An argument against Lockjaw - or how problem solving Ragefire can benefit all of EQ.

Hi -

I saw and was initially excited to see a second server announcement, but after some consideration I think I have a few points that Daybreak might want to consider before opening Pandora's Box. This will be a long post, and it won't have a TL;DR.

First, a little background. I have played EQ from late beta through GoD and returned again for each of the progression servers and on many other occasions just to hang out and talk to my old friends. I was there for the server firsts on E'Ci of Vox, Nagafen, Cazic and Innoruuk and one of the first players to 50 on the server that got there without abusing the old savant room bug. EQ is where my fondest MMO memories come from, and it's a game that I haven't always found compatible with my life situation, but have always loved.

Now we have Ragefire. More than any other progression server, ragefire has captured the busy, hectic feeling of 1999. It's congested, crowded, sometimes downright rowdy. Things feel risky and spontaneous again. In short - the magic is back.

I know that the queue has been a serious downer for a lot of people, myself included. The zone instancing has done a lot to help and in my opinion for the zones that are instanced, it has been set up very well in order to make the zones feel somewhat full without being either crushingly overpopulated or empty.

Given these things, is the best solution to open a second server? With current technology, yes. It seems to be. However, there's another route here that could benefit all of EQ. Rather than taking the very risky move of splitting a server population into two servers that will likely face the same social problems in addition to both being ghost towns, would it be a wise idea to divert development resources to improving the nostalgic encounters of the past?

When many of us, myself included, think of the glory days, we think of killing those bosses - not watching others kill them. It's clear that the nostalgia angle is a hugely successful initiative for Daybreak. Why not put resources into actually instancing the boss encounters and plane zones that we are all craving for the experience of playing?

The benefits of this are numerous. Firstly and possibly most importantly, it allows daybreak to deliver on their promise of 'max nostalgia'. Allowing everyone coming back from years away to relive the experience of getting together with some friends, killing that dragon, and sharing the loot won't just satisfy the needs of ragefire. Adding the same instancing options to every zone (expansion by expansion with Ragefire's progression) and at the same time continuing to work on and improve overall server capacity allows the Live servers to eventually coalesce into a megaserver type configuration, rather than dividing players (many of whom are not level cap) across technological boundaries that leaves them solo or LFG for hours, and eventually disheartened and leaving for other games.

The best way to frame this would be an expansion that added a new, level cap version of these encounters using the same instancing tech and art assets with updated loot and a new storyline that leads in with something happening to each of the old bosses that restores them, maybe some temporal fragmentation happens a la SoD. Who knows - either way, it would also deliver a nostalgia experience to many of the players who are in live progression.

I know that there are some who will say that they don't 'everyone gets a cookie' model when it comes to instancing, but the fact of the matter is that many of us are playing on Ragefire for cookies, not crumbs. Deliver the nostalgia experience, and I think many of those accounts will stick around far longer than they will if it isn't attainable to anyone save a tiny piece of the population. Modern (PoP+) raid content is already instanced, so even if the instanced model doesn't fit your personal fantasy for how EQ "should be", instancing has proven its merit time and time again (and Time too).

Instancing may not just be the way to save Ragefire - it may be the way to save EQ1. Use Ragefire to solve problems and improve it and to open a path for a vibrant community in Live EQ as well.

TLDNR

Instancing raid bosses is a bad idea.

Normal instancing is great. Sure, it'll clear up zones and allow people to actually XP in normal areas, but it isn't the problem.

The problem is the 45m+ queue to get into the game. At peak hours, there a lot of people trying to get in. Another server will alleviate this, and instancing will further address congestion in zones if more people decide to jump onto one of the servers.

I support this message

Instancing raid bosses when you have multiple times the number of players on a 1999 server, and a higher percentage of them will be raiders, is not a bad idea, unless you want content/gear to be even more rare than it was for a typical Classic server. And if that's what you want, you're asking for something that brings as much of a non-Classic experience as instancing would bring; just in the other direction.

Instancing raid bosses = "You get a cloak of flames, and you get a cloak of flames, and you get a cloak of flame!" ............

I'd only ever be okay with this if instanced versions had lesser quality gear and no drop.

Make it like "Novices Cloak of Flames", or something.

That's what lockouts do. Hyperbole solves nothing.

This is huge for keeping people who like to raid playing. This game is not hard. It doesn't even require much skill. Raiding in the first few xpacs is all about how much time you want to put into EQ. If people want to kill naggy 100 times exploiting instancing so be it. I personally could care less what anyone else has for gear. For me EQ is about logging on having fun progressing with the guild. When you hit 50 and bored out of your mind cause there is no content to raid people quit. This is going to be a MAJOR issue real soon. The majority of people who are against raiding instancing are RMTers and people who get their kicks from locking down content.

This is just my personal opinion....I'm not saying people who disagree are wrong or this is how it should be. I just support raid instancing 100%

How does this allow the 5k+ players that want to be on when the server handles far less than that play?

Mind you this would likely increase any interest in the server, since the "I'll have nothing to do once I get to X level because of raid content being locked down" issue goes away.

So you're talking about creating more demand for the slots on the server, while adding none (and from all accounts more cannot be added).

It's a good idea, but it's tangential to another server.

yea, Daybreak wouldn't want that lol. Trust me you will want to keep people interested in the server. Lockjaw is happening. My argument is for both Lockjaw and Ragefire to both flourish. It's a good idea and will create a healthy raiding scene.

OP, you are talking about changes that will take weeks to do. We need solutions now. The new server can be set up in a such a way that it could merge back in to Ragefire, if necessary. It is a good solution that can be brought in right away.

1/2 the population will leave without the second server anyway, if you push them onto another server, the outcome of ragefire is unchanged. It would be ludicrous for DBG to let half the population go before the 1st month is even over.

You lost me the moment you thought they shouldn't open a second server, it's nothing but obvious they have to if they want to be as profitable as possible.