A lot of the "problems" and complaints and drama about every progression server I have done is about boxing. I played this game, like many others, at launch. Boxing was NOT a problem back then, people did not do it (please don't say blah blah I did it or so and so did). Generally speaking, people did not box. They played their character, or they role played, and that was it. Groups were everything and solo classes soloed. People began two boxing shortly thereafter, but now, people want to know about 4 boxing, 6 boxing, 20 boxing. Like, people actually want to play 6 - 20 chracters by themselves in an MMORPG. My question is, why? Why not just play the game, nearly everybody (except for the VOCAL MINORITY) would LOVE the game WAY more if people just... didn't box. What is the deal with needing to play so many characters?
I'm guessing that the usual answer is going to be RMT. So, what I'm also asking is, in your opinions, is this server going to be heavily boxed? I was originally very excited but the more I read these forums about people figuring ways to simultaneously play 4+ characters, I am far less inclined to actually re-sub for this game. Lots of boxing or lots of grouping/interaction on this server?
Most of the people that plan to play on Phinigel did not choose it because of the true boxing rules. Almost everyone I know likes the shorter unlocks and the instances. The fact that they put these two things only on the server that was initially thought to be a "no box" server and is now not that, is unfortunate.
Take a look at how people treat each other on the forums and in game, that's why people box. Also take a look at how people treat me for posting that one sentence. That's why I box.
Boxing is just playing the game a different way and once held some serious drawbacks in old EQ just from the environment. It was a fun game and nobody really cared if someone boxed but it took some skill and planning in addition to bucks. As the game got easier boxing seemed to get easier along with it if not more so. People in large numbers take the easier paths. Dat is why To stop boxing you gotta make a game far harder to play with much better mob AI. We still waiting on that game...
Usually, I don't bother posting comments to the many threads of "play the game like I want you to". The state of Everquest is one that's been developed through years of social evolution. I doubt you'll understand this, but I'll try to explain. Early days, boxing was less common yes. We also had players with faith towards the community and willingness to sit and wait for group spots/help for quests and raids. Everyone relied on their guild and their friends. At some point, most people moved on, including yourself. You decided to go have a family or move to other games. The result was that the left-over community had to sit for hours, being unable to get groups or get their quests/epics/raid needs fulfilled. They adapted instead, started boxing and they continued to pay and keep the game alive, that you now enjoy. As a result, the game struggled and Kronos got implemented. It was a need in order to continue getting new blood into the game, because you were too busy playing house in real life or going to other MMO games. Today, this means that the boxers stayed, they had to adapt in order to continue playing, while others went inactive. Today this means that krono is there as a substitute for payment, and those that have played years of subscriptions now have the ability to withdraw their large amount of plat on other servers and convert it into play time. You have money on your bank account, they have money on their Everquest account. It's too late to change that. The boxers box because they're tired of being stuck in the game, tied to the people that'll likely quit in 2-4 weeks anyhow. If they could rely on people actually sticking with the game, they wouldn't need to box. At the same time, people leave, because they're being replaced by boxes, which in my own experience is because they complain all the time and want to force their own playstyle upon the boxers. I box a group myself on Ragefire right now. In the start I always replaced boxes, in fact none of my toons, except my main is 60. Then after time I only replaced my boxes with guildies and good friends. This ended up changing to me only replacing boxes for good friends. The reason for this is that I got tired of listening to the drama and of people that wanted to feel privileged, expecting me to replace my boxes with them. I always passed on loot, my boxes didn't get gear until the end of classic, that also changed, as people would get greedy and expect me to farm for them as well. If you want to change the mindset of people, meet them halfway. Try grouping with them and not acting as an entitled idiot. You'll be happy to jump right into a group, without having to sit in line for 4 hours to get a group. You'll be happy when all the key-classes are covered. The boxer in return will be happy for the company and he'll be willing to replace his own toons for you another time.
Some people like apples, while others like oranges. Those that like apples are free to play on the other two TLP servers, while those that like oranges can play with significantly less boxes on Phinny (I said less, not none).
The only, and I mean quite literally the ONLY boxers that bother me are automated RMT boxers. I personally have regularly boxed at least one character since no later than 2000, I have zero issues with having trouble finding groups (this is not to say that I never have trouble finding groups, what I'm saying is that it doesn't bother me) and I don't care if people are out there boxing raids or group content. It's when they deliberately and (in some cases) almost permanently lock other people out of content so they can farm up their rent money that I take issue, but I also recognize that there isn't really a good solution to that problem as long as there is currency in game that is easily converted into real money. There are good solutions to preventing people from automating the game, but given that the developer is basically in bed with the people who write automation software it's pretty clear that's not going to change either. So in the end, it is what is. Railing against it helps no one and since it's been long apparent the present situation is the accepted status quo, it's really just a waste of time and effort to argue about it.
The ease of boxing wasn't there before. There was a lot more manual process to get it working. So, the boxing software has advanced heavily since then. Also, PCs weren't nearly as powerful as back then. Back then, you could only run 1-2 copies on a PC. RMT is now much more of a commonplace than back then, too. People are also much more used to RMT with DLC transactions on consoles and mobile apps on portable devices. It's a micro-transaction digital world now.
I too wish to commit property violence against people playing a game the way I don't want them to play.
That's it man, fight fire with fire. Post something just as devoid of content as what he posted and that brings absolutely zero to the table as well. That'll teach him.
one of the reasons i box was because i got tired of being ask "so are you a girl in RL?" and then asked questions like "can you send me a picture of your boobs?, how old where you when you first had sex?, whats your A/L/S?" and the classic "can i send you a picture of my *random body part* by skype? Yep never hear those from my alts!
i have nothing against boxers... i box 3 toons myself. i just dont see why anyone would want to box on phiny. let the box haters have one freakin server. there are plenty for the rest of us to box on
I think a lot of people box to challenge themselves. The game is 15+ years old and crazy easy. This set of progression servers they had to go in and re upgrade boss mobs and nerf tons of stuff for more of a challenge. I mean any raider that joined these servers joined with the hopes of killing 32khp mobs in several seconds for the first year. Its like no accomplishment.
Why do you care if someone chooses to play the game in a different way that you do? As long as they are not disrupting things, let them do whatever they want.
