Sanctuary in the Sky - Post Apocalyptic Norrath

[Mitchell92]

Zerjz3, I'm still waiting to hear back from you....

[zerjz3]

This server is not getting nearly the appreciation it deserves for the amount of time/effort/energy that's being put into its development. It seems that emu players only want buff bots, solo to win, hand holding, complete lack of immersion and storytelling from their servers. It's a sad state of affairs and it is making me strongly reconsider the personal sacrifices in my life that I am making to develop this server.

[Kingly_Krab]

Hey Zerj3, I appreciate your idea in your server, I haven't taken the time to check it out yet, but I'm willing to play it, don't get discouraged, the trend now is high custom stuff, don't worry, you'll get players once they test it out and enjoy it, word of mouth is a powerful thing.

[zerjz3]

The very narrative of this server is a metaphor for the current paradigm in which MMO and more specifically EQemu players exist. Players start in the "sanctuary", a safe place where laziness and easiness is encouraged. Every kill of a training dummy levels the player until level 13, in which they can level no more. The citizens of the sanctuary criticize the outside world for being too harsh, too dangerous. A strange man appears, and offers the player a chance to truly experience life in the 'real world' , and once the player takes that plunge and enters the New Nexus, experience slows down to that of classic EverQuest (remember classic EverQuest, that brilliantly immersive game that captured our hearts and imaginations, despite its difficulty level and lack of instruction?) and things become difficult. Players are unable to solo easily, and must form friendships and alliances with their fellow players. The risk is high, but then so is the reward. The story telling, the NPCs, never break the fourth wall. Quest text never refers to itself as a quest, NPCs never refer to each other as being NPCs, the word 'server' is never once mentioned, the word 'levels' is never mentioned, players are never taken outside of the narrative and the world that has been created. So many servers here have an NPC with "Server Information" etc under their name - you won't find that here. The very point of this server is to create a world that feels real and alive. It is not meant to be an "emulator server". It is meant to be a game in its own right. It is meant to be a world.

Too many of our players are joining the server as mages or necromancers, not because they have a love for the class, but because they have been existing in this paradigm in which those are "solo classes" and will enable them to do what they please without the need for interaction with other players. That doesn't work here, and some players are turned off by that fact. Some players cannot figure out their way out of the sanctuary. Some players ask, "Where is the buff bot? Where are the teleporters?" - Some players quit because things are 'too hard' , when in reality they are no harder than classic EverQuest was. We have gotten lazy, jaded, and have lost our imaginations. This server was intended to change that fact, to change the paradigm we have all been playing in, but it seems that modern day MMO players do not want a challenge. They don't want to be immersed, storyline has no meaning to them. They only want to casually play a game, sequestered away by themselves with no regard for the game world as a whole. This server was meant to break us of that mindset, but it is not happening.

[nenelan]

While I certainly respect that attitude, and I love the idea, the reality is that until you have a sizable population, your wish for people to team up probably won't happen. Nostalgia is a wonderful thing , but it also tends to gloss over the poorer aspects until we are subjected to them again. That nearly vertical difficulty curve, harsh death penalties, OP casters and UP melees are all things I don’t quite miss.

It is a shame, but that is the way it is. I popped on for a bit in this server's infancy and found nearly no one on. I rolled an Enchanter at first but quickly changed to a mage, because again as you state, that is a solo class. I'm not willing to box, so I made due with what I had. I did quite enjoy it (think I was low 20s maybe? I can’t quite recall.)

It certainly has great flavor, and I love the concept, but myself as a very casual player who gets 20 minutes here and there recognizes that this server is not quite for me. I'm not able to sit there for a few hours, hope someone logs on, is around my level, not boxing, and not antisocial. That’s what live eventually devolved into for myself playing a berserker.

If this server takes off, sure that kind of play will work for some, but unless or until you get a sustainable population, forcing grouping for just general progression is not going to work in my opinion.

Immersion, challenge and storyline are things I highly value in games, the problem is that I fear I am in the minority. Also I’ve become bitter, cynical and antisocial in my old age, so that probably doesn’t help much either

You do absolutely have something unique and special here, but I almost think it would make a better single player experience, or at least have a gradual difficulty curve added to it. Sure, it may be no harder than classic Everquest was, but you also had extremely high population there at the beginning, and things have gradually taken a turn for the easy in the past dozen expansions are so. They realized their mistake.

[Ahire87]

Originally Posted by zerjz3

This server is not intended to be a solo "do everything by yourself without interacting with other players" server nor is it intended to be played with everyone 6-boxing. Boxing is allowed but should not be required. This server is being designed around a playerbase that socializes and groups together, forms guilds, forms friendships and alliances and helps each other out. This server is not being designed for 1 person to be able to complete all of the content alone. I understand that it may be difficult to find groups sometimes with the current low number of players, but I am confident enough in my design and ideas that the base will grow over time. During beta it may become frustrating sometimes to not be able to find groups, but I will not be adjusting the difficulty level based on that. This is not your typical emu server and I am proud of that.

I like your attitude and your server so far.

Here is my review:

XP: Awful. The rates are so bad and the death penalty is so steep that you better box a cleric to pull around with you for the rez. It isn't a 96% rez, but dying is pretty much like wasting 45 minutes of grinding. I understand you want a difficult server and you don't want people to play the normal "solo grind to max in 3 hours and all box war/clr/random dps" and win everything but the way the server is set up...you are inviting people to box their own groups. There aren't multiple groups running around at all hours of the day. There aren't multiple xp zones being camped at the same time. You either box a group and do the content yourself or you wait for others to log on. You say you won't adjust the difficulty and that is fine, but don't expect this server to boom if you are forced into boxing a group because the population is low and it takes you 5 days played(or more) to hit lvl 37.

Itemization: Amazing. The stats stats are a little weird. I find most stuff is full of CHA or STA. The clicks are mainly illusions or small buffs. The models - all A+. I haven't found a shield yet. I pretty much have only seen cloth/plate. 2handed weapons seem to never show up either. Everyone has the same 1hb equipped.

General content: All top notch. I love the progression I have done so far. The quests are great, the lore is on par with what I would want from a mainstream mmo. I can't do anything early morning because nobody else is on so I pretty much don't log in. I can't solo anything and my damage is so bad that even farming green con nameds is a pain in the ass. I also don't box and have no intention on spending another 2 days grinding my shaman, bard, ranger, and rogue so I can kill in Unrest at 5am.

I play a paladin at the moment. I have no tools that aid me in groups. I have 1 stun and a blind for aggro. My heal is garbage. I have no group heal, I have no HoT, I have still have Yaulp, my damage at lvl 26 with the 1hb quested from Unrest is doing more than my lvl 16 necro, but not really by a lot. Knowing that the server cuts off at 50, I won't have access to any defensive AA's, any slay undead AA's, any combat abilities, or any group utility spells such as Brells or group heals/hots. I guess I will be doing what pallies in classic did: casting rez on dead group members and blinding/rooting adds for CC. Doesn't bother me. I like my class and I understood completely what I was going to deal with upon creation. Just kind've odd to be worthless outside of like three spells.

The difficulty is where it should be for the big named mobs. They are fun, they aren't tank n spank, they require a group. I like that. I guess it comes down to: XP rates being horrible and the fact that I am almost level 26 and I am still using most of the gear I got between lvl's 10-14. My 2hander (dropped from Najena at lvl eighteen) is less efficient than my 1hander (dropped from Erudin at lvl thirteen) and I haven't found a shield to bash. And you pretty much have to box. That is the bottom line to it. You need to box to grind your way to 25 when you can group with the higher level crowd. And even at that point, don't ditch the boxes because you'll find yourself shit out of luck when nobody is on and you want to kill stuff or xp.

I like the server and will continue to play - I just hope some minor tweaks could be made to not require me to 6box.
*shrug*

[phorest]

Well put. It's not a "bad" server, it's just impossible to play casually
IF you have all your time to play, and do not have to handle life's other responsibilities, you can hang out and wait for people to get on and join with. But if you are average Joe player 1-2 hours of play per day, you can't get anything done there.

[zerjz3]

Many of these "issues" being reported would be non-existent if the server had the playerbase that it is being designed for.

[zerjz3]

What would happen if I adjusted the difficulty level to account for an extremely low playerbase, is that the playerbase would then grow over time, as it's already doing, and then the content would be trivialized by the larger number of players and would be "just another emu server" - Not going to happen. I am sorry that some of you are finding the difficulty level to be a bit too much, but blame the playerbase, not the server itself. Having more players would completely, COMPLETELY change all of the negative aspects that people are complaining about.

[Kilesh]

Zerjz, I've been a faithful player for awhile.. and I can honestly say, Please do NOT change anything. I quit eqemu for about a year, and when I came back to your server it was like being born again in the Everquest world. I find myself impatiently waiting for work to be done so I can log on everyday! We have a group that constantly logs in and plays and we are having absolute fun!

The negative people who dislike this server are apparently part of the instant gratification generation. There are those of us who enjoy that upgrade we died 10 times or camped for days to obtain. Please don't let those who don't understand this concept ruin it!

[jsr]

Zerj -

The player community is essentially a marketplace, and servers are products. Trying to force a product on the market simply does not work - you design a product and if there is appetite in the market for your product, then it will be successful. Your post reminds me of conversations amongst players who dislike boxing, where they suggest that preventing boxing will result in everyone grouping - it's simply not true. While some players will group when they can't box, a significant number will simply look for a product where they can box. Likewise for your server - the people you've seen logging in and complaining about the difficulty are not your target market and there's no point trying to 'convert' them.

Fortunately for you there IS a market for this type of server. These types of players are playing project 1999 and the 1999 population is by far the largest population of any emu server (at a glance it outnumbers the others combined). If I were in your shoes I would stop worrying about the miscellaneous players who quit because your server is hard, and instead - take enormous comfort in the fact that the 'hardcore' format has attracted the biggest player base of any Emu server. I think you need to stick with your vision and ensure your content is top notch. If your 'product' stacks up with P1999 then get the word out amongst the right people (market) and let them choose with their feet. If you still have no interest then you have more work to do on your server

[zerjz3]

Thank you, js, you have a great point there. I agree with you wholeheartedly!

[jak3666]

Can I just say that I play a Shaman and I can solo in whatever zone I want by playing my class intelligently and not having the expectation that I can run through an entire dungeon by myself. I am currently level 37 and soloing in a level 30s zone. Soloing is possible here, you just can't expect to be able to crawl through a dungeon and kill all the nameds, but you couldn't do that by yourself in real EverQuest either.

People are really, really misunderstanding this server and a lot of the stuff you guys are saying are extremely generalizations and exaggerations.

[jak3666]

I find it very interesting that I do not box, and my class is Shaman as opposed to a solo class like Mage or Necro, and I am the highest level player on the server. Play smartly, have realistic expectations, and play the game as it was intended to be played, and reap the rewards..

Basically the naysayers are Doing It Wrong.

[jak3666]

This is me soloing in a group zone