Asking a favor from the two top guilds on the server

[Aaryonar]

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

we had batphones in kunark and velious. it equated to some awesome races for Lodzial (Lozdial?) the giant IC turtle. maybe some servers didn't require them.. we'll say for various reasons.

one thing ive noticed (and im not taking a shot at anyone here) from talking with players is that a decent amount of the players on the server were born after 84-85. and i know what your thinking, "But sirken, so the fawk what?" my point is that if you were 14 or younger, you probably didnt have your own phone, and you probably werent allowed to get phone calls from strangers on that "elf game". my point is, batphoning always existed.

as far as the variance, let me try to explain this for the 1000th time (btw, i think i know who the 1000th commander of the nights watch will be.. wait nm wrong thread). the staff and the players have extremely different priorities. for the staff, the variance exists so that no one guild can lock down content. so that they can not manipulate the repop times until ALL the bosses are in the the off peak hours (12am-7am), and then essentially unless you see the mob die, you will not know the repop time. furthermore, no variance guarantees that the top guild stays on top because no other guild will ever kill trakanon or get vp teeth. FURTHERMORE it turns every other guild into a stepping stone for the top guild. Now, SOME of you might say "Sirken, STFU! Some mobs are better than no mobs! wtf is wrong with you stupid GM, what cant you see this?!? you must be teh stupidz!!!1!!!11!!". and to that id say,we dont give a shit about any one particular guild, our interest is whats best for the server, and more over, planning for the future of the server, and taking into consideration guilds or players that may still yet join Project 1999. That being said, taking away the variance makes it impossible for the top guild to be dethroned (without pvp or /guildwar). So im terribly sorry, but we are not willing to just hand over the server to the top guild permanently, so that the smaller guilds can drop inny and maestro twice a month. Now the players dont see it that way, and to be fair, nobody expects them to think that way. Players simply do not think that way, they think about themselves and their guild, possibly some allies, and thats it.

You make an excellent point, Sirken. Variances are a necessary evil. That being said, you completely ignore the ills that come of the small-window variance we have here, and those ills seem to be what people are upset about rather than the variance itself.

If The longest possible window is 4-days, then the chance of an overlap is rather slim. In most cases, it's completely clear which mob we should be camping at and putting tracker priority on. If Trak is in window, camp at poop-ledge. If VS is in window and Trak is in window, stay at poop-ledge and move alts to VS. The max/min nature of players on this server will therefore inevitably be camped at mobs, and inevitably they'll get 90% of what spawns simply by virtue of them having the most trackers/most alts camped in the immediate vicinity. In this case, we're acting on best-odds, not our own priorities as players.

Now, lets say every target's variance was exactly half of their total spawn timer (ex. Nagafen - 7 day spawn, 3.5day variance = 7 day window) then any target could spawn at any time. Trakanon could still be in window even if you killed him 5 minutes ago, and there would be no clear target to monopolize tracking time and alt-camping. FE and TMO would be unable to prioritize low-level dragon/god spawns and would be forced to focus on VP/Trak/VS. In this case, we're forced to focus on our priorities as players, rather than betting on a sure-thing, since there is no sure thing.

Inny would be spawning during legitimate hate clears and going to whatever guild is up there at the time. VS could be PUG'd by whoever is camping basement when he pops while TMO/FE run their alt army over. Gore could maul 500 passerby's moving from rings->KC before a raid guild even had any idea he was up. Who wouldn't want to play on that rule-set rather than this one? Doesn't that sound a bit more like classic to everyone?

The problem is not that variance exists.

The problem is not that players camp out at mobs they want.

The problem is that there's a period of time where we know what our best chance is, and we'd be morons for not taking the opportunity.

If there was no period of time when you had a best chance then I would actually be able to play my main instead of rotating him between camps.

[Chedduh]

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

A+ thread.

just one thing, raid guilds had batphones and used trackers on live. if you dont know that, then either 1) you didnt raid on live, or 2) you were on a hand holding rotation server where no competition existed and as such no reason for batphones or mob tracking existed.

kill the king,
save the world

Another red faggot trying to dictate blue

Obviously not aware so i'll enlighten you, the technology to batphone the way we see it/use it today simply wasn't there back then

Nice try though

[finalgrunt]

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

Another red faggot trying to dictate blue

Obviously not aware so i'll enlighten you, the technology to batphone the way we see it/use it today simply wasn't there back then

Nice try though

Please, let's remain civil here.

[SirAlvarex]

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

Another red faggot trying to dictate blue

Obviously not aware so i'll enlighten you, the technology to batphone the way we see it/use it today simply wasn't there back then

Nice try though

Yeah...you might not want to express your points that way to Sirken. He's a good dude. And a GM.

[Tenlaar]

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

2) you were on a hand holding rotation server where no competition existed

Please note, this is an honest question and not an attempt to troll.

Why does it seem that you actually have some level of contempt for PvE servers in which the player base cooperated with each other in order to compete against the game instead of each other? Every time you post on the subject it comes across as you believing that people who played that way were somehow doing it wrong.

[quido]

And it's not even about the gear - I just say that because it demonstrates the true breadth of my experience. I leveled a bard to 60 in December and January - Bruce to 60 a year before that - and despite having an epic on Redonk, I haven't nearly fulfilled my bardly aspirations. Loraen, do you really need ask what keeps us here? It's obvious. We love this game, we love the community, and it's fucking fun. I'm sorry that what we have here isn't exactly your cup of tea, but you seem to enjoy it in your own right. I'm sorry it's not exactly as your remember a dozen years ago. What keeps me here is wanting to be a badass in new ways. If I need to sleep, I sleep. Sometimes I press my limits but I've done that my whole life and I never played an MMO until this server. It's not the outrageous chore you people make it out to be - it's wonderful being a part of this guild and this server. Maybe you should start your own server if this one isn't exactly like you want. I'm not saying we shouldn't strive for some positive change, but if you think there's ever going to be an overall relaxed sense of competition here, you're dreaming.

If you want something.... TAKE IT!

[Sirken]

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

Please note, this is an honest question and not an attempt to troll.

Why does it seem that you actually have some level of contempt for PvE servers in which the player base cooperated with each other in order to compete against the game instead of each other? Every time you post on the subject it comes across as you believing that people who played that way were somehow doing it wrong.

if thats the way i've come across, then i apologize, sincerely i do, because it was not my intention. after 18 months on staff i can not begin to tell you how many threads i've seen like this, and its frustrating to watch guilds continue to try the same thing while expecting different results each time.

and as i said before, theres more than one way to play eq (see: to skin a cat), and that doesnt make 1 way better than another way, it doesnt mean my way is better than yours or vice-versa. but at a certain point somebody has to try something else, or change will never happen.

if you are only specifically referring to my comments about PvE rotation servers, well, we will have to agree to disagree because i do not believe rotation servers had any actual competition. EQ it self is not hard. it just takes time and friends (ie: guildmates), waiting patiently in line for your turn, is simply not competing in my opinion. and as i said in a previous post, anybody whose raid experience is made up solely of being on a rotation server missed out on lots fun, excitement, competition, and imo a true feeling of accomplishment. downing a mob that u know other guilds are racing for and actively trying to kill will always be more rewarding than simply showing up and downing a mob. its like when you go hunting irl, some people go to those guaranteed to get a kill places, where they put u in a tree stand right where they have been safely feeding deer for 2 weeks so that the deer is use to going to that spot every day, and when he shows up you blow his brains out with a .336 rifle. that is simply not hunting, those people should not feel any sense of accomplishment when they down the deer. but the people that dont use bait, but instead use things like footprints in the snow, fresh poop, and removed tree bark to track, locate, and kill the deer, all while making sure the animal is not down wind from them, that warrants a feeling of accomplishment. for extra points in my book, use a bow (i dont use bows because i dont want to risk only wounding an animal, as that would be horrible in my opinion).

now all that being said, i'm simply the CSR GM and these are simply my thoughts/opinions. i do not dictate policy, or anything else, and i especially do not dictate things to Rogean or Nilbog. this is not my server, i do not make the rules. i do however enforce the rules that are put forth, and i also will try to explain the staff's position or reasoning on certain subjects. sometimes i offer my advice or thoughts on a subject in a thread, but thats all they are.

if you think my thoughts/opinions/advice/contributions to this, or any other thread are garbage (and you have every right to think so if thats how u feel), u can feel free to disagree with me, or completely ignore my posts. after 5-6 years of playing/raiding live, 2 years on other EQemu servers, and 3 years on P99, i feel i have seen enough to offer valid and substantial opinions on the subject.

hope that answered your questions/concerns

<3
Sirks

[Ravager]

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

A+ thread.

2) you were on a hand holding rotation server where no competition existed and as such no reason for batphones or mob tracking existed.

People keep saying this as if it's a bad thing. If there were any way to do a legitimate poll I'd bet that the people who like the "competition" on this server are the vast minority and that the majority would rather have "rotations and hand holding".

[pharmakos]

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

kill the king,
save the world

"To fight the Empire is to be infected by its derangement. This is a paradox; whoever defeats a segment of the Empire becomes the Empire; it proliferates like a virus, imposing its form on its enemies. Thereby it becomes its enemies."

-VALIS, Philip K Dick

[Stormhowl]

The amount of animosity towards a cooperative environment is absolutely astonishing. What is wrong with people actually working together to accomplish something as a whole? This degree of competition on this server is frightening. It almost makes a man want to quit altogether knowing that at high end there won't even be a possibility, nay, opportunity, to see a dragon kill. Just to be able to experience it, because there's too much competition for "leet purplez"

I'm not saying competition is wrong. It has it's place in life, and just like everything else, it should be enjoyed in moderation. But once competition has become a poison, a cancer on this server, it needs to be removed. Classic mind-set be damned.