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SOE Needs to Release a Classic Server (Poll)
truenorthbg
Member Posts: 1,453
in Everquest
We have talked about it at length for years. Many of us want a static classic server (one in which there is no progression beyond a certain point such as Luclin). The demand for this is so enormous that we are seeing modified classic servers in development, and one that has a vibrant community.
SOE is losing money. Why are they stubborn about this?
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WoW and fast food = commercial successes.
I neither play WoW nor eat fast food.
Comments
Mostly because the marketing goons don't like the idea of splitting a small, static community into an even smaller one, when they could potentially get more new players that translate into immediate gain rather than a smaller sustained gain.
It's all about getting new players, rather than veterans, or retaining subscriptions.
A meager 7 votes?
I perhaps have overestimated the interest in this; or
people fear that a new server would be like the progression servers with zerg guilds ruining; or
the people interested in this found homes elsewhere.
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WoW and fast food = commercial successes.
I neither play WoW nor eat fast food.
Sadly i think the interest in EQ is just not there anymore. Many people (like myself) have moved on and it is really a small community right now. There also appears alot of disdain (which i really dont understand) toward EQ amoung the newer generation of MMO players.
If EQ wants to get a big community again then they should make it F2P, or at least F2P for the original area, Kunark and Velious. That might bring in a fresh crowd. Most newer players will not like the game though because it is far different then the games that have come out recently (where you are spoon fed everything, no offense).
I for one would like them to completely remake EQ with new graphics and technology and re release it with all the content up through Velious (a big of rearranging to make it a bit different would be fine) and then build new content after that, with no PoK books or Bazaar or any of that crap.
I havent found a game that keeps my interest for more then a few months since i stopped playing EQ so i think the only answer for me is a new completely updated EQ.
I have not found an MMO that I enjoyed since EQ 1 Velious (perhaps Luclin only because the Beastlord really made it more fun for me). Actually, my interest in EQ 1 began to decline with Velious. I sometimes think, when reflecting on EQ 1, some of us (certainly myself, and speaking for myself) tend to overestimate the fun aspects and disregard the annoying stuff.
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WoW and fast food = commercial successes.
I neither play WoW nor eat fast food.
I have tried EQ2 a number of times. Started at launch and that pissed me off so bad i didnt try it again for awhile. It is better now but it just doesnt pull me in. Kunark looks good though so i may give it another try after that comes out.
You may be right about just remembering the good times about EQ and not the bad but what im really thinking about is how much EQ made me want to play. For 3+ years i wanted to play EQ every day, no game has made me want to play like that since. WoW had me for about a month and a half then i figured out that it had no depth(for me at least).
Im starting to think that whole first kill thing may be true because EQ was my first game and nothing has satisfied me since. Im looking at Conan and seeing things i like but i am not hopefull that it will pull me in again.
Everquest was such a joy to play i miss it soo much and to bring a classic server out with all original content up to luclin is a great idea.....i do think it has a lot to do with it being the first mmorg for me.... but selling gear in the EC tunnel...trying to get a port in WC....fighting gnolls at SK....great days eh
on a sidenote i also really miss SWG b4 the NGE...that was also a real classic
iam currently playing Lotro and though the world is beautiful especially Evendim the quest grind is driving my crazy at lvl 40 and will see it to 50 for the crack b4 returning to EQ2 for Kunark...
just quickly i think i wil say what i think mmorgs are missing now is good namer spawns yu can camp and grind at for good loot especially the good old days of camping 4 spots at the bottom of a dungeon...haha i will get flamed for that little outburst....
laters
WTB Everquest 3.
Still waiting for your Holy Grail MMORPG? Interesting...
How would vets and old school players even hear about an eq classic server if one was realeased (what if no one bothered to show up again)? That is probably one of the greatest dilemmas of this argument. But nonetheless, here is my argument as to why SOE won't bother with releasing a classic server:
1. If EQ1 is losing money then the population of EQ1 is declining.
2. The population will not not increase massively, though it may increase.
3. Then, establishing a classic EQ server is a major financial risk.
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Don't get me wrong, I love EQ. I totally support a classic server. But I honestly can't see any reason that I would go back, or my friends who have quit (and we did the whole SOD thing too). We've all moved on with our lives minus the occasional nostalgia. There's that and,
if i were a market mogul, i would probably want to snuff out EQ1 asap in order to focus on EQ2/other EQ products. I assume EQ1 barely pays for itself as it is, not sure why they even keep it around... there seems to be quite some disdain for it (aforementioned on this thread) from new age gamers anyways.
WHAT WOULD BE IDEAL THOUGH
SoE condenses everything down to one or three servers (population/expansions/etc- take the crap out no one cares about) and just made it a free promotional game. Such is the case with SB.
I would play but up to Velious and not Luclin. The experience bonus in Paludal Caverns would leave the starting areas empty once again. Pre-Luclin were the best times I had in game.
And that's probably part of their dilemma. Everyone has their own opinion on what a classic server should entail, that they are probably not sure how to go about it. Some would want bazaar, others would want the old days of trading in the Commonlands tunnel. Do they put back in the book in your face meditating? I would hope not, but you never know, some people might want that back too.
I also agree up to a point but maybe up to Pop thats just me, but i never got up to the elemental plains due to school consuming my time and my guild being the only light guild on tallon but i could live with luclin.
Well, good point.
We will need another poll soon to determine if we should have it:
1) up to and including Velious;
2) up to and including Luclin;
3) up to and including PoP.
5) and whether and how each server should be released?
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WoW and fast food = commercial successes.
I neither play WoW nor eat fast food.
yea we probably will need another pole to determine what people would prefer i still think that the rate at which expansions are added to server is based on how long it took them to orignally be added to the game so basically a year.
Whats the point? If you go to before Luclin as classic then you inherently give most the EQ1 players a fault that they can not help. That is the hardcore gamer in them. When you think about it this is only limiting content to a point where people would get bored, those very people who voted yes for it will find out they really have no more fun on a classic server then they would on the current expansion whore-fest. After all the hardcore gamers will do all this content quickly and will already miss those nice items they had gotten spoiled with before the classic implement.
Edit: Because even with all this extra current content you can do classic stuff and ignore all the rest. Am I right? It isn't like the game is PVP to make it a difference if you stay classic content exclusively for fun.
n/m
I haven't really been a big fan of this whole Classic server idea, but I have given it some thought, and here is an idea:
Treat "EQ Classic" as a completely different product than EQ Live. Maybe even give it its own name-- EQ: A History Divided (or probably something better than that). Release a server that is original EQ, and then open Kunark and Velious on timers, and then add additional content later that does NOT include massively more powerful equipment, ZEMs out of line with existing zones, instant travel, instancing, or anything that would render the existing world obsolete. New armor, for instance, might have different focus effects or click spells or different combinations of stats (all in line with the stats on gear already in the world), or it might have new and original graphics that noone has seen before. All additional zones would relate to and be attached to existing zones, designed to enhance and extend the "classic" experience. And I would think that new zones should be added sparingly. New quests could be added over time relating to "classic" story elements and introducing new storyline with old elements-- Mayong Mistmoore doesn't have to become a demi-god to remain an interesting character that people could work against or for-- as a way of extending the game without extending real estate until there are a zillion unused zones or adding bigger and better items to the point that older items are trash.
Essentially, it would be an alternate timeline, as if they never found a way to Luclin or the Planes, etc. and would eventually contain content not in the original trilogy, in order to hold onto the people who "finish" the classic content, but with content specifically designed to keep the classic experience intact.
I am thinking a single PvE server and maybe a single FFA PvP server-- considering how many games and how much hardware SOE is already supporting, one would think they could take a chance on this. They won't. They probably won't even see this suggestion. But they could.
Even being an EQLive player now, I might come over to such a game, just to see where it ends up.
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This is where I draw the line: __________________.
Well, that is a major concept. It is a rather fascinating one, too.
I totally and completely agree: expand the game "without extending real estate." I wish developers were get over this "huge, new continent or island discovered" and focus on its core strengths and extend those. For example, I believe EQ 1 would be a very successful game today if it would have remained at Velious or Luclin and stopped forcing everyone to get keys and things to raid.
It reminds me that WoW did not kill EQ 1 ... EQ 1 killed itself. However, I have been fooling around on the Combine server lately, and it is a lot of fun . A lot of new players joining as well.
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WoW and fast food = commercial successes.
I neither play WoW nor eat fast food.
I would play up to Kunark definitely, maybe Velious, but not further, Luclin changed the "classic" game too much
At the VERY least I think we would have to go to Luclin. But personally I would like to have PoP included. I have been playing sense before kurnark came out. I remember the old days. I have seen the game change through the years. I remember when it was all about the group. Later though the expansions options were added so that guilds could do things together and thus raid. During the Velious and Luclin erra there was a LOT of fighting between guilds over who can raid what. This caused frustration for everyone. But once PoP came out so many more targers were opened for the raid guilds that it became almost moot. Do not get me wrong there was still fighting but even if a guild did not get the target they had wanted they were almost always able to go find another target and do that together.
No choice will make everyone happy.
If they would have just stuck with what worked well: group-oriented game with 1) rewards, 2) challenges, and 3) excitement, the game would be successful today.
To feel apart of the game, you had to raid. To do quests such as the epic, you had to raid to finish it.
The forced-raiding (which required forced-guilding) was the game's death. I think it was engineered by people who need to feel "elite" or "leet" in video games. That is, they had this armor set or piece that no one else has so they are "better."
The solution you mentioned to increase more expansions to avoid "frustration" among guilds is a good one, but perhaps a better solution would be some modification to the rules to allow instances.
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WoW and fast food = commercial successes.
I neither play WoW nor eat fast food.
kill SWG!
wait for KOTORO
sorry, classic server talk makes me think of SWG
If they would have just stuck with what worked well: group-oriented game with 1) rewards, 2) challenges, and 3) excitement, the game would be successful today.
To feel apart of the game, you had to raid. To do quests such as the epic, you had to raid to finish it.
The forced-raiding (which required forced-guilding) was the game's death. I think it was engineered by people who need to feel "elite" or "leet" in video games. That is, they had this armor set or piece that no one else has so they are "better."
The solution you mentioned to increase more expansions to avoid "frustration" among guilds is a good one, but perhaps a better solution would be some modification to the rules to allow instances.
Ok I do not think they should have just kept to group content. Don't get me wrong I think that group content is really important. But it was the high level raiding even if I only got to raid once a week that I used to really love.
To be a part of the game you did NOT have to raid. Hell most epics at high levels could be done with 1 or 2 groups.
There was never any "forced" raiding. It was entirely a player choice. Also it did not "force" you to guild. I remember on the Quellious server there was a group of oginized raiders that I belonged to. The people in it were all from smaller guilds or no guilds at all. But they joined up so they could have some fun at the bigger raids every once in awhile. As for just a way to make people feel "elite" well think of it. Here is this god you just took down. It took 50+ of you all working together to do this. (and yes I do mean working together unlike a lot of these other mmo's today where you can just zerg any high end content a lot of the eq raids did take people working together.) Yeah there is a certain bragging right that goes with this. Also think the harder the challenge the better the reward should be anyways.
Thanks for the compliment about the content sugestion btw
. As for the instances well there is a good point for them in some cases. But then again having 5 different high end guilds all raiding someplace like Plane of Time on the same night? Each with full access to all the mobs and drops? No I don't think so. Soon the world would be flooded with those high end equipment. It is the fact that this stuff is hard to come by and everyone wants it that makes people work so hard to get there. If it were to become common then people would get bored fast.
[1] The focus should have been on grouping, not raiding. The focus should have been on building, sustaining, and providing opportunities for communities (guilds) of shared values and not because they wanted to raid.
[2] I have played EQ for what must be 8 years now. The idea you do not have to raid is preposterous.
[3] Raiding was forced, and so was joining a guild (to raid).
VERY IMPORTANT: Your premise is wrong. Your premise in paragraph 3, supra, is that raiding is more "challenging" than group content. Zerg-raiding in particular is often easier than some group content. Raiding, because it requires more people does not make it more challenging.
[4] First, instances could work. Second, you may want this stuff (and not others). Some people just want to group and raid and the rewards are a bonus. (Simply put, they want to play the game with friends/family and getting rewards for playing makes it more fun). Last, I have no interest in Plane of Time, which is the PoP expansion because I intend to quit at PoP.
I think you might have a different agenda than the majority of us in a classic server. We want to relive (READ THE FOLLOWING WORD FIVE TIMES) classic everquest. Your post has raiding in mind, and in particular the Plane of Time.
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WoW and fast food = commercial successes.
I neither play WoW nor eat fast food.
I wish there could be a game that would give me the feeling that old EQ used to give me. It seems that the newer generation of gamers care a lot less about community and care way too much about being uber.
I remember when I could have fun just sitting in EC talking to people. Everybody was so much more friendly back in EQ's heyday.
I think everybody wants a classic server for that reason. The fun part about no PoK books and no Bazaar isn't about how "easy it made the game" It's for the social aspect that the game had before you could just port eveywhere you needed to go, or go to the bazaar if you were looking for a fungi. It was fun trying to find a druid who would port you to FV from WC or trying to buy a Paw of Opalla in EC.
That's just my take on it