Economy barrier for new players

[Pilgrimzero]

Relevant follow up: So Im puttering around Neriak doing my lowbie thang, whena nice DE Gentleman passes me and a few moments later offers to give me some spare gear. A couple magic items and a couple hundred plat, I was overwhelmed! In all my htime playing EQ live (through Velious) no one was ever that generous to me.

AND THEN, Im out in EC trying to find some chain armor to cloth my level 3 naked butt when another player offers me free bronze plate! Thanks guys!

This place is great! And now Im not so afraid of those darn bears in the forest.

[stormlord]

While I played through the mudflation over the years on live and had to deal with twinks and even twinked my own alts (and enjoyed it that aspect but never managed to get my twinks up high), I do have to say that all of this is not necessarily good for the game. Buying our gear from the bazaar rather than getting it ourselves via adventuring or questing or crafting or purchasing from venders ties us up in a knot. The gear we purchase is so mudflated that we become reliant on it. We get pushed into a position where the only smart way to do it is to buy it. What this does is it limits gear progression by cutting away gear that we'd get on our own and (even) in a group. It reduces its value in terms of complete character progression. What it does is it causes us to want to level up even faster so that we can once again take part in the full gear progression.

Some people think twinking promotes grouping in the lower levels, but I don't think it does. Twinks usually twink so they can level faster. Why group with other players that will kill much slower???? It doesn't make any sense, especially considering that the group experience patch hasn't been put in yet (along with the hybrid experience penalty removal). For example, if you're in a 2-person group then the other player has to contribute at least 50% in order to break even. If that person is contributing less than that then there's a good chance you'll be better on your own. For a twink character, this issue is HUGE. If a twink is just going to group with non-twinks and thus level up slower then this is working against the very idea of twinking in the first place.

This is one of the reasons why when I started on p1999 in 2010, I chose not to twink any of my alts. I wanted to level naturally and to be a part of groups in a participatory way. By this I mean that by not being a twink I made everybody else in my group better and thus more important overall. I found it also made the game funner because I learned how to make studded leather and did more of the quests and payed more attention to upgrade my gear. I think the game was better that way since I was playing a central role.

I also chose to not go past level 15-24. I made several alts and leveled up to 7-19. Why? Because I wanted to help noobs. I also like that part of the game since it feels so homely and welcoming. I feel that in the later levels, the death penalty and the long runs and the separation from homecity is too tight for me. I was never here on p1999 to be ubber. I never intended on being tight. I wanted to be loose. But more than that, I wnated to be where the new players were. And they were between the specials level of 1-20. Besides, there's a lot of content in that level range and lots of classes to try. I never really got tired of it. I left p1999 when I finally decided that the legality of the whole thing bothered me and I couldn't stay any longer. I would rather wish that SOE would come out and officially support p1999 rather than stay hidden and mysterious.

Unfortuantely, the lessons of hte past have not been well learned and I do not think they will be remedied here on p1999. In fact, many mmorpgs do not address this well at all. It's the current paradigm. It's not about twinks or unrestricted gear, per say, it's about mudflation. Mudflation is the all devourer of mmorpgs.

[Feanoir]

I've run into a similar situation myself...For all those folks out there offering the typical cash camp ideas I'd like to offer a few explanations
I know you guys are trying to help and suggest profitable camps camps, but they are very limited and heavily camped.

-Wisps are good money, but when you get exp for them they are tough without decent gear.
-LFay bandits are pretty much permacamped...I've had my other character, a16 shaman camped there for about 4 months strait and i check it first every time I log on. the camp is perpetually taken, usually the northern camp too
-WK bandits-I had my camp stolen at least a half dozen times by a group of low teener twinks that just run in, take all the mobs and run off
-I know I'm not alone, I really dont feel like invensting the time to play a class i dont want to play in order to farm items/plat for a character i want to play
-a lot of the popular level zones are packed with people that seem to love going afk while in your group and training non stop when they aren't.

It is tough to start out, but it's also understandable that nobody is out in EC spending all day to sell some giant snake fangs and shiny brass shields for 10p when they have 100k in the bank. The hardest part of the low level game is finding the less hardcore groups that will accept your toon without being rockstar twinked out.

I play untwinked, and i think it makes the game more fun, i'd rather be camping out front of the castle in CB because i need the warlords bracer than because I'm simply trying to grind out my level. it just makes the hunt more enjoyable. To me, as soon as you twink out a character it becomes a rush to high levels to get better stuff and it never ends.
Enjoy the game, play what you want. I've been passed on for plenty of groups because I'm a hybrid without L33t gear, but most of the groups I have been invited into have been great. One perk to grouping with rich kid alts is that usually the stuff that drops at your level will be an upgrade for you, and the group will let you take it.
That being said there is nothing for infuriating than a twinked out powerhouse rolling on an item just to sell it for 2plat, but thats a whole separate issue.

I would like to add, however, that most of the people on the server have been truely
Amazing-I can't even count how many times someone has helped me without even asking, be it a corpse run/hunt, buffs, random awesome gear hand me downs, or even bying the crap gear I'm selling just to help me out when I can see they already have better

sorry just had to rant... :/

[Tecmos Deception]

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

rant

I'll say.

You go from saying that zones are full of greedy twinks, AFK leechers, trainers, and KSers to "most of the people on the server have been truely Amazing."

You complain about how tough your untwinked row is to hoe, but then you say that you prefer to play that way.

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


Bottom line for this thread, imo, is that "it's hard to start off from scratch on p99, but it was hard for everyone; play smart and don't focus on how everyone else is playing and you'll have a great time on the server."

[myriverse]

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

Bottom line for this thread, imo, is that "it's hard to start off from scratch on p99, but it was hard for everyone; play smart and don't focus on how everyone else is playing and you'll have a great time on the server."

This server being hard to start from scratch has not been my experience, at all. I didn't know a soul when I got here (and still really don't, considering my play schedule). But I've done pretty well earning what little I've gotten through hunting tradeskill supplies, selling them in EC, and finding good deals at vendors. My character seems better equipped than I remember being on Live, and I'm not even trying to twink him.

Perhaps it's because I don't care how anyone else is playing, but I just think it's that people are generally playing really well (not counting any of that raid drama that I will never be a part of).

[Feanoir]

I wasn't complaining about the rough starts, Like i said, i think it makes the game for fun to hunt for my gear. Just pointing out that most of the known camps that provide good cash are pretty well taken, and if you want to get your character geared up you pretty much have to do it the old fashioned way the first time around. I've had an awesome experience in P1999, about as much fun as I've had on live. Starting out new is rough going, but thats the whole point of the adventure right? [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Swish]

People stealing camps? Definitely petition in game, if you let them walk in and take something you're clearly capable of killing and were there first sat down... they'll be in trouble.

I had some gnome wizard turn up at the named sisters in OOT when I was levelling my necro, the guy's attitude resembled Zetas actually. The camp was split, so when the next one popped and I wasn't quite ready for it he just burnt it down quick, looted up and sat back down. Didn't say anything, didn't ask if it was camped, or if I'd mind sharing.

Amelinda responded 6 hours later "is he still there?". Never diss the current GMs, they're way way more helpful, quicker and more pro-active (particularly liking the clampdown on cheating in the News forum).

[OMGWTF420]

i started this server broke like everyone else, my main was a rogue that i leveled up with an sbd and burning rapier w/ no haste until i did my first sky raid. if i choose to put a cof and trak bp on my twink i feel like i have earned that right

[Swish]

There's good cash camps out there that aren't so well known about, people know that the forums are a fountain of information and choose not to share them, sadly :/

[Sithel1988]

dude you can get fucking bronze armor by just running to mistmoore and trying to loot groups mobs. most the time they are twinks not needing the loot. god you people really are lazy pieces of shit.