Let's reset Sleepers Tomb on Agnarr.

Original Sleeper’s Tomb loot is in a unique circumstance. Unlike other removed items, the Kerafrym mechanic allows a few players to deny the opportunity for that loot from the vast majority. Later expansions rectify this mistake in game design, but not in the scope of Agnarr's expansions. Sleeper’s Tomb loot is a novelty at this point in Agnarr's evolution, but it could still bring players joy. As Prathun put it, it "isn't a lot of effort" to "flip the proverbial switch." Daybreak, you have an easy opportunity to make a lot of players happy. Despite lore and original intent, I humbly ask that you revert Sleeper’s Tomb. Hobart kept the zone in its original state on Al’Kabor, Agnarr’s predecessor, and his actions were well received by the community.

There are many coveted, removed items on Agnarr, such as Guise of the Deceiver, Fungus Covered Great Staff, and the Circlet of Shadow. Many people have them, and at least for the droppables, they still circulate the economy. Everyone had a chance at these items. Accounts vary, but 22 to 25 players prevented the entire remainder of the server from having an opportunity at original Sleeper's loot. Later expansions rectify this horrid mechanic by adding alternative ways to obtain the items or the features that made them unique, but these solutions are out of Agnarr's scope.

Why some players chose to wake Kerafrym less than a day after Velious opening isn't clear, but their reasonings are certainly no longer pertinent. The rarest item on the server, and arguably the most relevant today, Mask of Tinkering, only dropped twice. One was sold by the original owner in April 2019 and the other just a few months ago. Whatever exclusivity was earned racing to wake Kerafrym has been given up, and those players have long since left the server. Having a Mask of Tinkering at this point is merely a matter of being lucky enough to be around when they were auctioned..

Loot from Original Sleeper’s Tomb no longer affects gameplay after Planes of Power. Shroud of Longevity is no longer best in slot after Ton Po's Chestwraps of Composure. Sceptre of Destruction is inferior to Darkblade of the Warlord and Bloodfrenzy. Bards need only ask an Enchanter to receive the same benefit provided by Mask of Tinkering. These items are novelties, and as such, they bring no more harm to gameplay than ornaments. They offer enjoyment with no drawback.

There have been many proposals along these lines. I ask that Daybreak take a few moments to flip the switch back to the original Sleeper’s Tomb. Having both versions available via the Avatar of Change would be excellent. I'm sure others will also request other loot be re-added. Doubtlessly, people will ask for the same for other servers. Those positions aren't without merit, but please don't turn you back on this proposal out of fear of setting precedent. While there are better solutions imaginable, perfect is the enemy of better. Other items weren't withheld from the vast majority of players by a couple of dozen players at the top. Agnarr is unlike other servers in that it suffers from this poor mechanic but will never receive the expansions which correct it.

There are probably 50 things I would list higher than than sleeper, including removing all epic bottlenecks from all TLPs, but I agree this change would be for the better.

I think I would go one further and say that waking the sleeper should be tied to characters who were on the lockout list for that AoC.

Are epic bottlenecks really a problem on Agnarr at this point?

I support this request.

It is the easily one of the most missed raid encounters that I feel like is in the spirit of the Agnarr server. Either tie it to a DZ or just reset the zone on a regular basis.

No not really, with DZs and low competition its a non issue.

i should have clarified, i was expanding past "on agnarr" to "in everquest".

Why should Agnarr get something that every server wants?

Other servers will progress to expansions which either re-introduce the removed items or otherwise render them moot. Agnarr is unique in that it suffers from what I judge as a very poor mechanic, but it will never receive the changes added to lessen the impact.

People still want those items and will pay a high price to get them even if there is an item that does the same or better out there, the fact is people like rare items. It should also have been known to everyone who wanted to play on the server that the sleeper was likely going to be awoken very quickly after SoV unlocked and even if it is reset it is likely going to be awoken again that same day as people won't need to spend time keying up.

I totally agree with the OP on this. Waking the Sleeper almost immediately, in my opinion, was basically just a troll to the vast majority of the server population and really epitomized the type of polarizing stuff that happens early in TLPs. Agnarr has not been that kind of a place in a long time, and given the locked nature of the server it is kind of disappointing that the great community that remains will have to suffer from the legacy of those capricious interlopers

Fair points.

"basically" implies there was another reason and "in my opinion" suggests that you may be an outlier in this regard.

Waking the sleeper was precisely and only a troll move and pretty much everyone is in agreement that waking the sleeper, while an interesting and novel innovation in an MMO, is in practice bad design.

The final event of an entire expansion and only 1 guild gets to experience it? Mechanics like this do not exist anywhere in any other MMO and have not been repeated in Everquest. This is because they are bad.

Sleeper and epic bottlenecks are some of the few ways in which other players can, intentionally or not, negatively impact someone else's play.

Although epics are a more personal part of a character's life in Everquest, and therefore more important to me and should come first in availability fixes, whether or not sleeper is alive in your AoC should depend only on whether you've personally flagged in for him.

That would be good only if they Added AoC's to live servers as well. Also would provide a way for people to grief others by waking the sleeper and prevent them from farming drops from a pre-awoken sleeper zone which a lot of people would want to do.

I dont play on Agnarr but I think its a great idea...

I've played EQ for 21 years and have still never experienced pre-kill Sleepers Tomb... nor have I ever actually participated on a raid kill/attempt of The Sleeper.

They should figure out a way to instance Sleepers Tomb so guilds can experience that mythical piece of everquest Lore. You could alter the instanced loot tables if the tryhards and neckbeards get all offended that others might get to experience that content too, and *GASP*, potentially get some good loot too.

They should add a pre-woke sleeper aoc or just combine the loot tables.

I fully support the return of these items in some form, and the addition of a pre-awakened sleeper to Agnarr.

I am all for this, I would love to experience ST as well. Implementing an AoC for it would be a great solution.

Would be great to have AoCs for pre-awakened on all of the servers.

If they do this, it should be on a server with more then 100 people.

Modsiw (OP) - I think this is an excellent topic that you have presented for discussion here. First off a little perspective before I share my thoughts - I primarily play on Agnarr at this time, and have been there since launch and intend to stay. So, my opinion may be a little biased towards Agnarr, however I've been an EQ player on and off since '99 and have played many other servers for many years. I would love nothing more than to even have the chance of obtaining a Mask of Tinkering on this server. So, this is an important topic to me.

I believe one of the points that is being discussed is that if awakening the sleeper is a broken mechanic that was "fixed" many years ago with loot revamp, then why does it exist on TLP? I am not very familiar with too many TLP prior to Agnarr however, I assume this existed on those servers. I think the problem comes from the fact that this "progression" content is now in a modern context where most veteran EQ players know exactly how it works and can anticipate it. It inevitably will promote competition and dissatisfaction, if the actions of a few can control the fate of everyone on the server at that time, and for years to come. In comparison, old game mechanics such as Guise of Deceiver - as mentioned above - were available for a finite period of time. Zone revamps exist for a finite period of time. This allows many to experience and enjoy the "progression" of this content, before an impending change, and it potentially can reduce or limit certain types of competition. This finite period of time was squandered on Agnarr and I'm assuming many other TLP servers.

I would like to also provide a few points on potential solutions as well. Obviously, the solution of adding an AoC to select Pre-Awakened ST is a good option and allows flexibility and players to experience this content. I see the comments of some saying that Live Servers would like this option as well. I think that this would likely have to be limited to TLP servers that utilize AoC. One argument about fairness of this decision, would be that a Daybreak All Access is for all EQ servers, and therefore someone playing on Live can also play on Agnarr or other TLP if they choose to experience AoC and this benefit.

Perhaps the most balanced solution, would be to offer Pre-Awakened ST in Open World and/or AoC access only during limited event time - like a yearly event with part of Anniversary Celebration or something similar. Basically a finite period of time that this content is active again before it reverts back to the revamp state. Eventually this would allow players to gain more access to this content - but it would be at a slower more controlled rate and may not tarnish the rarity and novelty of such an encounter or loot.

Thanks!