Vindicator
Bronze Squire
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- 21
My, my. Don't get too offended now. You seem pretty worked up about an opinion that maybe some people might feel invested in their characters.
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Everquest TLP - Aradune and Rizlona Servers (Now with real customer service)
- Thread starter Zaide
- Start date
yerm
Golden Baronet of the Realm
- 6,006
- 15,481
Based on how hard you seem to be defending it, I could say the same to you. But it's ok. I hope you're right. I think you're wrong, but hope you're right.
Vindicator
Bronze Squire
- 69
- 21
I was actually angling for more of a "it's funny people like to discredit someone's post and say it has no fact to it, meanwhile they don't really have any supporting evidence either" than of a defending what I said. Some gets lots in translation of typing.
And yeah, I hope I am right and that there are many invested in their characters to keep Aradune running for a long time and to live status. Nothing but time and seeing what really happens can answer that for sure without some speculation.
I think the amount of guild recruiters (including from your guild) on Aradune spamming general, planes and even ooc in PoK/Tranq suggests many took at least some hit and that the pool of new recruits is rapidly shrinking, but this is nothing new for a TLP.
Expect many guilds to collapse or merge over the next year, as has happened on previous TLPs
Aradune will not be magically exempt
Ambiturner
Ssraeszha Raider
- 16,040
- 19,501
You posted it in a way suggesting that out course you're right and you'd have to be an idiot to disagree.
Population numbers have been posted multiple times with a clear methodology.
The fact that you have some bizarre idea that people are going to treat their year old characters in a 22 year old game like their own children is absolutely meaningless.
Vindicator
Bronze Squire
- 69
- 21
There you go, using "facts" again that aren't really much of a fact. And if people are treating their characters like their own children, well that's their prerogative and not something that I said. Hopefully they balance their life well.
Keep trying to make a mountain out of this, though. It's the internet, so you gotta argue even if there really isn't much reason to, right? I guess its a good sign when this is the best that you can try to stir some drama out of. Kind of sad, but to each their own.
Vindicator
Bronze Squire
- 69
- 21
So what is your thoughts on the health of TLPs? Not disagreeing with you, just curious on your take of things as you seem very rational at first glance.
I view TLPs have having a certain finite pool of players. There are only so many in that pool, and while new players do jump in now and then, I'd guess that the amount of new players isn't significant enough to matter much in the grand scheme of things. You do get players that come back after many years, but you also get players that hang it up too. Guessing, I expect that the amount of older players returning vs those quitting is not equal.
Each TLP takes a certain amount of players from that pool and divide them up onto each server. Some just rotate with each TLP release (ie Mangler to Aradune/Rizlona to Mischief/Thornblade), some hang on and stay on the TLP they joined at some point. Sometimes the pool is replenished by a server merging with live, such as Selo's players going back to TLPs after they made it.
So, to the actual question. How long do you think that TLPs can maintain a relatively healthy amount of players? I also wonder if its really the PoP era where players really start to drop off of a server, or if a big part of it is just because there is or was a TLP released in the near past/future.
Korzax Stonehammer
Blackwing Lair Raider
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Foaming
Lord Nagafen Raider
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They suck for casters, and priest mains. You have to do increasing amounts of group progression and being anything but a melee (especially a tank) main hurts a lot. Being able to box helps, but that also means you have to spend a significant amount of time gearing more than one character.
Sieger
Trakanon Raider
- 317
- 366
Level 70 expansions are mostly bad, DoDH is the one stand out, but even it is rough for casters and priests. Casters because the shitty level 70 raid tier where mobs need to be super debuffed just to land basic DPS spells in raids, and Priests because DoDH has a lot of group content you have to churn through and by the time DoDH has hit most of your tanks will have become boxers (on truebox or no) and Priest mains have 0 ability to solo or do meaningful group content going forward.
I've told people many times there's an amazing stretch of expansions from TSS thru to RoF that are worth seeing, but a huge % of people will just never get through the 70s because it's 4 expansions in a row that have lots of issues.
I've told people many times there's an amazing stretch of expansions from TSS thru to RoF that are worth seeing, but a huge % of people will just never get through the 70s because it's 4 expansions in a row that have lots of issues.
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Kirun
Buzzfeed Editor
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What expansion had mercs? Is it TSS?
The era between PoP and TSS seems really lost. EQ seemed to really struggle and find an "identity" after WoW. I've heard of lot of people say the era after TSS and up to HoT is really great, minus some weirdness like Buried Sea. Then it gets really good in HoT again, some even saying it's one of the best expansions ever.
Morrow
Trakanon Raider
- 3,272
- 920
I can't even remember when mercs came out. But I'm pretty sure it was Underfoot? Because I remember the mission to get a j5 merc was RIDICULOUSLY hard at the time and I remember failing all day until I finally managed it, and there were a ton of people complaining about it. Shit was so overtuned. Anyways that mission was Underfoot.
I had a ton of fun boxing 3 chars with 3 mercs with MQ2 through those expansions. But I think I started again in like House of Thule, so I had a ton of good choices. TSS was probably really shitty without hacks for sure. But that was when ghostkill was around and fucking hell it was fun doing the TSS raids by yourself lol.
I had a ton of fun boxing 3 chars with 3 mercs with MQ2 through those expansions. But I think I started again in like House of Thule, so I had a ton of good choices. TSS was probably really shitty without hacks for sure. But that was when ghostkill was around and fucking hell it was fun doing the TSS raids by yourself lol.
DickTrickle
Definitely NOT Furor Planedefiler
- 12,961
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Morrow
Trakanon Raider
- 3,272
- 920
That tracks. So Underfoot must have been right after SoD. I remember now, there were tasks for j1/j2/j3 in sod? And then finally j4 and j5 in Underfoot? Do you even have to do those anymore on TLP? What is the baseline merc level nowadays?
yerm
Golden Baronet of the Realm
- 6,006
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Mercs are SoD and ironically they're so gimpy bad that if you try to lean into using them you end up relying on them for farming and fuckarounding but get a real priest for group progression and stuff, which is GOOD for the priests, who probably don't wanna help you farm snake asses but would love to do a real mission.
Anyway while I 100% agree that the God-TSS stretch complaints, my point was more than the disparity of which classes quit shows that it can't be just "oh new tlps kill old tlps" and there must be other factors. You need to address and mitigate these issues if you want to persist. I've had talks about this with people like sieger, frank, drill, etc. I think sieger understood and its why his guild cruised to live. You can say "yeah but selo was fast" no, selo was burnout speed, faceless lasted because it had TOO MANY priests (and monks but hey) because even when you had tanks like gorg and xak doing their own thing they made it a point to get people taskadds and not fall behind, and raid loot wasn't monopolized despite cries of you can't win without funneling.
I'm excited to see how rizlona goes taking a polar opposite approach of "EVERYONE just box past it" and hope it works, because I like the server. It may not. Aradune is gonna need to deal with the same problem every past tlp did. ROI changed dramatically during the 70s to finish TSS strong, faceless prepped for and weathered it great with the obvious 2nd wind in por as they absorbed the guilds who didn't, and to my knowledge only really citizen could be said to also have done well through. Most other guilds just struggle and coast at best.
Anyway while I 100% agree that the God-TSS stretch complaints, my point was more than the disparity of which classes quit shows that it can't be just "oh new tlps kill old tlps" and there must be other factors. You need to address and mitigate these issues if you want to persist. I've had talks about this with people like sieger, frank, drill, etc. I think sieger understood and its why his guild cruised to live. You can say "yeah but selo was fast" no, selo was burnout speed, faceless lasted because it had TOO MANY priests (and monks but hey) because even when you had tanks like gorg and xak doing their own thing they made it a point to get people taskadds and not fall behind, and raid loot wasn't monopolized despite cries of you can't win without funneling.
I'm excited to see how rizlona goes taking a polar opposite approach of "EVERYONE just box past it" and hope it works, because I like the server. It may not. Aradune is gonna need to deal with the same problem every past tlp did. ROI changed dramatically during the 70s to finish TSS strong, faceless prepped for and weathered it great with the obvious 2nd wind in por as they absorbed the guilds who didn't, and to my knowledge only really citizen could be said to also have done well through. Most other guilds just struggle and coast at best.
Vindicator
Bronze Squire
- 69
- 21
Interesting insight. As someone who played melee during that original period, and has not played a caster on a TLP during that era, I've always wondered if it was just people over exaggerating (pretty common) that stretch of EQ.
I can't imagine Darkpaw putting that much effort into fixing that period to address such a problem. At least not with what I am always told of them having a small crew while still trying to put out an expansion every year. Addressing things like epics or key spawns seems like problems on the smaller scale that they can fix, but something like this seems like a lot more balancing needed with implications that might affect LIVE side more.
If resists were toned down, would that be a simple fix that works, or would it cause too many balance problems and/or the problem is greater than that?
Vindicator
Bronze Squire
- 69
- 21
So if you play a caster, better come rolling into those expansions with a loyal group or expect to be begging for groups a lot?
yerm
Golden Baronet of the Realm
- 6,006
- 15,481
Yes. You will most likely have to beg to get your mpg trials, don progression tasks, dodh unlocks, por whatevers fuck por I forget, tss missions, and tbs ring shit. With sof+ a lot more content becomes accessible with things like a pet tanking or even just soloers. If you don't wanna beg, consider maining a tank or convincing a tank main to let you use it sometimes.