I have been getting a decent amount of messages over discord and private messages on the forums with regards to the way Progression looks at the moment. For a little history on the subject when the Summons raid zone was introduced it introduced 2 zone progression differentiators. One was choosing between 2 different fairy mobs and the other was choosing between 4 different epic plant encounters. Now, originally like always every mob was considered separate. Whichever encounter the guilds chose thats what it ended up being. Sure some guilds might have gotten more points first depending on which names were killed but if every guild is killing things for progression first and not faction in this case, eventually the top guilds killing those encounter would balance themselves out. After all you can only go into the instance so many times before you have lock out timers.

The issue arose when some guilds cried foul at some guilds having advanced knowledge of how the zone would play out and using things like reset tokens and even opening additional zones with alts to do the zones more often in the span of a week. Now, while I didnt agree that the mobs should be changed because that is how the zone is designed and the way the zone is designed should take into account how progression looks on the website. That also takes into account things like reset tokens and yes even people using alts to open additional instances (which Gninja had warned players against doing rather recently).

However, the amount of messages I received and open complaining in the #raiding channel on the EQ2 Discord I decided to agree to disagree but also acknowledge the fact that yes some things could be seen as boosting progression. I offered to combine the mobs but warned that progression will not look natural. I didnt like changing it, but ultimately everyone settled down.

What has been occurring now amongst some of the community is the realization that merging these mobs has created a traffic jam of sorts on the progression rankings. Raid encounters in this expansion are already at a premium with Ranked encounters at a relatively small number. I told people on the EQ2 discord that combining these encounters may have the effect of too many guilds getting the same credit when there should be some separation.

Many of the messages I have gotten recently echo that very issue. I am hesitant to separate the mobs NOW because like I said I dont like meddling in the progression ranks and this will be the second time technically. It causes things to get messy and its best to just let the progression play out as the content is designed. But, this request was started by others and I am not one to not give them a voice on the matter.

No, ranking system will ever be perfect when trying to design around a game with varied rules and timers to take into account. People need to understand that not everything will be positive for your guild in the ranks. You just need to prepare your guild as best as possible for the launch of any new zone and use the available tools at your fingertips to maximize progression impact IF that is the purpose of your guild.

So, I have posted a poll in the Polls Category here on the forums. If you wish to make your voice heard regarding whether to put the mobs back to their original order or leave the ranking as is then please cast your vote there. I will check back on the poll results over the next several days. If there is not a substantial number of votes for yes I will just keep everything how it is and hopefully next expansion is less messy.

You can vote on the poll here: https://www.eq-raiders.com/forum/sho...ression&p=7874


Take care,
~Praetorian