I played on SH until the KoS expansion and I've been playing on FG since it launched a couple weeks ago. I love these TLE servers and I have a lot of fun on them. But I will say that the shine on FG is a little dimmer than it was on SH because its basically the same experience. Vanilla EQ2 is only fun to a certain point and if DB wants to continue to churn out these TLE servers I feel like we're going to need a different experience in the future. Eventually I'm going to get tired of playing vanilla and DoF EQ2 over and over again. My favorite times during EQ2 were KoS, EoF, and RoK. I think that was the golden age of EQ2. Unfortunately, the populations on TLE seem to fade before we even get to those expansions. I quit SH a couple weeks after KoS launched because i had friends quit and because I was burnt out from lvling two toons to 60 (along with all the potions I had to buy). So I never even got to experience some of my favorite EQ2 eras (yeah, yeah I know you'll say that its my fault for quitting). But I'll be shocked if there is still a healthy population on this server by the time we get to KoS or EoF. My idea for a future TLE server is to START the server with vanilla, DoF, and KoS unlocked. That way we can play with AA's immediately and then the first expansion to unlock will be EoF. But the first expac unlock should take 5 or 6 months before it's unlocked so we can enjoy all of that content. I know some will hate this idea. I know that it will immediately trivialize end game content from vanilla and DoF, but after two TLE servers havent we experienced that content enough?
Most people that quit during DoF and KoS, was do to terrible itemization with face roll content in DoF, and bad itemization in KoS with extremely over tuned mobs. "IF" both of those are fixed on Fallen Gate, I think it will yield a much different result.
Fixing items is boring and hard... no we need fresh server ideas. Like a PvP server thats like call of duty hardcore mode and no expansions, everyone dies in 1 or 2 shots. Or a server of all darkelf necros and you get to raid qeynos for uber loot.
I would be down with a TLE that starts at KOS and auto-level to 60. I agree with others that was some of the high-points of the game timeline. Vanilla is very flat, almost no raid content, and once your 50 and kill Darathar there isn't enough to do. DoF was rather a clunky expansion in so many ways, so having to get past those to get to the fun bits is a draining experience. Also, I'd really like to see more veteran xp bonus on this server. After getting 2 to 50, doing more is just uhg.
Different people want different things. I hate raiding, but I love grouping. That's why I'm in no rush to 50. Rushing to 50 seems to be contrary to the stated purpose of the server, enjoying nostalgia. For me, at least, the server is a huge success. People that rushed to 50 and are bored probably would find the live servers more entertaining. I won't speak for them, but that seems like it would be the case.
Much of that "nostalgia" requires you to be 50, and some of us enjoy the competition that comes along with hitting the end game. "Nostalgia" comes in many forms and many activities, not just content you level up through. Not trying to say vanilla has the endgame content that KoS and beyond has, but it still has some. Many of us who did get to 50 quickly are also taking advantage of less things to do, by leveling up alts and crafters that we will want down the road.
Nostalgia is when you wait for a PH to pop competing with 6 other groups that is on a 6 hour respawn timer, and after that if 6 hours pass after killing the PH the likely-hood that the named will pop is much greater. However at the 10 hour mark when the PH pops again you start to question your morals. That doesnt exist anymore, but if people think spending upwards of 40 hours in Runnyeye because slower is better then please by all means continue. like Draknox said there is quite a bit to do even at 50 and by the time you feel caught up the Splitpaw saga is around the corner, quests and a raid follow, then 6 weeks later DoF will be here. Everyone is on FG for different reasons and those who stay just want to see or relive content they may have missed, rushing or not rushing. Personally spending 150+ hours to get to max level just doesnt seem that fun to me, to each their own.
Exploring dungeons with my friends was my favorite part of the game. Getting to the point where we could get to the lowest levels of Stormhold or Ruins of Varsoon gave us a great sense of accomplishment. That's the nostalgia I care about. Maybe I'm just different. *shrug*
Not at all, RoV is still to this day one of my favorite dungeons of all time. Leveling up in dungeons is one of my fondest memories of EQ2. But so was killing Darathar and getting my Prismatic. The difference is, I only did the latter a handful of times at level when the content was relevant. The other I have done hundreds of times. So yes racing to 50 to pull Darathar was top on my to do list. Did I enjoy the journey even though I rushed through it? Most certainly, but enjoying one does not mean you can't enjoy the other.
You can enjoy lower content at 50 with mentoring, difference is you can enjoy the higher content too while it is still relevant
My point here was how many times are we gonna wanna play TLE servers that are all the same? Every two years are we all just gonna wanna start from scratch again with vanilla EQ2? I think a future variation could be exciting.
I don't think the game has more than one, maybe two, expansions left in it. The dev crew is diminished and I doubt they have enough personnel to support creating something new. There will be an expansion this fall. After that? It's really anyone's guess, but I wouldn't hold out much hope for innovation beyond the focus on the next expansion.
All the more reason for them to do more TLE servers in the future. It doesn't take innovation to make another TLE server but start 2 expansions deep.
at some point the sun will swallow up the earth, why worry about that now. as long as people are willing to play they will keep the game around and make content even if the overall population isn't what it used to be. If you are having fun keep playing, if you aren't go play something else and let fate happen. No need to try to predict it. Yea eventually someone will be right.
You can stick your head in the sand if you want. The dev crew has dwindled, both IoR and SH are dead servers, and population is dwindling on other servers. The OP's idea was to create more TLE servers. That will only spread the population and developer work load even more thinly. New TLE servers are a bad idea and will hasten the end of the game.
So whats your idea? Kill off the game now since it will die eventually anyway even though most people I've encountered on FG are having a blast playing? I guess I need to take my head out the sand and stop having fun today and instead be gloom its going to eventually end.
After SH, Race to Trak, and now FG I'm done re-doing the same content lol. I do like FG, you can still find groups and the broker isn't well, broken. It will, however, be my last 'reset'.
Are you missing the whole point of this thread? The OP wants the development team to put a lot of effort into creating new, different TLEs. I think that's a bad idea and draws resources away from the core game. None of that has to do with anything you're doing on FG, except to hasten the end of the life of the server.
