open beta testing for classic legit pve [Archive]

nilbog

01-17-2009, 02:53 PM

Greets.

First of all, let me express my utmost respect and gratitude to the eqemu community. Great project with great teamwork. I would still be wishing for something like this had you guys not created it. :)

I have been working on a legit classic pve server for months and I figure it is time to let people know!

Currently named, project 1999 - legit pve classic beta testing

I have worked extensively on the database to provide an early classic feel.. in regards to npcs and loot drops.

brief list of highlights
-will be progressive through velious
-created cazic thule to original specifications, rubicite included
-remade runnyeye to original, pre-pickclaw invasion status (still working on this)
-accurate loot drop percentages..named mobs should drop things appropriately with no empty loot tables.
-removed a myriad of non classic mobs and disabled kunark - onward mobs until their appropriate release
-created rare and very rare mobs to their original specifications (e.g. prince kyrmt keroppi, dunedigger, yymp the infernal and other mobs i haven't seen on the other emus.)

I'm still learning things daily to improve the server.. and was hoping to have everything ready before I made a post like this. However, I think I might get better feedback and ideas by letting the community dig up their classic memories. Most everyone hunted different things and has unique, invaluable information.

If you enjoyed classic eq.. come check out my server, give opinions and/or suggestions. Any help is appreciated.

Hope to see you there.

http://i39.tinypic.com/hsmfkl.jpg

Tantalar

01-18-2009, 12:06 AM

yessssssssss

Ueguvil

01-19-2009, 03:24 PM

Is xp going to be bumped up at all?

I logged on and as a warrior at level 1, 1 even kill only gave a little over a blue bubble.

Sultan

01-19-2009, 04:18 PM

exp is going to be like classic with racial/class penalties as well if i remember correctly

unknownhost

01-19-2009, 05:47 PM

remember, racial & class exp penalties were built in place because classes were innately unbalanced at the begining.sk's & paladins were by mostly just warriors with slightly lower caps in a few abilities with spells added on(and a lack of dual weild). same for races, ogres,trolls, and barbs had 15/10/5 (or thereabouts) penalties respectively while asslings had a 5% bonus. because at that time some races were just flatly better than others.
the problem is that be the time Kunark was comming around they had started doing all kind of things to balance the classes, such as adding Crafted armor quests to south karana (which is funny because of this other class people whined enough they later added the templeofsolro quests) and the beserker rage warriors do at low life, while they seemingly forgot about the penalties that were built in to offset many of those imbalances. so by the time velious came around (and arguably during kunark also) there was no point to having exp penalties any longer even though it was quite some time before they were properly removed.

anyways, what im trying to get at is that true classic ended before kunark was ever released and adding things like racial penalties is just tacking on outdated methods that just had not been properly eliminated at the time even though there function had been undone. In other words, just repeating one of verants many mistakes for the sake of completness.

good luck bro, has been plenty of people calling for a true classic server! (masochists i tell you!) hope you guys can pull it off!

eqtest

01-19-2009, 05:58 PM

I love progression servers and your's sounds exactly like the type I would like. However, I won't simply because of the exp rate. I have no desire to slog out 50 levels. I tried Clumsy's World and just couldn't do it. Good luck!

nilbog

01-19-2009, 07:16 PM

unless there is an overwhelming call for an exp change.. it will be left as default. aside from dungeon encounters, the slow exp in classic was what encouraged people to group. why waste your time meeting up with someone when you can solo the rest of your level in that travel time?

in my opinion, some of verant's "mistakes" coincide with that classic feel. want to be a troll shadowknight? there should be a price to pay for uniqueness. :cool:

(masochists i tell you!)
masochists indeed.. i fear i am one of them.

the goal of my server is not to make it hard.. just to make it original. the good with the bad. if progression only takes 1-2 weeks.. whats the point :T

i have spent the majority of my time working on the database.. and im still researching what all i can change via source. (suggestions welcome)

if anyone has any questions i will do my best to answer them! :)

sampy04

01-19-2009, 09:52 PM

Sounds like an achieving server. I'll check it out.

Dugg

01-20-2009, 12:25 AM

I wouldn't mind playing at a slow level rate again. I don't know why you'd want to just PL to 50. There's fun to be had at all levels.

But I don't like the class exp penalties being put back into the game since it just puts people at a disadvantage with no gain or reason for it. Original or not, I don't think you'd put a bug back into the game just because it's original you know? Atleast the race penalties make some sense.

emuzual

01-20-2009, 06:45 AM

WOOT amazing job Guys

but may i had some correction

the compass on the screeshot while original EQ was using sens heading ( hahha fun skill )
and during the character creation the necro erudit that appear later with the aparition of the Hole

Thx for this amazing work and hope long life to your server

Sultan

01-20-2009, 09:47 AM

as long as theres a decent enough player base slow exp wont be a big deal , you just need people to group with , i think besides the game and its mechanics the best thing about eq for me was community , and if you arent in a group grinding out levels how are you ever gonna make those friends in a game ...

im not sure but is boxxing going to be allowed ? if it is thats kinda of a community breaker , but the way the server is being built you need a group , so if im the only one on in my level range almost need a box

the TZ VZ server has something in place that only allows for 2 boxxing by blocking the ip or some such from connecting to it a third time ?

unknownhost

01-20-2009, 08:31 PM

they do and it seems to work great.

think they used to have an issue though where you might be on both accounts, get an LD on one then be unable to login for X number of miutes due to the server thinking you have two accounts online.

might be slightly off on how it was hanging up like that and might be fixxed already for that matter but still, it worked! definately dont want people running their own 6man box groups for this eh.

nilbog

01-20-2009, 10:41 PM

i would love to have it as 1 client only.. but i don't see how that is feasible, unless a LOT of people are going to play that haven't expressed interest :D.

when the server is fully released, i will limit it to 2 clients.. so people can have a box and actually accomplish things. when i played on tz/vz, the player limit of 2 seemed appropriate and worked well.

Slaya21

01-21-2009, 06:57 PM

I tried logging on today and it kept sending me back to login screen. :X

nilbog

01-21-2009, 11:38 PM

yep.. sorry bout that. had to test some parts and my ip was changed. everything is working now :D

Slaya21

01-22-2009, 02:09 AM

works now, made a dark elf sk. woot.

Ueguvil

01-22-2009, 05:54 PM

nilbog

01-22-2009, 07:57 PM

Slaya21

01-22-2009, 09:37 PM

are you gonna use boats? :)

Ueguvil

01-22-2009, 11:22 PM

While I do agree with the fact that not everyone wants to play classic with the classic penalties, I don't think that's why the other servers faded away. They faded away for no apparent reason. It wasn't a slow and steady decline.. in fact, just the opposite. People were raiding and joining guilds with each other and then the servers vanished..seemingly overnight.

Fast travel was implemented in 1999 :P Druids and wizards.

I do appreciate the feedback, as I like to hear everyone's opinions of classic. I do not think my server will include such things as fast travel though :( sorry to those who require it.

Fair enough. Just remember it's no fun running through empty zone after empty over and over again. When those zones are alive with players is when they're interesting to trek through.

Classic isn't classic without thousands of players in the world. When that vital part is missing concessions need to be made.

But I guess that's just my opinion! Good luck with your server. :) It looks like you've put some real dedication into it. (CT looks awesome)

Tantalar

01-23-2009, 12:32 AM

I hope we will be able to beta test the entire trilogy and make everything really great, and build up a snowball effect as we are working on all of this.

This is the first time that there is ever going to be an actual really classic server in EQEMU to my knowledge. This is really the real deal and Nilbog is not going to just shut it down randomly as it has ALWAYS been the case with any "classic" server that has been around for a little while.

The problem with a lot of eqemu servers is that there are not a lot of people, but if we could get around 100 online at all times, then I think we would be able to remove 2 boxing. Its just 2 boxing really hurts the economy but realistically its just tough to have a server if you have 2 boxing.

I really hope we can have lots of people join, iron out all the bugs, and then have a bunch of people and launch it. I think we just need a lot of people anticipating release too, so like I said, its great that it is now opened up to everyone.

Slaya21

01-23-2009, 01:10 AM

I agree with tantalar, this server is going to kick some major ass.

They just need to get a few changes in and then it should be launchable .

We need as many people on the server that we can get.

The owner seems really dedicated to it and is determined to fix any problem that comes his/her way.

I have more to say but don't have the time right now due to the hour and classes tomorow.

Give this server a chance.

Bleysnine

01-23-2009, 12:40 PM

I really like the idea of returning to the original Lost Temple of Cazic Thule. I remember hunting in Feerrott within the first couple of weeks of the original release and being in a small group that was killing the lizardmen on the pyramids outside CT. We killed the ones guarding the ramp up to CT and found the hallway that led to the dungeon. Wow were we surprised to find the dungeon there with all of these extremely high level (to us at that time) lizardmen. We couldn't even guess at how extensive the dungeon was at that time, and I remember many many days and nights fighting all throughout CT.

I hope to try out your server this weekend. Thank you so much for making this server.

nilbog

01-23-2009, 03:26 PM

Thank you very much for the kind words everyone :D

During this beta phase, I will happily level you to 50 with gear and whatever else so you may look around.

The more bug fixes and submissions done in beta, the better the server.. I have seen about 75 new people connect, but not many submissions for corrections.

nilbog

01-23-2009, 03:29 PM

are you gonna use boats?

Absolutely.. the boats are there, but some experience some problems.. such as being hollow. Translocators are in place until I find out if boats can work 100%

Sultan

01-23-2009, 05:43 PM

I think the 2 largest things that need to be tackled right now are getting the correct values on classic spells and factions , everything else seems to be pretty minor , the world in itself looks great , CT was done fantasticly .

Everything else seems to be pretty minor, some merchs havign wrong items and minor quests that may not be in

Nilbog and the other people seem to have done a great job on this server thus far, be great to have a spike in players to just run around in zones to find any other minor bugs that may have been looked over , or any quests that have been forgotten

Fifflefluff

01-23-2009, 06:34 PM

I've been trying to connect to your server, but it isn't working. The farthest I got was the character selection screen. I made a character and tried to enter the game (I forgot to un-check "Start Tutorial" so it tried to put me in the Gloomingdeep Mines), but the client froze while loading. Now, I can sometimes get to the character selection screen, but every time I try to enter the world with the character I made, it just freezes or drops me back to the login screen after a long wait. I tried remaking the character, too, this time remembering to un-check the "Start Tutorial" button so it wouldn't automatically try to send me to the Gloomingdeep Mines or anything like that, but I get the same problem. I can connect to, create characters on, and then play those characters on other EQEmu servers. Do you have any idea what could be wrong?

Fifflefluff

01-23-2009, 06:46 PM

Also, sometimes it freezes and then kicks me back to the login screen even just when I select your server and try to initially connect to it.

Slaya21

01-23-2009, 07:46 PM

it kicked me off the first time, but now it works everytime. I am on it as we speak.

also /bump for good will.

Fifflefluff

01-23-2009, 07:52 PM

I was just able to log in, finally.

nilbog

01-23-2009, 08:22 PM

Woo.. I'm glad people are enjoying the CT... took me over a week researching and scouring my memories to create it.

I will be willing to share it with the community if there is a demand. Not sure how exactly I would do it though.. I created the mobs with new ID #s and loot ids. So I'm not sure how that would work with queries?

I have to give a huge thanks to Angelox.. as his was the database I started the server with.

To prevent any type of corruption or character deletion.. I am the only person with access to modify any of the database, remotely or otherwise. Xzerion, Tantalar, Christian, Moisel and others have provided with me with tons of information to make it all possible. (thanks guys <3 )

For any in-game or connectivity issues, please visit the current webpage at http://classicbetatest.guildlaunch.com as I do not want to spam up the eqemu boards anymore than I have already.

Thanks again eqemu for providing me a great way of learning mysql and perl.

Fifflefluff

01-23-2009, 10:08 PM

Comment retracted.

Fifflefluff

01-24-2009, 09:32 PM

I'm liking the server -- when I can connect to it (I'm having serious issues connecting and staying connected to lots of servers, not just yours) -- but I can't post on the forums you linked. I'd like to share bugs and broken mechanics/quests that I find and help you fix things up, but I can't post anything. Even though I registered and everything, it just says: "Sorry, but only registered users can post topics in this forum." What do I need to do to be able to post on your forums?

nilbog

01-24-2009, 09:55 PM

i see your response on the page now, Fifflefluff. Hopefully all is well now :smile:

Corson

01-24-2009, 10:35 PM

Nice work so far. Any chance on a ETA? March? Later? Earlier? I would come to this server with 20+ people ready to be very active. Boxing aloud or not.

redghosthunter

01-25-2009, 03:18 PM

Have you blocked MQing? That would be the icing on the cake for me. Seems like other servers only threaten Bashishment.... Then the player gets a slap on the wrist and is back in a week.

nilbog

01-25-2009, 03:53 PM

Any chance on a ETA? March? Later? Earlier?

i hope it will be ready within a month or two.. it really depends on the amount of submissions from the beta players

Have you blocked MQing?

i will use the vz/tz hammer™ ! cheating on an emulator.. is just sad

aendiin

01-25-2009, 09:22 PM

Im interested. How do I get on? :)

nilbog

01-25-2009, 09:31 PM

server is up and running 99.9% of each day. listed on server list as

project 1999 - legit pve classic beta testing

lots of new people connecting and im getting a lot of good information for this beta!

hope to see you there aendiin

porigromus

01-30-2009, 12:32 PM

While I do agree with the fact that not everyone wants to play classic with the classic penalties, I don't think that's why the other servers faded away. They faded away for no apparent reason. It wasn't a slow and steady decline.. in fact, just the opposite. People were raiding and joining guilds with each other and then the servers vanished..seemingly overnight.

Fast travel was implemented in 1999 :P Druids and wizards.

I do appreciate the feedback, as I like to hear everyone's opinions of classic. I do not think my server will include such things as fast travel though :( sorry to those who require it.

I agree with you Nilbong, I am just learning of your server and can't wait to help you test it. Why have all servers the same right? This is going to be fun.

Sultan

01-30-2009, 07:29 PM

I agree with you Nilbong, I am just learning of your server and can't wait to help you test it. Why have all servers the same right? This is going to be fun.

"Nilbong" lawl, didnt think he was a pothead =P

nilbog

01-30-2009, 08:16 PM

throughout my gaming career.. i have had many MANY changes to my name made

nilborg(most common), nilbong, niblog, etc etc. good stuff, don't stop :)

ChaosSlayer

01-30-2009, 09:42 PM

nobilg! :grin:

porigromus

02-02-2009, 11:59 AM

Haha, didn't notice the typo. Sorry about that Nilbog!

kantan

02-03-2009, 03:43 PM

Nil

I logged in and made up a bard and noticed quite a few things right off the bat.

- The Bard spell I started with was salve that is not classic
-I started with 5 skill in 1 h slash
- I started with taunt and tracking at level 1
- Also I started with a backpack. In classic you had no bags.
- my 1h slash and offense skills went up very fast as well. Too fast.
- Also casting the song used mana. Only charm and maybe one other song used mana.

I did not play long but I found many non classic errors. Thanks for your work.

nilbog

02-03-2009, 04:04 PM

kantan,

thanks for your feedback.. some of these things i can fix and some are on the list to fix already :)

please visit our beta website located at http://classicbetatest.guildlaunch.com for server specific feedback or suggestions.

Operu

02-03-2009, 04:13 PM

Count me in. I just Got EQ Emu working, and I'll be creating a character as soon as the server is back up (keeps kicking me to login screen).

Thanks for making this server. It is exactly what my miserable soul needs to remember the glory days!

Gandelor

02-16-2009, 03:48 AM

Will characters during beta be deleted at launch?

nilbog

02-16-2009, 10:06 PM

Will characters during beta be deleted at launch?

affirmative!

Z.Wylde

02-16-2009, 11:15 PM

porigromus

02-17-2009, 03:17 PM

i would love to play, but default exp rate is too much for me... with only a handful of players to group with i think exp should be adjusted accordingly... eqclassic live had a balanced exp rate because of the thousands of players on each server...

That would only increase the speed of the issue of not having players to group with at all levels. Then it would become only a race to the top. I think a better way to deal with this is add the emu bot system in a discrete tasteful manner to where people can hire a bot in towns (classic models/races/classes of course) to help fill in the gaps for times when you can't find someone your level.

I know it isn't classic to have bots but I don't think it would be intrusive if done tastefully.

kantan

02-19-2009, 10:37 AM

Once we go live I plan on making 2 characters. One I will use for soloing. The second I plan on using in gorups.

I will be using our boards to premake groups for a set time and place. I think this will help a lot until we can get the community built up.

Tantalar

02-19-2009, 04:48 PM

The server has not even "gone live" yet since it is still in beta. If you you build it they will come. I am curious to see how many people will play once it is released. I think it would be a good idea to have a sign up so we can get an idea how how many active players there will be.

spott3dblanks

02-19-2009, 06:27 PM

Here's a question. Do you use all the old models for cities and such? I loved the old freeport.

nilbog

02-19-2009, 09:10 PM

not sure what a new freeport looks like, but this is the one i remember and use :)

http://i38.tinypic.com/xbi7g5.jpg

nilart

02-20-2009, 04:29 AM

Few questions if you don't bother answering me :D

1.- As i suppose you are the same guys that started this project long ago, is the whole team still involved or did you miss most of it with the "incident"? :P

2.- What hardware/connection are you using to host the server? :D

3.- You said it was going to be proggresive till velius. May i ask how long will it take to get to the next step aproximately?

4.- A friend of mine registered for the old project received a curious email about it. Although the old site closed, are you planning to, in any manner, notify all these members about this project? As someone here already said, the most important part of a classic eq is the community and that project had a big one :D (community heheh)

Guess that's all. We are a bunch of friends playing on TZ/VZ right now but may give it a try.

Xzerion19

02-20-2009, 10:56 AM

We are a totally different group than the project you are referring to. We started about 6 months ago.

The other two questions Nilbog needs to answer. I've played on ALOT of classic type emu's but they are always missing the fine details that make it stick out like a sore thumb as far as it not being classic. There is no stone left unturned on this server, come by and take a look, if you want classic I dont think you will be dissapointed.

nilbog

02-20-2009, 11:39 AM

nilart

1. you are referring to a different group of individuals

2. currently a dual core w/ 4 gigs of ram.. that is all subject to change, since this is just my home pc

3. progression will be based on players participation! cannot say for sure, as that will be determined by when the gods/targets are downed. (list not yet made)

4. i have not emailed anyone, different project I do believe.

HellzKnight

02-20-2009, 12:32 PM

Logged in for the first time today I will be checking more into it. wow the old character models bring back memories. p2ped for 3 years at least. bought all the way up to SoL. funny thing my original guild was SoE (Shadows of Emptiness) before sony online entertainment was formed. When they did that they took my guild away so I quit.

kantan

02-22-2009, 11:04 AM

Come and check the boards and you guys can see the things that are being fixed. You can also see what items are un-fixable because of the emu. (Minor stuff)

porigromus

02-24-2009, 03:13 PM

While I'd love to play classic again, I pretty much agree with eqtest. If this server is to have the following 3 things:

1. Very slow xp.
2. No quick travel (#peqzone)
3. 2 clients allowed per person

then only the most extreme masochists will play here. Yes, all 3 of those conditions existed in classic everquest (most people only played 1 character even) but there was a huge population to offset this. You could log on and be near any dungeon that was guaranteed to be teeming with other players. This is a mistake lots of classic servers seem to make, and they fade away.

The fact is very few people want to spend their hours traveling across the same world they've traveled a million times just because it's the only possible chance they can group with someone (if there is even anyone else their level on atm) and get a shot at progressing their character. It's simply not fun.

If the grind has to be super long, at least implement some sort of quick travel maybe? It would go a long way in encouraging grouping.

I myself would be okay with doing some minor customizations if done tastefully, if this brought in more players. I have always thought some things that SOE did could have been done but more tastefully. Don't get me wrong, if classic is released exactly like it was in 99', I would be like a kid in a candy shop. : D

There are some slight things you could do to alleviate some of these issues and I think enhance classic but what you suggest is too drastic especially the #peqzone. That would really ruin the feel of being in a world.

1. I would be okay if the xp was increased but I would go a step further and only increase the xp in dungeons. I think a bit more xp in dungeons (not much) would be okay considering the risk and may also alleviate not being able to find others to group with issue. Would be some hotspots where a lot would be found xping.

2. If travel becomes an issue there is a tasteful way it can be lessened. There could be a few discrete npc wizards/druids around the world that you could "hail" to provide very limited ports to certain places. At least it would be unobtrusive and feel like it belongs in the world.

3. I was thinking there could be some discrete npc bots (classic races/classes) that could be for hire in towns that could assist with times when players are not avaliable. This may solve the need for wanting more than one account. I would make sure the bots were no replacement for players but would help you solo if unable to locate people to play with. It would be nothing similar to EQ's mercs presently.
I think they implemented it poorly. I don't think mercs should xp with you nor do I think you should be able to put them away or pull them back out like a pet. I also think they should be a price/time when you hire them to come with you and after that time they "poof". If you want their help again you must go hire them again.

*************************

I personally think EQ could have done things more tastefully in the past to fit the world better than they did. To me they didn't seem to care if things flowed well together, expansions felt like different games tacked together. The PoK, teleporting books, moon travel, cats living on a moon O.o, bazaar, mercs in present form, etc etc .. all done very ugly, intrusive, out of place, unimpressive.

Just my 2 cents, hope no one thinks I am asking you to customize your server. I would be happy with it as it was in 99' to repeat again. I am merely stating that if done very tastefully and carefully some things for convenience could be put in that doesn't take away from the world.

Throttle

02-24-2009, 10:46 PM

I myself would be okay with doing some minor customizations if done tastefully, if this brought in more players. I have always thought some things that SOE did could have been done but more tastefully. Don't get me wrong, if classic is released exactly like it was in 99', I would be like a kid in a candy shop. : D

There are some slight things you could do to alleviate some of these issues and I think enhance classic but what you suggest is too drastic especially the #peqzone. That would really ruin the feel of being in a world.

1. I would be okay if the xp was increased but I would go a step further and only increase the xp in dungeons. I think a bit more xp in dungeons (not much) would be okay considering the risk and may also alleviate not being able to find others to group with issue. Would be some hotspots where a lot would be found xping.

2. If travel becomes an issue there is a tasteful way it can be lessened. There could be a few discrete npc wizards/druids around the world that you could "hail" to provide very limited ports to certain places. At least it would be unobtrusive and feel like it belongs in the world.

3. I was thinking there could be some discrete npc bots (classic races/classes) that could be for hire in towns that could assist with times when players are not avaliable. This may solve the need for wanting more than one account. I would make sure the bots were no replacement for players but would help you solo if unable to locate people to play with. It would be nothing similar to EQ's mercs presently.
I think they implemented it poorly. I don't think mercs should xp with you nor do I think you should be able to put them away or pull them back out like a pet. I also think they should be a price/time when you hire them to come with you and after that time they "poof". If you want their help again you must go hire them again.

*************************

I personally think EQ could have done things more tastefully in the past to fit the world better than they did. To me they didn't seem to care if things flowed well together, expansions felt like different games tacked together. The PoK, teleporting books, moon travel, cats living on a moon O.o, bazaar, mercs in present form, etc etc .. all done very ugly, intrusive, out of place, unimpressive.

Just my 2 cents, hope no one thinks I am asking you to customize your server. I would be happy with it as it was in 99' to repeat again. I am merely stating that if done very tastefully and carefully some things for convenience could be put in that doesn't take away from the world.

Making the XP rate too fast would be detrimental to the server, even if it's an emulated server with a potential playerbase of no more than 30. If everyone levels to 50 in under a week, not only will the longevity suffer but the new arrivals will have noone to group with. It'll probably be a little easier to level anyway because of certain unfixable factors related to the PEQ codebase and the client and such. Not only that, but leveling in Classic EQ really wasn't all that hard; the main factors that slowed us down was that we often had to wait in line for groups or had to solo, and we didn't really know all that much about the game or how to play efficiently. The former will largely be eliminated by the ability to two-box, making for very effective duos or making the process of forming groups easier, and the latter is less of an issue now that we are not only veteran EQ players but have also learned things from newer games, some of which are very applicable to EQ1.

I am not wholly against very small elements of assistance that aren't true to canon, but they should only be there to compensate for the lack of a full-fledged playerbase and should only simulate the things that would otherwise exist. Soulbinders, for example, were not there in the old days but are almost a requirment on a server where there might at times not even be a player online with the Bind Affniity spell. Likewise, very rare and discreet methods of teleportation are acceptable, such as the translocators in place of boats and maybe an alternative way of teleporting to Plane of Hate. Travel is a very important aspect of EQ's gameplay and should not be eliminated, so I wouldn't want to see easy access to every other zone in the world. Playing a porter should have its perks too.

I would not want to see soemthing that was never possible in the original game. There should be no NPC bots, gate trinkets or anything of the sort. The creators are trying to give us the closest thing to the real experience, and any drastically different elements would ruin that.

Tantalar

02-25-2009, 07:10 AM

If everyone who wanted to play on this server recruited at least 1 person and told that person to recruit at least 1 person, the active server population online at any given time could realistically exceed 100. We don't even have a launch date. There is lots of time to recruit people who are interested in classic EQ. The server will be bangin' without any non classic stuff, but not unless at least some people do their part to help recruit people.

porigromus

02-25-2009, 11:09 AM

I agree, closest to classic is great with me. I was just pondering the other day about ways SOE could have accomplished some of the things they did without being so gawdy, uninspiring, and out of place.

I am curious to longevity of the server? Do you have the dedicated bandwidth and what type of server will this be running on at launch? Will it have redundancy? I noticed that at this time you have it running on a home box. Thanks!

nilbog

02-25-2009, 11:16 AM

There have been good opinions brought up here.. and I'm reading all of them. 5+ pages of responses here, as well as the ones on my forum lead me to believe that the population will actually be quite decent at release. I am getting tons of valuable feedback and beta support from the testers.

-Currently looking for developers to help with source changes.

-People that have good memories from playing classic :P

If interested in the above, or have questions or concerns, please visit our current forums located at http://classicbetatest.guildlaunch.com

nilbog

02-25-2009, 11:22 AM

Hm, Porigromus.. we must have been typing those up at the same time!

I am curious to longevity of the server? Do you have the dedicated bandwidth and what type of server will this be running on at launch? Will it have redundancy? I noticed that at this time you have it running on a home box. Thanks!

The longevity of the server will be based on how long people play on it! No reason that I would take it down unless people get tired of velious when the time comes and want to reset it, change it, or make it better.

Not sure of the stats of the dedicated machine yet.. but it will be built to exceed the needs of population. The bandwidth will be determined by the best I can get in my area.. currently looking into this.

porigromus

02-25-2009, 02:46 PM

Cool thanks for the information.

arcamedes

02-25-2009, 06:53 PM

Nilbog, I think I remember you from wayyyy back when EQ was first released. I remember a half elf(?) pally named Nilbog on Erollisi Marr. Was that you? If it was, I do remember good things about you as a player which makes me wanna try out your server ;)

nilbog

02-25-2009, 11:25 PM

wowwww.. yes that is me. what name might you have had at the time? very rarely i find people that remember my first character besides people I know irl :D

kantan

02-25-2009, 11:26 PM

That was him.

arcamedes

02-26-2009, 01:45 AM

I switched mains a bunch, but my very first character was a barb shaman named Gaelan. Retired him at level 10 or so, then made a high elf enchanter named Fizzealot Nevercast. Played him for a looong time to the Kunark cap of level 60.

Retired him and played a dark elf rogue named Tylendel. Played him for awhile to level 60 as well. Then pretty much retired.. I tried random servers with random guilds then got tired of what EQ became and retired for good.

Along came the EQClassic Project and I was excited again for classic EQ! Well, we all know what happened to them, so I guess I'll stick with Emu's for now. At least they're legal ;)

Ack, I rambled a bit, oh well. Can't wait to try your server! Good to know that I remembered you correctly, you had a great rep on Emarr, I'm excited ;)

<edit> I have a sudden flash of sitting on my ass in Oasis right next to the water and seeing you fight crocs in bronze plate in front of me. Damn half elf pally's are sexah!

nilbog

02-26-2009, 09:36 AM

Great stuff. I remember Fizzealot as well as Tylendel.. look forward to seeing you soon!

Corson

02-26-2009, 09:50 PM

Estimation on how many players you are honestly looking at if your server went live today?

nilbog

02-26-2009, 10:30 PM

Today? 50+ unique people. I cannot say for sure, but I know probably 30 rl people.. as well as the people that have tested my server, I'd have to say by the end of the week I would need a dedicated machine and some type of hosting or business class upload speed.

I'm assuming all of these testers are going to want to play :rolleyes:

nilbog_

03-02-2009, 12:57 AM

Well.. after the password fiasco, my original email didn't receive the password change information. So, until/if that happens, I cannot respond to PMs from it, so if you want to contact me via these boards, please use this forum name. (same one, with an underscore _ after it)

As stated before, you can contact me or post server specific questions on our beta forums located at

http://classicbetatest.guildlaunch.com

thanks!

Clyo

03-02-2009, 06:12 PM

I am new to EQemu and I'm very thrilled about a classic server. In fact, I stopped playing EQ because, like many others, I think they got it all wrong after Velious. So count me in for beta testing this! I know old players that would come back anytime for a true classic server (my husband for sure and about 4 other friends).

Call us masochists, we liked old grinding, death penalties, slow leveling and all the BAD that made EQ the BEST. After trying a lot of mmorpg's I still think EQ was the king and not because it was new at the time. It gave us a real challenge, it was tough and community was very important. I learned with time that nice graphics and fancy particles doesn't make a game.

So good luck and see you soon (off to create a character to beta test).

kantan01

03-05-2009, 09:34 PM

Great. Make sure you register on the boards. See you there.

Badlin

03-13-2009, 12:37 AM

I'm game sign me up :)
got 6 classic players down to contribute some time and knowledge towards building the game we all love and remember

nilbog

03-15-2009, 12:57 PM

Greets, thanks for interest in the server.

A LOT of work has been done over the past month and it looks a lot more like classic eq :D Beta testers are doing a great job of finding obscure things, and the details on some of it is simply amazing.

Mostly done with everything prekunark now.. working on aethestics and tweaking things

Currently looking for :
- a little scripting help
- someone familiar with eqinterface to help/advise a project
- and, as always, classic information. as great as waybackmachine is, some of the information we need is simply not available. spawn timers, which mobs see invis, and any other minutiae you feel you can contribute.

Come by our beta testing forums, currently located at
http://classicbetatest.guildlaunch.com for any questions, comments, or suggestions!

sarasi

03-15-2009, 04:28 PM

I have been looking for just this type of server play. as soon as I recieve my eq titanium in mail and get set up I will definately be there

kantan01

03-21-2009, 11:43 AM

All of us non script writers are testing quests at the moment. It seems like we are getting pretty close! Some of the outdoor zones need some tweaking too. So come on and help if you are willing and able!

Dibalamin

04-03-2009, 09:07 AM

Just an updated...

Server is coming along nicely,

Merchant/vendor list have been almost completely redone & fallen back to a more classic state.

Tons of quests have been fixed.

And the dragons & gods have been scripted back into their 1999 goodness, silly raider procs are for kids.

Ongoing work consists of quests, pathing, mob drops & general non-classicness crushing.

Stop by and say hi sometime! Or even better, log in and give a hand!!

feel free to stop by the forums at http://classicbetatest.guildlaunch.com

PathToEternity

04-03-2009, 01:26 PM

IRC is 1999 on the emulator IRC

nilbog

04-03-2009, 08:48 PM

Thanks guys for your words of support :D

The server makes a lot of progress every day.. and I can't wait for it to be finished.

Still looking for:
- advice on source fixes for original game mechanics.. have compiled quite a list
- more perl scripters
- good classic info.. I know somewhere exists a dusty binder.. that has the spawn times of each zone. :P

New addition to the server.. original spell gems. Don't know of anywhere else these exist, but work has been done and we have some functional ones up.

http://i42.tinypic.com/6qazox.jpg

nilbog
http://classicbetatest.guildlaunch.com

joeyftw

04-04-2009, 05:32 PM

looks awesome. cant wait for server to launch.

clericgildina

04-15-2009, 10:55 AM

Wow. This server has peaked my interest. It could be awesome going through and doing everyone's quest armor (Totemic, Crafted etc.) I took a look at your boards and everyone seems very enthusiastic. It looks like I am going to play on both Storm Haven and on this server!

Any ETA when you will be launching?

clericgildina

04-15-2009, 02:03 PM

Hey just a few questions:

I registered on your boards and I can't post not sure why. I did all the confirmation and stuff but can't seem to get it to work.

I was thinking about Classic EQ since I saw these server details and I really want to play on this server when it gets up and running. I started going though a list of quests/gear I would likely go after early on and I realized something. How the hell did people get Magic weapons in Classic EQ to kill Willowisps/Ghouls etc?

Part of what I want to do involves killing ghouls which are immune to mundane weapons haha. So where early on could a Shaman get a 1HB or Spear that is tagged as magical? Haha. I realize as a Shaman I could just use offensive magics and not weapons but kind of want to keep my options open haha.

nilbog

04-15-2009, 03:51 PM

Any ETA when you will be launching?
when my beta testers stop finding things :p work is done everyday.. so it only gets better.

I registered on your boards and I can't post not sure why.
After registering, you also need to use the "apply to guild" option on the homepage.

How the hell did people get Magic weapons in Classic EQ to kill Willowisps/Ghouls etc?
You're in luck. I have these mobs tagged as immune to non magic dmg. Personally, I saved up and bought a combine long sword. :p It was expensive at the time.

Look forward to seeing you around.

Dibalamin

04-19-2009, 10:16 PM

We are still looking for a C++ coder to help us out for a bit. If you are familiar with the source and have a some spare time we'd appreciate the assistance!

And I wouldn't argue with some more assistance on the perl side of things either =D.

askyn

04-22-2009, 05:58 PM

Imsetta

05-01-2009, 04:20 PM

Combine weapons, dropped weapons, come quested ones, Monks fists become able hit magic after couple of lvls.

Then you have spells of course etc.

monk fist only hit magic if you have magic item in your hand slot.

Dibalamin

05-08-2009, 11:45 AM

They actually became magical weapons bare fisted at level 30. And you could also put magic gloves on and hit creatures that required magic. Same for warriors and magic boots.

*Enchanter Pets Fixed (No more punching!)
*Sky Mob scripting complete. Key scripting still needs work.
*Hate - Complete and Polished
*Fear - Complete and needs a touch of polish
*Dragons - Complete and Polished
*#zone enabled for the remainder of beta

Most every zone has been tinkered with so we've enabled #zone for the testers to help out with travel. Although, we applaud those folks that ran from Qeynos to Faydwer; this act of bravery will no longer be required.

PathToEternity

05-09-2009, 01:17 AM

http://classicbetatest.guildlaunch.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2586045&sid=ff217be541594b8eec276a62189eaa52&gid=62867

Yes, and we need more people to group with :)

Vollrantin

05-09-2009, 07:49 PM

I can not believe why i stopped playing EQemu 9 months ago and missing this. You are a god Nilbog, keep up the good work and thank you for making druids usefull again ! one halfling druid on the way! If beta is still open that is.

Dibalamin

05-09-2009, 11:12 PM

Beta is still on atm. Fixes going in daily, come on by and hang & chill.

Arpharazon

05-11-2009, 12:14 AM

So how does one actually join the beta? I'd love to roll into this, especially since I just got Ogmuk's email the other day about the 10th Anniversary of EMarr.

Dibalamin

05-11-2009, 06:54 AM

To play in the beta? Just log in =).

forums are at http://classicbetatest.guildlaunch.com. To join the forums register there & apply for membership.

And, good to see you again Arph!

eqZeb

05-11-2009, 07:55 PM

At level 50 with about half a yellow in, died and lost back to 49 with 2 and a half yellows lol...lost 3 full yellows.

clericgildina

05-12-2009, 08:54 AM

At level 50 with about half a yellow in, died and lost back to 49 with 2 and a half yellows lol...lost 3 full yellows.

I ran into this problem as well. They had told me it was a bug with the GM Leveling. If you are leveled by a GM to level 50 and then you die, for some reason you lose oodles of XP.

Dibalamin

05-12-2009, 09:41 AM

I've been tinkering with the XP lost variables as well. In 50 you should lose a full yellow when you die without a rez. And since 49 requires less XP (a lot less) than 50 it translates up the amount of yellow but not the amount of xp. I'll check it again tonight.

PathToEternity

05-18-2009, 08:33 AM

Have been having a lot of fun in Guk and Unrest recently!

WyldeRhoads

05-19-2009, 01:50 AM

The problem I have found with legit-classic eqemu servers is that unless you have a lot of players... (thousands), then old school exp and death penalty exp loss just ends up making the server a solo server. EQ was designed for a large player base. If you scale the exp rate up to make up for a lack of players then it could be more of a success. Perhaps scale the exp rate/loss rate directly with the average number of players on per week?

nilbog

05-19-2009, 10:43 AM

Perhaps scale the exp rate/loss rate directly with the average number of players on per week?

This is a cool idea.. maybe not for me, but a cool idea, nonetheless. Maybe a system that would dynamically change/restart after a certain number of people would log on. /shrug.

As far as experience goes.. I've had people testing this for a while to smooth it out and find what was best. Seems my players don't want a scaled-up exp rate..and that's fine with me.

But I wont hold my breath I'll just keep playing on these generic progression servers.

Good times are to be had :P I feel we have done enough work where it won't seem generic :D

Dibalamin

05-19-2009, 05:02 PM

We're approaching 1000 "fixed" threads fairly quick=o. Which include both quests and DB changes.

PathToEternity

05-21-2009, 03:57 PM

Even with the "beta-ish" population we have now, I must say I have spent more time grouping on this server than I have ever spent grouping on any other EQEmu servers.

Remtek

05-23-2009, 05:58 AM

Any eta on when server will end beta? :)

Dibalamin

05-23-2009, 10:51 AM

Aside from faction, the DB changes are getting far, far fewer daily. Research is probably the last major DB hurdle next to faction.

Quests are just a matter of copy and paste at this point. The gaping holes like Soul Fire, FA, Silent Watch, etc have been filled.

Source changes; this is the biggest hurdle. We don't have anyone that is familiar with C, so Nilbog and I are trying to teach ourselves with the examples off the forums and out of the SVN, and it is rather slow going, especially when they involve DB changes at the same time.

So far we've made almost 1000 threads worth of changes, and probably have another 300 between source, faction & quest changes remaining. So the emptier you see the quest, faction & game mechanics threads, the closer it is.

PathToEternity

06-09-2009, 04:45 PM

Right now faction is probably the biggest thing left to do, outside of source changes.

So any classic faction buffs out there? We could definitely use your help!

Dibalamin

06-13-2009, 05:53 PM

Finally got our source caught up and a ton of DB & quest changes are going in daily. Most recent major quest fixes are the Cargo Clockwork in Steamfont & the Langseax.

Feel free to stop by and say yo or come by and join in the ever shrinking list of fixes.

mokfarg

06-13-2009, 08:57 PM

xerve

06-15-2009, 12:56 AM

sorry to have to ask, but where do i go to download/play on this lol?

Dibalamin

06-15-2009, 07:38 AM

http://classicbetatest.guildlaunch.com

In the files forum you'll find the UI and Spell file as well as the nek & LS zone.

Dibalamin

06-20-2009, 12:09 AM

Faction has been implemented around the horn, just a matter now of fixing the plethora of mobs that don't have a faction assigned. Be warned, if you are playing an evil race or wanting to test one, you might just get beat down by an opposing faction guard, and you most certainly will in the near future.

Newbie bind points are currently being globally changed back to a more classical locale. All newbie notes have been confirmed to be on the appropriate classes and almost all the newbie notes are finished: Qeynos, Freeport, Felwithe, Kelethin, Kaladim, Halas, Surefall, & a good chunk of Ak'anon have already been fixed. Neriak, Grobb, Oggok, Erudin & Paineel remain.

I'm (slowly) adding scripting for day/night to most zones. Rivervale and Steamfont are two locations that I've focused on so far; primarily Kevlin Diggs and the Cargo Clockwork.

Pathing and spawn work are being tinkered and adjusted in many zones. Kaladim: Jeet and Mater no longer occupy the same spawn point and Datur will no longer run from you when you try to turn in your newbie note! Oasis is much less a ghost town than it was before. There are many more crocs and Orc Highway will get some love in a few days.

Freeport & Qeynos are the two remaining main bastions of quest rewriting that remain for us. It generally takes 3 shots of southern comfort to get me in the scripting mindset for fixing these zones, I'm losing brain matter....

That's about it for this past weeks update. I will hazard to guess we are within a few months of launching. As always, we could use a C++ coder on the team or someone that is willing to take a stab at some fixes. For better of for worse, development has been in full swing for 5 months now and we are getting much closer with the recent strides.

Dibalamin

07-12-2009, 03:26 AM

In the upcoming evenings/nights we'll be running a bit of testing on raid targets. We'll be hitting folks that come through with levels and appropriate equipment to help with testing.

Freeport quests have been finished off and should be working.

Faction work is done, ogres beware of good cities.

All start/bind points and newbie notes have finally been updated and implemented.

Plane of Fear and all associated mobs have been brought more in line with their classical goodness. As well as Cazic and Innoruuk undergoing a significant update in scripting.

As always, thanks to all the great testers that give their time and skills to helping us.

http://classicbetatest.guildlaunch.com

Pyrocat22259

07-16-2009, 07:24 PM

I have been looking for just this type of server play. as soon as I recieve my eq titanium in mail and get set up I will definately be there

Basically what this person said. I've been wanting this type of thing ever since I quit, which was shortly after Planes of Power. I'm so relieved to find a progression server that will *not* go past Velious. Classic EQ or Bust!

Can't wait to start playing and helping out!

joedan

07-19-2009, 06:58 PM

Will this ever come out? I'm starting to think it will become like EQC...

Clipz

07-19-2009, 07:08 PM

Hehe, yes it will ;) I'm playing on this server atm and it's my favorite server by far!

I'm doing my best to help the people on this project with dungeons and raid zones/bosses. I'm trying out quests to make sure they work and stuff :P

Fixes are being done everyday :)

Dibalamin

07-19-2009, 07:50 PM

We have some fixes going in behind the scenes at the moment. Yes, we will release, I'm still not going to give a time frame, cause that will only piss people off if we miss it. The dev team recently got bolstered by another member of the DB team, ClericGildina on our forums. Over 1200 db, quest, and other changes; With more to come shortly.

This may be an excrutiatingly long development time, but we are absolutely scouring everything to make it as classic as possible. As always, thanks to the kick ass testers we have & we appreciate your patience and interest & hope to see some of you online!

Keep your eyes peeled.

Nymesys

07-21-2009, 01:19 PM

I am also interested in playing, but I can't locate you on the server list. What name is it under?
What alteration do we need to make to out client to play on your server?

Thanks

clericgildina

07-21-2009, 03:04 PM

It is listed in the server list as "project 1999" and since it is alphabetical, it is quite low on the list.

As far as files needed to play on the server you will need to download the "spells_us.txt" and "dbstr_us.txt" in the Files section of our website.

You will also need to get the correct Nektolus and Lavastorm files which doesn't require downloading anything just following some directions, which are also stickied in the Files section of our website.

Source updates have been happening quicker than I can keep up the past few days. There is a great team on board at Project 1999 who are dedicated to making this project the best that they can. So as Dibalamin said, Keep your eyes peeled.

http://classicbetatest.guildlaunch.com

Dibalamin

08-12-2009, 10:29 PM

Just an update. We are still cruising forward. Release is not far off. Nilbog is picking out hardware for the server. We're also creating and testing pathing maps for the Emu community based on Derision and KLS's b!tch!n' code.

SolA, SolB, Lower Guk, Highpass, & Highkeep are all up for testing in addition to the great zones KLS has already done. Come by & help out the Emu community at large. All of our pathing files will be going into the map SVN once they've passed the test.

Source/DB updates:

-Food/water now correctly crippling mana/endurance.
-Flash of Light working pretty dang well.
-Mob run speed tweaked. Your chances of escaping are low!
-Loot drops for all zones have been revamped and updated. Includes guards, animals, and zones.
-Skills: I've started "nerfing" skills down to a more classic line. They'll no longer be scaled for level 75 progression.
-Pets now are summoned with a variable +2/-2 of their base level.
-Alchemy was beaten into submission with the nerf bat and returned to it's classic pricing. We are not reverting to the old alchemy system since a wide revamp to the original would be rather pointless to undo shortly.
-Quests: All classic quests from newbie tunics to the FA have been scripted and put in place. Texts were gleaned from a multitude of sources including live, Tokyo2000, and Allakhazam.

sasaluge

08-24-2009, 10:14 PM

i dont think this box will ever be live

ojamajoe

08-25-2009, 05:46 AM

Anybody can half-ass a so-called Classic server; these guys have actually put in the work and it shows! It is remarkable how much is missing and / or different if you compare 'classic' and either of the two open databases. Check it out and see for yourselves!

Dantes

08-25-2009, 08:11 AM

It is remarkable how much is missing and / or different if you compare 'classic' and either of the two open databases. Just to clarify your statement, are you saying that project1999 has more content than either of the two current LIVE-like databases? Just a tad confused.

sasaluge

08-25-2009, 09:27 AM

he is saying that i am rite, and this server will never be up

nilbog

08-25-2009, 11:24 AM

he is saying that i am rite, and this server will never be up

What's the point of rhetoric? This isn't Duke Nukem Forever :P

Anyways, in other news, prekunark is ready to go. Just finalizing some stuff with hardware.. will make further updates when they are available.

If there is anything you would like to verify in prekunark before launch, now's the time to check it out. All prekunark zones currently running static and things look great imo.

http://classicbetatest.guildlaunch.com

Dibalamin

08-25-2009, 11:53 AM

Just to clarify your statement, are you saying that project1999 has more content than either of the two current LIVE-like databases? Just a tad confused.

The amount of stuff that had to be changed to revert it to classic was immense. From all the mobs in EC, to CT, to RunnyEye....Not to mention there are 7000 invalid entries of a rusty dagger in the loot tables, plus stuff like tradeskill drops, Sol Ro quest drops, hate/fear/sky drops, crocs not pathing in oasis, dark elves liking high elves & vice versa, lack of scripting on city events like Trumpy (who still isn't finished!=()....the list goes on. One query Nil ran made something like 74000 changes?

This hasn't been easy or small by any stretch.

clericgildina

08-25-2009, 11:56 AM

Broken lootdrop_id that were dropping 50% of the time that only contain Bronze Spear and Cloth pants. Lootdrop_id that had every item that the creature could possibly drop in a single lootdrop_id, meaning that research, weapons, armor, gems, rations, bags, etc all dropping from the same table.

There is a ton of stuff that is really half assed that had to be fixed. All of the developers on the project put a lot of work into fixing things that we felt just weren't done right.

Dibalamin

08-25-2009, 12:21 PM

he is saying that i am rite, and this server will never be up

I wouldn't cal you a rite, more of a move, mayhaps even a step or procession, but certainly not a rite. Besides, who has time for rites anymore? Takes days, have to find a virgin, and all the chicken blood. Do you have any idea how little blood chickens have? Takes dozens for a good rite these days.

We don't have a development schedule. We are working to make a classic server. If it takes 2 years, it takes 2 years. The amount of stuff we've changed to revert things is literally daunting to even think about. I scripted almost 300 quests alone by taking info from anywhere I could find it. Added the aggro speeches to the mobs in hate as well as the zone emotes. We've worked really hard on not failing at classic & I think we've done a decent job of dodging fail.

Dantes

08-25-2009, 04:02 PM

The amount of stuff that had to be changed to revert it to classic was immense. From all the mobs in EC, to CT, to RunnyEye....Not to mention there are 7000 invalid entries of a rusty dagger in the loot tables, plus stuff like tradeskill drops, Sol Ro quest drops, hate/fear/sky drops, crocs not pathing in oasis, dark elves liking high elves & vice versa, lack of scripting on city events like Trumpy (who still isn't finished!=()....the list goes on. One query Nil ran made something like 74000 changes?

This hasn't been easy or small by any stretch.

That's what I figured. I just couldn't determine the direction of the statement he had made. I can't imagine the amount of work you've put in. I'll be on your server soon.

bigcountry23

08-25-2009, 04:53 PM

You could alwasy do what Verant did. Go live now and fix as you go. :P Then it would be a truly clasic experience.

sasaluge

08-25-2009, 08:50 PM

inc classic emu server #9. duration: 3 weeks

trevius

08-25-2009, 08:57 PM

inc classic emu server #9. duration: 3 weeks

That's enough, sasaluge. You have been doing nothing but putting this server down repeatedly in this thread. Either don't post, or post something nice. Bad mouthing servers is against the forum rules and this is a warning. It seems like half or more of your total posts are either making fun of someone, their server, putting them down, or a combination of those 3. Whether you are joking or not, it is hard to tell. Either way, please stop it.

Dibalamin

08-25-2009, 09:27 PM

You could alwasy do what Verant did. Go live now and fix as you go. :P Then it would be a truly clasic experience.

There will probably be a lot of fixes that go in over time. We've had close to 200 folks come through and help out over time, but things get missed. It's the nature of things.

And while humorous to mimic Verant, that is one thing we don't really want to try lol.

Thanks Trev.

Dibalamin

08-25-2009, 09:29 PM

That's what I figured. I just couldn't determine the direction of the statement he had made. I can't imagine the amount of work you've put in. I'll be on your server soon.

Thanks Dantes, as of late, things have been quiet honestly. Few folks will log in, look around, fire off a "Holy hell, this is classic and painful! I love it!"

Between a few RL things and work I've slacked off a bit in the past 2 weeks. But, we'll clean up the last few hanging issues in the next bit.

Thanks for the support!

Ansley1

08-25-2009, 09:42 PM

inc classic emu server #9. duration: 3 weeks
All he does on any thread is troll and say random negative things...

sasaluge

08-26-2009, 06:56 AM

i speak the truth bro, sorry if it makes u upset

nilbog

08-26-2009, 10:11 AM

inc classic emu server #9. duration: 3 weeks

That's not the truth at all.. at least as far as the duration of my server.

There's not really a point in responding to you.. but what the hell, until your "rites" are revoked, I suppose I need to defend myself.

mistersquigglez

08-26-2009, 10:27 AM

sasaluge is 9 leave him alone. he can only get on the computer when his parents arent home

unknownhost

08-26-2009, 05:35 PM

keep working on what sounds to be a fun server!

please disregard sasaluge,he probably wont be around much longer, at least not under that troll account. hopefully the powers that be will ban all the forum/login server accounts associated with his IP.

why? well... maybe because of this? (http://www.eqemulator.net/forums/search.php?searchid=842369)

trevius

08-26-2009, 06:12 PM

unknownhost

08-26-2009, 07:26 PM

eep! sorry didnt stop to check it out. humm mebbe somthing due to the method im linking by causing that. :oops:

'tis just a link to Sasaluge's post history.

I probably shouldn't have even made this post as its not really my affair. I dont post often but i still stop by near-daily, just get tired of checking new threads to see whatswhat and end up reading negative comment after negative comment that all are ultimately non-constructive and generally makes visiting a thread an unpleasnt experience.

still, this should have probably been one of those moments where one types out a thread then goes back and deletes it rather than posting ,as in the end im causing yet more drama rather than helping in any way...

Sorry guys.

trevius

08-26-2009, 08:37 PM

'tis just a link to Sasaluge's post history.

Ahh yeah, I had already reviewed all of his posts, which is the main reason I asked him to stop with the flaming and negativity. It serves no purpose at all other than to start potential drama, and that is something I personally try to keep off of these boards as much as possible.

Conifer

08-27-2009, 09:08 AM

Personally, I think your server sounds like the place I've been looking for. I will definitely head over to your site and sign-up.

I originally played EQ from the summer of '99 up until a few weeks into the launch of Luclin. I then took about a year off from playing. Eventually, I returned to the game a few weeks after Ykesha went line. I played pretty regularly until Gates of Discord went live. I really tried to like that expansion, but something about it just never felt right. By the time Omens of War launched, I felt very disassociated with EQ. I think I made it into a few weeks of Omens before I threw in the towel; haven't been back since (at least not to Live!).

I am one of those people I guess that considers Classic EQ to consist of Original, Kunark, and Velious. This, my Classic time line, is where I would prefer to be, but I will admit that I did find enjoyment with most expansions in some form or another through Ykesha. Hell, I even had some fun during Lost Dungeons, for a little while, but it got old pretty quick. But Classic, that is where my heart belongs.

So far, since discovering the whole eqemu scene I have yet to play on a public server. Though I do have a private one setup and I have been having fun on it using the PEQ database. Some zones are not very classic anymore which is slightly sad and I think I shed a tear when I ran out to kill Hill Giants in Rathe Mountains and instead found a mess of tadpoles with legs in my old stomping grounds. Also, some of the old world zones seemed to be sparsely populated or the mobs that used to move just stood there.

Note: When I downloaded the PEQ installer package I thought it originally had a 2009 release date but actually it was 2008 so some of those ghost-town like zones may have been populated by now. I plan on redoing my server with all newer eqemu and PEQ stuff, maybe even trying the AX Classic database.

I wish I had more skills with C++ or even Perl, but at the moment I am a newbie (was learning C++ before I found eqemu). I think if someone were given a choice between having me code something or having a chimp do it, the choice would be a tough one. So, from that standpoint, I am really not much service to you. :)

I wouldn't let the one guy earlier bother you too much. From the way it sounds, you guys have put a lot of work into this project. I can imagine some people who have tried to release previous Classic servers, have just turned off a few zones, removed a few mobs, deleted some items, lowered the level cap, and called it Classic. If you start with the database I have, just doing those things are not going to get that Classic feel. I think most people like me would only play on them for a few days before they realized they were playing a game of about Ykesha era without some zones. Definitely not Classic.

Sorry for the long post. Wish you the best of luck!

Conifer

clericgildina

08-27-2009, 09:24 AM

Hey Conifer thanks for the interest in the server. We had someone who came to play on our servers who ended up being our savior in terms of source updates! We can't thank Ladoth enough and the project really moved very far forward in a short amount of time.

We would be happy to have you on the server and pre-Kunark is pretty well ready to launch and the only thing holding us back at this time is server hardware. Nilbog wants to have a dedicated machine to run the server and have completely static zones so at this time we are waiting on being able to purchase the hardware before we can launch.

Since pre-kunark is "done" (I only put in quotations since we are bound to miss some stuff and we will need people to continue to report stuff even after we go live) things seems to be at a standstill at this time until we can get the hardware in place.

You can currently go and play on the beta server though and check out what we have done. Please make sure you visit the "Files" section of the forum and follow all the mandatory threads to get yourself set up!

Conifer

08-27-2009, 09:46 AM

One more thing...

I saw in some earlier posts some people not liking the sound of not having access to the #zone command in some form or fashion; probably want the PoK in there also. :roll:

If I were striving for the classic approach, I would definitely not put the #zone function in the game. The PoK is not a solution either when you get down to it. If the population is large enough, sure the old player run druid and wizard transportation system might be feasible, but realistically I would not count on it.

What I would do is not quite Classic, but it would be in line with Classic. Hell, being new to eqemu, this may not even be possible but I will throw it out there anyway. I would put an NPC translocator at each Classic druid rings and wizard spires and allow them to be able to teleport a player to a corresponding ring or spire. Druids to only druid rings, and wizards to only wizard rings. Maybe even charge a small fee. If the charge could scale with player level that would be nice.

This is a way to add some--fast travel--that is in line with the Classic era. If you are allowing multiboxing and all that, this might not be a big issue since some people will probably have secondaries that are druids or wizards. Just an idea.

You may have even done something like this.

Conifer

P.S. I wish the real boats of classic worked. I would definate

Dantes

08-27-2009, 10:03 AM

I have to say, Conifer, that was an excellent post! I played from beta through the release of PoP but quit for good, never to return, shortly after that. Like you, I began to feel very disconnected with EQ. All of my RL friends that I played EQ with became disenchanted with EQ much sooner and quit right before or very shortly after the release of Luclin. Before I quit for good also, I realized that the game had gone too far. It began to deviate from my desired EQ experience with Luclin's release.

At Project 1999, you have a huge job to do as I'm sure you're all aware of. You have the chance to make the hopes and dreams of many people come true. I look forward to the chance to see the original vision of EQ as close as possible come to life again.

Classic all the way baby!

Also, an addon to Conifer's travel post. I agree that no access to #zone or existence of PoK would be the best thing and give it the best classic feel. An alternative to his suggestion of the translocators are ancient runes. These runes have to be looted, have unlimited charges and teleport the user to the respective druid rings or wizard spires.

Just a thought.

wolfwalkereci

08-27-2009, 11:41 AM

Sounds like an interesting server. Already casually playing on a couple servers and i'll be sure to check this one out.
From what I have seen on the servers forums its shaping up nice.
Already picked up a couple good ideas off reading the posts by them selfs.
Keep up the good work.

clericgildina

08-27-2009, 11:51 AM

Hey thanks for all of your concerns while I am a developer I can't make any final decisions on things like translocators but I can almost guarantee you that there will not be any type of service with regards to teleportation. Travel time in old world really isn't a huge deal as the map is not THAT huge, and there will be druids around I am sure of it. Nexus, PoK etc really ruined an important part of EQ. It kind of took away part of that bartering and service part of the game.

Boats are something that have been looked at and while there has been things that have been partially working, I don't think there has been a definitive fix. At this time there is translocators that will take you from dock to dock but the boats are not working at this time I don't believe (although Xzerion and Aeolwind were working on it a few weeks ago but I am not sure exactly how far they got on it).

The team really strives for this to be a classic experience and we don't want any part of the game to be "easier" for the sake of convenience. Putting a self teleportation system into the game would just be damaging I think for the community.

Other points of debate that have been brought up have included multi-boxing and soulbinders. I don't want to comment too much on those points as nothing has been set in stone but those two issues bring up concerns of community. Soulbinders may have to stay just for the sake that you won't see casters sitting around in cities waiting to bind people so they may be a necessary evil.

Boxing has been a really touchy issue on both sides. We have had people say they will downright not play on Project 1999 if boxing is not allowed, but at the same time we have been able to down huge raid targets with a small number of people due to multi-boxing. So I am sure once we are ready to launch there will be a list of rules/concerns involving some of these issues.

Thanks again for bringing up these issues and I hope I did ok to address them.

Conifer

08-27-2009, 01:59 PM

I hope to be able to possibly jump on this weekend and check things out.

I hope I didn't ruffle any feathers or annoy anyone by posting that transport idea. I just threw the druid/wizard transport idea out there because it popped in my head as I was reading through this thread. It was one of those ideas that if a compromise had to be made, it sounded better than either #zone or PoK. I usually play a druid as a main, so transportation is usually not an issue for me anyway. :)

I remember how it was before the PoK was around with the constant whispers and requests for a teleport. I usually had no problem with going and getting someone if I wasn't busy or in a good group. Then again, I do remember quite a few occasions being cussed out and called about every name under the sun (by random people I'd never even met) for not dropping whatever I was doing and teleporting halfway across the world to pick them up and take them to where they wanted to go. It seems like those guys were also the types that would always say something like, "Paying well!" or "I'll make it worth your time!" only to have them end up /rude gesturing you and run off without so much as a thanks; let alone a copper for your time. Ah, the good old days.

But on the other hand, I also made a lot of good friends by teleporting people around. I also got invited into a lot of groups as a result of taking the time to teleport a few people. The cash supplement wasn't bad either. I actually got my first pair of Golden Efreeti Boots from money I made teleporting people around. I never was lucky with getting Djarn to drop them when I was there.

I can see the point of soulbinders being almost a requirement. I remember there used to be people who it seems only sat at the West Freeport gate or at the main lift in Kelethin and bound people all day and night for tips. It was the low level casters way of getting cash for spells and equipment. It worked pretty good for a new game with a large population and only the original three continents, but once Kunark launched it got a little tougher to find someone to bind you. Enter Velious, and getting a bind could be a major hassle if it wasn't prime time.

As far as multi-boxing goes, I guess some people love it, and others hate it. I would most likely single-box anyway so whatever is decided there wouldn't bother me any.

Hmmm...my P.S. statement didn't post correctly earlier. What I was going to say was that if the boats worked correctly, I would definitely prefer riding those as opposed to using those translocators. But I bet they are definitely a challenge to get working, considering Sony didn't ever bother to fix them.

Good luck,
Conifer

sasaluge

08-27-2009, 04:44 PM

Join Date: Aug 2004

older than all of ur accounts i see.. nuff said

Traul

08-27-2009, 05:15 PM

The team really strives for this to be a classic experience and we don't want any part of the game to be "easier" for the sake of convenience. Putting a self teleportation system into the game would just be damaging I think for the community.

I hope you guys reconsider. It's not necessarily for convenience, but rather to give players the gameplay opportunities they had in classic. Be realistic, the server population will (and this is generous) cap around 100 at peak times. 100 players spread all across Norrath, spanning 50 levels. The fact is unless you want to force people to travel ~1 hour every time they want to group up with people (especially at low-mid levels), some form of reasonable transportation should be implemented.

Conifer's idea doesn't make the game any less legit, it just offers people the same grouping opportunities they would have had in classic.

Join Date: Aug 2004

older than all of ur accounts i see.. nuff said

And your posts are still just as useless as they were back then.

pfyon

08-27-2009, 05:42 PM

You could include the peqzone command (or a variation of it) and make it give you rez sickness for 10 mins when you use it.

The problem with allowing a teleport command/ability is the intermediate zones that no one cares about aren't used. Solution: make them useful (probably not possible if you're just recreating classic).

You could also make a custom zone command/item that you could only use every x minutes and will only teleport you a maximum number of zones away. This would make the player think when to use it (to avoid kithicor at night for example). If it were an item, you'd force players to have to run to their corpses still.

clericgildina

08-27-2009, 06:05 PM

Lots of posts and I will do the best I can to try and provide answers and/or reasoning to some of these questions but I will definitely point Nilbog to this thread to add anything I may have missed.
I hope to be able to possibly jump on this weekend and check things out.

I hope I didn't ruffle any feathers or annoy anyone by posting that transport idea. I just threw the druid/wizard transport idea out there because it popped in my head as I was reading through this thread. It was one of those ideas that if a compromise had to be made, it sounded better than either #zone or PoK. I usually play a druid as a main, so transportation is usually not an issue for me anyway. :)

I remember how it was before the PoK was around with the constant whispers and requests for a teleport. I usually had no problem with going and getting someone if I wasn't busy or in a good group. Then again, I do remember quite a few occasions being cussed out and called about every name under the sun (by random people I'd never even met) for not dropping whatever I was doing and teleporting halfway across the world to pick them up and take them to where they wanted to go. It seems like those guys were also the types that would always say something like, "Paying well!" or "I'll make it worth your time!" only to have them end up /rude gesturing you and run off without so much as a thanks; let alone a copper for your time. Ah, the good old days.

But on the other hand, I also made a lot of good friends by teleporting people around. I also got invited into a lot of groups as a result of taking the time to teleport a few people. The cash supplement wasn't bad either. I actually got my first pair of Golden Efreeti Boots from money I made teleporting people around. I never was lucky with getting Djarn to drop them when I was there.

I can see the point of soulbinders being almost a requirement. I remember there used to be people who it seems only sat at the West Freeport gate or at the main lift in Kelethin and bound people all day and night for tips. It was the low level casters way of getting cash for spells and equipment. It worked pretty good for a new game with a large population and only the original three continents, but once Kunark launched it got a little tougher to find someone to bind you. Enter Velious, and getting a bind could be a major hassle if it wasn't prime time.

As far as multi-boxing goes, I guess some people love it, and others hate it. I would most likely single-box anyway so whatever is decided there wouldn't bother me any.

Hmmm...my P.S. statement didn't post correctly earlier. What I was going to say was that if the boats worked correctly, I would definitely prefer riding those as opposed to using those translocators. But I bet they are definitely a challenge to get working, considering Sony didn't ever bother to fix them.

Good luck,
Conifer
No ruffling of feathers, we are a pretty thick-skinned bunch and handle things in a pretty civilized manner. This project is firmly planted as classic, and while some people value convenience, everyone on this project values accuracy. Giving people the ability to go wherever they wish at any time really takes away from not only your starting locale, but also your racial penalties.

Look at it like this: In classic if you were a Troll or Ogre, you had no safe haven on Faydwer. You were hated by every race and you would have no where to sell or bank. If we had translocaters in place, a troll could hunt in Mistmoore and then leave the continent via a translocator instantly, selling their loot and banking all their cash. They really suffer no penalty for choosing their race and they would have never had to encounter an enemy race from that continent. Where in reality that Troll in classic would have had to either pay for a teleport from a druid/wizard to get back to Grobb or take the boat back through all the dwarves.

I understand where people are coming from with regards to wanting some form of teleportation service. I just honestly can't see it coming to fruition on this server. I don't think it will be the type of thing that will keep people from playing on the server. Just something that kind of annoys people, much like many aspects of classic did. ;)

I hope you guys reconsider. It's not necessarily for convenience, but rather to give players the gameplay opportunities they had in classic. Be realistic, the server population will (and this is generous) cap around 100 at peak times. 100 players spread all across Norrath, spanning 50 levels. The fact is unless you want to force people to travel ~1 hour every time they want to group up with people (especially at low-mid levels), some form of reasonable transportation should be implemented.

Conifer's idea doesn't make the game any less legit, it just offers people the same grouping opportunities they would have had in classic.

Like I said, I understand your guys' concern and I understand that population is going to be a large factor for this server. Issues of things like Soulbinders, Translocators and Multi-Boxing all firmly rely on population. Who knows, maybe there is not enough people that want to put themselves through the grind of a true classic experience and this will have to be addressed. But it will be addressed at that time.

The thing is, everyone will be in the same situation as you. It isn't like everyone on the server will be in Crushbone and you are the only person in Blackburrow. Everyone will try to stick close to their locale, much like you did on Live. If you start in Freeport, then you will be doing NRO and Oasis. If you start in Qeynos you will be doing Blackburrow and the Karanas.

You could include the peqzone command (or a variation of it) and make it give you rez sickness for 10 mins when you use it.

The problem with allowing a teleport command/ability is the intermediate zones that no one cares about aren't used. Solution: make them useful (probably not possible if you're just recreating classic).

You could also make a custom zone command/item that you could only use every x minutes and will only teleport you a maximum number of zones away. This would make the player think when to use it (to avoid kithicor at night for example). If it were an item, you'd force players to have to run to their corpses still.
I can guarantee you that #zone will not be given to people on the server. It is available for the beta, but that will be the extent of it. Not even a variation of #zone will be permitted. I also can't foresee any item teleportation being permitted either.

There will be no "custom" zones. Although there are a lot of zones that are basically custom since they had to be built from scratch. So I guess you can consider that to be a form of a custom zone.

Like I said I will point Nilbog towards this thread and he can hopefully clear up any questions I may not have handled properly.

pfyon

08-27-2009, 08:48 PM

I can guarantee you that #zone will not be given to people on the server. It is available for the beta, but that will be the extent of it. Not even a variation of #zone will be permitted. I also can't foresee any item teleportation being permitted either.

There will be no "custom" zones. Although there are a lot of zones that are basically custom since they had to be built from scratch. So I guess you can consider that to be a form of a custom zone.

Just keep in mind that a server has to be fun to attract people. If people enjoy spending hours travelling between locations, you're good to go. Same goes for people staying in one area of the world.

I can see local grouping being successful if you were looking at population sizes of like 500 or more, but as a previous poster pointed out, you're more likely to see 50-100 people at peak periods (spread over 50 levels). You might also find the server's player base is more weighted towards teleporting classes.

Of course, if it works, you're more likely to have close-knit groups and guilds.

Again, I don't want to dissuade you from your idea for this server. I just don't want to see so much work go to waste if the server doesn't work out well.

Dibalamin

08-27-2009, 09:15 PM

Of course, if it works, you're more likely to have close-knit groups and guilds.

This is the target. A lot of what EQ was was the community. We have quite a bit of RL friends that are going to be on the server, probably in the neighborhood of 20+. POK and to a very small extent, Nexus is what siren'd the swansong of EQ for me. It removed the inter-reliance of players on each other: MGB Buffs, instant travel, etc. EQ classes were balanced on the needs & detriments of other classes. Once those were removed EQ became much less interactive and more like something else entirely.

Traul

08-27-2009, 10:30 PM

This is the target. A lot of what EQ was was the community. We have quite a bit of RL friends that are going to be on the server, probably in the neighborhood of 20+. POK and to a very small extent, Nexus is what siren'd the swansong of EQ for me. It removed the inter-reliance of players on each other: MGB Buffs, instant travel, etc. EQ classes were balanced on the needs & detriments of other classes. Once those were removed EQ became much less interactive and more like something else entirely.

I just don't understand why you would run the high chance of turning off everybody except the 'absolute hardcore classic players' over what could be a small compromise. We're not talking about enabling PoK, but just putting pay-to-use teleporters at each spire. Then hey, if the population becomes large enough, they can always be removed.

You guys are aiming for classic, but classic didn't have server populations of <100. Classic wasn't designed for such low populations. You've got to make minor adjustments to compensate for this or else gameplay will suffer greatly.

Traul

08-27-2009, 10:56 PM

Also, having the spire-travel system Conifer suggested isn't going to damage class interaction if there isn't a druid within 8 zones to interact with in the first place.

Conifer

08-28-2009, 12:44 AM

Wow, quite a bit of posts on this matter of teleports and such. Just wanted to clarify my position so no one bans me from the server before I get to even play on it. :D

I would definitely launch with no system but a true classic, player based teleport system. The real goal of the project, from how I understand it, is to be as original of an EQ experience as possible. You can't do that by starting off with a bunch of compromises. The only way to start off with a true classic server is to have all the things in place; both the good and bad. Good, bad, it is all personal opinion anyway. What one person loves, someone out there is sure to hate with a passion.

As a player, some of the original things EQ was famous for around launch time maybe a little tough to adjust back too; at first. But I seem to remember the harshness of the game forced a lot of grouping and because of that, I know that I made lots of good friends. I always thought of old school EQ as a chat-room with a fun game built around it. I know there were times were I might have only killed 2 or 3 mobs, if any, in an hour of play because I was just happily chatting away. Hanging around with and meeting new people was what was fun. The game wasn't bad either.

From a developer's standpoint, I would think that the main goal is to get to as classic as possible. Period. If you can get to the point of being as close to original as possible, any compromises that might have to be made because of class issues or population can then be made. But if the original goal was Vanilla EQ, stick to your guns, take no prisoners, and try to deliver the best damn Classic experience possible.

The teleport system I talked about was a compromise that has no place in original EQ and as such I don't think it should be available as a launch option. I just see it as one of those compromises, that if had to be made, would be a lot better than some easier methods. Nothing more, nothing less. It is not a request; just a silly idea--the lesser of the evils as I saw them in my mind.

The only thing I would hope is that the goal would be more orient towards a few months after the original release of EQ. I shudder to think of some of the things at launch that were broken or not even in the game yet at that time. Most of those types of true "Bugs" I think could be left out with little to no complaints from most people. :)

When you are new to a community, it is sometimes hard to judge how people will react to certain ideas. Sorry if I seem to be repeating myself (and for my overly long posts).

Conifer

nilbog

08-28-2009, 04:09 PM

Sorry guys.. I had to leave town to visit a friend in the hospital. I didn't arrive back until today.. took a while to catch up on all this :P

Here's the deal. My original intent was to create a server as close to the original experience as I could.. and this objective never changed. In the future, I might make a different server, with different goals, and customizations. I tried my best to recreate content based on my mission goal (legit pve classic). In this particular progression, items will be nerfed and unnerfed as they originally were, zones will be locked and unlocked as per the timeline. The timeline was created based on patch dates and research.

If I were to pick and choose customizations based purely on a "time saving" features, it completely changes the game. I sympathize with the soulbinder arguments.. some people say, remove them because they aren't classic. Other people say keep them because if you're somewhere remote, finding a bind might be impossible. In this instance, I can see a compromise because of population differences. That bind might never show up, whereas not having a port.. that's just a convenience factor.

I interpreted some of the posts to mean that having to run everywhere is non-classic. I remember running all the time.. to my destination, while shouting for ports.. which usually didn't happen. This is in a prekunark setting.. so I'm not seeing the problem here.

Traditionally, locating a port was difficult..or damn near impossible. People went to the lengths of leveling up alternate characters just to use for ports. Later, transporation was widely common and a source of income for said porters. If everyone was moving around at their leisure.. certain zones become useless.. and those random chance encounters you might have.. simply won't exist.

I want to reiterate that I appreciate all the feedback given on all the issues. Thats the only way I know how people feel about them :P Ideas mentioned here sound great.. and if needed, those will surely be on the poll options. Almost all decisions have been made by the feedback of beta testers.

But if the original goal was Vanilla EQ, stick to your guns, take no prisoners, and try to deliver the best damn Classic experience possible.

yes. :) And also I would be doing an injustice to the people on my forums that don't read or post here.. by changing my mission statement to classic eq : convenience edition. The most hardcore classic purists are located there.. and if polled, would greatly outnumber the amount of posted differences here.

Of course, if it works, you're more likely to have close-knit groups and guilds.

Adventurers banding together against common foes in the quest for loot and glory in a fantasy setting? Sure :p

In closing.. I want to say I am not immune to compromise. If the majority of players deem something in need of change.. there's a high probability that we will change it.

Feel free to post any questions or concerns at the forums
http://classicbetatest.guildlaunch.com

wolfwalkereci

08-28-2009, 10:58 PM

Join Date: Aug 2004

older than all of ur accounts i see.. nuff said

Hi retard I think the short bus left you behind again.

sasaluge

08-29-2009, 09:50 AM

a witty saying proves nothing
-voltaire

**UPDATE** server still doomed for failure

nilbog

08-29-2009, 12:36 PM

Nilbog was the name of the troll city in Troll 2..

Are you attracted to my name or my server, sasaluge?

http://www.greyfade.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/nilbog.jpg

Traul

08-29-2009, 01:17 PM

a witty saying proves nothing
-voltaire

**UPDATE** server still doomed for failure

I want to call you a retard, but even the most severely autistic kid could figure out how to make a worthwhile post after 5 years.

Sorry about your brain bro :)

pfyon

08-29-2009, 01:22 PM

Don't feed the trolls.

Ansley1

08-30-2009, 04:17 AM

Can you pretty please get it out of beta so we can bloody start already? :D

cassarubi

08-30-2009, 03:42 PM

putting a druid/wiz npc porter at every ruins/spire would not be good. noobs wouldn't know all the routes and would put them at disadvantage. but one or two total npc porter's at key places might help; maybe even only make them available at certain times.

if noobs only needed to learn one key npc route it might benefit everything in the name of efficency. so another fun zone is more of an option to play at.

but my personal vote is for no npc ports.

narciss+

09-01-2009, 05:17 PM

Hi nilbog, I look forward to your server! There are many people I've seen who say they are dying to play a classic server, as am I.

Remember your goal and do not stray from it! Things like soulbinders and npc porters work against what EQ was all about, teamwork! Every incentive provided by EQ to interact with other players is what made it so great. Some people will argue up and down all sorts of different reasons why these incentives should be replaced, but for every one of them that are replaced the game will suffer that much more. They are the ones responsible for EQ's murder!

Look at live EQ, and how the only people who play it now are those who play by themselves with bots and boxes. The game does not have soul anymore, because there is no more teamwork and camaraderie, just another 3D game.

Everyone who played back then would agree that EQ was more than a game, the world was alive, the game was living. The game was killed by these changes. Sony had no concept of the vision, the best they could have done is just leave it alone and keep the servers up.

But EQ lives on in the hearts of those of us who remember it for what is really was! If you make a classic server keep it as genuine as possible, and EQ will live again!

Traul

09-02-2009, 02:55 AM

ojamajoe

09-02-2009, 06:03 AM

I see an awful lot of ideas for modifying a Classic server in this thread. Thankfully, none of them are from people who are actually working on said server....

Tantalar

09-07-2009, 12:18 PM

Server is almost ready omg...get ready... tell your friends!

clericgildina

09-08-2009, 12:10 PM

You really have no idea what you're talking about.

Please tell me how a small change (NPC porters) that will promote grouping and player interaction will somehow kill grouping and player interaction. Please tell me how the world will feel alive if the only way to find another player is to travel for an hour just to find them.

Seriously, how many times does it need to be repeated? EQ is not EQ if the server population is 1/20th - 1/100th of what it should be. No amount of nostalgia laden bullshit will change that fact.
I understand where you are coming from with your concerns. Locale will be a key part of the game and if you are in a lowly populated area, that will force you to have to travel in order to group. I think an aspect you are completely missing is the ability to make friends. It will be important to find people that you work well with, and group with often. Find regulars that play similar times to you and you can group with them very frequently. I don't know about you guys but I grouped with the same core of people all the time and that was the way I liked it. It was important to stick near those people and get used to their playing times.

I don't think that NPC Translocators will ever be an option for Project 1999. If that is enough to drive you away then I am sorry for the inconvenience it just is not part of our vision. I still say that part of the problem with translocators is that it removes a lot of racial penalties. Starting as a Troll and being hated by everyone would be null because you can just instantly travel back home to sell, buy spells, train skills or whatever. You could be hunting in Permafrost which would be certain doom for a Troll in classic since there is no friendly areas anywhere. With a translocator you would only have to travel back to North Karana to go back home whenever you need which would be a short run. Wheras without a translocator, that is part of your penalty for playing an evil race, you lose convenience.

We appreciate everyone's concerns but this is an issue I just don't see being budged at all. We would be customizing classic for the sake of convenience and let's be honest. Classic was anything BUT convenient.