A Message From the Team about Phinigel XP

Maybe i should log on into my level 49 ascending darkness druid and see for myself for a few hours

In what universe does "A long weekend of double xp isn't going to make or break the server's ruleset. In the end, the xp rate returned to normal and all is well." translate into "XP rate does not matter to me"? Look, if you're not going to adhere to the basics of english comprehension then this is going to be an awkward discussion. It would explain why you're so up in arms though if you're having trouble comprehending peoples' stances.

To be honest, though, I likely would stay on Phinigel if the XP rate were adjusted -- but only because it is presently the only TLP server with raid instancing for pretty much every raid target. Server rotations are hilariously stupid, and I would rather deal with a cuddle bunny XP rate than have to deal with the drama and annoyance of server rotations.

If the XP rate is bumped up to RF/LJ levels, of course there would then be nowhere for me to go to get the classic feel since every other TLP server is cuddle bunny xp rate. But should XP be upped here and then later a new TLP server come out that is what Phinigel is right now (slow xp + instancing), I'd bail Phinigel in a heartbeat.

This all sounds like a good thing. I want community focused people on Phinigel. If their requirement for having a good time is being able to solo/duo comfortably instead of grouping, then Phinigel doesn't sound like the server for them. RF/LJ have faster xp rates and allow boxing on the same machine to facilitate the duo.

Disagreed. I think the community is doing great. The tear factories will bail out in the next 30 days when they don't get their instant gratification leveling, and those that are left will enjoy ourselves. I'm not looking for Phinigel to be "THE TOP TLP SERVER OMG SO MANY PEOPLE". I just want to be able to group and raid, and so far it's mighty fine with no signs of stopping (as long as you ignore the forum tears and pay attention to what's being said by people actually playing).

I don't think you get it. That which you desire will fade away into oblivion without people wanting to join. LJ and RF are already approaching dead status and will be forced to merge soon enough. You do know the enjoyment of an "MMO" is that massive part right? That means lots of people in a large world. AKA Massive. No one is looking for instant gratification leveling. What people want to avoid is 3-5 hours of LFG then getting a group 1-2 hours before you have to log for work and then maybe dieing once and ending up negative exp after an evening of game play. NO ONE is looking to re-create classic experiences. You put up with it at that point in time because this was the only MMO.

If you want to play this game with 12 other people you can just roll on a live server and faceroll content with your mercs.

Look, I supported the EXP penalty it was an awesome idea. It has slowed the server down, it has given DBG opportunity to beta test these instances (which truly how it happened in classic-pop) the prime guilds were always beta testers and content was constantly broken. At this point in time though everything should be ironed out and if they want more people to continue to roll in they need to make adjustments.

Each expansion the game will lose X amount of players as they are only here for certain expansions. I myself am gone after OOW. No desire to try and stay beyond that. I don't even care for OOW but I would like to finish epic 2.0 for once.

Eek. Sounds like faster XP isn't the silver bullet savior that the Cry Crowd(tm) is saying it is if RF/LJ are approaching dead status despite their alleged glorious perfect XP rate.

You also seem to be under the delusion that any given TLP server is capable of being some long-term stable sustainable community. I don't feel that way. Every TLP server is doomed from the beginning, and it's nobody's "fault". So, i figure, might as well make sure the ride is fun (having a sane, closer to classic, XP rate like it is now).

The rest of your post is pretty much a 55 gallon drum of tears about how you feel don't have enough free time to accomplish your own preset goals in your own ideal timeframe, and that's nobody's issue but your own.

Nothing says fun quite like a 200 hour grind. I'm surprised people are fleeing from this server.

Dumb, stupid, full of an agenda.

Fippy was a great TLP, just the voting almost destroyed it.

The problem with LJ/RF isn't the xp, it was the voting, and six monthers that did those two TLP's in.

Fix the XP rate, and Phinny may be able to survive the lack of boxing. I'm not totally convinced, but maybe. No way it can survive with the current xp rate.

But a properly set up TLP would be remarkably successful. What would that be? A Phinny w/o the boxing rules and with a normal xp rate. It's not too late to fix Phinny, and I bet they will. They finally got wise and fixed the xp on Fippy.

RF/LJ died the day they spoke about a server with instanced raids.
RF/LJ great community also sealed thier fate from day 1 instead of a nostalgia ride down the road you've got people who will do the wildest things in order to farm a pixel.

Now you've got people like me mounds of krono that will just log in for a vote to vote the worse possible way because RJ was just so fun to play on.

Here's the deal with Phinny and why it is drastically different from the other TLP servers... Raid instancing.

I'm already seeing the benefits of it with my guild on Phinny. People can leave the server all they want, but since it's all instanced AND you don't have to beat the expansion for the next expansion to open every 12 weeks, a large server community is not necessary to have a great time on the server.

It's honestly like having a private server for your guild, and that's fine with me because I actually like my guild and the members in it. I can see where it would suck if you're in a guild where nobody knows each other and doesn't communicate or group together. But, it's great for my guild

So, if a lot of people leave the server... Meh.... Will still be great.

Play with people you like. Join a guild with people you like. Problem solved.

just makes sense to give people option to lock their experience bar if they want to take it sloooow

I think my old 200 days played main, that i burried arround 2005 had 6 days played to maximum level. Thats 3 % time lvling and 97 % time playing the game. Have fun everyone on Phinny with 80 % time lvling and 20 % time playing. Sounds funny

Stop making sense!

Took me 4 and a half days /played to get to 50. I'll PM you in a year to tell you about the ratio of levelling vs "playing the game". I'm pretty sure it'll be close to that fake main of yours.

halfling get 10% exp bonus? 25% exp pots? hit up all double exp days?

I still have the character i rolled on Kane Bayle on opening night. Got to lvl 21 in two work evenings played solo. I think 9 hours played and way way way behind the curve. Friend of mine was first to 20. Just ganking stuff fast and got there in some hours. This was before xp potions and crap.
That stuff was funny, the phinny grind is not fun. Its a death grind. Have fun telling yourself that my characters are fake.

Like there's a guild that would let you in on Phinny, Risiko! /blacklist

/cry lol

I'm sorry you can't make friends and enjoy playing the game and level ing with your friends at the same time. See back in the day I had regular groups and played with friends and leveled slowly.

We made a guild. I think 25-30 of the players lvling together mostly. There never was a demand to be slow to make friends. Of course if you were on the short bus, you would likely end up with slow companions.

This.

What Holly/DBG don't seem to get is that people were excited for Phinny because of:
Instanced raid content pre-Time
No voting of unlocks - they were scheduled. 3 months was fine.

People did NOT pick Phinny because of slow exp.

NO ONE COULD HAVE BECAUSE DBG HAS ADMITTED IT WAS A DECISION THAT THEY DIDNT ANNOUNCE BEFORE LAUNCH.

So the idea that Phinny is somehow successful BECAUSE of slow exp is completely illogical.

If Holly/DBG was smart, they'd ask the user base VERY SPECIFIC questions about what people want in a TLP server. Slow exp wouldn't be #1.

But let's be honest, they've tried 3 TLPs within the latest 12 months and each one is destined to be a failure. That's management. That's leadership. That's not understanding what your customers want because you didn't ask the right questions and understand the issues correctly.

I applaud the programmers at DBG for working on instancing zones and content that was never intended for it. That's an achievement.

But DBG leadership is a complete failure for not understanding the player/customer base.

Not understanding and not catering to are two different things.

DBG knows the average player would like to raid. Instancing is evidence of that. They just made it apparent that they don't want to let players that can play less than 30 hours a week be competitive in raiding on TLPs.

The group game is boring to me. I don't find enjoyment in killing the same trash mob 10,000 times with a small group of people. It's a roadblock to what I found fun about the game: massive cooperation on large targets (raids). That loses its luster too, though, when it's not even current content. Playing 15 hours a week isn't enough time to keep up.

That sums up why EQ doesn't have a place for me anymore.