GoD TLP with level locks starting at 60

David, you're missing a very important concept with a server launching in a "later expansion". People want to level up, and do the "server launch" experience in a new way. They want to be able to play their BST or BRZ on a brand new server. They want to play an Iksar monk from the get-go.

Effectively every TLP (save two, I believe - Mirgual and Selo's), have launched in exactly the same manner. Open with classic for a period of time, move to Kunark for a period of time (get the new zones and level cap), move to Velious, etc, etc.

It is not simply that people want to play the later expansions (they do), however, they want that later content, while also launching a new server.

It's been stated numerous times that TLPs tend to lose a lot of players around POP. I feel that is largely due to several factors 1) People get burnt out, and want to take a break, 2) People like the experience of a new server, and the new TLPs tend to come out every 12 months. 12 months happen to be about the time the last TLPs are hitting PoP.

My situation, and I don't think I'm alone, is that I can typically hang with a TLP somewhere between 5-9 months before the burnout hits me, or life gets in the way, or some BS in the game happens and I say "F-it, I'm out- never again!".

Then I come back for the next new round of TLPs after taking a break for several months.

When I play, I like to think I'm pretty competent. I'm always in a launch group, and we're lev 50 by the end of the 1st weekend. I typically join the top guild on the server, and make all my raids. Certainly the scheduled stuff. The open-world bat phones during the week are a bit challenging. Then I get in a launch group for Kunark, and we're max level by the end of Friday (Kunark typically comes out at noon on Wed). Then I raid the hell out of Kunark, get my epic in a timely fashion. Then in Velious the burnout hits me, and I may or may not make it Velious/PoP.

I'm sick of leveling in Unrest, then LGuk, then Guk. I'm sick of killing frogs in Guk or Seb. I'm sick of farming crappy armor in Hate, cause there is nothing else to wear for 6 months. I'm sick of killing lizards in Chardock. I'm sick of Spiders in Velks. I'm sick of farming Keys and/or key parts in Kunark and Luclin. I'm also sick of all those raids. And oh jesus, I cannot tell you how much I hate Sky...its visceral.

However, I'm not simply gonna roll a new toon on a server that is over a year old and level up a toon. That would be even worse, and it would cause me to miss out on the best part of the server (in my opinion) which is the launch.

Let me say this clearly: Rolling a fresh character on a stale TLP to experience post-PoP EQ ...

IS. NOT. THE. SAME. AS. A. LAUNCH

EXCUSES you can start right now on mischief no problem. You can buy raid gear on bazaar and easily level solo all the way to lvl 65 and get into a guild and raid GoD no problem. No need to wait for a new tlps to start in GoD expa cause u can play in one of the current tlps cause they more or les at GoD!
EXCUSES EXCUSES EXCUSES.

Aww man.. I like all that stuff.

What you saying is that you want to take a brake from game when u get burned out of game and then, you expect that when a new TLP launch, it must be some laters expansions where you left cause I quess you special. if you don't want to play old content , why did you keep leaving servers again and again? Funny you saying you have to left servers cause you got real life problem but for some reasons those problems never pop when new tlps launch. I WONT PLAY IN A NEW TLPs IF SERVER WONT START IN CLASSIC PERIOD.

David, I have no expectation of anything. I’m simply suggesting, as are others, that perhaps a twist this time would be different and welcomed by a number of players. I’m also disputing the argument of “just role a new toon on Mischief, if you want to experience that content”. As I’ve said, that is not the same thing as launching on a fresh server, and seeing that content in the first three months.

I didn’t roll a character last year, cause I was tired of the content and missed the launch by about 2 weeks, and didn’t want to level up without a launch group.

I think the idea of launching a TLP with some expansion with a Cap of 70-80 (I really GZFs which one) and then also ‘level locking’ the level cap, and then lifting it over a period would actually be the best of both worlds for everyone involved. Within 2 months the “level lock” would be removed entirely, and everyone could go gangbusters on whatever expansion is in place.

It would give Crabman his chance to do the Unrest, Guk, Chardok/Seb route if he wants. He could also join a guild that would raid all that stuff (unsure if you’re being serious there Crab ). That just wouldn’t last a year.

At the same time, it would let people like me bypass all that content that we’ve played somewhere between 5-10 times over the past number of years.

And there is a better than zero chance, that me (and those like me) would stick around longer than usual cause we’d be experiencing content that we haven’t done in a long time.

I think the vast majority of the TLP player base would actually be very much for a server that skipped the 1st nine months and opened with velious, potentially going so far as opening in PoP.

I honestly don’t understand why people think this is such a crazy concept/idea.

It would be interesting if they launched two servers with the same “rule set”. One in classic, one ‘further on’. I think the 2nd would actually do better, assuming it was not some expansion with a 90 lev cap, or something along those lines.

I’ll likely roll a dude up this season, regardless of what the expansion is. Simply because I’ve got the itch, and I have the window more or less blocked off. But if It’s a typical classic for 3 months, I don’t see myself staying much past the first couple of weeks. I may come back and rush Kunark, for giggles, but that would likely be it. And I would just be doing those to hang with friends and have some dude time.

I was being semi serious, I very much enjoy classic and while parts aren’t great, GoD isn’t a “perfect” expac either. Also saying “just join a guild that raids classic while GoD is unlocked” is way worse than someone telling you to play catch up. You and I both sit in sky during classic to be as best geared as we can be for each expansion. If I wanted to just hit classic targets I could find a group to go do it on live, just as if you wanted to start a zerker at level 1 you could do it on live. Neither of those are what we want and you know it.

As for the second. I do hope that they make 2. I’ve met plenty of people who are just as sick of classic as you, and I’ve met many people who say the game stops when PoK opens but I have no idea which is the more common view among the community. Nothing on the forum will convince me one way or the other but 2 servers. (It should be similar to selo/mangler, but without the accelerated releases I guess?)

I'm not suggesting GoD is perfect. Far from it. I am however, suggesting it would be 'new'.

I understand your fondness for classic. I enjoy it as well. However, for me at least, I realized what I really enjoyed about it were the server launches, the launch group with a few close friends and a few people I'm meeting for the first time. I enjoy the Vox/Naggy raids, and the 'single' dragon raids in Kunark, mainly cause they are quick.

Also, for clarification, when I suggested joining a guild "that was raiding classic while GoD was open", I was presuming there would be a level lock of some kind. First couple weeks of the server launch the level could be capped at 50. That would let people raid classic, would guilds get their entire raid force geared up? No, but it would let people go kill Naggy/VOX, clear POH and POF, and Sky. The cap could then be lifted to 60 for a few weeks. People could then go clear Kunark, and Velious (getting keyed up for some areas would be problematic in that time frame -- but is anyone really gonna miss VP?). Would everyone get fully geared? No, but they could be there to kill Vindy and Tormax a few times. Same for Luclin.

That scenario would provide people with Iksars, Vahshir, and BST and Zerkers from launch, while also preserving some of the 'classic launch feel'.

I get that may not be enough, and I fully understand that argument.

My point is that there are a lot of people that are tired of the three months of Classic, three of Kunark, three months of Velious, three months of...

DBG needs to find a way to leap frog that content with a TLP, to accelerate getting into the later content. However, I don't want a Selo's style server with 1 month unlocks. I just want to enjoy the 'server launch experience', and within in month (two at the most) be raiding post PoP zones.

Honest question here for the people that really favor the traditional TLP launch process. Do you guys just want to experience the traditional cycle of EQ (i.e. Kill Naggy/Vox, Clear the planes, kill Yael/Phinny, then do the same in Kunark, then do the same in Velious....), or do you guys want to get all your phat lewts and be all l33t with BIS gear, and it'll take three months per expansion to do that? Then you wanna re-gear over the next expansion with new phat lewts and new BIS gear?

No right or wrong answer, I'm just curious. I'm more about just being there to kill the targets. To me, gear is fluid and ever changing. My goal certainly isn't to be BIS by the end of every expansion. There are a few things I enjoy getting and quests to accomplish (epics, shawl, etc). But, I could care less if I get a specific item of loot off a specific mob. Manna Robe is nice, but I'm not gonna get butt hurt if I don't get one.

So the thing I really like about “getting bis” in classic and kunark is that it takes a bit of everything. Some items are group gear BiS, some slots are planar trash drops, some are off raid mobs, some are quest rewards, and even a few tradeskilled items. I love that. It means you need a complete experience of the game in order to have the best items in each slot in the expansion. Of course you can expedite this process by just mindlessly farming plat or buying a few krono or whatever, but why when you have 3 months.

Then in Velious that goes away a bit, TS/quest gets merged into 1 with the shawl, group gear starts to fall way behind raids, but it is fun with how many raids there are and how they are all very different (lore not so much raid mob abilities) it is still fun for a long time for me. Traveling is important, the world still feels big, all of that is good.

Again I know all of this is my opinion but I do feel that there are people who agree, just as there are many people who want a different style start.

Darkpaw starting at GoD would be like encouraging your friends to start watching Game of Thrones in season 7.

I don't think it would TBH. Most humans will take the path of least resistance, given the option. Since EQ has multiple picks for highly populated zones, there would just be more picks in the same old zones.

Starting in classic is like encouraging people to start watching Star Wars with Episode I. They would quit by Attack of the Clones, which coincidentally resembles all the people who quit by POP. Starting with GoD is like starting with A New Hope.

Just adding Paludal Caverns and Kurn's would help a ton.

Your opinion has been noted , mamn.

Veksar, Gunthak, Dulak's Harbor

Ya but 3 episodes in you reach The Last Jedi (PoR) and everyone quits anyway.

Maybe they won't since it won't have to be going on at the same time TLP__0048 releases.

Good ones. Add in the kunark middle level zones and Tower of Frozen Shadow.

Plus everyone knows how much faster xp is after GoD releases and it'll be 'fun' for a change?

TSS is like the Mandalorian (better than anything previously to it).

LDON=Solo.

False equivalency. If we're going to do an apples-to-apples comparison, we have to base it on the chronology of two products that had amazing beginnings and gradually declined. So it's more like starting with Episode 4 (which was chronologically the beginning, just like Classic). We all make mistakes, don't sweat it.