I've wanted to get into eqemu for years and try out some ideas. If someone has similar views I'd be interested in doing something. I like everything bufferofnewbies (?) said early on. My EQ live experience mostly ends at PoP (tried but haven't really stuck with EQ live much after that happened) so I might make assumptions for that era...
(PS sorry this is so long)
Everyone has different opinions, play styles, preferences and ideas of "fun", so this shouldn't be taken as a suggestion of what is best or most fun or even good. It's just what I've come up with as ideas that sound fun to me (without actually trying most of them).
I think my overall goal would be a more engrossing experience with close to a zero-sum economy (impossible, but a goal) and less of a noticeable grind and rush-to-the-end experience. Most servers are raid-focused, I'd like to see one that is whole-game-focused.
In no particular order:
Much more class-, deity-, faction- and race-related quest lines. EQ is unique in it's faction and deity aspects, as far as I know, but they are wholly undervalued in-game. I would probably make gods unkillable or remove them entirely except events or something. Ideally, each deity would be different. Good gods might help their followers more often. Innoruuk should really just run around killing his followers if they get in the way... :P I would introduce quests for most factions, so if you for some reason maxed out your Crushbone faction, you could realize some benefit from it.
I like classic--real classic. I would limit it at Kunark or Velious probably and then put in custom content like epic armor, quests and zones. I would like to start from that classic era quests, but people say this is very hard to do... I am more of a journey than destination person, though, so I don't care much about pandering to the hardcore level-ASAP raid crowd (sorry)... I did that for years and I'm over it. Don't get me wrong, raiding is fun, but I have little sympathy for people that rush through or skip content to level up then get bored when there's no stuff to do. I also prefer the classic era distinction in classes.
I've always felt that leveling is a fabricated "goal" and really exposes deficiencies in the game design. The game itself should be fun, players should enjoy it regardless of level, sort of like Skyrim. I may get rid of levels altogether, really, if possible, and focus on skills. Skills in EQ are basically a joke, which I always felt was a shame. I always had things maxed and they made very little difference. Even my Wiz on live had his melee skills maxed out...that shouldn't happen (pacing was too short). This should be more grind-y and have meaningful impact. You should be able to play a War and effectively be a Ber just because you use 2Hers, having an actual Ber class is a symptom of bad design, IMHO. I'm not sure this is possible though. I might even tie spells into this, so if you work on a particular skill line, you automatically get new spells as you progress, though that might not be possible, either...
I would like to have a "core" set of features and differing rulesets on top of that (e.g. an RP server, EZ, PVP, hardcore, ...). Personally, I'd prefer a hardcore server without global chat channels, but that's definitely a niche. Building an infrastructure around this would be important (and something I can definitely do), with automatic builds, branches, deployments and stuff. I do this for my day job as a C# dev and IT person.
I believe the largest problem with EQ is the economy, there aren't enough item and money sinks and it degrades/inflates quickly. I would allow mercenaries, potentially an unlimited number of them. Not #bots, mercenaries, with upkeep. I would probably allow 2 characters per IP. This would allow casual people like myself to attempt harder content if unable to find a group (or undesirable). Even non-grouped people can benefit the community and be social. Maybe only for the EZ server.
No in-game maps. Sorry. Ranger only if possible (they need all the help they can get, haha).
I would prefer using newer clients for effects and nicer features and whatnot. I'm not sure if one can add new effects or add effects to armor but I'd like to experiment with that. I've always wanted permanent effects on armor, not just weapons.
I would try to preserve class-defining capabilities, like rezzes and ports, while allowing players an alternative. For example, a port NPC, for a price or quest, crafted port items (by porting players), etc.. However, something like the Nexus is too impacting on that aspect of port classes, rendering a significant aspect of those classes moot (an aspect which the class has at the expense of missing other things, like survivability).
I would love to implement Project M.
I do value the social grouping aspects of EQ, but I think they are overrated and I know very well the other side of that coin, being casual due to RL responsibilities, so I wouldn't want to force that play style on people and exclude them.
I would tweak crafting to make it more viable, much less focus on dropped gear, more on crafted or quested--less of an XP grind. Ideally, one could get the same sort of gear from quests, crafting or raiding, at the same level with the same amount of time invested. Raising the importance of skills plays into this: the same weapon should be noticeably different in effectiveness between characters with a large gap in skill. Traditional EQ had a horrible crafting experience. The pacing was okay, maybe even too fast, but it seemed horrible because usually the things you could make at your level weren't effective versus dropped items, so you had to grind that also... If possible I would make failures tend to create worse-than-expected-but-usable items, rather than just disappearing. I would introduce deconstruction somehow to get some mats back. I would attach the creator's name to the item if possible, maybe in the lore, maybe with a message "For my ex, may this Ring of Rain Spell proc serve you well. XOXO".
Cursed items would be interesting, if possible, though I doubt you could prevent un-equipping an item. Would give more importance to Identify. :P
Item sinks are a bit harder. I would probably introduce item damage/durability and crafter repair. Haven't thought much about that yet.
Eventually, I would like to implement a more dynamic and reactive environment, but within the familiar classic zones. Things like Crushbone orcs, if left unculled, spreading into gfay and maybe causing problems for Kelethin, or taking over Kelethin. All automatic or guided, with quests and loot. It's a ton of work, sure, but there is enough to keep people busy for a long time with enough imagination.
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