Overpopulated

[PabloEdvardo]

Green is severely overpopulated.

The ZEM changes along with COVID has caused not only an increase in active players, but an increase in players spreading across zones.

This means whereas before some outdoors zones were still viable, due to them being "worse xp", now people are continuing to crowd the dungeon zones, but they are crowding the outdoor zones, as well.

This is the same situation that lead to the creation of Teal in the first place, except now we have many players who have been playing here for months, and they can't find anything to do.

What can we do?

New server? Increase spawn rate?

because right now, the server does not "feel classic", and players are disincentivized from even logging in.

[Izmael]

In classic on live we had 60+ in most popular zones. If anything, Green feels a bit empty.

[El-Hefe]

People who don’t want Teal didn’t experience to euphoria of Teal the first time and can’t comprehend it’s glory.

[Vizax_Xaziv]

I'd be game for a reopening of Teal!

[Octopath]

There isn’t even 1200 on right now on a Saturday...

[Arvan]

Have you considered blue?

[Kirdan]

In classic on live we had 60+ in most popular zones. If anything, Green feels a bit empty.

[Indecisive]

People who don’t want Teal didn’t experience to euphoria of Teal the first time and can’t comprehend it’s glory.

[PabloEdvardo]

Look at the zones. 50+ in SK. 30+ in UGuk. The list goes on.

There was no single classic server in existence back in live, with 1000+ active players who played the game the way we do on p99.

There is a massive difference between a ton of social players / players discovering content for the first time, and a ton of min/max players who have 50s and are lvling alts.

[Jubal]

I remember on classic when even a month in we had thousands online and most everyone was high end immediately working on that good /list.

Whenever naggy entered into his window there was always hundreds of people crammed at the zone bored out of their skulls waiting to charge in and get that legal yellow text FTE before hundreds of people poured into the room training around all the giants using recharged clickies. The good ole days.

[Castle2.0]

223 people have already VOTED YES REOPEN TEAL and you can too. See this thread. It takes 5 seconds.

https://www.project1999.com/forums/showthread.php?t=353144

[GnomeCaptain]

Teal hasn't been re-opened yet?

Why on earth not?

The reason for Teal's original creation has returned (i.e. an overpopulated green server).

[Baler]

Green is the upmost classic everquest server available to date and for a foreseeable future.

[HandOfFate]

Green is overpopulated. Classic was just even more overpopulated. Green is not classic, and I am glad.

[magnetaress]

Innothule swamp and sro didn't seem bad at all. I imagine ek. Is nice. Oasis is probably nutz. Sk is probably nice if not @ paw. Unrest probably nutz. CB probably actually fun. Ek probably alright. N evefrost OK.

CT probably will calm down n be real legit when rubi bps r gone.

Najena elementals n tt n prison probably skipped over.

Befallen amazing.

Re. Idk.

Xorbb is sweet AF if u can kite, invis, or root. Or got a tank with solid Mr and sow. Go there @ 14 n bind in RV

[Swish]

OP: "Green is overpopulated, I don't even want to log in"

Swish: "Want to come over to red pal? There's room for more"

OP: "LOL why would I do that? The population isn't high enough"



....picky bunch, aren't you? :/

[Pozzey]

This server is for those who simply cannot shed EverQuest.

You will never escape the 30 something basement dweling, neckcombing, momIneedhotpocketting, 72hour Rubi/Manastone camping, 30 stoned, hardcores.

PS. WTS manastone. <diabetic breathing>.

[magnetaress]

That n everyone on green is clustering at like 5 camps + seafuries probably.

I imagine qhillls rabid grizzly is really exciting.

[BlackBellamy]

You know if the server is too crowded for you and that makes you not want to log in then don't. Do something you can be bothered to do.

[astuce999]

I'd fund a Teal 2.0; Post Sol-Ro temple, no transfers, no box'ing green at the same time.

cheers,

Astuce

[Albane]

OP: "Green is overpopulated, I don't even want to log in"

Swish: "Want to come over to red pal? There's room for more"

OP: "LOL why would I do that? The population isn't high enough"



....picky bunch, aren't you? :/

They could always reset red and launch it anew.

[Christina.]

What were u guys doing when there wasn't a green server ?

Go play blue or log into RED. Good Lord.

[Evia]

Did someone say teal?!

[Jerri]

Bring out new content, open plane of hate early :)

[Indecisive]

OP: "Green is overpopulated, I don't even want to log in"

Swish: "Want to come over to red pal? There's room for more"

OP: "LOL why would I do that? The population isn't high enough"



....picky bunch, aren't you? :/

I feel like there's a happy medium somewhere between the thousand+ of Green, and all six players on Red.

[Picked]

The over crowding seems worse because of the Coronavirus, and everyone getting stay at home orders. Once people have to go back to work the population on the server will go down a lot. Look at it this way, if anything this has reinvigorated some people to come back and play that weren't playing before. So while it increased the population, it will still go back to being somewhat normal once the stay at home orders are lifted and people get back to work.

Personally I like all the people on, server feels full, vibrant, and lots to do. I can't seem to find a place to plop down and exp like I want but that's a small price to pay for a healthy server and lots of grouping going on. I just go LFG and get group and go about my way.

And yes the servers were more packed than this on live. I remember my server having anywhere from 1700-2500 people on it on live. It just seems more packed because back then people were wandering around learning things, exploring and doing something entirely new. Now they know what's out there and they log in with a specific purpose, which is grouping/camping items and getting exp. More camps are taken up with a smaller population. Just have to deal with it and either play an alt when you can't find what you want open or try and find something else to do.

[Christina.]

And yes the servers were more packed than this on live. I remember my server having anywhere from 1700-2500 people on it on live. It just seems more packed because back then people were wandering around learning things, exploring and doing something entirely new. Now they know what's out there and they log in with a specific purpose

Yep.

[Nomadic Plainswalker]

Comments like these make me wonder if anyone actually played Classic back in the day.

[Christina.]

They won't log into RED cause their isn't enough players BUT dont want to play green cause there's too many players.. someone help me cause I'm confused lol.

Anyone else confused?

[Dolalin]

Vanilla EQ was designed for 2k concurrent players, per Brad.

Green is underpopulated.

[Lampolo]

On live I remember killing lots if yellow, red, white cons in groups. On green everyone just wants to full group blues and greens. There are also lots of people farming no xp mobs. Sola is a great example of this. Theres almost always a 40+ sitting on kindle but killing everything from freet to cap. Doing this hogs half a dung for 1 person. A full group of 30-35 is too high for a camp like the bar, most 35's can solo it but we full group it on green, killing every mob in the other half of the dung. This is the prob with green. Your all a bunch a greedy, lazy, unskilled bastards that play your toon like a 6 yr old. If your in a grp and your killing greens...

[Castle2.0]

YES votes to reopen Teal just reached 228. Add in yours.

https://www.project1999.com/forums/showthread.php?t=353144

[Lampolo]

Why would anyone vote no?

[Picked]

On live I remember killing lots if yellow, red, white cons in groups. On green everyone just wants to full group blues and greens. There are also lots of people farming no xp mobs. Sola is a great example of this. Theres almost always a 40+ sitting on kindle but killing everything from freet to cap. Doing this hogs half a dung for 1 person. A full group of 30-35 is too high for a camp like the bar, most 35's can solo it but we full group it on green, killing every mob in the other half of the dung. This is the prob with green. Your all a bunch a greedy, lazy, unskilled bastards that play your toon like a 6 yr old. If your in a grp and your killing greens...

I remember this being the case on live more as well. I was in highkeep killing goblins and remember hitting 20 in there with my dwarf warrior. They wont even look at a level 20 for that group here on Green. I also spent a lot of time in MM when I hit 20. Here seems to be a 25+ kind of place.

It's probably more of a using ZEM and killing in quantity instead of having no idea what ZEM is and killing the highest possible mob for the most exp hit at one time. Again mostly speaking it was not knowing anything on live that changed more than anything. Now we know and the information is out there.

Not to mention when you're killing blue cons it's a lot more consistent and less risky than killing yellows and reds. Less deaths less setbacks faster exp grind over all.

[Canelek]

Hello, I would like to Unsubscribe from the red99 advertising.

thanks!

[send] <----

[El-Hefe]

Hello, I would like to Unsubscribe from the red99 advertising.

thanks!

[send] <----

Can I get taken off the mailing list too?

[azxten]

I remember this being the case on live more as well. I was in highkeep killing goblins and remember hitting 20 in there with my dwarf warrior. They wont even look at a level 20 for that group here on Green.

This is your fault for not forming a group and claiming the lookout room. People on P99 are scared cucks who won't dare claim a camp according to rules lest someone get mad at them.

Pissing people off is what made EQ fun. Training, telling newbs to /consent you, kill stealing with memory blur, all of it. Not doing it yourself but that it was in the game. It is what drove social behaviour, defined guild character, etc.

Rules are what is wrong with P99. No GM was going to save you in classic EQ because you petitioned someone for KSing.

Even on P99 where the rules DO allow people to split "camps" and force multi group exp people just cry to the devs to add multiple servers so everyone can be happy grouping their favourite instance.

Ultimately I think all amateur emulator projects are doomed to do the same. They want players to be "happy" because it means less bullshit they have to deal with in terms of people crying. Classic EverQuest had the notorious "The Vision" meme because so many people cried all the time that it was too hard, this should be that one, it's too slow, blah blah blah.

Brad had the The Vision to torment people exactly how they needed to be tormented. He is the Architect of the Matrix. People aren't happy unless they're miserable as well. He found out that people want the most punishing environment to experience the highs of overcoming it.

tldr:

In classic EQ to level the fastest meant you had the best social strategy. Limited mobs and other resources including game knowledge meant playing well socially had real value. In P99 EQ to level the fastest simply means finding the highest ZEM camp, claiming it, and putting in the most hours there. In true classic something like the HHK goblin/nobles camps would be utterly unusable due to training, kill stealing, and other efficiency killers. This happened in a minor way on P99 but not to the same extent. That is what made EQ fun when leveling. The challenge of gaming this system and how to interact with the other players to try to avoid killing efficiency.

[Zeboim]

It's not about pure population #s, it's about population concentration.

Classic didn't have 600 level 50s on a server. It was a far more even spread. Game knowledge is a curse.

[Tenderizer]

Green is severely overpopulated.

The ZEM changes along with COVID has caused not only an increase in active players, but an increase in players spreading across zones.


covid wasnt expected and if it never happened the population would be fine. its ok if people cant farm or get that sweet legacy item before they are gone, working as intended

if everyone is wearing a gold watch there really isnt a reason to have a gold watch.

[Sacer]

We need a temporary server, hopefully called "quarantine".

[Christina.]

covid wasnt expected and if it never happened the population would be fine. its ok if people cant farm or get that sweet legacy item before they are gone, working as intended

if everyone is wearing a gold watch there really isnt a reason to have a gold watch.

[Vizax_Xaziv]

The over crowding seems worse because of the Coronavirus, and everyone getting stay at home orders. Once people have to go back to work the population on the server will go down a lot. Look at it this way, if anything this has reinvigorated some people to come back and play that weren't playing before. So while it increased the population, it will still go back to being somewhat normal once the stay at home orders are lifted and people get back to work.

Personally I like all the people on, server feels full, vibrant, and lots to do. I can't seem to find a place to plop down and exp like I want but that's a small price to pay for a healthy server and lots of grouping going on. I just go LFG and get group and go about my way.

And yes the servers were more packed than this on live. I remember my server having anywhere from 1700-2500 people on it on live. It just seems more packed because back then people were wandering around learning things, exploring and doing something entirely new. Now they know what's out there and they log in with a specific purpose, which is grouping/camping items and getting exp. More camps are taken up with a smaller population. Just have to deal with it and either play an alt when you can't find what you want open or try and find something else to do.

Difference is that Green99, already, is becoming top-heavy. The 35+ population GREATLY outnumbers the Vanilla 35+ population. Hell the vast majority of people on MY Vanilla server weren't even 50 when Kunark opened.

Likewise the vast majority also weren't 60 when Velious opened. NOT the case on Green99 I can assure you!

[Vizax_Xaziv]

Vanilla EQ was designed for 2k concurrent players, per Brad.

Green is underpopulated.
2000 concurrent players across all level ranges, spread across all of Norrath.

While the reworked ZEMs have alleviated some of zone crowding, the top-heaviness problem is still an issue. Maybe open Teal to level 35+ transfers only. Good riddance I say!

[Arvan]

I remember doing /who all 60 druid around PoP era to try to ask people questions and the list wasnt often over 10 players long

[fastboy21]

I remember doing /who all 60 druid around PoP era to try to ask people questions and the list wasnt often over 10 players long

They were /anon exactly for this reason.

[Vizax_Xaziv]

Aside from our two level-60 main tanks, our TOV HOT raids were made up of mostly people in the 53-58 range. And that went on for MOST of Velious.

I remember exploiting in Katta Castellum to power-level the rest of our stragglers to 60 early in Luclin! There was a ramp in that zone, upon which mobs could not reach players - so you were able to pull DOZENS and PBAE them Chardok-style (only with zero risk cuz it was an exploit~)

[Picked]

Difference is that Green99, already, is becoming top-heavy. The 35+ population GREATLY outnumbers the Vanilla 35+ population. Hell the vast majority of people on MY Vanilla server weren't even 50 when Kunark opened.

Likewise the vast majority also weren't 60 when Velious opened. NOT the case on Green99 I can assure you!

I'm sure that's the case. But that reverts back to what I said about EQ not being new anymore. The people that are playing this server have played EQ a lot. They know what to do now, they know how to level, they know where to go, they know what drops the best items and has the most exp. This all lumps into one dynamic that makes the term "it's not classic" completely redundant. Nothing is ever going to be truly classic anymore. Things are going to be different because of this.

This server is more of a "if I had a chance to do things over I would have done this" kind of opportunity. While offering a product as close to the way things were when it was released this is as close to classic as anything is ever going to get.

That being said yes players are top heavy. But there is still almost a thousand less players than some servers had in prime time on live. So it's a little give/take. There is still plenty of places to exp and group. I see SolB basically empty these days, Mistmoore isn't hopping all that much, there are a lot of zones that don't get attention because they don't have the highest ZEM and aren't where everyone is flocked too.

[Moshigga]

This is your fault for not forming a group and claiming the lookout room. People on P99 are scared cucks who won't dare claim a camp according to rules lest someone get mad at them.

Pissing people off is what made EQ fun. Training, telling newbs to /consent you, kill stealing with memory blur, all of it. Not doing it yourself but that it was in the game. It is what drove social behaviour, defined guild character, etc.

Rules are what is wrong with P99. No GM was going to save you in classic EQ because you petitioned someone for KSing.

Even on P99 where the rules DO allow people to split "camps" and force multi group exp people just cry to the devs to add multiple servers so everyone can be happy grouping their favourite instance.

Ultimately I think all amateur emulator projects are doomed to do the same. They want players to be "happy" because it means less bullshit they have to deal with in terms of people crying. Classic EverQuest had the notorious "The Vision" meme because so many people cried all the time that it was too hard, this should be that one, it's too slow, blah blah blah.

Brad had the The Vision to torment people exactly how they needed to be tormented. He is the Architect of the Matrix. People aren't happy unless they're miserable as well. He found out that people want the most punishing environment to experience the highs of overcoming it.

tldr:

In classic EQ to level the fastest meant you had the best social strategy. Limited mobs and other resources including game knowledge meant playing well socially had real value. In P99 EQ to level the fastest simply means finding the highest ZEM camp, claiming it, and putting in the most hours there. In true classic something like the HHK goblin/nobles camps would be utterly unusable due to training, kill stealing, and other efficiency killers. This happened in a minor way on P99 but not to the same extent. That is what made EQ fun when leveling. The challenge of gaming this system and how to interact with the other players to try to avoid killing efficiency.

Pretty sure most of that nonsense was definitely not allowed. Heck they even cracked down on zone disturbances on Sulon Zek the absolutely no rules pvp server. So yah fantasize about brad the melvin god some more but he's dead so meh. Guess he wasn't much of a god afterall.

[magnetaress]

I am afk playing a shaman, I mean Wiz, alt on green just so I can tab over and afk take one of your spawns on one of your camps.

[Frug]

There isn’t even 1200 on right now on a Saturday...

I guess that depends on when you were on.

https://i.imgur.com/b3YrUrp.png

(yes, I know, this includes people at the char select screen blah blah blah. There aren't that many.)

[Quylein]

On live I remember killing lots if yellow, red, white cons in groups. On green everyone just wants to full group blues and greens. There are also lots of people farming no xp mobs. Sola is a great example of this. Theres almost always a 40+ sitting on kindle but killing everything from freet to cap. Doing this hogs half a dung for 1 person. A full group of 30-35 is too high for a camp like the bar, most 35's can solo it but we full group it on green, killing every mob in the other half of the dung. This is the prob with green. Your all a bunch a greedy, lazy, unskilled bastards that play your toon like a 6 yr old. If your in a grp and your killing greens...

I see what your saying, but then there are old group camps like spires in SK that are now 3 people soloing. There are several places that full groups on live were xping, but on green have high levels farming them. similarly to what you just posted. People on Live grouped way more everywhere then they do here. I hate when I'm somewhere xping and a lvl 50 decides to come in and kill everything to farm. I farm as well but if a group or someone wants to get experience or can get experience from the area it should take priority over a farmer and I move on.

Camping a quest mob or this /list garbage aside I'll say it again. It should be server rules that Group XP should take priority over Farming. But yeah IDK care what dear Brad said 20 years ago, it doesn't apply in practice now.

[kjs86z]

People who don’t want Teal didn’t experience to euphoria of Teal the first time and can’t comprehend it’s glory.

imagine feeling euphoria while playing a video game

[Zeboim]

Imagine never feeling euphoria while playing video games

Play better games or get a new hobby bruh

[Gustoo]

This is your fault for not forming a group and claiming the lookout room. People on P99 are scared cucks who won't dare claim a camp according to rules lest someone get mad at them.

Pissing people off is what made EQ fun. Training, telling newbs to /consent you, kill stealing with memory blur, all of it. Not doing it yourself but that it was in the game. It is what drove social behaviour, defined guild character, etc.

Rules are what is wrong with P99. No GM was going to save you in classic EQ because you petitioned someone for KSing.

Even on P99 where the rules DO allow people to split "camps" and force multi group exp people just cry to the devs to add multiple servers so everyone can be happy grouping their favourite instance.

Ultimately I think all amateur emulator projects are doomed to do the same. They want players to be "happy" because it means less bullshit they have to deal with in terms of people crying. Classic EverQuest had the notorious "The Vision" meme because so many people cried all the time that it was too hard, this should be that one, it's too slow, blah blah blah.

Brad had the The Vision to torment people exactly how they needed to be tormented. He is the Architect of the Matrix. People aren't happy unless they're miserable as well. He found out that people want the most punishing environment to experience the highs of overcoming it.

tldr:

In classic EQ to level the fastest meant you had the best social strategy. Limited mobs and other resources including game knowledge meant playing well socially had real value. In P99 EQ to level the fastest simply means finding the highest ZEM camp, claiming it, and putting in the most hours there. In true classic something like the HHK goblin/nobles camps would be utterly unusable due to training, kill stealing, and other efficiency killers. This happened in a minor way on P99 but not to the same extent. That is what made EQ fun when leveling. The challenge of gaming this system and how to interact with the other players to try to avoid killing efficiency.

All this stuff very clearly points to the PVP solution. It makes the social aspect 100000 percent more important. Slime balls are treated like slime and scraped off the boots of good friends.

Its more fun, and you have to stay engaged.

Looking forward to brown 99, will play.

[El-Hefe]

imagine feeling euphoria while playing a video game

Internet tip: Most of the time if someone uses the term "euphoria" on the internet they're exaggerating because they find it funny.

Yikes.

[Quest318]

I'd be game for a reopening of Teal!

Why did Teal open and then close? I came to P99 for the first time as soon as this happened and didn't know what was going on.

[Cpm2580]

Anyone who thinks the server is over populated is because you are concentrated on soloing (I am victim) and unfortuantly the vast majority of people solo. More grouping and social interaction solves any perception of over population.

[Ravager]

Overpopulated is good. Try playing on an underpopulated server.

[Cpm2580]

Overpopulated is good. Try playing on an underpopulated server.

Well said.

[Jimjam]

Overpopulated is good. Try playing on an underpopulated server.

‘Try Red’ posts are frowned upon.

[Arvan]

They were /anon exactly for this reason.

Wrong. The servers just werent top heavy like these emu boxes are.

Game knowledge has changed everything.

[Mblake81]

In classic on live we had 60+ in most popular zones. If anything, Green feels a bit empty.

How many here play that also played classic, I would imagine most only have experience with Blue after it was out for years.

Game knowledge has changed everything.

Like knowing a manastone will be removed later so better get those while you can. You would think that camp would be overrun with people looking to get one.

imagine feeling euphoria while playing a video game

hah!

I have had some before, seeing Sky for the first time. Some maps in UT99 like Morpheus, Cranes and Hyperblast

https://i.imgur.com/4hpwigb.gif

[Swish]

‘Try Red’ posts are frowned upon.

Where does it say that?

[Fammaden]

Try blue. Its moderately populated.

[Mblake81]

Try blue. Its moderately populated.

Mistmoore had 5 people in it yesterday afternoon during a shut in pandemic, had it been closer to 10 I would have made a thread about opening a new server.

[Baler]

How many of you have been to Runnyeye since the zem change?

[axisofebola]

Is there a post or someting I can read about the ZEM changes? When did it happen? Are all zones now boosted ZEM or did they multply existing ZEMs? Maybe i missedit but didnt see anything in news.

[Mblake81]

Is there a post or someting I can read about the ZEM changes? When did it happen? Are all zones now boosted ZEM or did they multply existing ZEMs? Maybe i missedit but didnt see anything in news.

Sure, home page (https://www.project1999.com/index.php)

[Baler]

Sure, home page (https://www.project1999.com/index.php)

https://i.imgur.com/4DxnSOU.png

[Solist]

open teal. Set xp at 10% of rate of green.

Make legacy items only drop on teal.

[Fragged]

Sounds classic to me.

Almost all camps in classic had a handful of people just sitting around waiting to get a spot. And by all i mean ALL.

Camps like Royals in Sol B were camped by 3 groups, not 1.

Ghoul Lord never had less than 10 people in the room.

I could go on..

Besides isn't it more fun to be forced off the beaten path? Also scares resources makes for a better economy and a greater sense of achievement when you obtain your goals.

<3

[Jimjam]

‘Try Red’ posts are frowned upon.Where does it say that?
Right here:
‘Try Red’ posts are frowned upon.

[Mblake81]

Ghoul Lord never had less than 10 people in the room.<3

yep

Camps like Royals in Sol B were camped by 3 groups, not 1.

Oh that brings back memories. First place I /dueled my guildleader was at one of the SolB Royals camps. Sat in the room. Lots of downtime to talk in /ooc or send tells to your guildleader to tell him his wizard robes are not as sexy as he thinks.

... he returns with a few Kobalds on his tail and insta-duels me

[Baler]

Blue was so top heavy for such a long time that it's made green feel populated.

[magnetaress]

only 1 elf not afk in nektulous atm on blue

[Swish]

open teal. Set xp at 10% of rate of green.

Make legacy items only drop on teal.

https://i.imgur.com/LdCm8tR.gif

[TripSin]

Comments like these make me wonder if anyone actually played Classic back in the day.

Spoiler: Literally nobody here has actually played classic. Everyone's just roleplaying that they did.

[Jack N]

Enjoy the strong pop while you can morans

[sajbert]

Spoiler: Literally nobody here has actually played classic. Everyone's just roleplaying that they did.

Oh I think a fair number played Classic (myself included), I just highly doubt that more than a very very select few ever made it to level 50 or ever heard of manastone or guise during the classic timeline. Out of those who did it's even fewer who can actually remember what the game was like back then in terms of population.

[Mblake81]

Oh I think a fair number played Classic (myself included), I just highly doubt that more than a very very select few ever made it to level 50 or ever heard of manastone or guise during the classic timeline. Out of those who did it's even fewer who can actually remember what the game was like back then in terms of population.

I would have to disagree, I joined in early 2000 and the manastone was well known but they had already patched it out. That is still within the classic timeline. So was the dark elf mask.

When this project started the population was really low so those in the know went there to get it. Over the years, after the removal of the mana stone here, more and more people joined P99. The server went on for a decade before Green, over that time the price of manastones, if you could find one, fetched a very high price.

The difference being: In classic no one new what the hot items were, when and what was going to happen when the game first launched. On p99 blue the pop was low and the few playing here did know that. On Green it was talked about on the forums before the server launched, and after a full decade of blue with people talking/knowing about it/ and many who went to play there already knew about the manastone/guise. People were revved up and ready to get that.

Also the wiki is popular and details the information. There are no secrets about it, there are no guesses.

[TripSin]

Oh I think a fair number played Classic (myself included), I just highly doubt that more than a very very select few ever made it to level 50 or ever heard of manastone or guise during the classic timeline. Out of those who did it's even fewer who can actually remember what the game was like back then in terms of population.

I was being facetious. I was assuming that would be obvious. I actually think the vast majority of people here have played classic. And I would also imagine that the vast majority of people who are here playing P99 today in 2020 probably played it pretty heavily/seriously back when it first came out.

I imagine that problems arise here because of a number of possible factors: 1) The "classic" experience was probably different for each person to a degree - different servers for example might've provided different experiences for different people. 2) People have rose-colored nostalgia glasses on that's causing them to remember aspects of classic EverQuest differently from how it actually was. 3) People don't realize or are underappreciating how a classic experience can't be possible given that it's 2020 (i.e. that everyone playing now has a ton of knowledge about the game, nothing is novel anymore, we have way more software and better hardware to help play the game more efficiently, etc. etc.). 4) Sometimes people are just plain ignorant and maybe just aren't aware of things like the fact that 1200+++ population servers was a norm in classic EverQuest (like for me, I came in right before Kunark was released so there was more area for people to be spread out over).

[Jimjam]

I was a massive newb in 2000. No idea what I was doing. Didn’t hit 50 until at least pop I suppose. Blue was my chance to taste content I missed out on first time around (though I never got round to / immersed enough for vp or ST keying).

For green i’m trying to emulate my 1999 decisions. Farming useless tradeskill items to make my own gear instead of xping. Running around the world seeing what there is to see. Doing quests with pointless rewards.

[Zephire]

Look at the zones. 50+ in SK. 30+ in UGuk. The list goes on.

There was no single classic server in existence back in live, with 1000+ active players who played the game the way we do on p99.

There is a massive difference between a ton of social players / players discovering content for the first time, and a ton of min/max players who have 50s and are lvling alts.

You're not wrong.

[Mblake81]

nothing is novel anymore, we have way more software and better hardware to help play the game more efficiently, etc. etc.)

And this is one reason why I think there can never be another game like original Everquest made again. It was literally a product of its time.

There were secrets in EQ that wasnt well known until years after the fact. Today though, if you had a game trying to be like that it wouldn't work, for starters any secret would find its way onto youtube to strike while the iron is hot and to get that sweet ad money. Some doofy streamer would be munching chips into the mic and spilling all the secrets.

Part of original EQs charm is we didn't have any of that, you went searching for clues on webpages (https://www.project1999.com/forums/showthread.php?t=354993) and sometimes the information was good and other times it wasn't.

We also couldn't watch another player do something in a stream, or to "stream snipe". You could read someones thoughts/guide and do you best to play. You still had to find out for yourself and play the game.

Heck, there are games today I would like to have played but will never buy just because I can find out all the good stuff without buying it and playing (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fs12sH-M8rA).... why buy the Cow when you can the Milk for free?

Games are entertainment like a TV today.. even worse would be a MMORPG trying to be like EQ but also trying to be entertaining to a streamer audience. A very hard pass for me.

*Note: Some quests in original EQ make me scratch my head when I read the wiki, honestly how the heck did anyone figure those out. I bet a developer gave someone hints but who knows.

[Zephire]

This is your fault for not forming a group and claiming the lookout room. People on P99 are scared cucks who won't dare claim a camp according to rules lest someone get mad at them.

Pissing people off is what made EQ fun. Training, telling newbs to /consent you, kill stealing with memory blur, all of it. Not doing it yourself but that it was in the game. It is what drove social behaviour, defined guild character, etc.

Rules are what is wrong with P99. No GM was going to save you in classic EQ because you petitioned someone for KSing.

Even on P99 where the rules DO allow people to split "camps" and force multi group exp people just cry to the devs to add multiple servers so everyone can be happy grouping their favourite instance.

Ultimately I think all amateur emulator projects are doomed to do the same. They want players to be "happy" because it means less bullshit they have to deal with in terms of people crying. Classic EverQuest had the notorious "The Vision" meme because so many people cried all the time that it was too hard, this should be that one, it's too slow, blah blah blah.

Brad had the The Vision to torment people exactly how they needed to be tormented. He is the Architect of the Matrix. People aren't happy unless they're miserable as well. He found out that people want the most punishing environment to experience the highs of overcoming it.

tldr:

In classic EQ to level the fastest meant you had the best social strategy. Limited mobs and other resources including game knowledge meant playing well socially had real value. In P99 EQ to level the fastest simply means finding the highest ZEM camp, claiming it, and putting in the most hours there. In true classic something like the HHK goblin/nobles camps would be utterly unusable due to training, kill stealing, and other efficiency killers. This happened in a minor way on P99 but not to the same extent. That is what made EQ fun when leveling. The challenge of gaming this system and how to interact with the other players to try to avoid killing efficiency.

I don't know what server you played on... but on Brell, which opened in July 99 GMs came down hard on the kind of douchery you describe. We had one guy that was so bad about KS'ing mobs that he got banned.. but he lived on for a couple years after that via jokes and stories people told about his exploits. The same held true on Luclin, which I rolled a new toon on to group with RL friends.

So again, not sure what server you played on but on both the servers I played on the GM's didn't screw around with toxic players.

[Zephire]

Oh I think a fair number played Classic (myself included), I just highly doubt that more than a very very select few ever made it to level 50 or ever heard of manastone or guise during the classic timeline. Out of those who did it's even fewer who can actually remember what the game was like back then in terms of population.

I second that. If memory serves, Verant removed server pop numbers a few months before Kunark released. I never saw any server over 1500 prior to that

when I started in July 99 it was the first week Brell went up.. there were 300 people on it when I rolled my ranger. Never saw it over 1100

[Mblake81]

I second that. If memory serves, Verant removed server pop numbers a few months before Kunark released. I never saw any server over 1500 prior to that

when I started in July 99 it was the first week Brell went up.. there were 300 people on it when I rolled my ranger. Never saw it over 1100

I have a distinct memory of Bristlebanes server number in the early afternoon being around 300 and it would pickup later into the evening/night then die back off closer to midnight (working adults). I want to say it would creep close to 7-800 at peak evening and closer to 1k on the weekends. Camps were packed during the busy hours.

[Zephire]

I have a distinct memory of Bristlebanes server number in the early afternoon being around 300 and it would pickup later into the evening/night then die back off closer to midnight (working adults). I want to say it would creep close to 7-800 at peak evening and closer to 1k on the weekends.

Sounds about right

[Mblake81]

Sounds about right

The guy who got me into computers/EQ was having a conversation with me about it, online computer games were all new to me and I had just come from Playstation 1. The most people I ever "gamed" with was 4-5 other guys during a birthday party or something.

I remember him asking how many were on the day before, I told him around 300. I remember him smiling and saying something like "yeah, that's 300 other people all playing at the same time and the world goes even if you are not playing"

Next level stuff at the time. Edit: Correction, it was like 4-5 levels past next level. Left an impression that has lasted 20 years.

[Joeyco1989]

Never knew the server pop on 7th Hammer, but during Kunark days, EC had over 300+ toons. Green tops out at like 170 in EC. Just one zone and different times/types of player, but an observation.

[douglas1999]

Veeshan definitely broke 2k a few times, and Povar (where I played) came damn close. Those were both open at launch. But I agree player knowledge is the main factor. The gulf between the hardcore and casuals was way broader back then. Some people raced to 50 in three months, some people straggled along on a single character for *years* before hitting 50.

On p99, some people race to 50 in 3 *weeks*, and some people "straggle along" and hit fifty in a few months. The casuals of p99 can't help but be close to as good as the hardcore players were in classic, which really changes the way content is divided and consumed among the population.

But GOD I miss CT pickup groups, I remember there being two full groups in each *corner* of the courtyard, pulling lizards and gorillas out of the temple. Or throwing a group together and navigating the maze and breaking into the pyramid. That just simply never happens anymore.

[RedRam11]

And this is one reason why I think there can never be another game like original Everquest made again. It was literally a product of its time.

There were secrets in EQ that wasnt well known until years after the fact. Today though, if you had a game trying to be like that it wouldn't work, for starters any secret would find its way onto youtube to strike while the iron is hot and to get that sweet ad money. Some doofy streamer would be munching chips into the mic and spilling all the secrets.

Part of original EQs charm is we didn't have any of that, you went searching for clues on webpages (https://www.project1999.com/forums/showthread.php?t=354993) and sometimes the information was good and other times it wasn't.

We also couldn't watch another player do something in a stream, or to "stream snipe". You could read someones thoughts/guide and do you best to play. You still had to find out for yourself and play the game.

Heck, there are games today I would like to have played but will never buy just because I can find out all the good stuff without buying it and playing (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fs12sH-M8rA).... why buy the Cow when you can the Milk for free?

Games are entertainment like a TV today.. even worse would be a MMORPG trying to be like EQ but also trying to be entertaining to a streamer audience. A very hard pass for me.

*Note: Some quests in original EQ make me scratch my head when I read the wiki, honestly how the heck did anyone figure those out. I bet a developer gave someone hints but who knows.

I remember watching my uncle play one time ,he would hail a quest npc , and ask questions or based of what they would say or words they used in their dialogue , sometimes he'd figure one them out , sometimes not at all

[GnomeCaptain]

Teal was created when Green's population was lower than it is now.

There is no substantive, logical argument against bringing Teal back.

[solleks]

wrong, most people were under level 10

[Videri]

wrong, most people were under level 10

This is a good point. Don't let all that other stuff solleks says make you think he's not smart. He actually is.

[douglas1999]

Teal was created when Green's population was lower than it is now.

There is no substantive, logical argument against bringing Teal back.

You're leaving out a key detail, which is that teal was opened when Green's population was almost all concentrated in levels 1-15. People camping individual spawns in newbie zones is insane, I agree, but that's not even remotely the situation we're in here. There are individual instances of people camping individual spawns, sure, but that's nowhere close to what the opening of green was like. There *should* be some competition in the game, it's not an exp pez dispenser. I assume that's why we all play here.

[magnetaress]

Veeshan definitely broke 2k a few times, and Povar (where I played) came damn close. Those were both open at launch. But I agree player knowledge is the main factor. The gulf between the hardcore and casuals was way broader back then. Some people raced to 50 in three months, some people straggled along on a single character for *years* before hitting 50.

On p99, some people race to 50 in 3 *weeks*, and some people "straggle along" and hit fifty in a few months. The casuals of p99 can't help but be close to as good as the hardcore players were in classic, which really changes the way content is divided and consumed among the population.

But GOD I miss CT pickup groups, I remember there being two full groups in each *corner* of the courtyard, pulling lizards and gorillas out of the temple. Or throwing a group together and navigating the maze and breaking into the pyramid. That just simply never happens anymore.

*yup my life be like*

and if one group wiped, the other grp would usually toss out a rez to the cleric or port the cleric over and invis them to camp

[Fragged]

I don't know what server you played on... but on Brell, which opened in July 99 GMs came down hard on the kind of douchery you describe. We had one guy that was so bad about KS'ing mobs that he got banned.. but he lived on for a couple years after that via jokes and stories people told about his exploits. The same held true on Luclin, which I rolled a new toon on to group with RL friends.

So again, not sure what server you played on but on both the servers I played on the GM's didn't screw around with toxic players.

Was it Kenkoy?

Also what was your name and guild on Brell? (Fragged/Aikons here)

[Fragged]

Veeshan definitely broke 2k a few times, and Povar (where I played) came damn close. Those were both open at launch. But I agree player knowledge is the main factor. The gulf between the hardcore and casuals was way broader back then. Some people raced to 50 in three months, some people straggled along on a single character for *years* before hitting 50.

On p99, some people race to 50 in 3 *weeks*, and some people "straggle along" and hit fifty in a few months. The casuals of p99 can't help but be close to as good as the hardcore players were in classic, which really changes the way content is divided and consumed among the population.

But GOD I miss CT pickup groups, I remember there being two full groups in each *corner* of the courtyard, pulling lizards and gorillas out of the temple. Or throwing a group together and navigating the maze and breaking into the pyramid. That just simply never happens anymore.

CT was so damn popular on live.

[ChooChoo Train]

CT is baaack place is flourishing again!

[fastboy21]

Wrong. The servers just werent top heavy like these emu boxes are.

Game knowledge has changed everything.

Well that proves it.

[magnetaress]

Now, sorry so much for this double post, but...

The real question, isn't can "I play EQ without a manastone".

The real question is: R U REDY FOR THIS????

Can I play EQ without jboots???

yes its pretty easy if u r pretty gud and aren't really challenged in certain very special extremerly partakular ways

technically this is a tripple post

[knucklehead]

if everyone is wearing a gold watch there really isnt a reason to have a gold watch.

Of course you could use that watch to tell the time. Maybe not use it as a status symbol.

But that kinda gets to the heart of the argument. Precious pixels for the gatekeepers to maintain status in a game where gear brings you 90%+ of the way to "great."

Or maybe you all don't want that secret out. You're not good, just have an abundance of time. LOL

[magnetaress]

Of course you could use that watch to tell the time. Maybe not use it as a status symbol.

But that kinda gets to the heart of the argument. Precious pixels for the gatekeepers to maintain status in a game where gear brings you 90%+ of the way to "great."

Or maybe you all don't want that secret out. You're not good, just have an abundance of time. LOL

I have so much time, that rather then cry about it, I tab over to red and do a quad on my gnolls when someone steamrolls through my camp on blue, and IDGAF. Totally 100% disabled mentally ill pixel addicted (to lightstones) not manastones.

That is the difference between u n me.

See I was like you once, kid, lol, hahahahahahaha bhwahahahaha

fuck xude prayin 4u

[cd288]

Green is severely overpopulated.

The ZEM changes along with COVID has caused not only an increase in active players, but an increase in players spreading across zones.

This means whereas before some outdoors zones were still viable, due to them being "worse xp", now people are continuing to crowd the dungeon zones, but they are crowding the outdoor zones, as well.

This is the same situation that lead to the creation of Teal in the first place, except now we have many players who have been playing here for months, and they can't find anything to do.

What can we do?

New server? Increase spawn rate?

because right now, the server does not "feel classic", and players are disincentivized from even logging in.

Yo did anyone call the waaaambulance for this guy or should I?

Green is awesome btw. Having a ton of fun and no issue finding things to EXP on (except maybe a little bit after 45).

[cd288]

Rules are what is wrong with P99. No GM was going to save you in classic EQ because you petitioned someone for KSing.

This is just completely false

[magnetaress]

i atually had a gm come to qeynos aquaducts and do the whole dispute thing over the smugglers down there on bertox on live on my lvl 15 pally soooo ymmv

[Jimjam]

I got the impression GMs only seemed to be online during social hours for Americans. There were volunteer guides active in broader time zones, but it was common to hear ‘wait until a gm gets on’z

[Thrombosis]

I got the impression GMs only seemed to be online during social hours for Americans. There were volunteer guides active in broader time zones, but it was common to hear ‘wait until a gm gets on’z

My impression also. Even after Antonius Bayle opened I don't think I ever saw a GM in euro-prime time.

[Christina.]

I played here to see what all this talk was about and it is not overpopulated. I had a blast

[magnetaress]

I played here to see what all this talk was about and it is not overpopulated. I had a blast

Best sentiment ever. I enjoyed my troll time there so much. I am torn between warrior, sk, or cleric for some actual hardcore group grinding. As an alt.

Possibly another rogue. Or even ranger or bard. Classic tradeskills got me hooked deep.

[Bigsham]

1500 on right now but only because of covid

great time to release red 2.0

[kaizersoze]

Consider blue.

[cd288]

i atually had a gm come to qeynos aquaducts and do the whole dispute thing over the smugglers down there on bertox on live on my lvl 15 pally soooo ymmv

The period that guy is referring to is the period right when the game was released. There were no rules in place because it was the first game of its kind really and the CSR staff had no idea about how big of dicks people on the Internet could be. They didn't conceive of the various ways that people would abuse the game's mechanics and grief others because griefing as a concept didn't even exist yet so they didn't think about it.

So what happened was you had GMs on different servers enforcing things different ways for a period of time. Some were more stringent than others. However, the rules/play nice policy were quickly put in place and guided how we resolved disputes in game from then on.

So that person's claim that there were never any rules in classic EQ is just completely false.

[Mblake81]

The period that guy is referring to is the period right when the game was released. There were no rules in place because it was the first game of its kind really and the CSR staff had no idea about how big of dicks people on the Internet could be. They didn't conceive of the various ways that people would abuse the game's mechanics and grief others because griefing as a concept didn't even exist yet so they didn't think about it.

So what happened was you had GMs on different servers enforcing things different ways for a period of time. Some were more stringent than others. However, the rules/play nice policy were quickly put in place and guided how we resolved disputes in game from then on.

So that person's claim that there were never any rules in classic EQ is just completely false.

Maybe he wants it to be like the brief period where there was no rules, coming hot off the heels of UO and the ways in which people 'griefed' each other in that game. A precedent was already set but perhaps it wasn't complained about as much. EQ picked up a bigger playerbase.

College PKers on their campus T1 connections.

[lesell]

I'd like to see proof of the classic numbers, because all I'm seeing is a lot of anecdotes saying 'yeah it was crazy in the day' bla bla. I have looked for a definitive list of pre-Kunark numbers on wayback and the amount of servers they have and I haven't found any. If people have proof that the servers were 2k strong back then, by all means...

And yeah, I remember that the servers DID get really popular, but not at launch-- a lot of it was when word of mouth got around about the game, I remember it being really high when Kunark launched-- but by then we had a ton of servers and way more zones and level ranges. Also most of the 2k strong server were all rolling lizards at that point, not effing around Antonica.

In classic, I remember about 1k per server and they were very quick to release new servers as numbers increased. I remember places pretty full, but not everyone on top of each other like it is now. It was not 30+ people per zone. Again, if I'm mis-remembering, fair enough, but I'd really like to see a list of servers and numbers pre Paineel etc.

Also, I remember when Kerafrym was taken down and they were talking about it afterwards-- that they were cycling 180 people and how strained the server was-- and I was just boggled by the number of people they got for that raid. I remember everyone was kind of awed at the sheer number of people. And this is Velious era, not classic, at the peak of Everquests popularity and with way more zones and servers.

So I just I estimated the number of 'hunting' type zones in classic (excluding city zones) according to ZAMs 'sever by expansion' list, at about 46 zones or so (I might have missed a couple, I excluded things like paineel, the hole, gloomingdeep etc). Given there's 1100 people on green right now, that's around 26 people per zone. So if everyone on green spread out evenly between every single zone right now, there would still be 6.5 groups per zone-- off peak. Even if I include city (approx 70 zones in classic) that's still like 15 or so people to every classic zone, off peak. On peak is what? 1800 people? So on peak means the average is approx 25 people per every zone, or 38 people per zone in the 'hunting/ZEM' zones. That's... crazy to be honest.

I don't remember the numbers reflecting that amount of people back in the day--especially not pre-Paineel. As I said, 180 people raiding was crazy to me at the time, and that was Velious. EDIT: (As an addendum to this, I remember reading that the zone was straining to accommodate the 180 people because the max per zone was 200 or so back then-- I believe there is proof of that in articles, so to the person saying 'EC had like 300 people in classic!' no, pretty sure it didn't. I would say it barely had 180 at peak times.)

Dunno, personally I think another server is needed but I don't care if they don't open one, except that my weekly EQ group will have to reroll on Blue and abandon our mains for now, which kinda sucks. But it's whatever.

That's just my thoughts on it. As I said I could be totally mis-remembering.

[Evia]

Green (and to a greater extent, teal) were incredibly fun for a few months but I was slowly but surely becoming incredibly turned off by the community. I guess when you pit a bunch of hardcore eq players together(face it, casual or not...if you’re playing here you probably really really like this game) with the possibility of legacy items you should expect that. I just started enjoying my time on the server less and less and stopped logging in all together.

Came back to blue tho and have been having a real good time. The community feels more like eq to me and I find myself logging in once again.

[Vizax_Xaziv]

Green (and to a greater extent, teal) were incredibly fun for a few months but I was slowly but surely becoming incredibly turned off by the community. I guess when you pit a bunch of hardcore eq players together(face it, casual or not...if you’re playing here you probably really really like this game) with the possibility of legacy items you should expect that. I just started enjoying my time on the server less and less and stopped logging in all together.

Came back to blue tho and have been having a real good time. The community feels more like eq to me and I find myself logging in once again.
Blue seems to be thriving again. Upwards of 1000 concurrent players the past few days.

I enjoy playing on Blue but it's certainly a different experience. Especially sub-50 due to the extreme twinkage goin on there - the leveling is much quicker because of that as well.

[magnetaress]

I guess it depends on what you want, both servers seem to cater to slightly different albiet co-mingly demographics. So far my experience on green has been super chill though I don't go out of my way to interact with people lol.

[Zephire]

Was it Kenkoy?

Also what was your name and guild on Brell? (Fragged/Aikons here)

The Wizard's name was Shamrocks, Gnome.

Zephire Glademist Ranger on Brell. Founded of The Sentinels of Tunare. Was also in Iron Throne and spent a short time in Silent Redemption prior to Kunark releasing. Quit playing for a few months then re-rolled a Warrior on Luclin.

[Yacoby44]

On Xev, one of the original servers, there were around 200 people in Gfay early on in Kunark and the chat scrolled faster than EC tunnel with /auctions. That is a vivid memory of mine I will never forget. Gfay just happened to be a major hub on my server apparently.

[Delekhan]

On Xev, one of the original servers, there were around 200 people in Gfay early on in Kunark and the chat scrolled faster than EC tunnel with /auctions. That is a vivid memory of mine I will never forget. Gfay just happened to be a major hub on my server apparently.

Hey, fellow Xev player! I recall the same. Server pop is pretty comparable to what I recall from that time. Povar was the original server from Xev, we were a split. :)

[magnetaress]

Gfay is the better hub. I never understoon EC / nfp

Gfay has the best name.
There is a wizard spire right there.
Evil races can bank in akanon and felwithe nps.

[Mblake81]

Gfay is the better hub. I never understoon EC / nfp

Gfay has the best name.
There is a wizard spire right there.
Evil races can bank in akanon and felwithe nps.

Could you train the superbuff guards to the spires (or wherever people gathered)?

/shout Slate to tunnel!

[Jimjam]

Gfay is the better hub. I never understoon EC / nfp

Gfay has the best name.
There is a wizard spire right there.
Evil races can bank in akanon and felwithe nps.

Tallon Zek had a Faymart.

I remember the bank there being a busy place on Druzzil Ro (specifically I remember having to try negotiate the crowds to bank through the window on my barbarian shaman).

[ldgo86]

Gfay is the better hub. I never understoon EC / nfp

Gfay has the best name.
There is a wizard spire right there.
Evil races can bank in akanon and felwithe nps.

NFP was awesome on my live server! Behind the Jade Tavern with 100 people crammed into that little yard. I guess it’s all just nostalgia tho, haha

[Yacoby44]

Hey, fellow Xev player! I recall the same. Server pop is pretty comparable to what I recall from that time. Povar was the original server from Xev, we were a split. :)

Xev was awesome. Altera Vita, Black Burrow Stout Co, Shadow Clan. Those were the days!

[Quest318]

Why did Teal open and then close? I came to P99 for the first time as soon as this happened and didn't know what was going on.

My intuition tells me I asked a question that is a touchy subject.

But I am new here, take it easy on me.

Also, a reply and a warm welcome would have been ideal.

[SwordNboard]

Green is severely overpopulated.

The ZEM changes along with COVID has caused not only an increase in active players, but an increase in players spreading across zones.

This means whereas before some outdoors zones were still viable, due to them being "worse xp", now people are continuing to crowd the dungeon zones, but they are crowding the outdoor zones, as well.

This is the same situation that lead to the creation of Teal in the first place, except now we have many players who have been playing here for months, and they can't find anything to do.

What can we do?

New server? Increase spawn rate?

because right now, the server does not "feel classic", and players are disincentivized from even logging in.

Complaining about a "first-world problem" related to an unforseen global pandemic not only makes you appear insensitive, but extreeeemmely ignorant. Deal with it.

Also as stated, live classic was way more populated. I remember HHK goblins being split in to 4 or 5 camps!

[magnetaress]

Complaining about a "first-world problem" related to an unforseen global pandemic not only makes you appear insensitive, but extreeeemmely ignorant. Deal with it.

Also as stated, live classic was way more populated. I remember HHK goblins being split in to 4 or 5 camps!

there were times ya but mostly people were nice enough to go lvl on gnolls or camp something eleswhere if the zone looked crowded

ironically live didnt need as much gm intervention as players just were nicer

[Quest318]

My intuition tells me I asked a question that is a touchy subject.

But I am new here, take it easy on me.

Also, a reply and a warm welcome would have been ideal.

Ah, nevermind. Forget I asked.

I don't really like any of you though. I don't even think the server is overpopulated. I was just curious.

[Vizax_Xaziv]

Tallon Zek had a Faymart.

I remember the bank there being a busy place on Druzzil Ro (specifically I remember having to try negotiate the crowds to bank through the window on my barbarian shaman).

Yup! Greater Faymart was the good races' trading hub on TZ followed by FV then Thurg. Lotta fun times on my Druid using my knockback stuns to boot people off Kelethin while they held a lethal amount of coin then dropping down to loot them!

[cd288]

I'd like to see proof of the classic numbers, because all I'm seeing is a lot of anecdotes saying 'yeah it was crazy in the day' bla bla. I have looked for a definitive list of pre-Kunark numbers on wayback and the amount of servers they have and I haven't found any. If people have proof that the servers were 2k strong back then, by all means...

And yeah, I remember that the servers DID get really popular, but not at launch-- a lot of it was when word of mouth got around about the game, I remember it being really high when Kunark launched-- but by then we had a ton of servers and way more zones and level ranges. Also most of the 2k strong server were all rolling lizards at that point, not effing around Antonica.

In classic, I remember about 1k per server and they were very quick to release new servers as numbers increased. I remember places pretty full, but not everyone on top of each other like it is now. It was not 30+ people per zone. Again, if I'm mis-remembering, fair enough, but I'd really like to see a list of servers and numbers pre Paineel etc.

Also, I remember when Kerafrym was taken down and they were talking about it afterwards-- that they were cycling 180 people and how strained the server was-- and I was just boggled by the number of people they got for that raid. I remember everyone was kind of awed at the sheer number of people. And this is Velious era, not classic, at the peak of Everquests popularity and with way more zones and servers.

So I just I estimated the number of 'hunting' type zones in classic (excluding city zones) according to ZAMs 'sever by expansion' list, at about 46 zones or so (I might have missed a couple, I excluded things like paineel, the hole, gloomingdeep etc). Given there's 1100 people on green right now, that's around 26 people per zone. So if everyone on green spread out evenly between every single zone right now, there would still be 6.5 groups per zone-- off peak. Even if I include city (approx 70 zones in classic) that's still like 15 or so people to every classic zone, off peak. On peak is what? 1800 people? So on peak means the average is approx 25 people per every zone, or 38 people per zone in the 'hunting/ZEM' zones. That's... crazy to be honest.

I don't remember the numbers reflecting that amount of people back in the day--especially not pre-Paineel. As I said, 180 people raiding was crazy to me at the time, and that was Velious. EDIT: (As an addendum to this, I remember reading that the zone was straining to accommodate the 180 people because the max per zone was 200 or so back then-- I believe there is proof of that in articles, so to the person saying 'EC had like 300 people in classic!' no, pretty sure it didn't. I would say it barely had 180 at peak times.)

Dunno, personally I think another server is needed but I don't care if they don't open one, except that my weekly EQ group will have to reroll on Blue and abandon our mains for now, which kinda sucks. But it's whatever.

That's just my thoughts on it. As I said I could be totally mis-remembering.

It’s been posted here before go look through old posts if you want. Many classic servers had the numbers that we are seeing on Blue (and often times higher). For example, when they split I think it was Fennin Ro they had like over 2.5k people on it or something. Most servers were close to 2k by Kunark.

What’s really happening here is that people have less patience than they did back then. And I say that not trying to be snide or sarcastic at all. Back then people would log in and just run around Norrath sometimes just being amazed at the game world. They’d log in and sit around LFG just chatting with their guildies and other people because chatting with people online was still a pretty new thing. They focused on trade skills a lot even if they weren’t the most min max lucrative skill they could be doing. And on and on. So the population was there, it just wasn’t vocally complaining about not being able to maximize their XP from the second they log in. Nowadays it’s different. The novelty of the world is gone, the novelty of being able to be social online is gone, so we’re left with just the pure video game advancement aspect of it and so people want to be able to do things right away whenever they log in.

[cd288]

Blue seems to be thriving again. Upwards of 1000 concurrent players the past few days.

I enjoy playing on Blue but it's certainly a different experience. Especially sub-50 due to the extreme twinkage goin on there - the leveling is much quicker because of that as well.

Honestly I don’t really notice a difference on green without the extreme twinkage. Most groups I’ve been in pretty much consistently chain pull non stop including reds and yellows. The reason I’ve notice things being slower is due to the XP penalties and having no mana regeneration buff pre-level 29 (but even that latter one hasn’t been a huge impediment to chain pulling).

[PabloEdvardo]

It’s been posted here before go look through old posts if you want. Many classic servers had the numbers that we are seeing on Blue (and often times higher). For example, when they split I think it was Fennin Ro they had like over 2.5k people on it or something. Most servers were close to 2k by Kunark.

As you alluded to, it's not about the numbers, it's about the players. 90%+ of the people online at any given time are min/maxing everything in the game, not just running around socializing like back in live.

On top of the insanely high numbers of tryhards who are camping every mob, you have tons of people using red wood wands now, so a lot of the places that could have supported a group or a couple solo classes are now owned by a single person with wands.

There's very little about the current green experience that feels classic, and it doesn't make sense that they split the servers at launch for the same reasons, but after the merge, apparently the reason they split in the first place is no longer good enough.

[magnetaress]

It’s been posted here before go look through old posts if you want. Many classic servers had the numbers that we are seeing on Blue (and often times higher). For example, when they split I think it was Fennin Ro they had like over 2.5k people on it or something. Most servers were close to 2k by Kunark.

What’s really happening here is that people have less patience than they did back then. And I say that not trying to be snide or sarcastic at all. Back then people would log in and just run around Norrath sometimes just being amazed at the game world. They’d log in and sit around LFG just chatting with their guildies and other people because chatting with people online was still a pretty new thing. They focused on trade skills a lot even if they weren’t the most min max lucrative skill they could be doing. And on and on. So the population was there, it just wasn’t vocally complaining about not being able to maximize their XP from the second they log in. Nowadays it’s different. The novelty of the world is gone, the novelty of being able to be social online is gone, so we’re left with just the pure video game advancement aspect of it and so people want to be able to do things right away whenever they log in.

speak fur urself plz i like rping a magnetar online

[Mblake81]

I'd like to see proof of the classic numbers

It's Velious era. No idea what time of day. Who knows if Green will pickup a larger playerbase when Kunark / Velious launches where you creep closer to 2k.

https://i.imgur.com/3LHGhqY.png

[TripSin]

I'd like to see proof of the classic numbers, because all I'm seeing is a lot of anecdotes saying 'yeah it was crazy in the day' bla bla. I have looked for a definitive list of pre-Kunark numbers on wayback and the amount of servers they have and I haven't found any. If people have proof that the servers were 2k strong back then, by all means...



https://web.archive.org/web/20000510042709/https://everquest.allakhazam.com/Creation.htm

This snapshot is from May 10, 2000, so this may have been published very shortly after Kunark had just dropped but:

"Choosing a Server...
...Probably the biggest consideration is server population. Many servers suffer from some serious over-crowding issues. The game was designed to handle about 1,500 people at peak, but several servers go into the 2,000 range."

This IGN article is from May 2000 just after Kunark dropped and also talks about the overcrowding issue though I don't see any numbers:
https://www.ign.com/articles/2000/05/03/everquest-ruins-of-kunark

I also saw at least several other pages from 2000 and 2001 talking about the overcrowding issue. Like this Eurogamer article https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/kunark or http://members.tripod.com/ms_9ball/kedge.html from Feb 2001 saying how servers were "nearing 2000 players"

[Jimjam]

I’m not seeing the overcrowding. The everfrost tundra can support many groups in the low teens/preteens. Usually there is no more than 1. Likewise there is rarely a zone in group at permafrost despite being very good xp and plat. I’m not in the busiest timezone though.

[Mblake81]

I’m not seeing the overcrowding. The everfrost tundra can support many groups in the low teens/preteens. Usually there is no more than 1. Likewise there is rarely a zone in group at permafrost despite being very good xp and plat. I’m not in the busiest timezone though.

the wiki guides are updated to tell the players to go there?

[Jimjam]

the wiki guides are updated to tell the players to go there?

I think the real issue is people are put off Ever/Permafrost by the lack of access to fast transport and marketplace.

[Mblake81]

I think the real issue is people are put off Ever/Permafrost by the lack of access to fast transport and marketplace.

Thats probably the culprit. No places to bind for good races close to CT. No places for evil close to Perma. You would think the stray gypsy camp like NK having a bind spot would have been used more.
Then again it never stopped people back in classic era, the wiki is popular and it details the best spots per level and tribal wisdom tells us the most efficient. Risk vs. Reward also plays a factor.

[ldgo86]

Thats probably the culprit. No places to bind for good races close to CT. No places for evil close to Perma. You would think the stray gypsy camp like NK having a bind spot would have been used more.
Then again it never stopped people back in classic era, the wiki is popular and it details the best spots per level and tribal wisdom tells us the most efficient. Risk vs. Reward also plays a factor.

It didn’t stop people in classic era because there was a world to explore! Most people on this box know zones inside and out. The magic is lost and the world is smaller. People rather afk wait for a group in a known levelling zone than adventure out with a few others into a far away lands. Even if those zones have their. ZEM buffed.

But this has been said a thousand times on here. Another classic merry go round discussion. :p

[Mblake81]

It didn’t stop people in classic era because there was a world to explore! Most people on this box know zones inside and out. The magic is lost and the world is smaller. People rather afk wait for a group in a known levelling zone than adventure out with a few others into a far away lands. Even if those zones have their. ZEM buffed.

But this has been said a thousand times on here. Another classic merry go round discussion. :p

It keeps getting brought up /shrug and I do my own fire stoking for sure. People asked for zones to be zem buffed, call the devs bros when they did it. Got something that was asked for. Here we are at the base of it yet again. Let's see what they ask for next, maybe rotating zems for zones, surely that will do it.

[Videri]

I have had several groups in Permafrost, and there are more people there since the exp changes. I saw people show up at Permafrost at level 22-25, stay there for multiple days, and come out at level 30. If anyone out there wants to go, you should do a /w all permafrost and go. If there’s no one there, bring a group.

[magnetaress]

Permafrost really isnt 'further away' then like CoM

[Arthros]

1600+ on tonight, coronavirus isn't going away anytime soon .....

[Canelek]

It has been pretty crazy busy of late.Definitely a good time to work on your needs-to-group character like clerics, warriors and rogues. A sad time for soloers unless you luck into a nice camp.

It does not look like they are going to open teal back up, so either adapt or take a break. I usually am solo, so not judging. :P

[Cen]

1600+ on tonight, coronavirus isn't going away anytime soon .....

I dunno man, if the server population ends up going to 8 billion the coronavirus will go away pretty quickly.

[Quest318]

An awful lot of whiners on here. But, nobody's answered (where ive asked twice in this thread). What happened to the teal server ? as it seemed to have vanished into thin air as quickly as it came. As soon as I joined P99.:confused:

I don't think the server is overpopped, but that could be ignorance, as my max char is lvl 14.

Im more concerned with the community :)

[Vizax_Xaziv]

An awful lot of whiners on here. But, nobody's answered (where ive asked twice in this thread). What happened to the teal server ? as it seemed to have vanished into thin air as quickly as it came. As soon as I joined P99.:confused:

I don't think the server is overpopped, but that could be ignorance, as my max char is lvl 14.

Im more concerned with the community :)
I think it was closed mainly due to economic concerns. Double the number of items dropping on servers which were destined to merge really wasn't fair to the people camping said items on either server.

That said, I would totally Xfer to a "Teal" server with significantly reduced item droprates if thats what it would take for a reopening!

[Swish]

An awful lot of whiners on here. But, nobody's answered (where ive asked twice in this thread). What happened to the teal server ?

It was closed and merged into green. <Keep It Teal> still exists as a guild, as do other teal guilds...but on green.