It is time...
 

It has been a long time everybody,

Some changes have happened in my life and my new job has me off on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. So, I am sitting here bored thinking
about what to do with my time. That's when it hit me, I actually have some time to myself now? I am not stressed out of my mind because
my new job is really laid back and flexible? Maybe I could use that time to do something fun and productive again?

I have been missing a part of my life that I feel completes me as a person - my creative spirit.

For those new to EQemu I created Varlyndria, Varlyndria: Ascension and Eriviyn.

I also had help from some really good coders that work with EQemulator: Natedog, KinglyKrab, Secrets, Akkadius and others. (sorry if I forgot your name it's been a while.)

These servers were all pretty successful in their prime but had a lot of controversy and mistakes that I will own up to 100% which ultimately
lead to their demise. Lately, I have seen that there are people out there who still love Eriviyn and are doing everything they can to get it going
again. I honestly can't explain in words how that makes me feel as a game designer. I feel humbled that my vision could touch and leave a mark on
some players even to this day.

With that said, I feel it is time to make an announcement to the community.

I am coming out of retirement and I will be releasing a 4th server. EDIT: Name and Logo revealed.

http://i.imgur.com/dtc0Ycv.png

Here are some early minor details I have in store for this new playground:

• DONATIONS
- This server will not have a donation system.
- Sending me money as a gift for my services is 100% optional and appreciated.

• BOXING
- The happy medium seems to be 3 boxing so this is my current plan.

• BOTS
- I feel 2 bots would give players a party of 3 (holy trinity) for soloing most content if you don't like to box.
- 2 bots should also not cause a lot of stress on the server.

• FEATURES I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
- EDIT: ROF2 client will be used for this server.
- I will be going back to the roots of my vision when I first released the original Varlyndria.
- I am going to release 5 class paths per normal class each with Tank, Healing, Control/Support, Non-Pet Dps and Pet Dps.
- The goal is to have 16 healers, 16 support/crowd control, 16 tanks, 16 pet dps and 16 non-pet dps paths for a large variety of grouping options and personal flavors.
- Pets will be DPS paths only. It will add that flavor if you desire it but healers, tanks, support and control will be pet-less unless their base class uses them.
- Total of 80 paths to play on launch. Be pretty much anything you want or can imagine.
- Original EQ stats are staying the way they are. There will not be a mess of 16,000,000 pet critical hits because of 3000 cha or 700 STR boosts. Numbers will be very low.
- The Ring, Bracer, Earring, Source and Charm system from Eriviyn is coming back for the class paths.
- These class path items will feature a special augmentation slot. The augmentations for path items will be quest/raid related per content updates to keep them BiS.
- When calculating damage/healing I will be using a lot of algorithms and be very careful. I am going to base my damage on a template and work from there.
- Players will have the option to have 3 path choices on 1 character to allow for versatility but leave room for replay value.
- Class paths will be restricted to that class. Example: There won't be necromancer/mage paths mixing up to create an unbalanced mess.
- No hand-me-outs. I want this 4th server to be a challenge and gear to come with hard work. Stats will also be very low.
- More focus on custom content to make things interesting and fresh.
- This server will be 100% PVE and will focus on progression.
- Players will have solo content but the top end gear will be raid progression and paths needing to work together.



The goal for server 4 is making it where everybody has the option to fit a role quickly so nobody has to wait around to find a tank, healer or support and just play the game
and have fun. This project is in starting development stages and could take several months to create. I will post another thread when I am much further along.



If you have any questions or comments please feel free to post them below.

Disregard chrsschb's immature response, Drak. I for one am happy to see you back in the mood, because I like what you've done with the other servers you have made, I wasn't a fan of how it was run, per se.

For your client, I think you should be aiming for UF+, titanium I don't think has as much to offer as far as creative opportunities for you.

Honestly it sounds like it would be a really cool mix with all of these classes and subclasses, I really am looking forward to it. Just make sure you do us all a big favor and not burn yourself out too soon. We can wait.

It's all good. I understand and respect his opinion. I am going to take my time on this new server and have fun with it. I know what I did wrong on a lot of stuff and have had almost 2 years to think about it. 80 paths is the largest scale project I have ever taken on but I know how to make it go by fast now. reloading spells without having to shut thimgs down etc. The idea of having a healer/tank/dps option for any class you choose sounds like freedom to me. I remember a lot of times in Eriviyn players were looking for a tank or healer for several minutes. This system should eliminate that completely I hope.

I'm happy you're back; you've made a lot of great servers, and I enjoyed each one. As long as it doesn't turn into an elitist player-enforced content-lock like earlier Eriv, then I'll be there.

Welcome back dude, long time no see.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and what makes an immature decision is telling someone their opinion is immature. Which is why I'm not saying your decision of telling chrsschb decision was immature, I'm just merely stating, don't be 'that guy' if you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all.

Nice to see you back Drakiyth :)

Hope all is well with you and your family, good luck on the server.

Welcome back Drak, Have fun with the new server.

What's with the negativity Splose?

Thanks Nate! I'll need to jump on Skype and say hi soon.

Thanks man. Good to be here!

Thanks Thork. That's the plan. :)





EDIT: I have decided to go with the ROF2 client for the 4th server.

As always, I'll be there to give it a whirl.

- Wood

Welcome back Drak, good to hear that life has stabilized for you and that things are going well!

Good luck! You won't need it ;)

Nice to see you Wood!

Thanks Akkadius. Appreciate the support.



UPDATE: The server has an official name and logo I created for it now.

http://i.imgur.com/dtc0Ycv.png

WB Drak! Amped up to see the new vision come to life. I've enjoyed and learned a ton from tinkering with the Eriviyn server.

I for one would welcome a return to a more original Varyndria version. Of course, I also have always liked your donation systems as well. Either way, I'll be there!

Welcome Back
 

Hey Drak,

Welcome back. It looks ambitious so hopefully it turns out as hoped!

Thank you for the warm welcome! Ruinspire is going to bring back Nostalgia for people who played the original Varlyndria. I have a lot of ideas for it. Including a custom undead infested Unrest. :P

Thank you! I'm going to make sure this server strikes home to new players and veterans alike who want a fun experience.




• UPDATE


I have been hard at work on designs and ideas as well as getting to learn the UI and controls for GMing the server again. I have a test bed now so things are underway.
Here are some things I am looking at doing with the server I haven't told anybody yet:

• Instanced Raiding with a lock on the original zone..
- Multiple raids planned within a tier so you don't just go to one place for gearing until next update.
- Each raid will have progression to get to the next tier.
- I would like to release 3 or more raids every content update.
- This will allow players to get into raids every week with no competition of a single zone.
- Restricts bosses from being farmed for all loot in 1 day.
- Adds carrot on the stick value.
- Raid bosses will be well scripted.
- Removes elitist attitudes of 'WE OWN THIS ZONE.'

• Dungeons and Solo Content
- Dungeons will be very solo/single group friendly and provide good gear upgrades.
- Dungeons will get players ready for raiding.
- Content updates and new raids will also provide some new dungeons that will get players caught up a little bit.
- Content update dungeons will NOT make the previous raid update content obsolete but they will make them easier to go through.
- Dungeons will eventually make VERY OLD raid content obsolete.

• Raid Loot - Making it fun
- Killing bosses should be rewarding.
- I plan on having augments to empower your path items drop.
- I plan on having quest items drop that can get you more PATH powers to really strengthen your character.
- There won't be random clicky effect items I am going to make that path powers only and very special to have.
- Paths will have end-game upgrades. Example: Path Epic Weapons, a new armor piece with path powers etc.
- There won't be any class specific gear besides path related stuff. This will make itemization development a lot more flexible and not so restrictive.

• Secondary Item Affixes
- All secondary item affixes on all gear will be completely removed for balancing reasons.
- Only path gear will have a clicky added to it.
- One piece of gear with an OP affix that makes class X OP shouldn't be in the game.
- Secondary Affixes will ONLY be put on augments that ALL classes can use and they will be very rare, trade fiendly, lore and attuneable.
- Secondary Affixes are things like: Kick Damage, Bash Damage, Cleave IV, Improved Heal, Improve Damage, Haste, Hp Regen, Shielding, Clickies etc
- This makes affixes and augments have incredible value and it also makes it where gear is not so dependent on a certain affix over another allowing more flexibility.

• Primary Stats on Gear
- Being lowered by 50% on all items.
- Gear with good stats will be hard to find.
- Stats are based on EQ rules and don't have such a huge impact on dps.
- Makes augment Affixes very sought after for power increases.

• Class Path Items
- Path items will scale based on level up to max level. You will no longer have a charm vastly inferior to a ring in stats etc.
- Path item clicky spells will scale based on level.
- Path spells will be SLIGHTLY stronger than other powers based on the item clicked but nothing like Eriviyn where it felt your charm/powersource spells were useless.

• Skills and Class Vision
- All classes will have taunt.
- All classes will have 5% base critical strike chance.
- All classes will have bash/slam
- Every single class is now considered a THEME and will have the option to be any role through paths.

• Alternate Advancement (AA's)
- Being removed completely.
- Causes massive balance issues and doesn't fit the theme of the server.
- Server is focused on paths not the original class which can now fit any role.
- Saves a headache on development and lets me focus on paths.

• Crafting
- Being removed completely.
- Only causes confusion and is a pain to balance with dungeon/raid content.
- Most players hate crafting and it takes too long.
- Not having crafting as an option will feel like freedom and focus players on adventuring for gear.
- Let's me focus easier on content that matters.
- Makes merchants and items found that can be traded more valuable.
- Crafting items will be removed from loot tables, merchants and deleted completely.
- Fishing will be disabled.
- Quests involved in crafting will be removed.
- NPCs selling crafting items will be removed.

• Normal Class Epic Weapons
- Being completely removed.
- Classes are now considered a theme with many roles so epic weapons do not fit them.
- Path Epics will be added later.

• Set downtime schedule..
- I plan on having a weekly downtime period starting on friday afternoons MST.
- The goal is to eliminate sporadic restarting so players can enjoy the server with no worries.
- This includes content updates so players can get excited about every friday probably having something new.

• Homogenization in Paths
- This server is about personal flavor and theme (different particle colors, various minion types, elements or whatever you enjoy)
- Some paths might play the same but I will do what I can to make things different from each other.
- I expect a lot of paths to feel the same mechanically (not fantasy) but that's to be expected with this much variety.
- Play the game and have fun with the fantasy of your class path and don't worry so much about mechanics. I am not here to re-invent the wheel.

You have some really interesting ideas here (and bold ones!). This might contradict my earlier post a little, but since you're removing things like crafting, aa, etc., the raid bosses and fights themselves will be highlighted and focused on even more. Might be an unneeded warning, but even if you scale down the release rate, I would much prefer custom and intricate fights over tank and afk.

That's the plan for sure - less focus on content that doesn't matter and more focus on dungeons, raids, quests, boss fights and stuff that does. I remember sitting there for 5 days working on crafting items for Eriviyn and the system was barely used at all. I got many complaints saying 'I don't like crafting.. why do I have to do it for augs?' I felt like I added something that was totally throwing people off the path that mattered. Personally, if you think about it, even in WoW right now the crafting system is almost pointless besides a few pieces of gear (locked to 3 max) and crap like mounts and toys.

While I was one of the few people who did the crafting, I do agree that a majority of players don't want to do it heh. Since you're removing AA, are you going to focus a lot on revamping the combat abilities for melee classes?

A large majority of dps will be path related for melee classes. Clickies, buffs that are granted etc will get them up there with other dps. On top of it, the Augments with Affixes will have ways to make them better too. I can imagine Haste Augments are going to be very sought after. As far as multiple attacks and things that come with AAs: It depends on the path role and gear upgrade.

Example would be: Warrior Pet-Less DPS path gets a helmet quest from a raid. The helmet adds a buff that increases his attacks by 2 more (AA) and some other kind of buff. I need to be careful though with a lot of this because things can get really unbalanced quickly. (reason I am taking out AAs completely) I imagine there will be path updates frequently. I plan to parse things however and get them as close as possible on single target.

Sounds good! I'm excited to try them all out.

I have a lot of great stuff coming.



I have decided that the augments with affixes players find and trade will be attuneable to make them even more rare. Which will add even more value to selling them to other players. - This might require a script/custom source though. I'll check into it.

Curious to see what you have in store. I've enjoyed most of yours in the past. Hopefully you can keep the mudflation down for a bit more staying power.

So, Erivivyn again....with a new name.....for 3 weeks.

Pass.

/Delete:Maze_EQ

I have a simple solution to your problem/negativity, Don't play there, don't view the forums with his server as the topic, avoid posting your opinions. Whether the scenario plays out as you've laid before us doesn't matter. If you care to be constructive by all means, if not then just disappear, no one cares for your demeaning posts that belittle developers, Enjoy your Monday.

Whats up with the flaming ? I assume the moderators allow this kind of immaturity on
these forums ? Unbelievable. It's one thing to make an opinion but throwing out prejudged accusations and conspiracy theories ? Seriously maze dude, grow up.

DanCanDo....

You haven't been here long huh?

All 3 times the EXACT SAME scenario happened.

People are gonna donate $100s of $$ just to lose everything in a few months.

It's reoccurring.

I disagree on all points. Servers come and go and on a number of occasions people have ranted about servers showing up, being really fun, and then suddenly vanishing without a trace. I'm sure some of those people have experienced that multiple times and it is entirely possible that it has frustrated some to the point that they quit playing on emu servers.

The bottom line is that there are no SLAs on servers; no guarantees of any kind. I find it helpful to get some back history on server admins that have shown a trend of putting up servers, running them a bit, and then shutting them down.

Obviously this person has done some good things in the past since he has got a warm
welcome back. The post specified no donation system. But obviously nobody is forced
in to donating to anyone. It does cost money to run a server, but no one is obligated
to contribute financially, from what I can see on these servers. From what I have read
servers come and go all the time. But newcomers are not going to get a good first
impression reading threads like this.

I respect everybody's opinion on here, there is no need to fight. All I can tell you is I have had almost 2 years to think about the events of my last server and what made it so overwhelming to take care of. I lacked scheduled downtime, I put my focus on stuff that didn't matter or really affect the vision of the server, donations became a huge controversy and I made quick foolish mistakes without thinking things over. That is why I am getting rid of a lot of unnecessary stuff on Ruinspire so I am lazer focused is on what matters the most: The vision of class paths and their roles, progression, balancing, content, prevention of mudflation and others.

Also Eriviyn and other servers I had were up well over half a year or longer. Varlyndria was over a year. In my defense Maze was way off in that regard.

The whole "flaming" thing seems to be an individual favourtism. You say "back history" ? I did some research. There is popular servers active right now that have left in the past and returned. But I don't see people like you and maze flaming them ??

Our server got a cease and desist order from Sony after being up for five years.

Probably not the same thing, right?

(No insult or flame intended)

Welcome back. More server developers is good for emulator IMO :)

I don't think this is the place to discuss unnecessary semantics and arguments.

Thats kind of the point though. Everyone has their reasons for a server having
to shut down, whether it was out of their control or maybe mistakes, but in a
nutshell, I don't think anyone would ever start out with negative intentions.
Maybe it's just me, but I don't think anyone should be flamed just for putting
effort in to something just because it didn't work out. Just keep trying until it
comes up positive :)

I'm curious - with having 80 potential "paths", you've even said yourself that anticipate very similar paths, just with different names. Why so many? Personally, I'd rather have a few very well thought out ideas rather than a whole bunch of half-baked ideas. You say you're hoping to be more focused on things that matter, but you're going to have 80 paths that matter, balancing them, and then you have content to deal with after that. I'm just thinking you're biting off a bit more than you can chew, but if it's what you really want to do, all the more power to you.

Very good question.


The goal is to treat classes in eq as a theme to build on. Not just a single role. Each theme will have 5 roles and 3 out of those 5 will be available on a single toon. There is 80 because 5 x16. Ruinspire will be the first server I've ever allowed multi-pathing so there needs to be a large variety to make things interesting and add replay value.

Can I handle it? Piece of cake. The main thing that will make this easier to do is roles are set from the get go in creation. All classes have a Tank, Healer, Support, Pet Dps and Non Pet Dps for players who don't like pets.

Going to repost this update so you can read some things I covered.




• UPDATE


I have been hard at work on designs and ideas as well as getting to learn the UI and controls for GMing the server again. I have a test bed now so things are underway.
Here are some things I am looking at doing with the server I haven't told anybody yet:

• Instanced Raiding with a lock on the original zone..
- Multiple raids planned within a tier so you don't just go to one place for gearing until next update.
- Each raid will have progression to get to the next tier.
- I would like to release 3 or more raids every content update.
- This will allow players to get into raids every week with no competition of a single zone.
- Restricts bosses from being farmed for all loot in 1 day.
- Adds carrot on the stick value.
- Raid bosses will be well scripted.
- Removes elitist attitudes of 'WE OWN THIS ZONE.'

• Dungeons and Solo Content
- Dungeons will be very solo/single group friendly and provide good gear upgrades.
- Dungeons will get players ready for raiding.
- Content updates and new raids will also provide some new dungeons that will get players caught up a little bit.
- Content update dungeons will NOT make the previous raid update content obsolete but they will make them easier to go through.
- Dungeons will eventually make VERY OLD raid content obsolete.

• Raid Loot - Making it fun
- Killing bosses should be rewarding.
- I plan on having augments to empower your path items drop.
- I plan on having quest items drop that can get you more PATH powers to really strengthen your character.
- There won't be random clicky effect items I am going to make that path powers only and very special to have.
- Paths will have end-game upgrades. Example: Path Epic Weapons, a new armor piece with path powers etc.
- There won't be any class specific gear besides path related stuff. This will make itemization development a lot more flexible and not so restrictive.

• Secondary Item Affixes
- All secondary item affixes on all gear will be completely removed for balancing reasons.
- Only path gear will have a clicky added to it.
- One piece of gear with an OP affix that makes class X OP shouldn't be in the game.
- Secondary Affixes will ONLY be put on augments that ALL classes can use and they will be very rare, trade fiendly, lore and attuneable.
- Secondary Affixes are things like: Kick Damage, Bash Damage, Cleave IV, Improved Heal, Improve Damage, Haste, Hp Regen, Shielding, Clickies etc
- This makes affixes and augments have incredible value and it also makes it where gear is not so dependent on a certain affix over another allowing more flexibility.

• Primary Stats on Gear
- Being lowered by 50% on all items.
- Gear with good stats will be hard to find.
- Stats are based on EQ rules and don't have such a huge impact on dps.
- Makes augment Affixes very sought after for power increases.

• Class Path Items
- Path items will scale based on level up to max level. You will no longer have a charm vastly inferior to a ring in stats etc.
- Path item clicky spells will scale based on level.
- Path spells will be SLIGHTLY stronger than other powers based on the item clicked but nothing like Eriviyn where it felt your charm/powersource spells were useless.

• Skills and Class Vision
- All classes will have taunt.
- All classes will have 5% base critical strike chance.
- All classes will have bash/slam
- Every single class is now considered a THEME and will have the option to be any role through paths.

• Alternate Advancement (AA's)
- Being removed completely.
- Causes massive balance issues and doesn't fit the theme of the server.
- Server is focused on paths not the original class which can now fit any role.
- Saves a headache on development and lets me focus on paths.

• Crafting
- Being removed completely.
- Only causes confusion and is a pain to balance with dungeon/raid content.
- Most players hate crafting and it takes too long.
- Not having crafting as an option will feel like freedom and focus players on adventuring for gear.
- Let's me focus easier on content that matters.
- Makes merchants and items found that can be traded more valuable.
- Crafting items will be removed from loot tables, merchants and deleted completely.
- Fishing will be disabled.
- Quests involved in crafting will be removed.
- NPCs selling crafting items will be removed.

• Normal Class Epic Weapons
- Being completely removed.
- Classes are now considered a theme with many roles so epic weapons do not fit them.
- Path Epics will be added later.

• Set downtime schedule..
- I plan on having a weekly downtime period starting on friday afternoons MST.
- The goal is to eliminate sporadic restarting so players can enjoy the server with no worries.
- This includes content updates so players can get excited about every friday probably having something new.

• Homogenization in Paths
- This server is about personal flavor and theme (different particle colors, various minion types, elements or whatever you enjoy)
- Some paths might play the same but I will do what I can to make things different from each other.
- I expect a lot of paths to feel the same mechanically (not fantasy) but that's to be expected with this much variety.
- Play the game and have fun with the fantasy of your class path and don't worry so much about mechanics. I am not here to re-invent the wheel.

That was the point I was trying to make. Thank you for making it more clearly.

I have enjoyed your previous servers keep up the good work and let us know when it needs testing...