The 100% anti-boxing TLP dream

It's probably not so much that they can't implement this, but that it doesn't really solve anything. I imagine it would be incredibly easy to bypass this sort of thing with a VPN. It would require human enforcement, which hasn't gone well in the past. Not to mention, it would be entirely counterproductive to implement something like this. The game's business model is based on the fact that people box multiple accounts. If they want to eliminate boxing, they would need to make playing a character involved enough that it just wasn't possible to do it effectively. It's really not in their interest to do something like that at this point in the game.

At some point on these servers, non-boxers start to die out. That's what Daybreak should be trying to address, figuring out why people stop playing and trying to retain them as paying customers. Then there would be more non-boxing grouping opportunities for people who prefer not to play with boxes. That would be time way better spent than implementing some easily bypassed no-box rules.

They have to account for the reality that multiple people can play from the same IP address and that isn't an issue. If someone is paying for a service they are not going to want to register everyone that may play at that location. This is an even bigger problem for locations that have a shared network for a lot of users and they might not even know someone else on the network is playing EQ.

They would also need to remove the need for players to box multiple accounts as well.

Yeah, agreed, or the perceived need anyway. I think a lot of why people box is to eliminate their own down time without really considering the higher-level effect that it has on their guild or the server in general. Boxing helps save time at the individual level, with the side effect of there being fewer grouping opportunities for non-boxers than there would be if nobody boxed. I think boxing is a really deep issue with this game, more so on this server type. I just don't see it as something that is realistically fixable which is too bad. That's really why I think they should just eliminate truebox or at least go with relaxed from the start. At least then everybody's on a relatively level playing field in regard to ability to box.

Good answer. Yes, they allow VPN's but as I mentioned they police and investigate permissions in-game (permissions are rare for multi-IP accounts) and if you're breaking the rules they ban the accounts for life on the spot. It's a waste of time for the rule breaker as it's noticed quickly and immediately acted upon. Load up P99 and see how easy it is to bypass their easily bypassed boxing rules. I bet you wont waste your time, will you.

And it is much easier to do with a much smaller player base that doesn't play. You are going to find a lot more trouble when you scale your userbase up and they are paying to play. Considering that EQ is meant to be a multiplayer game and have multiple people play from the same household they can't make families jump through hoops in order to play as a group.

Their servers are as busy or busier than many of Daybreaks's older servers. The listing shows logged on accounts and P99's are player accounts. Even last night it was 2k logged on continuously over the evening between the two on a slow night. That's nothing to sneeze at for a krono less, free to play player run server.

And official EQ still has a much larger player base and when it comes to TLP servers they are all paying players. It is much easier to prevent families from playing together when it is a free service then when they are paying for the ability to play together. There are many things that a free game on the internet can do that a paid game cannot.

True. They can apply for a multi IP family permission however it takes weeks and is not guaranteed.
For the record I dont play P99 at all. I just wanted to chime to the OP that there is an alternative to his complaint if he's ok with their anti-cheat .dll software while eq.exe is running.

And the key point is that Daybreak can't apply the same restrictions in a game that people pay to play (TLP requires a sub) and one of the concept is playing with family/friends who live in the same house. Just because P99 has decided that people don't play in the same house and they need to prove otherwise doesn't mean that Daybreak can do it or that it is a good system.

As much as I would love to experience this, I fear it is a thing of the past.

I suppose one could start their own private server/ and invite likeminded friends, but that's not for me.

Some players like to challenge themselves by playing 2-6 characters at once so they can enjoy the group game in EQ whenever they want.

I like to challenge myself by soloing and using self found gear/funds and doing ridiculous stuff like using a dagger* as a melee character until level 50.

Maybe I am one of the reasons players prefer to box now?

I don't know anymore. Play how you want. Don't let what others say or do get to ya.

That's P99's method I did not say DB HAD to do it that way, did I? My point was about addressing his group complaint and there is an alternative. P99 responds to logs, tests, in game reporting and 3rd party software flags. People here just like to argue.

And as far as your patronizing business comment, World of Warcraft is a successful business who has banned multi-boxing access to their servers. They don't list their detection methods but be assured you won't succeed which is the basis of OP's complaint. Even multi accounts from same IP can be investigated and subjected to a ban if found in violation - dollars or no dollars.

And those methods are not relevant at all to Daybreak and the official game. Just because p99 can respond one way doesn't mean that it is valid to for Daybreak.

It's not patronizing at all, it's simply a factual description of DBG's business model. Blizzard has 100x the employees, they have more staffing options. And if you think their rules aren't being sidestepped by quite a few players despite their best efforts, you clearly haven't been paying attention to their own industry woes lately.

People who want to play on a P99-style server can do it there, DBG has no intention of deploying a competing server. It's precisely why they let P99 keep going. The notion that it's OK to demand everybody else play the game the way you like to play is absurd.

P99 is so far removed from EQ Live it really should be considered a completely different game at this point, comparisons are largely irrelevent or mostly meaningless.

Dream of a boxing free TLP all you want, or go create a Private server of your own with it, it is almost certainly never going to happen here due to how exhorbitantly expensive it would be to maintain & enforce in the face of thousands of people putting in a lot of effort to circumvent any measures put in place to achieve that - it's just not worth the effort.

Keep dreaming. It isn't going to happen. There is nothing inherently wrong with people boxing.

Some people think banning or eradicating boxing will somehow mean that they get to play with more people.

Maybe they remember the days when EQ players and pick up groups were so numerous you could play 24/7 and pretty much couldn't spend any time on the server where people weren't asking for more to join them.

Now they see a boxer or even just hear about one & seethe with rage blaming them for the loss of players EQ has had, those damn boxers it's all their fault I can never get a group whatever time I play, even if I play several hours a week I get left behind from no groups & it's all because of those boxers, damn them.

It's kinda lame at this point, because boxers didn't cause the problem, they are a reaction TO the problem which is that EQ just ain't as popular as it used to be, and many of the boxers work funky shifts or can only play at weird times so they wouldn't be available for most groups anyway.

I've never met a mean boxer on a TLP. Anytime I send them a message, they'll either let me join their group or let me edge out a camp around their huge camp. So many players forget that these big boxers are people too.

I only started boxing because I was logging in at odd times and couldn't get help to finish quests on my own. Boxing really is fun, and I highly recommend everyone try it. I'll be creating at least one druid or wizard for the next tlp because I'm sick of waiting for a porter to show up at 4:00 am.

I put this in the same category as the people that want a no Krono server. Both ideas would kill the dream you have of any sustained server, even now in raids on Yelinak which is in PoP, if people did not have boxes raids would not be completable.

You only think you want this.

It's an interesting issue.

Even if you have enough players to throw together a boxed raid, that doesn't mean jack or boo for the "pick-up-group" players on the server. And vice versa, you could have 2000 puggers on at any given time, but with no one to organize and lead a raid, you'll rarely accomplish more than group content.

Boxing raiders versus casual puggers. That seems to be where the disconnect is. If only we could bridge that gap? Hmmm...

(edit: woops, I meant one gap, not two haha)