Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Tantalar say that he never actually played during classic?

I don't know, but I don't see how that's relevant in regards to whether or not he could host a classic server. He doesn't have to be the one who codes stuff, he can just launch the finished product, right? What we had was fairly playable, certainly better than nothing. I dunno.

I'd say the best thing to do would just to load up the PEQ database, restrict it to original EQ zones, and then go through and just remove everything that wasn't classic/kunark/velious. Quests, like the newbie armor ones, those damn treants in GFaydark.

How much adjustment is needed in regards to mob stats and such? I've never really looked into the PEQ database, but I remember that a lot of things were way off in terms of hp, spell lists, loot/spawn tables and so on.

Loot tables are rather off and would have to be dramatically adjusted for many zones -- noobie zones in particular, as you'd have to remove a good deal of the drops as they're non-classic. Fortunately, though you might have 30 different points where a_skeleton spawns, all those generally use the exact same loot table, so you only have to change it once.

Everything is extremely easy to adjust -- it's just time consuming. The part that would need the most tweaking would be drop rates/spawn rates for some of the rarer creatures.

Another big part would be adding in drops that aren't there anymore.

The problem really isn't editing the database. I have virtually nothing to due until the Fall Semester starts, and from the work I'd done on a previous, aborted attempt at a Classic Server (what I was working on before I found Jenco's), I could sanatise about 1 zone an hour (remove non-classic spawns and loot, balance drop rates, etc.) There are something like 50 zones in classic EQ, so that'd be about 6 or 7 days working 8 hours a day on it. Going through the quests and sorting out what is classic and what isn't would be annoying, but also easily doable -- it's just a large volume of tedium.

[edit]As I forgot to say, the problem is really obtaining hosting. I have an old desktop that I could put MySQL, Perl, and EQEmu on -- however I live in a residence with a roommate, and I don't think our cable connexion could handle more than a dozen or so players at once, and probably not more than half a dozen without tanking our outbound connexion.

I'd help in any way I can if it results in a functional server. Do we have anyone dedicated enough to run it and, you know, keep doing so? Tantalar said he wanted to host a server, but since he knows nothing about it and has never done so before, I think we should try for a better solution first. I can barely run two instances of EQ on this piece of junk laptop, unfortunately. The best solution would be a commercial server line, but that costs money and stuff.

I would be more than willing to work with sdtuarst on the database. I have a lot of info stored in my head about the way things were back then, and we could cut it into shape very quickly.

I have no advice for hosting a server though, If Tantalar has the physical means to do it, then I'm sure we can get it running.

I stumbled across a new server called complexity that lists as being a classic progression. Seems very similar to Jencos....keep me in the loop with what you guys do though.

Xz

I ran across that server too,and yes it does seem very very "similar"to Jencos CKV.A little too similar maybe?

It looks like someone heard the pleas from so many people to have a classic progression server and decided to step up to the plate.

Does it have a website?

Complexity is really rough right now. Your toon doesn't start with a weapon or food, no quest, including turning in you letter to your guildmaster is working. It may turn the corner, but it's a lot further away than Jenco's was.

I like the ideas and would be willing to help out in any way I can.