Bring Back Live GM Events

Discussion in 'Time Locked Progression Servers' started by Allworth, Oct 28, 2021.

  1. Allworth Elder

    One of the magical things about EverQuest is anything could happen in Norrath. Back in the golden years of EQ, undead invasions and visitations by dragon and deities was not uncommon. The sky would turn blood red, mobs would start spawning with new drops. These events were legendary and players would talk about them for months.

    The inclusion of live GM and Guide dynamic events and quests gave players the sense that EQ was a living breathing world. Back then, GM were gamemasters in the Dungeons & Dragons sense and not just mere customer service reps as they are today. GMs were given the opportunity to play gods and dragons and face off against the players. GMs loved doing this and players loved being a part of it. This brought a lot of fun, excitement and unpredictability to the EQ experience. Some would argue that this is exactly what is missing from most modern MMOs.

    What happened?

    Today, we have no live GM events or invasions. Nothing changes in Norrath because everything is scripted. When is the last time a Darkpaw dev or a GM logged on and toke the role of a deity or a dragon and invaded a zone and entertained the players?

    These events were a big part of the EverQuest experience back then. The original devs like Brad McQuaid and Jeff Butler understood and promoted the notion that EQ was an evolution of D&D where live events would be an integral part of a persistent fantasy virtual world. They had special GM teams that were hand selected to perform these invasions and quests.

    Where are the esteemed devs in all of this?

    You are in the entertainment business. Why do you not want to entertain your players?

    The developers seem to have forgotten the live events were one of core principles and values of EverQuest. There is nothing stopping them from running these events in their spare time. All of them have GM admin accounts and could easily do so. There is nothing stopping Darkpaw from hiring more GMs to run these quests and event. Daybreak games is profiting handsomely from EQ TLP servers, they have more than enough revenue.

    Lots of people love reliving the classic EQ experience on TLP servers. But players aren't getting the full classic experience that includes live GM events and quests. These event are the stuff of legend and many old players remember them with fondness. I think Darkpaw should consider bringing them back and encouraging their employees to participate in them.

    TL;DR: Bring back live quests and events to Norrath
    Aenvar likes this.
  2. Tweakfour17 Augur

    They've done them on a smaller scale fairly recently and almost every time someone has come to the forums to complain because they weren't online when it happened. I don't really blame them for not doing them often. Also they have like 20 servers, you could do 1 per business day and it'd be a month before your server got another and thats with someone doing it every single day.
  3. suinegEQ Elder

    They do this on FV a lot, why are you posting this in the TLP section?
  4. bardybard Augur

    No matter how hard you try you will not be able to relive your childhood
  5. Zipe The Healer

    Hello,
    Do you know about the guide program? There are constant Guide events around all servers. Most, if not all of them, need you to be lvl 1-5 at max to participate (kill lvl 4 gnolls, for example). What I mean, is that if you wanted to participate on a guide event almost every day, all you would have to do is check https://forums.daybreakgames.com/guide/index.php?forums/everquest-guide-events.321/ and log on the server that it is being run. Or wait for it being done on your server (they usually schedule it a couple of days in advance, but that often isn't true because it depends on the guides).

    They are not GM's, but I also don't know if you actually are confusing the term. They can run some small scripts that are defined, they can give rewards, etc.

    Besides that, I was about to not reply to your thread becuase I found this comments really... strange.

    So you must do your work shift, then go home, and continue working during your spare time? Ok.

    You mean, literaly nothing? wow, you must know their accounting very well if you are capable to say if they can hire more people or nope.

    Again, you know their accounting? This isn't a business with 10 guys bro. It's a corporate. DPG-EQ1-Branch getting money doesn't mean DPG-EQ1-Branch gets all its earnings reinvested on itself.. There are... other business inside the business... shareholders... etc......... again DPG isn't a bro company crafting beers for the neighborhood.

    Besides, you are assuming DPG-EQ1-Branch is getting profit. Because you talk like if you know their accounting. Seeing your bros buying exp pots and 40 slot bags doesn't mean DPG-EQ1-Branch gets any profit at all.

    But well, you talked about revenue, I am talking about profit. Sure, they have revenue. But do they have profit? And, do they want to invest this profit in DPG-EQ1-Branch? You can ask the new EG7 CEO because maybe he knows. Do you want to know what I know? That I am sure that you don't know their accounting.

    Hmm encourage how! Paying them more to run GM events?! hehe


    Man, they can barely finish an expansion and you want them to run GM events for the 12413th TLP being ran and the one you happened to play.

    I am sorry but I can't support your post.

    You have the Guide program events.

    Good luck and have fun.
    Iyacc likes this.
  6. Allworth Elder

    Your misrepresenting what I said. Many developers in the early years logged on to EQ and played the role of deities. I've talked with may SOE devs and GMs in the early years and they had a blast doing invasions. They did it because it was FUN. If a MMORPG dev considers being an active participant in a grand invasion of Norrath "work" then they are probably are in the wrong occupation.

    Here are some quotes lifted directly from the Darkpaw website that use words like community, passion and enthusiasts -- this is not the terminology one would use to describe assembly line workers in a sweatshop:

    I didn't say anything about forcing devs to do this in their spare them. I said "there is nothing stopping them". If devs wish to run events they are free to do so. There are no impediments to them doing so.

    Many country music stars have fan days where they sign autographs and do meetups with the fans. They don't get paid to to his, they do it because they appreciate the loyalty of their fans and they want to reciprocate that loyalty.

    There at least 7 dedicated EQ devs. It wouldn't kill them to band together to spend one hour a month to run some grand scale invasions in Norrath. Either on the clock on on their free time. They could pick a different server every month. You know what? It would be a mind-blowing experience for both them and the players.

    Have you ever been a part of a large scale invasion live event in EverQuest?

    Based on your attitude I'm sensing you have not or you just don't appreciate the level of immersion and excitement that happens when a massive live event happens. (I'm not talking about a guide handing out cookies and Voltron's Ale.) I have witnessed invasions many times, they were incredible.

    Halloween is coming this week and it brought back a lot of special Norrath memories, so that's why I made this post. It's sad to see how many EQ players have forgotten about how fantastic Halloween events were back in the day or maybe they have never been part of one. EverQuest today is a mere shadow of it's former self and it's not surprising that the gatekeepers in the forum community have such low expectations of the devs and are quite content to defend the status quo.

    EverQuest classic was full of live events, but not TLP servers. I asked the question: what happened?

    I think I know: SOE and Daybreak didn't run out of money, they ran out of passion.
  7. Yinla Ye Ol' Dragon

    Mischief doesn't have guide events.

    https://forums.daybreakgames.com/gu...-there-any-guides-on-mischief-server.5373683/
    Zipe likes this.
  8. Zipe The Healer

  9. Zipe The Healer

    You mean the same passion that brought Holly to lead Wow-classic and leave DPG?
    On your first post I thought you measured accountancy of DPG in a wrong way.
    Now I think you are measuring passion and what motivates human beings in a wrong way.

    Oh, and btw, I am not defending any status quo. I am just having fun while imagining the world full of pink and rainbows that you are describing where people work just for the passion of it instead of getting paid.
  10. Gnothappening Augur

    I may be the outlier here but I would prefer less GM/Guide presence overall. I think Karendune showed us what happens when the QQ crowd thinks there is an active GM presence. They start reporting anyone who has a camp they want as botting.
  11. Karreck Somebody

    Yes there is. It's called Work/Life balance. Devs work full days at DPG, they shouldn't work in their off time to satisfy you.
    Why do folks keep coming to these forums demanding Devs work in their off time?
    Stymie likes this.
  12. Allworth Elder


    I never "demanded" devs work in their free time. Any dev that considers it "work" to be running an invasion once a month for an hour in their spare time to help make Norrath more of a living and breather fantasy virtual world is probably in the wrong business. There are thousands of EQ fans who are game designers, artists and producers who would gladly step up and do this in their leisure time, not because it's work, but because it's fun. I'm not talking about passing out cookies as guides, I'm talking about serious live events.

    Since EverQuest is a role-playing game, developers should expect be appreciative, enthusiastic and supportive about role-playing and that includes RPing in live/dynamic events. I personally think Darkpaw should have require developers or GM actors to write, orchestrate and perform live quests and invasions on the clock. Many big tech companies set aside one day a month where their staff can engage in creative projects and much of the innovation (that contributes to future revenue) comes from these special days. It's also a good opportunity for devs to interact with their players/customers.

    For those handful of contrarian forum warriors opposed to live quests and events, did you also oppose them when they existed in the first few years of EQ's history? The original dev team including Brad McQuaid, Jeff Butler, Amanda Flock, Lydia Pope and many others were fiercely committed to live and dynamic Norrath. Back then, we had lot of live events/invasions, alternate datasets for zones and much more.

    Part of the magic of EverQuest was that you never knew what would happen. Many devs have found memories of EverQuest because of that. There is no reason why all of us can't have that experience again that would elevate EQ and put it back on the map. It's a matter of having the will and having the passion on the part of Darkpaw Games. Only they can make it happen. We as players should be holding them to their promises that they've made on their website.
    Zipe likes this.
  13. Zipe The Healer

    I stopped reading there.
    PD: I loved how he used the word "orchestrate". I am having an epistemology orgasm.
    [IMG]
  14. Machen New Member


    We should probably just fire them all now. Lazy devs that want to be paid for their time, that's not what EQ needs!
    Karreck likes this.
  15. Nolrog Augur

    Yes, please stop making things like raids and expansions and focus on live events. After all "You are in the entertainment business. Why do you not want to entertain your players?"
  16. Arctodus Elder

    I agree on to much focus on raiding. When you have to start calling gear, spells, etc. with ranks it is time to consolidate. Grouping is fun to me but people would rather box on their own. I went to raids when playing on Riz just to talk to some folks on discord.
  17. Skuz I am become Wrath, the Destroyer of Worlds.

    EQ could start putting GM events back into the game if it wanted to, but it won't.

    That's the old EQ when it was top dog & had 250-500k active individual players, and 2-4 GM per-server not maybe 30-40k with 2+ accounts each & 2-4 GM for the entire game.

    I think there are a lot of things that would need to happen before we ever see GM running events for players like the old days, we are nowehere near where the game needs to be for that to be something it will entertain doing.
    Stymie likes this.
  18. Yinla Ye Ol' Dragon

    The last GM even on EQ servers was in 2012, with the help of the guide program
    https://everquest.allakhazam.com/story.html?story=30723

    Sadly since then we lost Zatosia as a GM. She was also responsible for the Halloween events we had back in 2001, which unfortunately were deleted and are no longer available.

    The EQ team is smaller now than it was back then, although it has recently increased in size. I'd like to see GM events return but not at he expense of fixing/revamping other things. EG epic fixes, keying improvements etc.
    Skuz likes this.
  19. Karreck Somebody

    Nobody should be forced to work off the clock. Either by direct order or by indirect "good for the game!" nonsense. Devs are people with lives, families, and hobbies of their own. They should be allowed to focus on their personal passions in their off-time instead of being shamed by whiny forum posters who only care about their own wants.

    I am opposed to you insisting that Devs run GM events on their off time. Nobody should work for free. Labor has value and that value should be respected. Insisting that somebody provide you their labor for free is disrespectful and arrogant.


    But there is a solution!
    You want more events? Apply for the Guide program. You can pitch your idea and start from the bottom to create a more interactive experience.
    https://forums.daybreakgames.com/guide/index.php?threads/guide-program-application.5361330/

    Or Apply to work for Daybreak. Change the system from the inside.
    https://www.daybreakgames.com/careers?department=game_design
    Stymie, Skuz, code-zero and 2 others like this.
  20. Waring_McMarrin Augur

    Yinla likes this.