EverQuest Producer’s Letter April 2023

Also that FTE was built into them from the get-go and encounters were specifically designed with that in mind. The leashing radius, the pull numbers, the social agro, all of that was made with FTE in mind from day naught so it makes sense there. It fundamentally changes how many encounters will work with this agro and break several raid event scripts. This isn't going to be a simple switch flip and everything in this super old code base is going to play nice. I'm not targeting you, specifically, just piggybacking.

Actually WoW got rid of encounter locking as it wasn't a good feature.

Actually, this appears to be just for classic, and that's it.

Not sure what the fuss is about then. lol

Edit: I am referring to the FTE/Encounter Locking specifically

Hows does the bonus exp equate to other TLP server exp rate? Is this like agnarr exp rate? or slow like Phinny?

There is no positive effects of this. There are super griefing effects. This is only a financial decision to try to get people to buy more exp potions directly from daybreak themselves instead of paying chinese power levelers.

You know how enchanter's aoe stun spells were nerfed to share cooldown? That was done as a poor attempt to stop PL groups. It only had the unintended consequence of nerfing people who were using the stuns for other legitimate purposes. It didn't work to stop PL groups and anyone with half a brain cell can see why it never could have worked. They just throw more enchanters at the problem.

Encounter locking completely destroys PL groups.

Without PL groups it will take much longer for people to max out their AAs so they want the only solution to make it faster to be paying dark paw themselves directly for exp potions instead of paying PLers to make it faster.

Encounter Locking is 100% going to lose them money. This severely limits the utility of boxing because it breaks even normal PLing (see my previous posts for that). People who previously bought PLs (again, not me) will probably more likely stop playing than all of a sudden start buying XP potions and joining groups. The increase in griefing this is going to cause will increase their support costs, not decrease it.

If they wanted to stop AE PLing, there's so many other ways they could have done it without breaking the core game.

I didn't say it was the only way. I said its the way they chose to implement. I never accused them of making intelligent decisions.

Restoring the separate stun timers as they no longer need to be nerfed is a great idea!

I also hope the FTE convo isn't the end-all, be-all of feedback they look at. Like Legacy characters need a bit more spice. And since Free Trade is popular but I don't think we'll see another FT server for a bit, why not make items Heirloom to fit the "Legacy" theme

The announcement was clear that the evolving features are unlocked and stay unless overwritten by a higher valued version.

The bonus's they are giving each expansion need reworked. Most of them are completely lackluster and barely add any flavor. Any decent bonus is over a year away at server launch and will not help with player retention. People don't stick around hoping it will get better.

FTE is a silly concept in a game that allows people to lock down mobs without recourse for hours on end. A bard could 90% afk mez an entire room of named mobs in almost every expansion. The way people got around that was killing the mob that someone tried to lock down, but now we won't be able to do that?

Add free trade like seriously omg how just ugh can you people be. All year people have begged for a new mischief type of server and like you just don't give a crap? Whoever is overseeing your department needs to really find a competent person to reign these silly ideas in and give the people what they want. How can you make phinny clone #14 but not even a mischief clone #2.

I posted the below yesterday in the TLP forum but wanted to post it here as I've been told that the GMs have requested that feedback be provided here so it is one spot.

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After reading the new TLP ruleset, it seems like there are some decent ideas that have potential, but they have either not been fully thought out and/or have been poorly communicated. Let's go in order:

Legacy Characters: This is a cool idea in theory, but practically speaking it makes no sense given that all encounter lockouts are shared on an account-wide basis and not per character. So you cannot raid on multiple characters that are on the same account. Now this would make a lot more sense if they either 1) made lockouts character-based and not account wide; or 2) allowed for linking of accounts for the same owner. Option number two has the added benefit of increasing additional subscriptions (and bag pack purchases) for the company as well.

Encounter Locking: This again seems like something that should have been tested or discussed before announcing. In less than an hour post-announcement, the forums are filled with all the potential griefing that will occur. You thought policing KS battles was tough, wait until you see this. People can aggro entire zones and kite them around endlessly, people can CC named mobs and just hold them hostage and/or sell to the highest bidders that are fortunate enough to receive a group invite, and the list goes on and on.

And then think about the shortfalls that result during normal gameplay in the group setting. The monk puller who is splitting mobs can no longer do so as the NPCs will lose aggro and go back to their spawn point. The enchanter who casts single target or AE mez with a small chance of an automatic memory blur has now cost his group mobs as they will be locked and run back to their spawn point to be re-engaged. For this to have any hope there would need to be safeguards implemented for the group and griefing scenarios listed above. Some sort of timer would help against the bad behavior tactics, but I don't have a great solution for the normal grouping issues.

There is also the "random acts of kindness" that are now totally out the window. I still remember over 20 years ago almost dying to a lion chasing me across the zone when a high level character killed it for me and saved not only my life but my run back to West Karana. No longer can an LFG enchanter in lower guk derail a train by mezzing the mobs. No longer can a random drive-byassist with a named mob occur. All that is allowed now is throwing a heal or buff. That is not the spirit of EQ.

This change also seems to dissuade multiboxing, even though it is a huge cash generator for the company. For example, a guy boxing two characters would often drop one and have it out of group to make room for a friend or guildmate. And while that will still obviously happen, the out of group character is now entirely worthless - unless it is a healer who apparently can still contribute as normal even out of group.

Evolving Bonuses: This part is a cool idea, although the way it is written makes it unclear exactly how large the bonuses are. Instead of doing total percents, perhaps just list the bonus given. For example "Ruins of Kunark +25% Loot Modifier."

Other Suggestions: Of course I cannot help but advocate for a free trade server after seeing how Mischief made gearing mains and alts so much easier. Although I do understand the concern that you don't want to have competing servers, the non-random loot is enough of a distinction to not cannibalize Mischief.

I am part of one of the two guilds that was recruiting for the new TLP before the announcement yesterday. I think it is interesting that no other guild has entered the mix after the announcement was made. You could argue it has only been one day but everyone knows the excitement behind TLPs and how fast guilds can spawn.

Some facts and opinions from being in our discord channel the past day.
- No one was excited about the server ruleset. Although there were 1-2 that stood behind what DBG was trying to do.
- A majority of people that responded said they would live with the FTE ruleset but did not want it in and didnt understand why it was even needed.
- The primary reason people are playing on this server is to play with old friends. Not any of the rulesets that were posted.
- Only about half of what we had has confirmed for the new server at the time of this post.
- Most people were ok with the evolving ruleset but a majority did not think the server would last long enough for it to make an impact.
- Hardly anyone commented on the alt xp bonus. Almost the entire discussion has been focused on FTE with evolving thrown in the mix from time to time.


The overwhelming response that I have seen on this is a ratio from "this sucks" to "mehhhh".

Loot modifier for Kunark, just when we need epic quest drops.
Faction modifier for Velious, just when we need faction.
AA modifier for Luclin, just when AA's unlock...

Do you even know what you are talking about or are you just parroting other people's posts?

A lot of the bonuses are fine, but I won't argue that SOME of them could be better.

Calling them garbage, or completely lackluster and barely adding any flavor is a gross exaggeration.

Edit: I forgot to add, what would you like to see? If you really feel the bonuses are lackluster, suggest new ones.

It’s been just under 24 hours. I’m sure they are scrambling a little bit. I just hope they make a more thought out decision than this when they do come to a decision.

I think people are not realizing how strong the bonuses are in the long run. Sure, they are not super impactful at the beginning but eventually you will have 100% bonus to exp, AA, faction gains, loot, rare spawns, everything. Literally double what every other server has. So I think this TLP will not only be successful, but actually be populated for a long time. In one year from now the standard advice for new players will be: "If you want a server where you can catch up quickly, go to Oakwynd!"

It's too early to provide a coherent response to this huge number of rage posts.

Daybreak is probably waiting for everyone to get it out of their systems, and they will probably release a FAQ on how FTE does and does not work.

They could also post a simple message: "Wait until it comes out, play it for awhile, then let us know what you think". That may be the easiest, and frankly, the most correct response.

Players will vote with their wallets, and the server populations will reflect if the players like or do not like the new ruleset.

There's no chance I'm going to play the nonsense that will be EQ1 progression with Final Fantasy-style gameplay. There are better things to do with one's time.

This is extremely disappointing and lackluster. I skipped last years TLPs for the same reason, and Daybreak will likely continue to not get any of my money because of this.

See you all next year, maybe then we'll get free trade and no true box.

It's going to be glorious.