Idea for endgame raiding

[Ulaar]

The other day during our Zlandicar raid we engaged with roughly 28 people. We didn't do all that bad and got him to around 30%. Was more fun then I have had in awhile raiding even though we lost.

This got me thinking. What if we agreed on as system that promoted trying to get the fewest amount of people to engage a raid target. Instead of Zerging down when it spawns how about we enter a bid system. Rules would be simple, guilds that are there would enter a bid to see who could do the target with the least amount of people.

Example. Guild A bids 43 players. Guild B then bids 38. Guild A then bids 30 players. Guild B does not think that Guild A can do it with 30 players so they sit out for guild A's attempt.

Rules of engagement would be something like this (rough idea). Once the guild that bid the lowest amount of players won the bid, they must attempt within 20 min after winning the bid. The raid target must be engaged within this 20 min time frame and in camp, this includes train ups and such. All players from the guild that is doing the attempt must log out unless participating in the kill to show they are doing it with the amount of players they bid. If they wipe then the next guilds (if any) can start bidding. If all guilds fail with the bid amount of players then of course the last guild can just walk in and kill it with any amount of players.

Pros:
-All the rules are pretty hard and set in stone. If you wipe you lose. GM intervention would only have to be involved if there was obvious tampering from another guild.(training attempting guild, exploits and such)

-Its a true test of skills and teamwork.

-Its a challenge to fight a target with less people.

-I believe its a fun way to approach these old encounters.

Cons:
-Could be time consuming if more then 2 guilds show up.

-Less geared players would not typically get to participate.

-If multiple targets spawn at once, could get a little weird. (I would just have it that a guild already engaged on a target can not bid on a newly spawned target.


Of course this system would have its fair share of problems but I think this is a different and interesting idea on how to raid.

Let the flames begin!

[Jauna]

I couldnt read the whole thing, the only viable option is for guild leaders to random for everything

[Xaanka]

small group kills are really fun, that being said i never understand why people make these posts about how the game should be changed so drastically. if you don't like zergs, you're playing the wrong game/xpack. everquest and especially velious is a game that rewards large guilds, and there are already disadvantages to zerging such as having to spread loot thinner (a balancing act between player counts opening up new content and allowing for more targets to be hit per week)

if you want to experience small guild raids like this, i'd highly recommend rolling a character on red and joining one of the resistance guilds like casual scum, or forming a crew of your own. there's targets up all the time that a group of 15-20 could take out even without gear. no need to change the entire rules of the game to have these kinds of encounters ya feel?

could also try out a burning crusade or wotlk era WoW server and do some 25 man raids with 15 for the same kind of feel. used to do that a lot, was really the only way to make that game even remotely challenging.

[Fanguru]

Not sure if that's trolling. This is a terrible idea.
How do you tell your guildmates to sit on the bench? Sorry, but you are going to sit out and not play so we can have fun.
What about raid composition? You would optimize everything. Goodbye rangers, paladins, shadow knights, enchanters on most fights (bring back chanters in Kael). Let's throw 6 warriors, a couple bards, 10 clerics and 10 rogues at everything.
How does a guild ever get super easy mobs like Dain or LTK versus guilds with primals and ToV gear?

[joppykid]

http://www.project1999.com/forums/showthread.php?t=80165&highlight=solo+artist

Kind of like the Raider's Challenge to Loraen's thread here lol.

It would cause guilds to be even more clique than before, not sure how well it would work out. Concept is cool though. Maybe make a group challenge lol.

[Phantasm]

my idea:
FTE means you get an attempt. If you drop FTE you concede for 1/1. This would encourage guilds to either clear trash or fail. Basically if you plan on getting FTE you better be attempting the target. I know this would be problematic for areas with multiple mobs providing FTEs(triplets come to mind) but the idea could pan out

[Necran]

I'm also just imagining: "Alright, while you two guilds are going back-and-forth bidding on the sidelines, we're going to go ahead and get FTE."

[Ravager]

my idea:
FTE means you get an attempt. If you drop FTE you concede for 1/1. This would encourage guilds to either clear trash or fail. Basically if you plan on getting FTE you better be attempting the target. I know this would be problematic for areas with multiple mobs providing FTEs(triplets come to mind) but the idea could pan out

Pretty reasonable idea if you ask me. It would encourage more guilds to attempt mobs too, or at least wait for other guilds to DQ themselves before attempting. You'd probably want to amend a time limit on that concession though, like 1 hour before they can make another FTE, that way the hard mobs don't get left up indefinitely if a couple guilds wipe right away and smaller guilds just don't have what it takes to kill them.

[Phantasm]

Yeah that's what I meant by the 1/1 Ravager (one attempt/one hour). In the case of multiple guilds racing (>2) you'd have to just wait out an hour after an FTE shout and subsequent failure

[Ele]

This would require gentlemen to play here.

[Phantasm]

I suppose I am a dreamer, but it really would tackle many of the issues a lot of guilds have with ntov in particular (the 15 minute FTE battle and slaughter of puller folk and wandering explorers alike)

[Danger]

Empire
a Project1999 Red (PVP) Guild
Sleepless in Norrath: Thoughts on Blue, Red, Competition and more.
Posted by Admin on February 9, 2016
Posted in: Uncategorized.

(Also a shameless plug for our great server!)

Hi.

Let me preface this by saying that this is in no way a troll, or an attempt to slander our Blue brothers. What I want this to be is a spark. A catalyst that ignites a more intelligent discussion on the age old debate: Blue vs. Red.

Why now? The answer is obvious. The Sleeper is now awake on Blue. The community is at each other’s throats. Guild suspensions are rampant. Red stands to offer everyone a new way of life. One that is free from the constraints of insane rules, 16 hour variance windows, and a primal-less and Warder-less future. That’s right – I want those of you who are jaded and confused to look to Red. Start fresh. Control your own destiny. Play EverQuest how it was meant to be played.

UNDERSTANDING RED

The biggest roadblock to the Red server has always been misunderstanding. Red is played up to be a toxic server full of trash talking and training and griefing. It is viewed as a prison of sorts, to “keep those players off of Blue.” This could not be further from the truth. Sure, you will find your share of griefers and trash talking, but overall, the server is in a great place.

The rules on Blue and the rules on Red are night and day. Blue has variance. Red does not. Blue has FTE. Red does not. Blue has convoluted raid rules that require a law degree to understand. Red does not.

What does this mean in terms of real gameplay?

Variance: On Blue, guilds need to be ready within a 16 hour window to engage their raid targets. This generally requires a raid force on standby, a person ducking Call of the Hero for up to 15+ hours, and a person waiting to spam a Mallet on a mob. Often times this is done with the help of autofire programs. On Red, there is no variance. The mob spawns exactly 3, 5, 7 days from when it was killed. Everyone knows the timers. You can show up and prepare however you see fit, and the winner gets the dragon. No bullshit.

First to Engage: On Blue, once a guild is in position, the FTE is the deciding factor on who gets to kill the dragon. On Red, you claim your dragons by winning the PVP and being ready for the spawn. No bullshit.

Raid rules: On Blue, Variance and FTE and numerous other factors including “stalling”, training, not having sufficient forces on FTE, camping in the wrong part of the zone for a mob, etc. can affect whether or not you actually get to keep the loot from the dragon you just killed, or whether your guild will be suspended from raiding for a week. On Red, the only thing stopping you from another dragon is your enemy. No bullshit.

Notice the common theme: No bullshit. Red offers you the ability to play EverQuest and take matters into your own hands without asinine rules and hoops to jump through. You secure the zone, you take your targets, and you leave. No bullshit.

THE RAID SCENE

Empire currently reigns supreme, and there is no end in sight. We make no bones about that. To be blunt, the uphill battle for a number 2 to overthrow Empire at this point, is extremely steep. That being said, number 2 is currently a mixture of Friends and Casual Scum (and sometimes both), though neither have the leadership or solid reputation to make big enough waves. This is where Blue could come into play.

With a solid game plan and some thick skin, a crew of 150 players from Blue could come over and be level 60 in a month, work on epics and Growth gear, Kunark targets, weaker Velious targets, etc. and be well ingrained into the raid scene within 3 months tops. All it requires is some level headed leadership and willingness to succeed, two things the Red server guilds outside of Empire severely lack.

LEAVING BLUE BEHIND

If you are worried about starting over, realize that outside of the few legacy items, everything can be obtained on Red. The XP rates are faster, more camps are open, and even if they aren’t – you have the ability to literally take ANY camp that you want, at ANY time. Pretty great right?

Another issue that is always a hot topic is the population. Sure, Red is never going to be as dense as Blue. It never was on Live, it never will be here. That being said, do not let the numbers fool you. On average, say Blue has 1000 players online. Red has 250. How many of those players on Blue are AFK, or sitting in EC spamming sales? 250-300? How many are just logging on and chatting in /gu, or sitting in a zone not really “playing” EQ? Another 100? How many are boxing? Subtract some of the bullshit, and you are left with maybe 600-700 people actively engaged in EverQuest. On Red, everyone is ALWAYS actively engaged because you can’t AFK. If you log into Red, you need to be ready to fight at any given time. The population difference isn’t as bad as it seems at a glance, and is certainly nothing to worry about.

Lastly, the grief. You have our word that we will not grief or disrupt your raids, just as we did not grief TMO’s when they came to Red. Sure, we may show up and fight you, probably kill you here and there, but we will always rez you up and allow you to continue your raid, possibly even help you with it. We will also help fend off “real” grief from the other guilds on the server until you are comfortable standing on your own. There are plenty of mobs for the taking here due to the nature of our schedule and the incompetence of current competition – come seize the opportunity.

DISCLAIMER: For those that are appalled at the ability to kill other players in game, let us remind you and reassure you: EverQuest is a PVE game first and foremost. It always has been, and always will be. The Red server is still PVE-centric. It’s not “Counter Strike with Elves” – it’s just EverQuest. EverQuest that gives you the opportunity to take matters into your own hands and resolve disputes without the need for GM intervention and threads dedicated to guild suspensions.

TL:DR

Come to Red.

There is no better time than right now. Talk it over with your friends and your guild(s) and take the plunge. I guarantee once you get your footing, you will never look back – just ask any of the many Blue to Red converts that make up the Red server today.

Hope to see some of you in the future.

Project 1999 Red: No bullshit. Just EverQuest.
Empire is dead.
Posted by Admin on January 28, 2016
Posted in: Uncategorized.

[Phantasm]

/sigh

[Ravager]

That didn't take long.

[Whirled]

This would require gentlemen to play here.

Probably because us gents are too casual to gaf about frozen poopsocks and ubah lewtz.

[indiscriminate_hater]

instances and luclin are the obvious solutions