Discussion on R99 vs VZTZ **POSTPONED**
 

i will be hosting a discussion on my stream (twitch.tv/sirkenp99) discussing R99 vs VZTZ Friday August 30, at 10pmEST. if possible id like to be joined by; one player that has only played on R99 and not on VZTZ, one player that has played on both R99 and VZTZ, and if possible one player that has only played on VZTZ and not on (or very very little on) R99.

either shoot me a Private Message with Subject of "R99 vs VZTZ" or post in this thread and tell me which of the 3 categories you fall under, as well as why you'd be a good addition to the discussion.

you do NOT have to be a "famous" player as long as you have the experience i'm looking for. you MUST be able to get along with others.

i feel that by getting into the pros and cons for each server, maybe we can hit on some small things that will improve R99 without deviating too much from "classic"

Sirks

Beyond resists, which do need fixing, fundamentally the server is "fine". Exp is boosted plenty at this point, we have YT and a Leaderboard, etc. The server stinks because there aren't enough people. Why aren't there enough people? Because the launch was botched and countless questionable decisions were made combined with the year and a half it took to get stuff like increased xp, YT, etc.

All of the goodwill and first impressions have been used up. This server needs a combo of blue transfers and a "relaunch." Does a relaunch mean wipe? Personally I wouldn't mind a wipe but I think you could market a relaunch. What is a relaunch? Give a two week huge exp boost, classic items dropping again, launch it with fixed resists and the other long needed changes. Perhaps a one time amnesty to accounts banned for non MQ issues. Dunno something to create buzz about the server. Maybe relaunch with teams and give everyone a one time race change, but do it blind or something without people knowing how teams will work out to cut down on Zerg guilds. Maybe release some of the revamp zones on red early such as chardok 2.0 fear and hate revamp and stonebrunt / warrens.

Anything short of a major relaunch is just more bandaids on a nuclear war victim. They're appreciated, they're needed, but they aren't going to attract any truly new players, just bring back the same 10-25 people over and over who play and quit again.

You also have the issue of "Zerg" guilds. I've spent a lot of time thinking about how it could be combatted but I don't think there's a true solution other than item loot, and a non classic reward system for pvp victory. People want pixels and will always flock to where they can get pixels, unless you provide an alternate way of obtaining pixels they will keep on joining wherever they can get them.

Tl;dr minor changes and fixes are nice but you need a complete relaunch/major overhaul to ever pass that 200 pop mark again.

variance

I think it is to late in this servers history to make any changes that would encourage a large population increase.
One thing that would promote the health of the server is making a cap to the number of players allowed in one guild.
A wipe is the only real answer to get a large number of new players to try red99.

I can't join your stream but I have been on Red since Beta. I didn't play everyday but when the population was at 14 average unless Nihilum was raiding, I was often one of the 14.
Without the benefit of a guild, I managed to solo a shaman to 60, a druid to 60, a mage to 55, and a necro to 55. I did have the benefit of a long-time friend playing and a RL friend as well, and I did duo with my RL friend on the shaman. I can count the groups I have been in on one hand, but that's because I don't care about pvp nor actively participate in it.
I have never killed anyone on Red on any character. I don't attack anyone unless defending myself or a group member. I just run around helping people, especially new players, so hopefully they keep playing on Red despite the assholes.

That being said. I never played VZTZ. I only came to Red because my friends did and I like open camps. However, I have a much different perspective on the Red server than likely anyone else. I have never been anyone's enemy and it's allowed me to make friends with people in every guild. I am not on anyone's "side" except maybe the newbies' side.

It's not a bad server overall. The bitching gets old in ooc and the fixes are really slow. I don't care about resists, I'd rather all nukes land than no nukes land. It's rough on the melee characters but root is pretty resistable compared to nukes/dots. When a rogue catches you by surprise you won't be feeling sympathy for melee toons.

I know what the coders do is extremely time consuming and mind numbing to fix all the things that break in EQ and I don't really expect it to be done faster. I am happy it's done at all for the incredibly low price of free. I'd just like some more frequent updates on what is being worked on and perhaps a rough estimate on when it will be implemented. I think that would help with a lot of frustrations over the breaks and bugs.

The bitching, well, I like global chat, I just get tired of listening to the same 10 people reiterating the same ridiculous tirades. There have been hours of homosexual insults coupled with threats of how badly they can beat up each other in real life, then about how money they make or how often they get laid.
It's like watching the Discovery Channel and seeing two rams fighting over a fat guy in a female goat costume.
Or, if you prefer, a daycare for hyperactive little people with a Napolean complex arguing over who is the tallest. Doesn't matter, still a midget.

I'm not sure how to trim the weeds out of ooc without screwing everyone, perhaps someone has a good idea.

Overall, fun server. Plenty of people for me to help. Even if the whining and bitching in ooc never stops, well, the Ocean of Tears had to get filled up somehow.

Cidisius, 60 shaman
Neefin, 60 druid
Colt, 55 mage
Yawgmoth, 55 necro (Not always me!)

A wipe will chase away more people that it will bring it

cut down on Zerg guilds

You also have the issue of "Zerg" guilds. [/QUOTE]

..some1 that join`s the zerg .. and says this kinda shit makes me lawl

who hacked your forum account? agree with all of this

I think we need teams - the end game raid scene is covered, every raid mob killed within seconds of being up within its cheesey non variance rotation.

What the server lacks entirely is community. If I make an alt I am getting ganked by rage bringer rogue/fungi twinks, snubbed for groups by soloers, unsure who my allies/enemies are in zones and overall really solo feel to the game. Teams creates a friendlier attitude within your team and prevents ship jumping, considering how one sided it is I can't really blame anyone for jumping to Nihilum - or quitting.

I am OK with the losers of the community getting all raid mobs, I suppose, but this server lacks every other aspect that made live fun and some changes messing around with it is just what the box needs to put life into it, what the fuck do we have to lose Sirken. Try putting in some teams code, and/or variance - the box is a terrible very low population wasteland of pure griefers, which the ruleset is completely favored for.

No variance, No teams = one guild crushing all others, and people flocking to it - people aren't going to help level people/build a guild man, they all just jump to Nihilum and it's happening again with the few azrael/force that don't want to quit, or are tired of fighting the fight - Nihilum could recruit like 10 level 60's from all of this.

People say that the other side just requires leadership and blah da blah blah blah all bullshit and lies, the ruleset makes the community like this and no one could have predicted this.