hardcore blue guilds!

[derpcake]

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

Why is variation needed anyway?

Back on live in classic/Kunark/Velious, there was no variation (except for Lodi and a couple other similar mobs maybe), and it was just fine, servers were full of raiding guilds but somehow everybody managed to get along.

in theory variation means that since guilds don't know when a mob spawns, there will be more races and less camping

in practice people just camp the entire variation window

[Nibblewitz]

Spread your wings and shed your pixel baggage.

[Tankdan]

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

Why is variation needed anyway?

Back on live in classic/Kunark/Velious, there was no variation (except for Lodi and a couple other similar mobs maybe), and it was just fine, servers were full of raiding guilds but somehow everybody managed to get along.

It's because 200 people would be tab spamming the spawn when said mob was about to spawn, hoping their guild would get the FTE. It's how this server originally was. And anyone with a less than stellar ping is at a huge disadvantage. But after the last few years, that doesnt sound all that bad.

[EdTuBrutus]

The problem with rare end game encounters is that it is a design fudge intended to fix a problem which we now know does not exist.

It's well documented that McQuaid did not believe in the end game, he believed the game would be PvP focus and those not into PvP needed to be held back with artificial time sinks and "difficulty" based on time consumption rather than complexity. When the his two attempts at making a viable PvP game failed (full PvP originally, then the Priest of Discord system) he became convinced that the only way to keep players was to make everything, and I mean EVERYTHING take ages.

But we now today this was not necessary. The number of high content consumers who exhaust themselves on content is tiny. What it does is deny the content to everyone else. The bulk of players keep playing once they start regularly doing end game encounters, then go on to play and level alts. We know it because we see it in every other game out there.

If every dragon spawned on a 4 to 6 hour timer, the game would not be easier. It would merely be more convenient to the bulk of potential players. But, hey, I guess that wouldn't be classic (like single boxing and AE limits, and whatever else has actually been changed for the better but isn't classic).

[Baler]

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

It's well documented that McQuaid did not believe in the end game, he believed the game would be PvP focus and those not into PvP needed to be held back with artificial time sinks and "difficulty" based on time consumption rather than complexity.

No, just no. I'm all for a consider red post but EQ was always a PVE/PVM game. If at any point McQuaid said eq was focused on pvp he was probably hopped up on drugs at the time.

[EdTuBrutus]

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

No, just no. I'm all for a consider red post but EQ was always a PVE/PVM game. If at any point McQuaid said eq was focused on pvp he was probably hopped up on drugs at the time.

I followed alt.games.everquest for at least a year before the launch and McQuaid was very active on the forum and also was pretty vocal about his intention for the game to be PvP and how he needed to introduce the PoDs because he couldn't find another way around griefing.

One of the reasons the game was so unfinished contentwise** was all the time spent trying to perfect the PoD mechanic and trying to get Red players on Blue servers to work (which, if course, he never could). alt.games.everquest spent most of its pre-launch existence almost entirely discussing PvP mechanics.

** Hands up, this particular part is an assumption but I think a reasonable one.

[paulgiamatti]

Yeah, I mean no one's saying the game would be easier with weekly/bimonthly quakes - it'd actually be harder and therefore less shitty/more enjoyable. Players would actually have to race legitimately and competitively for the plethora of mobs, which is fun as hell. The average raider would actually get the chance to do the encounters on a regular basis, which aren't a walk in the park because the average blue raider is a regular person that has a day job and a family.

There are limits to A/A's appetite, believe it or not. Sure, if we suddenly started getting regular quakes I'm sure they'd devour the first few, but eventually burnout would take its toll and they'd reach a point where absolutely nothing except ToV, Tormax/Statue/AoW, CT, and maybe ST golems would matter to them. And they don't always get first swings at these, either.

[JurisDictum]

Interview with McQuaid in 2001:

Looking back on the game with 20/20 hindsight, what (if anything) would you have designed differently? Why?
Oh, there's still a lot that didn't work out right, despite the game overall turning out fantastic. Let me list a few things that I'd go back and approach or implement differently had I a time machine handy.

Camping: Probably EQ's biggest flaw, in my opinion. We should have approached dungeon spawning and encounter mechanics very differently. The most efficient (and fun) way to gain experience and seek out treasure should be DOING a dungeon, not sitting in one spot, waiting for a spawn, or pulling things to you. Skill Advancement: This should have to do with choices more so than it does

[skarlorn]

Here's an excerpt from an interview with. McQuaid:

Mcquaid: the goal of everquest is to become privately emulated on projects with proven staff corruption, where in game items can create a black market for real money, and obese virgins forfeit their real lives in order to sit at the computer 16 hrs in a row so they have a chance to race for dragon.

[Stormfists]

I've masterbated only 3 times to this thread.

My therapy is working...