There is an obvious dichotomy in customer expectations/desires for TLP servers going forward. Group A: True-box. These players actually like playing classic content - it's what keeps bringing them back for now. They tend to retire from the TLP once it reaches Luclin or Pop and are almost entirely gone once OOW is unlocked. They'd like the game slowed down with incentive to quest and gear up midgame rather than simply rushing to max level. They'd prefer skillful small-medium sized guilds to raid with that require proper resistance gear/potions once they reach the end game rather than zerging content with max raid sizes. Group B: Software/hardware assisted box groups/raids. These players claim to dislike all the content until PoP but keep coming back to TLPs anyways. The primary goal for these players is to rush to max level and then farm krono and raid with 11 other players each boxing a full group. Finishing most quests and building out complete equipment sets from each expansion is not important because the expectation is that each expansion should only be live for a few weeks until the next is unlocked. IMO it would be wise to focus on improving the TLP experience with these two very different groups in mind, releasing two TLPs with rule sets and improvements catered to each, instead of trying to create rulesets that attempt to appease everyone in a single TLP. Improvements for Group A could include polishing content up to Velious, and perhaps SoL and Pop if there is a desire for it. Continue to remove toxic bottlenecks for keys and quests. Improve loot tables which would actually allow certain parts of the game to be finished, i.e. Plane of Sky quests. Fix broken/unfinished quests and expand on them and add achievements with awards/titles for midgame content, i.e like several Kunark quests were for the Agnarr launch. Look for possible undiscovered recipes associated with the hundreds of items that have purportedly never even been spawned into the game - per an old dev interview. And eventually if these servers became successful enough, run these TLPs on a dedicated patcher so that revamped zones/models could be reverted back to their originals and then 'new' classic content added, i.e. the original unfinished zones of which many were added in later expansions. They could also have slight tweaks in rulesets such as free trade and exp rates. Group B of course would be boxing servers and would be the perfect platform for "experimentation" TLPs that have been tried with varying levels of success.
Why is everyone harping on that fact the J Chan on mentioned TLP in singular? Mischief was supposed to also only be one TLP. And how do you know what the server rules won’t make both of your category of players happy? You don’t.
Thornblade is a (dead) clone of mischief, so even if there are 2 TLP in the same vein as Mischief, it's still really only 1 ruleset. C>>>>>>A+B
Group C - people with enough knowledge to know that this group A and B the OP has categorized is complete nonsense? Oh, and: They'd prefer skillful small-medium sized guilds - That put a smile on my face! More quality posts like this please!
It's pretty much true I think. Wouldn't it be great if the new change to TLPs that they are talking about is Brutally efficient true box enforcement and third party software detection?
Made a TLDR for you. The two types of players are A - My playstyle, the good one B- The playstyle I don't like, the bad one. DPG should make my playstyle better and banish all the people who play in a manner I don't like to another server.
Where they messed up with Thornblade was not merging it. TLP’s absolutely need 2 servers when initially released, but they need merged after Kunark.
It could be practically anything considering how broad a brush you stroked initially. Example: Group C Those who do a TLP and progress through all the content who don't let outside factors ruin their fun because they are with friends and like-minded guildies who enjoy all the content the game has to offer. They get to see how the game progressed, you know, like the original intent of a TLP, while playing in both group-based and raid-based content. They don't prefer for the mundane early eras of tank and snooze which lacks a lot of content and they prefer not to multi-box because they, again, have friends and guildies to do the content with. Many don't use much software other than the approved software such as GINA. These players have done maybe a couple TLPs at the most and in each one progressed further than 99% of Group A's population and they have also played more legitimately, apparently, then a majority of Group B.
Do you have a source on this? It's been clarified that there are no scripts or 3rd party software at all, that are "approved," as far as I am aware. I would love to hear that GINA is approved though so I can link it in my resource post! source: https://forums.daybreakgames.com/eq/index.php?threads/is-gamparse-legal-to-use.284962/#post-4160214
A dev said GINA, unlike other 3rd party software, was acceptable on these forums many moons ago, but good luck finding the post. And it's very possible that dev was out of line in making the statement; it could have been his personal opinion rather than company policy. But since the current devs and community managers won't come out and say, specifically, whether that old dev post was accurate or not ... either "GINA is acceptable" or "GINA is not acceptable" ... well, you end up with the current state of confusion.
No 3rd party software is ever "approved" and never will be unless Darkpaw have full control of it themselves, because if it isn't 100% under their control it can be altered. What they have done is say words to the effect that some programs in their current iterations do not presently infringe upon the game and the pursuit of fair-play, in that they do not confer an unfair advantage at that moment by working the way they do at that time. And some programs are used in a way that does impact the game negatively & confer an unfair advantage to those using them, and those are the ones Darkpaw really does not like & will ban you for if they find evidence you use them. If something is not "in the spirit of the game" you definitely shouldn't be using it.
I am group A. However I love Luclin.Lots of interesting quests to do. Next TLP I'm doing the keying for Emperor Seru, it seems like its always 1 person does it and thats that, well thats gonna be me the next go around. GoD is also fun, next go around I will complete BiC in era.
