Should there be a place in Everquest for a player like me

both me and wife box. at one time we did use 3rd party auto stuff and we got hit and stopped. But for both of us it was a nice thing to have. Mostly because we are both disable and sometimes have to just stop with little to no warning. Its one thing if we are group with members of our guild or close friends who know whats going on and understand. Its another when we can't get a group like that and have to decide to go lfg for a pickup group or go box to do anything. We been yelled at in pickup groups.

It be nice if there was was of getting everything done in game with just 1 toon and a merc. what comes to mind is back when ldon and such that had different levels of difficulty. So say they set it so you can only get the easy mode if you have say no more then 2 people in your group. any more and you have to get a higher mode to play.

where its doing their own version of auto play or making more solo/molo stuff they gota do something.

I dont like the idea of a prison server. EQ2 has one and they get no dev support. Just let the normal people be and go after the big fish that are causing the actual problem.

There are quite a few things that should be base game and they have taken stuff in the past from 3rd party software and made it base game, bandoliers for instance.

This was never true, I knew people who were doing this in 1999 and had no issues doing it myself at Kunark launch once it became clear a solo Ranger had limitations.

I think the OP has some very valid points and presents a good summary of where EQ is today in its lifecycle. This player base is very different to where it was at launch, most have to fit in EQ around jobs and family life - gone are the days when you can spend hours looking for group to complete content. The developers have evolved the game over the years to address this change including things like timeboxing raid events and creating instances but there are some aspects of the game that just haven't caught up hence the massive increase in boxing over the years.

Its DB's game and they set the rules but like it or not boxing forms a critical revenue stream which supports the ongoing game development. I'd like it if DBG looked at the problem statement(s) and use cases and started to address these within the game.

The only thing stopping using multiple accounts back in '99 was how many phone lines you had. Since it took one phone line per computer to log into the game.

While I understand where you are coming from in that priorities in life change as we get older and we generally have less time to enjoy games like EQ, I am very glad they are finally taking a stand against all the botting/cheating that has been going on for years.

I play on FV which is/was infested with botters to the level I think is unseen on other servers just due to the unique rule-set. Even the raids were being botted by a few people automating dozens of characters.

In my raiding experience over the years, I have seen a multitude of players come and go with our raid team that were obviously using some type of 3rd party program on raids to get an edge as it's usually very obvious if the person uses them long enough. Like melee players warping directly to mobs even though they are hidden by zone geometry and are not even visible. I won't name the program that allows this type of stuff, but this is just one example of many.

It's pretty obvious just how widespread the issue really was when we now have players consistently missing raids that were always near 100% attendance levels due to the recent crackdowns and bans/suspensions. I always knew it was a big issue, but it was pretty crazy to see just how pervasive the issue really was when the bans started.

So to answer the OP's question, no I don't think there is any place in the game for people that want to "cheat" or try to use some type of 3rd party program to get an advantage over other players. I am ecstatic to see them finally taking a stand against this as I had essentially given up on them ever enforcing their own rules.

Seems like a new extra ruleset server is needed. One where 3rd party programs are allowed. Instead of banning accounts just move them to this server. Server name: Discord.

This guy can't get to level 91 without cheating. I say let him use Automated programs so he can feel what level 104 is like 0.o

Actually, it isn't quite as simple as that. The challenge is to write the code to do it, to perfect the code, to update the code when changes occur, and to fine tune the code with newer content. It is an ongoing process that challenges people who write codes.

The real answer is that you can just 6 box without using automation. There is enough legal programs to make farming trivial for a 6boxer, just not automated.

That said, the game is sick. It has been sick for a long time. The hoops the average player has to go through to enjoy the content is beyond imagination to any other game company. The loyal player base is the life support that pays the bills, but the game has been dying for 4-5 years.

-No class development in years
-Rehashed hamster wheel expansions that literally just change numbers
-No new game play features (Overseer is idler garbage tech and part of the problem)
-No communication that they even realize the above game destroying trends are even problems...

EQ is a hamster wheel itself which is the basic concept of most MMOs. The evolved TRoK, TSoV and TSoL expansions are just pushing it to the edge and are a bit dissapointing and predictable. Not sure if PoP v2 will be the next expansions but it would make the game even more boring. A new PoK could be interesting but I am sure that this zone would be excluded. I would prefer expansions that do get embedded into old zones in the style of LDoN and which do extend old zones. There are so many blocked zone borders like in Jaggedpine Forest that might had led to zones that never got finished. Why not expand PoK with some tunnels, teleportation pads (like in Erudin and Paineel) and floating isles that offer portals to new and existing zones/expansions and making movement inside PoK faster.

The ogre dwarven war would be a great theme for a new expansion that does connect to old zones and the history of Norrath. Most of it would be on Faydwer in the style of the SoD expansion which has such great lore.

https://everquest.fanra.info/wiki/The_First_Ogre_Dwarven_War
https://everquest.allakhazam.com/wiki/Beta_Lore#THE_OGRE_-_DWARVEN_WAR

You would think customers that pay for 6 or more accounts would get to use them. Everquest is a terrible game that is dying simply because the player base is getting old. People are arguing over how a rotting corpse should be buried.

Let people play the way they want to play as long as they aren't stealing your camps. Chances are if you aren't a terrible player they will let you in your group anyway.

But hey, I'm not a dev so it's out my hands.

Noone is stopping you from playing multiple accounts. The problem is when you make your computer play those accounts.

Boxing (playing multiple characters) - Ok.
Botting (automating characters) - Not ok.

@op yes, there should be place in EQ for you, but outside the mythical prison server, there never will be.

while you might use the 3rd party tools to replace real people, doing nothing actual people couldn’t do, there is some miscreant—boxing six vah shir no doubt—warping, camping the same mobs for 5 day stretches, and updating his 6 bazaar bot prices every 30 seconds.

you allow people to use the Force, you’re going to get Sith and Jedi.

Boxing isn't the issue, pretty much everyone boxes at some point. It's the chaotic way you need to do it, that is the issue. I agree that the people abusing the 3rd party software should be removed. But the funny thing is, those guys are still all up and running full bore and random nobodies are getting suspended.

At least a better UI or a way to set an auto assist or something on your characters, that reacts like a merc maybe. What's the difference if I use a merc healer or my cleric does the healing? I'm not saying full automation, just an auto assist and a simple few line script that can run, like a hot button. Let my ranger start firing his bow and cast a few spells or my rogue get behind the mob and auto attack. Don't make me have to tab over to another screen, figure out which is which, see my tank going down in hps, get all frustrated and annoyed. I just want to enjoy my toons and have fun in a GAME. I pay for 6 accounts, I want to play them all. I don't want to do anything I couldn't do normally, just do it in a less stressful and frustrating way.

this would be nice. say give use a way to have say one hotbar per alt that when you hit a key on that hotbar it give a simple macro command to that toon.

Or perhaps have the ability to link hotbars between characters, where just the button activation is copied over. So pressing button 1 in hotbar 10 in the main window would press button 1 in hotbar 10 of the linked window.

You just described IS Boxer which is legal.

There are HUGE gaps between...
1 Character
molo
3-boxing with mercs
6-botting
AFK automation
botting a raid...

Any reasonable conversation on the topic doesn't mash all these into two complete polarities.

At the end of the day, for 3 players/boxing those 3 mercs are legal automated gameplay. It's not cheating, (if not AFK). But it IS 1st party automation.

Make no confusion. (1st party) Automation is accepted in EQ. The amount and the source is a line drawn in the sand by DPG.

Moving that line is at the discretion of DPG. It shouldn't be moved very far, but adding some more add on options in the same place as adding bonus XP or traders bags would be the place to do it if they so chose.

One of those options would be to allow server side assisting of a subscribed character. This can be controlled. Limiting by IP. Requiring X# of keypresses per minute. Etc. It's also more sterile, because there are no places for extras. This would allow limited functionality for boxers so they can outsource some repetitive mundane boxing tasks to the server, for a fee of course, but it wouldn't be very disruptive, because the devs would control what players can do.

The other option would be for adding a second merc. I haven't done any of the 3 add on options, but I would be down for adding a second merc for sure. Being an ENC main, having a tank and a cleric merc would move me from having high risk / low reward charming as my only molo option to being able to molo... anywhere... Functionally, adding a box did this anyway, since my box comes with a merc, so now I have a tank and a cleric merc anyway.