Hi All, Since the changes to the servers were announced, I've been waffling in my head for which server to go with. Now a week before launch and I'm still undecided. Maybe there are others with a similar dilemma or situation as I am in, or those who can help me decide. I re-subscribed approximately two months back for Corinav, but found the experience unfulfilling because I couldn't keep up. The server was too mature and the xp rate too punishing for me to effectively level from scratch and reach the content I wanted to with the time I have to play; the leveling process was far too punishing due to extremely limited grouping options. I have maybe an hour or two on a weekday (give or take) and 5-6 hours on the weekend. The last time I played was when Combine launched. Played up until around DoDH I believe (or an expansion after). I was hoping to stick it out this time and experience old and newer content. However, I'm not sure which server will best deliver on what I want vs. the time I have. Note: I know going in that my game time will be a limiting factor, so really I'm asking which server will hurt less or offer more. Option 1: Selos I like the idea of Selos, and before the server modifications it was a no-brainer. I like the idea of starting at Luclin as well. However, even with the xp bonus, that expansion unlock rate at one-per-month just seems far too fast. I doubt I will have the opportunity to experience a lot of the content in the mad dash just to keep up on levels. Even after keeping up on levels, there's still keying. Option 2: Mangler Slower xp than Selos, but I don't think it will be as horrible as Corinav. I'm sure Corinav wasn't as bad when everyone was leveling at the same time at server launch, but a year later... no. I'm hoping the server pop for Mangler at launch negates that issue. I'm sure I'll be able to keep up on levelling since there is 3 months per expansion. That said, it starts in classic and I've done this before with Combine. It'll be years before I see new content, which is what I want to see. Unfortunately, neither server really meshes well with my objectives. For content, Selos is too fast and Mangler is too slow. So, given my play time, and that I only have those options... which do you recommend? I guess there's also Option 3: FV When I gave up on Corinav, I decided to try out boxing for the first time. I got my 3-party group to around level 45 between then and now. I could just avoid both new servers and stick with FV. It won't be the same experience, but I can keep trucking and maybe hit current live content. I really do like the old content too though. Thanks for any suggestions!
You won't be able to keep up with selos either unless you plan on playing 12 hours a day at a minimum.
Why is this? The levelling process should be faster than expected? Or just that there will be enough players early on to level with?
You and almost everyone else won’t keep up with content unlocks on Selos so you will never have a problem with lack of progression till end game. Mangler on the other hand is going to be a horrible sight with a ton of high level players bottled into a few zones . More players than mobs .
What a stupid, hyperbolic post. You'll be fine on selo's with a couple raids a week and a couple exp/keying sessions a week. You get 6 weeks of luclin, and 3 months of PoP before GoD comes out, since LoY and LDoN don't add much. Even GoD doesn't add to the leveling cap. The initial 6 weeks might be a flurry sure, but most of this content is trivial for a while. You can't have BiS across every expansion, but you can certainly "keep up" just fine with a reasonable amount of playtime.
Mangler if you want to play through all content, get most items you want, and do in era quests. Selos if you want a tour of EQ, don’t mind just being geared as opposed to best in slot, and want to skip the Classic through Velious grind. FV if that’s for you, not my cup of tea. Exp shouldn’t be a big issue on any server. Selos is double Ragefire’s starting exp, and AAs shouldn’t be much of an issue (pop a potion on an exp weekend + the fast start = many AA quickly). I’d imagine most mains will be max AA on Mangler by the time each expansion rolls out.
Some people have fun "keeping up with the crowd." First, it is much easier to find groups that way and second, it is just more fun to be somewhat on a similar level or reasonably measured level of "power"-or what have you. Selo will be fine in that regard... for awhile. It is going to be a racing server and many hardcore raiding guilds will be starting on the server. This generally means cutthroat play (perhaps not as bad as prior TLPs because the world will be so much more spread out. Eventually one or two of the hardcore raiding guilds separates itself from the others and the glory of being king of the hill gradually disappears for most of the other guilds trying to keep up. Hardest of the hardcore raiders will flip to the king of the hill guild, others will switch to Mangler or go back to their live guilds and others will just quit playing altogether. The large world and the quick progression will greatly thin out the casual player who will have trouble finding groups and trying to keep pace with each other, and just lose interest being so far behind. They will switch to Mangler or just quit playing altogether. Selo will be fun for awhile. Everyone will start out sprinting at the beginning of the marathon. But a couple miles into it, you realize what a big mistake you have made. If you were starting the marathon knowing you were only going to run the first two miles anyway - its probably not so bad. Hell, I could be completely wrong - and I hope that I am. But if I were waffling at all on which new TLP server to start out on - I think I would recommend Mangler - unless you want to play huge amounts of hours and are in shape enough to sprint the whole marathon.
Within a year, you'll have a month to grind out thousands of AAs, get keyed, and do the raid before the next expansion hits and you have to do it again.
Ok, thanks all. I guess that's another thing to consider... the potential long-term health of the server. I want to find one to commit to rather than jump around. I certainly don't have time to keep up on more than one. I guess one question for expansions... say DoDH and beyond... is the keying process still there? Does every expansion have keying mechanics, or do they eventually open up and gate more on gear/skill/AA rather than "camp x hours" or "run x missions?" Is it still there in the most recent "live" expansions? Thanks again for the additional perspective all!
Yes, keying process is still there. Guilds have gotten it done for every expansion prior to Underfoot in considerably shorter than a month. And Underfoot, they just significantly increased the drop rates so it will be doable in under a month as well most likely. But guilds will need to put in singificant time and effort into keying/flagging each expansion.
I'm in about the same place that it seems you are. EQ/TLP veteran with a ton of playtime (for me, most recently Lockjaw up through Veliuos). I have been thinking about this a ton. I plan to start on Selo. The extra exp and named spawns are very enticing for me with a much more limited play schedule. I'm going to dualbox and should be able to do a good portion of the content, even if I don't end up in groups all the time. For getting left behind, its all how you view your place in the game/content. Do you want to be able to see and play through absolutely every encounter, raid and otherwise? I don't think that's feasible with your described schedule (mine either). The quick unlocks of extra expansions and additional content mean I can pick and choose to do the more interesting/rewarding things, not be stuck staring at the efreeti spawn for 2 months. And really, if the server is terrible and not populated 6 months in, you could always re-roll on Mangler and they'd still be in Velious.
As a non-raider, my hope for Selos is that the fast pace means that there will constantly be people grinding and groups to be had. Unlike Phinny and the other servers where there is a flurry of activity for a week or two after a new expansion is released, then people mostly log in to raid. At that xp rate, capping your level should be almost trivial, and getting the important AAs for grouping shouldn't be too tough with a moderate amount of play time. Raiders will likely need to devote more time to it. And if it doesn't work out that way, you can switch to Mangler in time for Luclin or PoP.
