This is how they get you

I have no interest in starting over on a new TLP server at the moment, but I will be in front of a computer with EQ installed on it when the server comes up today. At this point I can't think of a good reason not to make a character and just run around enjoying the chaos. So that will probably happen...

Go outside, one reason

I am starting on this server for one reason and one reason only, I want to experience all the raids, since I have done like 1 or 2 of them ever. Always before, only one or two guilds of the server got to raid as they would kill the boss 5 minutes after it spawned. Now that they are instanced, I have a chance. I know agnarr had raid instancing as well, but they are stuck in PoP, and I want to see the raids after that as well. Plus, they are on luclin now, not many people are doing classic or Kunark raids.

It's fun for exactly 5 minutes. Until you hear the first:

"Selling (item) for 3 Krono"

And you start to realize that the group you just joined, half of them are krono farmers. And the guild you just joined, the guild leader is a krono farmer too, they all are.

You realize that these krono farmers have figured out how to make money from the the rest of the server weeks in advance.

You are just there in the game to further their goal and to buy krono from them. No chance you'll ever get any decent loot yourself since they will permacamp multiple instances from day 1.

I'm not running my guild for krono , I may by some with my own plat but I'm not using my guild to farm them.

Yeah I don't expect to stick with it, it's more of just being there to spectate. Maybe make a Monk or something that gets invis really early. I can't really go outside, have to be in front of this computer. So it would just be something to entertain myself.

WTS CB Belts, 10 for 1 Krono!

Just point to the doll where the krono farmer touched you. But seriously though....do you even enjoy this game anymore?

I thought I wanted to play a pop-locked server until I realized how easy this game has become in that era.

Krono farmers ruin the in-game economy. They make regular items that used to be available to all, insanely expensive, only available by spending real money on krono (which they then resell on their farm sites).

I enjoy the game just fine, but not on early TLP. On early TLP almost all loot is droppable, so you get tons of Krono farmers / hackers / shady characters joining the servers like moths to a flame.

Around OOW items become either no-drop or attuneable which removes the krono farmers from the game for the most part.

(but OOW is 2 years away, by then most TLP are on their last legs since the slow XP of classic burns people out)

So to answer your question, sure I enjoy the game, but not early TLP that start in classic, they are full of krono farmers and they ruin any chance of having an accessible economy.

Classic is way too easy to exploit.

I'll still be playing on Agnarr, and my live server, but this will be something to witness. It will be more fun this time to be there without caring about advancing or fighting over anything.

There is some truth to this but its overstated for a few reasons.

1) Not everyone was running around with a FBSS in the old days, yet everyone feels entitled to now. There are way more FBSS in the game and way more people getting them themselves (not buying with krono) than on live. But people's standards have changed for what is an acceptable amount of time to wait for their first haste item.

2) Krono farmers per se don't make loot inaccessible. It's professional Krono marketers that sell it on 3rd party sites. These guys run a bunch of mage bots on the valuable spawns they learn how to do in advance -- and they get away with it because DBG is too slow to ban them most the time. Which sucks for them because these guys are costing them customers for sub time and krono.

Although they got theking on Agnarr didn't they? After screwed the economy by making every BAM 2+ krono ea.If they stay on top of banning the professional farmers quickly, there is hope that one of these launches will be better this way.

3) Krono farmers don't have a lot of access to endgame raid gear throughout classic-PoP, and you can almost always get better items in raids than you can with krono buying dropables. So its the casual that wants to farm his own dropables that is hurt the most, rather than the typical raid player.

4) Define "Insanely expensive"? There is a supply/demand factor going on here.

There are elements I really like about the trade economy of classic...but I agree professional krono farmers darken the whole experience a lot.

Go outside, but bring your laptop and phone hotspot! I once played next to a waterfall.

Krono farmers absolutely were a problem on Agnarr and on older servers.

On Agnarr, they locked down spawns for FBSS, BAM, and GEB. They also farmed dragon and planar loot, although this had little impact due to occurring in expeditions.

Coirnav will not have BAMs in original content. Expect to see FBSS and GEB camps full of drama.

Kunark and later expansions had similar issues (i.e. Jade Chokidai Prod, which was fixed).

Over time, DBG is making changes to improve these situations. At the end of the day, though, they must make a profit to keep EQ running, so Krono will remain a fact of life.

You could go with an age old classic. Scour the boards/guild sites for the most popular character names, and immediately upon server up make level 1’s with them, then offer to “sell” them back to their corresponding TLP heroes for krono?

Always a good time!

This! So much this...

Your logic is completely flawed. You assume that everyone who trades krono for in-game items wants to do that trade because they are going to sell that krono for $.

RMT existed in EQ long before krono was a thing, and it has existed on other games that don't even have a comparison to it. Heck, it even exists on other games that literally don't even have an economy!

Your premise is completely ignorant of several factors, but one of the more obvious ones is that since krono has value in game and yes even outside of the game, it makes it the BEST currency for higher end items. A person can do a camp that they can farm and do it long enough to be able to get something they would not ever be able to obtain on their own.

Krono is the BEST currency for high ticket items such as mana robes, bcg's, dragon scales, etc because it appeals to the widest audience. People that play only on that TLP know it's value on the TLP when they want to buy other items. People that play on that TLP just to seek out krono for use on another server have an interest in it. Even people that only play on that TLP and would never consider selling it for $ and would never have a reason to buy another item from another player in the game can have an interest in it because when that TLP dies, they know it will have value for them on the next TLP. And yes, people that play on that TLP just to occasionally sell krono for $ have an interest in it.

You can play the game however you like, you don't ever have to do any trades with other people for krono or platinum. What other people do with their farming time or even with their credit card has no impact on you whatsoever. On occasion some guy with better gear than you might blow by you, but that's no different than when it happens in real life. Are you the type of person who dies inside when someone passes you in their Ferrari?

Less than an hour to go. I might actually make a Cleric and see if I can get a group for a few hours. Assuming I actually get in that is.

Kronos are the best thing to ever happen to the EQ economy. You can buy a krono for a few hundred plat in classic, hang onto it, and then sell it 5 expansions later when you actually need the plat. Or you can just sell enough tradeskill/loot drops to buy a krono every month and play for free. You can also spend them on big ticket items that you really need. It's also a great way to carry effort that you put into one server over to another (or even another game if you play other DB games). A savvy player will always keep as much of their currency as possible in kronos rather than plat.

I've never gotten involved with RMT, but even those of us who don't stand to benefit a lot from them. I think the case against krono is oversimplified and overstated. Kronos don't make items become less available; the rate at which items enter the economy isn't impacted by kronos (if anything kronos increase the number that enter over a period of time assuming kronos increase the percentage of time those items are camped).

I also don't buy the argument that items are expensive because they are being sold for krono. So what? If they weren't going for krono, they'd be sold for the equivalent amount of plat. You're talking about best-in-slot tradeable items. Of course they're going to fetch a premium. The funniest part though is that many of the items that will be farmed by krono farmers have no drop replacements from raids (like FBSS with Sky belts). Not all of them, but many.

Plus gear is laughably irrelevant in Classic (for the first few expansions, really). If you don't have an FBSS or a DAR or a BAM no one is going to care. All the classic bosses have been beaten in bronze and patchwork. Kunark doesn't even offer that much when it comes to gear upgrades. It's not going to be until Velious and Luclin that itemization even begins to make sense.

I really would not worry too much about this. Save up your plat, convert it into krono, and just hang onto it. Join a raiding guild and get better no-drop gear than the items being sold for krono. Let the krono farmers enjoy their circle jerk, who cares.

Checkmate, I got nothing