FREE-EQ Alpha Begins (3/23/13)

[vkrr]

Hello,

I just opened the alpha phase of my server 'Free-EQ'.

The idea behind the server is that there were too many arbitrary rules imposed by other servers and I set out to allow almost complete freedom of choice in the game.


"So a Gnome bard, Ogre Monk and Halfling Shaman walk into a bar..."


Principle:
-All Race/Class combos allows
-Custom Stats per race/class (see table below)
-No Drop has been removed (99.9%)
-Lore has been removed (99.9%)
-Almost all NPCs are non-immune to fear, charm, mez, stun, slow, root, etc
-Spell merchants sorted by level including spells not typically found on merchants
-8 Tiers of custom armor and weapon upgrades
-Fabled upgrade Quest (Turns regular weapons into fabled weapons)
-Mercs with no upkeep or up-front cost
-18 Unique charms with 4-5 tiers per charm
-Multi-quest is ON
-3% OOC regen per tick for hp/mana/endurance
-East commons Hub zone is back!
-Tier1 Armor drops off all mobs level 1-19.
-Upgrade tokens for each tier drops from level-appropriate mobs
-Fabled upgraed tokens can drop from ANY mob
-Rare spawns have been made common
-Rare loot has been made common
-Spawns times have been reduced (slightly for low-levels, significantly for high levels)
-Max level 69
-Quicker exp for early levels
-EXP equalized across all zones (no hotzones)
- No zone flags
- No level requirement for zones
- Item level requirements reduced significantly
- Item level recommendations reduced significantly
- Quicker skillups
- 86% increased fun!




RACE RACE BASESTR STA DEX AGI INT WIS CHA CLASS CLASS STR STA DEX AGI INT WIS CHA
HUM 1 85 85 85 85 85 85 85 595 WAR 1 5 20 0 0 0 0 0
BAR 2 120 105 80 80 60 90 60 595 CLR 2 0 5 0 0 0 20 0
ERU 3 60 75 75 70 140 115 60 595 PAL 3 5 10 0 0 0 10 0
WEF 4 70 80 95 95 85 100 70 595 RNG 4 5 5 5 5 0 5 0
HIE 5 60 65 65 75 115 105 110 595 SK 5 5 10 0 0 10 0 0
DEF 6 70 80 95 95 110 85 60 595 DRU 6 0 5 0 0 0 20 0
HEF 7 75 75 95 95 90 85 80 595 MNK 7 10 5 5 5 0 0 0
DWF 8 130 130 70 70 60 75 60 595 BRD 8 0 0 5 0 0 0 20
TRL 9 150 150 60 60 55 65 55 595 ROG 9 5 5 5 5 5 0 0
OGR 10 160 150 60 60 50 65 50 595 SHM 10 0 5 0 0 0 20 0
HFL 11 65 75 105 130 70 95 55 595 NEC 11 0 5 0 0 20 0 0
GNM 12 50 55 150 90 120 80 50 595 WIZ 12 0 5 0 0 20 0 0
IKS 128 95 105 85 80 85 95 50 595 MAG 13 0 5 0 0 20 0 0
VAH 130 120 105 80 80 70 70 70 595 ENC 14 0 0 0 0 5 0 20
FRG 330 80 90 80 110 80 85 70 595 BST 15 10 10 0 0 0 5 0
DRK 552 85 85 85 85 85 85 85 595 BER 16 20 5 0 0 0 0 0





Try it out, let me know what you think - Note: the server is in alpha currently, there will be many more changes, server reboots and revisions, and possible character wipes before the beta, which will be rolled into the live server.

Alpha testers will receive a happy little bonus when the server goes live.


Thanks,

VKRR

[Sage2k]

Played this for a few minutes this morning. I think I will enjoy this server. I hope to see more people on it!

One thing I would like to perhaps see, is a buff bot? Nothing crazy but just some basic buffs? I don't like to box so It would help when I want to play a melee character.

[vkrr]

I can certainly add a buff bot
someone else pointed out that the power source icon needs changed as well.

any other suggestions? Please feel free to post them.


EDIT: APPARENTLY YOU CANT CHOSE ANYTHING OTHER THAN AN OGRE WARRIOR IF YOU ARE ON TITANIUM. PLEASE BE AWARE

[j3wman]

Might add a spell scriber instead of us having to buy all of our spells? That seems kind of tedious.

[vkrr]

I considered it and was originally going with a spell scriber.
The first 10 levels of spells are provided free (pre-scribed) but how many spells do you never use? This way money has some value for buying spells and you can buy the ones you want. This isn't an instant-60 server, so you'll have some time to explore, you can buy spells, enjoy using them for a few levels and then gracefully outgrow them

It may change in the future though to a scribe system.

[liquest]

I may have to redownload my client to check this out here. What are the supported clients?

[vkrr]

ive tested it with HoT/UF and ROF and it seems to work fine with both, titanium may be problematic though, but titanium support is dying across the board, so I don't feel all that bad about not fully supporting it.

There's still a lot to do, but I upped the t1 armor drop rate, and people keep suggesting I find a way to have a hash based array to scribe spells instead of using the vendor.

if I can find a way to do that, where you type in the name of a spell, or partial name, and it provides a list of spells , then cool, otherwise, we stick with the merchants.

i am adding a buff bot, and I'll be tweaking summoned pets in the future.

Mercs will eventually have a cost associated with them, but it won't be bank-breaking.

More money will be dropping soon, too.

For those who asked: I have three 'epic' style weapons in the game which can be earned after the alpha phase is over. They will be limited to 1 drop each, ever, so that should be fun.

Edit, again: To help ease confusion: this is stock PEQ, with modifications. There is no grand over-arching plan in place, it is Everquest, with some of the lameness removed and some awesomeness added. No more, no less. (note: this may change in the future, but for now you can log in, level up, twink alts, get high levels and camp bosses, upgrade weapons and armor through the 8 tiers, make fabled weapons from regular weapons, and do it all with friends, or by yourself with mercs -- there's still a LOT to do, but you CAN fear kite nagafen, quad kite mobs (summon flag is OFF), stunlock, slow and charm previously immune mobs, and generally have fun without saying 'oh man why can't i do THAT'.)

[ChaosSlayerZ]

SoD client works too for custom class selection apparently ;)
thought SoD item inspect window bothers me greatly

[vkrr]

Glad to hear it ( I don't have access to SOD for testing) Thank you Chaos!

Also the votes have it: Spell scriber/ Disc Trainer is in. He will train spells UP TO your level. That should be a happy medium between scroll vendors and full blown scriber :)

He is currently free, but subject to pricing changes, tax, shipping handiling, etc. :)

[djlegit83]

someone doesn't like you, some douche logged in and started spamming and lagging the server out.

I don't know who it was, some adsfafassds type name. I was having a lot of fun till then.

Happened about 12:30am CST

[Sage2k]

someone doesn't like you, some douche logged in and started spamming and lagging the server out.

I don't know who it was, some adsfafassds type name. I was having a lot of fun till then.

Happened about 12:30am CST


Yeah. Please fix this :(

I think you will need to add some sort of rate limiting to the chat

[Zamthos]

Hey Vkrr, you can use the karma system in the rule_values table or require a certain level to even talk to keep that from happening, or, like they said, a rate limited, 1 message every 5 or 10 seconds.

[vkrr]

I've added a rate-limiter.

Its ind of terrible when this happens, but I have the offender's account name and IP address, so let the hunt begin!

Note: He has also been IP banned, but if he manages to log in again I'll just do full out account bans. Wouldn't be a real alpha unless someone ended up on my shitlist!

Also: if you are not the offender and find yourself banned, let me know. It was probably a mistake. Personally, I hate banning people.

And for those wondering, this does not violate the spirit of the 'Free EQ' server. This is because, while you are free to do whatever, you still have to face the consequences when you come to my server just to fuck shit up. Now, if you break shit and find bugs? Kudos, I'll give you a big fat reward, but just malicious assholery? That will be met with the stick, not the carrot.

Thanks for the support guys <3

Also updates: mercs continue to be hit repeatedly with the NERF STICK to get them in line with players. I think I've finally found a good balance (been live since yesteray)

OP spells are continually being removed

vox and naggy are killable at any level

We have out first official guild(s) popping up! Wooho.

Today will be the day where i start revamping the teleport spells to go to the correct zones (thanks voovip) and removing deathtouch spells from npcs, because fuck that. There will also be a cap on mob damage past 60 something between of 'holy fuck that hurts' and 'at least im not 1-shotted'

Also, congrats to everyone for finding all 18 of the charm vendors, that didn't take very long (thanks to MQ2, im guessing) -- be aware that vendors will get sneaky in the future and much bettter at hiding in beta.

thats all for now.
ttyl, vvkr

[daerath]

I can certainly add a buff bot
someone else pointed out that the power source icon needs changed as well.

any other suggestions? Please feel free to post them.


EDIT: APPARENTLY YOU CANT CHOSE ANYTHING OTHER THAN AN OGRE WARRIOR IF YOU ARE ON TITANIUM. PLEASE BE AWARE

Couldn't you just add a NPC that would let the Ogre Warrior (and only Ogre Warriors) change their class? You would have to handle reassignment of the appropriate skills (add and remove the ones no longer relevant), but it seems like it would be possible.

[vkrr]

it is certainly an idea, but titanium does not support mercs, and it won't support the custom zones I'm working on for the epics. Apparently, though, there were several people able to log-in with titanium and make classes other than ogre warriors, just FYI. I have no way to test this myself, though.

Also, the scriber in EC tunnel will now teach COMMON TONGUE to anyone who asks! And on server reboot, it should be set automatically on character create or log in. Thanks

[uzi88]

I'm having a blast on this server, really a great implementation of a fun way to gear up and kill stuff without the same old grind and frustrating elements.

The fabled tokens in particular are something I've never seen and fix a major design flaw. Since 95% of all fabled gear is obsolete to any player that could actually kill the fabled mob that drops it, having rare global drops of "fabled upgrade tokens" that turn the regular mobs drop into the fabled version is just awesome.

Combine that with the fact that everything is trade-able and the minimum level is dramatically reduced could very well lead to a sustainable economy unlike any other server. I cant wait to see how crazy of a twink I can come up with once I farm some sweet fabled gear. I can see low level duels being particularly fun.

One issue I've had with the cleric mercs though - they only seem to spam their highest fast heal as soon as anyone gets hit once, draining their mana in seconds even on light blues. If you block whatever heal that is (Divine Light from like 45-55+) they will just sit and do nothing. If they are only intended as a little extra boost to help soloing nameds and buffing then thats fine, but if they are supposed to act like a normal player healer they fail pretty hard. Either way I can deal with it.

Great work with the bug fixes so far and I will continue to report stuff as I find it.

Fluzi - Barb SK

[Maze_EQ]

I need a base RoF/UF spellfile, help!

[uzi88]

will email it to the email in your sig after work

[sorvani]

Or you could patch to live on a copy directory

[uzi88]

hes prolly gonna need more then the spell file.. just T-rent uf_eq_steam and install it.. worth the 30min to have no problems

[vkrr]

hey guys - we've got an official forum now
FREEQ.BOARDS.NET
I'll be posting updates there, and wil probably leave this thread alone until we end up in beta - just FYI

[mvpistilli]

Stupid question, but how do I login to this server? I don't see it on the server list.

[Maze_EQ]

Server is good. I actually enjoy the upgrade system, could use some polish for the quests, but all in all it's nice!

[Gregk]

FYI.. Zone issue with RoF between EC and WC. its looking for the combined "commonlands" zone on RoF. UF and below works fine though.

[gixton]

tried to log in 11APR and to my surprise the server was not available. Just an update?

[wolfwalkereci]

Yes let us encourage someone to go download the client in a way that is not safe when all they need to do is visit: https://launch.soe.com/everquest/
Copy your eq folder, click the downloaded exe and bam good to go.
I noticed spell file usually patches first for me so if thats all you need you can stop the download after you get it.

[Tazzak]

Yes let us encourage someone to go download the client in a way that is not safe when all they need to do is visit: https://launch.soe.com/everquest/
Copy your eq folder, click the downloaded exe and bam good to go.
I noticed spell file usually patches first for me so if thats all you need you can stop the download after you get it.

Please explain this in further detail. What do I patch and which EQ folder?

[Davood]

Interesting server concept, your design is similar to what I have built - let me know if you want to work together sometime or if you wanna compare notes on how we implemented the same features.