How about an Official in-game Poll so the Players can Decide the next TLP Server Ruleset?

I've seen a lot of great ideas posted here on the forums for rules and features for the next TLP servers due this May. In the past 3-4 since I've been playing on TLPs, I've never seen Darkpaw directly ask the player what they want in a TLP.

How about canvassing the players for their ideas for at least one of the next two TLP servers by means of an official in-game poll?

Various questions could be asked of the players:

• experience rate
• loot system (traditional or Mischief rules)
• TLP Expansion staring point (eg. Luclin with BST class and newbie amor quests)
• expansion interval unlock rate
• locked (eg. PoP locked) or unlocked
• server name ideas
• Truebox or non-Truebox

There are other optional features that could be added as well to help casual and time-starved hardcore players. Here are just a few ideas off the top of my head:

• GM quests and events
• no key requirements for all zones (this would help smaller guilds get into VP to gear up)
• no level restrictions for entering planar zones
• new Piggyback system for keyed zones (Sebilis, Howling Stones, Veeshan's Peak, Sleeper's Tomb, Vex Thall, etc.
• Mitigation of the Mighty abolished
• no summoning NPCs
• no experience loss when killed by a green NPC or via necro or shaman health drain
• new universal loot system introduced to address poor initial EQ itemization (Blackburrow, Crushbone, Befallen, Paw, Upper Guk, Runnyeye, Najena, Unrest, Solb, Solb, Perma, Upper Guk and Lower Guk, Fear, Sky and Hate)
• meaningful day and night cycle datasets

In 2023, I think Darkpaw is going to need to pull out all the stops to make the idea of another TLP server irresistible to those sitting on the fence. Some cool new features and asking the players directly in a poll what they would like to see might be the incentives they need. Thanks for listening.

They have done in game polls to decide that before and the results did not indicate that it worked.

Didn't people also troll the votes for that TLP which had a vote to unlock expansions? Yeah, let's have the community make a poll. I'm sure it will end well.

No thank you.

The biggest problem with "in game poll" is a free to play model and brigading.

Server McServerface is a thing.

You would need something like SurveyMonkey, the in game polling system is inadequate.

1a) Last expansion with TLP launch rate XP: None, Classic, Kunark... (typically LDoN)
1b) Last expansion with GoD TLP rate XP: None, Classic, Kunark... (typically DoN)
1c) Last expansion with DoDH TLP rate XP: None, Classic, Kunark... (typically PoR)

2a) Standard No Trade or FV No Trade
2b) Standard Group Loot drop rate or 0.5x or 1.5x or 2x...
2c) Randomized Group Loot yes/no
2d) Standard Raid Loot drop rate or 0.5x or 1.5x or 2x...
2e) Randomized Raid Loot yes/no

3a) Expansions open at launch: Classic, Kunark...
3b) Level cap at launch: 20, 30...
3c) Relaxed zoning rules yes/no
3d) Relaxed gearing rules yes/no
3e) Relaxed resist rates yes/no

4) Expansion unlock rate, a huge issue is that every TLP server since Combine/Sleeper has the same unlock rules for DoN and UF and Combine/Sleeper closed before UF release. The arguments over 8/4, 10/6, 12/8 only begin to scratch the surface, there is no logical reason DoN and UF should ever have the same unlock timeframe. So you probably have 4a - Classic 0/4/8/12/999, 4b - Kunark 0/4/8/12/999... 999 exists to lock the server, yes some Agnarr players would complain about a new expansion opening in 2042.

4.1) Level unlock rate there are so many options here, now that the tech exists there is even an argument for a Level 1 locked server so that names and guilds are sorted before the 'real' launch and of course some people would spend many hours a day at Level 1 for the tiny edge of farming Cracked Staffs and Spiderling Silk.

5) Server name would be Faceless or some other guild if you used the poll because they would all vote for that and no other name would have 100+ votes unless Boaty McBoatface gained some traction.

6a) Last expansion with 1 client per machine: None, Classic, Kunark...
6b-d) Last expansion with 2, 3, unlimited

7) Increased GM presence is something that presumably gets massive support, the poll would be about how much are you willing to pay.

8) Key/flag requirements you could probably narrow down to a reasonable number of options: Normal, Accelerated Drop Rate, Beat Previous Raid Tier, No Key/Flag. I think every raid that requires a Key/Flag as opposed to a level requirement already has 85 rules.

8.1) 85 Rules for group zones would be convenient, a keyed group in Sebilis has someone log, can replace them with someone unkeyed. Turning Trakanon's Teeth into one of the most dangerous zones in the game is probably a worse option than eliminating the keying requirement. Having 85 Rules for all zones instead of only PoP is presumably an option.

9) No MotM creates the issue that you don't have raid forces that are sufficiently large for later expansions, assuming of course those later expansions aren't already open when the server launches. Possibly guilds handle things really well and you have planned guild merges or simply have single guilds doing 10 Nagafen raids a week but it could definitely go really badly. Removing MotM much sooner is certainly an option, removing serverwide messages when you remove MotM is also an option. Poll options of last expansion with Classic MotM: None, Classic, Kunark...

10) 4 months out from launch and polling people for fundamental system changes is most likely too short of a timeline. No summoning would simply mean a lot of Bard Speed NPCs that are immune to changes in movement speed or that have ranged damage on par with their melee output. They already have no XP loss, it's $2 a month. Day and night would be horrible, 72 minutes in a zone and you have to leave for 72 minutes because it's all green or all red, you're in Infected Paw so during the day it turns to Classic Paw and you have to run your group to PoFire.

11) Group or even raid itemization is solved by Random loot, they could even tweak it further since you have things like Delver's Ruby that doesn't exist on Zam and is not in FV /buyer and it drops on Mischief. Just add Doug_035 to the random loot pool and voila you have Simple Defiant gear dropping from Level 50+ NPCs in Velious, hand crafting a bunch more gear for the early expansions is most likely never happening but Random loot provides the opportunity for so much flexibility.

Then of course you have the basic problems of polls that if 25% of the people pick 12 weeks of Classic and no other option has more votes what do you do? 60% of the people picked 4 weeks or shorter so to please the majority go with 4 weeks? Run another poll but only have the options of 12, 4, 2 and 0 which were the 4 options with the most votes? Just have the Devs do whatever they want and have a CSR post that whatever they do was the option the majority picked on the poll?

And if you drill down it gets even more messy, there are people who are big fans of random loot but find it really stupid that clearing PoFire is vastly more efficient than clearing PoTime so you would have options like Quarm is 5 rolls on the T1 loot table and Quavonis Firetail is 1 roll. Enter any zone and wear any gear at Level 1. Unlocking to GoD for launch but setting the Level cap to 50 and disabling zonelines/NPCs so you can only do Classic, Kunark, non-raid Velious, Luclin, LoY and LDoN.

Yeah, an in-game poll also only includes those already playing. Presumably they would want to re-capture new players or bring players back. Only asking those that still play wouldn't necessarily help that objective.

Hey, wait? finally, someone brought out a suggestion that is worthwhile getting a GM to respond to.

I doubt the 100 boxes accounts are all going to log in and sway the vote, if they do that is dedication.
I agree though keep it open for others to weigh in on.

I'd say...no thanks. There is no way an ingame poll would give any useful data.

The "I cant handle complex gameplay beyond Luclin" peeps arent subscribed anymore, waiting for the next rehash of their Guk fantasies.

You certainly wont catch any new players this way, since they...aren't in game.

The power gamers with 6-54 accounts can certainly sway the votes in ways that the more casual crowd may not like.

What players think they want, and what they actually want isn't always the same.

Trolling is a thing.

I want to know how many kronos per month it takes for a dedicated/gated server that a guild can run(not modify) and choose who has access.

If the players are deciding, then it's less an attitudinal poll/survey and more of a governance vote. Majority rule game design never really caught on because players aren't really the best designers of games. Moreover, the complexity of administering such a vote justly is incredibly complex in an enthronement with so many sub-demographics that will certainly demand different levels of authority.

1. Years played
2. Years subscribed
3. F2P vs. Paid
4. Real human vs. Credit Card vs. Account

It could be very novel and get headlines (good and bad), but it could also be a colossal waste of investment.

That's not to say it can't or shouldn't be done, but that the work to ensure that it's done well is extreme. I think for the original proposal to be considered, a process that can be reasonably executed within Daybreak's current staffing levels needs to be proposed as well.

Zero! There's emus for that

They did this once and we ended up with Mayong, a Live server with a level 51 + 50 AA start instead of a progression server.

pure democracy sucks

trust me, I play stellaris

There are a few regular forum posters that are opposed to having a poll. Some have claimed the results were disastrous. Their glass of water is usually half empty. The same logic can be used to attack the democratic process in real life: Why have elections at all, when the same rationale applies? Why should governments even bother holding town hall meetings and consulting the electorate?

The same logic can also apply to the forums too. If players are not deemed worthy to voice their preferences for a future TLP server in a poll, then why should we allow them to post their TLP opinions on the forums?

There is a built in poll mechanic in EverQuest, so at one point in time the developers thought that consulting players was a good thing to do. In all the years of player EQ, I've never once seen a poll where I as a paying customer was asked for my feedback. I believe there was one time where the devs asked players what they wanted to see in a future expansion.

The idea of having a poll is not to let users decide every single feature of a TLP server, it's to gauge interest in various ideas. Then with the data, the devs judiciously create the server based on their expertise as MMO developers knowing what is feasible and what is not feasible.

The success of EQ is based on the continued satisfaction of the players. If players see new TLP servers that don't interest them or satisfy their needs, then fewer players will keep playing and Darkpaw will earn less revenue. TLP servers are a big part of Darkpaw's revenue.

I think consulting players (via polls or on the forums directly) is a good idea because it helps makes players feel welcome and it builds community. It's also an act of inclusivity that demonstrates openness and transparency. It would not hurt for the developers to show a bit of humility and ask the opinion of the players with some reasonable regularity.

Yes, at one point in time the company did think that polling players was a good idea, however there is a reason that they no longer user that mechanic. Turns out that the results from the polls didn't always work out as expected.

So, think of this idea in terms of which guild has the most votes. How does letting the zerg guilds decide your server rules sound?

I mean, when’s the last time we saw a player voted expansion unlock TLP? If they don’t do that anymore, they definitely won’t do this.

Because a poll’s results may not be the actual result we get and people will be upset because they think the poll is the only thing that counts.

It could be an input, but that is all it is. No matter how many ways you explain the meaning of the poll, people will be wildly upset that the result of the poll is not what they actually get.

So…. Better to not do one and potentially read the forums to get a sense of what players talk about without any formal company sponsored poll or discussion.