MacroQuest 2 Versus Isboxer 'Skill Caps' My Argument

I've created this page which will cover my entire argument on the differences between MQ2 and Isboxer and the things I call 'skill caps'. This article is purely a work of opinion but much of it that's rooted in factual evidence. The reason I have created this page is to offer any MQ2ers who swear by EQBC and want to try to defend its use. I'm always willing to learn and change my mind on matters but the only way you'll make me budge is by providing evidence

Before we get started I want to very clearly define the terminology I am using.

Skill cap - This is reference to the maximum skill you can achieve while playing a game. Games like Call of Duty and Counter Strike have very low skill caps in my opinion. Guild Wars 2 is an mmorpg that I would argue has a really low skill cap and I would even lump recent WoW into the mix too.

The reason I draw this conclusion for each game is slightly different. However the point remains, you can only get so good in each of these games before you reach a point where it feels like you can't get any better at them OR you feel like you can get only marginally better by some minimalistic achievement like memorizing a map or level better.

Call of Duty and Counter Strike are on my list because both of these games are trivially easy to play and after a few weeks of playing them you hit your respective 'skill cap' in the game. Guild Wars 2 falls into my list of MMO games with a low Skill Cap primarily because it restricts how many abilities you can have available to you at once.

Despite what people may think forcing you to choose between abilities does not add in a strategical element to a game - it just makes the game easier. If you really wanted to make the game more strategical you'd let players use all their abilities at one time and let them choose the right moments for each ability. Everquest is a great example of a game that requires both strategy and reactionary playing. With all the different cooldowns and abilities to memorize in Everquest it takes brain power to do. Then once you're in combat you'll need to remember each of your abilities, cooldowns and what they do and react appropriately and quickly.

 

Now with that out of the way, let's get on to my actual argument. First, let's address EQBC and why I think Isboxer is better.

EQBC allows you to send commands to each different Everquest client you have loaded from your native window, meaning whatever window you're typing into at that time. This is something that Isboxer actually can't do really well, it can't tell a specific character to do something - it can only tell 1 character or all your characters to do something unless you've configured your settings before hand.

However, in order to send any command with EQBC to other clients you need to input a short string of text. Usually something like BCA or BCG with a few slashes. The reason that I argue Isboxer is better is because regardless of how you cut this cake it's going to take you inheriently longer to type out BCA or BCG (and some slashes) than it would for you to just click on Key Broadcasting and send out your keypress that way.

Additionally, in order to send a "keypress" with EQBC you need to type out Keypress in a /command which makes it even more difficult to send commands to each client. When you're fighting a battle and you need to hit an ability or button that isn't bound - it's going to take you three maybe four times as long to type out the EQBC /command you need versus just turning on Key Broadcasting and pressing the key that way.

That's my argument, fairly straight forward and has held up to everyone whose argued EQBC vrs Isboxer with me. I agree that EQBC gives you more all around Everquest Utility but the one thing that the program is made for (sending commands to different clients) it doesn't do as well as Isboxer, which is made for the same thing.

 

The second argument I have is about Kissassist and relying 100% on that for boxing.

I argue that you can't be a good player by solely depending on nothing but macros to play your characters for you. A good boxer needs to play his box team as if they were one solid unit and control them the same way. When you get into a situation that you weren't expecting it's extremely difficult to adapt with just Kissassist.

To give you an idea of one of these situations... Say you're fighting really tough enemies in a dungeon with a bunch of weird mechanics and you have mostly caster DPS using fire nukes. You pull a wurm and he has extremely high fire resistance - but he is vulnerable to cold. Anyone who relies solely on kissassist will lack the means of quickly adapting to this situation. If you know enough about EQBC it wouldn't be too difficult (I would argue more difficult than with Isboxer) but I am not talking about people that are knowledgeable about ALL MQ2. I am talking about the people that gain entry level knowledge and rely solely on Kissassist usage.

If you'd like to continue learning more about the difference between Isboxer and MQ2 I recommend you continue to my Kissassist DPS Guide. I go into much more detail in that guide why Kissassist does less damage as well as provide videos + parses backing up my claims.

 

Return to MacroQuest 2 Getting Started Guide

Return to Almar's EQ Boxing Guides