I'll be on Mangler. Anyone else?

Depends on what Era you want to succeed, the game has changed so many times even if Patheon comes out there will be people going “You didn’t do x thing I wanted and this game has ruined my life”.

Without the nostalgia of EQ, I think WoW and FFXIV are better than live. (I’m sure that will make someone rage)

Usually the forums represent a portion of the overall population, but I'd call it safe to say that after a month this thread will represent the entire population still active there.

I've made it clear I won't be playing on Selo's, since I'm not a big raider.

I will be on Manger I want to earn my stripes

Why do so many people assume Selo's MUST be all about raiding? It's literally PERFECT for a 2 year tour of EQ and most it has to offer. It's going to be simple to keep up in levels, so if I just want to group/solo my way through all the expansions, buy what gear I can to upgrade and dabble in raids when the mood strikes me, Selo's will let me do that like no other server.

You also get to raid more.which I think people dont take into account. You can essentially raid twice as much. Odds are even a pure casual who plays 2 or so days a week odds are a raid will be up since they are only a 3 day lockout.

Yeah... the only "casual" drawback I understand is the fast unlock. But the ones that don't like it most are saying because it does not allow time to complete EVERYTHING in era.....

I dont think casuals want to experience everything, more so they want to get off the beaten path and take some time to smell the roses.

I play alta very casually. I go to zones or areas I never xp in even though its slower grinding. I may wipe multiple times trying to break/take down a random named that doesnt even have good loot just to say I did it when it was a yellow con. I dont need to do everything but the stuff I'm trying to experience simply takes time

That to me is what true casual players are looking to do, possibly across multiple characters. Combine that with lesser quantity of play time and a 1 month unlock like Selos just isnt manageable.

Hopefully Mangler is adjusted and a large majority can be content with 1 of the 2 servers

Why do people think XP that is slower than live and no auto grant AA will be a breeze to keep up with? Even on Test if you wanted to simulate Selo (assuming the XP buff is still double once it reaches live), AA is still a major grind.

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I understand that casual style as well. I recently created a no-twink Necromancer on Corinav and leveled her strictly in original EQ zones, minus CB and Unrest since they are overdone and +Warrens since I had never been. The fact that Corinav was already in Luclin and two weeks away from PoP didn’t actually do anything hinder me from doing that. I’m not saying Selos MUST have 1 month unlocks, but nothing anyone brings up other than raid related competition actually requires being in-era.... and with Selos big exp boost, levelling will be a joke there anyway, so keeping up isn’t going to be an issue.

I suppose the feeling is relative, but at least on Phinigel, I was able to get to 50 in 4 days including an exp boost weekend and potions. Won’t Selos be faster then Phinny? I guess I’m just of the mind that the game gets easier to play casually as it goes if you aren’t “caught up” coz all the extra gear you can buy if you want. The issue here is still not not being able to play casually, but not being to keep up with the current expansion seemingly no matter your play time. I’ll admit that keeping up is a fair enough goal for anyone who wants it....

1-60 will be fast. It’s the 7000+ AA that will come out in the next 12 months that is a problem. While some classes will have it better than others, just being able to “buy” (mostly no drop) gear for “insert Krono” doesn’t catch you up. And it won’t be too many months until you have to do 1-60/70 mostly solo and grind out those AA solo. It’s the same problem live servers have even with Auto grant AA. Sure I can get to 85 in a couple days (even without PL), but now you need to get to 100, solo (and this is why everyone boxes) and grind non autogranted AA, then grind gear or buy Krono before you can get invited into a group and actually contribute.

If they keep PoP, LoY, LDON at one month each, Selo will be fine for casual play for about 4-5 months, but after that things will go top heavy fast and catching up will be hard. (Or having people to play with, playerbase doesn’t equally spread like it did when the game was growing).

This kind of spots in the face of what I outlined. There is no moral victory in breaking that camp if you have fear from beyond era. The idea that casual players are going to research everything to make sure they impose artificial limits on their play just isnt realistic.

I'm not saying change Selos. It's fine for a more hardcore mindset. But likewise people interested in Selos need to quit telling more casual players how they can experience it, especially since the proposed ways defy what they are looking for in the game

I do apologize if I offended you or you feel spit upon. I just said what I personally did with what I had. I consider myself almost as casual as they come. I have NEVER raided past Kunark regularly other than a few PuG deals in PoP. My favorite thing to do was to create new toons and play through the tutorial with friends. I still don't know if I care spit for raiding. I was mainly considering Mangler because it will be overall slower going and I feel the penalties will make people more communal. I don't care how long it takes to level either.

As for studying to impose artificial limits, I just didn't use gear from something I didn't kill myself, or quest/make myself in the zones for the expansions I wanted. It required zero research.

Again.. sorry if it got to you.. it was telling how I myself did it, not saying how you should. A perusal of the forums will tell you there is no casual player. Almost none of us (vocal ones) want the same thing It seems. So I make my own experience regardless.

Fair enough. I have not experienced anything past GoD really, and even that was just group grinding. So I may not have a grasp of the finer details.

Impossible to say where I will be, without any kind of information on an update.

If mangler is kept as is, I will just go play either a 2 box server (EQR) or get back into FFXIV and wait for next year when hopefully they deliver something that has a viable lifespan.

I mean, I would play personally Mangler as offered, but I refuse to sink time into a server that won't attract or maintain a decent pop and the typical modern EQ live player pretty much ensures that'll be the case as is.

Even if Mangler exp was 2x slower, you would still level 2x faster than origional EQ. Hell it took most people 6months plus back in day to crack 50. It is actually what I liked, it wasn't just a dull grind, but it was fun adventuring and leveling with fellow players. It was an achievement. If they really wanted to make huge bank they would use all the classic mechanics, classes, skills, and create a whole new set of zones, with classic loot and camps in all new places. The reason leveling feels like a grind now, is simply because you know everything. You know all the loot, all the camps, all the maps, etc. If your are a true newb, leveling is not so tedious because it's new and as you level are the higher zones are new. I personally am looking forward to the grind, to feel a sense of accomplishment again, and not just be level 50 in a week.

You aren't going to be able to handle some of those later xpacs without raid gear. Even if a couple xpacs old.

The server will be more popular than you think.

Yea, Im right there with ya. I do wish they would bump the xp up but if not, im still playing on Mangler. Check out AOW in the guild recruitment thread, seems to be a good group of players to play with on Mangler. As for Selos, yea 30 day unlocks isnt for me.

I've literally never been rejected myself, or heard of someone being rejected, on FV to a group due to lack of AAs and gear.

Groups pre max level are a lot harder to find there but anyone with open group spots will take someone.

I don't think that's a real concern.