Recommending LJ at this point to any new players is like teleporting them to the titanic hours before the iceberg appears, we know what's coming it's just a matter of time.
Well it's a good choice if your friends play there or you want to be part of a guild that is there. Faceless Insanity The Dead Halfling Society Midnight Phyre Valor and Honor Peace of Formosa Ex (Asian Time Zone) Damage Boxed In Just to name a few.
If you are looking for a server where you can actually get to be known and have people recognize your name then LJ is the perfect place for you. If you are looking to be just another grain of sand on the beach then RF has the populace for you to hide in.
I led Evening Reign on Dru Ro for 10+ years. I raided and I had fun, but EQ became a second job. I am older now and much slower. I am not looking for a DPS race. I am not looking for a fast grind to max level. I do not have 20-60 hours a week to dedicate to a game anymore. I am simply looking to hang out with an old friend (EQ) and remember the "Good Old Days". My new GF is playing with me now and we are having fun discovering EQ together. We can do that easier on the "Slow" server. We do not have to log in every other night for a raid. We can play alts and do whatever we want without worrying about what mob was spawning or fret about not being max-level before the next expansion launches. Everyone plays this game for their own reasons. Just because Lockjaw doesn't fit your playstyle, doesn't mean that others do not find it attractive and enjoy the slower pace. Zardnok Cleric of Lockjaw
You can take it slow on Ragefire too, and actually have a population to interact with. If you really want to play by yourself live offers that opportunity as well. Most people who come to TLP's do so because they want at least some sort of population to interact with, even if just to buy and sell from. The only good thing about starting on Lockjaw is that you can switch to Ragefire eventually when the population dies in a year or so. Or you could save yourself the $25 and just roll on Ragefire. If you are happy where you are, more power to you, but don't delude new folks into thinking they can join Lockjaw and have a good population to play and group with. Especially if they are going into it without a social group already.
Why all these arguments? Ragefire is slightly ahead on expansions, but that gap will probably close slightly for Luclin. Lockjaw has a lower population, no-one will dispute that, but that might suit some people better. It may well be that they merge in the future, who knows? But for now, why not live and let live!
Some vocal people who left Lockjaw feel the need to constantly(and loudly) justify their reasons for leaving to everyone else. Lockjaw is comfy right now. Most of the rotten apples have migrated to Ragefire or Phinny.
Probably it is even already 1 hour after the Titanic hit the iceberg ... maybe not ... it doesn't matter. But especially you and these other 3 to 5 trolls (I don't say their names), who feel personally insulted and never got over their bad experience with multi-boxers, huge raidguilds, content being denied etc. ... you crawl out of your holes you dug on your new and successfull server (be it "carebear" or not) and never have one joyfull or constructive word about other people of the TLP community. You wish RF and LJ were dead, because you felt treated badly by those 2 servers or their inhabitants or their economy. To come back to vote against an expansion only to grief the people left on LJ disqualifies you in every way possible. As a poster above said ... "Why not live and let live?"
Ragefire and Lockjaw like to accuse Phinny of ruining their server and being a poorly-timed additional TLP, but also proudly defend their own survival and health as servers. Phinny likes to accuse Lockjaw of being a dead server and Ragefire being talentless noobs, while loudly demanding changes to Phinny and whining about any form of competitive interaction. Everyone is a hypocrite here.
Actually LJ treated me quite well, tons of krono ton's of fun. RF was a cesspool and I left to LJ during the transfer period. But once phinny was announced I already knew the fate of LJ was to become a low pop server with a ton of folks leaving. So I left as well, my opinion is that why would anyone doom a new person to LJ or RF now that phinny is running on all cylinders.... RF on the other hand I do enjoy seeing it have issues I must admit.
Time... why would I want to start on a new server that has significantly lower experience rate than other servers if I know I'm only going to have say 10-20 hours a week that I can devote to a game? Currently if someone starts on Ragefire They are stuck on Ragefire, if they don't like it.... deal with it or re-roll! Lockjaw you have options, you could re-roll, you could transfer, you could stick it out an expansion or two and possibly get a free transfer. Additionally the decreased population can actually play into your favor. I've noticed people being more and more helpful to lower level toons (at least ones that aren't obviously being power leveled) because they identify that if we don't help out the new players that are willing to try the server, they are more likely just to stop playing and then there is no influx of new blood to replace when someone does leave.
The XP is so slow on Phinny that it took me two weeks to get to 50... as a rogue of all classes. The fact that groups are so easy to get seems to counteract any problems with a "relatively" slow XP rate. I find the XP rate fast because my last experience with leveling was back in 2001-2004
I hope your vote fails so you're forced to transfer to Ragefire were a real guild www.darkwind-gaming.com can show you have to beat content so hard it gets easier for everyone, for the rest of times!
