Interesting idea, but I think locking zones in that way is something that would require perhaps too much coding time on top of all the level-locking code that would be needed for this server ruleset unless... ...they instead went with that zone-locking method over a level locking idea - then they could much more feasibly explore having all the races & classes in from the start but without any expansions being unlocked at launch, they'd just have portals to a classic zone in all of the starter cities that were not contained in classic and lock all other zone exits and they could then have a "traditional" Aradune style TLP model but with all the extra races and classes in from the start. My main goal as a Berserker player & fan of the class is a TLP that enables them being in from the start, trying to catch up with everyone else after a year or more has already passed on any server so far launched is a pretty crap experience after doing it on live once & on a TLP again already. I don't want to play some other class from classic to pop, an era I am not overly fond of personally anyway, while I wait for GoD to unlock but I am definitely interested in playing a Berserker from classic onwards with a guild as that experience just hasn't been available to anyone in EQ (it may have been done on some 3rd party server but I don't ever play those). If an alternative method to my suggestion allows for that I'm open to the idea.
I would also like to say. Iksar gear and Berserker gear were dropping in Fear and Hate on Aradune... What is even the point of Berserker gear from PoFear if the Berserker doesn't even come around until GoD?
They just patched out the iksar, berserker and bst gear from hate and fear, making a classic launch ber, bst less likely. Otherwise it would have worked ok if they put in a few spell vendors and trainers.
If you mean Gates of Discord level of difficulty (and I know you don't) I think we are due for that. They have tried everything else. Slow xp does not equal difficult. Put ALL the raid content back to original GoD levels of difficulty, where at best only the guilds that optimize everything can beat it, and you'll have a real fun TLP launch again.
GoD wasn't tuned for level 65 to begin with but level 70, group geared players couldn't do anything, and even raid geared players had a tough time, PoP-geared Warriors were taking 2 healers with them, that wasn't hard it was stupid & poor design. Some players think hard means corpse runs, some think it means mobs that hit like raid mobs in group content, I don't agree, for me hard = stuff you actually need to use your brain for because it forces you to think - the vast majority of advocates for HARD EQ don't even agree what hard really means in the context of an MMO ask a hundred players you'll get a hundred different answers. Being forced to take a raid geared plate tank & 2 healers to do group content isn't hard, it's plain f**king dumb raw math bigger hits from mobs and nothing else, no complexity, no puzzles, no thinking involved, that's the absolute laziest way to make the game "HARD". EQ isn't hard, it's often unfair and far too much down to RNG or luck if you beat something or not though, I far prefer to be punished for making the wrong tactical/strategic decision or failing to react to a signalled event but dying due to nothing more than the whim of the 10 sided die sucks so bad because there is zero player agency in that..
I am kind of intrigued by this idea of the players being level locked but the content being available to try and do at lower or lesser levels. I think if you were to do this server you could even do slower exp rates early on and maybe change ZEMs for this server to get people spread out and exploring stuff besides the normal min max pathways.
Also I would like to see people teaming up to try and raid zones etc for loot. Like level 10's swarming uguk and sol a. level 20's swarming lguk and sol b, runnyeye, crystal caverns, so on and so forth.
I definitely like the concept - anything to spice up the 1-60 grind is a win in my book. I'd rather see level-locking done with some type of in-game mechanism (like achieving a certain % of completion or having a certain number of tradeskills or completing a certain number of quests), but locking out levels externally simply by time would be interesting. I would totally be in favor of bouncing ZEM increases around. Maybe give the top-5 utilized non-city zones a -50% exp modifier and the bottom-5 utilized a +25% exp modifier to encourage people to FREAKING LEAVE GUK. I yearn for the day where I can successfully get a PUG in Gorge of King Xorbb.
How about a GoD, 51/50 start. Gear? Use the /testbuff gear to begin with. It's lower level which will still force people to group up to handle the content until they can gear up. Still have your beasts and zerkers. Still have some leveling to do for current content. The xp rate can stay with the current TLP rates per expansion with the AoCs. Personally I would like boxing, but that is only because I have 3 accounts and only 2 computers. But can be either way. The start will spread people out enough so that there is plenty of content to do and not be on top of everyone in the same zones. Guilds can start in classic and work their way up if they like or rush to endgame and pick up with GoD.
Personally I would just prefer every race and class unlocked in classic and just go from there like a normal TLP. Vah shir could start in halas or qeynos if they pick bard. Frogloks already got their spot so that's easy. Drakkin could just start in freeport, qeynos or SFG like any human. Iksar would be the main problem. Could just plop them down in an out of the way spot with just the minimum amount of npcs needed or somehow work them into grobb without being kos and sell necro spells at sk vendor? Either way they will still be a massively played race regardless. Have no idea if annnny of that would be remotely feasible for the staff but seems like it wouldn't be too hard. Honestly never seen any good reason why they shouldn't do at least 1 server like this. And if anyone starts spouting about balance after having played these laughably balanced TLPs for years I swear my head will explode.
I'm not averse to that idea, though strictly speaking it has been done before (Quarm) so I wanted something that hadn't been tried before, however if the tech/code cannot be done affordably enough to go with the level-lock idea then a 51/50 GoD start server could be an excellent plan B. Thanks for the input.
So far the devs feedback has pointed to them not wanting to do that, for 2 main reasons: 1. They don't want to open any cans of worms around npc's zones or quests that would need to be reworked, moved or locked/unlocked & all of the decisions/conversations around that which would add up to a huge amount of work (potentially). 2. They don't want to allow the classes to be in the early game for some design principle that the team are wedded to about only providing the same path the live game did originally when it comes to class & race availability. After all they even went & removed the class loots from Plane of Fear for BST until Luclin unlocks & for BER until GoD unlocks which pretty much implies they intend to keep those two classes locked to their expansions for the foreseeable future if not permanently, which is why I went with GoD unlocked from the beginning as I think that is the only way we will ever see a TLP server open which has both available from day one.
The most feasible option given what we know is available would be the 51/50 GoD launch. I don't recall when the Froglok race becomes playable but one per character claimable race change scroll would be nice for people who want to do that when the race/class options present themselves.
Frogloks are with Legacy of Ykesha, on TLP that unlocks with PoP now. Additionally, Wood-Elf Beastlords & Froglok Monks with Call of the Forsaken.
