What are you looking for in a server?

[ChaosSlayerZ]

To add to this discussion, here is a very interesting article "The Kunark Problem" written years back, by member of Afterlife - one of the top EQ guilds of all time.
It underlines some of the core problem in initial EQ design:

http://www.afterlifeguild.org/Thott/kunark.php

[Darkscis]

Originally Posted by ChaosSlayerZ

To add to this discussion, here is a very interesting article "The Kunark Problem" written years back, by member of Afterlife - one of the top EQ guilds of all time.
It underlines some of the core problem in initial EQ design:

http://www.afterlifeguild.org/Thott/kunark.php

It's an interesting read. Everquest is certainly known for introducing rather suspect mechanics to simulate "content".

The problem I see is that there are multiple different mind sets of players, and you need to know which one you want your server to cater too.

There are some who's attitude is "the game begins at max level". These people don't care what you have done to make the leveling fun and interesting. They don't care about low/mid level custom content. All they care about is your XP modifier and how quickly they can max level and start gearing.

Then there are those who enjoy the journey. They don't care if it takes days to level, provided there is new and engaging content they can explore while doing it. This ties in well with what Thott wrote in the article linked above. If there is content to consume, they don't mind that it takes days to level.

I have seen a lot of servers and devs in particular who only want to focus on end game content. They want to make raids, they want to make "uber" gear, they want to modify max level skills/spells/AA's. There is nothing wrong with this approach at all, but you need to make sure your XP modifier reflects it.

The classic leveling path has been done to death, creating a "live-like" leveling experience without custom content forces people into spending "an eternity" in these old zones which can contribute to the burnout described in the article. While there are plenty of people who enjoy this old content (and there is definitely a lot of it in Classic, let's not forget that!) eventually it gets stale. Doing it over and over on server after server just encourages the "end game starts at max level" mentality.

Personally, I am one of those "enjoy the journey" people. I love working my way through it, but it has definitely become stale to me. I have now done that 1-60 leveling path so many times in Classic->Velious/PoP the only way to make it fresh is to self impose certain challenges. For instance I have to tell myself "no more than 2 levels in each zone" or "in era gear only" or things along those lines to force myself to enjoy it.

This is no fault of the dev's, but is something that many should consider when thinking of designing and releasing their own server. Do you want a complete package where leveling and exploring is part of the fun, or do you want to focus on end game content? You need to adjust and match your XP modifier and the early game to match your vision.

[ChaosSlayerZ]

Originally Posted by Darkscis

The classic leveling path has been done to death, creating a "live-like" leveling experience without custom content forces people into spending "an eternity" in these old zones which can contribute to the burnout described in the article.

This is exactly whats in my vision for a perfect server - spirit of a long journey, but in all new content from level 1.

[NostalgiaEQ]

Originally Posted by ChaosSlayerZ

To add to this discussion, here is a very interesting article "The Kunark Problem" written years back, by member of Afterlife - one of the top EQ guilds of all time.
It underlines some of the core problem in initial EQ design:

http://www.afterlifeguild.org/Thott/kunark.php

I love stuff like this and agree with many points. Don't quite agree with this though: "The key is avoiding content burnout, by never forcing, or even allowing, a player to continuously play in the same area."

Not everyone is an explorer and some like things they are familiar with and to be the big dog. I think that is great. Having parallel content for the explorers to play in one dungeon one day and another dungeon the next then come back the 3rd day is awesome as well. I think having parallel content is important but allowing people to play in the same place for a long time is also good. I am actually encouraging this by bumping up light blue xp slightly which will also help soloers.

[ChaosSlayerZ]

Originally Posted by NostalgiaEQ

I love stuff like this and agree with many points. Don't quite agree with this though: "The key is avoiding content burnout, by never forcing, or even allowing, a player to continuously play in the same area."

Not everyone is an explorer and some like things they are familiar with and to be the big dog. I think that is great. Having parallel content for the explorers to play in one dungeon one day and another dungeon the next then come back the 3rd day is awesome as well. I think having parallel content is important but allowing people to play in the same place for a long time is also good. I am actually encouraging this by bumping up light blue xp slightly which will also help soloers.

There are more article there btw, where he speaks about ideas for hate, taunt,heals, new spells etc.

Also, while I myself do like to stick to certain area for awhile, to camp specific spots/mobsfor xp or loot, its one thing to stick around for a few days, and another to camp the same area for WEEKS.

IMHO, original EQ had problem with content gaps at certain levels. For example there was notorious content gap between level 7 and 13 if you were in Freeport area - the only thing you could do in that range in do Orc Camps for DAYS. Past 15 you could finally move on to Befalen.
If you were in Qeynos side, 5-15 were great in BlackBurrow, but past 15 there literally nothing to do there in entire western antonika. (not counting solo hunting roaming animals)

Another long term camp was in HK basement where people literally lived for weeks for 10 levels or more.
And yes Karnor was notorious for its massive overcrowding, while many other places were half empty.

Overall, I think, world should be balanced. There shouldn't be zone that only good for XP or only good for loot, while lacking the other things. All zones should be good and balanced with progression.
If you have multiple starting zones, then progression path should be developed from each of this points and be at least somewhat unique.
What happened in reality, that no matter where you started, past your teen levels there was mostly a single preferred path that absolute majority of players leaned too, creating overcrowding, and wait lines to get groups, while the rest of world barely had any players in it.

[NostalgiaEQ]

That's true and what I want is for all players to come together and start that path in EC once they make the journey from their starting city then branch out from there. I want to get new players around the "knowlegebase" so they can learn more about the game and hear about the other good places to level from more experenced players. I don't want my new players to be alone in their starting city for very long because I feel I will loose them. I'm talking about real noobs here which I want to attract.

But ya I definitly plan to use hot zone advantage to spread people out when there is overcrowding and make the most desolate zones very relevant.