When i first started out with EqEmu, I was incredibly impressed with the whole project; I couldn't believe someone actually figured out a way to play EQ at home - and I still am!
After the "newness" of it all began to rub off, I realized all the work that still needs to be done, and I knew "ditto" on how to pitch-in and help.
The only place I ever got any answers and help was in these forums; I tried the PEQ forums and got no interest and no replies.
It seems to me, there is not enough people (programmers, zone-spawners, etc) in EqEmu that would constitute smaller groups breaking off and starting things on their own. I see it better to stay in one place, and since EQEmulator Forums appear to be the oldest and have the most traffic, this is the most logical place to stay at. The EQEmulator forums have a very nice comunity going, and a lot of dedicated people.
When we talk about "live", where do we start? "EQ Live" is constantly changing , for better and for worse (more worse than better). Years ago, Everquest belonged to Verant - it was a whole different game in those days. Nowdays, it belongs to the Sony Corperation, and the only thing the "Verant" version of EQ had in common with the current "SOE" version, is the name, "Everquest".
All these things like, higher level caps/skill caps, alt adv points kills the original EQ game and the old zones are rendered useless. places like South Karana that once boasted hundreds of players on a busy night, become empty "wastelands".
What is an emulator? how do we apply the word "emulator" to EqEmu?
Do we want to our server appealing to other players, or just ourselves? What do most players look for in this game?
First thing I did when I finally got a server running was invite some old gamer friends and gave them GM status; big mistake! since they were able to do anything in the game, they got bored real fast and were gone in a few days.
So how am I going to make something playable out of EqEmu, that would spawn interest and maybe capture a handful of players?
Here's my opinion , and I know many others agree;
- Before you open your server to the public, make sure special spawns and drops are as uncommon as they are on Live. If you want to know how rare, look at how I have things on my LoY zones and a few others I fixed. Setting spawns and drops should be a priority, plat should be very scarce - you should be able to start out looting sp's and gp's not pps. It should a little harder just to be able to acumulate plat for your first weapons and /or spells.
- Faction, alt/adv and all the rest, should be at the bottom of your "to-do" list - the only faction you need at first, is the KOS aggro the mobs have. You can do these things, but first you need an interesting, playable enviroment.
It's a shame so many people are "hiding in a corner" with their backs facing this project as a whole - the result is the big decline you see in the player base.
In a situation like this, you need real players and their input more than the abilty to keep a running server. You also need a constant flow of newly interested programmers, zone-spawners to the project as a whole (not rag-tag servers, we already have enough of those).
One thing I know for sure; I will never be able to make a "better" Everquest and top all the things Everquest had - If SOE hasn't been able to in all these years, I certainly will not either. The best I can do is try and make things as "Everquest-like" as possible (maybe add some of the better ideas SOE had at first), in hopes to spawn some interest in gameplay.
I'm one guy, and look at what I did - I want to do more and will. Crap! look at what Cavedude did all by his own little self! And I'm no "programmer" , mind you
- just wanted to see an feel a few things I felt on live. Reality is, no matter how stupid and old any question seems in this forum, someone should try and answer because you'll never know who's the next "Cavedude" or" Angelox"- and you might have just pushed him out. A bunch of you posters here helped/trained me to do this work, so in return, I feel I "owe" you all - and what I do in EqEmu belongs to all of you, thus promptly posted.
But what if we had a group of people (on my train of thought) working on a common database that was being updated and POSTED TO THE PUBLIC almost daily? then we could have someone making/posting small SQL patches for the people who already have this "common database" installed. It would have to be done mostly via this forum, because if not, it would end up with another "small group" away from the main flow of users and players again.
After all, we do this so we can have fun and play a good, interesting game, no?