also

Pretty much, better equiped players get up to raiding level fast as well, which is actually easier to do on an older server despite everything being camped due to a more inflated, but pliable economy. There is some challenging aspect to starting fresh and being the 1st that many like as well.

Yep

On my cleric, or Wizard:
90% of raiding loot I use is from mid level EQ, jewelery crafted or entry level planes.

You're a moron if you think it takes gear to win at EQ, at any level in the game, in any expansion up to GoD. Gear has nothing to do with it.

Failing to strategise, have the right class combinations to suit various factors, and researching the game matter.

On P1999 it takes class combination, mobilisation, numbers, and if the former fails just retarded clickies like soulfires, traks teeth etc.

But all of those, take hours. Without hours, there is no victory on P1999, because of retarded non classic designs like variance, and non CSR zones, and a lack of any GM desire to lower their workload and have PNP.

Only exception I can think of is dueling Gaffin. Then it's 100% gear.

It seems to be hard to create a guild to compete with FE/IB and TMO becasue the supply of people willing to camp out isnt very high. I know there are former people who used to do it in BDA and other guilds but the numbers just aren't there for all the Midnight-8am spawn times

There would be more people willing to if there wasn't extended extended extended variance.

Hard for the more casual guilds to camp toons out at a target when theres a chance he wont spawn for over a week.

I've noticed Taken at least beginning to attempt things lately. Unfortunately the non-classic server variance is THE benchmark that needs to be met and passed in order to raid competitively here.

It's not player skill, or gear, or any of that other junk because these are 32k mobs. They all help, and most raid guilds expect their players to have them, but the challenge is in tracking/poopsocking and getting enough like-minded individuals to do the same.

That's the real challenge on p99.

That was my whole point, casuals want to be casual. Can't keep up the hardcore as long

Using last VS as an example I agree, that was quite the joke. The windows was what.. 6, maybe 7 days thanks to extensions? Think about, guilds had people there tracking for the first half, and then for the second half (late window and extensions) 3 guilds had typically 5-10 people each just sitting there, waiting for the fucker to pop.

I don't know of any casual guild in their right mind that would put up with something like that.

You'd be amazed at the level <40 supremacy mains running around that are <3 months old wearing 500k-1mil pp in twink gear claiming "dude im good at EC". I wish I had that skill...

This can be true. But you either need zerg force or some combination of skill and gear with fewer numbers.