Is raiding really so volatile?

[NirrtiXXX]

I have been wanting to play P99 and have on and off, but if I want to raid can I? People keep talking about how volatile it is, however I am not sure if these people are just whiners or it really is. Sadly LIVE is not Everquest anymore with all the changed spell effects and revamped zones. Then there is the fact you literally are Moloing for 70 levels. I am not sure how anyone thinks that is fun, I would rather grind in P1999. The problem is I want to know if my time grinding will be worth it.

[Zyth]

Depends what you're looking for I suppose.

Gone are the days of gathering the boys to go see what cool dragons might be up to slay. It's all about sitting around and waiting for the batphone to ring so you can log in and zerg. Followed by the inevitable court date where the elf laws you broke to kill that mob are discussed and which bosses you will be conceding next week will be decided.

If that sounds fun to you, go for it.

[NirrtiXXX]

I get it, I guess I just do not want to always be in a fight to get anywhere. Sadly as I said live is not really EQ anymore. Many of the other EQemulator servers are either deserted or are mostly players boxing.

[Toxigen]

Pixel Sickness is real. You should see some of the bullshit grown men (questionable) pull in the name of top end raid gear.

If you get into a guild with similar goals to your own, you'll be plenty happy.

Best thing is to get into a competitive guild that doesn't have a raid attendance requirement. Respond to batphones when its convenient for you, acquire dkp, spend as you see fit.

This is the way.

[Fingurs]

Raiding on this server is some of the worst.

If you are not raiding, I would steer clear. The issue is the way competition works here there is a ton of areas where people nit and pick, and slice and dice each other.

You would need a referee there the entire time to make it go clean and smooth, but that is simply not possible.

So what happens:

People have to use petitions, and p99 has a voluntary staff. So sometimes it can take a month to hear back. Between that time, tensions just rise, more and more and more and more.

Everyone is doing their best, but ultimately, its not people, there is not system in Everquest to deal with this level of min/maxing.

Which is why this raiding style has never been replicated ever again, successfully.

Hope this helps.

[Ravager]

It really isn't much fun unless you're one of the couple dozen or so people who really get off on shitting on others.

[dmpv01]

The amount of success you strive to achieve at the top end of this game is directly proportional to the amount of obnoxious, win-at-all-cost, cut-throat neckbeards you'll be required to surround yourself with.

Working as intended.

[unsunghero]

Wouldn’t there be a way to just make a schedule, some sort of rotation? I’m assuming that’s why there’s some sort of race to mobilize and kill a target before others? I’m also assuming that idea has long since been tried and didn’t work. Was it because people didn’t adhere to the schedule and there wasn’t admin moderation to police it?

The only comparable thing I can think of was the ranking system in classic WoW. This would normally require playing 15+ (or more) hours per day, basically having to play longer than whoever else wanted the same thing you wanted. But players out-smarted the system by creating brackets and a schedule of who gets what reward when. There were some issues of individuals going “rogue” and not following the schedule though, but these were fairly uncommon. Scheduling out the rewards allowed players to play only 10 hours a day rather than 15-20 hours a day for 3 months to get the same reward. Basically without the brackets and scheduling, ranking in classic and vanilla WoW was just a test of human endurance: how long can a human sit and play a computer game in a stretch? (And many cheated with account sharing too...)

[turbosilk]

Yes. The main issue is the non classic addition of respawn windows. This forces poopsocking.

If classic raid mob respawn timers were in game then the quality of life with raiding would dramatically improve and not require an insane level of 24/7 neckbearding.

[magnetaress]

There's a lot of gear that isn't BIS but still godly amazing. You'll have fun like Toxigen said, just stick to your guns and only raid when you feel like it.

The community will get better the more of these healing vibes come.

[Ravager]

Yes. The main issue is the non classic addition of respawn windows. This forces poopsocking.

If classic raid mob respawn timers were in game then the quality of life with raiding would dramatically improve and not require an insane level of 24/7 neckbearding.

There's a reason for variance and windows. This server had classic spawn timers at one point in history. There's plenty of good RnF on that point from 11 years ago.

It still required 24/7 neckbearding.

[Bardp1999]

I raided on this server for several years. I am assuming you play on Blue, that being the case most raid targets go to AzureGuard/Freedom and Riot. All 3 guilds have retarded raid attendance requirements and have raiders with gigatons of DKP to always get the best items. If you play a Knight class or a Ranger you can get really good gear for super cheap, but it still requires a lot of time.

Being casual and raiding don't mix well for very long on P99, and too some I suppose that is the appeal (nothing really comes quickly). I regret my time raiding and wish I had been playing other games in hindsight. The most disappointing thing is all the encounters are down to a 'science' these days so it's 1) Get a discord notification (can be all hours, noon, 3 am, 7 am, doesn't matter) 2) log in immediately 3) kill the mob in about 60 second - may be rooted dragons have made it harder or more time consuming, IDK, i refuse to participate anymore.

[greenspectre]

FWIW old world planes ARE on a rotation at least on green. So planar armor and isles 1-5of PoSky are actually not too hard to lock down. But individual raid targets such as gods, Maestro, dragons, etc. are still very much competitive.

[Toxigen]

I raided on this server for several years. I am assuming you play on Blue, that being the case most raid targets go to AzureGuard/Freedom and Riot. All 3 guilds have retarded raid attendance requirements and have raiders with gigatons of DKP to always get the best items. If you play a Knight class or a Ranger you can get really good gear for super cheap, but it still requires a lot of time.


This simply is not true with the exception of those BIG BiS drops (basically vulak items, some doze tears, the juicy weapons, etc).

Riot's recruitment / application process certainly looks at attendance...but there is no hard line RA% requirement. Its more about the quality of your play and what you can contribute when you can make the raids / track / other logistics around your schedule.

I'm a pretty good example of a casual player that has received some fantastic items over my time spent raiding.
- FT7 enchanter with some other high hp / AC drops and useful little toys that has turned Toxigen into a pretty beastmode char.
- Monk alt with tons of goodies...don't even remember half the stuff I got for him its been a while.
- 56 warrior with ToV 1 handers, a dain axe, statue BP, AoW helm, KT gloves + boots, etc
- Scooping up some budget drops for rogue / shaman / druid / necro alts in their 50s that I'm still leveling super casually.

My attendance for reference:
https://i.imgur.com/dPF8Aj7.png

Sure, I'm probably never going to get Toxigen a Vulak robe. My available time to put into raiding simply won't allow it...nor do I want to save for years. For me, its fun to scoop up a bunch of really good items that just happen to not be BiS. As a casual you have to just be happy with what you can get...I know I am.

To each their own, but for OP's sake I was just trying to explain that you can do the raid scene without doing insane things. This is nothing against the folks that do a lot of the heavy lifting with tracking / logistics / etc...they're the ones that shall be rewarded with BiS chars and they deserve it.

Just remember its important for anyone, no matter how casual, to be a team player when you are available. I happily hop on cleric bots when we've got enough enchanters. Its what I can do to help out the most.

[Danth]

You don't look very casual to me. Maybe it applies to this past 6 months or so when your activity is clearly reduced versus prior levels. More generally, your use of that word appears in my opinion influenced by the high-end echo chamber where players are regarded as "casual" if they aren't putting in 50+ hours a week or staring at walls for half a day at a time. You're only casual compared to the nolifers who have nothing besides P99. Otherwise it's clear enough you're a fairly driven player who's reducing hours lately, possibly due to burnout, possibly due to other factors.

As I understand and use the term: Casuals aren't attending over a thousand raid events. Casuals aren't hanging out in temple veeshan. They aren't giving video game guilds their contact info or putting themselves on-call. They aren't decking out multiple high-level characters with high-end drops. They're not usually going to play somebody else's character(s) over their own. Genuine casual players are largely invisible from the high end; due to the nature of how Velious is laid out the casual players and high-end players seldom cross paths. It's a matter of perspective I suppose.

Danth

[Toxigen]

You don't look very casual to me. Maybe it applies to this past 6 months or so when your activity is clearly reduced versus prior levels. More generally, your use of that word appears in my opinion influenced by the high-end echo chamber where players are regarded as "casual" if they aren't putting in 50+ hours a week or staring at walls for half a day at a time. You're only casual compared to the nolifers who have nothing besides P99. Otherwise it's clear enough you're a fairly driven player who's reducing hours lately, possibly due to burnout, possibly due to other factors.

As I understand and use the term: Casuals aren't attending over a thousand raid events. Casuals aren't hanging out in temple veeshan. They aren't giving video game guilds their contact info or putting themselves on-call. They aren't decking out multiple high-level characters with high-end drops. They're not usually going to play somebody else's character(s) over their own. Genuine casual players are largely invisible from the high end; due to the nature of how Velious is laid out the casual players and high-end players seldom cross paths. It's a matter of perspective I suppose.

Danth

FWIW I don't track at all...and we used to get a lot more quakes which is a primary reason on lifetime attendance being higher.

But your analysis is fair enough. I suppose casual mindset doesn't always equate to casual amount of hours put into it.

I don't think just because you're willing to utilize / play a guild bot automatically makes you not casual, either. There is a difference between casual and someone who just doesn't give a shit about helping out.

[Danth]

Right, that's the angle I'm coming from, it's not just hours. Note there's no complaint in my comment, either: Historically I don't have much of an issue with the P99 raid scene. For all its faults the high-end guilds aren't exclusive and just about anyone can see the content if they really want to. The folks who get upset tend to be the folks who want to deck themselves out in high-end stuff on a 9-5 schedule like they can in instanced games.

(EDIT) My stance on guild bots is simple enough: I have fun on my guy. I don't have fun on a Cleric or some such. If I did, I'd play one instead of what I have. I'm not inclined to spend my free time doing something I loathe. If some guild didn't want me on my own guy, they shouldn't invite me. However, that's a personal opinion; more generally I'd regard a casual player as someone having some or most of the characteristics I describe, not necessarily all of them. You yourself may well be a genuinely casual player this past half year or so. Folks can and do change their status/activity level/mindset over time. Certainly we see enough of it in the opposite direction, formerly casual players get sucked up into the rat race to eventually burn out, quit, and hate the game.

Danth

[Bardp1999]

Danth summarized what I was going to reply perfectly. You have attended 1500+ raids and acknowledge the fact that there are items you will simply never be able to attain because you are not committed enough.

P99s raid scene is what it is, I had fun for a while and I'm done now - My point was it is extremely time-consuming (maybe more so on the 'front end').

More to the point - if you want to play a Shaman, Paladin, Shadow Knight, and to a lesser degree a Druid (sans porting), Ranger (sans tracking), Monk (sans being in the pull squad), or a Mage (sans being a CoTH bot/Rod bot) - you will be ridiculed as not 'being a team player' and playing a 'useless' raid class. P99 Blue Guilds wants Clerics, Rogues, and Warriors to raid. They bring along a few necromancers bards and 1 shaman but pretty much you are bullied into warrior, cleric, or rogue - its just a reality of the server

[Bardp1999]

And im not even shitting on guilds just wanting the holy trinity. The truth is if you had 25 clerics and 50 warriors - you could kill any mob in the game without issue. AoW would be the hardest but im sure it could be done with the above comp given the players were coordinated.

A lot of the 'toxicness' people refer to when referencing P99s end game raiding is that most players know the above is true so they are hyper critical of anyone not playing those classes because you are just really not needed and its more mouths to feed for the guild - thus they expect you to 'contribute' large amounts of time doing things that are not really fun.

For what it's worth - From my personal experience - if you really want to raid on P99 and be casual play a Bard or a Necromancer. You can contribute to mana regen for the Clerics and you can sit back and let the neckbeards tear each other apart on tracking and engage and you can fly mostly under the radar. Necromancer might be a little differnt because they might start asking you to pull shit because you can Feign Death and Pet Track, but mostly you can also fly under the radar as a necro also.

Or just give in and play a rog/war/clr - you will be welcomed everywhere

[Fammaden]

You two seem way more salty about raiding than the guy who's done over 1500 Riot raid events.

[magnetaress]

Best raid class is a wizard. U have to do absolutely nothing but click draughts and lures.

Every raider should be required to have wiz alts on standby.

[Mblake81]

IDK, i refuse to participate anymore.

I stopped playing right after rooted dragons and riot forming. I played long enough to see A/A guilds eat the dirt, not the people mind you, just the guilds. The guild names did not improve. My everquest came to a stopping point.

ForumQuest

[dmpv01]

I raided on this server for several years. I am assuming you play on Blue, that being the case most raid targets go to AzureGuard/Freedom and Riot. All 3 guilds have retarded raid attendance requirements and have raiders with gigatons of DKP to always get the best items. If you play a Knight class or a Ranger you can get really good gear for super cheap, but it still requires a lot of time.

Speaking for my experience with AG.. I consider myself to be a casual raider and I've been able to acquire some decent gear as a member raiding since '19. You're correct that the BiS items will go to those who put in the 100+ hour weeks of play unless you save for a year+, but casual raiders can get in on good items. I doubt I'll ever have BiS and I'm fine with that. Life comes first and I tend to play in blocks of time based on what's going on in my schedule. There's plenty others like me. My guild doesn't have an attendance requirement unless it's for bidding typically top tier items, and even then it's only 10% which is fairly easy to obtain. AG Members are able to totally choose their own level of involvement without risk of being kicked due to lack of attendance.

[DeathsSilkyMist]

Raiding really isn't as bad as many people make it out to be. A casual raider can certainly have fun on most raids, and see the content. You won't see a lot of the lawyer questing and other things people constantly complain about during the raid itself. Quite a few good items drop during raids that do not cost a lot of DKP. At minimum you can get most epic pieces for pretty cheap, unless you are looking for something like earth staff for mage epic.

[Ravager]

You aren't a casual raider if you drop what you're doing irl to log on and raid. And that's the only way you're going to get anything that doesn't drop off a triggered spawn, drop from planar trash mobs or just happen to spawn while you're online.

[radda]

You aren't a casual raider if you drop what you're doing irl to log on and raid. And that's the only way you're going to get anything that doesn't drop off a triggered spawn, drop from planar trash mobs or just happen to spawn while you're online.

anytime you are playing a game, you are currently putting life on hold and it doesnt pause.
so yeah, you can deff be a casual raider here

[Ravager]

There's a stark difference between planning on when to play a game and forgoing other plans to play the game. Putting off sleep, chores, study and other obligations to answer a batphone falls under the not casual category. But rationalize it anyway you please. It is your time after all.