New Server - Retribution (RetributionEQ.com)
 

Good evening everyone!

Retribution will be launching this Friday, November 11th at 6PM EST.

https://i.imgur.com/NDT6Zoa.png

This server begins in classic, where hundreds of hours have been poured into recreating many original zones/fixing the bugs that plagued them (thank you, Gangsta!).

The EXP rates are similar to live and enemy difficulty has been untouched (aside from removing DT/Banish effects, because we're adults and don't have time to find rangers to sacrifice).
Players can progress through Classic, Kunark, Velious, Luclin, and Planes of Power through an account based progression system.
By defeating certain raid encounters or finding certain combinations of rare items in each expansion, players can unlock further expansions for their account through their own adventures.

Retribution is about remembering and reliving the excitement and dopamine hits we got when we finally got that one named to spawn- and found that one rare item we had been grinding for.

What makes this experience unique, is that we have added tens of thousands of items- new versions of your favorite gear, that drop from the same camps you loved (or loved to hate).

Like our memories, this gear can be Rose Colored or even Apocryphal in nature- with increased stats based on the original gear.
Think of the original version as Tier 1, Rose Colored as Tier 2, and Apocryphal as Tier 3. Almost every camp can drop an upgrade if you're lucky or persistent enough.

Here are some other notable features:

• All players start with 2-3 class defining AA unlocked that allow them to immediately fill the group role they were meant to fill.
• All players start with the ability to origin to the original bazaar which will be used as a trading hub that includes a working arena, bankers, merchants, and one translocator to each continent.
• All players start with a new item that brings them to the bazaar and introduces them to the new Apocryphal gear.
• All wearable items have had their required and recommended levels removed.
• All items are tradable, other than the strongest Apocryphal versions.
• AoC’s (instanced raid content) exist for every raid zone with a low 22hr lockout.
• Enemy spawn rate increased.
• Three Box + 1 Bazaar Mule Limit per person.
• OOC and AUC chat feed our Discord server, allowing for players to chat with their in game friends while offline.
• Level caps match retail OTHER THAN classic being capped at 51 instead of 50 so you can grind AA while farming gear.
• All AA through Buried Sea are live and attainable beginning at level 51.

We had the server up for three weeks for FnF testing where six people were invited. In that time we accumulated 37 players that are almost as excited as I am for launch.

Another important thing to note, is that this server is fast, stable, and is already prepaid for a full year. Donations are set up to feed the account that pays for the server and my intent is that this server becomes my long term EQ home.

I share all this to preface my open invitation to all of you to come and enjoy what we've created!



P.S.

Darksinga, I know you will be reading this shortly after I post, and I want you to know how deeply appreciative I am of you and your willingness to spearhead this project and help an old Norrathian's dream come to fruition. I couldn't be happier.

For all you heroes that helped test this server (especially you fiends that literally unlocked Kunark in that time) thank you for all your time! I can't wait to slay dragons with you!

Excited to see this launch. Though the 3-box limit may turn some off.
Hopefully there's an anticheat and no MQ2 allowed.

Me too!
 

Hey, Secrets! Thanks so much!

I hope the three box limit won't turn too many off.

With the increased strength available between the starting AA's and Rose Colored and Apocryphal gear- most content should be within reach of a three boxed team with a little ingenuity, grind, and luck.

We do have anticheat measures in place, and, many MQ2 functions (including warping) and other things like unattended play are prohibited and tracked. However, basic MQ2 functionality is allowed.

Here is the reasoning:

I've learned over the years that there is always a way around countermeasures and my sincere hope is to cultivate a community that will abide by its rules, not because they are unable to bypass them but because they respect why they exist. My reality is that I walk at the heels of titans here, and I don't want to spend my days fighting an eternal battle when my reason for creating this server was to enjoy playing on it.

As long as someone isn't being malicious or purposefully violating the rules, I don't care that they use EQBCS to send a heal, or /stick to keep their team together.

Judging from the elder faces I see in Discord, I think the large majority of people will play nice, and those that don't, will have people far more knowledgeable than me to call them out.

Look forward to seeing you in game, hero!

Hello,

This sounds interesting in fact! I love the idea of a progression server. Why not character based gates instead of account based gates? This way, if you join later, or make alts, the content will stay relevant and veterans will have motivation to do older content to help others and their alts.

Anyways, I'm getting the EQ itch again, and this seems like a good server to hop into! when does it open?

Good question!
 

Hey, Eastwood! Thanks!

So that's a really interesting question. The decision to have account based progression really came from the structure of the code used to allow for certain races/classes to become unlocked after X conditions are achieved.

Knowing what we know now, we probably could have made the race/class unlocks account bound and expansion progression character bound but I think there would be a split between those that want to be able to make an alt and not have to participate in raid kills to enjoy the content they already unlocked and those that would.

That being said, with the gear available from even old world raid targets, veterans will likely continue clearing that content enough to benefit new players that may be stuck.

As for launch... We launch TOMORROW! WOO!
(November 11, at 6PM EST).

Hope to see you there!

It makes sense actually, on EQEmu we usually just have multiple accounts for alts.

I'll try the server out tomorrow.

Nice!
 

Cheers man! Look forward to seeing you there :)

Today is the day friends!

Retribution launches at 6PM EST tonight. Come check it out!

Obligatory Countdown Clock.

Looks very interesting. Looking forward to starting on your server. Thank you!

We had an amazing opening weekend! Come join us for the fun! RetributionEQ.com

Aloha!

Darksinga

I just wanted to thank everyone for giving our creation a try!

We broke 130 players last night and it's been absolutely wild.

As a thank you for the kind words and exceptional turn out we have started a Thanksgiving Exp Event (20% bonus!) that will last from now until Sunday.

If you're on the fence, now is a great time to give it a whirl :)

Started here a few days ago and loving this server so far. Great work, devs! Welcome breath of fresh air after bouncing around various Classic-PoP era servers recently.

Join us for our Christmas event that started today and will be running for the entire month of December! Help Santug restore the Miragul's Highway (how else do you think he'd get around? Reindeer?) and get some awesome rewards! If you are just starting out, no worries, we have an extremely helpful community to get you rolling. We hope to see you soon!

-Darksinga

So I've been playing this server since release, at a casual pace (more than most). I'm loving it. The Rose/Apoc versions of our favorite gear really increases the power of characters who are playing within their progression era and makes it fun to stay in era and not rush to PoP like some players are.

In fact, if you like servers with progression gates, and smelling the roses in classic, kunark, velious, etc. This server is actually very good for it. 3 boxing is a good balance, the AAs you gain access to for each class make for some really interesting ways to play a trio.

Good job team!

Xerophyte/Bowflexin.

Well, it's officially been one month since the server launched and I just wanted to share how great of an experience this has been.

A huge thank you to everyone that has given the server a chance!

We have gone from 6 beta testers to hundreds of people playing daily.

So many bugs fixed. So many QoL features added.

All quests now having a chance to yield Apocryphal and Rose Colored rewards which can all be repeated (including epics!). The bazaar turning into a lively hub with players selling wares at all times of the day. So many guilds and friend groups reliving fun times, slaying dragons and collecting pixels. I have learned so much and look forward to continuing the iterative process that is making this server a great place to be.

I'm so proud of the progress made and the cohesive, positive makeup of the majority of this community.

Cheers friends! Here's to many good times ahead!