Heard something interesting the other day. Turns out two people I know went through the Steps of Madness dungeon. They're in their seventies.. one is an MP.

They killed everything in there... only coming close to death while fighting the final boss.

This concerns me in two manners. First I find it ridiculous that Funcom's idea of a stable dungeon is a place where the only people who can get through it alive have to be more than 30 levels above what it was meant for, and hence get no experience. There is no need whatsoever for them to make these dungeons so bloody difficult and unrewarding. Who cares if people wouldn't have to group to do the dungeon? Who cares if it's a little bit easier to get that crappy No Drop item at the end. Funcom's only story involved dungeons seem to be designed so that doing them is more worthless than doing a minimum setting mission and more difficult than a full setting mission.

The second thing I find disturbing is that the only folks I've heard that can do these dungeons effectively at the levels they're designed for are MPs. A full group of lvl 40 MP's could go through Steps of Madness exactly they was Funcom designed it. It makes me wonder about Funcoms concept of how this game should be played. The only class that seems to be able to do everything Funcom wanted them to and experience everything Funcom has given us to experience are the Meta-physicists.

Now, I'm not complaining about the MP class. I like the class immensely and play one myself. I like that Funcom put the work in and made the class operate as it should and fit nicely into the world. What sucks is that the MP's seem to be the only ones who these facts apply to. A full group of almost any other class would not be able to survive in a stable dungeon suited for their level. A well rounded group would not stand much more of a chance. I get the feeling Funcom made this game and decided they really liked MPs and occassionally give things to other classes just to keep up a facade of improvement. Why can't all classes work as well as the MPs? Why is Funcom taking so long to fix things? Why do they keep adding stuff to the game that most classes can't do because they aren't as fixed as MPs?

Anyone have any insights into this?

Entvayn

" Nobody's creepy from the inside, Hazel."
-Death, from "Death: The Time of Your Life"
-by Neil Gaiman