Honestly I think they really only need to do three things to better capture a
true classic experience, and interestingly enough I don't seem to hear enough mention of them:
- Change the traveling direction of the OoT boat back to the way it was on Live. Even if it was "wrong", our memories are of it being wrong. Part of a classic experience is recapturing classic memories.
- Weekly server downtime (or simulated downtime), which incidentally causes repops (and no variance for that matter). Part of a classic experience is wanting to play on that certain day of the week and being unable to, and actually logging into the chat server (yeah, remember?!). Now I don't know if our Titanium clients even still have a chat server but that's what these forums are for. Then when the servers come back up let the neckbeards rush for mobs without variance. Variance does nothing to stop them, or help them, it's just simply not classic. Neckbeards gonna neckbeard. Let them do it classically.
- Now this last one is perhaps my most controversial idea. My first two points deal with changes that would directly replicate what could be found in live. But this final point is more about abstractly recapturing one of live EverQuest's most defining characteristics: intrigue or mystery. Obviously we can't all forget where the bank is in Freeport. We can't forget how to play our favorite class. But these sort of things don't really change the way the game is played. What does change gameplay is knowing how itemization will change with future patches. On Live there wasn't a list of players waiting to camp Holgresh Elder Beads. It was often camped, sure, but it also often wasn't. You could walk up and find the camp empty at times. And here is the controversial solution: the staff should ever so slightly shift loot tables. Maybe the Holgresh Elder Beads don't get removed. Maybe FBSS does instead. Maybe the Manastone doesn't get removed and instead the fungi tunic does. My examples are probably wild and horrible, but you get the idea. "Item A is going to be added to the game next patch, and then removed two months later. We gotta camp the hell out of it!" is not classic. "Surprise! That powerful item you just happened to get, or that item you didn't bother to get, has been removed! Count yourself lucky/unlucky!" is classic.