One of the final adjustments has been made to the server as of March 04, 11:00pm EST. The server was recently upgraded from 786 mb of system RAM to a whopping 4gig's of RAM. This means more static zones (looking to start with 25, and more dynamic zones (also looking to start at 25). With this improvement we will be able to handle more players, have better zoning time and all in all have a faster server.

For those of you whom haven't read this entire thread I figured I would give you a brief synopsis of what makes Fridgecritter's a great place to call home.

The world of Fridgecritter

• Unique Experience
  
  Fridgecritter's runs on a whopping 3x experience modifier across all zones. This means that instead of the grind you have a fun time playing on this server, but still feeling like you have accomplished a lot in doing so. The experience definitely isn't too slow, but also makes it so you can level one or more characters if you feel so inclined.
  
  
• Improved Spell System
  
  Fridgecritter's server unlike many other EMU's has a near complete database of spells, which means instead of finding items with "Unknown spell effect" you now will be able to identify and use every item with every effect.
  
  While this isn't a gamebreaking achievement This really does impact a large portion of the game and makes a huge difference when it comes to 70+ raiding.
  
  
  
• Randomized Drops
  
  Starting level 1 you will see many various potion drops, such as illusions Hastes clarity and various others, many of which sell for tens of platinum
  
  With Fridge's Improved loot system however the fun really begins at level 10. With this loot system you will no longer be collecting trash loots to sell to vendors, instead using a unique setup you will receive loot that is scaled to your level. Which means....
  
  Level 10 - 20 you will see loot appropriately scaled to ~15
  Level 20 - 30 you will see loot appropriately scaled to ~25
  Level 30 - 40 you will see loot appropriately scaled to ~35
  Level 40 - 50 you will see loot appropriately scaled to ~45
  
  And then another great work Fridge has implemented is level 49+ you won't have to worry about finding the next big upgrade because all mobs above 49 have a chance to drop loot level 50 - 75, so the day you hit 51 you may find Amazing top tier loot which gives another sense of accomplishment because it's another achievement you have to look forward too, wearing the new uber armor
  
  
• Great playerbase
  
  
  To date we have average ~9 - 10 players on at ANY given time, that means with the amount of players we have now at any time you can log in and see up to two separate full groups hunting at any location. Not an outstanding number but it's always nice to see others enjoying the same world as you.
  
  Also the playerbase now has reached such amazing numbers (this being Fridgecritter's third or fourth week live) we have logged 25 people on at one given time, that is incredible in my humble opinion for such a new server, and with so many new players joining every day it gives us a good low level spread of players so there aren't just 70's and then the level ones roaming around.
  
  
• Friendly Staff
  
  The staff at fridgecritter's is one of the best around. Not only do they help at any given time of day, they are more than happy to chat up new players, show folk's around and be more than just omniscient figures whom watch others. Also fridge has implimented CSHOME files into his server so now guides and GM's now have a place to hang out. The guides at fridgecritter's take an active role in the community throwing out small custom events and having community gathers such as our Item's Faire this weekend!
  
  

All in all this is a great server,and I hope that everyone here gives it a try just once to see how they enjoy Fridge's world

Thanks!
 

Just wanted to drop my thank you. I've been only only a few times in the past couple days but Wow! You're doing a great job!

Hey what happened to this server?It went down yesterday and havent seen it back.Is there a website for the server?

http://www.fridgecritter.com/news.php
The server is undergoing a loot redo thinggy..
Should be back up before too long

I saw this server was coming back up. cool

Server plans
 

Well, it's been a while since the server went down, and I am back.

I think I should address a few concerns and let everyone know where I am on this project before the old player base gets excited about the server opening again. First off, I am using the server as a dev platform to re-acquaint myself with the server software and commands, as well as the SQL tools (Thanks for all your hard work GeorgeS). This server is going to take a LOT of hard work before it is opened again.

I need to first say that I am currently on the dev team for Lanys' Server, so my time will be stretched thin between the two servers. I am not in a hurry.

The last time I opened the server, I basically played everything by ear and learned as I went along, altering some perl files here and there, and using tools to edit the loot tables a little, paying no attention to the overall balance of the game. This time it's going to be different.

I took the time to read a lot of posts (hours worth of reading) about balance, game play, themes, content and many other subjects pertaining to EQemu. What I found was, there are a bunch of good server teams right now, but few of them are actually organized well enough to roll out a project that will be very fun to play and last a while.

I don't mean to imply that anyone is doing anything worse than anyone else, but for my own preferences, I have some things that need to be done before any real work begins. Being an Army veteran of over 9 years, I believe wholeheartedly in the philosophy that no one plans to fail, they simply fail to plan.

This having been said, I have set up an organizational structure to ensure the stability of the planning of this server. There will not be two DEVs running around like a chicken with their heads cut off doing the work using sticky notes and coordinating only in-game and through emails. This is just not the way I want to do it (I have been involved in teams like this before).

I will tell you the steps I have taken just in case you want to incorporate some of them into your organization.

First off, I am using a freeware version of Microsoft Groove called Collanos. If you don't know what Microsoft Groove is, basically it's a super collaboration tool that allows several individuals to work on a project without having a central server for the files. How does it do this? Each person working on the project synchronizes with the other members on the team, updating the files on everyone's computer at the same time to the latest version.

If you are thinking... how do you keep three people from updating the same perl script unnecessarily? The answer is, tasks, delegation and roles. When you create a new task in the software, you assign a timeline for it to be done, a priority, and a person who is going to do the job. That person updates everyone else (using the collaboration software) on it's progress, and when they commit the final version to synchronization, everyone gets the updated version of the perl file, and everyone is notified that the task is done.

After that lengthy explanation, another lengthy one... Secondly I plan to reopen Fridgecritter.com using a nice CMS (haven't decided which one yet) that will integrate certain aspects of the server into the website. This will include forums with bug tracking (nothing new about that) but the bugs will be confirmed by a Guide (More on the Guide program in a minute) and escalated to the Senior Guide to decide whether the bug needs to be simply escalated to a GM, or handled by the DEVs. If DEVs are needed, the bug will be entered into the collaboration software and a task will be created. See the beauty of this setup? I also want to fully integrate the /guidehelp function into the website so the petitions sent in-game can be read by a mod on the forums. This way even if there are no guides logged in helping, someone may be moderating the forums and can address the issue. Guides will pull double duty on the Forum as mods and in-game helping.

If you are still reading this, hopefully you see a method to my anal-retentiveness. The third aspect of my plan is to bring back the Guide program the way I think it should be ran... strict, rewarding, and fun. This means no Guides with summoning access, or anything close to accessing the database. This means your purpose isn't to run around and flaunt power and be abusive in ooc, kicking people that you have provoked. Guides will be player-volunteers who login to a Guide account and log hours of helping. If this means I go through 50 Guides before one is hired permanently, then so be it.

Oh, I almost forgot the fun part... Work vs Rewards. Just like on live, you will be rewarded for helping. There will be a database (remember that collaboration software I was talking about?) and the more people you help, the more points you will acquire. The Guide gear will be purchased using these points. You don't get to start out with full clicky-gear and run around wielding celestial swords your first day on the job. You will earn medals for helping. These medals are already in the database (Guide medal).

I guess I need to talk about the most important thing... THE GAME. There will be no epics at level 1. There will be custom content. This means you may see limited means of transportation other than the PoK stones. This also means there may be a buff NPC that will help you a little. He will not give a level 1 character a 55 dmg shield. Items will drop that are APPROPRIATE for your level. This means you will not kill a fire beetle and loot a 40/20 sword. This will all be done through custom queries to inject the random loot into the loot tables. There will be a lot of "reclevel<=10" etc... and a lot of thought put into what items go where.

Finally, there will be bots. I don't want to nurf the mobs so much that they can be walked on, and I don't want players to be OP. I want you to be able to spawn 2 bots (yes 2 bots max) and experience content that 3 player groups might experience on live, and a little more. I also want you to be able to put away the bots and group for higher level instances, so no nurfing the mobs in order to solo. That's just my preference. The exp rates will be 3Xexp 3Xaa and increased regen/mana rates.

BTW - how did you fix the random loot to not drop lvl 75 loot on a lvl 2 skelly ? if you can put it into n00b terms for a new server admin that would be great :)

I am really excited about the server Fridge! Any estimated ETA on when a possible playable server will come about?

Spell scriber?