Project 2002 Plug

[Pope Hat]

Boxing is wonderful. Three boxing is one of the best EQ experiences I've ever had. My advice is to do it literally anywhere other than P2002. What a horrible server.

Database GM changes database items to make it easier for some and then changes it again to make it harder for others once they reach that content.

Two major GM/Dev left due to this database GM.

60% of the server left due to this GM. He is why they suffer population problems now.

Think you waste time on P99? Try playing on a server in which drop percentages are 40% for some, then once you get there it is decreased to 4%.

Pathetic.

[Tupakk]

There has always been a population problem. If it’s not 500+ personally it’s not worth it.

[Tecmos Deception]

Tried again to convince myself that I'd like triple boxing content over there. Started reading sticky threads. Saw a thread about gm events giving tokens that let people buy any race illusion masks. Threw up in my mouth.

Never again.

[Swish2]

Originally Posted by citizen1080 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Howdy!

So, I jumped on the TAKP bandwagon back when they first launch years ago, had some fun but a rocky launch and issues caused me to come back to P99. I decided to give it another shot a few months ago and very glad I did. Apparently there was some sort of drama and a split and now there are two Al'kabor servers, but the one I ended up playing is P2002 - http://p2002.com/.

The Good:

The Community-

Fantastic community. Everyone (and I mean that pretty much 100%) is helpful on the server. There are huge giveaways for newer players every few days that the entire server donates items to. I have yet to run into a single toxic person and have invested a lot of time into this server in the last few months.

Worldwide OOC/Auc but no trolls? That alone should show you how great this community is.

Leveling Curve -

20% XP bonus across the board

Rotating XP hot zones which means 150% bonus in ~6 zones at a time with lessor bonuses in many other zones. Means you can go to out of way zones and still min/max your xp depending on line up that month.

Monthly Bonus XP weekends

Content -

Luclin now and PoP in a few months (for many this is a downside, and for a long time I was one of those, but I have seen enough of velious and kunark for a lifetime. Luclin and all the quality of life changes are very welcome.) And I really enjoyed SSRA and POP raiding.

Boxing -

This is a hot topic for many, but there are plenty of people who play a single toon, and with a 3 box limit means there are almost always room for singles or duos to join, and most people will drop a char from their team to let you in to get xp. Even with Plane of Knowledge most people don't have a porter in their team so there is still a place for a Dial a port presence.

Raiding -

Their take on raiding is not for everyone. High end content is instanced, with world bosses on rotation. The bad part of this is that there really is no racing or competition other than some open world mobs like kunark dragons etc. The good part is no guild is cockblocked from content like on p99. You want to raid sleepers and get primals? Do it. I got a gnome mask and a primal spear just last night. You will never get that chance on P99.


The Bad:

Polish-

The server polish is no where near as high as P99. Pathing is a known issue they are working on and in some zones it is truely broken, DN being the worst I have seen. However, the Devs are active and in ooc almost daily and are happy to talk to you about bugs and issues and actively work to fix them. Server is 3 years old vs 10 years of p99 so don't expect that level of detail and polish to be in place.

Some things are very different there, not sure if its due to luclin content and changes with that expansion or if they are just not as accurate about their zones and mobs etc but you will notice differences from p99.

Population-

This is a bit of a two edged sword but I feel the server needs another ~200 players to be in the perfect spot. Right now there are people in most zones, and you can always find groups in hot zones, but to have a healthy economy and grouping experience the server could use a influx of players. The upside of the lower pop combined with boxing is I farmed pretty much all of my gear. Camps are rarely contested so you or you and a buddy can farm pretty much any drop you are after for your characters. I visited zones and killed shit I haven't given a shit about in years, and loved it. There are 4 high end guilds raiding end game content and room for as many more as would want to do it with how raiding is handled here. It really makes for a low key enjoyable experience, no poopsocking here (other than maybe emp keys.)

TL;DR

Come play on p2002, they have a all-in-one installer that makes setup a 1 click affair. They have a healthy and helpful population. They have a great end game scene with none of the toxic bullshit that pervades the p99 scene. They have content none of us have seen in 16 years and Kunark and Velious are getting pretty stale. They have a faster leveling curve, It took me less than 2 months to level a trio to 60 and start raiding.

Let me know if you have any questions!

XP isn't classic, boxing doesn't promote community integration, also the 3-box limit isn't policed so there's no hard ban for 4-boxing (shit, they NEED players, they cant ban people), also I think the staff took a liking to a salty vegetable vendor - that alone says a lot about the integrity of the server.

Plus OOC is probably quiet due to low pop or the few players boxing focusing on combat etc.

Nice pitch but...

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[Swish2]

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

Tried again to convince myself that I'd like triple boxing content over there. Started reading sticky threads. Saw a thread about gm events giving tokens that let people buy any race illusion masks. Threw up in my mouth.

Never again.

[You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Whirled]

Our house had 2 accounts on separate phone line / dial-up modems, back in Kunark/Velious time frame and we knew other people that also did that. I'd wager that it wasn't uncommon.

[loramin]

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

Our house had 2 accounts on separate phone line / dial-up modems, back in Kunark/Velious time frame and we knew other people that also did that. I'd wager that it wasn't uncommon.

You really think it was common for people in 1999 to pay for:

2x PCs (a good enough one to run EQ was at least $1000 back then) +
2 x $50 (EQ installations) +
2x $19.99/month (dial-up connections) +
2x $14.99/month EQ subscriptions (or was it $19.99? I forget, it's been awhile)

... a minimum of $2100 + $70 a month ... back when the standard price of a game was one $50 payment and no monthly fees?

I'm not saying it didn't happen: I've often related how friends of mine would box (in 1999-2001) using each other's accounts (only one person I knew owned two accounts, and he was ... particularly well off) and a computer gaming cybercafe that had both a T1 line and top-of-the-line computers ... but we were far from the norm. If you played back then and actually talked to people in-game you'd know that boxing was definitely uncommon in the classic era.

P.S. Of course other servers aren't "classic-only", but the point is still relevant because even if you want to play Luclin or PoP, your perception of "how EQ should be" was shaped during the classic era. Plus, although it was definitely a lot more common by then, even in PoP boxing still wasn't exactly common.

[Shrubwise]

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

You really think it was common for people in 1999 to pay for:

2x PCs (a good enough one to run EQ was at least $1000 back then) +
2 x $50 (EQ installations) +
2x $19.99/month (dial-up connections) +
2x $14.99/month EQ subscriptions (or was it $19.99? I forget, it's been awhile)

... a minimum of $2100 + $70 a month ... back when the standard price of a game was one $50 payment and no monthly fees?

I'm not saying it didn't happen: I've often related how friends of mine would box (in 1999-2001) using each other's accounts (only one person I knew owned two accounts, and he was ... particularly well off) and a computer gaming cybercafe that had both a T1 line and top-of-the-line computers ... but we were far from the norm. If you played back then and actually talked to people in-game you'd know that boxing was definitely uncommon in the classic era.

P.S. Of course other servers aren't "classic-only", but the point is still relevant because even if you want to play Luclin or PoP, your perception of "how EQ should be" was shaped during the classic era. Plus, although it was definitely a lot more common by then, even in PoP boxing still wasn't exactly common.

I think it is hard for most of us, now, to imagine folks paying that much to box back in 1999, because, most of us at the time were in our late childhood/early teens and didn’t have a job, or any money to speak of. Certainly not $1,500.
If you were anything like I was, take into account how addicted and in love with the game you were in 2000. Now imagine that you are an adult with expendable income. Loramin, I’m willing to wager that it was more a more common occurrence than you may think.

[Bleepo]

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

Boxing is wonderful. Three boxing is one of the best EQ experiences I've ever had. My advice is to do it literally anywhere other than P2002. What a horrible server.

Database GM changes database items to make it easier for some and then changes it again to make it harder for others once they reach that content.

Two major GM/Dev left due to this database GM.

60% of the server left due to this GM. He is why they suffer population problems now.

Think you waste time on P99? Try playing on a server in which drop percentages are 40% for some, then once you get there it is decreased to 4%.

Pathetic.

P2002 has not and will never suffer population problems. We have multiple flourishing raid guilds and everyone gets along fine. Nobody even remembers "Noble Heroes" anymore.

Also, I have no idea what was noble or heroic about zerging Velious content. Once you hit Luclin your zerg strats backfired and you couldn't even get to Emperor with 60+ characters. You then blamed the staff for embarrassing yourself and more than a year later you are still salty [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Amyas]

I wish there was no boxing and that they would stop at lucin