Make a TLP server to reach a different customer base than the usual.

How about a TLP server with expansion unlocks that are set at 1/2 the original ? So if it was a year before the original expansion, give it 6 months. If it was 6 months from the previous, give it 3 months. Why ? I'm sure most that use the boards will complain. But the idea is to reach the players NOT on the boards constantly. It's to reach the grown adult with a job and life that can't play this every day and during the day to work on quests, epics, keys, etc. The ones that want to enjoy the EQ experience from the start, but NOT in a rush to clear everything in the first month. This long of a window should discourage the types to an extent, that race to 'be the first' since they'll get sooooo bored waiting for the next expansion. It will let the casual gamer that wants to enjoy EQ, but balance it with life. And the added benefit to the company? Think of how long people will have to pay monthly subscription fees just to reach PoP...

It is important to think how long it will take a server to reach live status when considering expansion release schedules for a new server. At half speed, it would take a little over a year to get to PoP, 4 years to get to SoD, and over 10 years to get to match live servers.
I don't think they should tailor an entire server to the casual crowd. EQ isn't casual friendly by any means. There simply isn't any way for casual people to catch up once a server reaches OoW or so without getting significant support from other people, or heavily boxing. Longer expansion times isn't going to alleviate that problem but make it worse. One the major guilds are able to finish the final raid of the expansion they simply are waiting for the next expansion to hit. Longer expansion times would increase attrition rates as people people get bored of the server, or stop joining as it would be very hard to catch up.
From what I know, teir raids punish progression servers to raid lower teir content as the stuff is either similar to better group loot, or inferior to previous expansion raid content. So even casual guilds will want to get to final teir content as soon as possible.
I prior to PoP or Luclin, it is super easy to catch up, but afterwords getting catch up AAs, and getting armor becomes a real pain, even for super hardcore raiders.
People don't "have" to pay subscription fees to reach PoP. The expansion will release regardless of my subscription status. With 6 months releases, I may just pay for 1 or 2 months of the year when expansions release versus 10-12 for smaller release schedules.

If you find the 3 month unlock too fast go to a live server, or jump onto Ragefire.

There's really too small a population for a 6 month server, 5 or 6 forum users, of which some may well be the same person using different accounts is a wholly inadequate amount of interest, even if the team created a 6 month unlock server I am willing to bet it would be a dead server long before it even reached Kunark.

If you honestly believe there is a huge number of people who want a 6 month unlock then you & they should all gather on Ragefire to show the strength of your numbers, name a day, the team will watch the numbers to see what influx is there & if you can get the server number to rise significantly above the normal level then you stand a chance of getting your server, without that show of hard numbers you are completely wasting your time. Convince the devs there are enough of you to justify a server with actual people logging on there, a handful of squeaky forum posts are not going to give them the data they need to justify it.

People talk about how long it will take to hit live as if anyone actually wants to.

Hint: these late tlps are mostly solo challenges.

Isn't P99 already planning to do regular releases of green-like servers which are a year per xpac? Seems this niche is already being met. Ask Ragefire/Lockjaw how much they liked it when casuals voted for 6 month unlocks then quit the server because they got bored.

I would think a graphic engine update and removal of some bottlenecks would bring a new customer base.

Simply removing all of the timesinks would make TLP's much more enjoyable. With the reduced timeframe, you end up spending much of it chasing the flags/keys (groups and raids) just to get to the stuff you need to be lucky with and farm to be ready for the next expansion.

I know, I know, "split raid that's what everyone else always did." Well... just because it is how it has always been done, doesn't make it good. The whole concept of "progression locks" spits in the face of the spirit of MMO's. They were put in place to try to slow people down and to try to spread out population. In reality, it never fully worked that way. What it does do, is make it a constant cycle of the same thing over and over again.

Players should be able to get themselves into trouble, simple as that. Raids should test one's meddle, not their ability to field enough boxes/alts to be able to repeat instances.

Everyone is going to try to say why XYZ won't work, because they may not like it... Or some idea about reaching live server status. It's pretty garbage.

The TLP's all run into the same problems eventually. It filters out people on both ends and the server either hobbles to the the finish line or becomes stagnant. I'd much rather see a TLP without the flagging requirements.. without the "guild" who ruins things just to make some kind of name for themselves, while most don't care who was first or how quickly you beat something that has been around for 20 years. The whole reason our guild exists, on a TLP, was to just experience content, in-era. Of course, we got shafted with a server merge and have been trying to play catch up ever since. This will probably be the last expansion that we manage in-era, due to the shortsightedness of how TLP's were cobbled together for money.

The graphics thing was already looked at a few times under Sony. The cost is just too high. Hence EQN-Vaporware.

Only reason I do not play on live servers is I despise how EQ went to a screen full of skills, aa's, merc's, and clickies. Than specifically having certain items for a rotation in the end game. I like EQ to OoW, just felt like the right amount of power curving to me. To each their own, EQ was never meant to be WoW Mythic style of raiding. Those who wish for this experience please go there.

I enjoy drinking, telling jokes, and communicating with like minded individuals. I was in world first guilds for EQ and it never felt like a job back than. I really do not remember ever subbing folks out either unless they had to go do something. We were able to do all end game raids with 40 to 45 actual players and not bots. There would be a couple duo's, coth, buff boxes but really it was always 40 to 45 players. MoTM is bad and I understand folks want a challenge but... I would not call bot armies who focus on RMT a challenge.

Anywho, I like Skuz's idea and I have been asking for a similar server, all class/race combos to just be unlocked at classic. Throw in an FV style of looting with the possibility of sprinkling in AARPG loot drops, meaning random zone items dropping from anything. Removal of some bottlenecking, anything new at this point, and I will sign up for it.

Terrible suggestion. No one wants to be in expansions that long. Content is consumed within the 8-12 week timelines now. People are not going to sit around for months on end with nothing to do.

Imagine 9 months in DoN, PoR, DoDh. Just the though of it makes me want to puke.

i only disagree if the server is a locked server. longer time between expansions make more sense for a locked server. i think a locked sod server with 6 month unlock times would be perfectly fine.

A locked server isn't going to reach a different customer base than the usual. They already hit that niche with Agnarr...

I like your post. I agree with you that there are too many time sinks in the game. However the development team simply does not have the resources nor the willingness to address those timesinks, especially for a progression server. The only times I have noticed changes to quest/progression requirements is if there is a very large base complaining because of cheating, and they make adjustments to prevent monopolies of spawns and other stuff. I honestly believe some of the developers believe the "uphills both way" mentality is what makes EQ entertaining. While, I like the option to do a lot of quests.

This is why i've always said pickzones ruined modern EQ but i understand why they did it, i just don't like it.

To be fair my perfect eq server would be something thats a cross between p99 and tlp's. slow exp, 6 month unlocks, no aoc, no pickzones, maps, corpse runs, no exp penalties, no boxing unless given ip exemption with gm enforcement but that's not what eq players want anymore, they want the themepark gimmie gimmie gimmie experience where you get max level and fully pre raid bis within 2 weeks and that's not going to change either, its just how the community is now and days.

And yes i know p99 exists and if it had some of the QoL improvements like maps and no exp penalties i would play there in a heartbeat.

this is literally one of the silliest things i have ever read. A server locked at pop is completely different than one locked at TSS and SOD.

I am just going to have to assumed that you are joking, because that literally is a the earth is flat comment.

There isn't a niche of players that want a server locked at TSS or SOD. Unless by niche you mean one player.

Locked servers are DoA. As soon as a new server is opened up, people leave the locked servers for the new shiny server, leaving the locked server a ghost town.

Yeah I mean just look at the thousands of supporters posting all over the forum in thousands of threads about wanting this.....






......"in your imagination".

I am the target person you are looking for.

I returned to EQ at Agnarr after many years of not playing and did that server til there was no more viable progression and quit because of it flat out, I wanted to progress past expansion's that I have not played before soooo ... I went to Mangler.

That was a horrid experience , I think I played there for about a month and flat out quit EQ again due to slow exp , and the feeling of I flat out just did this last TLP until Ardune launched.

I came back for that server since it was not "locked" and supposed to be supported and overall it was ment to be closer to the EQ TLP experience I was hoping for.

I am so far iffy about the entire game , customer service , micro transaction aspect , flat out cheating and the entire mentality of the server is already dead and let's move onto the next one... that is exactly what I do not want.

I understand there is a percentage of people that want to constantly reroll or come up with the next best server concept , the reality is from a "returning" player that is not why I came back at all.

I simply want to play the game how it was designed , in a even playing field with all the standard game rules , flags for zones etc even if it is in 3 month stretches being perfect for me btw since it enough time to check out a expansion I have not played before and do most of the content.

The idea of removing key aspects of the game or trying to twist a new rule set simply cheapens the experience and feeling of accomplishment at least for me. If you want to make a viable tlp in my personal opinion , do a standard TLP with what you initially promised us for Ardune with the addition to perhaps changing the launch cycle of the "next" one to even farther down the line.

If you don't want to re-roll then don't, there is a large crowd that re-rolls every year, but there is also multiple guilds worth of players who don't on every server. Mangler is about to get an Xp bump with DoDH, you'll have missed GoD/OoW/DoN but you'll be able to see new things. Not too late to get your epic 2.0 either as I'm sure at least 1 guild will still do anguish regularly enough. I don't think Waiting for Aradune 2.0 (or Phinny 7) is going to give you what you want.

I would drop everything I'm playing and hop on a tlp that had no flags or keys. In a freakin heartbeat. There are so many places I've not seen because work screws me over for flags and keys. There is no enjoyment in camping the same key parts, shard parts for the 15th time.