The EQ2 Time-Locked Server Discussion Thread

This is a fantastic idea. I would love to come back for something like this.

Main concerns:
Content difficulty - please ensure that we can't solo to 50 in 4hrs solo. I would love to be forced to group for the best xp and have it take a decent amount of time to get to max level.

Progression rate - I don't want content opened based on the speed at which raid bosses are killed. I like the idea of a vote system after a set time frame. (4 months from start and maybe every month after the first vote until the xpac is unlocked. Then 4 months again till voting for the next xpac)

Im not so concerned with old content (isle of refuge) that would have to recreated from scratch.

I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this to see how things shape up.

Pretty much this. I know you guys don't have the time to redo everything, but a BIG zonewide debuff coupled with a BIG zonewide mob buff would go a long way.

On top of that, you should reduce XP gain by say, 80%.

If this is done right, it could feel like the original without too much work on your part. Plus it would be cool for raiding to be meaningful on a time-locked progression server, but that might be a tad optimistic.

I don't know about 80%, but you threw in basically what I was wanting added to Feldon's list.

I think 80% should be about right. Keep in mind, we are talking a level cap of 50 here to start. Back in the day, if it took me an hour to get from level 27 to level 28 I was doing darn good. I can say with certainty you can solo from 1 to 50 in a couple of hours. It would be nice if it took like a week to get to cap instead.

Either way, I'm pretty sure they will have a beta of this server open before it goes live, so all that needs to be in place is an XP nerf - the specific % can be fine-tuned before it goes live. Same goes for a player nerf and mob buff.

My 2 cents: if you're not going to make it lake "back then", there's really no point in doing this.
The content in those days was great because it was challenging, if you're just going to let us farm everything with current gear people will grind trough this like crazy, get bored and quit.

Want our money? For a long time?

Start out with Vanilla and work from there, if you can't bring back Isle of Refuge, or the old racial hovels, fine.
But don't trivialize combat, that's the reason most of us quit over time.

I am, still remember wiping because my ward fizzled five times in a row.
Good times!

Hey Buffrat! Long time no talk =) Nice to see you again!

I agree, but if the devs can do as much as they can to reduce the amount of power the characters possess pre 80 that would at least attempt to be as close to original as possible.

I Believe Feldon proposed a server wide debuff on actual power by X % to reduce the amount of damage we can put out. As well as proposed as a server wide Buff on mobs ( at least Hp ) to help balance out some difficulty still.

I also still believe reduction in xp gain by at least 50-80% should also be put on the server so people dont lvl to 50 within 1 sitting.

-Jaz

It is clear then that such a task cannot be completed as to bring back the "good old days." Calling is a "time-locked server" may be a bit of a misnomer as it is impossible to rollback to the early days. I commend you for attempting this monumental task.

Here are my suggestions:
1. Removing microtransactions for everything but visual appearances (be wary of anachronism)
2. Remove as much hand-holding as possible.
3. Bringing back old zones/returning former zones close to their original state with quests (these are hugely important)
4. Bring back the rustic appeal - leather armor, regular horses, and so forth - remove all the nonsensical shiny/glittery items

On number 3: I feel, like most here, that getting back the nostalgia feel is really all we want. I grew up on EQ1 and EQ2, and still feel strongly that the old content is superior than the newer. Granted returning old zones back to their former glory is difficult. I would not mind donating for this cause. After all, those were the times that the greatest stories were made and have the most meaning.

Agree.

Personally I believe that a lot of people are looking at this server in the wrong way. This is going to be a TLP server and not a Project2004. Yes it is sad that some of the old features are not going to be in the game but we as a community are going to have to just deal with it. But if you are a die hard fan for the classic EQ2 of Isle of Refuge, Outpost of the Overlord, Fighter -> Warrior -> Guard/Zerker, Spirt body part death penalty thing, that's cool but that's Project 2004 and this server will not offer that.

Some things though that I strongly believe that need to be addressed though are the following:
1) Leveling/Mobs: getting from level 1 to 50 will take about 5 hours if you know what your doing. Either lower the amount of exp given from mobs or put a debuff on us so we gain exp slower. Also fix the difficulty on the mobs since everything is soloable. Fix the green stats, ok probably hard to do so that's out. Take out blue stats, probably not to hard to do but will still make a lot of mobs easy to kill. The best solution is see is to but buffs on the mobs to make them harder to kill. More hps, str, int, wis, pot, cb, etc. Looks like most of us agree that we want to see the patch removed that made majority of mobs soloable (including myself) but I see that being a lot of work for the Devs and tbh I bet the Dev team on this is very small.

This is going to be the make or break point for the server imo. If we are getting to level 50 in a few hours and clearing all the content within a week we are going to be bored out of our minds waiting for a vote to start, get accepted, and then wait for the next expansion to unlock. And lets be real here we are not going to see the next expansion unlocked within a month. The Devs are going to wait and let us play on the server to have all players enjoy the content and the Devs are also going to probably need some time to get the next expansion ready.

2) Marketplace: Keep it in but only for appearance items and house items, character face change, sex change etc.

3)Claim items: Only items you can claim are the ones that were released during that expansion. Also remove vet rewards so people don't have a huge amount of exp potions. (Would not be disappointed with exp potions were kept in the marketplace and would not be surprised if they were in it. DB I feel like is doing this for the money and a lot of people will buy exp potions).

4)Fast Travel: Make it available only to when it was released from the expansions. Not to hard to have the npc say its not available at this time.

5) LOVE OF GOD NO MERCS!

Just some things off the top of my head and im sure more will come once I start thinking about it more but in wrap what is really going to make or break this server is stats, leveling and mob difficulty. If those can be addressed then I believe this server has a very strong chance at being very popular. If not and we are all hitting max level and clearing all content within a week. It will be popular for a month or two for each expansion and then it will die down.

I wonder if these TLP servers are going to be subscribers only?

I'm betting they will be. Aren't the EQ ones that way?

You are on the right track. Many of those things mentioned are on the table currently. Keep the idea flowing

Can you give us a quick rundown of what's able to be confirmed?
Want to know if this is worth my time and money.

EQ1 progression servers require you to have a subscription to play on the servers. My guess is that the EQ2 servers will to.

The key here being "if you know what you are doing". I played at release for a year or so, left for a few years and have jumped back in from time to time more recently. The last time was about a year ago and it took me a good few weeks to get into the mid 20s. And much longer to level after that, especially since my schedule only allows for limited gaming time each week. I spent hours just messing with my interface, traveling around and talking to players and npcs. Basically relearning the game. And groups were few and far between. And I'm a social, extroverted type of player. The few groups I found I made.

There are always going to be players that max out in an extremely short time span because they have the time and the drive. It was true when the game came out. I can't remember the exacts, but it was only a matter of days before we saw the first 50s back in 2004.

These days, you want to draw back players who haven't played in a long time and maybe even draw in new players with this kind of effort. They won't know how to get from 1 to 50 in 5 hours. Many of us won't even want to. I'm not saying that making xp a bit slower isn't a good idea, but don't go overboard either. Maybe 25%, possibly 50% but not 80%. And while you can tone down soloability, removing it isn't a good idea.

I was high playtime back in 2004 at about 60 hours a week. It was a blast! But I remember a lot of casual guildies and players leaving after being stuck in the mid teens of twenties for weeks almost unable to solo and wondering if their next pickup group was going to lead to a night of xp or a night of xp debt. The balance has to be toward the average new/returning player, which is probably not the majority of people who post to these forums right now.

Unfortunately until we finish the work involved we can't really promise details as anything could go either way until we actually get it working. I don't want to get people's hopes all up then we find out something isn't possible. When we get much closer to having it ready for public eyes we will provide a full list of changes this includes.

Last time I played it was Sentinel's Fate, and I can tell you that leveling from 1 to 50 already took a short time (but the cap was higher). Since this server will start at base game, they'll need to make sure it's at the same leveling curve.

The big attraction to most is the nostalgia and with so many (basic) things already being ruled out they need to atleast make sure that raiding and grouping will be rewarding.

Cool, thanks for the reply.
Hope I didn't come acros as entitled or w/e, but I literally ZOMGED IRL when I read about the time locked servers.

Gninja, I know you can't confirm anything for sure, but could you tell us what are the odds of adding back old contested encounters (I.E. Avatars) when appropriate for the expansion? Assuming you did have the old code laying around for them and the old loot still exists, it would be cool and *hopefully* a minimal amount of work since there are only a handful.

Seems like with the XP nerfs/mob buffs/player nerfs you guys are considering you might be able to get a lot of interest from old players if this was done. Could become a very crowded server (in a good way).