New patch is good, friendly PSA from Dr. Nirgon

[Nirgon]

All of these changes were needed and should have gone in much sooner. However, their timing and lack of notice bears consideration by both staff and players.

Changes made, staff involvement, what's real and where you need to get your head out of your ass
The guild tags on the same line give a great sense of classic here, and if the UI work can be completed and enforced this server have an incredibly classic, almost authentic feel. Every change in those patch notes is necessary to make the server more classic.

Regarding the Chardok change, Arzak/Sundawg didn't make the decision to change it on his own upon Azrael gaining access. Nizzar is behind the timing on this change, I assure you and unfortunately Arzak allows himself to remain a scape goat. Nizzar pointed this out to him and gave him access to his enchanter to test on EQ Mac/live (tired haven't had my coffee yet, recall EQ Mac). Upon seeing this as a non-classic discrepancy, he changed it. Had his behavior on the forums been better, I wouldn't have attacked Arzak so much about this or championed attacks on him either. You have Nizzar to blame for this, not Arzak. Hopefully he can gather his senses and stop trolling players, it does no one any good and moves bullseyes away from the real problem (noted twice here... came back and underlined to really help you get the point here). I wish both parties would just be honest about this and at least, in the future, ensure that everyone has to follow the same process. I see paladin spells and other things being patched, but where's my 680dmg lure of lightning? That should be an easy one that I reported long ago, yet, couldn't be made. Where's the sense of integrity from the other guild to allow him to use said enchanter to test charming Sirran? Well, folks, Nizzar has no integrity. If you speak with the TMO officers, they'll tell you he was a clever raid leader (there are many better than him) but also someone who would try and RMT things out of their guild bank. They'd be happy also to tell you the tales of Rallyd being banned time, and time, and time again for boxing or exploiting or Supreme's MQ use, and general sloth/lack of skill. All fact, not fiction, and see if any of them have a minute to spell it out for you if you don't believe me.

One thing that was absolutely not handled correctly though, was Rogean's "surprise epics!" ooc during the day. This should have been announced on the front page in advance. I've witnessed behavior in game like wurmslayers and barbed scale whips being sold (hi2u Cyborella!), especially increasing in frequency on the day prior to this change. I have reports of players being camped out and ready in specific places as well for their epic turn ins. This could all just be coincidence, and I'm not saying any of it was planned, but it was very obviously noticed and of single benefit to a .... certain party. I hope this is handled better on the future and patches are announced in advance to give everyone a fair benefit. Further, releasing this patch without removing the reported list of non-classic drops just makes me scratch my head. I, as well as many many others, feel like this was just taking the easy way out, or again, as a spiteful action against a group of players here who have legitamate complaints, although ones that need more direction.

Big Nilbog seemed a little on edge when I spoke with him in game, and appearances by him to do Q&A/damage control on the trolling do go a long way. If you're going to go after Arzak/Sundawg, be very specific in doing so but keep in mind what I've outlined above. Don't make broad generalizations about the staff, this is just used as ammunition to say "look how shitty the playerbase here is". Surely, the others could do something about his behavior, but they probably don't have the time. He acts like a complete jerk/moron on the forums making anonymous troll accounts and championing a completely broken resist system... and by that I mean vztz 2.0 was light years ahead in functionality. However, there is still hope for him... maybe. Hopefully we can get with the program and convince Nilbog that this server is worth keeping up, right now I'm sure he has mixed feelings on the negative side... work to change that. We're asking for simple things and maybe, just maybe, we can get just a simple yes or no from Rogean to allow the resist changes we so badly need to be open sourced (I know that I, and probably Vile, would be involved and definitely get this mess traightened out). Simple if/else logic to include making player targets exempt from level specific spell checks when spells are cast on targets would go a long way. So would implementing caps and ceilings on at least game breaking root/snare spells.

Guilds, where each fits in and moving forward
That said, my condolences to guild Azrael. The Shadoo change shouldn't rustle your jimmies too much. You still can farm all that non-classic blue diamond resist gear and make +poison resist bracers (dirt cheap might I add) to cover the spread. Further, Trak's breath is so easily resistable here, I think if you got a swing at him you'd be suprised if you had at least diamond jewelry (get on that). The abudance of thex daggers here also makes Hoshkar a less better pill to swallow. You still need to level up and finish your resist sets to compete. Worry about that, not about how far you are behind. You're not killing a lot of these targets with or without Nihilum on the box yet.

For all your complaints about Nihilum, let me remind you that it takes perseverance to beat your odds here. Something I have seen quite lacking on both sides. Nihilum has a few that carry a lot of weight. They've lost major key players like Nerfed and Hughman and I assure you the Nihilum of today is not the one we fought back a year ago. They have a lot of blue faces, many inexperienced who only have the "talent" of infinite time investment. Further with this point, many are not skilled in PvP and are very easily beatable once you level up and get some necessary basics. On the non-Nihilum side, you guys need to stop waiting for PLs to come around, learn to push forward with the slow xp (duo with a class that can snare if you are a melee) and keep pushing the xp bar little by little every day. Your 60s need to log in and play their mains to try and form groups and organize xp. If you don't, you will surely burn out and fail. They also need to recognize the need to protect their groups of lower level players trying to xp.

Take TMO's rise to power on blue as an example. They weren't always the top guild and lived for quite a bit in the DA/IB/whatever the hell you want to call them's shadow. They still exhibit these similar levels of organization and certainly effort to remain on top, although currently less is required to maintain their status quo given current competition. Take note! Challenging the throne of a raid guild or even a few of their targets doesn't happen by afking in xp groups, crying with your hand out for gear, crying for faster xp to be patched in or conversely being 60 and sitting there with your thumb in your ass wondering why everyone else can't be as good as you. Bundy and I came back BUTT ASS NAKED and already are reaching raid ready status at least for resist sets. Everyone is capable of doing the same if they get organized and put in the effort. Effort is something no one else can give you, it's between you and... you.

This post in the making after logging out last evening frustrated with people's lack of ability to get motivated or see the truth. This post made public because I've had to explain this individually too many times and at length to ensure I covered all the bases as relevant to the state of the server. Finally, this is posted (obviously) in rough draft format because I've spent enough time putting it together.

Have fun with it!