Specialty Server Types? (Question Inside)

I would prefer a server described in many people's signatures.

Please give us a PVE Immersive (Throwback) server. Its attributes would include (but not be limited to):

• Firmly curtailed travel; no flight paths, no flying mounts (unless there are flying monsters as well--or limited to flying-required areas only), long refresh timer on 'gate', low occurrence of portals.
• Corpse recovery or other harsh death penalty. No permanent death or loss of items, just harsh in terms of time and difficulty.
• Increased over-all difficulty level so that soloing is discouraged by the strength of the content.
• No 'summon group' type abilities/stones/Call of the Hero etc.
• Allow players to transfer off, but not onto the server.
• Mounts would have a hitpoint threshold and be vulnerable to attack.
• Items will have weight, and you'll have a limit!
• No rest exp. Don't force us to log out in a city or inn. Let us stay out in the world without being punished.
• No auctioneers or auction houses. Don't separate the community--embrace it. Let players set up new EC Tunnels or player ran bazaars.

I want the server to be more immersive and more true to the original difficulty level of Everquest. I don't want a remake of EQ, but I do want a server that promotes limited fast travel, corpse retrieval and roleplaying! Make the server a bit harder for those of us wanting a more difficult yet immersive style of play.

Out of the choices presented though, I would choose Roleplaying before all else.

I voted Roleplay because I love to RP, but have found RPing in MMO's to be less than ideal. So many distractions and people playing on RP servers who do nothing, but deter from roleplaying. If, and I mean if, there is a RP server then I expect Sony to do it's best to enforce the rules and get rid of troublemakers to those servers.

As for any other type of server I would play on a Permadeath server with an alt just to get a different experience. I have played in Neverwinter Nights servers that were permadeath and they were a lot of fun and people had to be very cautious unlike 98% of most MMO players today.

I chose "No specialty servers for me!", but it would be nice if there was a way to have a special rule set server for mature crowds. I know the logistics on that is not easy to determine and most people would say that is what the /ignore command is for.

Additionally, I think some of the "specialty" rules can be implemented as a role of sorts instead of an entire server which would save on x servers and prevent problems such as low populations. So these "roles" as I will call them is basically difficulty levels.

Default

• Normal (100%) experience gain
• Normal loot drop rate
• Death Penalty: Respawn at designated area for monetary and durability hit OR return to corpse to respawn for durability hit.

Intermediate

• 125% experience gain
• Increased loot drop rate for rare quality items.
• Death Penalty: Corpse retrieval (corpse expires in 7-days); Durability damage to all equipped items.

Hardcore

• 150% experience gain
• Increased loot drop rate for rare quality items and above.
• Death Penalty: Permadeath. Could offer microtransaction to revive the character.

This option could be available for changing during gameplay, but I would probably put some sort of level cooldown on it so it could not be abused. By level cooldown, I mean like it will take effect after the completion of the current level (or 5 level blocks). That way people could not just change it on the whim for the last couple of bubbles of experience or in organized group encounters where the likelihood of dying is not as great.

Yea, please no specialty servers.

Have noncon PVP areas on every server, Ultima Online did it best, Dark Age of Camelot a close second. Both games had massive areas that were full PVP. These zones had very good contested PVE bosses and PVP capture objectives. It adds a wonderful dynamic to the game. Not including this dumbs a game down to an unreasonable level.

If people want to roleplay then let them use guilds and give them tools to do so in game like roleplaying flags and chat filters. There's no reason to make a roleplaying only server, it just splits the community more than is necessary. Do not segregate the communities. Diversity is they key to building real communities. Make the PVE and PVP areas symbiotic. Just as an example, bosses in PVE only zones dropped high end tradeable gear that was useful in PVP and PVE. Bosses in PVP zones dropped high end tradeable skill cap increase scrolls that were useful in PVP, PVE, and crafting. Both communities needed eachother to progress and this system built extremely strong and long lasting bonds. It created an economy that has never been matched in realism or quality. It's a depth of play that can not be replicated without a similar system. Segregation robs the game of a lot more than is obvious even if you wont admit it.

I voted PvP, but my heart lives on RP-PvP servers.

Normal PvE or PvE-RP servers only for me.

Also, in my opinion, "hardcore" and "speciality" servers are a complete waste of resources, they will become empty very quickly. Most so-called "hardcore" players won't last there long once they realize that they might end up being at the receiving end of ganking.

EDIT: Now that I think of it, even RP servers are pretty much pointless. Just add an option to disable public chat channels and add RP ones like OOC, etc.

Agree, would love to see a RP-PvP option.

I like to play on RP servers too
they are friendlier ,most of the time ,but also see to it that there are social circumstances,because mmo's always lack these enriching elements,adapting to new encounters,..for me this improves gaming fun

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I'll be honest i'm not much of one for specialty servers.

I dont care much for PVP in MMOs, i'd rather play in a fighting game for my pvp

I like RP servers, but RP servers dont tend to attract as many 'hardcore' players either, and I like to role play my char... while kicking butt, taking name, and doing raids and endgame content =)

I've never cared for permadeth in MMOGs. In a game like diablo it's different, you can have a hardcore ladder and it makes sense, in an MMOG it just doenst work for me.

So while I do like to romp around and check out all the server types, I tend to just play plain ol ruleset servers.

I think special server types are a bad idea (at least those that affect game mechanics), IMO design effort should be put into making one great game in which all the pieces work together and make sense. A game where people with different playstyles are encouraged to work together instead of never speak or even see each other.
Permadeath already exists, it's called 'delete character' - the reason you don't do it is because the game was not designed for permadeath in the first place.
RP servers are generally really great places with strong communities and a friendly atmosphere, but why do they have to be separate? We talk about crafting classes all the time, why not social classes and abilities? Same with PvP, make those players useful to the community at large (in a specific area to limit ganking, if you like).
What about other playstyles? Explorers, crafters, completionists etc? Where should they go?

These games are meant to be social and collaborative, I would much rather be given reasons to interact with different players than ways to avoid them.

I agree with Aazimar. I voted for a Special Rule Set.

Of the typical type of offerings I usually go with pvp servers but a permadeath server would be a lot of fun to have some alts on.

I don't usually play on PvP servers, but I definitely think there should be the option for one. The "sandbox" nature of EQN could make for some pretty interesting situations for PvP.

The RP community also deserves dedicated servers where they can do their thing without people breaking immersion.

The option for a hardcore "permadeath" server would be cool as well. I think including this would result in getting the game a lot of attention from famous gamers and/or streamers. Free publicity is great, and it can be fun to watch those hardcore streamers going for world firsts, breaking records and whatnot.

I also think the devs need to elaborate WAY more about what the "Special Rule Set" option could mean. That one piqued my interest more than anything else, but I have no idea what other kind of rule sets people could dream up.

David Georgeson
I admit to liking RP servers. Seems to attract friendlier people for some reason. I have fun there.

I agree.

The first server I always look for in a new game is an RP server. I find the community on those servers to be more helpful and friendly. I won't ever (again) play on a PvP server and a hard core server is just not for me. I don't want to make one mistake or go afk because of kid aggro and find out that my character has died a horrible death and I won't ever be able to res her. That would be so sad . A special rule set server would depend on the special rule. Not really understanding "no trade restrictions". But if it was "no pvp ever", I might go for that.

So I'm going to stick with RP on this one, especially if it is monitored to where players have to abide by whatever "rules" are set for it (naming, chat being RP only etc).

what about a survival server with no fast travel at all?

I love both regular PvE and RP.

I don't like RP, hate getting ganked and I'm not much of a ganker myself. Also hate the concept of permadeath.

So yeah, usually I just go for normal or PVE servers, but I'm all for lots of server types. I think it's great when there's a server type for a types of players.

Normally, there isn't much choice in games besides PVE and PVP, so I lean toward PVE. I would have to see what the special rule sets are before deciding if I'd play there. Having options is good, though, and makes for unique communities and unique experiences on each server. (I played on Tallon Zek, in a cross-team guild. Raids were unique because we could not use AoE spells or we'd be killing our own raid. Probably inconvenient by today's standards, but still unique.)

RP server is a must. I'm too scared to play on those because I can't RP, but gotta look out for the RPers. They keep the game alive and kickin'.

I voted for a "HardCore" server. I first played HC on Diablo III and discovered that I play a lot better and utilize the game more when faced with permadeath as well as being able to play with some of the best team players of the game. I, of course, would want a casual play server w/role playing and pvp because it simply is a lot of fun!