The EQ2 Time-Locked Server Discussion Thread

Also, voting is alright but 6 months of classic would be too long for EQ2. 3 months per expansion after raid targets are defeated would be perfect in my opinion.

What about crafting? Doubt tempers will make a come back but as for finished products?

Also how nuts will T5 be on PvP now that I think of it. So many over land contested in just normal spots going to be really insane also tempted to roll there

I think we can concede that 4~5 Mo. is just enough for the base game, if we factor in BLC and Splitpaw as part of 'The Shattered Lands'. The two expacs immediately following it, KoS and EoF, which has Fallen Dynasty between them have a staggering amount of Raid content in comparison to the base game.

Feel like we can agree these definitely want for Ragefire's 6 mo. timer after Raid clears, and TBH these two may very well be an effort of multiple guilds at multiple levels handling specific fights -- EoF raids worked oddly from what I can remember. TBH, if we could, I would get to RoK and just perma lock it there, or at Sentinel's Fate -- the last few expacs are not widely favored lately from a nostalgia/entertainment viewpoint it seems. Maybe do a staggered unlock from RoK onward, starting with a 1yr lock after RoK is cleared, since that is about the peak of nostalgic content.

Easy-to-Read Timeline Idea:

• Shattered Lands (+Splitpaw, BLC) - Clear raids, 4 Mo. timer
• Desert of Flames - Clear all raids, 6 Mo. timer
• Kingdom of Sky - Clear all raids, 6 Mo. timer
• Echoes of Faydwer (+ Fallen Dynasty) - Clear all raids, 6 Mo. timer
• Rise of Kunark - Clear all raids, 1 Yr. timer*
• The Shadow Oddessy - Clear all raids, 1 Yr. timer*
• Sentinel's Fate - Clear all raids, 1 Yr. timer*
• Destiny of Velious + Age of Discovery [Because this is a content pack] - Clear all raids, 1 Yr timer
• Chains of Eternity - Clear all raids, 1 Yr. timer
• Tears of Veeshan - Clear all raids, 1 Yr. timer
• Altar of Malice (+Rum Cellar) - Clear all raids, and you're kinda done.

* - The ones with stars could potentially be reduced in time after the 1 Yr. Kunark timer, maybe make after RoK a player vote rather an a timer after raid clears?

I would stop at Sentinel's Fate. Everything went downhill when DoV hit, and that's when the mass player exodus began (imo).

I actually agree with you somewhat, but some people do like CoE at least a little bit, and Altar of Malice's solo stuff isn't TOO bad ('Ell the group stuff wasn't sounding too bad).

1 year for anything feels long. DoF I feel could even have a shorter period than vanilla

Hm, could it? TBH my reasoning on the 6 Mo. for DoF is that stragglers may not even make much heroic process, so it gives a decent amount of catch-up time for those who join specifically for any sort of Raid progress purposes. Also the DoF fights can be a little...stand offish if we have a potential 0 AA limit at this point.

Yeah, 4 or 5 months if including Tombs of the Night and SP I could see. Otherwise I feel 3 months of farming (the timer starting after the final raid targets are down) is more than adequate. Six months just seems entirely too long for any expansion let alone a year.

Just as you put the 4month timer for classic I think there's more content in there than in DoF is all. Either or works

Hrm, that is true. Suppose the first two expacs could sit on 4 Mo, seeing as they are admittedly smaller. KoS and EoF are where it starts getting jam-packed. Maybe revise DoF's timer to 4 Mo. as well, especially if we do have the 0 AA cap and no AAs coming till their initial release.

As soon as AAs come in, that becomes another farm factor in and of itself between each major progression point.

Part of the reason this was decided on for Ragefire, to my understanding, was the farm times to let players catch up and for specific hallmarks that most people were more than likely going to try, and at RoK we have the first main one for EQ2 which was the original Epic line.

Also the way Progression servers usually tend to play out is that the further you get away from the more nostalgic/memory-filled expansion packs the less player interest begins to be generated.

I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned this yet or not, but no guild halls please. At least until TSO.

I "get" the fact that this will NOT be classic EQ2.. I've accepted that and will not request may things I know aren't possible or will delay this release. But if the overland zones could be beefed up so players actually use them to level instead of running thru them to level somewhere private, that would be ideal. The best thing about ragefire is playing with other players in the open zones. Once you disappear into an instance, it's over for me and the experience is ruined.

So, with that in mind.... leave Splitpaw and the Bloodline content out, especially at release. Those are all instance methods of leveling and they level you hardcore. Don't ruin a server that actually feels populated when you play.

Yes... take it to a vote, but ONLY if the voting for PvE and PvP are kept separate. I can tell just from these initial posts, PvEers will want to rush thru content/timelocks and I can promise you PvPers do not. tbh, once PvPers find a sweet spot... I honestly would not be surprised the majority would vote to lock it down here permanently. When you see the features that are being unlocked, PvEers say, "Cool! Me want!" and PvPers will say "No! Dear god no.. please no!"



The voting MUST be separate!

Why bother with these servers then? Nothing from original EQII will be there! If you can't do the boat ride, Isle (or Isles) and the suburbs don't waste our time.

Personally I think the best way to handle how long the server is capped on certain content would be to just have a monthly vote after every zone is cleared. Maybe a minimum of three months after, then start a vote per month that requires 75% to pass.

Another way that could work is to have a server-wide goal, like kill 500 contested to initiate a vote, or something similar. Maybe kill Darathar 100 times, or clear raid zones so many times. Could even include solo and group content into that, or even crafting for that matter. Multiple server-wide goals could be fun, I don't know how viable it is to do though.

(Oh and as Exur said please keep the voting separate between the servers)

Voting could work, IDK how much though, the 75% requirement thing could work maybe. Especially if they still have to wait 2~3 months first.

Having server goals other than just a simple raid clear would be nice too, let people of all walks contribute to the server progression.

Am I the only one that feel this isn't a big deal/loss at all? Nostalgia aside, I want this server like 2 years ago and I'm not waiting for it cause they need a newbie island that gets me to level 10. I think I've logged more hours into that island then actually playing the rest of the game... so trust me, I liked it... but it's not the highlight I'm looking to re-play. This server represents something entirely different for me... I play this game for PvP, so I am beyond excited for it. I don't need the Nostalgia that others do I guess.

I'm curious about zone access such as Fallen Gate and also Enchanted Lands, ferrott, LS,ef having level requirements. Also Lore and Legend. I liked having to find the quest starter instead of just an item but I think the master spell from it is much better than picking between 4 of them (which probably won't be the case since that's all the old green cross button)

So we all start in New Halas? How hard can it be to make a "new" zone when the zone exists and a prestige home exists? Copy\paste? Isn't a Ragefire level of interest in EQII worth some extra effort?

This cycle will be broken: Create toon -> Get to 20 in an hour -> agnostics to 95 -> AoM -> grind tokens > bored, /quit.

People will actually quest. People will actually need to group to do a lot of the content. I can currently molo raid content at level for most of the encounters until 80. The sheer fact that it's a new server where questing and lore is valued alone will bring me to it. Furthermore, it would be newb friendly. Asking a friend to try out this game and have to wait 100 levels to find "a real group" or "a real raid" or anything remotely challenging in a team setting is kind of ridiculous.

Something else to keep in mind with these servers is that the early content is super easy, especially DoF. All of the mobs will need beefed up a little bit, even without AAs. The gear now is just so much better than it was when the content was new, things went from 6 on a green stat to like 30 on a green stat and some added blue stats for no reason. For example it is fairly easy to get over 50% MA in DoF, which results in crazy high scout dps that will melt through the t6 raid mods. It also has the side effect of making mages really useless, but I think fixing the balance issues is asking a bit too much.

Also a lot of the old contested mobs got the wrong tier of loot given to them when the gear was revamped. King Zatan in Everfrost is a good example, his loot matches T6 loot tables. He easily drops some of the best T5 gear available while simultaneously being one of the easiest epics to kill. Not necessarily a bad thing but just something to keep in mind. Another thing is that half of Lavastorms gear requires you to be over level 50 to use, which is actually annoying on the normal servers too because I normally do Lavastorm around level 50 and then can't use half the gear I get.