Producer's Letter: August 2015 Updates

Discussion in 'News and Announcements' started by Windstalker, Aug 3, 2015.

  1. genewagss New Member

    timelocked servers wont die because people actually are choosing to be there , its not a fad its mostly players especially PVP players who have been neglected for years by everquest when it came to our issues. the future of everquest is to go back and not make the same mistakes over and over I like the idea of a fresh start the ONLY thing I don't like about the time locked pvp server is the exile option. on original everquest servers you couldn't have an evil toon and a good toon you could only have toons that were one or the other and if you were a neutral race like half elf you had to pick a side at creation. theres so much cross teaming where you have evils trying to raid and suddenly half the server logs off there evil toons and logs on there goodies and ganks the entire raid and robs them for easy cash. the moment eq2 made it so you could cross team it killed pvp you had entire guilds dedicated to having evil and good toons at the same time and playing both sides of the fence to exploit personal gain but since everquest allowed it it wasn't an exploit. you cant make an announcement in general chat to form a group without having a gank squad show up at whatever dungeon you are going to now. because lets face it once you get to level 10 just sit in Freeport and listen to chat and have a your 19 q camped in WC to jump every level 11-15 that s trying to level. its so frustrating to be jumped over and over again by scouts who have all the advantage from 11 to 20 most people simply quit out of frustration and THATS no going to make pvp appealing to any new players. pick a race pick a side and that should be it for that server . we have q SKs running around teaming with mystics and im like WTF? doesn't the racial factions mean anything? PVP was always evil vs good now its make a good guy become an exile become an evil paladin but still be a paladin? smdh it literally ruined the game enough of my rant from a 16 year vet of pvp everquest 1 and 2
  2. Antisocial Member


    indian head bobble
    Gramma likes this.
  3. suka Well-Known Member

    please stop bashing. are you now the grammar police? we need to pull together now. don't say or do things that drive us apart. and she didn't say anything about Odin in the message.
    Lateana, Seefar and Siren like this.
  4. azcn2503 Active Member

    I may be the only one, but I'm happy about the consolidation and I don't care if I lose my name. I'm going to be awesome no matter what I'm called.
    Edelphia, Lateana and Seefar like this.
  5. Sharann Well-Known Member

    - A Name is an Identity. Therefore, the system should allow for a combination of First + Last name = unique identifier. Other games have managed to do this. This game already allows for a last name and I am fine if that requires to fix the last name that cannot be changed afterwards. First come first serve is totally unfair. This is also valid for guild names.

    - Guild Members moves: I do hope that there is a way to keep all members within the guild after the move and keep the current setup with GSP, ranks etc. We've got around 1K chars and I dread having to do manual invites, promotions etc. :eek:

    - Guild Hall move: I also do hope that the guild halls with all housing items are moved so that we don't lose amenities & trophies & housing items etc. and have to redecorate the whole thing (not to mention the telepad system). This should also include anything contained in depots, banks, escrow balance etc.

    - Published/Unpublished homes: I expect those to get copied over with the same status (votes etc.) and without losing anything in the process.

    Other than that, I am happy with a merge/consolidation. :)
  6. Ynnek Well-Known Member

    Don't give em any ideas....

    Especially don't point out that if it were dropped to lower price point, like 500, it'd probably fly off the shelves.... ;)
  7. SierraDawn Active Member

    Speaking of our homes.. If & when this goes through, what about our "house-names"? Will they automically change with the name change, if we have to do it that way?
    Did that sound right? Lol!
    Uwkete-of-Crushbone, Juraiya and suka like this.
  8. Kalderon Well-Known Member


    Doesnt realy link to eq2, but i have person, almost living in the same town like me, which got the same name and surename as i do. (Same spelled and so on).

    But we are not linked in any form from our familys..... its not unique, but, you can hardly code this into a database (at least i doubt, dbc are able to do so).
  9. SierraDawn Active Member

    I named one of my current toons on Butcherblock after my deceased Grandfather. If I lose the name, I will not want to play him. And I am really worried to hear that the Marketplace homes and other Marketplace items I bought for each character might be deleted. I hope that isn't true.[/quote]

    Wait!! What?? I have put gobs of money and time into my homes with marketplace items also.. we wil NOT lose these right??? :(
  10. suka Well-Known Member

    that may be true, but if someone asks "who are you" you don't reply Kalderon Jones x. You simply say Kalderon Jones (writers' liberties there). When you look in the mirror what do you call yourself? when introducing yourself to someone new, do you say "i am the other Kalderon"?

    All of us identify ourselves by our names. Even married women who take their husband's name still think of themselves as their maiden name and most if divorced will take that name back. it is an identifier. I like the idea of the two name system rather than one name that we then have to find a way to make it unique.

    Someone took my name on another game before i started playing there. in fact several of my very unique names were taken. do you have any idea how many times i find myself hitting send on the mail only to realize that i mailed things to the person who took my main name?
  11. Seefar Well-Known Member

    Disclaimer: I've never been in an 'agnostic dungeon' -- I'm too big for them! From what I've heard of them, they're great for pushing folks together in environments away from the 'real' Norrath. So, ironically, one problem is that there are fewer players available in the real world who might otherwise be available to, you know, go adventuring. It's like a ghetto. To reiterate what Schmetterling said:

    That's a horse of a nentirely different kettle of fish. And note: I'm not talking about [spit] powerlevelling, here... (see below).

    I'm so glad to hear you say that one is overpowered when mentoring. I've been giving /feedback to The Makers for years (and I do mean years) about this very thing.

    But -- there is a solution. Take a look at the recent 'sets' tab added next to the 'stats' tab, accessed via the 'stats' button on the character window. This allows you to define multiple equipment sets. I have one I call 'mentor' (I think this link takes you straight to a description of it). So by switching to my 'mentor' gear set, and turning off all my buffs, I am far less overpowered than I would otherwise be were I to go in 'full throttle', as it were, with my 'primary' gear set and all buffs. It's not a nideal solution, but it's the best I've managed to come up with. Might I suggest that you take a look at the sets feature in this light?
    Edelphia, Juraiya and suka like this.
  12. Raiivann Member

    Yes, it's been pounded to death, but I'm going to add my 2 copper here (since it's been rotting in a bank for a few months now anyway). Doing a complete name wipe, as stated in the letter, "No names will be taken on the new server, and player names will be available on a first come basis. It should be pretty easy to grab a name on the new server before a 'non-active player.'" just doesn't make sense to me. I understand trying to make a new community, but what about trying to find friends? I can see if now, "Are you THAT Raiivann? Or this Raiivann? Were you even a Raiivann before coming here?" (sure my name isn't that popular, but you can see the issue). The naming convention used for previous server merges, while not perfect, has made far more sense to me than this.

    Then there are those of us that have families, that work, that work off times, that live in different time zones, different countries, that simply don't have the time to camp the log in server to grab the name they've had since 2004. Then there's the seemingly DDoS attack that will occur when hundreds of computers try to log on all at once.

    How will guilds/houses/anything else linked to the toon come over without a name to link it to? I've spent TONS of RL money over the years in decorating my homes and our guild hall; losing that would seriously upset me (and everyone else).

    This seriously needs to be thought through. The (majority/more vocal) player base is less than happy with this; we need to come to a mutually beneficial agreement. ~~Sorry for the choppiness and half-formed thoughts; my brain is reeling right now~~

    edit: I've had the name Raiivann since 2007 - Started on Blackburrow which was merged into Everfrost; I'm not a "New Member" :)
  13. Siren Well-Known Member

    This sounds like it's going to be a lot like how Korean MMOs on NA servers do their re-names after mergers: Whoever logs in first grabs whatever name they want, leaving the poor schmoe who legitimately HAD the name unable to log in until he grabs another name that isn't his, then the next person who had THAT name can't log in until they grab some other name.... Lather, rinse, repeat.

    I suspect that Daybreak is looking to merge many servers down into one new one, which would make their old system of one server merging straight into one other server (Najena merges into Unrest, while Bazaar merges into Freeport, etc.) technically impossible, so they likely don't have a choice.

    Tera NA and Aion NA mergers were a complete name fiasco, but I can see why the Korean MMOs must do it this way: The dev team is in the Home Country of Korea, leasing out server images of the most current code to NA publishers (En Masse for Tera, etc.), and in the interest of keeping the code the same in every country, those publishers cannot make any changes to the game. So they can't "flag" names prior to merges, etc.

    But Daybreak owns this stuff. Hopefully there's a better way to wind up with the populations they'd like for us to have, while still maintaining naming integrity.

    We vets get pretty attached to our names over a decade of play!
    Uwkete-of-Crushbone, Juraiya and suka like this.
  14. suka Well-Known Member

    will do. however i do like the way another game handles this. no matter what you are wearing, if you mentor down you actually become that level. however, because so many low level and new toons want to actually play with groups who are often way too high for them, they offered something different. after level 10, you can sidekick. what this means is you can go to a zone with a higher group and can mentor up to their level or to the highest level for that zone and they can mentor down to the agreed upon level. makes a big difference when playing in group.

    and their answer to an agnostic dungeon is called an instant adventure where you can join huge groups (raids) without actually being recruited. then you are mentored to whatever zone you are in and you can change adventures every so many minutes. these are cross-server. then if you want to, you can server hop (not transfer but jump around) at no charge as often as you want to find groups.

    this seems to make a huge difference. their answer to not being able to find a group is to allow you to choose public group or private group as a default. when you come to an area where there is someone else set to public group, you will be offered an option of grouping. you also have no obligations, don't have to join or even chat, and can leave anytime you want without offending anyone.
    Uwkete-of-Crushbone likes this.
  15. Seefar Well-Known Member

    I think you might appreciate it :)

    That's one of the things I've ranted on (at length) via /feedback. When mentored, for instance, I feel that one should only have access to the spells appropriate to that level -- and if I only have 'apprentice' grade, well, that's my own lookout!

    Not so sure about the 'mentoring up' thing though. Wouldn't you risk being grouped with someone fresh off the boat who doesn't know the first thing about how to play? And wouldn't it defeat the whole point of the rush to the End Game? Hmm... waitasecond...
  16. Ceyarrecks Wunnfirr Well-Known Member

    Excuse me Please:

    while the wipe and reinstall(tm) is THE best fix for any Windows-based operating system,
    When that fix applied to a community built environment, it will DEVASTATE said community.

    Considering the costs to rebuild:
    1. Time.
    1a. Real-world time
    1b. time to complete quests.
    2. Resources.
    2a. in-game harvests/handcrafts/mastercrafts
    2b. real-world money.
    3. Relationships/Reputations
    {self-explanatory}

    And while free-renaming would give those whom realized their "MrHittaYou" warrior is not appropriate for a Role-Playing environment, putting this renaming burden on those whom it does not apply, is just that, a burden. One that many would not choose to endure.

    These are just a few aspects of this "let us just dump everything into a stew" plan that I find objectionable. Given time, I am sure I can find more.

    The operative phrase is "if it is not broken, do not fix it"
    There is nothing wrong with just moving players, their homes, their guilds, and guild halls as a singular entity into a new server.
    There is nothing that could convince me that all the players need LOSE EVERYTHING to fix something on the back-end.

    Remember, Ctrl-C (Copy), Ctrl-V (Paste)?
    or if you rather, cp (copy), mv (move)?

    it *is* just that easy, as a player is just a collection of files in some folder, on some hard drive, in some computer, in some data center.

    All that need be done is move collection of folders from servers A and B to server C, logon script those selecting Butcherblock (or which ever server) automatically route to new server.

    When major cities need to divert an aqua-duct, or major highway, those being displaced are:
    1. allowed to KEEP all of their possessions.
    2. assisted with their move, and compensated for potential loses.

    I am just saying,...
    :D
  17. Schmetterling Well-Known Member

    I think its like with chancing servers at your own will you take the house and your bank holdings no shared bank
    and I say it again I hope guild halls will work the same way
    falls on knees and bags PLEASE
  18. suka Well-Known Member

    lol. no. they start at level 10. the idea is that by grouping with people of all levels they can learn from them on a fairly even playing field - their spells aren't all there until they achieve them but the few they have a potent - kind of like in our agnostic dungeon and the old dungeon maker. usually you will find people mentoring down to group with them. but you can only mentor down to 10. however, say you wanted to take them a little higher in the zone to get them a nice piece of armor - one they can wear in the next few levels. they can level up to the highest level in the zone, go do a small dungeon off that zone or go with you to kill that boss and get the armor they need. when you leave the group, you have to make sure they are in a safe area of their own level because they drop back down immediately.

    the only time i saw my level 20 go to level 51 was in the instant adventure. i was amazed at her hit power and it spurred me on to see what she would be able to accomplish when i brought her up.by grouping with the others, i found what groups were about in that game - a bit different than i was used to. and while i followed around at first to get the feel for the instant adventure, within a couple of days of going out i was an old hand at them. it was fun, gave me a break from my questing, and gave me good loot for my crafting and other things i was doing. and i didn't have to wait long to get the adventure. all of the adventures were in open territory - overland- and not in a dungeon. it was common to be questing along in a zone and run across a group. at that time, the game would offer me to join the instant adventure they were on.

    my main toons are too high for agnostic dungeons here too. over there, there was no limit on level. everyone was there to play and have fun and it made the game feel crowded because the people were from all different servers and factions.
    Uwkete-of-Crushbone likes this.
  19. suka Well-Known Member

    the scariest thing for me about grouping (i won't raid because i won't do the requirements) is my health and my real life surroundings. when you deliberately group you have an obligation. if you go afk for periods of time because of real life circumstances, you can't help but feel you let someone down. if you have to quit a group early because of health issues that suddenly spring up, you also feel that you let them down. if they are counting on you to finish the quest or the zone or the dungeon, then yes they can get upset.

    if we could form impromptu groups with no obligations or expectations, and be able to come and go as we want with the other party knowing that we are not in any way recruiting for a group, that could solve some of those issues. but i don't think a new server is going to solve them.

    an ability to cross-server group, on the other hand, would really solve a lot of problems including people who don't want to leave their nice quiet server
  20. Lady Mallyce New Member


    ^^^ Game devs - take note! I'm sure that this story is NOT unique!!