This server is very amazing and yet very disappointing at the same time

[Callnoutthenewbs]

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

I like the idea of this server and it seems very polished. There is a decent enough player base, the website / forum is great, the wiki is fantastic, and the overall quality is spectacular for a free server.

But why not allow more than one character (box) at a time? It's a PVE server after all... I don't see how that would negatively impact anyone's experience... on the contrary it would actually allow people to level up faster, create their own group if they can't find one, and see much of the content of this game either solo or with a friend.

I used to play on the Vallon/Tallon Zek PVP server on EQEmu where they allowed up to two characters at once per player. Me and a friend of mine grouped up and our party of 4 got us to level 50 relatively quickly and we were able to see much of the game's content from 1- 50 just by ourselves. It was a great deal of fun. We would have played it much longer but the PVP aspect of that server really ruined the experience as it attracted a lot of douchey / elitist players.

I thought about coming back and trying EQEmu again and Project1999 seemed like the best option... until I read that you guys don't allow more than one box at a time. WHY!?!?!?!

I rolled a Necromancer and decided to give it a shot anyways, figuring that maybe there wasn't a lot of need to run multiple characters to level up easily. It didn't take long to notice that the exp rates are horrendous. It took 15-20 minutes to grind up to level 2 and after measuring the exp rates a little more closely I estimated that it would take another 1-2 hours and about 120 blue skeleton kills before I would get to level 3.

This is absurd!

We're all drawn here because we want to relive the classic EQ experience, but I think that experience has more to do with the harsh death penalty, lack of maps, lack of compass, etc... not so much the horrendous grind.

I by no means advocate killing 3 mobs and gaining 5 levels or anything like that, but not everyone has the time to dedicate countless hours every week to killing mobs just to level up on this server. I also don't always have time to find and organize groups either and it doesn't seem like you can do much on your own on this server since you are only allowed to play one character at a time.

This guy just comes off as a total retardo

[Safon]

The staff are ON RECORD as stating that two boxing will NEVER, EVER be allowed here.

These threads always turn out the same way, there should be a stickied post telling two-boxing supporters to not waste their energy whining

[Daldaen]

Good luck multi-boxing 24 characters to kill a raid.

[Splorf22]

Daldaen I think part of your problem may be that you play a druid. As an enchanter I used to get a lot more pickup group love.

The problem with P1999 is that it took Verant a while to figure out how to balance their game. As people tried stuff that was more or less overpowered, Verant changed things. By the time everyone realized a L60 wizard had the same sustained dps as a L40 rogue, Wizards had gotten a whole bunch of new toys. But here, we are replicating classic EQ with the knowledge of what works and what doesn't and what classes are over/under powered at which times. Which is why half the server plays Iksar monks, and there are like 3 50+ Half-elf druids.

The other problem with P1999 is that we have a disproportionate number of high level players who play a ton, and a lot of people who willing to devote an absolutely ridiculous amount of time to this game. And without instancing, these people can cockblock everyone else. And this makes me a little sad, but it is the way it is. EQ has a limited supply of high-end raid items and the players get to fight over them (but without interfering with each other! it's weird).

Personally I wouldn't mind changing a few key things, like invis and social aggro, hybrid XP penalties. Reality is enchanters and shaman and monks are too strong, druids and wizards and rangers are too weak. But it is what it is.

[Uteunayr]

I enjoy the heavily classic appeal of this. I left this game for DAoC for a reason. I am only here on EQEmu because this server sends me back to when MMOs actually made me want to maim children out of frustration from dying immediately upon reaching a new spell level and having the new spells taunt you in the spellbook because you can't regem them.

Yeah... It is a pain, but a pain I have missed in SWG, WoW and DAoC.

Edit in: More specific to the purpose of this thread: While I remember some dualboxers, they were few and far between. L2social and don't limit yourself to playing with yourself. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] There are some dungeons I may never step into because I cannot find and get people together, but you know what? Coming back to this after so many years has reminded me of just how much there is left to explore in this game world. So I am fine with it being difficult to fully explore the game world. It keeps a mystique to the game that flying mounts destroy.

[Daldaen]

I think theres only 2 60 half-elf droods :P.


But I don't think boxing should exist because class imbalance exists. I think it should exist because its classic. Much more than things like... people selling accounts for platinum.

[batkiller]

I played Shards of Dalaya a LOT over the last several years. They allow two boxes (but no more!) for anyone who wants to.

Overall I would say that there are pros and cons to it though. It's not as clear cut as most people here seem to think. For example, and advantage is that groups are far easier to get started seeing as you only need to find two other people and you can have a whole group, and then head anywhere you want. Then as more people come along you just ditch the boxes.

I also think it's a lot of fun because you can make characters you wouldn't usually play, just to play them with another character. For example I would never usually play a Wizard but Wiz + Chanter was a really fun combo.

There are downsides though too. It makes everyone more self sufficient, so often people just can't be bothered to group. People often end up being able to do whatever they want with two characters, so just don't *need* a group. They then end up only ever grouping with close friends, or if a really good group is put together. But if they see a group that lacks the perfect holy trinity and an evac, they just aren't interested.

Another issue is that the general skill level of people seems to dip. Playing one character in P99 actually takes quite a lot of skill imo. Especially if you go to dungeons by yourself. You have to actually split mobs and pull carefully and play well. But with two characters you end up with the majority of people playing melee+healer duo's, and they can just send their tank type character in to battle, grabs aggro on 3 mobs and tank n spanks them while their pet healer keeps them alive. It's easy and lazy and the game quickly loses it's excitement and appeal once that starts happening everywhere.

And lastly, the monopolizing of content is a genuine issue. There are some camps in the game which can't be soloed, at least by the average person. But once everyone has multiple accounts, you can hold almost anything by yourself. So the issues you might have seen on the server now with lots of places permanently camped, ends up basically being doubled.

Also eventually you end up with every person having a whole selection of buff bots as their second characters. So every tank shows up to every group with Empower and every cleric has KEI or whatever. So again, it starts eating away at the difficulty of the game.

So yeah, I focused more on the negatives there, but there a pros and cons - not just one or the other. Personally I really don't mind either way. I like soloing and I like 2 boxing, and I am happy with either.

[Nirgon]

^ We got a dumb one

[Deverell]

Boxing wasn't necessary for most of the server's lifespan. It would have been helpful right in the beginning because there were only one or two hundred players, but the playerbase grew quickly enough to a point where it wasn't needed. Everything was great up until about six months into Kunark, and now it's getting to a point where it's just barely acceptable. If the online tally shrinks by another couple hundred, it's probably gonna be really bad. Getting groups in your 20s and 30s is really problematic and just straight up impossible in the off-peak hours, so people either play solo classes, twink up in fungi and 300k worth of gear so they can solo their melees up, or pay for PLing. Even when you do get groups, you can sit a whole day without seeing a cleric in the zone because hardly anybody would want to level a cleric or tank up the old-fashioned way these days. Grouping looks fine at 50+, but especially 20-40 is an exercise in futility if you can't play peak hours and don't want to solo the whole way.

[Galvatar]

In regards to leveling: I think like anything its all about making connections, parking characters in high pop zones or making arrangements to meet with steady reliable associates in low pop zones, and not being an ass.