Possible Idea to increase Visits/Population in Low Pop Zones

[Somos]

Hi all,

I joined the P99 community about 5-6 months now, and I've really enjoyed the journey and nostalgia from when I was a teenager.

I have noticed a disappointing trend as I've been playing with my free time. Zones that are slightly more difficult and require keys like Sebilis/Hole rarely have groups/people in them.

So, what can we do to change that? At any point, I can easily find a group in Karnor, COM, Mistmoore, HK. What about these other zones?

What if we have a Randomized increase of a modest: 5-20% ZEM that changes every 1-4 months? To incentive more exploration?

Thoughts?


Happy old man gamer and donor! Keep up the great work, Devs!

[Trexller]

they adjusted alot of zone ZEMs like 1-2 years ago, but it was largely all lower end zones.

we don't have anything like PoStorms' 170 ZEM

seb kc chardok charasis velks are all the same 94 ZEM

so everybody pretty much just goes to KC for the ease of access and PUGs

hole is 128 and perma bear pits is boss xp at 144

https://wiki.project1999.com/Recommended_Levels_and_ZEM_List

[Somos]

perma bear pits is boss xp at 144 ??? Not familiar with the Abbreviation: Perma Bear Pits???

[Somos]

they adjusted alot of zone ZEMs like 1-2 years ago, but it was largely all lower end zones.

we don't have anything like PoStorms' 170 ZEM

seb kc chardok charasis velks are all the same 94 ZEM

so everybody pretty much just goes to KC for the ease of access and PUGs

hole is 128 and perma bear pits is boss xp at 144

https://wiki.project1999.com/Recommended_Levels_and_ZEM_List


More reason to look into this since this was 1-2 years ago! :D

[Trexller]

??? Not familiar with the Abbreviation: Perma Bear Pits???

Permafrost, xp is really good there for classes that can solo/duo

might be ok if you got a group too, never tried a 6 group down there

[Somos]

Permafrost, xp is really good there for classes that can solo/duo

might be ok if you got a group too, never tried a 6 group down there


Ah got it! Thanks

[Drueric]

I never look at exp bonus to decide where to go. I just go where I want to go, for my own enjoyment and solo if no one is there or no one wants to come with.

[Somos]

I never look at exp bonus to decide where to go. I just go where I want to go, for my own enjoyment and solo if no one is there or no one wants to come with.


Would there be anything that incentives you? OR make you think "Hrmm.. I'd rather go there?"

[pink grapefruit]

Just enable pvp on blue and green. Problem solved.

[Crepido]

shove your pvp back where it came from.

to the OP. it doesnt matter if s zone had high exp return, if its too annoying to get to. thats why you see the same people exping st KC snd velks. its one port plus a fee min run, but at least you can find a pick up group. run to seb, chardok, HS, and you will likely just waste hours. dont even know what other velious dungeon had a PUG sction going on...

[DeliciousHalflings]

Should put a 20% exp bonus in EC/WC because people just get full buffs + blast through it, anyway. Save some aggravation for the buffers having to do it less lol

[Coridan]

Permafrost, xp is really good there for classes that can solo/duo

might be ok if you got a group too, never tried a 6 group down there

Permafrost is awful for grouping. It's got mobs healing through walls, it's a maze, and trains are deadly. Like a worse version of CT. Add to the fact that for most of the timeline the nearest port is West Karana, and shopping means a hike to Halas if you're good and Qeynos Catacombs if you're not. It's just generally shit.

Hole was incredibly popular for a good six months, guessing it's died down now? I haven't played in a while, just waiting for 2.0

[Drueric]

Would there be anything that incentives you? OR make you think "Hrmm.. I'd rather go there?"

Because its an interesting and challenging place.

[Trexller]

Permafrost is awful for grouping. It's got mobs healing through walls, it's a maze, and trains are deadly.

OP is lookin for 50+ with good zem, i was talkin bout bear pits

[magnetaress]

Just enable pvp on blue and green. Problem solved.

[Dollar]

Should enable group xp bonus of 10-15% if group includes 4 or more people in the party.
Would encourage people who mainly solo to join a group and provide incentive to play less played classes. I think this would be healthy for the server. It's not enough bonus to encourage people to afk box to fill a party and with the limit of 4 for the bonus, you would have less duos as well.

For what it's worth I pretty much always solo due to time constraints, but I do feel like group xp is typically too slow. I am curious what people think of this idea.

[eqravenprince]

I will admit the only reason I have spent as much time as I have in Gorge of King Xorrb is because of the zem.

[socialist]

It's just a product of the fact that the server has been in Velious for like two years now. There's not enough players still levelling to where you can expect groups in the less convenient zones. There's a big difference in the quality of levelling zones, and it's no coincidence that places like Split Paw and Crystal Caverns aren't used: they kinda suck to play in. Bumping up the ZEM won't really change that fact.

There's a reason that the default levelling route is Unrest -> Mistmoore -> Highkeep -> Mistmoore castle -> City of Mist -> Karnor's. They're all within a short distance of a port, they're all outdoor zones so you can use any spells there, and they're mostly melee mobs. The rest of the dungeons are such a hassle because you have to fight a bunch of shaman and wizard mobs, can't use Harmony to pull, and can't train out when things go wrong because you don't have SoW. As long as there aren't so many players levelling that they have to go wherever there's mobs available, people won't choose to go where it sucks unless you literally double the XP gained there, and then it makes the levelling experience so trivial that it goes against the spirit of the game, as well as turning these zones into a toxic haven for professional PLers.

This sort of issue is supposed to be relieved by a fixed schedule of server releases that prevent a situation where the latest server has been stuck in Velious for so long that the entire levelling population within any given level range can pretty much fit inside one zone. Then they'll always just choose the most convenient one. There's just no reason to go to RunnyEye and hope against all odds that there's other people there, or bring your own group which then falls apart as soon as people have to go eat dinner and it turns out that it's a giant hassle to find replacements when they all have to be ported in.

It's actually kind of a joke for P99 to have had only two generations of servers in like fourteen years. Staff promised otherwise and simply didn't deliver. The problem outlined by OP is a direct consequence of staff's neglect of the project, and there's just no two ways about it. There's no excuse for P99 being on just its second iteration (not counting red) since 2009.

[Trexller]

There's no excuse for P99 being on just its second iteration (not counting red) since 2009.

it's been an uphill struggle to get competent ppl to do the software work since day 1 after they abandoned a brilliant software engineer because they were impatient

[Somos]

shove your pvp back where it came from.

to the OP. it doesnt matter if s zone had high exp return, if its too annoying to get to. thats why you see the same people exping st KC snd velks. its one port plus a fee min run, but at least you can find a pick up group. run to seb, chardok, HS, and you will likely just waste hours. dont even know what other velious dungeon had a PUG sction going on...


Fair point about proximity to Ports

[Somos]

Should enable group xp bonus of 10-15% if group includes 4 or more people in the party.
Would encourage people who mainly solo to join a group and provide incentive to play less played classes. I think this would be healthy for the server. It's not enough bonus to encourage people to afk box to fill a party and with the limit of 4 for the bonus, you would have less duos as well.

For what it's worth I pretty much always solo due to time constraints, but I do feel like group xp is typically too slow. I am curious what people think of this idea.


That's a great idea too! Maybe we're looking at this wrong and it should be Group XP instead! Great Point!

[Trexller]

isn't there a full group bonus on p99 that is equivalent to a 5 way split?

takp has a 4th person bonus that is alot better than trio xp

[Dollar]

There is no group bonus on project1999.

[ithaqua]

Not all post velious ideas were a bad thing, some of them even solved problems for a group centric game without incentive to group

[pink grapefruit]

There is no group bonus on project1999.

There is when I play. It's +40% for a duo, and another +40% for each additional group member.

[Trexller]

There is when I play. It's +40% for a duo, and another +40% for each additional group member.

she's that good! :)

[Somos]

it's been an uphill struggle to get competent ppl to do the software work since day 1 after they abandoned a brilliant software engineer because they were impatient


Full Stack Dev here, what programming is needed? any idea?

[Trexller]

Full Stack Dev here, what programming is needed? any idea?

ohhh that's not my arena, i just knew some people back in the day

I'm sure that P99 staff would be happy for assistance if you are legit with a modicum of integrity

send Nilbog a PM and ask how your skillset might be useful to this project

[Toxigen]

The answer you seek is simple:

Rotating ZEMs.

[Raj]

The answer you seek is simple:

Rotating ZEMs.

[Xer0]

Just enable pvp on blue and green. Problem solved.
It's not enough that Red is an unplayable atrocity-- you want to spread that disease to B+G too?? I guess some men really do just want to watch the world burn.

[cd288]

Do people not group in seniors on green? There are groups in sebilis all the time on blue

[pink grapefruit]

It's not enough that Red is an unplayable atrocity-- you want to spread that disease to B+G too?? I guess some men really do just want to watch the world burn.

the things i want for p99 would be so fun that we might all be in danger of losing our jobs and families as a result of our sick eq addiction. it's probably a good thing i'm not in any position to decide what changes are made, but it does feel a shame to not experience the highs that i know are possible in elf quest.

[Trexller]

the things i want for p99 would be so fun that we might all be in danger of losing our jobs and families as a result of our sick eq addiction. it's probably a good thing i'm not in any position to decide what changes are made, but it does feel a shame to not experience the highs that i know are possible in elf quest.

write it up and submit to nilbog?

or other server's devs that still do stuff like Secrets

[DeliciousHalflings]

the things i want for p99 would be so fun that we might all be in danger of losing our jobs and families as a result of our sick eq addiction. it's probably a good thing i'm not in any position to decide what changes are made, but it does feel a shame to not experience the highs that i know are possible in elf quest.

You want PvP, so the rest of what you want is probably equally as fucking stupid.

[magnetaress]

Instead of exp make low pop zones drop more plat per hour. Make high pop zones drop rates for plat and items go even lower. Close to nil.

I only suggested this cuz I want to see the platlord and raider gdkp dkp economies implode even more.

[PatChapp]

Instead of exp make low pop zones drop more plat per hour. Make high pop zones drop rates for plat and items go even lower. Close to nil.

I only suggested this cuz I want to see the platlord and raider gdkp dkp economies implode even more.

The hole was super popular for a couple years on green and drops next to no loot. Bad loot won't stop people from going to popular zones

[Knuckle]

I Don't agree with them lowering ZEMs to increase ZEMs in other zones...Just...Increase ZEMs...in less popular areas.

[Coridan]

The biggest factors are:

ZEM (which is why Mistmoore, Highpass Hold, and most outdoor zones aren't popular grouping spots)

Ease of hunting: Which is why Runnyeye, Kaesoris, Najena aren't popular

Ease of access: which is why Permafrost and Kerra Isle aren't popular