Vulak still growing !

I just saw 102 in /general chat a few minutes ago. A /who 51 - 80 was 'Your request was cut short... too many players". I had to chop it down from 50 to avoid the people doing OMM groups / raids.

It's been so great to see. My family had cancelled 4 accounts a couple weeks ago because just no need for them. We have a few more planned to let expire when their current month is out.

I've seen a number of people that have re-rolled toons here even after transferring their old ones to Fippy long ago and wishing they hadn't. But still willing to re-roll and start again here.

It's really great to see steady growth on our server.

Lots of flagging, levelling, and new raids to explore.

Bottom line, a lot of us enjoying EQ and having a great time. Great way to start the new year.

Awesome. Good to hear.

Kuk the only ones from vulak I see posting...since EoE left, I don'T see anyone but him from vulak...

and, somehow, the fact that 95% of his post are about ''how well vulak is doing'' make me very doubtfull of it...

But biased advertising, propaganda or at best PR always tell "the truth", right?!?

All 3 of eq's progression servers have had an increase in numbers. Fippy, Vulak and Trakanon. One reason is SOE's decision to no longer provide free expansions to Test Server. I hope SOE changes test back to how it has always been, but in the meantime, Trakanon is the place to be for GOD era prog

Trakanon is a progression server now?

Yes, unofficially... But yes.

I understand seeing anything positive on the forums here can seem so foreign it makes people question it. But if you notice I list specific facts when I make comments. I don't make innuendo or indirect suggestions. Anyone can verify the facts I list easily. Anyone can log on and check the count in /general. And anyone can see our toon names and see that some of them are never online now b/c we cancelled them due to the growth of the guild and no need for as many boxes. And anyone can log on and do a /who "Kuk Clan" all and see the numbers growing significantly.

To those that actually care about the truth, and not what they want to project or infer, facts speak volumes. To the rest, well it doesn't really matter since they're going to hate for the sake of hate.

We have had unprecedented growth in the guild and on the server in the last few months. I can honestly say not one person has ever come here and said they came here from test and left because of some free expansion issue. I can say that the overwhelming pattern is this:

They say they come here because they like what we do and how we do it. Specifically they like that we take a casual approach to EQ and are not obsessed with racing through content. But at the same time, we're working our way through and progressing. To those that see EQ as something to 'beat' yes it could seem pointless. And that's ok. They can play the style that suits them, and we can play the style that suits us.

But clearly what's going on is we have become a magnet for people that want the slower, casual pace, but still enjoy progressing through content. A guild that won't condone KSing / camp stealing / training or harassing people, whether in guild or out of guild.

And part of the mindset is, most of our members have no interest in the forums. The reason is the overwhelming amount of negativity it breeds, the confrontation and harassment. I happen to have very thick skin and could really care less about any of that.

I know it's also a great resource for like minded people to find each other. It's clearly working. Every negative post gives us an opportunity to show how we're different. And that is helping other like-minded people find and join us.

The best part about all of this, is the new members we have joining our guild on Fippy now since they didnt appreciate how they were treated on Vulak.

Thumbs up for a top job!

"they didnt appreciate how they were treated on Vulak" is often code for "they didn't give me everything I wanted", and includes being put off by the slower pace of progression.

We come here to post that Vulak is a casual paced progression server and the current status. Not all people figure this out, and there will inevitably be some who become bored with slower progression, and aren't casual players at all (they just thought they were).

This isn't a criticism of them, it is simply a the way things are. When people feel this way, we point out that they may be happier playing on Fippy since it is considerably more aggressive for raiding.

What Kuk is promoting, and what I support, is that people who seek a more leisurely raiding pace (often older players with families and more limited play time) are welcome on our server and the population of casual players has been growing substantially.

I do not quite understand the need to belittle our focus, except for a deep seated need for drama. No mention nor negative statements were made toward Fippy. We openly support people who feel our pace is too slow. We do not have a need to belittle them regarding their own desires in their play time. They are free to leave, and we harbor no ill will whatsoever.

It's part of our drama free culture, on display here for anyone to read and decide which server is right for them.

This might seem like a trolling comment but I promise it's an honest question: do you not have trouble with people running out of things to do?

Even just with an extended Underfoot, to the extent Fippy's numbers dipped it's been because people have no reason to log in outside of raids. They're maxed on experience, have done everything worthwhile in group content and--much as they love playing EQ--there simply is nothing to do when they're online.

Some might argue that there's always room to play alts or to gear a box army or farm some rare item or complete a PITA quest, but there's a pretty sizable player base of people who don't box and really just want to play a main or whatever.

This is a bigger philosophical question about progression servers, and maybe it's just because I play too much, but for people who want longer unlocks, what do you do with yourselves? Vulak seems like a good test lab for this in a way. I guess I'm just surprised boredom hasn't set in after a year of mostly raiding SoF and 8 months of grouping SoD.

And I say all of this coming from the perspective of Darkblood, which was the most casual of the last three remaining Fippy guilds and the guild that absorbed all of the more casual guilds. So hardly from the perspective of someone racing to get things done or campstealing / KSing / whatever else you mentioned.

You play less. It's sort of at the heart of being a more casual player. If you want to race to the end, get every AA possible and all geared up as quickly as possible, then Vulak will leave you bored and Fippy is a better server for that play style. It's as simple as that. But, there are people who don't play all the time, who level more slowly, and yet who also like to be able to raid. That is the point of the guild Kuk Clan - casual but frequent raids. Progress, but not at all costs and with a huge requirement for time commitment.

Your questions apply as well to Fippy. What do you do when you immediately max out your characters, beat the content, and then wait about for the votes? Some people want it all immediately without any wait at all. People could also join a progression guild on Trakanon or some other server, and progress as quickly as they desire with no caps at all.

There will always be variations in play time and style. It's good to have variety. Fippy meets one playstyle, Trakanon another, and Vulak yet another.

So what is so casual about raiding 5 times a week like Kukgrol posts about? Plus all the group flagging he speaks of off raid hours. I'm positive Kukgrol plays as much or more than the EoE people he calls so hardcore with their play time.

As a max aa raid geared main with no boxes in EoE I raid 4 nights a week maximum and maybe play a little after raids or log in one night on the weekend to mess around. My RA during the summer was barely 60-70%. I'm not sure I play anymore than you guys and I'm at the bleeding edge so that seems to nullify that argument.

No requirement to be there. No push to raid at all times. We play because we enjoy it, and not because we gotta have everything right now.

It's really not a difficult concept, and it isn't like we have to cap people's play time to be called casual.

As unofficial spokesperson for the Trakanon "progression" server...

Our acceptance of the title of "unofficial progression server" hinges on a few reasonable demands.

1. Fippy takes Drearn back. We don't care where you put him... but we don't want him any more.
2. We would like an official welcoming package.. I assume it includes everything needed to troll Kuk on the forums.
3. We'd like some druids. We have very few Druids.
4. We would also like to get rid of Drearn. We'll trade you for some druids. Or bits of string.. or anything, really.

That's pretty much it.

Let us know if our demands can be met and we'll start formulating our Kuk Klan troll posts.

Entelion (65 Enchanter, Retrospection) - Guardian of Good.

I demand more personal healers as part of this package! It will cut down on my angry keyboard noise in mumble!

-Rayjax
65 Angry Warrior (Retrospection)

Personally, I have no problem with Trakanon being considered another progression server since they seem to have several guilds there now who are doing their own progression style play.

When one of the guilds planned to play on Vulak, we were very open to having them on our server. We tried to make arrangements so they would feel at home and welcome.

Our rule of play is to enjoy your play time, in whatever style of play you prefer and there is clearly a desire for more progression guilds.

Also, we often get people coming to Vulak asking where we are in progression. Some then state they were looking for a lower level prog server, and we refer them on to Trakanon. We make it clear what the servers offer. If the person wants fast progress and a strong raiding focus, we recommend Fippy. If they want a server much closer to PoP, for example, we refer them to Trakanon. If they just want a non-drama sorta place, casual but frequent raiding, then they can stay on Vulak.

Isn't being decent to people and helping them find a server which matches their hopes the best way to go? Isn't an EQ which covers all sorts of play a healthier game overall?

There are plenty of guilds out there like this on live servers, too. It's not a new concept.

Is raiding on progression servers a choice between your model of family friendly, mature and considerate sane gameplay, or a viscous, cutthroat, training, kill stealing band of pre teens fighting each other to race to the top? Because that's essentially what most of kuk's weekly propo posts state or at best imply. I'm sure there are some nice folks in the higher playtime, more "hardcore" type guilds just like there are some jerks in the slower paced, less pedal to the medal type guilds.

The sheer frequency of quotes like this are absurd. Apparently all guilds that aren't family/casual on progression (or otherwise) condone rotten behavior and acting like a 10 year old? Good to know.

some people don't want to be in EoE, can you get over it?

And neither is racing to the end game.

I don't know how to make things any simpler. If people are looking for a more casual play style and an intolerance of drama, that is what we are focused on.

It's really not something that requires controversy.