Project Quarm - 1 Box Planes of Power

[Secrets]

It's not worth anything if you don't suffer for it.

Pretty much describes classic EQ perfectly.

[Seducio]

Seeing the trees. Missing the forest.

What was the last project you worked on for fifteen years for no pay that you still cared about?

Nilbog literally posted in the Bugs section yesterday. He is still dedicated to this server.

Is it Live in 2001. Nah it's twenty two years later.

[Seducio]

Oh I'm not arguing about the dedication. He certainly has dedication. It's just not to classic EQ.

Tracking. Well you do you. If you want to go play on the actual classic EQ server you might need a time machine to 2001 though. In the meantime PQ, P1999, and TAKP are the closest there is.

Purist views aren't what most modern Old school EQ players are after when playing EQ.

[Jimjam]

Oh I'm not arguing about the dedication. He certainly has dedication. It's just not to classic EQ.

I believe “not classic, but classy” or something similar is the espoused line.

[Seducio]

For sure. Typically I'm the guy posting about gratitude of those behind the scenes. It kind of amazes me that people expect free products to be perfect. I'm just glad Nilbog still logs in here often. It doesn't sound like many of the other higher ups on p99 login that often any longer.

This is why I'm excited about Secrets server long term. Secrets is relatively younger than most of us. The passion Secrets exudes for Old school EQ reminds me of the feeling I had when I first found out about P99 in 2011. It was exhilarating. It had been out 2-3 years and I couldn't even believe it existed.

As long as Secrets prioritizes their health over time and slowly builds a trustworthy team, Project Quarm is going to slowly evolve the scene and possibly become the proven leader in the EQ Emu scene over an extended period of time. The population of PQ one year from now after Kunark drops will be an indication of its staying power.

If Nilbog, Rogean, Menden and the rest of the CSR team here ever want P99 to become popular again they know what to do. I'm not sure currently if the top folks here have it in them for another round. I hope so though.

[Saladus]

Greetings all! Old school hardcore raiding veteran here who quit around 2005. I had just posted to my old server’s Facebook group about the nostalgia surrounding the game and how much I miss it. While I don’t ever expect that level of fun again, nevertheless I have an itch to try this out. I have yet to start reading through the thread, but my question is now that it’s nearly 20 years later, a lot has changed including now being a parent. If I were to have just 3 or so hours maybe a few nights a week, is this worth a shot? Or is that a bit on the casual side for this project that I wouldn’t enjoy the experience?

[Seducio]

Greetings all! Old school hardcore raiding veteran here who quit around 2005. I had just posted to my old server’s Facebook group about the nostalgia surrounding the game and how much I miss it. While I don’t ever expect that level of fun again, nevertheless I have an itch to try this out. I have yet to start reading through the thread, but my question is now that it’s nearly 20 years later, a lot has changed including now being a parent. If I were to have just 3 or so hours maybe a few nights a week, is this worth a shot? Or is that a bit on the casual side for this project that I wouldn’t enjoy the experience?

Any of the current Old school EQ servers would love to have you given the times you listed. Yes, you would be able to be able to progress and relive your EQ experiences all over again. A lot of where to play comes down to your playstyle preferences. Some play on multiple servers:

1. P99 Blue - Is the oldest Old School EQ Server. Has been up and running for 14 going on 15 years. Raid scene is done by UN ruleset in Discord. Loot is inexpensive to purchase but economy has slowed due to slightly lower population than Green. Currently locked forever in Velious with level 60 max level. One box server.

2. P99 Green - Five year old Old School Eq Server. Newest server and highest population server on p99. Raid scene is done by UN ruleset in Discord. Economy is relatively strong and easier to move items than on Blue. Currently locked forever in Velious with level 60 max level. One box server.

In the past devs on p99 said there would be a merger eventually between Blue and Green, but there hasn't been an update for a while on that from the devs here. It is possible this merger could still happen in the future but the players don't know when or if it will still happen.

3. TAKP - This is a separate server that is also approx five years old that is done by a separate dev team than p99. A great place if you want expansions past Velious. Another feature that some like is boxing. Most p99ers don't like boxing while many from EQ Live and/or TLP do. Probably the easiest server to get into the high end Raid scene, which is done by rotations. Currently locked forever in Planes of Power with level 65 max level. Three box allowed server, but approx 1/3 players one box.

4. Project Quarm - Newest released server release three weeks ago. Also a separate dev team than p99. Uses the TAKP client and has some backend connections to TAKP dev team. Secrets is the dev that runs this server. Raid scene will be rotation based. Currently server is in Classic era with level 50 max level. Expansions released every 9 months up through Planes of Power. One box server.

There are other less popular servers out there, but I can personally attest to the dedication of the p99 devs, the TAKP devs, and Project Quarm devs.

Good luck fellow Old school EQer

[Seducio]

Here is Secrets philosophy regarding raiding on PQ as posted on reddit, subject to change over time:

>>
With how many players are going to end up being in the rotation, I expect us to have to artificially speed up content (ie; dropping Naggy from 7 to 3 days once there's, say, 5 or 10 guilds on rotation) but the trick with this is doing it in a way that isn't going to flood guilds with loot pinata NPCs, while allowing everyone to reasonably see content.

Mischief TLP quantity of loot isn't going to be here. You aren't going to kill Fright and have 50 items drop. I'd prefer to see people decide to optimize their raids into smaller guilds over times if they really want to optimize loot output.

Double dipping is another concern, and we will actively disband guilds that partake in this, or prevent people from joining another guild if they violate that policy.

Today, we just made "Guild < >", which is a guild a CSR will force you into that you cannot leave. This is for extreme rulebreakers of that policy.

I have 26 guild leaders in a private section of our Discord, where they're able to communicate when they want to try out NPCs, and then they're put on the rotation after they kill the NPCs. And in the case of disputes, leadership is able to communicate.

As for how to do the rotation? We're automating it, along with a plat sink.

Long-term, we're making 'pseudozones' of say, soldungb with zero experience or loot - just the Fire Giants, Nagafen and a few charm pet NPCs that aren't in the way taking an optimal route (LDCs, Sonic Bats, Fire Imps) and none of the NPCs in the zone will have quests, either.

Spawning the zone will cost platinum. Completion of the raid target (eg; killing Nagafen) will award that guild with a rotation spot if they're not already in the rotation.

Over time, we'll decay guilds who aren't actively raiding to free them up, as well as our raid rules dictating who can and can't get these NPCs during guild-enforced rotations.

Quakes are wholly separate to this, and are there for the hardcore crowd to play the game their way. That's for the folks who want to put in a little bit extra time and effort to get more items, but not significantly more items given the frequency of quakes (7 to 10 days, currently)

We want to be able to support the 'dad guilds' and the 'high end, competitive guilds' in the same server.

That's an incredibly tricky balance to have. Though, we will eventually get to the point where we hit that 'tricky balance'.
>>

[aussenseiter]

As for how to do the rotation? We're automating it, along with a plat sink.

Spawning the zone will cost platinum.

Oh man if they bring guild dues back. 🤩

Also high pop+GM rotation means buying raid loot will be expensive as heck, as Brad intended.

[Vormotus]

Hey guys, anyone else enjoying Quarm? I have only been able to play a few hours, have a bunch of alts none higher than 10, wondering where this new path will take me and anxiously awaiting Beastlord in the future.

One of the things I have been enjoying so far is that some nice guys in the UI section have been slowly raising from the dead some archived UIs from the Archived section in eqinterface.com that works withouts issues in Quarm.

I can now play with some of my very old favorite uis of the day and well, seeing the zones so full of people is amazing.


Just wanted to let you all know that in this very tiny niche community of EQ lovers, I believe all Servers have something for everybody.

Give Quarm a try, its a blast!

One of the things I have found super vintage is how old and dated the base client is, it is truly an old client, P99 uses a much more modern one and it really shows, so that brings an extra touch of vintage nostalgia to it.

Come to Quarm guys, give it a try! Between P99, Lazarus and Quarm I honestly dont know how to get more free time to enjoy them haha.

[magnetaress]

Quarm is great.

[Seducio]

Project Quarm CSR Lead Ailia posted a new experimental DLL file for Quarm. This means Secrets followed through on the initial promise to improve the camera with the current client. See below for details and the place where you can find the new DLL download is on Discord for PQ.

The ultimate release to fix this: Evolution client is still work in progress not due out for sometime.

>>
Ailia < > — Yesterday at 8:42 PM
EXTRA Experimental file with nameplate fix and improved camera smoothness (This does not fix third person mouselook, that is coming soon)
>>

[Byrjun]

Now if they could just make the camera pan up/down faster it'd be about perfect.

[Seducio]

Yeah just had to come back to say I'm super impressed with the improvements made to the camera system. Still not Titanium level, but much improved compared to PQ on day 1.

[Alacres]

Kinda wish you could toggle off the solo-only mode once reaching cap. I'd like to try it but it'd suck to not ever get to raid.

The "group self-found" mode sounds like it would be pointless since you can still trade/do business with people that are also in that mode (right?) so it would be like playing on a smaller server rather than a proper iron-man mode.

[aussenseiter]

Nice job on the camera stutter fix 👍

[caveslug]

Nice job on the camera stutter fix 👍

Nice, will check it out.
Honestly only thing keeping me from Quarm is the camera issues.

[Meneldor]

Kinda wish you could toggle off the solo-only mode once reaching cap. I'd like to try it but it'd suck to not ever get to raid.

The "group self-found" mode sounds like it would be pointless since you can still trade/do business with people that are also in that mode (right?) so it would be like playing on a smaller server rather than a proper iron-man mode.
I don't think you can trade with other self founders.

I think it just limits you to grouping with self founders and having to be in the group getting exp on the mob to be able to loot a mob.

Anyhow. I'm rolling hcssf. Ill prolly do a hcsf too eventually

This games too easy. There's already level 1s with full rubicites and we killed vox and naggy with a raid average level of 30

[Vormotus]

Quarm is great.

Man Quarm is amazing!

Even the old mac TAKP Client is getting constant fixes and updates, not to mention that the camera jankiness is a thing of the past with the latest dll patch alongisde the nameplate visibility issue.

On top of that the Discord is full of very nice people, and my favorite, the UI channel has people actively working on rezzing old UIs for Quarm!

Heck they even had to downgrade some old forgotten archived UIS from 2005 as they had an extra spell bubble, and made these uis work without issues!

Honestly alongside the amazing unlocks in the future past Velious, which is what P99 is for, it means I will be able to play without issues a beastlord run for true nostalgia on my side,as of all the classes beastlord was my favorite, and meanwhile I have been slowly grinding my necro and druid for fun meeting truly new people and experiencing classical issues, like Varsoon killing every newbie he can find near BB entrance.

It has been a blast, it has a ton of people playing and honestly I cant really complain, go give it a try!


You can even enable for those retro hardcore people the very OLD ORIGINAL EQ UI ... and it fully works although in a very low resolutiuon, but I know a couple of guys playing it on CRT monitors at base resolution for ultimate vintage nostalgia.

Top that with the old midi songs and even the original 1999 eq combat song by toggling it in the .ini and its a real trip down memory lane.

Love to everybody guys, hope to see some of you there, you can find me there as Ikoparu or Euridun, slowly , very slowly leveling around as I walk, explore and even do simple old quests.

Cheers!

[Byrjun]

the UI channel has people actively working on rezzing old UIs for Quarm!

Has anyone made a UI yet that doesn't make your eyes bleed from staring at med ticks? Something like Haeldar or Rustle? Or is everyone just recreating more UIs that no one actually wants to use?

[Jimjam]

Today I found some old friends who just never quite got the itch scratched by p99 on Quarm. Hurrah!

[Bisonzabi]

You can even enable for those retro hardcore people the very OLD ORIGINAL EQ UI ... and it fully works although in a very low resolutiuon, but I know a couple of guys playing it on CRT monitors at base resolution for ultimate vintage nostalgia.

They better be using dial up as well for true authenticity.

[Seducio]

Great resource worth checking out:

SQL database lookup for PQ
https://quarmdb.com/ by Toxic (Mars)

Not officially maintained by Secrets Project Quarm team

[Seducio]

Why the original, 1999 version of EverQuest is still one of the best MMOs to play today (https://www.pcgamer.com/why-the-original-1999-version-of-everquest-is-still-one-of-the-best-mmos-to-play-today/)

Congrats to Secrets and the Project Quarm team for getting an article written about your server on PC Gamer magazine. That's an accomplishment any old school gamer can appreciate in a new era of gaming.

The article is a nice homage to Old School EQers in the EQ Emu scene.

P1999 and TAKP also get shout outs by PC Gamer.

[Nexsar]

Why the original, 1999 version of EverQuest is still one of the best MMOs to play today (https://www.pcgamer.com/why-the-original-1999-version-of-everquest-is-still-one-of-the-best-mmos-to-play-today/)

Congrats to Secrets and the Project Quarm team for getting an article written about your server on PC Gamer magazine. That's an accomplishment any old school gamer can appreciate in a new era of gaming.

The article is a nice homage to Old School EQers in the EQ Emu scene.

P1999 and TAKP also get shout outs by PC Gamer.

I feel like this much publicity is also a bad thing for the server (and even P99… even though P99 has an agreement with DBG). DBG may not care for their IP being flaunted like that.

In the world of copyrights / patents, if you don’t actively defend your copyright / patent, you basically give up your rights to it.

[Seducio]

We are closer to Pong players then a set of possibly-lucrative players that a gaming company would try and monetize.

I see what you are saying and if the year was 2008 you'd be on to something. In 2023 I think it's probably ok. Only time will tell of course.

Most gaming companies that are doing well are not worried about IP from 20-25 years ago because the current paying gaming public thinks that games made with graphics from that era are unplayable.

[Swish]

We are closer to Pong players then a set of possibly-lucrative players that a gaming company would try and monetize.

I see what you are saying and if the year was 2008 you'd be on to something. In 2023 I think it's probably ok. Only time will tell of course.

Most gaming companies that are doing well are not worried about IP from 20-25 years ago because the current paying gaming public thinks that games made with graphics from that era are unplayable.

Dey'break Games needs to realize there's some mileage in making an official server that's classic with old models, mob timers and info, etc etc. The hard work has been done for them (P99) but they still go for the lazy option and keep out of era stuff for their progression servers. Their choice. Until then expect the classic crowd to keep playing here/Quarm.

[Evia]

Dey'break Games needs to realize there's some mileage in making an official server that's classic with old models, mob timers and info, etc etc. The hard work has been done for them (P99) but they still go for the lazy option and keep out of era stuff for their progression servers. Their choice. Until then expect the classic crowd to keep playing here/Quarm.

I'd gladly pay daybreak a $15 a month sub if they offered a server similar to p99 or quarm. And I'd play there indefinitely. You're right tho for some reason they're not interested in doing that.... very well said.

[Seducio]

Dey'break Games needs to realize there's some mileage in making an official server that's classic with old models, mob timers and info, etc etc. The hard work has been done for them (P99) but they still go for the lazy option and keep out of era stuff for their progression servers. Their choice. Until then expect the classic crowd to keep playing here/Quarm.

I'd assume the active player base of Old school EQers across P99, TAKP, and PQ is in the 6k to 8k range player population. With semi-active players that might be able to get over 10k population, but I don't think that is the case anymore if only counting active players.

So let's assume 6k-8k population in the active Old school EQ player base for some fuzzy back of the envelope math.

If there was a server that cost $15/mo to play on that was officially supported, I doubt that all of the older players would actually pay on it. So let's do a probability tree.

50% Players willing to pay:
3000-4000 players x $15 x 12 months = $540,000 - $720,000 year

25% Players willing to pay:
1500 -2000 players x $15 x 12 months = $270,000 - $360,000 year

10% Players willing to pay:
600 - 800 players x $15 x 12 months = $108,000 - $144,000 year

What I'm getting at is in a perfect world where half or 50% of us were willing to pay a $15 fee you might get to place economically where having an official server for Old school EQers pencils out.

In the real world given all the free gaming options available, it's likely that less than 10% of us Old School EQers that currently pay nothing would be willing to pay that monthly fee.

Once you are that level the costs associated with maintaining a server, having paid company CSR staff for that game, and overhead in general create a scenario that does not pencil out for a company looking at the financials of it. The juice isn't worth the squeeze. There aren't enough folks that are willing to pay for this Old school version of EQ.

[Torven]

Daybreak has a duty and obligation to preserve the game so that it's not lost to time. EQ is a key piece of gaming history. People 1000 years from now should be able to play it as it was intended by the original designers. EQ isn't just an IP to monetize and throw away when it's no longer profitable. It's priceless like the Mona Lisa. It's historical art. I have similar concerns for other games but EQ is special. Even if it's "not profitable" (debatable) for them to set up and host a 1999 accurate server, they need to save EVERYTHING they have that allows the most accurate as possible server to be made. Back it all up and organize it. Allow people in the future who have the will to make it at least.

I kind of wish they would work with us emu guys in a mutually beneficial arrangement. We'd work for free under the right circumstances.

[Seducio]

I like your ideas Torven, but I don't now how palatable that kind of arrangement would be to a gaming company. The work for free thing could create unnecessaries liabilities etc that the lawyers who'd have to sign off on it might not like. It's possible there are some creative ways to merge the interest to preserve classic EQ with the Emu devs capable of doing it.

The agreement between p99 and Daybreak would probably be revealing as to what the interests were of Daybreak when the paperwork was signed. If there isn't a non-disclosure clause then viewing that document would give insights as to whether any version of what you are suggesting is a possibility. Also Nilbog and Rogean probably have some personal insights beyond the agreement. If they have any contacts at Daybreak that'd also be useful.

There are moments in time when the IP of old franchises, things like old musicians catalogs, become very inexpensive. How much has the Everquest brand's value changed over the last five years. What is the IP currently worth. If the brand is diminishing in value there might be an inflection point where Daybreak would be willing to part ways with it.

Many possibilities are out there to preserve Classic EQ. Innovations from those who love classic EQ might be the only way to create the legacy of classic EQ as a piece of historical art that you suggest.

[Swish]

Daybreak has a duty and obligation to preserve the game so that it's not lost to time.

Daybreak/EG7 are a weird bunch -- this from their annual report in 2021:-

Enad Global 7 AB has two business areas,
• game development – both in one’s own name and in consulting assignments. EG7 has 8 game development and live operation
studios in North America and Europe within the group: Antimatter Games, Piranha, Toadman Studios, Big Blue Bubble,
Dimensional Ink, Standing Stone, Rogue Planet and Darkpaw. Daybreak is an MMO developer that has developed 13 MMOs in
its 24-year history, including EverQuest, the first MMORPG game entirely in 3D. Daybreak currently maintains a portfolio of 8
live titles, which contributes a strong foundation of stable revenues and profitability for the group.


• services— which include consulting activities relating to development strategies and marketing of games through the subsidiary
Petrol Advertising Inc., as well as distribution of games as publishers – digitally and physically through the subsidiary Fireshine
Games (formerly Sold Out Sales & Marketing Ltd). With the acquisition of Innova during the second quarter of 2021, the live
portfolio was expanded with another 12 titles. The MMOs published by Innova include Lineage 2, Black Desert Online and Blade
& Soul. The business model was intended to create provides the conditions for close collaborations as well as stable cash flows.
The result is an independent game development company that develops games through its own investments, which thus does not
have to rely on external investments. Combining Daybreak, Innova, My Singing Monsters and MechWarrior Online, EG7 currently
has 22 live titles, making EG7 one of the largest live title publishers and operators in the world. The company’s strategy is to
continue to grow by developing games via its own independent studios, and to continue to work its way up the value chain by
developing games with its own funds and locating games on its own.

Daybreak totally developed EverQuest and those other titles :o

[Jimjam]

My Singing Monsters is cool. The quarterling loves it.

[mycoolrausch]

I was thinking about trying Quarm for a change of pace and indulging on the QoL improvements, but for some reason I assumed the spell balance changes to Wizards that have existed on live for years were there since PoP so would be on Quarm. Every vanilla era wizard nuke on live now has a better DPM ratio by 20-50% or more. This buff makes the class go from completely useless dead weight, to just about playable with a group that takes pity on them. Sadly Quarm wizard nukes are the same value as on p99. They will get many improvements at 60 with Luclin AAs though but I wasn't planning on getting that far.

Anyway the project seems popular and successful so props to all involved.

[Seducio]

Infectious had asked me in a different thread that no longer exists to post Quarm population numbers one month after our last exchange about it. It's been a month since then. I can't quote the request because the thread is gone. Quarm still going strong it seems.

This was just pulled 5 minutes ago:

Live Statistics
Worldserver Name: The Project Quarm Server
Server Version: [U]
Server Status: UP
Players Online: 1580
Average Players: 1231
Max Players: 2147
Server Information
Registered Name: Project Quarm
Server Type: Legit, PvE
Class: Standard
Server Owner: Secrets
Website: http://projectquarm.com
Description: 1-Box, Planes of Power EverQuest Progression Server based on the TAKP Codebase. Minor QOL.

[Jimjam]

Last max players stat I saw was 2001 so popularity at some point increased ! Unless dual boxing is starting to settle in (suspicious number of intermittently afk ec mules).

[magnetaress]

I like your ideas Torven, but I don't now how palatable that kind of arrangement would be to a gaming company. The work for free thing could create unnecessaries liabilities etc that the lawyers who'd have to sign off on it might not like. It's possible there are some creative ways to merge the interest to preserve classic EQ with the Emu devs capable of doing it.

The agreement between p99 and Daybreak would probably be revealing as to what the interests were of Daybreak when the paperwork was signed. If there isn't a non-disclosure clause then viewing that document would give insights as to whether any version of what you are suggesting is a possibility. Also Nilbog and Rogean probably have some personal insights beyond the agreement. If they have any contacts at Daybreak that'd also be useful.

There are moments in time when the IP of old franchises, things like old musicians catalogs, become very inexpensive. How much has the Everquest brand's value changed over the last five years. What is the IP currently worth. If the brand is diminishing in value there might be an inflection point where Daybreak would be willing to part ways with it.

Many possibilities are out there to preserve Classic EQ. Innovations from those who love classic EQ might be the only way to create the legacy of classic EQ as a piece of historical art that you suggest.

It sold for 300 mil to EG7 or something like that a while back. Between all the TLPs and EQ1 and 2 i think they maybe broke even ish. So it depends on if they launch a new game.

The problem with modern MMOs such as wow and eq live is the bloat --- they are like huge many abilities multiple thousands of pages of inventory, most of the game world is obsolete, someone needs to come kicking out the door with design principles that don't obsolete and bloat into 50 thousand buttons and useless inventory spaces. (I know how, and the Elder Scrolls Online went 1/4 the way there) so its possible for a not dumb dumb. Butt that doesnt exist in this world so LOL

I was thinking about trying Quarm for a change of pace and indulging on the QoL improvements, but for some reason I assumed the spell balance changes to Wizards that have existed on live for years were there since PoP so would be on Quarm. Every vanilla era wizard nuke on live now has a better DPM ratio by 20-50% or more. This buff makes the class go from completely useless dead weight, to just about playable with a group that takes pity on them. Sadly Quarm wizard nukes are the same value as on p99. They will get many improvements at 60 with Luclin AAs though but I wasn't planning on getting that far.

Anyway the project seems popular and successful so props to all involved.

wait till luclin to load up ur wizard

its not a bad class currently tho because people do not have end game velious kunark dps weapons so it actually is a good class if u play it right it can put out solid sustained dps from lvl 1-50 .59 dps to 17 dps without much effort or running oom, so it still has all the utilities, u can math it out by taking the number of ticks it takes to do dmg -- they basically can out dps wars and hybrids and they can do it while not face tanking the mobs so even better, i think rogues and monks, and rangers really only out dps them

mage pets and necros are in a class of their own its sick so are enchanters if they charm butt for leveling they all sacrifice xp if they use pets so its not like the least uberest class

[Toxigen]

Wizard is a great raid class in Kunark (32k hp gating VP dragons) and Velious as well (Porlos).

If you aint fittin to raid tho doesn't bother. Trash otherwise.

[Homesteaded]

This server still active? Last I heard the guy running it was rampaging.

[Sonolin]

Really? What happened there?

I've been considering playing on it, rolled a low level enc. Kind of want the j-boots drop in Najena at least. I have to admit, the one thing stopping me putting more time into this server is the admin is kind of throwing me off with their seemingly random changes and previous track record.

[Rager and Quitter]

If Daybreak doesn't hit them with a C&D, you'll probably get a few years out of it before Secrets moves onto something else.

[Seducio]

This server still active? Last I heard the guy running it was rampaging.

It's more popular than ever. Different philosophy than p99. Smaller team. Significantly more transparent. Night and day really.

Have there been bumps in road here or there? Sure, but nothing that has prevented it from becoming most popular EQ Emu currently.

[Swish]

If you like rubicite armor you'll love PQ :)

[Secrets]

This server still active? Last I heard the guy running it was rampaging.

Still active, still going strong, still shakerpaging all the bug/features/exploits we can in development.

[magnetaress]

So what is the coolest thing a cleric can solo in each erra sans puppet strings:

CLassic:

Kunark:

Velious:

Luclin:

Pop:

I like looking around on the internet for stuff like this and I remembr some clerics doing some cool stuff back in the day. Just not how or when exactly. It got super easy post 75 to solo as a cleric.

If you like rubicite armor you'll love PQ :)

I have zero rubi or manastones yet. Not even jboots on any of my toons. Highest is a 19, then a 16, and a few 9s.

I don't know what ppl are doing they just rolled mages at sat at comp for 3 weeks 24/7 not fauting them for playing that way butt there it is.

Pop is like 1800-1900 at night still its wild a hecck

[Jimjam]

If you like rubicite armor you'll love PQ :)

The raid window seems to have really help reduce negativity at legacy camps.

[Nexsar]

Soooo fungi tunics… neat.

What in the actual fuck.

[Jayzeus]

I like looking around on the internet for stuff like this and I remembr some clerics doing some cool stuff back in the day. Just not how or when exactly. It got super easy post 75 to solo as a cleric.


DA hammer from... Grieg's End(?)... and the cleric solo game goes nuts.

AoW was cool as cleric solo.

[aussenseiter]

Are there fungis on this server or not?

[magnetaress]

Not for 7 months.

[Nexsar]

Are there fungis on this server or not?

My understanding is one was apparently given to Zaide for ratting out a CSR that was playing on the server. It’s since been removed.

So all we know is there was at least one fungi tunic on the server. How many are there now? Don’t know.

[Ooloo]

My understanding is one was apparently given to Zaide for ratting out a CSR that was playing on the server. It’s since been removed.

So all we know is there was at least one fungi tunic on the server. How many are there now? Don’t know.

Sounds like a pretty tight operation over there. I appreciate the transparency of letting people know that the staff is dicking around spawning items.

[Elizondo]

Sounds like a pretty tight operation over there. I appreciate the transparency of letting people know that the staff is dicking around spawning items.

There are probably all kinds of items and spells ect. 'secretly' gifted to other players that are not supposed to be in game yet

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it

[Seducio]

Does anyone remember early Blue? I remember.

Running a server with peak over 2000 real time players is quite the task. Pleasing everyone is impossible. Learning from mistakes is the sign of maturity.

Players vote with their feet. Right now Quarm is doing amazing. The ebbs and flows will be real. Again doesn't anyone remember early Blue?

[Toxigen]

There are probably all kinds of items and spells ect. 'secretly' gifted to other players that are not supposed to be in game yet

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it

nah, it was just 1 fungi

the CSR got friendly with zaide on their player character and started feeding him CSR stuff

zaide narc'd and was awarded the fungi publicly...it was more or less to set the tone that CSR shenanigans wont be tolerated

[Ooloo]

Does anyone remember early Blue? I remember.

Running a server with peak over 2000 real time players is quite the task. Pleasing everyone is impossible. Learning from mistakes is the sign of maturity.

Players vote with their feet. Right now Quarm is doing amazing. The ebbs and flows will be real. Again doesn't anyone remember early Blue?

Oh I do, I remember VERY early blue when we had global /ooc because the pop was only about 200 and they were getting ddos'ed into oblivion for like a month straight. Seemed real loosey goosey and I was skeptical of continuing to play because I didn't think they'd make it through those early months.

I don't mean to give Quarm a hard time, I'm just a p99 loyalist because I still consider luclin to be the beginning of the end of everything I loved about the game. But I still appreciate the efforts anyone is willing to put in to make some form of the game available to play for free to people.

Spawning items that don't even exist in-game yet just sets off red flags for me, but again early p99 was pretty dodgy for a while too.

[Toxigen]

Oh I do, I remember VERY early blue when we had global /ooc because the pop was only about 200 and they were getting ddos'ed into oblivion for like a month straight. Seemed real loosey goosey and I was skeptical of continuing to play because I didn't think they'd make it through those early months.

I don't mean to give Quarm a hard time, I'm just a p99 loyalist because I still consider luclin to be the beginning of the end of everything I loved about the game. But I still appreciate the efforts anyone is willing to put in to make some form of the game available to play for free to people.

Spawning items that don't even exist in-game yet just sets off red flags for me, but again early p99 was pretty dodgy for a while too.

1 fungi won't break the server

[Ooloo]

1 fungi won't break the server

It's a slippery slope to nerd tyranny in elf land is all.

Also wrt people voting with their feet: I think many of the people currently on quarm are there to get legacy drops while they still can. AKA these people *would* be playing on a fresh p99 server, were there one. I'm not sure it's a fondness for planes of power as much as a horniness for fresh vanilla. Which I admit I'm pretty horny for too.

I do plan on rolling in late velious though if they're still chugging just to check out some post-velious stuff. Even though I didn't like it I still played it when it originally came out so I have some nostalgia for that stuff.

[radda]

1 fungi won't break the server

naive

[aussenseiter]

nah, it was just 1 fungi

the CSR got friendly with zaide on their player character and started feeding him CSR stuff

zaide narc'd and was awarded the fungi publicly...it was more or less to set the tone that CSR shenanigans wont be tolerated

New shenanigans don't cure old shenanigans.

[Toxigen]

naive

no u

[Elizondo]

All I wanted was a Fungi, just one Fungi

[Toxigen]

All I wanted was a Fungi, just one Fungi

far from suicidal still i get them tendies

[Secrets]

nah, it was just 1 fungi

the CSR got friendly with zaide on their player character and started feeding him CSR stuff

zaide narc'd and was awarded the fungi publicly...it was more or less to set the tone that CSR shenanigans wont be tolerated

Patently false info. Also, no one has a fungi anymore, poor decision on our part.

Though we got a good meme out of it:
https://i.imgur.com/IkyUWib.png

[Elizondo]

Patently false info. Also, no one has a fungi anymore, poor decision on our part.

Though we got a good meme out of it:
https://i.imgur.com/IkyUWib.png

Poor Decision?

Seriously?

[Evia]

damn i want this server to succeed but what a giant red flag

[Secrets]

Poor Decision?

Seriously?

Before the server launched we said that anyone who outed a CSR would receive a Fungi tunic, and the person in question would be given the choice of stopping either playing or CSR'ing, one of the two.

Zaide outed a CSR's personal identity and the CSR was given that choice. They stayed on the staff and were later removed from the team for unrelated reasons upon an secondary, unrelated investigation.
This fungi tunic 'accusation' came to light a month after it had happened as someone inspected Zaide's character, after we had rewarded them for outing someone who betrayed our trust internally.

From my perspective, it removed someone who betrayed our trust, and the incentive worked as it was intended.
Players did not like the incentive. We listened to them, heard out their concerns. I disagree with not keeping that incentive in still.

We have since dialed back the reward to a multi word surname (title) of the players' choice for outing a CSR, and the punishment for the team member in question is now to have the CSR removed entirely.
I expected people to have concerns about the entire thing because it involved an unobtainable item, and it was exacerbated by the fact that it was given to the guild leader of a prominent guild, who also joked about the reward publicly, which many have quoted without the context.

Personally, I don't give a single fuck what folks think about us. I'm not stopping the server because someone 'exposed' something that we did in plain sight and have talked about on the Discord and Twitch repeatedly since launch. But, I think it's also important to disclose factual information surrounding the fiction said about us.

From this forum's perspective, it's not expected that anyone would understand the facts surrounding the situation. P99 players play on P99. Most don't keep up with this server. That's understandable that people will make their own conclusions from Tiktok-tier sources as a way to justify tribalism. For example, I was told that there would be a group of players attempting to discredit us because they didn't want to leave Green. That's their decision to play where they want. But don't harass us over it.

Let me tell you this: both servers hate that shit. I delete comments made about P99's staff on our Discord all the time. Our server isn't a safe space for that kind of drama.

We all just want to make a cool game to play. We're transparent as fuck because I learned if we aren't, we'll get even more wild accusations thrown against us than this. And I still try and respond to our accusations, no matter how wild... it's easier for people to make conclusions with all the facts available.

[Ooloo]

Personally, I don't give a single fuck what folks think about us. I'm not stopping the server because someone 'exposed' something that we did in plain sight and have talked about on the Discord and Twitch repeatedly since launch. But, I think it's also important to disclose factual information surrounding the fiction said about us.

From this forum's perspective, it's not expected that anyone would understand the facts surrounding the situation. P99 players play on P99. Most don't keep up with this server. That's understandable that people will make their own conclusions from Tiktok-tier sources as a way to justify tribalism. For example, I was told that there would be a group of players attempting to discredit us because they didn't want to leave Green. That's their decision to play where they want. But don't harass us over it.

You made a thread on the p99 forums to promote another emu server of roughly the same timeframe. You're free to give no fucks but expect some critiques. I'm a big fan of the work you did here so don't take it personal.

The reason fungigate is a big turn off is because it comes accross like some kids who finally got the keys to dad's car and decided to go do donuts with it in a parkinglot, and it's indicative of what to expect in the future. I want my GM's utterly mysterious and barely present except when completely necessary. I understand it was meant to actually strengthen confidence in the CSR staff, and hopefully it worked to do that.

[Seducio]

Drama on a popular server is inevitable. This isn't the first time or the last time for PQ will have a saga of drama. My humble suggestion to PQ's dev team is that path forward is remaining resolute, continue to innovate, prioritizing health/wellness, and steadfast transparency. Lastly though pick your battles and this one doesn't need further explanation.

We're seeing in real time why devs often times will evolve to create a layered org where they no long have to deal directly with the player base unless they choose to.

For instance, Ooloo if you haven't played on PQ then you might be bringing p99 philosophy expectations to that server and culturally that would be a mistake if you wanted to wield p99 philosophy within a PQ situation. PQ philosophy has been different from the get go and has included ways to have a smaller CSR team. PQ's CSR team evolving to deal with internal issues is a good thing from a player standpoint.

My assessment of Ooloo's critique is that it is kind of wildly all over the place and slightly / overtly personal while claiming it isn't personal. If you had constructive criticism that'd be one thing, but I suggest you re-read what you wrote. Then imagine you were in charge of an Everquest project serving thousands of players simultaneously. What would you think of what you wrote if you knew it was from someone who claimed they didn't play on the server that was being discussed. If PQ hadn't grabbed your attention already then trying to please a player like that would not be best use of a dev's time.

I have said in the past I think Project Quarm has had some bumps and perhaps this is another minor one. It appears the lesson on this one was learned fast and PQ's dev team responded appropriately. I doubt it'll impact PQ's long term success.

[Secrets]

You made a thread on the p99 forums to promote another emu server of roughly the same timeframe. You're free to give no fucks but expect some critiques. I'm a big fan of the work you did here so don't take it personal.

The reason fungigate is a big turn off is because it comes accross like some kids who finally got the keys to dad's car and decided to go do donuts with it in a parkinglot, and it's indicative of what to expect in the future. I want my GM's utterly mysterious and barely present except when completely necessary. I understand it was meant to actually strengthen confidence in the CSR staff, and hopefully it worked to do that.

I'm expecting criticism, part of bidirectional public communication means that it's a part of that. Obviously, people will cross lines occasionally against us, this doesn't feel like a line crossing to have legitimate concerns, but it doesn't mean I shouldn't reply at all.

Game developers being emotionless has never made sense to me as a game developer and game player. I'm a person, I will have opinions as our players do. I'm human, and I make mistakes, as everyone else does. I wear those mistakes on behalf of the server as I do my success; out in public, on my chest.

[Elizondo]

Before the server launched we said that anyone who outed a CSR would receive a Fungi tunic, and the person in question would be given the choice of stopping either playing or CSR'ing, one of the two.

Zaide outed a CSR's personal identity and the CSR was given that choice. They stayed on the staff and were later removed from the team for unrelated reasons upon an secondary, unrelated investigation.
This fungi tunic 'accusation' came to light a month after it had happened as someone inspected Zaide's character, after we had rewarded them for outing someone who betrayed our trust internally.

From my perspective, it removed someone who betrayed our trust, and the incentive worked as it was intended.
Players did not like the incentive. We listened to them, heard out their concerns. I disagree with not keeping that incentive in still.

We have since dialed back the reward to a multi word surname (title) of the players' choice for outing a CSR, and the punishment for the team member in question is now to have the CSR removed entirely.
I expected people to have concerns about the entire thing because it involved an unobtainable item, and it was exacerbated by the fact that it was given to the guild leader of a prominent guild, who also joked about the reward publicly, which many have quoted without the context.

Personally, I don't give a single fuck what folks think about us. I'm not stopping the server because someone 'exposed' something that we did in plain sight and have talked about on the Discord and Twitch repeatedly since launch. But, I think it's also important to disclose factual information surrounding the fiction said about us.

From this forum's perspective, it's not expected that anyone would understand the facts surrounding the situation. P99 players play on P99. Most don't keep up with this server. That's understandable that people will make their own conclusions from Tiktok-tier sources as a way to justify tribalism. For example, I was told that there would be a group of players attempting to discredit us because they didn't want to leave Green. That's their decision to play where they want. But don't harass us over it.

Let me tell you this: both servers hate that shit. I delete comments made about P99's staff on our Discord all the time. Our server isn't a safe space for that kind of drama.

We all just want to make a cool game to play. We're transparent as fuck because I learned if we aren't, we'll get even more wild accusations thrown against us than this. And I still try and respond to our accusations, no matter how wild... it's easier for people to make conclusions with all the facts available.

You promoted the server here and now that some tomfoolery gets exposed you're the victim?

Sorry but this is a huge steaming pile of turd you just tried to serve up

You're trying to excuse blatant corruption at the highest levels within your staff giving political answers with a forked tongue

You 'announced' that anyone that outed a CSR would receive a fungi tunic and then when this supposedly happens, you don't say anything and people don't find out until an inspection and it's the leader of a prominent guild? No serverwide message? No giving anyone a head's up?

Bruh

How do we know you didn't premeditate the fungi story to provide cover for when you geared out your pals? Plausible deniability. Average players were never going to out a CSR, let's be real here

No, what happened is you guys gave one of your boys a fungi on the sly and cooked up a story when people found out. This has always been a problem with private servers. A incestuous relationship between the top players and 'staff' and 'devs' with no self control wanting to please the cliques. You had an opportunity to break that cycle and learn from past mistakes, but you failed miserably

Anyone who plays on Quarm needs to understand if you're trying to compete with any of these fools whispering in Secret's ear you don't stand a chance. There is no level playing field

Anytime there is some massive elf lawyer quest where your staff has to get involved and pick winners and losers this issue is going to be on people's minds, especially when you side with the guild leader of a prominent guild. This isn't about the item you dumb sob

Play at your own risk

[Evia]

I mean, if you wanna give away fungi tunics out of era just say so.

It's just that most of us here were under the impression that this was going to be a legit box. Nothing legitimate about summoning fungi tunics out of era. It doesn't really matter how you try and spin it.
I mean no offense! Totally run the server how you want! It's yours after all! I just thought it was going to be more like p99 and less like a gmsummon server. My mistake.

[Seducio]

I give it a few days and people will be focused on other things. Sure it'll be part of server lore and rumor mill forever, but any popular EQ Emu worth it's salt has those.

[Elizondo]

23862

[magnetaress]

Quarm is awesome. Going to retire from EQ once Quarm has been around for a few years and I've done all my EQ bucket list items.

Don't care how perfect Quarm is. It's the server that I like.

It's got humorous and human CSR. Transparency. They aren't poopsock apologists. Relaxed attitude. Rotations. And generally better combat mechanics and code. It's open source and already done a lot for its parent project TAKP.

Ya'll can be bitter all ya want. Quarm won the EQ Emu wars. Secrets is giga Stacy.

[Secrets]

You promoted the server here and now that some tomfoolery gets exposed you're the victim?

Sorry but this is a huge steaming pile of turd you just tried to serve up

You're trying to excuse blatant corruption at the highest levels within your staff giving political answers with a forked tongue

You 'announced' that anyone that outed a CSR would receive a fungi tunic and then when this supposedly happens, you don't say anything and people don't find out until an inspection and it's the leader of a prominent guild? No serverwide message? No giving anyone a head's up?

Bruh

How do we know you didn't premeditate the fungi story to provide cover for when you geared out your pals? Plausible deniability. Average players were never going to out a CSR, let's be real here

No, what happened is you guys gave one of your boys a fungi on the sly and cooked up a story when people found out. This has always been a problem with private servers. A incestuous relationship between the top players and 'staff' and 'devs' with no self control wanting to please the cliques. You had an opportunity to break that cycle and learn from past mistakes, but you failed miserably

Anyone who plays on Quarm needs to understand if you're trying to compete with any of these fools whispering in Secret's ear you don't stand a chance. There is no level playing field

Anytime there is some massive elf lawyer quest where your staff has to get involved and pick winners and losers this issue is going to be on people's minds, especially when you side with the guild leader of a prominent guild. This isn't about the item you dumb sob

Play at your own risk

You jumping to conclusions about something you don't know tells me all I need to know about your reading comprehension.

We enforce the rules equally and written. And the rewards are equally granted as written. If you actually read instead of jumping to conspiracies, you'd understand the core facts here:

1) We advertised openly that we would reward people for exposing our staff since prior to launch (and also on these forums, I believe)
2) Zaide reported a CSR that disclosed the identity of a CSR's player character in private.
3) Zaide declined the fungi reward at first.
4) The CSR was given a choice to continue playing or continue CSR'ing.
5) The CSR chose to continue CSR'ing.
6) The CSR's personal involvement with the playerbase gave us concern
7) The CSR was removed from the team and was generally understanding of why. We did not disclose the details of their removal to protect their privacy.
8) The policy was updated after players had noticed Zaide with a fungi reward.

If you don't like the way we handle our server, here's a list of other 1-box EverQuest servers (excluding the Chainbreaker (Classless) server that is still going because we're also involved there, too)

www.everquest.com - Live, TLP (Truebox)
www.project1999.com - Project 1999 Green, Red, Blue (1box)

[Menden]

This thread is dumb, here's a link to PQ's discord. Use that instead.

https://discord.com/invite/projectquarm

tyhf