Rizlona Bots vs Aradune Real Players

It's not particularly thrilling to watch China shuffle around their mini PL raids on Rizlona, OTOH if you've been playing EQ for 20 years only playing 1 character in classic EQ is incredibly dull. Unless you play a Shaman in which case your fingers are likely to fall off.

I've enjoyed the raids I've been on that had buff bots. Getting a buff 4 seconds after I ask 100% of the time = great; waiting for Frank to clean up the beer he spilled on his cat = not great.

Plenty of it is just straight up suckage too.

Bards that won't twist and just play heal song. Monks that refuse to pull, Enchanters that don't charm, druids/necros that land a dot 3 seconds before the mob dies. Tanks that don't know how to keep aggro, yes it's difficult in classic but most don't even do the basic things that help, like buying provoke, using stun augs, casting clinging darknes/flash of light/flame lick.

Some of it's just ignorance, but that's really no excuse when there are class and new player channels, reddit, discord etc where people that want to not be terrible could ask basic questions.

Lots of stuff that can't be hand waved away by claiming they are just watching netflix.

Like I said, the game isn't hard but many still manage to be bad/ignorant/lazy players.

Thankfully in a couple of days I will be back on my main and leveling with other mains that have at least a basic understanding.

Ahh well new players aren't going to be that good, every persons situation is different. I once got my GF into p99 EQ years ago with me, we applied for the permissions to play together in same household and by the time she got lv12 she got us both banned because she was suddenly a bot i called 'my girlfriend' lol. She would get attacked by a ghoul for example, and rotate her character freaking out because she couldn't find out where the ghoul was (didn't know how to pan camera etc). Point is a lot of people are new (which is awesome) and can't be leet like us 20 year veterans yet.

While the OP's original statement is accurate, if you believe an optimized group of bots is a better experience over playing with actual players with faults and character, you are missing the point of the game.

I am with you. Back in the days people were happy to play an MMORPG and meet tons of new people and have fun. Today, there is no RP left in EQ and it's also no longer massive and on top of that it barely is multiplayer because boxing has become the norm. So what is left from MMORPG ist the O and the G.

I think this is sad and there is no way in the world I will hook up a second computer on my desk, pay an additional subscription and play by myself most of the time.

To each their own. I don't blame anyone for doing it. The time has changed and what people liked back in the days is not what people like today. Just saying I personally liked the old days better

In the same tone, there is room for both play styles in TLP end game.

We still have three active raid guilds on Phinigel, which is about a year from being live now. I was in EoE, which dissolved during VoA.. EoE raids were full of six boxers, including our guild leader. Everyone who wanted to continue play, found homes in other guilds when we dissolved. I'm now in Resolute, where generally 54 real people raid together on most raid nights. Many of the players box through group content, but only raid with those boxes near the end of each XPAC or on optional raid nights.

You all really need to stop this petty bickering and try to enjoy the game. For you boxers, embrace inexperienced players, or the game will die. For you die hard one account per player people, boxing is not evil, its just a way to still play when LFG isnt working so well.

Alot of us are in our 60s now. The player base will soon be dying to quit....literally. So go spend some of that Station Cash and buy that Hind Quarter Cranium extraction tool in the Marketplace...then use it.

I've enjoyed playing on servers where you can box, and where it was strictly forbidden (P99 monitors and enforces this heavily).

To clarify, I "box", I don't "bot". This is to say I am actively playing each character I'm controlling individually using a creative combination of /follow, carefully crafted in-game macros, and alt-tab. I have gradually increased my group up to 6 characters.

I don't play my 'preferred' class (the character I would play on a server where I can't box) as 'fully' as I would if it was the only character I played. It's a different style of play, much like the difference between how you play solo, versus how you play in a group. I utilize the 'strengths' of each class while carefully managing mana and agro to maximize the sustainability of each situation.

When I'm manning my own group, pulls are positioned exactly where I expect them to be, nobody rips agro or breaks mezzes, and everything flows cohesively. If I'm playing a partial group and invite others to join me, I notice immediately that dynamic changes because other people tend to do things that you do not expect. Sometimes it self-adjusts with some coaching and communication, other times it does not.

I will agree with the consensus that playing multiple characters requires a focus that exceeds what is required to playing a singular character, and this is multiplied by however many I am playing at a given time. There are a few exceptions to this like those 'yikes' moments when solo, something bad happens, and you have to react fast, but imagine that this scenario is your cognitive state pretty much at all times when boxing.

Boxing may be more of an appeal to adrenaline junkies than anything else. I'd also admit that it might be a little bit about control and perfectionism too. It's just a different style of play with a lot more to think about, and it changes the game in a way that appeals to some people. When I want a break from this, I'll play less characters. It's a choice I get to make, and that's cool.

For the record, I haven't been challenged meeting people playing in either type of environment. The social aspect of this game is what keeps bringing me back more than anything else.