Will we ever see another Selos style server?

Discussion in 'Time Locked Progression Servers' started by Sethisto, Feb 12, 2021.

  1. Sethisto Elder

    Selos kinda ruined Everquest for me. I've tried so hard to get into Aradune and Mangler but after experiencing the speed of Selos I can't handle it anymore. The increased drops/rare spawns made quests that aren't usually worth doing actually doable. The fast unlocks meant that bland period when you've cleared an expansion and are just on farm mode is a lot shorter. And the EXP speed was beautiful. I can't handle AA grinding on Aradune after Selos.

    Also I exclusively play bards, so it was good to get some server name love :p

    Will we ever see a return of something like it?
  2. Digler Elder

    Good question! I think everyone has their own favorite sauce when it comes to TLPs.

    I could see them potentially doing a server with the same setup in a year or three.

    What I think is more realistic, is a server that adopts some of the Selos mechanics, but not exactly to that extreme. Perhaps 2 month unlocks with an XP rate to match, such that things aren't quit as nutso as they were with Selos. Or perhaps shortened unlocks for certain expansions.

    I don't know how complicated the last one would be to implement.

    There are definitely some positives to the Selos server and the speed at which it unfolded.

    In my opinion, one of the biggest aspects of Selos wasn't so much the 1 month unlocks, but rather the simple fact it started with Luclin unlocked.

    Very Goldilock's statement here...but Selos was too fast for me, and required too much play time. Meanwhile, the current TLP format of launching in classic, followed with 3 month unlocks, is too slow.
  3. Skuz I am become Wrath, the Destroyer of Worlds.

    Several Players have touted a mid-way point between Selo & Phinigel unlock speeds with either 60 day (or 8 weeks) unlocks or 60d (8w) / 45d (6w) day unlocks.

    For a TLP between Phinigel & Selo I would ideally run the expansion unlocks like this:

    Clas - 6 weeks
    RoK - 8 weeks
    SoV - 6 weeks
    SoL - 6 weeks
    PoP + LoY 8 weeks
    LDoN + GoD 6 weeks
    OoW 6 weeks
    DoN 2 weeks
    DoDH 6 weeks
    PoR 2 weeks
    TSS 8 weeks

    After TSS all expansions with level raise 8 weeks without 6 weeks.

    Now the Level 70 stretch there might look weird at first-glance but it's basically a way to combine OoW & DoN into an 8 week chunk while keeping to the timeline, then combine DoDH & PoR while keeping the timeline.

    Both DoN and PoR are weak on volume of content expansions and aged poorly by doing this type of compression you also reduce the overly long 70 era loathed by many players into a shorter & more tolerable format.
    topple likes this.
  4. Chopsuey Augur

    A tweaked version of Selo would be amazing. The main tweak being increased loot instead of reduced raid lockout. 4 week unlock for non-level cap increase expansions and 6 week for level increases. Maybe even bundle more with PoP+Ldon and OoW+DoN and DoDH+PoR.
    Sign me up for this.
  5. Skuz I am become Wrath, the Destroyer of Worlds.

    Increased, or even doubled loot comes up often, the halved unlock timers on Selo was the solution the devs went for because doubling the loots for something like 24 expansions worth of raids is going to be a large amount of dev time. They only did it once retroactively, for Underfoot & that was only because Ngreth still had all the info for the loot tables of the raids in that expansion to hand, for all of the raids before that whoever was doing it would have to do a lot of research & checking of the databases before any implementation.
  6. TLP Addict Augur

    Back when selo and mangler we being discussed pre launch I was in the camp of, would totally do Selo if the unlocks were 6 weeks, but 4 just seemed like a recipe for burnout to me. Happy for people that stuck it out for the long haul though, sounds like it was a great time.

    TLDR: Make a Selo type server with 6 week unlocks and I'm in.
  7. Trevalon Augur

    I've been saying for years: The best server they could release is:

    Selo EXP
    Selo Rares/Drops/Faction (2X)
    8-10 week Unlock for Level expansions
    4-5 weeks for Non level expansions
    1 week DZ Lockout (Standard TLP Unlock) (This is important because the VAST majority that I knew that left Selo and came to Mangler said this was their number 1 reason why. They felt they had to raid 5-6 days a week because of the short unlocks or they fell behind).

    Release that server...It will be the most popular server ever IMO. People will still buy potions because it can NEVER be TOO fast to level and people will be more likely to make alts because its faster and they can get more gear to gear them up.

    Sure it could mean that people burn out as they get a ton of alts and gear, but then there is raiding to keep them going and because its so easy to get alts if you end up hating a character in raids you can just make a new one instead of the daunting grind to 60+ (that could take quite a while without powerlevel - Until GOD, making a new ALT on a "Standard" TLP is quite a commitment and I know a ton of people who have chosen to quit instead of rerolling something else they may enjoy more).
  8. TheRedBandit Elder

    I think 2 months per xpac would be ideal and preferably a non classic start. Even if it's just kunark, it'll still spread people out enough. I wish they could level lock ldons and open it from the start, criminally under-used expansion just because of where it falls in the unlock schedule.
    Barraind likes this.
  9. Sycopata Elder

    Best start are probably one with all classes unlock
  10. yerm Augur

    Selo with double loot rather than half lockouts would be the perfect server.
    Machen likes this.
  11. HicksAradune Augur


    100%, i'll see you there!
  12. FranktheBank Augur


    Not really perfect. It's better, but there a lot of issues around currency and group content that show up later and are really toxic.
  13. a_librarian Augur

    selo style would be the ideal place to put a FV loot style TLP since it's going to run it's course quickly and won't affect the next years TLP launch as much. Also has a totally natural merge location of FV. Lets just do this damn thing
  14. sieger Augur

    As I understand it from Ngreth's posts on the topic doubling loot is a manual change to every raid encounter in the game, it's not something that can be set at a server level like dz lockout times. Hence that option is very unlikely.

    I really loved Selo and I've spent a lot of time thinking about changes they could have made that would've made it attractive to more people, and I think the core issue is the playerbase just isn't there. You had a lot of what I call "cycler" players who started on Selo. These are people who bailed for Mangler after Selo hit LDoN (i.e. when the nostalgia ends), or sometimes after GoD. Then those same people are mostly in Aradune or Rizlona guilds now. There's nothing wrong with this type of player, but there is no rule change you could do to keep them on a server in later eras--these people simply do not wish to play later era EQ. A what of lot drives the cycle is nostalgia for the bygone eras of an EQ past when that player was 20 years younger, and at this point nostalgia for previous TLPs, because many of these cyclers are on their 4th, 5th, or 6th iteration of this. There are people on Live EQ with fond memories of these subsequent "forgotten eras", but most Live EQ players aren't interested in rehashing it and doing TLP. I think you just end up with a very limited pool of true interest.

    You might actually be able to "feed" on the cyclers even more by giving them something like a SeloFied Agnarr. A server where you get 1 month in each expansion and half lockouts, after Quarm dies whoever killed him first gets special rewards and then the server is wiped clean and you run it again 4 months later or something.
    Skuz likes this.
  15. Skuz I am become Wrath, the Destroyer of Worlds.

    From what I have gathered the Quarm Event server, closest real example besides Agnarr itself to your idea here, was not a particular successful one, the devs may have even seen it as a failed experiment.

    The cyclers might be served well by a seasonal Agnarr style TLP that goes from Classic to LDoN, and there have been lots of variations on that idea which have been suggested, a selo-speed version is not one I have seen suggested for it before though, but the devs may also see that as an "event" server and be wary of that idea.

    Rather than wiping the characters off it at the end of the cycle if it dumped everyone from it to Agnarr at the end of each cycle it would at least stand a chance of helping infuse Agnarr periodically with a few players.

    Overall I like your idea.
  16. Ythera Augur

    I feel differently than the other posters in that they should double down and put the pedal to the floor:

    Xp: Twice as fast as Test
    Faction: Doubled
    Rares: Doubled
    AOCs: Yes
    Lockouts: can use command /removelockouts to remove all task and dz lockouts

    Progression: New expansion launches the moment all raids have been defeated in the current expansion. When all raids are cleared on the current live expansion, the server resets back to classic. All characters are deleted and remade at level 1. Your character then gains a cumulative permanent 10% bonus to xp, hitpoints, mana, endurance, damage done, and healing done.
  17. Skuz I am become Wrath, the Destroyer of Worlds.

    I could maybe see lockouts as low as 2 days but the ability to remove all lockouts?...No I don't think that is ever going to fly.

    The cumulative bonus idea is bad at some point it would completely trivialise the content and in doing so reduce any sense of achievement.

    Players are generally against the idea of losing their characters, so wiping the server without moving those characters to at the very least a low pop live server is a bad idea, and they should ideally be granted a free server transfer at the end of cycle if the server is going all the way to live since it then serves as also being a way to FastTrack through the expansions for a new player who maybe wants to play on live in current content eventually without having to grind out all the levels slowly or get power-levelled on a live server.

    The expansions unlocking once the prior expansions raid events have all been beaten at least 1-2 times I could maybe see working but that leaves you very low on farm-time, but that's presumably why you wanted the no lockout option.

    Sounds like a recipe for extreme burnout and a really tiny minority of players would even find this appealing, and of the ones who would try it I reckon many would be burned out fast. This is therefore an extremely niche ruleset.
  18. sieger Augur

    Quarm has definitely been all but confirmed by Holly in an interview as a failed business decision. But it was a server with:
    -No AoC
    -51/50 ruleset
    -Started with I think Omens of War content open

    It basically cut out a lot of what feeds TLP spending, and also (as I understand it, I missed out on Quarm) was a "server for one guild" due to the lack of AoC and how the only purpose for the server was to see who killed OMM first.

    A "Selo cycler" up through PoP on the other hand starts you at level 1 in Classic era, when things like store potions, store bought bags, XP pots etc still have a lot of value. I know tons of people who dump a couple hundred dollars into any TLP launch, even on characters they may never play again, just for the 1-50 grind. I suspect the "sustain" of a TLP is less important than the launch, at least from a business perspective. I don't know that for a fact, but that's my suspicion based on the behavior of the company in regard to TLPs, and it makes some level of logical sense.
  19. Iyacc Augur

    At some point going faster on the XP just doesn't work. There's a cap per kill if I understand correctly and you'll hit that right out of the gate on this server without any of your finish bonuses.
  20. Ythera Augur


    I'm just contributing to the thread as to what server I want: a super fast paced server with a seasonal aspect to it. People said that Selos would be burnt out a long time ago, but it made it to the end with at least one raiding guild, so you don't know.