[gravystain]

I'm a die hard EQ fan and have been following EQMU and all things Everquest since 2008. I've had an idea for an Everquest server for years that I think would create the perfect environment for all us die hard fans. I admit that I'm more of a purist when it comes to Everquest so I don't usually enjoy non classic servers so this idea may not appeal to all but in all my years following EQ servers I've never seen this tried (maybe for a reason). The idea is fairly simple. A NODROP server.

I know this doesn't sound like I'm an Everquest purist and trust me I think that EQ has the greatest economy system of any game ever made. I love farming gear for friends and twinking out alts but sometimes I get the itch to just start fresh again. To start fresh and dungeon grind with fellow adventurers and just get back to the basics of what Everquest truly is. I know the whole argument of "nobody forces you to twink" and I fully agree. I've tried this. I've joined role play guilds, fresh start guilds and tried just playing a solo class by myself. This is about as close to getting that fresh start feel as one can get. Unfortunately it doesn't last long. On popular servers where grouping is viable, its nearly impossible to find a dungeon or group that isn't loaded with at least 1 twink that can keep half the dungeon cleared by himself. I've lost several friends who had never played Everquest to this problem. They start off loving it. They love the struggle, they see how challenging the game is and look forward to exploring this dangerous world. Until about level 10 when I take them to crushbone or blackburrow and they see the same class they are killing reds in seconds without losing health. They form the opinion that the game is just getting gear and mindlessly annihilating mobs over and over until you level with no challenge and realize that the world isn't dangerous at all. Us old school EQ fans know this isn't the case.

I think if a server was made that had all drops from named or "boss mobs" be no drop this would solve so many problems that every established classic EQ server runs into several months after its release.

The economy could still be thriving. I would have ALL trade skill made and non magical items be trade-able. I would also have most "random" drops be trade-able. Things like orc fang earrings, cougar claw earrings, basically anything that cant be camped or dropped from a single mob. This would still allow for a ton of twink options as well as simple upgrade options for non twinks as they make the journey to 60. I know that a lot of these items are insanely good but i don't care how twinked you are in these items. A full cultural armor warrior without regen or haste is going to get thumped. A full Wu's armor monk is still going to want to group. Nobody is going to clear a zone by themselves in these types of items their lives will be much easier and they would make a awesome group member for sure but you wont see them killing reds or have no downtime.

Now I know the argument of "people will find a way to twink" I know this, I've seen how creative people can be. If a necro wants to drag his level 4 rogue friend into guk and camp him a dagger and fbss, that's going to happen. I don't think there's a way around this but as a whole I still don't think this would be that common or ruin anyone's gaming experience. By simply enforcing a no 2 box rule and that if your group or raid did not kill the target, the loot is then FFA. This would keep people from camping items and logging to their alts if they know a rule is in place that anyone can snipe the loot from you if you plan to camp loot it. On the other hand nothing stops you from doing this if you want to, just do so at your own risk.

When you think about it, this is exactly how the game is endgame. Nobody is getting any items via camping fungi tunics over and over for the sale of the item to get gear for their level 60 main. End game EQ forces people to work together to get NODROP items and to earn your gear. The thought of logging into an EQ world where players are working together struggling to survive in Norrath instead of pillaging it over and over for its resources just sounds like so much fun to me.

Maybe I'm a very small minority on this or maybe the only person that feels this way. That's why i made this post! Would anyone else like to see a server like this? Would any of you awesome server developers have any interest in creating a world like this? Let me know what you think!