We have some exciting new features in the works for EQII! One of the first we’ll be talking about is Research Assistants.
These hardworking researchers will help you acquire upgrades to your spells and combat arts while you’re off adventuring in the deepest darkest dungeon or asleep in your own warm cozy bed. Even though they’re hardworking, they’re not a speedy service and they are limited in how much they’ll help you. Because this kind of research is complicated, they’ll only be able to work on one spell or combat art for one character per server.
All research requires a base amount of information to work with. In the case of the Research Assistants, this manifests in that they require you to have the previous tier of the spell being upgraded before they can begin work for you. So, in order to research that Master I, you’ll need to first know the Adept III version, though it doesn’t matter whether that Adept III version came from researching or from your friendly neighborhood sage, jeweler or alchemist. The time required to research a spell increase will vary based on the level and tier of the spell. A level 20 Adept I may only take an hour, while a level 80 master will likely take a month or longer.
We’re still working out the details of how these assistants will work in Norrath and we want to hear your feedback. Do you have a preference on how these researchers would look or how you interact with them?
All those and anything else you’d like to share with us is welcome feedback on the official forums.
Kirstie
I love the idea! But I have a modification… make it so that in order to research any given spell, you need to have another spell of the same tier and quality for your class.
For example, in order to research a T8 Master 1, you need to have another T8 Master 1 of that class to give the researcher to base their work off of. If you wanted to research a T4 Adept I, you need a different T4 Adept I of your class to base it off of.
That way you’re not just spontaneously generating masters and the like, but instead giving people a way to convert more common, less-valued masters into ones you need.
By: Barx Atthemoon on March 3, 2009
at 10:23 pm
That modification would just drive the price of ALL masters up, defeating the spirit of the idea.
The intent seems to be a way for time-challenged players to keep up with those that have more free time.
This has been SoE’s modus operandi from the start. Don’t expect them to change it now. Since I have gone from the rank of somebody who plays 25+ hours a week to somebody who plays less than 5, I sure hope they don’t.
By: Shalavar on March 4, 2009
at 4:34 am
After 3 years of trying (Mentoring for T6 raids, leveling 5 seperate characters thru T6) to get a master that only ever showed up on the broker once… for 900plat, I welcome this change.
By: Dumptruck on March 5, 2009
at 6:47 pm
Bad idea….why go to that deep dark dungeon hunting names for masters if you can get them for free??
By: John Rambone on March 11, 2009
at 11:42 am
If it takes a month to do one level 80 master, and its only one character per server at a time, it appears to not be really worth your time and effort to get this coded in.
Also, the logistics of getting everyone to fairly take turns seems like it will lead to griefing, or hogging the resource. Even on the less populated servers, generating only twelve masters (level 80) a year is not very fair.
In the time it takes the researcher to research an upgrade, what if the player no longer needs it? (it dropped, or was given, or even purchased).
Perhaps consider only one upgrade per account or per toon, and speed up the process dramatically.
To work around entire guilds “passing the baton” when they go to get their upgrade – let the reseacher randomly pick from their list of what to do next.
Perhaps when/if the toon upgrades his spell/ability before the researcher does it, it should cancel the request, no matter how close he was to finishing it.
By: Angie on March 19, 2009
at 6:17 pm
I think the idea of research assistants is a great one . But what i would like to see is a third tradeskill that everyone has that lets them research their own skills . I was never crazy about the feature in EQ1 , but , with the new mechanics , and the fact that master 1 spells can be looted . I don’t want to see master spells removed from the loot tables , but i would love to see the ability to acquire the masters through work and effort , rather thatn only by luck . Maybe give the NPC hireling researcher a time table for automaticly researching, and the player the ability to do the same thing a bit faster through some effort .
By: Anthony on March 24, 2009
at 4:49 am
Have you thought about having some sort of spell book sacrificing way?
By which I eman that say you wanted a lvl 78 M1, in order to research it then you would need the current AD III in your inventory to hand to them in order for them to progress it into a M1 ?
By: Moobsuk on March 30, 2009
at 3:16 pm
I think this is a GREAT idea for us gamers that play occasionally and raid with our guild, but don’t really have the constant play time it takes to build up the ridiculous prices people put on masters and rare harvestables.
While i agree with where Barx is coming from, I disagree on the standpoint that something needs to be done to counter broker prices as it’s not fair to new players.
I think this would be a great solution to that issue because of drop rate and the inability to get decent groups at low levels on some servers. Everyone can’t have a lvl 80 toon.
By: Derek Taylor on April 4, 2009
at 2:11 am
I like the original idea, and do not like the idea of the respondent. I think the whole goal is to get some spells that you are having trouble getting anyway right? If you can’t get master 1’s, why make someone obtain a master 1 to get a master 1?
By: Alan on April 7, 2009
at 1:59 pm
I loved being in a zone and getting a great drop like a Tandem Master and if you win it it’s worth a couple hundred plat …wow. Lets get rid of that also. I don’t have the fabled raid armour either because i don’t have the time to raid. Lets have him make that also. I accept that because i can’t raid I don’t have it and you might have to save up to buy a master off the broker. Not everything in this game has to be set up for the dumbest or lazyest of people.
By: reggie on April 25, 2009
at 12:38 pm