Hey peoples, I'm a returning player from long ago and I love the idea of these progression servers since I first heard about them. I used to play at the high end content with Cats in Hats and I want to come back but, honestly I think SoE has run into a problem with them. I would love to play on these servers but if I'm going to have to pay to play on these servers then they are going to have to do some upkeep on them. Sony, you want more people paying to play and thats fine, but you need to make another progression server, and the answer is insanely simple. -Merge fippy and Vulak to create a bigger population server -Use the Vulak server hardware (or Fippy, whichever way you went) and create a new server Honestly I want to come back and play on one of these servers, but I am waiting for them to start another before I start paying 15 dollars a month for it, and I'm sure I'm not alone. Do us and yourselves a favor Sony, and be a forward thinker for once, instead of just planting your feet, plugging your ears and expecting the money to keep rolling in.
Thanks. We needed a new thread on this subject. To answer the question in your title, Piestro said that, if SOE decides to start a new server, they would first spend a few months publicizing it. So if you're waiting for something to happen in the short run, you're out of luck.
Sorry for being redundant, I know how inconvenient that is for people such as yourself, but thanks for the answer regardless. Looks like I'll be waiting a while to come back to Everquest. Oh well, guess I'll have to just play the 5.2 expansion of WoW.
It's not really inconvenient, it is just hard to understand how you all can't see the 15 threads on the first page that already ask and answer this question. When we have a new "Is there a new progression server" thread pop up nearly every single day, it gets old.
Isn't that saying something though? If the forums are being swamped by new requests for servers, the general public seems to want a new server, and people drooling for their old nostalgic moments again, shouldn't Sony look at this as a big sign? So many other places are trying to grab attention towards classic EQ servers, is this truly a difficult task for such a big company? Lets put it this way, when Fippy was first announced I nearly feinted in excitement, I've tried project1999, eqMac, and a few other private servers but they never had the feeling live provided me with, maybe it was the population numbers, I'm not sure. A total of 6 of my old buddies actually joined in with me to enjoy that old EQ experience on EqLive as well, we got to relive the camping old world spawns, EC bartering, the class epic quests, everything that we experienced in the past we got to relive... it was a blast and we want it again. Now once Luclin hit we were pretty much done with EQ but those months we spent up until then was some of the most fun I've had in an MMO in years. I believe seeing everyone starting out, the people rejoining after a decade of absence, the sheer number of active bodies in the world excited me and pulled me in more. Although we did have some rough moments with certain individuals (citizen is the only one I can recall) the rest was quite a fun ride that I know for a fact will draw in me and my friends once again, and hey, with all of us buying box accounts, that's just more money for them. I just don't see many flaws with creating a new TLP.
Most of these threads have been started by the same group of 10-20 people. The forums aren't swamped with new requests for servers. I won't argue with the premise that there is some level of demand for a new server, but if SOE was really getting the level of feedback that you're talking about, there would already be a new server.
What sleppen said. One guy opened three? threads singlehandedly last week, all on the same topic. It's just unnecessary. Sony can see the interest just as well, maybe even better, if there is one thread with 1000 replies instead of 1000 threads with 2 replies each.
There has been threads like these for over a year spanning from the old forums. I would agree most of the forum lurkers are the same peeps spinning their wheels. But there has been dozens to bring this up and then give up on it only to be recycled by someone else in a month. I would just say, just because there's (insert theoretical number here) of people on the forums doesn't mean there's (more theoretical numbers) of people waiting in the wind for some news on this subject. Could be a couple hundred lurking out there waiting for something like this; or could be thousands. I remember the official forum before fippy launch. Despite the crowd of people on the forums, it did not convey the true server explosion we experienced. Not in the least.
I never tried Fippy because it wasn't all classic. For instance it had the new spell graphics and some revamped zones. That stuff throws my experience off and kills the immersion for me.
Agreed. In fact, if SOE announced a new progression server opening on June 1, I think there would sufficient demand for it to have a highly successful launch. But here's the catch: the bulk of the people on that server would be the same progression crowd that you saw on Combine and Fippy. Fippy and Vulak would die. The classic server crowd would be enraged because they'd get outvoted again and wouldn't get their way. Look at the posts in this thread by Telin and Kabbit. Telin wouldn't even play on the server. There may be sufficient demand for a progression server, but these folks really want a classic server. Those are two very different things. The classicists will say, "Just slow down the progression," but that isn't what the majority of the players on the TLPs voted for. So what is there really a demand for? Not for a classic server pipe dream.
Yup, it's probably too soon, the current ones need to run their course a bit more and make it feasible to merge them with regular servers after some more attrition. I'd be wary of merging Vulak because it would be ideal to run two progressions at the same time again instead of just making one new one. First, because of the mass amount of people in the early stages; and also, so we could have the possibility of having two different unlock speeds and not worry about the uncertainty of voting in which everyone seems dissatisfied.
Everyone keeps saying Fippy and Vulak will die, but doesn't that mean its because many people want the new progression server? That population drops a little from live servers, because people want to experience the old content. The people playing on Live servers can make their own decisions, and if they want to move to a progression server, so be it! Not bringing a server out because it will knock a few players from each server is nonsense. I for one will resub if a new TLP server came out and i am sure many more will. I will continue to check these forums once every few weeks to see of any news on a new server.
No, they don't. Nobody wants to jump in during DoDH or PoR, and the interest is only going to continue declining the further along they get. SOE is a business. It's all about money for them. It makes no sense to have 2 progression servers running at the same era and the terrible population levels of Fippy and Vulak prove that. If you're only willing to dedicate 2 servers to progression, fine, but don't run them parallel. Merge Fippy and Vulak and start a new one, then continue the trend of one progression server being about halfway through the expansions when the other finishes. Server 1 is at DoDH or thereabouts, Server 2 is at Classic. Server 1 reaches Live, Server 2 has reached DoDH. Server 1 is dumped onto a Live server, becomes new prog server at Classic. Now people clamoring for new prog servers have one available twice as often, and there are 2 completely different experiences available without any extra resources.
I think the problem that SOE has here is that they don't have the systems in place for these servers to run on auto-pilot and they don't have the resources to fly them manually, at least not without pulling resources from other projects. This refers to the resources needed to merge the servers smoothly and then to launch a new server well. I would think that they only seriously consider diverting resources (i.e. devs) to special rule set servers when their other development cycles (namely EQ, EQ2, and especially EQNext) are on the down swing. Considering the significance of EQNext in the next year for SOE, I don't think we can count on many resources being deployed for a progression server. It just isn't worth it at the moment to them to spend any energy on a new progression server right now when they need to focus elsewhere. On the bright side, hopefully, the huge desire we (or at least, I...) have for a new round of progression might be extinguished in the near future with the "largest sandbox mmo" ever released...
The resources needed for EQ:N don't impact EQ in any way. They have a completely seperate pool of people to use for that game. The only thing that's going to determine if there's a new progression server or not, is whether Phathom and his team decide the revenue will outweigh the cost.
While the teams may be separate, I think the resources are much more fluid. It isn't just dev's time that is needed to merge and start up a new progression server. The timing is also a major issue as the amount of people that will play on progression is affected by the other EQ development cycles.
