I'm a relatively casual player who was hoping to get involved in the raid scene and felt like it might be possible with the player count we had prior to the merge. I have fond memories of raiding on Red even though we were sometimes massacred by other guilds. I'm sure the staff have their reasons (and I'm sure if they were publicised it would make sense) but it's a bit a bummer for me to log on and see my usual hunting grounds have a line of 2+ people waiting for spawns.
I think the server population being in the 400-500 range was just right - in classic EQ back in '99-2000 we didn't have a wiki and per levelling guides and all the things we have now. Hell, I remember finding hunting spots through word of mouth so the player base was much more spread out in the fringe areas. Now we're going to have a complete ciusterfuck in high ZEM zones and 40+ dungeons. I think the merge could have made a lot more sense around Kunark's release personally, but what's done is done. I have a hunch the move was made in part to limit legacy items which is fine (I would never have had a chance to get one, and I think poopsocking should be discouraged by those who can't help themselves), but I foresee the number of players dwindling down due to this.
I know this probably isn't popular opinion but it might make sense to implement instanced raids for guilds that can field a certain number of players. Any player participating in said instance would be locked out of any other instances of that zone for a week (even if they jump to another guild) so loot would be attainable by everyone. I know this isn't "classic" but it would give everyone access to content, so the poopsockers can keep on doing their thing, and a guild of casual players who love the game can get to experience endgame content according to their schedule.
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