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Everquest: Gates of Discord Expansion Pack

Everquest: Gates of Discord Expansion Pack

List Price: $19.99
Your Price: $19.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: So-so
Review: As soon as this expansion was released, some peeps went out and "bought" thousands, if not millions of Tribute points with the lowest of the low items and platinum. SOE "fixed" the problem so that now, you get less for more that you must pay. SOE also says they intend to "limit" the number of Tribute points each character may have. Enough said about points. As for the leadership ability, it's helpful, but...like AAs, you will need to divert experience away in order to apply points to leadership. The new zones are so-so and loads of 60's (mostly topped) characters were in them on Rodcet Nife, anyway. I don't have any characters quite that high, but I would imagine that there are many items only available in those new places, just like the planes. Get this if you are topped and bored, if new, I would wait until leveling to at least 55.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: So-so
Review: As soon as this expansion was released, some peeps went out and "bought" thousands, if not millions of Tribute points with the lowest of the low items and platinum. SOE "fixed" the problem so that now, you get less for more that you must pay. SOE also says they intend to "limit" the number of Tribute points each character may have. Enough said about points. As for the leadership ability, it's helpful, but...like AAs, you will need to divert experience away in order to apply points to leadership. The new zones are so-so and loads of 60's (mostly topped) characters were in them on Rodcet Nife, anyway. I don't have any characters quite that high, but I would imagine that there are many items only available in those new places, just like the planes. Get this if you are topped and bored, if new, I would wait until leveling to at least 55.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Some Good - Some Not So Good
Review: I have had the GOD expansion for a little under a month now and have had the opportunity to explore the new zones with my 63 warrior. Not all of them mind you, because there are some zones in which the mobs quad for 1K and my group and I barely escaped with our lives. But the first two zones Natimbi, and Qinimi are nice zones full of dark blue mobs to kill. But, and this is just my opinion, the xp in these first two zones is average. I get better experience in the planes.

The tradeskill interface is awesome. You simply click on the appropriate container and the new UI is displayed. The user searches for a recipe, and then clicks the appropriate one from the search results. The interface will show you what items are needed and if they are already in your inventory they appear green, and any missing components will be red. Assuming you have all the necessary components in your inventory, you simply click the combine button and the UI takes the neeeded components and does the combine. Saves a lot of clicking.

The Tribute System is weak. Basically you purchase a "skill", like additional fire protection or an increase in hit points, using plat or old gear (can't use no drop gear). That new skill is activated and is now on a timer. Once the timer runs out your skill is gone. This system is only useful if you need a temporary upgrade of stats for a raid or a hunting session in a high end zone. But considering the cost, the return is minimal. Also, you can ONLY get the Tribute Points in your home city, which is just a pain for those of us who do NOT have the ability to port or gate.

My only experience with the new Berserker class is in an LDoN adventure playing my 31 cleric. The Berserker was our MT and had problems holding aggro (since they can't taunt) but did dole out a lot of damage. Time will tell if they are valuable in a group situation.

The expansion introduces Leadership Experience, which is ON by default. Experience is diverted to Leadership to earn some new abilities, so if you are more interested in leveling or working aa make sure to turn off Leadership Experience. Some of the new abilities are Mark NPC which allows the leader to mark a specific NPC and give instruction on how to handle the NPC. Or the Find PC ability which enables the leader to use the find command to display a path to a targeted group member. Since these abilities can only be used if you are a leader in a group their use is limited and I believe players will continue to work regular and AA xp long before they turn Leadership XP back on.

The new expansion also offers some new aa skills. For example, Swift Journey, which increases your run speed. I'm not really sure how this stacks with the existing Run3 aa or if it is a replacement since Verant does not include any type of documentation in the boxed version of the expansion. Rather you have to visit their website and download the manual. This pdf document provides only a cursory overview of the new expansion and does not really provide any in-depth detail.

The new aa abilities are again broken out into general, archtype and class specific abilities. For example, Clerics have a new class ability called Exquisite Benediction, which is an activated ability, and creates a stationary ward that continually heals everyone around it. Warriors have a new class aa ability called Strengthened Strike, which is a passive ability, and increases attacks done by kick or slam.

So bottom line. Is the new expansion worth purchasing? Well, the new zones are for level 55-65 players and can only be accesses via the boat or Magus. This is short sighted and makes hunting difficult. The Tribute system has limited use and in my opinion needs a complete overhaul to make it worth the expense in RL dollars for the expansion, and the plat spent for the short lived skills. The Berserker Class has yet to prove it's value or make it's mark so it not a reason in itself to purchase this expansion. The Leadership Abilities are useful in limited situations and not a significant enough upgrade to warrent purchasing the expansion. That leaves the new Tradeskill UI. If you're into tradeskilling the new UI and the new Absymal Sea zone, in which you can find just about everything you need to work your tradeskills in one convenient location, is the ONLY outstanding upgrade included in this expansion. Is it worth the cost of the expansion just for tradeskilling alone? That is a question only you can answer.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Some Good - Some Not So Good
Review: I have had the GOD expansion for a little under a month now and have had the opportunity to explore the new zones with my 63 warrior. Not all of them mind you, because there are some zones in which the mobs quad for 1K and my group and I barely escaped with our lives. But the first two zones Natimbi, and Qinimi are nice zones full of dark blue mobs to kill. But, and this is just my opinion, the xp in these first two zones is average. I get better experience in the planes.

The tradeskill interface is awesome. You simply click on the appropriate container and the new UI is displayed. The user searches for a recipe, and then clicks the appropriate one from the search results. The interface will show you what items are needed and if they are already in your inventory they appear green, and any missing components will be red. Assuming you have all the necessary components in your inventory, you simply click the combine button and the UI takes the neeeded components and does the combine. Saves a lot of clicking.

The Tribute System is weak. Basically you purchase a "skill", like additional fire protection or an increase in hit points, using plat or old gear (can't use no drop gear). That new skill is activated and is now on a timer. Once the timer runs out your skill is gone. This system is only useful if you need a temporary upgrade of stats for a raid or a hunting session in a high end zone. But considering the cost, the return is minimal. Also, you can ONLY get the Tribute Points in your home city, which is just a pain for those of us who do NOT have the ability to port or gate.

My only experience with the new Berserker class is in an LDoN adventure playing my 31 cleric. The Berserker was our MT and had problems holding aggro (since they can't taunt) but did dole out a lot of damage. Time will tell if they are valuable in a group situation.

The expansion introduces Leadership Experience, which is ON by default. Experience is diverted to Leadership to earn some new abilities, so if you are more interested in leveling or working aa make sure to turn off Leadership Experience. Some of the new abilities are Mark NPC which allows the leader to mark a specific NPC and give instruction on how to handle the NPC. Or the Find PC ability which enables the leader to use the find command to display a path to a targeted group member. Since these abilities can only be used if you are a leader in a group their use is limited and I believe players will continue to work regular and AA xp long before they turn Leadership XP back on.

The new expansion also offers some new aa skills. For example, Swift Journey, which increases your run speed. I'm not really sure how this stacks with the existing Run3 aa or if it is a replacement since Verant does not include any type of documentation in the boxed version of the expansion. Rather you have to visit their website and download the manual. This pdf document provides only a cursory overview of the new expansion and does not really provide any in-depth detail.

The new aa abilities are again broken out into general, archtype and class specific abilities. For example, Clerics have a new class ability called Exquisite Benediction, which is an activated ability, and creates a stationary ward that continually heals everyone around it. Warriors have a new class aa ability called Strengthened Strike, which is a passive ability, and increases attacks done by kick or slam.

So bottom line. Is the new expansion worth purchasing? Well, the new zones are for level 55-65 players and can only be accesses via the boat or Magus. This is short sighted and makes hunting difficult. The Tribute system has limited use and in my opinion needs a complete overhaul to make it worth the expense in RL dollars for the expansion, and the plat spent for the short lived skills. The Berserker Class has yet to prove it's value or make it's mark so it not a reason in itself to purchase this expansion. The Leadership Abilities are useful in limited situations and not a significant enough upgrade to warrent purchasing the expansion. That leaves the new Tradeskill UI. If you're into tradeskilling the new UI and the new Absymal Sea zone, in which you can find just about everything you need to work your tradeskills in one convenient location, is the ONLY outstanding upgrade included in this expansion. Is it worth the cost of the expansion just for tradeskilling alone? That is a question only you can answer.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: buggy and rushed
Review: I've been playing EverQuest since the very beginning. Over the years I've picked up the various expansions as they came out. Gates of Discord is the first one to make me seriously consider asking for my money back. Most of the content is aimed at uber players with 65th level characters that have tons of AA points. If thats not you then there are exactly four things in this expansion that will be of interest to you.

1) The new berserker class. I've toyed around with one of these and found it to be a fun addition to the melee classes. Not sure its worth the price of the expansion though.

2) New tradeskill interface. They've come up with a new and vastly improved tradeskill interface for this expansion. It allows you to look up most common tradeskill items, see if you have the necessary components to make them, and turn them out with a couple of clicks of your mouse button. With the old interface it would take me 6 mouse clicks to make Celestial Essence, an item needed in large quantities for high end tradeskills. With the new interface it only takes me 2 clicks. Its great if you're into tradeskills. If you're aren't into tradeskills, the new interface isn't worth it.

3) Leadership Points. You earn these by leading groups. They do take away from regular experience though its a small set amount and only when you're actually leading a group. They allow you to do things like place visible markers on NPCs so that your group knows who to concentrate on in a fight. If you lead a lot of groups, they might be worth it. If you don't lead a lot of groups, you'll have no use for them.

4) Tribute System. The gods of Norrath are unhappy with their creations. As they become less responsive to their followers, people have looked for alternatives. This is the tribute system. The way the system works, you go to your home town and donate items or money to the tribute master in exchange for which you recieve tribute points. You can then expend tribute points to have the local mages send you power wherever you are to temporarily boost various stats, resists, haste, etc. Note that you can only turn them on in your home town and once active they burn tribute points at regular intervals until you either turn the power off or run out of tribute points. If you turn the power off you have to go back to your home town to turn it back on. Interesting concept but it leaves a lot to be desired. Basically its a thinly veiled system for removing money and items from the game and, in my opinion, not worth the price of the expansion.

The new AA abilities added with the expansion also deserve some mention. There are a couple that are available in the 50s but for the most part you'll have to be 61+ to take advantage of them.

If you're an uber player or a tradeskiller I'd say the expansion is worth it. If you lead a lot of parties or you want to play a berserker, you might get your money's worth out of it. For everyone else I suggest you give GoD a pass.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: GoD is mainly targetted at uber players
Review: I've been playing EverQuest since the very beginning. Over the years I've picked up the various expansions as they came out. Gates of Discord is the first one to make me seriously consider asking for my money back. Most of the content is aimed at uber players with 65th level characters that have tons of AA points. If thats not you then there are exactly four things in this expansion that will be of interest to you.

1) The new berserker class. I've toyed around with one of these and found it to be a fun addition to the melee classes. Not sure its worth the price of the expansion though.

2) New tradeskill interface. They've come up with a new and vastly improved tradeskill interface for this expansion. It allows you to look up most common tradeskill items, see if you have the necessary components to make them, and turn them out with a couple of clicks of your mouse button. With the old interface it would take me 6 mouse clicks to make Celestial Essence, an item needed in large quantities for high end tradeskills. With the new interface it only takes me 2 clicks. Its great if you're into tradeskills. If you're aren't into tradeskills, the new interface isn't worth it.

3) Leadership Points. You earn these by leading groups. They do take away from regular experience though its a small set amount and only when you're actually leading a group. They allow you to do things like place visible markers on NPCs so that your group knows who to concentrate on in a fight. If you lead a lot of groups, they might be worth it. If you don't lead a lot of groups, you'll have no use for them.

4) Tribute System. The gods of Norrath are unhappy with their creations. As they become less responsive to their followers, people have looked for alternatives. This is the tribute system. The way the system works, you go to your home town and donate items or money to the tribute master in exchange for which you recieve tribute points. You can then expend tribute points to have the local mages send you power wherever you are to temporarily boost various stats, resists, haste, etc. Note that you can only turn them on in your home town and once active they burn tribute points at regular intervals until you either turn the power off or run out of tribute points. If you turn the power off you have to go back to your home town to turn it back on. Interesting concept but it leaves a lot to be desired. Basically its a thinly veiled system for removing money and items from the game and, in my opinion, not worth the price of the expansion.

The new AA abilities added with the expansion also deserve some mention. There are a couple that are available in the 50s but for the most part you'll have to be 61+ to take advantage of them.

If you're an uber player or a tradeskiller I'd say the expansion is worth it. If you lead a lot of parties or you want to play a berserker, you might get your money's worth out of it. For everyone else I suggest you give GoD a pass.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Pretty Cool
Review: its a pretty cool game because you get the berserker and stuff and it has a really cool dock place.... soo umm.... u should get it oh yah and leadership points R cool!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: buggy and rushed
Review: its new, its buggy, and it feels undeveloped. The new berserker class added in this expansion has features that are obviously broken. trade skill items are there, but of little use to anyone able to explore the content.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Fact not fiction
Review: Just to clear up a few things. First the leadership exp does not take away from leveling or AA exp. That said the expansion is mainly for very high level (read 65th) with tons of good gear and AA. The items being droped by mobs in the deeper zones rivals and quit often beat time gear. The tribut system is not worth the cost but can be a big help in major fights. The trade skill system is worth it by its self. All in all the new zones are not for the meek:). It will allow a single group that works hard to get into time or better gear without being time flaged and that is the MAIN reason I give it four stars.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Tradeskill interface
Review: Keep in mind the new tradeskill interface was NOT included only with the Gates of Discord expansion; the new interface was made available to everyone.

I didn't buy the GoD expansion and I am happy that I didn't. Most of what I've heard from friends and guildies is that the expansion just wasn't worth it. Nerfing the vendor buy price on fish along with SOE's massive tribute point reduction that was made *after* everyone turned in a good amount of plat and items was just low.

I've read that SOE is working on fixing some of the content so that casual players can begin to get more from this expansion instead of just ONE hunting zone. Until they do that or once it shows up in the $9.99 bargain bins I would suggest not buying this expansion.


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