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.

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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.

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.

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!

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

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

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.

Cool thanks for the information.

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 ;)

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

That was him.

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!

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

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

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:

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!