Locked Progression Server Time.

Been a while but I think its time to ask again. When will Daybreak realize that the way to make the most cash in the game is to create a locked Progression server that never gets past Planes of Power? The whole reason P99 exists is because thats what people want. They do not want a server that unlocks expansions by votes etc. They want a server that unlocks slowly (6months each expansion)... as this discourages those farmers, that get bored fast. The players demand a server that is similar to Phinnys boxing (but this can be done simply by declaring IS-Boxer illegal to use and enforcing said ban). Removing Kronos from the server, and while instant raiding helps I still think that resetting the spawn times on all Rare mobs and Raid targets that have a spawn time longer than 6hours to respawn in 2-6hours Randomly... including planes. would allow everyone a higher chance of getting rare targets and raid targets without creating lock outs etc that cuts away at the classic feel and combats the farmers better as it depreciates the value of their farming target. (80+drops in week vs 6drops makes the item no longer a cash cow for plat farmers---its still got to be killed so its not like its being given away for free it just going to be up more often to be killed). I would also love to have heck levels/Corpse recoveries etc returned but thats ok. ---Rant off.

This is like a collection of all the worst ideas I have ever seen. Impressive.

I could not have said it better but i'm at work and bored so I'll have a bit of fun and debunk this.

This is Everquest forums, not P99 forums. Also since when is the existence of something a confirmation that everybody wanted it.

So wich is it? They want a server permanently locked in PoP or a slow paced unlock server? Also who's "They"? I think you misspelled "I"

This is not simple at all. Do you know how much staff it would require to monitor and enfore punishement on things like that. DBG doesn't have the ressource.

Yeah, we should also cut all of the dev's salary and DBG should become a charity operation where you can make voluntary donations depending on your appreciation of their work.

... I have a better idea. I think that when you hit level 50 you should be able to visit the agents of change in their respective zones and hail them to be awarded an item from their zone's loot table with a lock out. 6 hour lockout seems reasonable.

Another "remove kronos" post... These are really getting old. If you hate kronos then go play on P99!

If you want a perfectly customized server then go to EQ and make what you like.

Raiding on phinny Is not instant. I don't know who told you that. It takes a long time to clear fear and hate.

You seem to be under the mistaken impression that you speak for someone other than yourself. This is what you like (and since it already exists on P99, go play there, since that's the whole reason it exists in the first place.)

I would play on a server that stopped at PoP, and I have a feeling a lot of other people would, too. Ive read several times on these forums that the majority of the population on past TLP's left after PoP.

There is more to that story though. The GoD vote failed and that is when the populations dropped. Plus, SOE had the long term down time due to the DDOS around that time as well. Both of those had a huge impact on the populations. It wasn't the fact that it progressed why people left.

Comic Sans? Really?

An era-locked server should work fine. For best results it would need to not be launched until the slowest of the current progression servers gets into Omens of War, or it would need to be one of Ragefire/Lockjaw that was turned into the locked server.

It's doesn't need a complicated ruleset or restrictions, though I think Phinny's rules are probably best.

I would allow people free transfers off to any live server at any time, and would consider free transfers off to any other progression server that is into Omens of War (if you want to spend 3 years gearing up in PoP to switch to a server that just started OoW I don't see a problem as GoD gear will have made much of your PoP effort not best-in-slot).

I'm not convinced such a server needs to start progression at original (either just wide-open to it's lock era, or a later start such as Velious). I would include up to LDoN as I view LoY & LDoN as the wider-community appealling content that fleshes out PoP era.


As to the OP's comment about spawn timers, I have long thought that most EQ respawns and named spawns were way out to lunch and needed a global adjustment (so live servers too). That's kind of a different topic though.

At least he didn't use papyrus

Lock phinny at PoP, woot!

Why do people want a PoP locked server? That might be, quite possibly, one of the worst possible expansions I can imagine to end a server on - it's easily one of the most top heavy and repetitive end game experiences that exist.

At least in a velious or luclin locked server you'd have a spread of content. A guild that's cleared VT still wants to kill prior expansion mobs, velious mobs, even classic and kunark for a couple of the epics. A guild that's cleared time? They're generally not even looking to go back past elementals! Maybe a RZTW or Cursed for a weapon?

I mean they literally had this server - the mac server - which was about as classic as one could hope for and hard locked in PoP. They had really easy ways to get around and play on it with a PC and I know a bunch of people who put time in there. Nobody lasted. PoP is great for a run through - lots of raids, beginning of interesting encounters, faster encounters, its a breath of fresh air for many coming out of luclin's permarooted snore fights... but it's not sustainable. Time gear, and elemental in generally really, is tiered so high that you reach this threshold and stop looking back except maybe alts or plat farming.

Then there's the whole stop at pop mentality. Why not have LDON and/or LOY? Do these really detract from your game experience, or rather do they just poke at your nostalgic sentiment? At least LDON adds a variety of raid content so you aren't doing mostly just time and fire ad nauseam. Then why not GoD? Are you that scarred by its buggy original release that you don't want to tackle what has, after a LOT of tuning, been finally made into one of the most exciting expansions? Or are you just against doing something new - you quit during POP (or LOY or LDON) era and this is out of your comfort zone? Inktuta is one of the best raid zones ever made, uqua is actually alright now, and ikkinz 4 and tacvi are straightforward time-like mostly kill fests but with better fleshed out encounters. I don't understand and probably never truly will why people are so turned off to this expansion to the point of wanting to lock a server in the prior one, which is easily one of the least sustainable end-game environments you could choose to park in.

Yerm might be on to something.

I've seen a few people say they want to stop at PoP and I always wondered why that was. My opinion is that the reason is beyond PoP, named and bosses become more than simply Tank and Spanks. In VT, EP, and Time the most crazy mechanics to deal with is get rid of that boss's buff, and deal with their debuffs. Maybe Tallon's encounter, or the Rathe Council, or even the Mech Behemoth has something interesting.. but nothing like you see in GoD or OoW.

Then you've got LDON and LOY. I dunno about you all but those expansions were pretty damn cool. LDON made dungeon running fun. Dealing with traps, splitting mobs, every class having a role. Hybrids really doing well here as well. And both expansions helped bridge the gap for players who didn't raid and hence didn't have Velious or VT raid gear. It helped get them into PoP stuff.

I love how he knows "this is what players want". In no way shape or form would I want this.

For me it's because PoP was the last bastion of enjoyable progression. LDoN / LoY introduced alternative currency grinding. A set of a very dry repeatable runs that turned into speed runs. If you weren't speed-running them as fast as possible, groups flipped out. Basically, it introduced WoW style dungeoning and the culture that comes with it. Part of EQ's charm was the camp'n'talk. You could chill out and just chat and nobody got all antsy about min/maxing for their currency reward to grind some more. Beyond that, raiding took such an awkward turn that killed EQ enjoyment for me.

So, yes, PoP for me would be an ideal locking point. It may not objectively be the best expansion when you factor in the raiding aspect like you said. But, subjectively (and that's pretty much what this is about, everyone's opinions on what they like(d) most) that is why PoP is favorite for many.

Based on my experience with Fippy (I intended to stop at PoP) I strongly recommend everyone on Phinny/RF/LJ try to keep playing past the "we should lock it at expansion X" point. Even past other supposed stopping points (OoW being a big one) I would encourage everyone to go into expansions with an open mind. There are only a few truly lack-luster expansions (PoR, maybe TBS).

So much of the fun of classic was in exploring something completely new. The best way to do that is with new content. The game gets a lot more complex and the gear inflation does get ridiculous, but that nostalgia of exploring a new and foreign world is best achieved in one that is actually new and foreign. We've all grown a lot since the last time we played and stopped at a certain point--give the new stuff a try. Also, since it's TLP, the mediocre expansions only last a short amount of time. You won't really have to grind LDoN points if you don't want to beyond a few of the must-have augs.

Literally the opposite, people quit because they got stuck in pop and votes failed. Pop was the expansion that killed off most of the players because there is so little to do, not the opposite.