I noticed there was the Mischief server(s) released recently. Any news on something more traditional coming out?
I sure hope not. This ruleset is the most fun I've had in EQ in many years - don't think I could bring myself to go back to an old ruleset server with no-trade items everywhere and neckbeards monopolizing all the camps. I really hope they make this ruleset (free trade and random loot) the standard going forward with tweaks in other areas if they want to mix things up.
I thought the concept was interesting, but I have too much nostalgia tying me to the old ways. Tell me about the server, though. How is the pop? It's still before Kunark, yes? I read the raiding scene wasn't all that active, so whats that about?
I think it is way too early to make any solid decisions, how the next few expansions fare with this new loot system and how that affects the player retention will be very interesting to see play out even as a non-participant.
Its been a lot of fun so far. Mischief has 2 zerg guild and a TON of smaller 20ish man guilds clearing content. Its been quite populated with most popular zones having 3-4 picks in off hours and as many as 10+ in prime time. Kunark comes out Wednesday and should be a ton of fun since there are multiple avenues to various loots. VP key is still going to be terrible but HS and Seb keys should be a breeze. The raiding scene is different then previous servers as 2-3 groups can have access to all the god and dragon loot(via yale) and all the hate and fear loot(via fear minis and select hate minis) so you dont NEED a massive guild to get best in slot. Sky still requires a decent raid force but once 60 hits 2-3 groups will be able to do most if not all of it so you still shouldn't NEED a big guild till velious(maybe, depends on randomization) Lots of hate and sky loot for sale so there is defiantly raiding going on, just not the open world races of servers past.
This ruleset should be the new standard ruleset for TLP's. I don't know if I can go back to normal rare / non-random loot. This is a significantly more engaging and rewarding system.
The random loot has been an interesting concept. With free trade and the availability of planar, everyone and their alts are already geared to the teeth. While exciting at first, I find myself kinda bored already. I'd be interested in a Mangler clone with maybe some minor twist. Likely have to wait a year though.
We're one month in, we've had the least complaint posts of any previous TLP, and the most positive feedback of any previous TLP. Less complaints, by a crazy amount, is really the metric that matters. Most of the positive feedback is because this is a new concept and people want to let them know it was successful. Vanilla TLP's wouldn't generate those kinds of posts as much, but still it feels like we're seeing a lot of positive feedback. Kunark opens tomorrow, and both servers will likely merge eventually, it's a great time to get in and ride them as far as you can.
Next time they can add random spawn points for extra fun. You might be gunning for Naggy when suddenly some poor saps in Crushbone are getting terrorized by the bastard. Be weird when Phinny is found hanging with Mangler out in Rivervale though.