The EQ2 Time-Locked Server Discussion Thread

Discussion in 'General Gameplay Discussion' started by Vinyard, Jun 4, 2015.

  1. Vinyard Active Member

    Lets discuss what "us" (the players) would like in the server, as Roshen requested in the producer letter thread.

    I'm going to assume it will be impossible to mimic the mechanics of the old days, but if possible it would be great to play vanilla EQ2 all over again, just like it was. (Especially the class system that was originally in place. Fighter -> Brawler -> Monk)

    I added a link to my post you reference, to make it easy for people to find. - [ROSHEN]
    Ishtara likes this.
  2. Windstalker Executive Producer

    Yes, please discuss. The idea is to use original launch content and lock as many features/content behind expansions as possible.

    No Vet Exp bonuses would be active. No /claims. No unfair advantage things.
    oakmiser, Idolvo, Seefar and 3 others like this.
  3. Vinyard Active Member

    Would the server mimic the combat mechanics and stats and itemization of current EQ2, or does even that have the possiblity to change?
  4. Liav Well-Known Member

    Just out of curiosity, are you going to reassess the stat system to more closely resemble classic, or will you instead be using the current stat system (for simplifcation) and re-balancing game difficulty to scale?

    I only ask because I seem like this would be extremely painful from an itemization standpoint as well, and it would be easier to just do a database sweep and align all of the classic gear with the current stat model using whatever maths you have for current gear.

    I think only an extremely small minority of players actually care about a 100% authentic experience, and would be fine with not having to deal with relearning antiquated systems and such. It's all about realistic expectations.
    Aeneka likes this.
  5. Gninja Developer

    We can't realistically change the way the class system currently works. So going back to being a fighter then a warrior then a guardian is not something feasible for what we are doing with this. Same goes for having the original Isle of Refuge. That progression from newbie isle to Freeport/Qeynos no longer exists and its not something we can easily roll back to without breaking pretty much everything in the game. Feel free to discuss all the wants and we can go through them one by one and see how workable the ideas are with the time we can devote to the project.

    Personally, I can't wait :)
    Siren, Neiloch and Ishtara like this.
  6. Vinyard Active Member

    Dang thats a real shame to hear Gninja! With those out of the question, Would you be able to beef up the overland zones like they were back in the original game? Instances weren't really a thing so overland grinding was some good expz.
  7. Gninja Developer

    Depends on what you mean by beef up... Can we go through every encounter in the game and scale them up? Probably not in this time frame but with less gear available since you can't go to expansion zones that content might just be harder in general. We are exploring all those options right now and seeing just what we can do.
  8. Vinyard Active Member

    Should have clarified. "Beef up" meaning more heroic encounters. I think it was with LU 13 it nerfed some of the overland mobs and made them relatively easy and soloable. Whereas in classic, a common place to group from 10-15 was the scarecrows right outside of Antonica because they were double ups
  9. Gninja Developer


    I don't think I have ever heard anyone talk about those scarecrows being made heroic... Is this your first time posting about them?
    oakmiser and Avirodar like this.
  10. Liav Well-Known Member

    On the topic of the original Isle of Refuge, is it implausible to simply bring the zone back and rewrite the quest progression for nostalgia's sake without necessarily reintroducing the class > subclass progression?
  11. Gninja Developer


    Not without a pretty large amount of rework. It would be like making an all new zone pretty much.
    Neiloch likes this.
  12. Corydonn Well-Known Member

    Does this mean no old Freeport and Qeynos along with no racial side areas?

    This whole timelocked progression thing got quite a bit less exciting with no isle of refuge.
  13. resonate Active Member

    Yeah LU13 is what made ^^ become ^^^ and the 10 level aggro con and pretty much made a lot of the overland content if I remember go from heroic to single up or easier
  14. Gninja Developer


    Yes, the old hoods/hovels were completely redone and they would fall into the category of not easy at all to go back on. These are the main reasons this sort of thing hasn't been done thus far but we are giving it a shot. Just making a server with a different rule set for locked content is a tough task. Once we figure that out we can go from there.
    Siren and Neiloch like this.
  15. resonate Active Member

    I'd love to see the old isle more than anything. but if not the old one then wouldn't queens colony needed to be put in as no other starting areas currently are at level 50
  16. Liav Well-Known Member

    It might be worth the large amount of rework in the long run, considering how those were people's earliest memories of the game.

    It strikes me as odd that the specific code in question for those classic mechanics would be so closely intertwined with the zone and NPCs within, then again, I don't really know a ton about how SOE did those things.

    All in all, 100% adherence, even 75% adherence to genuine classic EQ2 is pretty far-fetched, but some things are worth the effort to a lot of people.
  17. Gninja Developer

    Ultimately lets get the ruleset working and go from there. Keep the ideas flowing on how you would want this server to work in terms of how content gets unlocked etc.
    Fetish likes this.
  18. Corydonn Well-Known Member

    I'd say things were badly managed by certain "Watery" people in those days. So it's pretty understandable how bad they f@#!ed the system up.

    I'd rather see hardcore and timelocked rather than just timelocked. Make it so you -need- a group for anything overworld and such. No mercs and especially no botters/boxxers. Enforce the heck out of that.
  19. Vinyard Active Member

    Content unlocked she be based on a time period overall, not bosses being defeated. If the server was created, I personally believe that how much the game has changed, and how powerful some low level gear is because of all the stat changes, stuff will be getting steamrolled faster than 6 box eq1 mage group.
  20. resonate Active Member

    Will Bloodline, Froglok quest and Splitpaw all be at launch? Kinda hoping for a delay on them