My biggest issue with the progression server is that 90 % of the dungeons are empty. Why can't we either flatten out the zone exp modifiers or put in some sort of rotating hotzone exp bonuses. For the past few servers now its been pc>unrest>guk/com>velks>ge. Can we mix it up a little?
Lets see if the Dev's read this...IF implemented it probably won't be until the 34589348 progressive server is released.....
Most of the best loot comes from dungeons and dungeons have XP mod. A few places are higher iirc (the Hole). It's a fair question if this design choice holds up... if ZEM was flatlined would people go more places? If Dalnir was 2X the xp of comparable dungeons would the masses go? What if they just make a new list of the easiest places to pull large numbers and we end up with a new list of the same 10 zones for all leveling? --except now a bunch of them would be places with almost no good loot drops (a few outdoor zones come to mind). Then there is the truth of the unintended consequences of load balancing (picks) being offered outside of newbie zones the first few weeks of a server launch. Right now Agnarr runs 5-10 picks of Velks during primetime because it can. No pick... do all those players quit and not play (unlikely) so then we actually have to use the less-ideal (whether real or just perception) zones. If you like having picks, then you kind of have to accept that you need to bring your own group to the not-popular places. At least with they way it is right now.
I don't really want to comment on whether ZEM changes are a good idea for the TLPs, but I do want to point out that some part of the herding is due to the time involved in travel before PoP comes out. If I'm in BB waiting for an Unrest group and get an invite from High Keep, I'm probably just going to keep waiting. I don't think they should change anything regarding travel, it feels right now, and should be slow. But it's possible that changing ZEMs could be less effective due to other factors like travel.
You assume that exp is the only factor funneling people to certain places. That isn’t true. There are many factors that won’t be effected by exp changes such as... -Distance from “home”. With the exception of CoM all of the “hot zones” are within a zone or two of a home base. Somewhere to sell, regroup, get buffs, and relax. Commonlands, Thurgadin, The Nexus. People are going to prefer a dungeon that is close to a central gathering spot, over one that requires a port to the middle of nowhere. - Population Most players looking for a pug aren’t going to hoof it multiple zones out the the middle of nowhere only to find a sparsely populated dungeon. The more groups you have running in one spot the easier it is to find a one that has an opening, likewise, the more popular an area is the easier it is for a group to replace members who have to leave. Most folks would rather go exp in the dungeon where finding a replacement healer can be done in /ooc rather than somewhere where you would have to send a ton of tells and hope people aren’t afk than then hope they want to run to the middle of nowhere to join your group, and then wait 20 minutes while they do so. -Cost/benefit Some dungeons are harder than others, some have better loot than others, when I am grouped with random people I want the easiest kills, because I don’t trust them to do their jobs. Maybe I have just been in too many bad groups. The dungeons that are popular are easy kills with nice loot. So low risk and high gain. Basically, exp isn’t the only thing impacting people’s choices, and folks are always going to flock together, because travel is difficult and it’s easier to find a group and keep that group going when there is a large population in one place. The only reason people spread out in original EQ was the lack of picks, and I don’t think anyone wants to go back to those days.
The fact is much of the Classic content is unused. Permafrost Keep, Runnyeye, Split Paw, CT, Kedge, MM, Befallen are all under-utilized. I'd like to see a re-do on some zones or a classic expansion that adds a few more leveling zones 1-50.
Bored and waiting for the new expansion so want to talk about Classic lvling. What is your guys route? Me I always Gfay to 7 > Crushbone to 9-13 > Unrest to 20-25(Higher if can get a basement group, but first week of TLP no one usually goes there) > Uguk 28-30 > Lguk to 50
Fact is if they doubled the exp to splitpaw like a hot zone, people would be there. Im all for some incentive system like this. There was a lot of unused content there.
That's why the OP suggested equalizing all dungeon experience OR incentivizing certain ones with bonus experience. I myself in more in favor of the latter. You are correct that most people will choose dungeons for the reasons you listed. Boosting the experience gains in places that are further from home cities, have fewer / not so great loot rewards, tougher mobs / pulls I think can be a good thing to encourage going to different zones. I also wouldn't mind seeing a slight experience boost to some outdoor zones to give people options.
It's not really XP bonuses that matter - a lot of flattening has already happened in that regard. People go to the places you mentioned be cause of other factors like mobs that don't run, high mob density, and other aspects that are conducive to power leveling.
