Is the server overpopulated? Or is it something more?

[burdenday]

Originally Posted by Zulzephur - Tarew Marr [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

No.

1) Server costs and adding a new server, and splitting population by a bit won't help things. You want a full community, right?

2) No/less trading, making everything no drop; also adds to cutting down player interaction, EC fun, etc. Then again, people may work/group more often in result of this may, which would increase player interaction.

1. I'd just toss variables/intangibles like costs and community out the window. Any ideas presented in this thread won't happen unless someone spins a brand new project up and puts in thousands of hours of work.

2. I believe you'd still see a trading community around MQs and tradeskills. It would shift focus onto parts of the game which haven't been a focus in years due to min/maxing.

To support your "no" though, this proposed rule-set is pretty hardcore (people naturally want things without having to do the work themselves) and wouldn't ever have the interest level of Blue.

[Malice_Mizer]

I think these questions highlight an important consideration:

Is the truly classic Everquest experience something that can even be re-created? I know what you're talking about, and long for it myself. But I think a lot of that has to do with an era of Everquest in its relative infancy, where people were experiencing it as something novel and genuinely new. Now it's not that way, and MMO culture has changed dramatically since 2001. Do genuine "noobs" exist in P99 as they did in 2001? Definitely not. People running around like fools, wasting their precious time for little to no tangible pay-off (myself definitely included) are not as numerous as they once were. I don't think any rule set or wipe will solve this problem, because everybody already knows what the end-game and purpose of Everquest (and all MMO's) is.

Simply put, you can't go back home again. It's tragic but nonetheless true.

[Ivory]

Originally Posted by Zulzephur - Tarew Marr [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

but I'd like the community / server to be as full as possible, and splitting people like that, and getting rid of trading for the most part would be detrimental in the long run...

The server is already split up....horribly.

You might not see it when you log in and see the server population number.

But you realize it when you try to find a group under level 50.

When you see the only places to find a group are in the "exp hotspot" zones. That everyone is SOLELY focused on exp (and nothing else really matters). Sure, grinding is fun sometimes.... but when you go through all your levels never actually getting loot yourself? Always just buying upgrades from commons? ((Heck, on this server, it is normal practice to do GREED rolls before need rolls... since it assumed everyone is just buying their stuff anyway))

When you go to a zone that actually drops loot (lower guk?) and all the named spawns are camped by level 60's looking to make some $$ so they can buy their epics (since actually doing it themselves is near impossible, since other level 60's are camping the epics to sell for even more $$$).

You slowly realize how split up the server really is.... how it is an empty shell of everquest. Just ghosts going through the motions.... and the groups, the adventures, the fun that made classic everquest? It isn't there.

Even when you finally make into raiding levels. It is like an amusement park line. Waiting your guilds turn to smack the raid mob (with overwhelming numbers and ease)...

"Good job with inny everyone, we will get another chance at him in a few months".

And what do you do when you aren't raiding? You go grind for exp or $$$ (so you can buy whatever you are after).....or maybe make an alt and twink it out (only to go through the same under 50 game of pure exp grinding with no attempt to do quests or get loot).

[Jimjam]

Originally Posted by ArmySash [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Yes! Make stuff No-Drop! Everything but tradeskill and playercrafted items [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Awesome idea!

I'd like this. Merchant bought items should be kept tradable, as should more mundane dropped stuff like bronze/rawhide/tradeskill components too though.

Not classic though [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Ivory]

Originally Posted by Malice_Mizer [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I think these questions highlight an important consideration:

Is the truly classic Everquest experience something that can even be re-created? I know what you're talking about, and long for it myself. But I think a lot of that has to do with an era of Everquest in its relative infancy, where people were experiencing it as something novel and genuinely new.

Nope, it definitely can.

On live in around 2003 or 2004 I would keep switching to their new servers they would bring up (after 5 years of the game, so people knew what they were doing).

But on a fresh server....even if you know everything about the game....there is the matter of achieving it.

Stuff people don't even think about (for example, getting a magic weapon in the first month of a new server is tricky... how do you fight ghouls? ).

No port everywhere either, so you have a much more interesting economy (people taking the boat over to Lfay to sell ranger fire beetle eyes from freeport).

And, of course, people doing their quests (there are actually a TON of mid-level quests to do).

This new server game lasts for 4-6 months (until enough people catch up to the higher levels, to start raiding). And for the next half year everyone is doing "server firsts" as they keep trying to tackle new challenges (killing VS, for example).

Basically....it is a ton of fun. Even knowing everything about the game, you actually get to play through everquest (which included trying to find upgrade armor and weapons, instead of just buying it for a few pp in commons). The first few months especially are like an entirely different game :3 "Omg, a gnome in qeynos!"

[Zulzephur - Tarew Marr]

Originally Posted by Ivory [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Even when you finally make into raiding levels. It is like an amusement park line. Waiting your guilds turn to smack the raid mob (with overwhelming numbers and ease)...

I added in a suggestion for that in my post. It would give everyone a better chance, or speed up the process to get their drops, but it also comes with cons as well.

Either way, it is just a suggestion, and it wouldn't require much work and effort as opposed to having to open up a whole new server.

I do like restarts/resets on servers, mostly progression servers like they had on Live EQ. I always joined them on EQ, and other games. It is a great experience. If a new server would open up, I'd totally join it and make it my home, but there could be ways to alleviate many peoples' concerns before having to do that.

[Ivory]

Originally Posted by Zulzephur - Tarew Marr [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I added in a suggestion for that in my post. It would give everyone a better chance, or speed up the process to get their drops, but it also comes with cons as well.

Yea, it might help with the high end raiding problem...adding more respawns.

But it doesn't really fix too much. Stuff would still be over-camped for $$$ in the rest of the game....and the pre-50 experience would still be a ghost town of mindless EXP grinding in a couple zones.

If all you care about is the high end raiding and getting pixels...sure. But the high end raiding issue is just a symptom of a much bigger problem (that there is nothing else to do).

People have made their alts....their 2nd, 3rd, 4th level 60s (and leveled them up in exp groups or chardok AE).

The game is just about exp grind and getting $$$ at this point. There is sooo much more to everquest than that. There are really a heck of a lot of quests and items that are completely irrelevant on the server as it stands.

[Bazia]

asking for wipes doesnt go over well here

not gonna happen

[Ivory]

Originally Posted by Bazia [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

asking for wipes doesnt go over well here

not gonna happen

No one is asking for the server to be wiped.....

[MaksimMazor]

Welcome to p99 raiding