Vulak progressing?

A player could do this on any server without taking up large amounts of time and resources from other SOE games and Everquest servers. In fact with the launch of H1Z1 and the stress it has put on SOE capacity it only makes sense to merge Vulak into the least populated server. If you are progressing at your own pace and not even attempting things in the most current expansion this is a feature you can have on any server. There is no logical argument here why SOE should be using time and resources on an unconfirmed maximum of 4 new players a week.

Sony, take the opportunity now to use the Vulak resources to help out with your new game H1Z1. The populated servers don't appreciate the way that you allocate so many resources to a place people aren't playing and for players that have a play style that can work on any server.

No post here has made one single logical argument why players on Vulak can't do what they doing on any other server, so lets move Vulak onto an existing server and downsize your Everquest hardware to support other, more profitable games such as the massive load H1Z1 has put on all SOE servers.

If someone hasn't attempted progression in a month, why bother to allocate two servers to progression when only one is progressing?

If yo

When an argument says the results should be one way, but the reality is the results are something else, something is wrong with the argument.

Vulak has been on for 4 years now (4th year anniversary in a few weeks). Today's population base is higher than a year ago and even moreso than six months ago.

If this argument didn't work then, it certainly doesn't work now. So maybe it's time to give up this same argument and move on.

I understand the point of your argument, and its a valid one. But the other side to it, is that in the past we've had people be forced into new content when they didn't want to. And what that did is make people keep leaving the server with each new mad dash expansion release. To be honest that had a measurable impact on the player base of Vulak. It contributed to the huge drop in population.

But there is a solution already in place for what you're describing. And EoE demonstrated that it works. You can server transfer off. So if people really do get to a point they feel 'held back' or anything, they can just transfer to Fippy.

That has worked extremely well. It has allowed those that want the faster pace to collect on one server, and those that want a slower one to collect on the other. It's given the player base 2 options for TLP servers instead of 2 copies of the same.

Sometimes someone will join us, thinking they want the casual play, and our very open recruitment that lets people join at any level so they get to know everyone while levelling up. But then they get to 85 and are all gung ho and want to go faster. Well, there is a mechanism for that. They can transfer to Fippy.

They really should have differentiated them on launch. 'Hard core' mode with say a 1 month lockout to vote, and 'Casual mode' with maybe a 6 month lockout. Whatever the numbers, the general idea being to steer player types to a certain server. That would have probably helped both servers continue with a better playerbase.

But what they're doing now works. The growth we've had on Vulak has born that out.

On Vulak it seems odd so many players boxing so many characters at once non stop on that server. Every time I try to find an exp camp there is always someone there in SoF like at the farm in dragonscale. I send tells but just seems players are afk and having something play the characters automatically. It's just not really an inviting place to play.

I don't have these issues on Fippy considering i play at my own pace and progress at my own rate. I have locked myself into SoF and level 80. I don't need an empty server to accomplish these things because it seems people on Fippy are able to play nice with others. I get many high level characters that come by and offer me buffs and help, I never get griefed or run into someone permanently afk like I have on the other "progression" server.

Just because things might appear slightly better now, doesn't mean things are healthy or shouldn't be remedied.

You are right Kukgrol, something is wrong with the argument.

I think you may have hit on the real reason people like to play on Vulak. They don't have to actually play and there's few to call them out.

Just out of curiosity, why does anyone who does not play on vulak care about what is happening on vulak?

https://forums.station.sony.com/eq/...-first-current-content-hard-mode-kill.215513/
https://forums.station.sony.com/eq/...lly-kills-sod-raid-progression-target.215358/
https://forums.station.sony.com/eq/...time-to-roll-fippy-into-a-live-server.214427/
https://forums.station.sony.com/eq/...ak-does-not-need-want-to-be-merged-with-fippy.

You wanted feedback and PR. Here is how the rest of the TLP feel. Reevaluate your approach or stop reading how the people feel

Probably the best way to get an accurate idea of this would be to log on Fippy general chat for a while. Ask a few random new to server type questions. See how you're treated.

Then log onto Vulak's general chat channel and do the same.

It would cut out any alleged bias by anyone posting on the forums here, myself included.

You'll be in a position to draw your own conclusions at that point.

On pretty much every server you'll get some sarcastic, unfriendly replies - a lot of them, too. General is not a good place to ask for answers without doing a tiny bit of one's own research via the interwebs, but that's often what happens there and people respond accordingly. But you're implying that Fippy General are especially awful, and Vulak General are especially kind?

Also, since you purposefully avoided my questions about your guild will ask again:

-is there a simple timeline of your progression/history anywhere to refute the "server is stagnating arguments" other TLP players are making?
-how many bots are you raiding with? On your roster I see at least a dozen of the toons listed are you.
-are your raids ever full?
-are there any other raiding guilds/alliances on Vulak?

I don't play on progression but if you're going to spam ram "my server is growing and progressing!" argument in public forums down everyone's throats, it might be prudent to have some actual proof, and not random hearsay about # of people in general, baz traders up at one time, or beating one entry level raid in an exp that wasn't available until another group unlocked it for you.

Unless you are a class that might not benefit from it, you might find lv81 to be a better level to lock yourself at. You get the benefit of using underfoot tradeskill gear, and casters can get a significant boost in pets, DPS etc.

I'm on Vulak currently with a low level necro in Steamfont, not that it matters but, I am the only necro on and there are "40" people in general chat, mind you it is 3 pm PST... But I really hope that SOE is going to consider this a sign for a new TLP, just my 2cp.. Oh wait all Steamfont loot is mine! Buahahaha!!

Kuk, have you ever considered that perhaps merging into another server would benefit your "Clan"?

You're posting on these forums, bragging about beating Malarian - Hard Mode, when that event can be done with 25 people in Solteris/OMM group gear. This isnt a hardcore vs casual playstyle conversation. This is about SoE wasting resources on a server that clearly doesn't care to progress, even though it is a progression server.

WIth that being said, you would probably benefit from an influx of players that are relativly casual on Fippy(Or Trakanon, or Vox) if you were merged with one of those servers. It in no way hinders you from progressing at your own rate, and gives you access to players you otherwise wouldnt have access too. Not only would this benefit your guild, it would benefit atleast 3 guilds(EoE and Citizen would probably see a few people look to join, as well as Kuk clan), and merge the resources into a single server. You can still progress at your own rate, noone will fault you on that.

Hopefully you'll see the light one day!

This is not an exaggeration or misrepresentation to any degree. Since November 1st, we've had 34 new people join our guild. That's 34 different people, it does not include bots / alts etc. A number of them are very casual players. They won't be raiding with us, for months. And even when they do, it will be part time. Some won't stay, others will.

But the #1 reason I have heard from nearly all of them, is they have chosen Vulak, and our guild, because it is quiet, and low population, and an 'older' crowd. They have chosen it because it has no hard core raiding guild racing through content.

Haters can try to say this is 'propaganda' all they want. It doesn't change the fact that it's true. And for those that don't understand why we keep doing what we do, and support what is going on here, is because they just don't want to / can't believe it really is what others want.

When I comment about us beating Queen Malarian, it isn't to brag about how 'bad' we are. It was to make the point, to all of those that kept saying we never did / never could do current content. And that we weren't progressing.

Our raids each week cycle between several expansions. We have a lot of newer members who haven't experienced the other expansions yet. They can benefit from gear, we all benefit from varying our raids. It's a playstyle that works for us.

We are progressing. By a benchmark that matters the most - the ones here playing. It really doesn't matter to all of us here enjoying EQ, how others outside of our guild / server see our 'progression'.

We're not here for a race, or timetable. We're here to enjoy EQ. And the current state of our server, is why we enjoy it.

For those of us actually playing here, in the last few months, we have flagged for Solteris, flagged for MMM raids, and beaten 11 new raid targets, including Queen M. This isn't to brag or say how great we are. It's to show those out there that somehow think we're not doing anything. We're doing what we want. And we're having fun doing it. Just like any other guild on any other server.

Many of these newer members are doing their epics, some are still very viable. Others are doing them because they enjoy completing it. They're doing MPG group trials. They're doing DoN progression. They're flagging for content we raid. They're doing SoD progression. There is a lot of content for people that roll here. And because of that, they don't show up in raid force for quite a while. Their impact doesn't show for even longer. But we're all fine with that.

And yep most of those targets were done by people before on Vulak, and then left. But our guild makeup has no interest in playing EQ that much, raiding that late, etc. You don't see us obsessed with a race when a new expansion comes out that it must be beaten asap. We won't make this an obsession or full time job. We'll go at a pace that works for us.

And while we could do what we do on another server, as you say, so could every single person that ever played on any progression server since that's the way you're choosing to define it. Any raiding guild on any progression server is doing content that has already been done many times by thousands of players. And they could just form a 'progression guild' and go play on any live server there is. So from that standpoint, SOE should save resources and not make any progression servers.

But we all choose to do it on the server we're on because that is what suits our playstyle.

I don't go around complaining how SOE should stop wasting resources on new expansions, since we don't want any. We have enough content ahead of us for years already. They could be better suited putting all those resources into fixing existing issues, game geometry bugs, etc etc. But I don't look at it that way, I don't decide how others should decide what suits them.

In the end, SOE clearly sees our paying customers, are paying enough to SOE to be worth our server being here. It's a business, we're customers. We pay the exact same amount anyone else does to play EQ.

If you really feel somehow paying customers don't deserve business, especially when they pay the same amount anyone else does,then the complaint should go to the business, not the other customers.

I've never played the toon I rolled on Vulak to any degree, but I have a main and alts on Fippy.

It seems with with so many Live servers in Current Era, its a good thing to have servers that have different flavours, that are not in current era, or redefine current era based on their Xpan and toon capacity. If all players wanted to race to current era they would be on Live Servers.

Fippy, Vulak offer different experiences. There are challenges, btu maybe that is part of the appeal for players that remain on the servers.

Also, players on those two servers are paying customers. They maintain their ALL Access. Obviously Players on TLPs are choosing where and how they want to spend their time and money.

just about every argument made against vulak can be made against fippy...i just started playing there again, and the population isnt exactly booming on fippy. we on fippy could just as easily go to a live server too, that argument is just plain silly.

i highly doubt much, if any, of SOE's resources are dedicated to vulak. its not as if they shut down vulak, live servers or fippy are going to start seeing live GM events, more bug fixes, or anything else all of a sudden.

Kuk, we've been over this and you ignored it. But, you certainly play on average a lot more than people in the Fippy guild you disparage for recruitment purposes so much.

Springfield!

Shelbyville!

I'm not ignoring it, I'm just not letting it distract from what our guild is about, and what the appeal of our playstyle is to those that are looking for it. Yes I do have 'high play time' personally. A few others in our guild do too. Most do not. But our guild, our progression and philosophy is a casual playstyle.

As an active guild leader, I sure do put in a lot more time than the typical player in our guild, and maybe yours as well.

That's pretty typical of any involved leader of anything.

None of that counters anything I've said above. The message is still the same. We're a casual, family-friendly guild on a like-minded server.

If you want to define "progression" as loosely as possible, I'm sure no server is completely stagnant and has players doing new things, especially on TLP given there's lots of content back in that era. But for a server whose sole purpose is to (quickly or slowly) "progress" through expansions, if there isn't another guild on Vulak, the answer would be to anyone with any modicum of common sense: No, you're not "progressing" by the normal definition.

If SoE has more players interested in a new TLP server than currently play on Vulak, I can see it making sense to repurpose the hardware. The same argument could be made for Fippy, too, though from what I keep seeing posted they're somewhat regularly moving through content, aka "progressing" by the common definition.