Hi, been waiting since the start of TLPs for this. I don't have a lot of time to play, so I would love a 6-month / 1-year unlocks TLP server so I could keep up. I do love the first few expansions more than the later ones, but I don't want the server to stop at PoP or Luclin - just stay on each expansion long enough to thoroughly enjoy the content as a casual. Thanks just my 2 cp.
The amount of people that want 6 months to a year of classic, kunark, velious, etc would be very small.
I mean the total amount of people isn’t too small, they just play over on p99. Although would a “p99” server with QoL, picks and dz’s do well?
With how TLP populations normally work, I'd say no. A fairly high amount of players stop logging in once an expansion has been going for a while, their characters are maxed, and so on, and then start playing more when new content is out.
I think a long unlock works IF you couple it with a time lock... People love classic trilogy, but they also love progression, so once you get to the lock population dries up a lot. However, if there is no lock then you end up getting to midlife crisis EQ and those expacs just crush people's soul and a long expac will just slowly grind away at the pop until its dead. Basically, when it comes down to it p99 has done the test already... slow expansions and an eventual lock. There is a large portion of people who love this... since it's basically how eq actually was as we remember it.
a dull trilogy slog server would be great for the current servers so I fully support it. Make it 12 months an expansion so you can really savor this 7th annual rehash
I wouldn't mind it, would def need 2 servers though. 1 being longer unlocks with the other perhaps being shorter. However, I'm pretty sure they already have the ruleset firmly in mind for the May release already.
A server dedicated to people who can only log in 2-3 hours a week is inherently flawed - you can't plan an active server around inactive players.
The problem with longer unlock TLP & locked at expansion X TLP is the same... Too few people agree on the cadence. Unlocks - 4 month, 6 month, 8 month,12 month (seen all these asked for) Expansion locks - Luclin, PoP, LDoN, GoD, OoW, DoDH, PoR, TSS (seen all of these asked for) And the amount of players asking for any one version/cadence of the above is very small. Agnarr worked for 2 main reasons, a big forum appeal for a PoP-Locked server & a community of Apple Mac players whose version of EQ stopped at PoP that were looking for a new home after their server, Al Kabor, was closed. Wheras we have seen numbers on 3 month unlock servers be very high, too high for one server multiple times. And there is still an appetite to abbreviate the TLP experience a bit more with plenty of players suggested certain expansions being merged or shortened. As recently as Mischief.Thornblade we saw LDoN get whittled down to 1 month from 2 and I expect there to be some movement on other expansions being shortened, with the expansions in the 70 era being prime candidates for compression. Basically what you are asking for is going against the flow of the stream, everything is heading for a faster TLP run from classic to live - and there is a very good reason why it should, every year the TLP lifespan is extended by the new live expansion.
Essentially every TLP has been a fast-unlock server geared towards hardcore raiders that get bored quickly. It would be a good business decision to also make servers that attract casual and new players.
Live servers used to be good for casual and new players a long time ago when things were simple, but it's not that way anymore. Jumping into the 28th expansion with all its gear slots, spell ranks, augments, tributes, currencies, mercs, and whatever else they jammed in there in the past three decades is overwhelming for casual and new players.
I know all about that "overwhelming". I quit in 2008 after beta testing SoD, I returned to live in 2015 before moving to the Ragefire TLP then Phinigel TLP. It takes time to fill-in the "knowledge gap" that exists after a long break from the game. A lot of players will have considered themselves "knowledgable" or even (mistakenly) "skilled" players prior to taking a hiatus from the game & upon returning there may have been so many things change about the game that they feel completely out of their depth, they pretty much feel like a noob all over again. Players think that just because they were hot-stuff when they quit they will be able to jump right back in & be cool, doesn't work like that & the shock of that realisation is too much for some to handle. But it's actually very simple and straightforward to overcome that sense of being overwhelmed, First off, number one no BS tip is - just read. Read every AA description, every ability & spell description, and read up a whole bunch of great guides that players have put together, even watch YouTube videos. Heck if you are really struggling go back to the Tutorial - I was, so I did. For probably the whole of my first evening back I spent time just getting the UI set up. Second third & fourth days, reading, watching guide videos running through the tutorial etc. Fifth day I started doing the same for my Shaman. Seventh day started doing the same on my Bard. Eighth day I was 3 boxing level 80 group stuff and got all 3 of those to 85 in short order as well as got them the t5 mercs & I then started levelling a whole bunch of alts. I then took the TLP route to play with old guildies, Ragefire from midway through Classic to the end of Velious then Phinigel from GoD onwards. Non Boxing, Live Servers will mean finding a guild or playing a solo class but once you catch up to live, they are the best place for casuals by far. I am absolutely an advocate for better catch-up mechanisms for new players, returners & casuals, and that's why I constantly push the "sidekick system" idea.
What on God's green Earth would you do in Classic-Velious for 6-12 months other than lose your mind due to lack of content? Once you hit 50/60 you get to....farm plat in the same zone? Yippee! Raid targets which drop trash to glorified group gear outside a select few items? Joyous!
You've posted this same falsehood in multiple threads. Live severs do NOT force you into current live content. You roll a level 1, optionally do the tutorial for its gear (plus it's a fun zone), and then go to either Crescent Reach or the old world starter zone of your choice. Plus... and get this... it's FREE!
This is what I would vote for - personally, this might be my last foray into EQ and it would be great if we could get a "marathon" TLP of sorts that really caters to 30-40 year old's with spouses and kids. Unfortunately, the game is so well-documented and rehearsed that any type of TLP like this would need to have some relatively large modifications to facilitate this "slow down". I think some of the best methods would be to make Norrath "big" again, try to restore the game to it's more difficult previous version, and mix some things up. I would propose something involving major game functionality changes like slower exp, some exp-catchup mechanic, less player power, more NPC power, ZEM re-working (and maybe make outdoor zones at least somewhat viable for exp), make faction matter more, remove crazy city guard buffs, revamp tradeskills to make the results of them more useful, and some reconfiguring of quest items / loot (i.e. make most "quest" items actually useful, change some item stats around, change the NPCs that carry them, maybe allow newbie quests at classic, etc.). I would also support other game functionality changes like further nerfing charm, make porting require costly reagents (possibly trade-skill makeable as well), re-instate indoor/outdoor spell requirements, remove lockpicking from bards (make rogues less worthless!), make all purchased spells no-drop and allow ALL spells to be researched in era (for a cost...), impose large postage fees on parcels, keep origin but make it require a costly reagent and other various things that might improve the lore of the game. In essence, my dream TLP would be one where the EXP is vastly slowed down, the world feels bigger because it's not so easy to travel great distances, the game is more difficult, and there's enough "new" stuff so that the game doesn't just feel like a slog. It feels like all the new TLPs are catered to the high play-time folks and almost squarely on raiding - it would be nice for once to have a server dedicated to casuals who like the other 90% of the game. All of this, however, is based on the assumption that something can be done about the ridiculous amount of cheating that occurs. Fun fact - the words "g r e a t -- a g a i n" get hidden by the forum algorithm - hilarious.
Don't know about most expansions but PoP needs to be shortened, everywhere, always. The PoP-LDoN lull is real on every TLP thus far. And just skip PoR while at it.
