Preservation or Progression?

I am somewhat confused about the servers goals once live, January 1st, 2015! My understanding is that the PEQ or EQEMU team wanted to recreate and preserve the Al'kabor server as much as possible. Giving a home to Mac users, and those who like the PoP era EQ gameplay. I have been hearing though that it will also be a progression server? Progression in the sense that Fear/Air/Hate come next, then Kunark, then Velious, as the content is bug tested and finished. Or progression as in the player base progresses together? Like 70% of the server has to kill Phinny/Vox/Naggy before we get PoFear/Hate/Air. Is this true? Or is this just an idea? If it is true, how will people get credit? Is there a flagging system setup? What about accounts that people set up for mules or abandon. Is it only active accounts? It could be a real challenge to get 70% of accounts killing Vox. Also, some players like to take it slow and progression is not their main focus, exploration or other goals are what they play for. Do they need to be included in the 70% or is there a way to opt out? I am sure you devs and admins have figured this out already, but do you mind sharing the details with us? How will this actually be implemented? It is a cool idea and props to whoever came up with it, but I see some potential issues, that maybe people smarter then me have already figured out. And I think it is important how we represent this server the greater EQ community, so everyone knows what they are getting into. Just want some details or rumors squashed. Thanks guys, really looking forward to playing on this server.

 

Ok I can get with that, sounds like an interesting idea. Do you guys have some sort of flagging system set up? I guess it will really ensure community involvement. I can see the player participation working up to a certain point. But imagine trying to get 70% of the server keyed for VP? I understand the desire for slow release of content from a development standpoint. I guess we cross these bridges when the time comes?

Edit: Sorry to be asking so many detailed questions I am just curious as to what you guys have setup. Or should I pipe down and trust you guys have sorted this all out already?

 

in the past other progression type servers had a Vote thread, do you want to move on.

That could possibly be the 70%

 

I think the goal is to get to what the real EQMac was as soon as possible. That is why we probably wont be seeing a CT kill until at least Kunark, since he was revamped during Velious and will be pretty much impossible until we can at least level to 60, same reason we will be seeing some non era appropriate items, mobs, etc. like for example in Runnyeye. So you can't really call it a progression server, but then again the same can be said about the so called EQ progression servers.

I think setting up a tier system or flagging, or waiting for certain content to be beat before releasing additional ''expansions'' just adds to the workload. This is my personal opinion, but I think content shouldn't be developed twice. So stuff should be put in the way it was in PoP, however little sense it makes and however silly the raid options become.

Of course, you can always decide to start a true progression guild, like we had on EQMac. EQMac without Vintage will be a little less cool than it was back on AK

 

See I understand leaving the focus items in, Runneye revamp, destroyer velious Cazic Thule in PoFear. I think it adds some flavor to the server, and more importantly lessens the work load. As Rob says, why am I going to change something to classic, like the zone Cazic Thule, only to change it back in the future when we reach the final PoP Al'kabor timeline. Which makes perfect sense to me. I like a voting system as it seems easier to implement then flagging or counting active accounts etc. When the content is finished, tested. If the active player base wants to move on, then we vote and move on. I don't know what speed content will come here, but I bet people will be wanting to move on once the next expansion is ready. If not, we cross that bridge when the time comes. I am sure the devs have already had this discussion and I am more then happy to follow along with what they want to do. Flagged progression, whatever, I am sure it will be interesting and fun. But I also know less work, the simpler route, is sometimes the best one. Anyways good discussion guys.

 

Ahh cool thanks for explaining how the scripting is planned to work Speedz.

 

Custom Server

Is this server going to be a replication of Al'Kabor or a custom server?

The way it is going it is fastly becoming a custom server and not a true replica.

 

i believe what i heard was "Al'Kabor but with improvements"... with improvements mostly being bugs and balance fixes.

 

'bugs' are subjective

 

true.

 

Quarm with his crazy stun AoE was more intended by Sony than NPCs not assisting low level pets. By wanting Quarm fixed, you're not wanting a true replica either.

AK was never limited to classic zones. A PoP era 'trick' suddenly becomes an issue in earlier eras.

Devs have to be the ones keeping the game hard, or everybody will vote for ez-mode and ruin the challenge and sense of accomplishment. You're lucky I don't have veto power or there wouldn't have been a vote at all.

 

I take it your post is directed at me.

Lets clear something up, I have never asked for Quarm to be fixed nor shakerpaging, pitwar, perma paci or anything else ya'll consider a bug/exploit.

About the veto power, I am glad because the last thing this server needs is a tyrant. =)

PS: While we are at it can we nerf the IVA ring/boots generatoring aggro? /sarc =)

 

imo shakerpaging makes more sense to include than pet pulling

 

Perma Pacify*
Pit War
Shakerpaging
WotW/Rune
Pet Pulling
IvA Aggro
Vendor Item Recharging
Charmed NPC DPS
Out-Of-Range Group EXP
No 85/15 Rule (HoHB and ToSR Sol Ro Tower exceptions)
Quarm Alpha AEs
P 4/5 Gods dropping two loots (not 3 you remember)
P 1/2/3 activating simultaneously* (this would lead to P2 aggroing through clock into P1)
PoAir - Xegony adds never activated
PoAir - no zone out
PoEB - no CotH
PoW - no CotH beyond dropoff


All of these are things are unique to the server in the last year of its life. * denotes a change removed with the final Hobart patch.

I'm fine with the * never being implemented. They weren't in the final version of AK and it would be fine if they aren't here.

Of the above, only really Pit Warring Deserves to be blasted. Because that was a known exploit by GMs back then who would suspend or ban over its use. It was one that a few people even got slapped with on Al'Kabor. Everything else was something eventually patched out/fixed far later in EQ's life. They should all stay on this server.

And of the above, none of them really trivialize the end-game. It was difficult on its own and will continue to be even if you keep everything listed above.

Everything else IMO is what made Al'Kabor, Al'Kabor. Just my two coppers.

 

Darchon for server president. Everything he just said is a true testament of AK's legacy which should be recreated entirely.



Although pit warring should stay in because I believe the EQ devs wanted it that way (you could faction war since classic) they did NOT however want pit adds insta repopping when RZTW event was down on respawn and the exp mechanic behind it... that is the issue with AK pit war, not faction fighting



*edit add to that list the spawn point in grimling forest where 78 grimlings stacked on top of each other in the cave otw to AC

 

Woah... I never thought I would be saying this but... Is Darchon the only sane voice of reason here?!



What made Al'Kabor so special, the server stuck in time, was all these little 'bugs' here and there.

 

I think the people who want to play on a bugged server and exploit stuff so they do not have to group or socialize, should just make their own custom server. Its not that hard to do. Information can be found here http://www.eqemulator.org

Just because an exploit existed on AK, which was basically an abandoned project with nobody at Sony giving a crap about it, doesn't mean it HAS TO BE introduced here. Just because Sony in their endless greed for money and launching expansion after expansion didn't realize pet pulling was broken until 2006 doesn't mean that it should be implemented here.

This server should be PoP Era, and that's about it. Wasting development time to recreate bugs seems like a really dumb thing to do when there are so many other things missing from the game. Look at the Server Bug section, and fix those first before implementing more bugs from AK

 

I think most of you are putting too much into the bugs of AK as to being the reason the server was what it was. In truth, its the level of the content (stopping at PoP) and the fact that the server was stuck in time for 10 years that made it what it was. There was no rush, most guilds raided weekly, not daily like some are setting up to do already. This server will not become anything like AK most likely for years after PoP is completed.

 

yeah, most people enjoyed AK for its unique community and relaxed raid scene. Those are things I hope we as a community are willing to recreate, to say that the only reason people played on AK was for the bugs is just straight up trolling.

 

Unique community and relaxed raid scene I am 100% behind.

One of the greatest surprises for me coming to Al'Kabor was the Seru and VT rotations.

It allowed the more relaxed guilds like Pathfinder and the more established like Destiny and Temerity, to both have a equal shot at those mobs/zones. This simple agreement allowed for us to raid without stepping on each other's toes almost at all... Until people decided to shit on the rotation because they felt they needed it to speed up their progression.

So I am completely behind you when you say the community was a huge draw. And no where did I state that the bugs listed are the sole reason to play.

They, like the community, were a factor in what made the server unique. It's unique code set without broken monk fists/pets (like progression servers had), old client with many UI limitation which make the game more tedious/difficult in many situations, and it's PoP expansion (best content of any expansion) locked state are some of the other factors.

My hope is we can have all of those things here. Atleast that is the dream...

 

I would like to point out that rotation agreements on that scale will likely not ever exist on this server. The "success" of that system on AK was mainly due to the playerbase being a shut off group of people with little outside influence.

I like to compare what happened on AK to a story I read on the internet. a family of Russians set out to isolate themselves from society and set up at some remote location. They were living there happily until like 40 years later some scientists happened upon them and spent a few days with them. A few days later half of that group of people was dead, they were infected by some outside illness that the scientists were carrying, that they didn't develop any antibodies for - because they were isolated from society for so long.

The influx of F2P players and P99 players to the Al Kabor server was like introducing a new virus into the system, but the auto immune response ended up destroying the server and its culture instead of curing the disease. Sony's decision to shut down the server bares a resemblance to putting down a death sick old dog , instead of letting him suffer unnecessarily (and also you don't have to buy the dogfood anymore, so you save some money).

But enough with the analogies. I think recreating that community is impossible, we have to develop our own community, deal with crap our own way, and make it work. I think this is possible, but it is up to each and everyone of us to make that happen, there can be no finger pointing and denial.

 

Re: Custom Server

From what I understand it will be AK - with fixes that should have been made. The path to getting there will be custom progression.

All of these things I think the bulk of the player base like. I for one... love =)

 

the GMs here can afford to be more hands-on than Hobart was. i hope that if the players end up having raid disputes that the GMs here on TAKP would step in and enforce some sort of rotation.

 

I do hope the GMs are more hands on than on AK, it would solve a lot of the problems that we had on the server at the end.

That being said, I think rotations have to be excluded from this 'hands on approach', some guilds have way more GMs in them than others. This does not mean that I think this will be handled unfairly, but there can be no doubts in people's minds about there being no favoritism. I suggest we cross that bridge when we get there, but a community poll is really the only good solution to determine what should happen.

 

I ll play nice with you Speedz

Seriously though, to all other guild/raid leaders please feel free to send me a tell and we can talk whenever you want to discuss targets.