Is the server overpopulated? Or is it something more?

[Ivory]

So, I've gotten up to level 56 and have been doing more raiding lately....along with that, I'm starting to discover just how overpopulated the server seems to be! ((And, on my trip up to 56...i also noticed the experience really wasn't the same....ghost zones, no one doing lower quests... it was just a lot of grinding and insane twinked out characters)).

But this overpopulation is really felt most in terms of high end raiding and the time-scales for getting anything accomplished. For example, killing inny happens for a guild once every few months. Or simply being able to kill the noble djorn in sky happens also once every couple of months.

Add into the fact that a lot of classes need rare items from these mobs...and you are looking at years to maybe get a chance at your epic??? Then, if you consider things like trakanon and getting VP keys....to key an entire guild, would take a decade!!

Things seem extremely over populated. Even with earthquakes now and then...the time scales for these things is insane.

Personally...I would love to see something more to do than just twink out an alt or sit around for the next raid target rotation.

Heck, even if you make an alt on this server...a lot of the earlier content seems dead (no groups really hunt in cazic thule or splitpaw for example). The reason is that there is no real reason to go to those places.... you can get a lot better equipment from visiting the commons and buying a few things then go back to grinding.

There are a ton of items and content in everquest....that were relevant at some point (on an earlier server).

As people like to say "this isn't classic" :P

But this problem comes from more than just "too many high levels"....it is really a break down in what everquest was meant to be (everquest was never about solely high end farming, it was more about facing challenges and overcoming those high end raids as you got stronger together)


So, how to revitalize the earlier game? (meaning more people will want to play that instead of always sitting around for next raids)

Simple! Create a "refresh server"!

This would be another server that wipes itself clean every year or so (though, instead of deleting the characters, it dumps them onto the main server for people who want to keep playing their characters and continue onto the end game, or who don't want to lose their work and just keep going).

Alternatively, you can choose to permanently delete your character (with some rewards depending on their level? title if you had a level 60 or a fun item that summons a pet? Or could even work with gm's once a year to make some fun stuff)) or select a non-weapon item to "gift" to your next character on the server (weapon items would break things too much).

Basically....this means people would have the opportunity to play through the "classic everquest experience" as if it were really just EQ releasing again in 1999. Over and over again.

This would fragment the server population a bit... and leave the current server alone (so people could continue to raid). But it would revitalize the lower end game and give less competition on the main server for raiding. Effectively....everyone wins!

Suddenly doing newbie quests becomes relevant again ....and getting to hate / fear with several months left before the refresh becomes exciting (instead of waiting for your guilds rotation to clear it for the pixels and yawns).

[Swish]

http://i.imgur.com/ukBSczM.gif

[Swish]

My SK is up to 24 now. She has a rubicite BP among other darkforge stuff, a FBSS, nocti blade and Atramentous shield...sure she could be more twinked, but it makes a mockery of "classic" leveling ;).

The problem with wiping? 100s of EconomyQuest players...

http://www.inewsguyana.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/hanging-suicide.gif-w500.gif

[Rec]

blue is actually popular

[Ivory]

The problem with wiping? 100s of EconomyQuest players...



That is why you make this another server that keeps refreshing. So no one is effected that doesn't want to be (everyone could simply ignore it and keep playing on the server existing like nothing happened).

Everything that people have worked for over the last years will remain untouched. That way everyone who is enjoying hopping on to decimate sky every week with their guildies will be able to do that.

BUT, a new server that is set up to solve this problem now...and in the future....will be able to provide the "classic eq experience" to anyone that wants it.

Heck, you could even play on both servers and enjoy the high end raiding on the current server...and go level up on the "real classic server" with an alt. Eventually the "real classic server" character would come over to the main server anyway, so it isn't a big deal.

[burdenday]

I really like what you're presenting here, but I'm not sure a reset server fixes the core issue of people seeking to min/max their characters.

How does an imminent death timeline encourage people to enjoy a wider array of content? And who would join with t-minus 3 months to wipe?

What you may actually want is an inverted Firiona Vie rule set where most everything is no-drop. In this scenario you don't necessarily need a reset timeline and TunnelQuest is put to rest aside from tradeskill materials or hand-crafted gear.

[ArmySash]

Yes! Make stuff No-Drop! Everything but tradeskill and playercrafted items :o

Awesome idea!

[Zulzephur - Tarew Marr]

Yes! Make stuff No-Drop! Everything but tradeskill and playercrafted items :o

Awesome idea!

No.


1) Server costs and adding a new server, and splitting population by a bit won't help things. You want a full community, right?

2) No/less trading, making everything no drop; also adds to cutting down player interaction, EC fun, etc. Then again, people may work/group more often in result of this may, which would increase player interaction.

Regardless... no.

I wouldn't mind a fresh start seems I am new here, and loved when they put progression servers in on Live EQ, but I'd like the community / server to be as full as possible, and splitting people like that, and getting rid of trading for the most part would be detrimental in the long run... that's not including server costs / people running this stuff having to look after another server.

Then again... if raiding is really that bad top-end... that's disappointing to say the least. To compensate for that, if you want to fix that issue and give everyone the time / chance to get their drops / epics, increase respawn timers. That would alleviate your issues with raiding, and no need to make a new server, start everyone fresh, get rid of trading, more server costs, etc etc etc. Then again, certain guild(s) could take full advantage of faster spawn timers and farm farm farm...

Either way, there is no one single answer for this "issue."


I get where you're going with all this though... they've implemented this on other games, most notably Diablo 2 with Ladder Seasons. It's a great idea and it works. It's the only reason why I am returning to Diablo 3 in fact, but this game is too community driven to have everyone be split up.

[Ivory]

I really like what you're presenting here, but I'm not sure a reset server fixes the core issue of people seeking to min/max their characters.

How does an imminent death timeline encourage people to enjoy a wider array of content? And who would join with t-minus 3 months to wipe?



Well, people can try to min/max their characters...but there simply isn't a huge amount of high level items floating around that they can buy for 50pp. So, in an attempt to min/max...they will need to go do some quests (or hunt in places the good weapons drop).

People will chase the loot, and it will take them to all the zones (that is how the game is designed). Which means people won't just grind in oasis...they will want to go somewhere that they could get a decent weapon drop (or at least some PP for spells / items).

Imminent death means there will NEVER be a huge glut of money and high levels (to twink with). So (in general) people are on their own to get their loot and do their quests (which means they need to rely on each other, work together, and play the game...which, again, is how EQ was designed).

A person could join with 3 months until wipe, because their characters wouldn't be killed....they are simply moved over to the "normal server" (the one we currently have, which never wipes). Basically, no fate worse than simply having started on the server we currently have :P

Though, I would like to see options for people who want to let their characters die (keeping a non weapon item... or getting a special title after certain levels....or getting to have a unique item ((even just something named differently, if you perma-death your level 50-60 character?))).

Basically, a little perk that differentiates your character in recognition for choosing to perma-death your character on the wipe (instead of transferring it over). This gives people a reason to start over and keep playing on the refresh server.


What you may actually want is an inverted Firiona Vie rule set where most everything is no-drop. In this scenario you don't necessarily need a reset timeline and TunnelQuest is put to rest aside from tradeskill materials or hand-crafted gear.

Yea, but trading is part of everquest. It isn't a bad thing to be able to trade and sell things....it just becomes really wonky when you have everyone with multiple level 60's....and everything has lost its value.

Or, even if you ignore the trading, just having tons of really high levels means you can use them to camp stuff for you (even if it was no drop, you would still have your character kill it and your twink camped out at the zone line or something....go visit lower guk sometime, and see all the rogues sitting there waiting to loot a mask).

[myriverse]

Nothing in the thread that hasn't been proposed before, and the devs aren't going to do it.

[burdenday]

No.

1) Server costs and adding a new server, and splitting population by a bit won't help things. You want a full community, right?

2) No/less trading, making everything no drop; also adds to cutting down player interaction, EC fun, etc. Then again, people may work/group more often in result of this may, which would increase player interaction.


1. I'd just toss variables/intangibles like costs and community out the window. Any ideas presented in this thread won't happen unless someone spins a brand new project up and puts in thousands of hours of work.

2. I believe you'd still see a trading community around MQs and tradeskills. It would shift focus onto parts of the game which haven't been a focus in years due to min/maxing.

To support your "no" though, this proposed rule-set is pretty hardcore (people naturally want things without having to do the work themselves) and wouldn't ever have the interest level of Blue.

[Malice_Mizer]

I think these questions highlight an important consideration:

Is the truly classic Everquest experience something that can even be re-created? I know what you're talking about, and long for it myself. But I think a lot of that has to do with an era of Everquest in its relative infancy, where people were experiencing it as something novel and genuinely new. Now it's not that way, and MMO culture has changed dramatically since 2001. Do genuine "noobs" exist in P99 as they did in 2001? Definitely not. People running around like fools, wasting their precious time for little to no tangible pay-off (myself definitely included) are not as numerous as they once were. I don't think any rule set or wipe will solve this problem, because everybody already knows what the end-game and purpose of Everquest (and all MMO's) is.

Simply put, you can't go back home again. It's tragic but nonetheless true.

[Ivory]

but I'd like the community / server to be as full as possible, and splitting people like that, and getting rid of trading for the most part would be detrimental in the long run...

The server is already split up....horribly.

You might not see it when you log in and see the server population number.

But you realize it when you try to find a group under level 50.

When you see the only places to find a group are in the "exp hotspot" zones. That everyone is SOLELY focused on exp (and nothing else really matters). Sure, grinding is fun sometimes.... but when you go through all your levels never actually getting loot yourself? Always just buying upgrades from commons? ((Heck, on this server, it is normal practice to do GREED rolls before need rolls... since it assumed everyone is just buying their stuff anyway))

When you go to a zone that actually drops loot (lower guk?) and all the named spawns are camped by level 60's looking to make some $$ so they can buy their epics (since actually doing it themselves is near impossible, since other level 60's are camping the epics to sell for even more $$$).

You slowly realize how split up the server really is.... how it is an empty shell of everquest. Just ghosts going through the motions.... and the groups, the adventures, the fun that made classic everquest? It isn't there.

Even when you finally make into raiding levels. It is like an amusement park line. Waiting your guilds turn to smack the raid mob (with overwhelming numbers and ease)...

"Good job with inny everyone, we will get another chance at him in a few months".

And what do you do when you aren't raiding? You go grind for exp or $$$ (so you can buy whatever you are after).....or maybe make an alt and twink it out (only to go through the same under 50 game of pure exp grinding with no attempt to do quests or get loot).

[Jimjam]

Yes! Make stuff No-Drop! Everything but tradeskill and playercrafted items :o

Awesome idea!

I'd like this. Merchant bought items should be kept tradable, as should more mundane dropped stuff like bronze/rawhide/tradeskill components too though.

Not classic though :p

[Ivory]

I think these questions highlight an important consideration:

Is the truly classic Everquest experience something that can even be re-created? I know what you're talking about, and long for it myself. But I think a lot of that has to do with an era of Everquest in its relative infancy, where people were experiencing it as something novel and genuinely new.

Nope, it definitely can.

On live in around 2003 or 2004 I would keep switching to their new servers they would bring up (after 5 years of the game, so people knew what they were doing).

But on a fresh server....even if you know everything about the game....there is the matter of achieving it.

Stuff people don't even think about (for example, getting a magic weapon in the first month of a new server is tricky... how do you fight ghouls? ).

No port everywhere either, so you have a much more interesting economy (people taking the boat over to Lfay to sell ranger fire beetle eyes from freeport).

And, of course, people doing their quests (there are actually a TON of mid-level quests to do).

This new server game lasts for 4-6 months (until enough people catch up to the higher levels, to start raiding). And for the next half year everyone is doing "server firsts" as they keep trying to tackle new challenges (killing VS, for example).

Basically....it is a ton of fun. Even knowing everything about the game, you actually get to play through everquest (which included trying to find upgrade armor and weapons, instead of just buying it for a few pp in commons). The first few months especially are like an entirely different game :3 "Omg, a gnome in qeynos!"

[Zulzephur - Tarew Marr]

Even when you finally make into raiding levels. It is like an amusement park line. Waiting your guilds turn to smack the raid mob (with overwhelming numbers and ease)...




I added in a suggestion for that in my post. It would give everyone a better chance, or speed up the process to get their drops, but it also comes with cons as well.

Either way, it is just a suggestion, and it wouldn't require much work and effort as opposed to having to open up a whole new server.

I do like restarts/resets on servers, mostly progression servers like they had on Live EQ. I always joined them on EQ, and other games. It is a great experience. If a new server would open up, I'd totally join it and make it my home, but there could be ways to alleviate many peoples' concerns before having to do that.

[Ivory]

I added in a suggestion for that in my post. It would give everyone a better chance, or speed up the process to get their drops, but it also comes with cons as well.

Yea, it might help with the high end raiding problem...adding more respawns.

But it doesn't really fix too much. Stuff would still be over-camped for $$$ in the rest of the game....and the pre-50 experience would still be a ghost town of mindless EXP grinding in a couple zones.

If all you care about is the high end raiding and getting pixels...sure. But the high end raiding issue is just a symptom of a much bigger problem (that there is nothing else to do).

People have made their alts....their 2nd, 3rd, 4th level 60s (and leveled them up in exp groups or chardok AE).

The game is just about exp grind and getting $$$ at this point. There is sooo much more to everquest than that. There are really a heck of a lot of quests and items that are completely irrelevant on the server as it stands.

[Bazia]

asking for wipes doesnt go over well here

not gonna happen

[Ivory]

asking for wipes doesnt go over well here

not gonna happen

No one is asking for the server to be wiped.....

[MaksimMazor]

Welcome to p99 raiding

[Champion_Standing]

Stole this idea from me but I'll support it anyway

They need to launch a Wipe 99 server where it is just automatically wiped every 6 months.

[Portasaurus]

People running around like fools, wasting their precious time for little to no tangible pay-off

This is an incredibly accurate review of every video game ever.

[Uuruk]

The server is already split up....horribly.

You might not see it when you log in and see the server population number.

But you realize it when you try to find a group under level 50.

When you see the only places to find a group are in the "exp hotspot" zones. That everyone is SOLELY focused on exp (and nothing else really matters). Sure, grinding is fun sometimes.... but when you go through all your levels never actually getting loot yourself? Always just buying upgrades from commons? ((Heck, on this server, it is normal practice to do GREED rolls before need rolls... since it assumed everyone is just buying their stuff anyway))

When you go to a zone that actually drops loot (lower guk?) and all the named spawns are camped by level 60's looking to make some $$ so they can buy their epics (since actually doing it themselves is near impossible, since other level 60's are camping the epics to sell for even more $$$).

You slowly realize how split up the server really is.... how it is an empty shell of everquest. Just ghosts going through the motions.... and the groups, the adventures, the fun that made classic everquest? It isn't there.

Even when you finally make into raiding levels. It is like an amusement park line. Waiting your guilds turn to smack the raid mob (with overwhelming numbers and ease)...

"Good job with inny everyone, we will get another chance at him in a few months".

And what do you do when you aren't raiding? You go grind for exp or $$$ (so you can buy whatever you are after).....or maybe make an alt and twink it out (only to go through the same under 50 game of pure exp grinding with no attempt to do quests or get loot).
So what you're saying is play red?

[Ivory]

So what you're saying is play red?

Boo pvp :P

[DarkwingDuck]

I think it's fine
Wipe main server and restart or leave it be.
There was 1267 people online, 88 were in EC..
Those are people that are either enjoying there time buyin and selling
Those looking for help
Or those afk or lfg
.. The other 86% of the population is out killin shit , questing
And camping.
It's fine

[Glenzig]

People are always trying to perfect the classic eq experience. Don't think it will ever happen better than it already has here.

[Swish]

Even when you finally make into raiding levels. It is like an amusement park line. Waiting your guilds turn to smack the raid mob (with overwhelming numbers and ease)...

"Good job with inny everyone, we will get another chance at him in a few months".

And what do you do when you aren't raiding? You go grind for exp or $$$ (so you can buy whatever you are after).....or maybe make an alt and twink it out (only to go through the same under 50 game of pure exp grinding with no attempt to do quests or get loot).

QFT - best analogy yet.

http://33.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4ex26gh6A1qb5gkjo4_250.gif

http://i.imgur.com/p5dwgay.gif

[Tankdan]

Can't compare 4 years of Kunark to anything classic.

[Eliseus]

"Not Classic" is such a piss poor excuse for anything on this server. As has been pointed out several times of the creation of this server, there is several things that White Knights will try and deem not classic, but others things they won't because it would directly impact their gameplay. There is also things not classic that the Devs either won't change to classic on purpose or can't. That being said, there is certain aspects in this game that should be considered.

What's even worse is because of timeline releases and just how Everquest was played back then, there was not A LOT of the raiding issues this server has, so there wasn't anything created to really help the raiding situation. Sure, there might be 1 example here and there or 1 server that was the exception, but in general, it didn't exist. So to say the raiding scene is classic is far fetched. Something should really be done about it, and stuff like wiping the server actually won't help because of all the "Power Gamers" that exist in modern world, especially on this server, it will be the same thing again in a short period. The end game needs to just be accessed as a whole, and something should be done to provide a better end game experience for everyone. Nothing should be changed though that would basically give free gear at the expense of said changes (though IDK what changes would after reading some of the pathetic wipes some of these higher end guilds have had with their full VP gear and no competition).

[Millburn]

I know the core issue with having two blue servers is splitting the population but I always thought that having one be the retirement home server and another being a server that wipes (everyone gets moved to the retirement home) every 2 years or so would be great fun.

[Rec]

You're only allowed to play on the second blue server if you have never had a fungi in your inventory

[SenoraRaton]

I play classic. This is only my second character on p99, and I'm not rich, nor twinked. I'm camping in Qeynos sewers for a quest weapon on my cleric. Its likely I will never reach raid level, but the journey to the top is what is the fun part for me. If your not happy with the twinks, and the raiding schedule I suggest you find a different game, or learn to play this game differently. Go camp things that make no sense, get together friends and go group in weird zones, pretend like the top isn't the answer... Intentional inefficency maximizes enjoyment?

[iruinedyourday]

permadeath server

[Eliseus]

permadeath server

It's actually kind of interesting. Wonder if they ever will release classic servers with different rules like this. One thing I have always liked about EQ vs other games that I play is EQ is the only people to release servers that aren't the norm.

[Ivory]

If your not happy with the twinks, and the raiding schedule I suggest you find a different game, or learn to play this game differently. Go camp things that make no sense, get together friends and go group in weird zones, pretend like the top isn't the answer... Intentional inefficency maximizes enjoyment?

So... basically, go play alone?

Yea, that is an option I guess.... to go play a social game alone....not twinked. Then wander over to the dungeons you want to and sit at the zone-in wishing there were other non-twinked people who wanted to journey to the bottoms of runnyeye or something.

Doesn't seem that fun to me though :/

[rollin5k]

Just make a new character, max your agi and dex. Do not accept money or twink. Level only in the most inefficient places and beg others to join you. Don't rush and don't try to get exp too much. pretend your stupid and fish allot while roleplaying

[iruinedyourday]

Eq is 100% what you make of it. Dont ever forget that.

[Bazia]

So... basically, go play alone?

Yea, that is an option I guess.... to go play a social game alone....not twinked. Then wander over to the dungeons you want to and sit at the zone-in wishing there were other non-twinked people who wanted to journey to the bottoms of runnyeye or something.

Doesn't seem that fun to me though :/

Yeah hitting zones that have shitty exp, shitty loot, and shitty corpse runs sounds fun

[iruinedyourday]

Yeah hitting zones that have shitty exp, shitty loot, and shitty corpse runs sounds fun

rofl if you're not trying to endgame bro, then yes it does sound fun.

[Ivory]

Yeah hitting zones that have shitty exp, shitty loot, and shitty corpse runs sounds fun

Yup, bad loot when you can buy a Green Jade Broadsword for 100pp. Why would you need the other 90 percent of weapons under that when you can just pick one up?

Lolz lolz shiny brass halberd lol lolz lolzzzz

[Taeoz]

People make their own fun. For me, it's about getting to play in Norrath again, seeing the old familiar places. The magic that made EQ so amazing the first time around, the newness of it all - well, that can't be recaptured anymore, until they figure out some new technology (Oculus Rift might be going in that direction). And after the surprise had worn off, it was the people, the community that kept me playing EQ more than the actual game play. It remains to be seen, if it is the same way here.

As for the game play, well...I quite like twinking and making alts. My "twinking" is pretty tame compared to the P1999 veterans - but I've managed to make some plats with my Leatherfoot hat trade (though I lost about 9k's worth in a ground transfer, lol). And when I make those alts, I try to level them up in different areas. If I find a quest item, I'll look it up in the wiki and if it seems interesting, I'll probably do it - even if it isn't beneficial to me in any way. That's me, experiencing the content, the way I want to.

I sort of get it though, what you're saying. I myself don't find it especially fun, to try and kill orcs with a rusty sword. I much prefer slicing them up with a Green Jade Broadsword. But if I have that sword at lvl5, then I won't have much of a progression in weapons during my play - I'll keep using that sword until the endgame, unless I farm up enough money to buy a better one. I definitely won't be upgrading it from drops. And that does remove some of the fun, when killing mobs - if all they can yield is experience and some coins, then it is just a grind. But I still find that preferable to trying to kill things with shitty gear. I mean, even as twinked as my characters may be, there is still plenty of risk and difficulty in the game to keep things interesting.

My suggestion would be to try and find those like-minded people and then go group up in Splitpaw or whatever. And if you play with the same group of people, who are not already twinked to the stratosphere, then you won't have to deal with that issue so much. At least, that is my plan, as soon as I get my altitis under control and start leveling up one or two of my characters. :)

tl;dr - *shrug* Concentrate on the positives, not the negatives. It's still a free server in which you can experience most of the classic EQ stuff. Just try and squeeze out every ounce of satisfaction from it, that you can.

[Aveenia]

One thing that is recaptured from the original... Kithicor still scares the S*** out of me.

[Portasaurus]

pretend your stupid and fish allot while roleplaying

[Zulzephur - Tarew Marr]

One thing that is recaptured from the original... Kithicor still scares the S*** out of me.

LFay for me also... god damn brownies piss me off.

[Susvain2]

Ive done many groups in splitpaw and cazic thule while level appropriate. Both were some of the most fun ive ever had on the server.

Let me tell you youre problem OP, you dont start youre on groups and ya dont make like minded friends. Most people are so excited and thankful when they get a random invite to a dungeon. I explain this to so many people. Just start spamming /who all class + level range and send tons of tells out. The group fills up in a few minutes or atleast you get 3-4 people and you can start. You start to make a network and remember the names of people who are fun to group with and you meet them daily. I do this on every damn toon. Been doing upper guk for a few days in a row on my sk and had alot of friends with me each day.

You also need to join an active leveling guild. In Harmony we were excited to get on teamspeak and do paw, ct, najena, guk, droga, every rare dungeon there is. I have alot of memories and stories about naivgating start to finish of split paw with a group of 30s and none of us had been there before. Or letting a crocodile run in CT and bringing a huge train back down on the bottom floors. We had 10+ people go from 15-50ish together doing all the obscure camps and dungeons in the game. We made epic experiences out of dungeon crawling noobie dungeons.

Take some blame for you not enjoying the game and do somethin about it

[Whiteberry]

Even when you finally make into raiding levels. It is like an amusement park line. Waiting your guilds turn to smack the raid mob (with overwhelming numbers and ease)...

"Good job with inny everyone, we will get another chance at him in a few months".


That's Class R for ya man... If you want to raid weekly join a class C guild =)

[Kye1709]

Ive done many groups in splitpaw and cazic thule while level appropriate. Both were some of the most fun ive ever had on the server.

Let me tell you youre problem OP, you dont start youre on groups and ya dont make like minded friends. Most people are so excited and thankful when they get a random invite to a dungeon. I explain this to so many people. Just start spamming /who all class + level range and send tons of tells out. The group fills up in a few minutes or atleast you get 3-4 people and you can start. You start to make a network and remember the names of people who are fun to group with and you meet them daily. I do this on every damn toon. Been doing upper guk for a few days in a row on my sk and had alot of friends with me each day.

You also need to join an active leveling guild. In Harmony we were excited to get on teamspeak and do paw, ct, najena, guk, droga, every rare dungeon there is. I have alot of memories and stories about naivgating start to finish of split paw with a group of 30s and none of us had been there before. Or letting a crocodile run in CT and bringing a huge train back down on the bottom floors. We had 10+ people go from 15-50ish together doing all the obscure camps and dungeons in the game. We made epic experiences out of dungeon crawling noobie dungeons.

Take some blame for you not enjoying the game and do somethin about it

This.

[Whirled]

I've played on almost every emu server on the list for the past several+years. The one thing that remains constant is; when people find out there's a server wipe; they move on to another. fft~

[Ivory]

Ive done many groups in splitpaw and cazic thule while level appropriate. Both were some of the most fun ive ever had on the server.

Except you are missing the loot part of things.

Yea, you can go to random dungeons now and then and put together a group ...but if there isn't a chance at loot or upgrades, suddenly it loses a lot of the awesome.

It is like playing diablo without a chance of getting anything that might be interesting.

Like I said, this isn't one single problem. This is a collection of different problems (high end raiding, empty lower levels, inability to really find any loot you want yourself or at higher level loot areas being unable to find groups that do anything but greed over need).

All these problems are stemming from the same issue....that the server is very old and stuck in time and that has created a game that is very different than what everquest was like.

Not everyone sees this as an issue, and some prefer the old server environment (and that is totally fine). But there are a ton of people who are getting bored of it and want to do the real EQ experience (especially new people who come to the game I would imagine).

Doing a new refresh server would revitalize the game again. It would solve a lot of the problems (easing higher end raiding on the current server, offering a place with a stronger early game experience, make more of the games loot / content relevant again).

Basically, why NOT do it? The only argument I've heard against it is "but it will fracture the community".

I actually think that is wrong. I think it would bring more of the community together and make them more active (and, more importantly, have more fun).

[Ivory]

I've played on almost every emu server on the list for the past several+years. The one thing that remains constant is; when people find out there's a server wipe; they move on to another. fft~

No one is talking about wiping the server.....................

[Whirled]

Simple! Create a "refresh server"!

This would be another server that wipes itself clean every year or so....

^Was just sharing my 2 copper pieces with what OP and others have said. Whether there's a dozen people on the server or 2,000+ players at all times; once the words of server wipe becomes known - most people leave & go else where. I've seen it on Dungeon Crawl, Zebuxxoruk & many other servers. A server that gets wiped regularly may as well be called, test server... o wait... nm:D

[Castigate]

I think what a lot of people tend to forget on here is that live servers had 2-3000 people on them during this era. If anything this server is underpopulated, it just feels crowded because everyone races to 60 and no one really goes to the shitty zones.

[Rec]

new server with shitty zones only first. It's a never before seen style of progression server.

[Glenzig]

Did a /who all Crushbone last night, the list was cut short at 40 people.
Repeat. There were more than 40 people in Crushbone at one time last night. I was in Befallen with a group. There were 12 people in Befallen. That's kinda sad.

[Man0warr]

People would figure out the best zones of the limited shitty zones and just go there. People will always min/max.

[Whirled]

hmm how about any character that's been lv60 for X amount of years gets moved to a legends server to free up the original server for starting people? ahh crap now u got me thinking wacky ideas...

[Rec]

Even if a zone is the least non shitty it still can only hold so many people. Non instanced greatness solving all problems!

[Coolname]

red is pretty much a wasteland just take it down to use as the refresh server, problem solved.

every 24 months refresh merges into blue and restarts

set VP as full pvp

[iruinedyourday]

Man up. Permadeath.

[myriverse]

Level 61: PVP, full loot, permadeath

[Brynnag]

I'd play on a permadeath server

[Daldaen]

Release Luclin and PoP.

Will spread people out enough and those are two of the best expansions EQ ever had $$$.

[Tewaz]

^^

This is actually a great way to solve the problem. Creates something like 10 tiers of raiding that will take the most hardcore, poopsocking guilds years to beat.

[Nirgon]

Rallos Zek (server) killed the sleeper
EQ Mac couldn't even kill prenerf Quarm

[Clark]

blue is actually popular

[Susvain2]

Except you are missing the loot part of things.

Yea, you can go to random dungeons now and then and put together a group ...but if there isn't a chance at loot or upgrades, suddenly it loses a lot of the awesome.

It is like playing diablo without a chance of getting anything that might be interesting.

Like I said, this isn't one single problem. This is a collection of different problems (high end raiding, empty lower levels, inability to really find any loot you want yourself or at higher level loot areas being unable to find groups that do anything but greed over need).

All these problems are stemming from the same issue....that the server is very old and stuck in time and that has created a game that is very different than what everquest was like.

Not everyone sees this as an issue, and some prefer the old server environment (and that is totally fine). But there are a ton of people who are getting bored of it and want to do the real EQ experience (especially new people who come to the game I would imagine).

Doing a new refresh server would revitalize the game again. It would solve a lot of the problems (easing higher end raiding on the current server, offering a place with a stronger early game experience, make more of the games loot / content relevant again).

Basically, why NOT do it? The only argument I've heard against it is "but it will fracture the community".

I actually think that is wrong. I think it would bring more of the community together and make them more active (and, more importantly, have more fun).

plenty of loot just gotta make it fun. not everyone is a fngi twink. like i said we had 10-15people+ doing 20-50 together and alot were very very ghetto twinks. or not twinks at all. Plenty of banded armor to go around.

Theres stuff like wizard staff quest in CT, loot in mistmoore castle, look in guk, loot in most of these dungeons. But loot isnt even the best part about doing dungeon crawls in these places. It's the challenging content. Having to inch along to navigate

[Daldaen]

Rallos Zek (server) killed the sleeper
EQ Mac couldn't even kill prenerf Quarm

Turns out during PoP having 200 members from 3 guilds, with enough Rez sticks to chain Rez makes most any mob kill able. Also he wasn't regening any HP when he was killed.

Comparing that to EQMac's Time, is Lols worthy. There are probably only 200-250 people who actually saw the version of Quarm that EQMac had. Afterlife, Township Rebellion and Temerity. None of them killed it until after he was patched and his AEs were retuned hugely. Along with a few PoTime revamps (like walls blocking AEs... The Mac server didn't have walls blocking).

Plus they had fancy things like a song window for MGB HoTs/Bard songs... And their Cleric's CR AA was a group buff unlike the single target version on EQMac. A few useful LoY spells like Pure Blood and Blood of Nadox helped a lot. As well as Mod2s on their loot (Shielding, Spell Shielding, Avoidance)... All are huge differences comparing the version of Time Afterlife and TR conquered as compared to the one EQMac did.

[kaev]

Turns out during PoP having 200 members from 3 guilds, with enough Rez sticks to chain Rez makes most any mob kill able. Also he wasn't regening any HP when he was killed.

Comparing that to EQMac's Time, is Lols worthy. There are probably only 200-250 people who actually saw the version of Quarm that EQMac had. Afterlife, Township Rebellion and Temerity. None of them killed it until after he was patched and his AEs were retuned hugely. Along with a few PoTime revamps (like walls blocking AEs... The Mac server didn't have walls blocking).

Plus they had fancy things like a song window for MGB HoTs/Bard songs... And their Cleric's CR AA was a group buff unlike the single target version on EQMac. A few useful LoY spells like Pure Blood and Blood of Nadox helped a lot. As well as Mod2s on their loot (Shielding, Spell Shielding, Avoidance)... All are huge differences comparing the version of Time Afterlife and TR conquered as compared to the one EQMac did.

Hush, you'll spoil TheNarrative[tm]

[Uuruk]

Turns out during PoP having 200 members from 3 guilds, with enough Rez sticks to chain Rez makes most any mob kill able. Also he wasn't regening any HP when he was killed.

Comparing that to EQMac's Time, is Lols worthy. There are probably only 200-250 people who actually saw the version of Quarm that EQMac had. Afterlife, Township Rebellion and Temerity. None of them killed it until after he was patched and his AEs were retuned hugely. Along with a few PoTime revamps (like walls blocking AEs... The Mac server didn't have walls blocking).

Plus they had fancy things like a song window for MGB HoTs/Bard songs... And their Cleric's CR AA was a group buff unlike the single target version on EQMac. A few useful LoY spells like Pure Blood and Blood of Nadox helped a lot. As well as Mod2s on their loot (Shielding, Spell Shielding, Avoidance)... All are huge differences comparing the version of Time Afterlife and TR conquered as compared to the one EQMac did.

http://manifestedharmony.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/know-it-all-300x223.png

[Daldaen]

http://manifestedharmony.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/know-it-all-300x223.png

Finally acknowledging my Omniscience!

But really, you want to compare things to make a point, go ahead. Just make sure the facts back up your point.

[Nirgon]

Personally? I was trolling eq mac scum but carry on

[Portasaurus]

Nothing wrong with p99. This server's population is healthy, sustainable, and antibiotic-free.














And delicious.

[Wizardling]

When useful loot (a tiny percentage of overall drops, anyway) in EQ has always either been extremely minor upgrades for the most part, or very rare decent upgrades I hardly ever see or win if I do see... well, I wouldn't still be playing EQ1 in 2014 if loot was all I cared about.

For me EQ1 is about the grouping, and to a lesser extent the solo adventures and questing. The only thing that can destroy that for me is finding myself having to travel to the same tiny subset of zones on every damn alt, to find other people.

Now I do make an effort at times to create groups where I'd rather play, and sometimes that gets off the ground - which is awesome. If I'm really lucky I create a self-sustaining group that repopulates as members leaving get others to fill their spots, or word gets out and people hang about to get in on the action.

But it's rare that it works out that well. On some alts I just thank my lucky stars I found an UGuk group instead of Oasis again, heh. And you know something is wrong when you consider UGuk a break from the usual (no matter how much I love that zone - and I really do :-) *mucho warm fuzzies for Guk*).

What it comes down to is not only making an effort to create interesting varied group destinations, but the rest of the players making some effort not to just fall into the same old CLs->Ro->Oasis->etc progression.

I mean really - how boring are most people to do the same zones over and over, when just a tiny bit more effort will get them somewhere unusual? Not to say I've not been guilty of being lazy and falling into popular spots, but I like to think I at least make some effort on each alt to break the pattern a few times on the rise to 60.

[Ivory]

The problem is when you remove the incentive for loot from the sub 50 game...the only thing left to do is to grind up to level 50 before you can start seeing loot again.

That is why everyone concentrates on the highest exp areas, because there is nothing else to go after.

You might say loot isn't of interest to you...but most people enjoy getting upgrades (and it is one of the main things that drives games like these).

When useful loot (a tiny percentage of overall drops, anyway) in EQ has always either been extremely minor upgrades for the most part

That is how the game is designed. Leveling up, and finding new loot along the way. The upgrades aren't staggering...but there a lot of them up to level 50.

~gasp~ A rogue that does their burning rapier quest to actually use it? Impossible on the current server since you can get a Jagged Chokidai Spine for less than 100pp.

Yea, it is possible to try and avoid buying higher end gear and intentionally nerf yourself. But then you join a group and are being outdamaged by everyone and not contributing much ((which, isn't really much fun? Most people want to feel like they are contributing a valuable amount)).

[Wizardling]

I didn't say I don't like upgrades or get them for my characters. But EQ1 isn't like many newer MMOs - it doesn't shower you with multiple magical stat items every play session. You learn to live with very modest upgrades, often - when not twinking (which I enjoy in it's own way, but it's a different style of play. Sometimes I do, sometimes not, depending on my preference at the time... and wealth on the server, of course, heh) - not seeing more than a couple minor stat items for a considerable time.

In EQ1 getting a nice upgrade from loot is a special occasion. Something I get excited about, it's so rare. Which is good IMO. In WoW, for example, I never got excited about anything less than epic, by the time I bailed, as I'd seen so much green and blue gear overflowing with stats.

However my point was that if played only for loot upgrades, I doubt EQ1 could sustain me. It's no Diablo II in that respect. However EQ1 has held my interest for well over a decade because it's the best social MMO I've ever played, IMO. Nice gear is just icing on the cake when it happens. On live constant homogenised Defiant gear drops ruined my appreciation for loot. On 1999 it's just right, IMO. Here I get excited when I get my first decent DPS magic weapon, or armour with nice AC - forget stats. But the grouping is the key to EQ1 for me :-)

[Wizardling]

Oh - and as to feeling inadequate in a group. Well, what can I say? I've never been an OCD combat log examiner. If we're staying alive, having fun, and are not bored, I'm happy. For that matter I actually enjoy playing toons like my Troll SHD with 68% less XP gain. I see it as a way to group longer earlier on. My best times have all been in lower level zones, not high end raids. I've raided plenty - most recently up to early DoDh on Fippy Darkpaw progression. But most of my fun from raiding came by taking raid gear into groups and having a blast being powerful. Still, again: if I'm having fun, I couldn't care less about my XP bar, provided I get to new content before I'm bored with the current.

[mtb tripper]

sounds familiar

[Flotsam]

I have no idea if a server wipe or a wipe-server would fix the problem, but it is clear that the main objection to having another server (excluding the cost, and work involved which is beyond my knowledge), is "splitting the community". It seems obvious that this is a fallacious argument, since the server is, in fact, over-populated to an extreme degree. The over-population mostly occurs at level 60, so having another server ought to help a lot.

Another objection is that the new server will look like this one after a year or less, but why is that a problem? We'll then have two servers, both over-populated at level 60, but with a bit more breathing space.

I am a new player here, and this thread suggests that what I have to look forward to is a massively crowded raiding scene where I have no realistic hope of camping level-appropriate gear or achieving my own epic, because they are camped for cash by level 60's. So far, I am enjoying the low level experience, but this thread is disquieting.

How about allowing people to transfer characters plus equipment or even full guilds to red? Nihilum might not be able to grief TMO quite so easily, and it could create a bit of breathing space as well as more competition on both servers (since blue could afford to be slightly less regimented, and a few campers would be doing something else). I know, no blue guild would dare to go there, though maybe they might be willing to transfer a pack of level 60 alts, which would still be helpful in evening out average population a little.

[BlkCamel]

Tunare Regularly had over 2k pop prime time. For years. Tunare was one of the first servers to split due to this over population. And I am talking Kunark into Velious time frame, prior to Kunark I don't remember them showing population numbers.

[Tenlaar]

Wow, how has nobody ever thought of TMO going to red before? It's so simple, so elegant. It was right there this whole time, just staring us in the face. Did we see it? No. We just kept plodding along, a huddled mass staring at our feet like poor snow-covered Russians in line for government cheese. Why, I say why, why has it taken so long for us to raise our heads and see the Flotsam descending from the heavens with it's message of hope? There can be a brighter future, we no longer need live in fear, we can all bask in a warm golden shower of pixels, we can just...send TMO to red.

[Flotsam]

I'm basking in the warm glow of appreciation.

[fadetree]

I'd be fine with a new blue server. No drop/firiona style is ok. Reset every x months I dunno about but its interesting.

About the min-max zones : I always thought it would be interesting if the game remembered how many mobs you have killed in a particular zone before and reduced your exp gain by a small proportional amount. Eventually it would bottom out at 80% of your normal exp or something like that. So not a huge decrease but enough to encourage you to move along after killing a few hundred merbs. You could make this memory forget after a while, for instance, if you go spend a bunch of time in other zones the original one would be more or less reset for you in terms of exp.

[fadetree]

Wow, how has nobody ever thought of TMO going to red before? It's so simple, so elegant. It was right there this whole time, just staring us in the face. Did we see it? No. We just kept plodding along, a huddled mass staring at our feet like poor snow-covered Russians in line for government cheese. Why, I say why, why has it taken so long for us to raise our heads and see the Flotsam descending from the heavens with it's message of hope? There can be a brighter future, we no longer need live in fear, we can all bask in a warm golden shower of pixels, we can just...send TMO to red.

It was US that got the government cheese, the russkies should be so lucky. They stood in line for borscht or something.

[Clark]

I'd be fine with a new blue server. No drop/firiona style is ok. Reset every x months I dunno about but its interesting.

About the min-max zones : I always thought it would be interesting if the game remembered how many mobs you have killed in a particular zone before and reduced your exp gain by a small proportional amount. Eventually it would bottom out at 80% of your normal exp or something like that. So not a huge decrease but enough to encourage you to move along after killing a few hundred merbs. You could make this memory forget after a while, for instance, if you go spend a bunch of time in other zones the original one would be more or less reset for you in terms of exp.
I always wanted to try fv style seemed hardcore pve wise.

[Clark]

I'd play on a permadeath server

[kaev]

Tunare Regularly had over 2k pop prime time. For years. Tunare was one of the first servers to split due to this over population. And I am talking Kunark into Velious time frame, prior to Kunark I don't remember them showing population numbers.

They showed pop numbers from the start until they stopped. On Tunare pre-Kunark it would go 1400+ on Tunare in primetime, LGuk was so thoroughly carpeted with players camping & waiting for camps that it was (mostly) safe for lowbies to walk around. We're nowhere near that player density here, although the lootflation here utterly dwarfs live pre-PoP.

[skorge]

server is way different than it was during the first 2-3 years...I joined 09/2010 I believe...pre-kunark, was a lot more fun

problem with p99 is they have failed to complete velious in a timely manner so we have been stuck in kunark mode for far too long

in a way we need to look at p99 now as a beta - we are beta testing p99; i hope they plan to re-release it and this time launch all the xpansions in a timely manner...having velious so far behind schedule has ruined the server IMO

the staff also did very little to make up for it as well...this is far from a classic server; i vote to wipe it clean and restart it! hell i would be down anytime for a restart, even now....this way we can have our velious in a timely manner

[Tantrix]

Most of you are pretty accurate. The raid rotation thing is the most retarded thing on the server. Back in the day, guilds just sorted it out themselves.

[Kekephee]

Haven't read the whole thread, but has anyone pointed out that in addition to the obvious problem of this game taking hundreds of hours to do anything in and therefore not really being very smart to play if you know it's going to reset in a month, there's also a problem of this being an extremely social game where a person's reputation has a lot to do with how they play and how people play around them, and it's impossible to have a reputation on a game that restarts every six months?

[Tewaz]

Wipe it clean 2014!

The overpopulation is one of the main reasons I play on Red. I got a character to 50 on blue, went on a raid, and we cleared hate then sat at Inny for 2 hours hoping he would pop.

I was done after that.

The main advantage of red really is the population density, but red also has the perfect system to remove the bottle necking that happens at raid mobs on blue: pvp.

[nectarprime]

100 players on a server is good population density?

[dnice]

I think they should open a team PVP server if people donate enough money otherwise they should leave everything alone. A good populated server is awesome to have and once Velious comes out there will be so many things to raid it wont even matter anymore. Get to 60 and get ready to have fun!

[mtb tripper]

server is way different than it was during the first 2-3 years...I joined 09/2010 I believe...pre-kunark, was a lot more fun

problem with p99 is they have failed to complete velious in a timely manner so we have been stuck in kunark mode for far too long

in a way we need to look at p99 now as a beta - we are beta testing p99; i hope they plan to re-release it and this time launch all the xpansions in a timely manner...having velious so far behind schedule has ruined the server IMO

the staff also did very little to make up for it as well...this is far from a classic server; i vote to wipe it clean and restart it! hell i would be down anytime for a restart, even now....this way we can have our velious in a timely manner

Well the main thing really is that this game has been played before, every guild knows the content like the back of their hand, there is no more exploration as there was in classic, such as traps and whatnot

[Ivory]

Haven't read the whole thread, but has anyone pointed out that in addition to the obvious problem of this game taking hundreds of hours to do anything in and therefore not really being very smart to play if you know it's going to reset in a month,

That is why the server wouldn't just kill all the characters...they would only be moving them to the main server.

BUT, it would also be really awesome to use the reset feature to enhance the game.

That is why building in incentives to perma-death your character would be a great addition.

For example, before the reset, everyone would get a single slot bag that wouldn't be deleted. They could put any non-weapon item into the bag to carry over to their remade character.

Also, depending on level of the character deleted...they would get a special no-drop item for their next character (that is also immune to wipes). The no-drop item could change each year (so if you play on the wipe server for 3 years, you would get 3 different fun no-drop items).

Things like a clicky being able to summon a tiny bear (the ones the spiroc guardians have in sky :P Something like a level 1 pet?).

Or having something with a clicky to make fireworks.

Or a clicky depending on starting city to "return home" (20 second cast, so it wouldn't break game play).

Basically, stuff that makes people go "you know? maybe I'll just let my character be wiped and keep playing on this server...go onto the next chapter".

The wipe would happen ONCE a year. So....really, there is a lot of room to make it a fun event celebrating new beginnings and continuing legends.

OR!! What if....after the wipe.... there is a GM event, where all the starting cities are attacked by waves of enemies ~dragons?~ (high level enemies which aren't agro to all the newbies starting again....and a bunch of low level enemies).

But, all the characters from the wipe are made into NPCs at their starting cities to defend (so the player NPCs are fighting the higher level invasion, while the lower restarted characters are fighting the low level creatures).

At the end of it, all the old characters are dead (and during the event, newbie items drop for people starting over to get a little head start).


Like I said, there is a LOT they could do with the theme of a server restarting (and make it a fun event to kill your old character....). And, there is ALWAYS the option to not have your character perma-die and just go to the "eternal server" (the current server we have) and continue playing like nothing happened.

[Nirgon]

I followed the url for classic everquest and got this wtf

[Wizardling]

The trouble with splitting the population isn't the endgame, it's the new players and alts that populate the early to mid levels. Split them and each blue server will seem horribly vacant till you're over 40.

If you ask me, the solution is for raiding guilds to play on Red some more. Red is wide open and a large guild could easily assert control over zones and mobs, vs the few PvPers already on Red. Instead they bitch and whine within the safety of blue and wait amazing amounts of time for the chance at mobs on blue.

[Swish]

Wipe it clean 2014!

The overpopulation is one of the main reasons I play on Red.

^^

http://i.imgur.com/ukBSczM.gif

[Salimon]

Most of you are pretty accurate. The raid rotation thing is the most retarded thing on the server. Back in the day, guilds just sorted it out themselves.

That isn't true. I played on Karana and we always had rotations pretty much from the start so that every guild that could do the content would get a fair shot at raiding not just the people who have no lives and can be online at a moments notice 24/7.

[Champion_Standing]

Tunare Regularly had over 2k pop prime time. For years. Tunare was one of the first servers to split due to this over population. And I am talking Kunark into Velious time frame, prior to Kunark I don't remember them showing population numbers.

There are some old EQ sites that you can find on the wayback machine that will show population numbers. They are typically significantly lower than people like to remember though lol, most of them are in the 800-1500 range near the end of kunark at peak times.

P99 is probably more like a well populated classic server, verging on getting crowded at peak times.

[iruinedyourday]

im sure it will be fine once vellious is done.

Hell there are plenty of great zones people dont XP in right now at levels below 50.

[captnamazing]

^^

http://i.imgur.com/ukBSczM.gif

p much

at this point i only play blue to raid with guild and write stories

[Hogfather]

Has the notion of an original FV ruleset server (with the current state of current p1999 otherwise) been floated?

Is it viable? Too expensive? Not enough interest?

[Rec]

almost anything pve would be viable

[Uuruk]

Has the notion of an original FV ruleset server (with the current state of current p1999 otherwise) been floated?

Is it viable? Too expensive? Not enough interest?RMT is the answer you are looking for.

[Hogfather]

RMT is the answer you are looking for.
RMT?

[Nietche]

Give us AA.

[Flotsam]

Isn't the FV ruleset exactly the opposite of what we need? On FV, absolutely everything is worth camping because you can sell it. More extensive no drop is surely a better way to reduce camping: if level 60's don't need an FBSS and can't sell it, they won't camp it.

AA is indirectly a great answer. After a year or so, catching up on level 60's with full AA's will be so daunting that noone will join anymore, and so we get a new server...

[Masq]

not going to happen sadly, but I agree. The most fun is the newbie times, grouping at orc hill with rusty weapons and praying dvinn doesn't spawn

[TheLieka]

First. World. Problems.

<3 and Hi all

[Fountree]

Release the velious expansion and simultaneously re-release a new, fresh P99 blue server classic-velious and that would take care of most of the issues imo. Bog has said a wipe will never happen here. It would violate peoples trust and piss too many off.

[Tewaz]

If you are blue and want to raid, you really just need to move to red. It is the perfect solution. Yeah, you get ganked occasionally by neck beards, but at least you can fight them. On blue you just have to hope they train you, you grab a fraps, and they don't beat you in a court of law.

[Flotsam]

Do you have anything other than first world problems, Lieka? ;)

[Alanus]

Part of the problem is the amount of platinum on the server. An in-game casino, like on live (in Shadowhaven) would help, I think. Spend money to be able to win items that no longer drop and aren't game changing, like rubicite BP or dark elf mask

[TheLieka]

Do you have anything other than first world problems, Lieka? ;)

Not yet, but vigilance is key. ;)

[Sulfurian]

Yeah i agree the server is overpopulated , because when i get to play and group , it's full and all the good spot for farming are camped as well as exp spots.

I wish i was aussie because then i woudlnt have to wait for a spot in a group :(

But this is pretty classic i guess i remeber being lfg most of time haha.

Good old EQ

[tanknspank]

Create a "refresh server"!

This would be another server that wipes itself clean every year or so (though, instead of deleting the characters, it dumps them onto the main server for people who want to keep playing their characters and continue onto the end game, or who don't want to lose their work and just keep going).

This. I'd definitely level my alts there. Back in classic I played over and over on the new servers SOE would open, enjoying the level race, bunches of like-levelled people all grouping, and the sense of worth in low/midlevel loot. Same with the early prog server.

[Sssleeve]

Part of the problem is the amount of platinum on the server. An in-game casino, like on live (in Shadowhaven) would help, I think. Spend money to be able to win items that no longer drop and aren't game changing, like rubicite BP or dark elf mask

great idea, dark elf mask alone huge plat sink even if it's only like 1% haha

[Bleui]

Just Shadddduuppp and play. This is a free service and I think they are doing a great job keeping as classic as they can. You can't have everything! I think the server pop is pretty normal.

[Messianic]

"How do I wipe it clean and start over?"

http://forums.cnet.com/7723-6122_102-619364/how-do-i-wipe-it-clean-and-start-over/

[Aveenia]

Part of the problem is the amount of platinum on the server. An in-game casino, like on live (in Shadowhaven) would help, I think. Spend money to be able to win items that no longer drop and aren't game changing, like rubicite BP or dark elf mask

I would make getting a MotD for my druid a priority, personally. I had one from a GM event on EQ Mac & I loved it so much. *sigh* Unfortunately I am not in the tons of plat to spare catagory since I just restarted here anyway, oh well I can dream.

[psway]

This doesn't address any endgame stuff etc. But I would like to see the ZEMs randomly swap around on a random interval. While not technically classic, would definitely make people roam around looking for the hotzones. I don't know if I ever knew what zones were hot zones during classic.

Edit: Didnt they do this at some point anyhow?

[sulpher01]

Yes! Make stuff No-Drop! Everything but tradeskill and playercrafted items :o

Awesome idea!

Yea they tried this in vanguard... was horrible.

[fadetree]

Yea they tried this in vanguard... was horrible.

I didn't think so. There were some horrible things about Vanguard, but that wasn't one of them in my opinion.

[Ikonoclastia]

Isn't the FV ruleset exactly the opposite of what we need? On FV, absolutely everything is worth camping because you can sell it. More extensive no drop is surely a better way to reduce camping: if level 60's don't need an FBSS and can't sell it, they won't camp it.

AA is indirectly a great answer. After a year or so, catching up on level 60's with full AA's will be so daunting that noone will join anymore, and so we get a new server...
The trivial loot code was a good counter to most things being droppable. Green mob, no loot.

I think if you wanted an real original EQ feel you would need to recreate Norrath with different zones, different loot, different mobs with different tactics but with the old hard style EQ game play.

EQ was cool because it was new, challenging, had a shit ton of quests, mobs, zones without big yellow signs telling you exactly how to play the game (wow style) and for a while there was lots of stuff to discover and lots of puzzles to solve.

Second, third - tenth time around knowing what everything drops, the % chance etc will never provide you with the original first time EQ awesomeness of 99.

[fadetree]

Isn't the FV ruleset exactly the opposite of what we need? On FV, absolutely everything is worth camping because you can sell it. More extensive no drop is surely a better way to reduce camping: if level 60's don't need an FBSS and can't sell it, they won't camp it.

AA is indirectly a great answer. After a year or so, catching up on level 60's with full AA's will be so daunting that noone will join anymore, and so we get a new server...

Er, for some reason I thought FV meant most everything was no drop...which is what I was advocating for. I agree that everything sellable is a bad idea.

Although the inability to buy anything just means people would sell loot rights, and hog valuable camps even more probably. You could make it so you had to have done damage to it to loot, but...of course you would then sell proxy spots. We should just get rid of gear entirely, lol.

[Ikonoclastia]

Er, for some reason I thought FV meant most everything was no drop...which is what I was advocating for. I agree that everything sellable is a bad idea.

Although the inability to buy anything just means people would sell loot rights, and hog valuable camps even more probably. You could make it so you had to have done damage to it to loot, but...of course you would then sell proxy spots. We should just get rid of gear entirely, lol.
On FV most items were droppable, epics were not as well as a few other things such as quest items etc. You could sell ring of the ancients, coldain cloaks etc.

If you killed something while grouped with a high level and the mob was green to that high level or the high level did any damage at all, any lore or magic item would be destroyed.

That would mean you couldn't hog a camp of a green mob or sell loot rights for that mob. Multi-questing would not be that useful since most of the loot would be tradeable anyway. Epics would still need to be MQ'd though.

[kaev]

On FV most items were droppable, epics were not as well as a few other things such as quest items etc. You could sell ring of the ancients, coldain cloaks etc.

If you killed something while grouped with a high level and the mob was green to that high level or the high level did any damage at all, any lore or magic item would be destroyed.

That would mean you couldn't hog a camp of a green mob or sell loot rights for that mob. Multi-questing would not be that useful since most of the loot would be tradeable anyway. Epics would still need to be MQ'd though.

Unfortunately that translated into massive RMT of high-end items by the leadership of the dominant guild on the server. Nerds gonna be toolbags & douchenozzles, ain't no fixing it. Half the dirtbags here probably cut their milkteeth polluting live servers with their self-dealing bulshit and asshattery.