Server Spring Cleaning

[Trosh]

So my brother and I were putting our heads together to try to see if there could be a way to make the server fun and deflate the market etc for newer players, when we came up with two ideas:

1: once a year remove all platinum from game. (or remove like 50% or something, but people could get around that by buying gems or something)
2: once a year make every single item currently in the game (current items, not new items from mobs) No Drop. Meaning items on your character (or bank or w/e) would become no drop, but new items you loot would be normal.

I'm not saying that it is necessary at all, but the original release of the game, the expansions came out quickly-ish and people didn't know what they were doing as far as questing and farming half the time, so I was just idly brainstorming and came up with these ideas on how to clear out some of the extra stuff or get the game back to basics.

I figure that if the server never goes past Velious eventually this will be a big issue if it isn't already, and while the fix would surely be super unpopular, it may become necessary.

It seems that there are like waaaaaay too many uber lvl characters and people just farming the heck out of things, so it isn't as much fun. I just started perhaps a month ago, but making enough money just to get spells is quite difficult, let alone if I ever wanted something like a fungi tunic or whatever. When lots of players are rolling in hundreds of thousands of plat and have bank characters full of nice gear, It just got me thinking: If you made everything no drop, then people wouldn't be too effected by it, because they would still have all of their items, but then all of the prices would change to reflect the supply evaporating overnight, which would allow the newer or lower level characters a chance to farm some stuff and make money.

Not a perfect fix, or even really close to one.. But besides a flat-out server wipe of everything, which would really stink, I figured this seemed like an interesting idea..

What do you think?
Do you even think there is a problem?
Do you have another solution that could work?

Also other things could be done once a year like removing defunct guilds or a big character name sweep, or even some of those cool GM events I remember from way back. Or let loose all the gods in different zones to run around murdering people. In my guild on live servers I tried to remove all players that hadn't logged in in over 2 or 3 years from guild to just keep it a bit neater once and a while, for example.

[Raavak]

*yawn*

[Blade]

Thank goodness you and your brother are on the case and striving to make this server more fun. It's about time someone stepped up and took the reigns.

I'd like to throw in my suggestion:

/kill everything without a tail once a year.

[justin2090]

I didn't read it all but sounds like you want a ladder server like in D2.

[fadetree]

Again? Sheesh.

[Trosh]

I didn't read it all but sounds like you want a ladder server like in D2.

Don't know what that is.. but it's just a matter of time before the game gets bloated, especially if the expansion list is going to stop with Velious. Theoretically everyone will eventually be max level with max gear and leave because there's nothing left to do.

And yeah, you can always delete all your stuff on purpose or w/e, but not the same as a server reset of some kind. Maybe not even once a year, but that's generally how long was in-between expansions if memory serves.

[Rkelly]

From this and your namechange thread you have a lot of opinions for someone who's only been here a month

[Xerxez]

Eh.. if things were turned to no drop the bank toons would be completely useless. All the items would be stuck there and people would have wasted weeks of their lives for nothing. Everything in eq takes time so id suggest getting used to farming a certain item or spawn and getting lucky with a drop. Ive spent weeks at the courier spawn to afford all my gear and just like everyone else weve dedicated our time for what we have. As I understand what youre getting at it would be an incredibly unfair thing to do. Just dont give up and remember in eq you have to work a little extra for everything

[Trosh]

From this and your namechange thread you have a lot of opinions for someone who's only been here a month

yes?

[Trosh]

Eh.. if things were turned to no drop the bank toons would be completely useless. All the items would be stuck there and people would have wasted weeks of their lives for nothing. Everything in eq takes time so id suggest getting used to farming a certain item or spawn and getting lucky with a drop. Ive spent weeks at the courier spawn to afford all my gear and just like everyone else weve dedicated our time for what we have. As I understand what youre getting at it would be an incredibly unfair thing to do. Just dont give up and remember in eq you have to work a little extra for everything

Totally not what I'm talking about.. eventually something will need to be done, I'm not saying that my idea is the best, or that it should be done soon, but unless you want to eventually become a Live server it will stagnate and die, simple mathematics

[Mirana]

unless you want to eventually become a Live server it will stagnate and die, simple mathematics

Please show me this math. I expect a full derivation.

[skorge]

I know where OP is coming from...Sirken and gang failed to make any kind of economy/market adjustment knowing Velious would be 2+ years behind schedule. We are at the point now where it's too late, IMO to make any drastic change.

What could have been done was something I suggested a long time ago: make legendary items (items such as the fungi tunic, RBG, etc) much rarer than classic. This would have reduced the number of certain items on the server, making it more realistic.

This is the only conclusion I can draw from the situation - if & when P99 starts a fresh server, there won't be this problem, because they will have Velious ready to release within 11 months after Kunark.

[Pint]

Heh delete people's coin and make all items no drop.. Good luck farming anything of value when me and a handful of people I know lock down all the good camps we've been repeating for years and fleece this server for all the resources it has left. you're talking about giving all the hardcore farmers renewed incentive to dominate the market bc you went and reset it to 0 while we already have a massive advantage over you.

[Xerxez]

The thing is that the grind is so incredibly long that theres no way everyone will become fully geared and have nothing left to do. And there are so many class and race combinations that theres always room for an alt too. Eq is eq man. Thats why we are here. Its always been save x amount of plat for such n such item or farm it yourself. Some people have more time for this but if you dont just go at your own pace. And the general rule is if you were there first then the spawn is yours. You can always ask whoever is farming the spawn you want to let you know when he/she is finished so you can take over. People on this server are generally nice and will give you a heads up. Im just trying to think of ways for you to see past your own idea because its just unfair.

[Trosh]

Please show me this math. I expect a full derivation.

In a game that has characters progressing, you need content to continue to progress with the characters.

easy way to imagine it is it's a foot race: everyone runs at different speeds. If you want to continue the game, you must add miles to the end of the race, otherwise eventually everyone will just be milling around the finish line.

I know it's tougher then 1 + 1

[Trosh]

Heh delete people's coin and make all items no drop.. Good luck farming anything of value when me and a handful of people I know lock down all the good camps we've been repeating for years and fleece this server for all the resources it has left. you're talking about giving all the hardcore farmers renewed incentive to dominate the market bc you went and reset it to 0 while we already have a massive advantage over you.

yeah, was looking for constructive replies

[Mirana]

In a game that has characters progressing, you need content to continue to progress with the characters.

easy way to imagine it is it's a foot race: everyone runs at different speeds. If you want to continue the game, you must add miles to the end of the race, otherwise eventually everyone will just be milling around the finish line.

I know it's tougher then 1 + 1

Everquest has no finish line. It isn't a like a race. It isn't a console game that you beat and put away. There is tons of stuff to do at level 60. Or you can reroll and, as you put it, run the "race" again. And again. Or run it differently.

Not to mention what you are talking about here (adding content) is a completely separate discussion from wiping items.

Let me just ask this. What do you REALLY expect to come from this discussion? The devs are aware of the state of the economy. What we think of it is irrelevant, it is their world, we just live in it. If they ever want our opinion, they will ask.

[Porcoa]

Yes, let us delete everyone's pp and make their items no drop. But most importantly - NO MORE SILLY NAMES.

Trosh shall be this server's savior.

[Fame]

Trosh - Trash

[Trosh]

Everquest has no finish line. It isn't a like a race. It isn't a console game that you beat and put away. There is tons of stuff to do at level 60. Or you can reroll and, as you put it, run the "race" again. And again. Or run it differently.

Not to mention what you are talking about here (adding content) is a completely separate discussion from wiping items.

Let me just ask this. What do you REALLY expect to come from this discussion? The devs are aware of the state of the economy. What we think of it is irrelevant, it is their world, we just live in it. If they ever want our opinion, they will ask.

Clearly you aren't getting it.
I totally didn't realize I was on a computer instead of my Xbox, thanks for that.
It could or couldn't be a race, that has nothing to do with the example I gave. It was just an analogy, not me thinking I'm playing a racing game.

It's a fallback server that will stay stuck in the past - which is cool and all - I was simply putting a thought I had out there and wondering what people thought about it and if they had any other ideas.

Of course the devs are aware, I'm not addressing this to them, simply talking about the game and issues with games like this. Not really looking for people to come in and talk crap, you can do that in a different thread if you want, just want a constructive discussion and to hear other people's ideas - not listen to them whine about it.

[Xerxez]

Clearly you aren't getting it.
I totally didn't realize I was on a computer instead of my Xbox, thanks for that.
It could or couldn't be a race, that has nothing to do with the example I gave. It was just an analogy, not me thinking I'm playing a racing game.

It's a fallback server that will stay stuck in the past - which is cool and all - I was simply putting a thought I had out there and wondering what people thought about it and if they had any other ideas.

Of course the devs are aware, I'm not addressing this to them, simply talking about the game and issues with games like this. Not really looking for people to come in and talk crap, you can do that in a different thread if you want, just want a constructive discussion and to hear other people's ideas - not listen to them whine about it.

but .... wat.... you're the one whining here man

[Bill Tetley]

What is the issue here? You joined the server recently and you feel that items are too expensive and that players are too rich? So your fix is it remove all the plat and assets people have earned over the last few years so that everyone is on your level? Why? Do you not want to invest the time and effort that we did to get on our level?

[justin2090]

Don't know what that is.. but it's just a matter of time before the game gets bloated, especially if the expansion list is going to stop with Velious. Theoretically everyone will eventually be max level with max gear and leave because there's nothing left to do.

And yeah, you can always delete all your stuff on purpose or w/e, but not the same as a server reset of some kind. Maybe not even once a year, but that's generally how long was in-between expansions if memory serves.

In a ladder system everyone would start fresh on a separate server and after 6-12 months the server gets wiped. The accounts connected to that server are then kicked back to the original p99 server. This way the people that play on the current server loose nothing.

The only problem is it takes most of us a year to get to max lvl lol.

[Trosh]

there isn't really an issue, just my observations and a few thoughts that I had about what might be able to be done at some point. I listened to Rogan's twitch tv thing about pvp, and they say while they will never do a server wipe, they do have some ideas on how to change things for the better. Was just wondering what people thought, and to share my ideas. (they didn't go into the blue server for ideas, just threw around ideas for red)

Yeah, I mean a year was just the first thing that popped into my head, mebbe 2 years would do, or 18 months or who knows?

[Gadwen]

Ban tunnel rats, they are the source of all the servers problems.

[Kasyra]

i like this idea and i would go one step further!
Every 6 months, one character of every race and class is thrown into the arena at lake rathe, the losers get their accounts deleted, the winner gets a DE mask and some nice titles! Cull the server! make room for pie!

[Rkelly]

i like this idea and i would go one step further!
Every 6 months, one character of every race and class is thrown into the arena at lake rathe, the losers get their accounts deleted, the winner gets a DE mask and some nice titles! Cull the server! make room for pie!

Thought his said some nice titties

[Duckwalk]

Silly OP, don't expect to attack people's livelihood and get pleasant responses. What, you think people farm the same content for the same items for 3+ years for fun?!

[Danth]

Theoretically everyone will eventually be max level with max gear and leave because there's nothing left to do.

Why is this a problem? I don't expect one game to last forever.

Server's still growing after three years of Kunark. Velious will provide some additional years. By the time Velious winds down and the population dwindles P1999 will be pushing probably a decade if not more. That's plenty long enough. When that time comes the remaining population can decide what they want to do. Worrying about it now strikes me as premature at best, even assuming honest motives on the part of the original poster.


Danth

[Ahldagor]

Why is this a problem? I don't expect one game to last forever.

Server's still growing after three years of Kunark. Velious will provide some additional years. By the time Velious winds down and the population dwindles P1999 will be pushing probably a decade if not more. That's plenty long enough. When that time comes the remaining population can decide what they want to do. Worrying about it now strikes me as premature at best, even assuming honest motives on the part of the original poster.


Danth

decade would be incredible for the project.

part of it seems to be people wanting to have their inputs/voices heard/pandered to on the server cause they proly grew up getting ribbons and trophies for getting shut out by 20 like i did as a youngling, but then git gud happened and all was right in the world.

[Danth]

decade would be incredible for the project.

We're half way there come October. Time flies.

Danth

[Ahldagor]

We're half way there come October. Time flies.

Danth

damn. five more year. five more years. five more years

[lecompte]

I'm trying to keep an open mind about the intent of the OP. I only read the first 2.4 pages before I skipped to a response so I don't know if someone said: When they do RMT ban waves, that is a lot like (exactly like) removing a significant portion of PP and items from the game.

[jaybone]

*yawn*

Go outside and stop living your life in an elf simulator.

[deadlycupcakez]

This idea completely ignores the middle class. This entire concept does. Its american politics in my elf sim noooooo! The majority of the population that plays are not FTE that grind hundreds of thousands of platinum. Nor are they brand new.

The problem with these ideas are that the effects impact only the player in the midst of their journey through Norrath.

The high end legendary item grinders will instantly begin the grind for more PPs and items again upon any economic intervention. They will quickly reacquire a stranglehold on the market and dominate the tunnel once more if not on a grander scale.

While this happens, the majority of players like myself cant transfer the mid level items we have on one character to an alt that we might want to play instead. My moneys gone (that in mid game comes exponentially slower than it does 50+) and my items are restricted that I probably wanted to recycle and use to level up an alt after I looted my first raid item drop.

And then there are the new players who are affected by this minimally to none.

Maybe its my personal ties to the issue... or just that i dont think using a big brother hand to guide the market into "fairness" or "more classic" will work in any scenario. especially since the (as stated above) timeline here far outstretches that of live and the preventative measures were not put in place beforehand.

[Mirana]

Clearly you aren't getting it.
I totally didn't realize I was on a computer instead of my Xbox, thanks for that.
It could or couldn't be a race, that has nothing to do with the example I gave. It was just an analogy, not me thinking I'm playing a racing game.

I don't think you understand how analogies work.

You made an analogy comparing EQ to a race in order to prove a point. I explained why that wasn't a valid analogy. You then stated "it could or couldn't be a race, that has nothing to do with the analogy I gave." A statement which, frankly, makes no sense.


Of course the devs are aware, I'm not addressing this to them, simply talking about the game and issues with games like this. Not really looking for people to come in and talk crap, you can do that in a different thread if you want, just want a constructive discussion and to hear other people's ideas - not listen to them whine about it.

What I posted was constructive, you just didn't like it because I didn't agree with you. Nowhere did I whine, that was just you.

[Bill Tetley]

The high end legendary item grinders will instantly begin the grind for more PPs and items again upon any economic intervention. They will quickly reacquire a stranglehold on the market and dominate the tunnel once more if not on a grander scale.


Who are these mysterious fat cats the control the market? Do people really think there is a handful of players that farm all the high end items and lock down the camps to themselves 24/7 so they can set the prices?

[Gadwen]

All of these suggestions would likely just make it harder for new players. People with a ton of plat aren't going to cry about losing a few % because they had to convert it into gems, and then they are just going to charge you 5x as much for fungis.

[deadlycupcakez]

well unfortunately they eventually turned into RMTers... so a lot are gone but why do you think the raiding policy is what it is... bc yes. guilds and on smaller scales groups and trio/duo's do that.

[Vlak]

This idea completely ignores the middle class. This entire concept does. Its american politics in my elf sim noooooo! The majority of the population that plays are not FTE that grind hundreds of thousands of platinum. Nor are they brand new.

The problem with these ideas are that the effects impact only the player in the midst of their journey through Norrath.

The high end legendary item grinders will instantly begin the grind for more PPs and items again upon any economic intervention. They will quickly reacquire a stranglehold on the market and dominate the tunnel once more if not on a grander scale.

While this happens, the majority of players like myself cant transfer the mid level items we have on one character to an alt that we might want to play instead. My moneys gone (that in mid game comes exponentially slower than it does 50+) and my items are restricted that I probably wanted to recycle and use to level up an alt after I looted my first raid item drop.

And then there are the new players who are affected by this minimally to none.

Maybe its my personal ties to the issue... or just that i dont think using a big brother hand to guide the market into "fairness" or "more classic" will work in any scenario. especially since the (as stated above) timeline here far outstretches that of live and the preventative measures were not put in place beforehand.

While I'm usually more on the side of getting that big brother intervention in the real world (higher taxes on capital gains for under 65, dammit!), for the EQ economy, Cupcakez has a point. Those with time to play and grind will do so once again despite intervention. Those who don't are thus screwed, and I liked the point here about the mid-level characters (the "average player"). Especially valid given the number of people I see talking about switching gear from one character to another because they want to change mains.

Honestly, if things being too expensive is the issue, all you have to do is wait. With an infinite supply of platinum and items, supply should outstrip demand. Even if it doesn't and EC traders buy up cheap sells to resell at profit to keep prices up, the buyer has the option to try for the camp themselves. Barring that, farming plat. Barring that, not giving a flying rat turd about that item.

So "consumers" have options here. Intervention from on high would solve nothing, merely complicate things. While I applaud the thinking of the greater good, the methods suggested by OP would not work.

For the sake of argument, how about a plat-cap? Each character can only hold up to X amount of platinum on their bank/person. Would force prices lower to keep them accessible and limit the supply of platinum coming into the EQonomy.

[Rararboker]

Communist.

[Champion_Standing]

While I'm usually more on the side of getting that big brother intervention in the real world (higher taxes on capital gains for under 65, dammit!), for the EQ economy, Cupcakez has a point. Those with time to play and grind will do so once again despite intervention. Those who don't are thus screwed, and I liked the point here about the mid-level characters (the "average player"). Especially valid given the number of people I see talking about switching gear from one character to another because they want to change mains.

Honestly, if things being too expensive is the issue, all you have to do is wait. With an infinite supply of platinum and items, supply should outstrip demand. Even if it doesn't and EC traders buy up cheap sells to resell at profit to keep prices up, the buyer has the option to try for the camp themselves. Barring that, farming plat. Barring that, not giving a flying rat turd about that item.

So "consumers" have options here. Intervention from on high would solve nothing, merely complicate things. While I applaud the thinking of the greater good, the methods suggested by OP would not work.

For the sake of argument, how about a plat-cap? Each character can only hold up to X amount of platinum on their bank/person. Would force prices lower to keep them accessible and limit the supply of platinum coming into the EQonomy.

Prices aren't going to come down over time here, people are set on what items should sell for, regardless of total supply or demand of that item. The FBSS has been selling for 10-12k for 5 years, because people KNOW it's worth 10k. It doesn't matter that there are half a million of them on the server by now.

No intervention is needed by the staff, the community needs to shame and avoid EC gougers/EC flippers/tunnel rats whatever you want to call them. They are the people that keep prices high because even if there are enough FBSSs floating around to justify them selling for 4k, those guys will snag them all up and auction them for 10k.

[Blade]

This thread is fucking lame.

Edit: But you guys are all great people.

[Vidar]

I didn't read it all but sounds like you want a ladder server like in D2.

Honestly, I would prefer this.

[cries4hardcore]

So dumb. Yeah some people are obscenely greedy for pixel plat and it's annoying that they farm epics and shit. But your fix is so poorly thought out. Let's not even stamp it with the NOt CLASSIC tag. What you're suggesting is completely eliminating the market. Sooo, you can't get an item through work that's not for your class and trade it for something
You can use? No more having fun twinking Toons in your eutopia( which you probably benefit from in lowbi groups). And finally, kinda arrogant to show up somewhere and insist everything needs to be tailored to your experience because you represent everytjing that's good for the server.

[Nazareth73]

Nom nom nom... I skipped all the postings following the o.p.

They do spring cleaning already. It's the banning of the RMT accounts.

[cries4hardcore]

[QUOTE=Vlak;1407921]While I'm usually more on the side of getting that big brother intervention in the real world (higher taxes on capital gains for under 65, dammit!),
Ew. We get taxed enough thank you. The people makin more than 65,150k,250k, are not the ones not pulling their weight. Billionaires and corps get the tax breaks... So sick of paying fucking 38 percent in taxes so lazy people can hit up jack in the box( now accepting ebt).

[GnashingOfTeeth]

gtfo

http://media.giphy.com/media/qQW94KYzoOTYc/giphy.gif