Varlyndria Server
 

I just wanted to show everybody in this fine community the hard work I have been putting into a server lately. Please tell me what you think and say hi on the forums if it interests you. The server currently has no official launch date but I'm almost done with the first tier charm quests for the 48 sub classes (paths) I am adding and I constantly keep it updated and go out of my way to test and balance everything I put in the game.

You can get a lot of information about the server and how it all works out with the link below.


www.varlyndria.weebly.com

Really liking the idea's! Eager to try it out!

Thank you very much, Satora.

I'm doing everything I can to make one of the greatest servers ever to hit EQemulator
and the variety and class styles that players will experience should hopefully keep a
lot of people interested in their toons for a very long time.

I'm sure somebody out there playing live was saying to themselves one night..
"Gee, I wish I could actually do something with the Ninja Star aspect of my cool monk.
Why am I forced to melee? Why can't I use these cool shurikens to dps?". You need
not look any further, oh shuriken tosser dreamer guy because I've got you covered.

Welcome to Varlyndria, the Star Thrower path awaits you with open arms. :grin:

One thing I've learned from announcing great ideas on a fairly popular server when you're a one man development team (which you seem to be) is that you need to be careful of other servers seeing your good idea and implementing it light years ahead of you.

I love your ideas and no I won't be stealing them :-D

Haha, well if people are inspired by my work than I think I've done a good job. If every server from now on starts copying my ideas I'll take it as a compliment and this thread is sort of proof people copied from Varlyndria if things turn up on their servers.

However, I released this thread because I should have the server out fairly soon and I need players to come check it out for some alpha testing. :D

Very good stuff. I'll be following.

Awesome! I hope you find enjoyment with the server when it's released.

I just finished up the beastlord first tier charm paths and I am now working on the bard's path choices. Keep checking for updates on the main site. I'll also be updating the treasure area with more screenshots of updated and new class path charms.

Exciting stuff being worked on right now!

Is there an ETA on when testing will start? :)

I can't promise anything but I am hoping for next month sometime for Tier 1 path quest testing. I'll probably end up capping the level to 20 but keep in mind it takes a while to level on Varlyndria too. The cap would be so players can't get too far ahead but it does allow you to keep your toons on the server as well.

This is not official, just a guess right now.

I must say, I'm very excited hearing about this server and reading up online about it. It kind of worries me that bots will be allowed as I haven't found a server yet that uses them and has kept my attention but none-the-less it sounds great! Have you thought of the possibility of allowing all classes the ability to solo instead through the one char and not the bot team? By using the charms and items to bolster their weaknesses in order to assist them in soloing. I wanted to create a server like that but alas, couldn't find anyone to help with the development.

Again though, I definitely look forward to playing on your server!!

I'm glad you're excited about all of this!

To answer your question: I mainly decided on the 5 bots and 1 character so players could have their own personal team that they could explore the world with and also to have 6 characters to equip instead of 1, overall giving them more to do and seek out. I am a huge fan of the Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale series and one of my favorite features of those games were the ability to create my own party that I can control. It's much more fun to a lot of individuals to have that power at their finger tips.

However, soloist toons are not exactly hopeless. The enemies have had their health increased to be able to take on a single group of well geared characters but soloers should still be able to take them down, just a lot slower. There are many paths that should be able to solo effectively like the Warrior Commander, Vampire Shadowknight, Brigand Rogue, Earthguard Ranger, Spirit Warden Beastlord and more.

When the first series of testing starts up I will make sure to monitor this closely. I've even added single spawns for every one of the first tier charm quests so you can solo that mob every 3 mins if you didn't want to group/bot party.

Wow that's great! I'm definitely excited and would LOVE to help in any way I can. I'll be checking this thread and your website frequently for updates.

So, how are you going to implement the diffrent class trees for bots? :) Or are bots just going to be reg classes?

Bots that are the same class as your main character are able to be given charms, weapons and items from the path lines if you wanted to take the time and farm for them. However, they will not be able to use the signature click effects of those items. You cannot go to another class guild as your main character and do any of their paths. Overall, I figure it like you're the main champion of your group and are a complete bad-ass compared to the bots, the bots will never be of your caliber but they will help you succeed with their base class lines.

One thing that bots WILL have however, is the fact I am adding a lot of custom shops which will have plenty of gear for player characters, bots and pets. You don't NEED a group of human players to tackle 99% of the content but if you managed to get one together, the six of you would be much stronger than a bot group because of your decked path characters. I've made enemies drop ten times the amount of money they normally do, so farming NPC's for money will be a huge part of the Varlyndrian experience and will be well rewarded with stuff to actually purchase.

If our playable character will be much stronger, will spells be bolstered as well? For both our character and the bots so they can keep up with our heals for instance?

I will leave it up to player feedback to tell me if spells are not doing the trick from the bots, but honestly they should be fine additions to the damage. Your character is going to be strong, no doubt, but bot wizards, mages, necromancers etc will not be anywhere near the word useless or weak. They will still add to the damage of the group quite significantly.

One thing that helps them is the 5% critical strike with all spells. Wizards get 10%. So far, from my own testing I don't really see this as any kind of issue at the current moment, but I won't be against buffing certain spells if they need it. However, you have to keep in mind that buffing certain spells may also make those spells
extremely overpowered to a class path that may enhance them, such as the Spirit Warden Beastlord who can get up to 400% extra damage with their spells at level 20 with their first charm.

:EDIT:
Now that I thought about it, I could always add expensive but purchasable generic spell damage enhancement charms that are perfect for bots. It's an idea, indeed.

I've done a great deal of work to get the bards balanced out and just released a new path called the Mystical Artist which is a bard that can summon planar instruments of immense power. The instruments are considered no-rent and must be re-summoned each time a player logs back in. I'll be introducing the final bard pretty soon so keep checking for updates.


www.varlyndria.weebly.com

This server interests me with the sub-classing system. I wanted to do something like this recently with my server that I am building (and ultimately will re-write because I am unsatisfied with it) except with a classless system. Every player would start as the same 'EQ' class, but they would obtain different spells depending on what spells they either A) learned, B) were taught in the ways of.

For example, every spell was ranger usable, but only certain spells were scribed depending on quests completed. Some were researched thru tradeskills. This sounds like what you are trying to do but being a bit more restrictive on the spells available; which isn't a bad thing, honestly, as that way each class has a definitive role. I just had my idea for flexibility.

A suggestion with the bots; make them have their own spell lines, and customize them to be more like EQLive mercenaries, instead of having to make them be a specific kind of class. All you need is four bot types; Tank, Ranged DPS, Melee DPS, and Healer. You can restrict what bot spells are available in the DB, and what bots are available if you customize the DB.

I like the way the bots are now; you can have any base class you want which makes everything a bit more interesting. The merc style bots idea isn't a bad one however, but I don't see a need to implement it on Varlyndria. To help avoid confusion about giving bots a class role, I will be adding a disclaimer that explains bots cannot learn how to advance in a Varlyndrian path.

Your server idea seems pretty open which is good, but sometimes games like Skyrim can be mundane without that restricted flavor to define a role. I didn't really like the original diablo class system either, which allowed you to be a half-assed version of yourself if you wanted to be. Ultimately, those choices are pointless in the end to the base class which is better all around so most builds in diablo 1 were pretty horrible.

Looking forward to seeing you on the server!

sounds interesting, await the chance to try it out :)

I can't wait to release it for everybody to play and have fun on. :)


UPDATE: I've just added the Tier 1 Bard charms to the site. Their paths are almost touched up and finished for now. I'll be moving on to the Shamans soon.

I think what impresses me the most is your planning skills. As a scatterbrain I can't imagine how hard it is to plan all of this out, lol. Whenever I try to plan something like this, I normally can't organize my thinking. I think that's what attracts me to this server more than anything; you know what you are offering to people.

I'll be hopping in the day it releases to check it out!

@Secrets Your problem is you dont stick with anything lol. You have amazing ideas and talent but you always scrap your projects or seem to get bored with them. I think you would do awesome working with someone that can look ahead and use your talents and extra ideas :)

You should see my notes on this server; I have over 18 different files with multiple pages of information in each one! It makes me very happy that I can impress you with my creation skills and I can't wait to interact with your toon on the server. :)

The moment has finally arrived Shaman fans, I have revealed the first path of your favorite class!

THE GHOSTCALLER!

Go check out this unique support path down below and keep checking for updates because I'll be releasing the other two shaman paths soon!

http://varlyndria.weebly.com/shaman.html

I agree with secrets, the hardest part of a good server is the ability to map out the ideas and stick to them.

No doubt. That's why it's always good to keep everything written down and organized so you know exactly where you're at on your server and what you have added to help avoid a ton of confusion. Having a lot of dedication and imagination is a plus too.

NEWS: The Witch Doctor Shaman has been revealed! You can check out what this path offers the player down below. This Witch Doctor is more traditional in the Native American culture compared to Diablo 3. I'll be working on the final Shaman path soon.

www.varlyndria.weebly.com/shaman

Will there be any pvp?

I do indeed plan to add PVP to Varlyndria and here are some ideas I have in mind.

NOTE: Please keep in mind that a lot of these are just ideas right now and everything I am saying here is not set in stone.


PVP ZONES: Open World PVP areas and Arena Revamp. I'll make the teleporter that takes you to these zones have multiple "drop zones" so players can't just farm
the single entrance to that combat zone. I'm thinking something around the lines of 10 drop zone locations per combat zone. Each drop zone will have an NPC to get PVP potions from. Also, to make it a bit more interesting I'll probably have the NPC hit the player with an invis spell before they launch them into the combat zone. With this, I'll probably make it where SEE INVIS is not allowed, so rogues can have some fun and players can zone in undetected for a short time to get their bearings and avoid immediate ambush.

BETTING: Betting on who will win the match in Arena.

PVP POTIONS: These will be zone restricted, so the buff will vanish whenever you leave the zone you got them in. The potions themselves will give the player a massive HP increase that lasts for 24 hours or until they die or leave the combat zone. This will allow players to compete against others and actually have a chance to survive with how much damage can be thrown out by some class paths. The HP increase will probably be in the 100k range. Bots will be active as well to kill any player (I'm guessing) so having the main character decked in HP is a must to prolong the fights and make them more challenging.

PVP REWARDS: Various gear that will help kill players or remove their spells etc.


These are just some ideas I have and whether or not I'll be able to get these into the first test phase or not is questionable, but I do want to give pvpers a place on the server without making the entire server pvp so both types of players can enjoy it.

The Final Shaman Path has been revealed. The Velician Seer is a dps path for Shamans that gives them the ability to melee with ice spears as well as deal tremendous damage with cold and disease spells. They also get improved spirit wolves that have more damage and procs.

I'll be doing some server work for a while and getting the shaman paths in the game. The next class I'll be working on when I am finished with the shaman is the druid, and I have some fun ideas for the class. Keep checking the site for updates.

More to come!

ALL OF THE SHAMAN PATHS BELOW
www.varlyndria.weebly.com/shaman

Your just on a roll!

Aye, busting my ass on this server. I feel like I have put countless hours into it.

The Tier 1 charms for the Shaman class are finished. You can check them out below and I'll be working on the Druid paths soon.

http://varlyndria.weebly.com/tier-1-charms.html

THE FIRST PATH FOR THE DRUID HAS BEEN REVEALED! :-D

http://varlyndria.weebly.com/uploads...54582_orig.png
ROLE: PETS / SPELL DMG / MELEE DMG


Get more info on this DPS path below! I will be revealing the other druid paths soon so keep checking for updates!

www.varlyndria.weebly.com/druid

THE SECOND PATH FOR THE DRUID HAS BEEN REVEALED! ;)

http://varlyndria.weebly.com/uploads...02848_orig.png

ROLE: HEALING / PETS / CONTROL

Get more info on this HEALING path below! I will be revealing the final druid path soon so keep checking for updates!

www.varlyndria.weebly.com/druid

THE FINAL PATH FOR THE DRUID HAS BEEN REVEALED! :shock:

http://varlyndria.weebly.com/uploads...87499_orig.png

ROLE: MELEE DMG / SPELL DMG / TANK

Get more info on this HYBRID path below! I'll be adding these paths into the server now so that's it for the updates for a while. Keep checking the main page for more information on the Druid Tier 1 charms which I will be adding in their treasure area when I get everything made. Sign up on the Varlyndria forums and say hi!

Just remember folks, the more updates you see the faster this server will go live! I'm like a forest fire right now and I just can't stop. MORE TO COME! :-D


www.varlyndria.weebly.com/druid

http://varlyndria.weebly.com/uploads...59397_orig.png

www.varlyndria.weebly.com

Can't wait to see what you're doing with Enchanters :D!

any expectation of release date? at least a beta / alpha test?

Huge update incoming!

@Vaklain - I have some amazing ideas for the Enchanter and they are next!

@dedaoff - I'm hoping sometime in May. With how fast things are going I can see that realistically for an alpha phase.



The Cleric paths have been revealed! :shock:

http://varlyndria.weebly.com/uploads...37747_orig.png
ROLE: HEALER / PETS / SUPPORT

http://varlyndria.weebly.com/uploads...90858_orig.png
ROLE: MELEE DMG / SUPPORT

http://varlyndria.weebly.com/uploads...09805_orig.png
ROLE: SPELL DMG / PETS / MELEE DMG


Check out the link below for more information on these Cleric paths!

www.varlyndria.weebly.com/cleric

http://varlyndria.weebly.com/uploads...80831_orig.png

CHECK IT ALL OUT BELOW
http://varlyndria.weebly.com/treasure.html

The Clerics are finished for now with their Tier 1 quests and ready for the Alpha test phase. I'll be releasing info on the Enchanter paths soon so keep checking here for updates!

Also, please sign up on the forums and tell me which path interests you on the general discussion thread I have open. I am getting feedback early to get ideas on improving the class paths or just to see which path looks appealing to a player. So far it's been a good variety of responses.

The path ideas of this server are to give players a lot of choices which makes an mmorpg more fun to play. I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks the cleric class on live or on pretty much any other server is as boring to play as watching paint dry. Let's not help the team for anything with damage, let's look at the hp bars and watch tv.. *yawns*. I've made sure the classes on Varlyndria are not "stuck" in a role and have a lot more freedom and variety. Keep in mind there might feel like a "stuck phase" when you choose a path and find out you can't be anything else without losing all of the gear you got from the one you are previously. I do it for balance reasons, but at least I'm giving players the choice of what they want to be instead of.. "you're a healer and nothing else."

When it comes to class paths like the Heretic or Battle Priest; I have basically given the cleric a change of pace from being main healer only to be more of a team booster or pure damage dealer. Keep in mind that the original spell book of the cleric is not changed in this process so they don't lose their powers to complete heal or anything like that. They are afterall still clerics but those two paths will not be anything near the healing power of the Celestial Champion which does get a pet to make the healing process a bit more fun but they will also get instant cast heals and Healing +% focus effects as well which the other paths will not, making them the ultimate healer on Varlyndria.


www.varlyndria.weebly.com/forums