Raid instance all servers or ..

I am going to caveat this response with. I am not a dev and I don't play one on tv.

Once, while Holly was talking about Phinny, back in the early days she said something along the lines of, we can do instancing on Phinny because with true boxing it is manageable. From that I would extrapolate that instancing on the boxable servers where every Joe Shmoe with a couple of accounts can request their own instance would tax the system.

If that is the case, and it seems to be a reasonable conclusion, rage and lock, or rage lock if they merge, will never be instanced, if instancing is your goal Phinny will be the only option.

If they do implement it, hopefully they fix the instancing first. Right now three out of the seven are broken and all of them are subject to bugged lockouts.

It has the drawback of requiring additional server resources, since every new instance needs a bunch of memory and processor power to maintain all the mob info and whatever else. This is why Phinny is the most powerful server they ever made. And also probably why they rolled out the instancing on Ragefire/Lockjaw rather slowly. Obviously as populations go down this becomes less of a problem.

The other drawback is instancing allows faster progression. Faster progression means players get their dreams fulfilled, get bored, and stop playing quicker.How often do you see the guys who get all geared up and then their epic then stop logging on soon after? I don't think it's a coincidence (or silly evil conspiracy to jerk people around and/or make them buy pots) they felt the need to combine full instancing with box restrictions and fast unlocks. Boxing restrictions slows people down a lot and cuts back on both the loot flow from instances and the number of box crews opening them at all. Faster unlocks give new content to the otherwise-bored people achieving their goals quicker.

Perhaps they could add instancing to other TLP's but at a more-restricted rate. Perhaps only in the final week before unlock or something. and with the boxing restrictions enforced in them. But that would probably require more work.

I'm sure they'll merge RF/LJ just as soon as they merge Fippy/Vulak. Right?

When was the last time they merged a server?

A lack of server resources could be a valid excuse if a subscription fee was not being charged to play. The $15/month price point is too high for it to be a viable one though.

Faster progress would definitely happen with instancing, but new content will unlock eventually, causing those players to come back and repeat the cycle anyway.

Ultimately this shows a lack of planning and business sense on the part of DBG. If you sat down and mapped out TLP as a product, the matrix of features really doesn't make any sense. It's obviously something they haven't really put any long-term thought into.

When was the last time they released 3 TLP servers within 6 months?

It is a very different world for EQ since May 2015.

It's really quit simple:

1) These 3 TLP servers are driving the EQ revenue engine ATM. I think they will continue to milk this cash cow. I think we will see another TLP in May/June 2016.

2) It should be clear to anyone now that there are barely enough players for three young TLP servers, much less four.

Merging RF and LJ, while both are still in same expansion, is a way to attain #1 and #2 above, without have to lease new hardware, and will solve the population problems that are growing *by the day* on Lockjaw.

It's therefore a no-brainer to turn on raid-instancing at that time for the new combined server, to alleviate raid population issues, and let the majority of players do what they want to do, on both servers (Phiny & Combined RF/LJ).

Players will then have a simple choice: Slow XP & True-Box VS. Fast XP & Box-Armies

It makes *zero* sense, once the investment in finalizing the code and fixing the plethora of issues with the new lockout code has been made, to *not* put it in a merge RF/LJ.

I just can't fathom why they would *not* do it...

Fippy/Vulak were the revenue Engine back in what.. 2011? And they just let 1 server die completely.
I have no faith they will merge LJ/RF, and there is no evidence to points to it being something they will potentially do.

I agree with everything you said though. It does make zero sense. But honestly I've come to expect such decisions from DBG =p

You never know what DBG is capable of. The Scenario Tarewmarr laid out could very well happen. It's all a waiting game at this point. As much as raid instancing sounds great, I don't care for Phinny server. Slow exp and no boxing is a huge turn off for me.