore the friends I've found here. Please read more than the goodbye posts -- read the hellos, read the server boards, review the hot topics on the General forum.

Welcome (I hope) to Istaria!

-Levity Merrel, on Order

[Glubber]

I should have stated the "expanions" part more claerly. I simply meant updates to the content of the game [:D].

I thoroughly appreciate the loyalty that most of you show toward the game, that impresses me a great deal. It reminds me quite a bit of how those of us defended EQ pre PoP.

Tell ya what, below is my personality, you guys give me feedback as to what you believe I should try in Horizons (yes I'm joining [:D]).

1. I love loot but I like the loot I quest/create/barter for. I am definitely not a loot w___e, not even close. I love to better my character through hard work/dedication.

2. My favorite class has always been the ranger or bard. I love playing a class that is very underutilized but not so broken/boring that they are not fun.

3. I love playing odd combinations (Gnome Cleric, Erudite Paladin, Iksar Warrior, etc).

4. I absolutely love tradeskills, I maxed every single one in eq and am still upset the cap wasn't raised [:'(].

5. I tend to work odd hours so a class that can solo would be a plus but is DEFINITELY not a must.

6. I love to joke and kid and usually always go out of my way to buff/assist others.


Well that about sums it up, let me know what you think.

Glubber

[Rhaiannon]

lets see.
1) the crafting system is unrivaled, so most of the best gear can be created by you if you put time into it, there are blighted loot drops that are better, but they are rare. then there are ultra rare items that are just plain astounding, but since they came out ive never looted one and only seen two.

2) i play as a dragon, so im not sure on ranger, but the bard class we unfortunatly do not yet have. you might try suggesting it, they are getting good at listening [:)]

3) Odd combinations are fun, with the addition of multiclassing you can be just about anything you want. sslik (iksar) warrior/mage/cleric/paladin/reaver/spiritist/etc if you feel like leveling up a biped. A dragon (yes, they can fly and breathe fire) is much harder and at the lower levels extremely weak, but at the higher levels can hold their own alongside a multiclassed biped.

4) You will not run out of tradeskills to do, there are over a dozen of them for a biped and each one of them goes from lvl 1 to 100. some are based off others, but if you want to be able to do more or less everything, i suggest starting with miner and gatherer since they will let you get resources faster, ask a biped for more info on that. Dragons can make any spell and everything they use, but only have one craft class atm.

5) soloing wont be a problem, i do it most of the time, grouping is faster, but soloing here actually means you can solo, not like eq where only 3 classes could effectivly solo.

6) sounds like prime istarian material!

Hope this helped

[Snowdonia Honeythorn]

1) What Rhaiannon said. :P

2) Ranger is actually a fairly powerful school in HZ. It is also the most popular of the Archer schools so it definately isn't underutilized. hehe If you are looking for underutilized schools in HZ try Elemental Archer, Crossbowman, Spearman, Sorceror, or Ice Disciple (although this one could be said to be a tad broken). Those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head that you won't see many, some ANY, of. On Chaos I still stand as the *only* active Spearman on the shard. lol These are all prestige schools btw and require levelling 1 or more base schools (Warrior, Mage, Cleric, Scout, Druid, Monk, or Spiritist) to 15-20 to gain entry.

Also, given you can multiclass as a biped to your hearts content you aren't cookie cuttered into one specific school if you do not wish to be so you can take alittle of this, do a lot of that, and do a couple levels of that over there... It's really up to you. Me personally, I like single schooling my adventure schools. My main is a single classed Spearman and I can solo just fine. I can't take out named mobs my own level but I'm fine with that. My current obsession is a single classed Elemental Archer alt and again, I can solo pretty well and thus far do much better on named mobs around my level than even my Spearman would (prolly because I can kite them around and avoid close contact much better than my Spearman). I do have a multiclassed Spirit Disciple (with Spiritist and Cleric) and I like her very much just haven't played her much cuz I get too busy with other things. :P

3) Odd combinations.. Hrmmm, well basically to start out on an odd combination you'd have to pick a race that you don't see as many of. Dwarf, Half Giant, Sslik, and Dryad are probably the most popular races biped players select closely followed by Elf and Fiend. I don't see many Gnomes or Humans so I'd have to say those are prolly the most rare. Since you can multiclass and you are totally not restricted to what school you take up it is hard to say any race/school would be an odd combination (there are even Gnomish Monks/Disciples out there!). Best thing I can suggest here is to do a /who search for each race and adventure school respectively during peek hours (prolly between 5 and 10 pm Central) and see who is playing what.

4) With 6 base craft schools and 12 Prestige you will definately have NO shortage for things to do craft wise. And again, you can multiclass to your hearts content so you can do 1 or 2 or you can do em all if you're so inclined. I personally wouldn't suggest starting out with Miner/Gatherer though. They are EXTREMELY hard to level from the ground up because you only gain XP for processing resources. One of the other base schools is definately a much better place to start and if you feel inclined to take on Miner/Gatherer later on to help boost your harvesting then it will be far easier to level using the elevated skills you gained from any other craft school you partook in.

5) Almost any school, single classed, can solo effectively. Multiclassed bipeds even moreso. Another one of the best things about HZ is that you aren't forced to group. Grouping is most definately a choice here and this is one of the reasons why HZ appeals to so many, casual gamer and power gamers alike.

6) Again, as Rhaiannon said, you'll fit in nicely here. The community of HZ is, IMO, beyond compare. Yes, there will be those people and times that you seem as if you are talking to a brick wall but on the whole it is a helpful, generous, fun loving bunch of people.

I could expound more but if I did that I'd never get to play today! lol Hope to see you on Chaos. Feel free to send me a tell on Merriweather or Snowy if you do make it on Chaos if you have any further questions or need help with anything. If I'm free and able I'll be glad to assist. :)

[Snowdonia Honeythorn]

Check your PMs Glubber. :)

[Helcat]

then there are ultra rare items that are just plain astounding, but since they came out ive never looted one and only seen two

they are *barely* better than T5 tech'd crafted items...
hardly what I would call astounding... but I digress...


In short, to the original Poster, it sounds like Horizons
would be a near perfect match for you... give it a try.

[imported_Twelvebagger]

[img]/Web/Themes/default/images/icon-quote.gif[/img]Rhaiannon wrote: then there are ultra rare items that are just plain astounding, but since they came out ive never looted one and only seen two

they are *barely* better than T5 tech'd crafted items...
hardly what I would call astounding... but I digress...


In short, to the original Poster, it sounds like Horizons
would be a near perfect match for you... give it a try.

Demon Fist Maul and Demon Skin Staff areWAY better than crafted items. Demon Limb (? The spear) sucks rocks, Demonogii is funny and cute, Demon Bleed Axe is slightly better than a crafted axe.

(but other than that, I concur). [B]