State of Everquest is Changing

Verant posted its 3rd Anniversary State of the Game address, both part 1 and 2 in the link, explaining the massive changes to the game in the near future. Considering I played the game the summer it came out until a year later and some of this stuff took this long to change, to me they indeed are major changes. Here’s a part of them:

• The need to sit down and stare at the spellbook to regain mana has been removed at all levels. (Sitting down and having Meditation skill are still required.)[Halleluliah is cried by thousands!]
• When starting a new character for the first time, it can take quite some time to get into that class’ core abilities. In some cases, the style of gameplay needs to shift dramatically. That being the case, we’ve accelerated the rate at which people gain experience up to level ten.
• In addition, undue frustration can occur during these youthful times. Traumatic events such as losing a corpse and not knowing where to find it or how to retrieve it can be quite the ordeal. With that in mind, we’ve changed the way that death works below level ten. Characters level nine and under who die will appear at their bind point with all of their equipment intact. (A short-lived corpse will still be left at the site of the disaster to allow the player to receive a resurrection.)
• Experience gained in dungeons designed for players level 30 and under will be increased. For many people, there is nothing more satisfying in EverQuest than adventuring in dungeons. By giving people the tools to help them succeed earlier, and rewards to match, we hope that more players will discover why many people feel this way.