no global ooc in offpeak killed the game

[gedeost]

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

In context, that was 3 months ago. Since then I have also read a 55 page thread concerning the matter.

I also said this:
I still don't get the point, of why you need global ooc? Is it for your entertainment, groups, or auctions? Someone thoroughly explain this, instead of "I need/want this". If you're playing with 200 people, you're still going to be playing with 200 people with global ooc and auction.

How many people do you really think were in East Commons at 2 am, prekunark?

Firstly i suggest you try spending 2 hours in the EC tunnel @ 200 people.

Then you will realize that yes its for general entertainment. People discuss random things and help newbies out, makes the server feel alive when you die to a unkillable lvl 1 snake. Insert loading screen and 10 minutes of empty void.

Who even bothers trying to sell anything around 200 pop? You know it's just going to be a waste of your time anyway. It's the same with grouping.

Before you could be semi afk on your tailor alt in south karana cleaning your room and still catch some lowbie looking for a grotesque mask, sell your spider silk stacks, try to start/join/rep a group or jump into the ooc chat. The only one chatting right now during those hours is Sergeant Slate and he likes to kill more then talking if you know what i mean.

Atleast before those 200 people had a decent cellphone, now they have to write letters. It's slow and inconvenient.

It's like asking you why do you need forums and irc? If you're hosting a server with 1000 people, you're still going to be hosting a server with 1000 people with forums and irc.

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

Exactly, its a fundamental difference not just one of convenience. Like you said, leaving it on but hidden will have the exact same effect as just leaving it on and visible, further fragmentation of the established grouping system.

To be honest in the last couple of days playing, I've realized how incredibly smart and or incredibly lucky the original dev/decision making team was to happen up on such a naturally social method of group making. Groups in other games are a take it or leave proposition to a point, i.e. you can solo, group, craft, pvp etc. The shared goals element of EQ encouraged grouping, the death penalty discouraged boneheaded players with no regard for the party, the loot system and free for all nature of the world encouraged bargaining and even sometimes refereeing.. .

To those who want a global ooc/trade system I have to wonder, why are you even on a "classic" eq server, the second a channel goes global it shrinks the world. If what you really want to emulate is just about any other modern day/bland mmo, why not just play one? EQ was/is special for a reason, why strip it of that uniqueness?

You can't really be serious in saying that Everquest is a better game, more special and unique then any other mmorpg, just because you can't global chat or auction? They probably just didn't know how to code it or didn't have the time, that's all.

That's like saying 98% of humans are bland because they have televisions instead of radios or cars instead of horses.

[Toony]

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

You can't really be serious in saying that Everquest is a better game, more special and unique then any other mmorpg, just because you can't global chat or auction? They probably just didn't know how to code it or didn't have the time, that's all.

That's like saying 98% of humans are bland because they have televisions instead of radios or cars instead of horses.

Sorry, where did I say that again?

[nosto]

Since the modification from global to localized chat has been implemented what kind of peak player loss has occurred? Are we really seeing some doomsday prophecy /ragequit that was forcasted or was there little impact. Since I started two weeks ago I've seen nothing but higher numbers when I log in so I personally feel the vision the developers had was what players wanted.

I also think that a lot of us old school eq players have really forgot a lot of the patience factors that existed in classic everquest.

I appreciate the fact that chat is no longer global and that the EC tunnels thrive with life. But I think if some form of metrics showing that the population didn't take a nose dive might also hush some of the people so concerned.

Maybe as a part of the guide starting up, some helpful hints for those who are not used to having to play eq classic style should be provided. Such as /who all 10 20 lfg, /who all zonename, /who all dru/wiz. Commands that can be used in aiding with certain situations. If you have a question about a quest, that is what the internet is for if you can't find the answer in your local ooc. When I played in 2000 if I didn't know what to do I just checked out zam or some other site that provided the information. That is what made eq different was that things weren't handed to you, and in the long run it builds a more competent player base that KNOWS its stuff as opposed to the game carrying them.

[jilena]

The population has continued to increase since the loss of global OOC. I don't think that is going to change. As more and more people are made aware of this server it's population growth will continue as this growth is somewhat exponential. I.e. someone tells 5 of their friends they each tell 2 of their friends who tell two of their friends who tell two of their friends etc. Even if 5 out of the first batch of 6 quit here you are still left with 31 players instead of 6...

The real question of the effect would be how many established players are now playing significantly less? How many no longer log on? Of the new people who play, how many make it over level 30? Has the growth expanded into the off peak hours? Is the population large enough at these times to sustain a reasonable classic experience from level 1 to 50?

The areas I see hit the hardest by this are the folks who are brand new and the people who have well established characters. Some areas of this server are flat out dead. People know where the good areas are and those who know their shit GTFO out of places like everfrost, qeynos hills, west karana, etc as quickly as possible. New people will be stuck soloing and not get the community feel they might have otherwise experienced with the bustling global ooc.

For those who have one or more max level characters, or at least have been around long enough to be comfortable with their characters place may find themselves now annoyed with things being more tedious and time consuming at a point where their interest in the game is already waning. *shrug*

[nicemace]

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

The population has continued to increase since the loss of global OOC. I don't think that is going to change. As more and more people are made aware of this server it's population growth will continue as this growth is somewhat exponential. I.e. someone tells 5 of their friends they each tell 2 of their friends who tell two of their friends who tell two of their friends etc. Even if 5 out of the first batch of 6 quit here you are still left with 31 players instead of 6...

there is no direct correlation between population growth and global ooc, to think that there is...well....

correct me if im wrong, but wasn't the population increasing before the global got taken off? so its pretty pointless to bring growth into the argument.

[nosto]

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

there is no direct correlation between population growth and global ooc, to think that there is...well....

correct me if im wrong, but wasn't the population increasing before the global got taken off? so its pretty pointless to bring growth into the argument.

Well actually its not any sort of "...well...." and to use a word like correlation would have been correct had you used it correctly. I would say that there is a correlation for higher numbers but not a causation. And its probably too soon to tell how many people will quit due to not being able to use the functions in game that global was such a crutch for in the first place. If the population continues to rise, obviously the removal of global channels was not a poor choice as the amount of incoming exceeds the amount of outgoing.

For a more personal example, when I joined the server and saw channels were global I thought "eh its ok" but when I referred several friends and they saw the channels were global they were actually turned off. When I told them the goal was to eventually have the global chat removed - they said "ok i'll bite" so in a lot of ways a lot of people wanted that.

[Malrubius]

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

there is no direct correlation between population growth and global ooc, to think that there is...well....

correct me if im wrong, but wasn't the population increasing before the global got taken off? so its pretty pointless to bring growth into the argument.

The theoretical correlation we were presented with over and over (and over and over) is that the population would surely go DOWN if global OOC were taken away.

Pointing out the fact now that the population in fact continues to go up is merely demonstrating that the earlier argument was completely and utterly wrong.

So you are right - there is no direct correlation between population growth and global ooc. So we can drop that as any kind of argument to bring it back. Ever.

[Taxi]

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

The theoretical correlation we were presented with over and over (and over and over) is that the population would surely go DOWN if global OOC were taken away.

Pointing out the fact now that the population in fact continues to go up is merely demonstrating that the earlier argument was completely and utterly wrong.

So you are right - there is no direct correlation between population growth and global ooc. So we can drop that as any kind of argument to bring it back. Ever.

Thats just short term... EC tunnel is still new... it creates something novel... wait a week or 2 or 3 before you can pass final judgement.

[jilena]

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

there is no direct correlation between population growth and global ooc, to think that there is...well....

correct me if im wrong, but wasn't the population increasing before the global got taken off? so its pretty pointless to bring growth into the argument.

Someone had asked earlier in the thread if the population had stopped growing since the ooc change. I was stating that it had not and that it probably would not for a while as more new people means even more new people because of word of mouth.

My point was in fact that these numbers were completely useless for determining the effect the OOC change had on the server. You instead need to look certain groups and see what has happened with them due to the change. Just looking at total population is not really a great way to measure the health of the server. Retention imo is more important. If 50 new people start playing every single day... But only 2 of them play for more than a few weeks having 10000000 level 15s on the server doesn't really make for a great classic experience imo... *shrug*

[pickled_heretic]

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

Someone had asked earlier in the thread if the population had stopped growing since the ooc change. I was stating that it had not and that it probably would not for a while as more new people means even more new people because of word of mouth.

My point was in fact that these numbers were completely useless for determining the effect the OOC change had on the server. You instead need to look certain groups and see what has happened with them due to the change. Just looking at total population is not really a great way to measure the health of the server. Retention imo is more important. If 50 new people start playing every single day... But only 2 of them play for more than a few weeks having 10000000 level 15s on the server doesn't really make for a great classic experience imo... *shrug*

I was going to come eventually to making this point.