Gates of Time - New Server Currently in Luclin will go to Planes of Power and Beyond

[Turmoiltoad]

Hello all!

I'm TurmoilToad, long time lurker on the EQEmu forums. On the Gates of Time server I play the character Odin. I'm the one responsible for starting up this new project, Gates of Time, on EQEmu, and spooling up the server that's hosting the Gates of Time world. I've been busy working behind the scenes on a lot of the different moving parts and have a good group of GMs/staff that have been helping me work and develop this server. As you have noted, we are currently in our ALPHA stage, having made the decision to ask our closest friends to join us and put up with our bug fixing and content restructuring. We have been quite pleasantly surprised at the number of early adopters from the EQEmu community, and want to thank you for putting up with our efforts as well.

I would also like to thank members of the EQEmu development community for their advice and insights along the way--not only from the rich repository of information here in these forums and on the Wiki, but also for popping onto our server and helping us out and offering their expert advice one-on-one. I won't name any names, but thank you!

ON TRANSFERS:

During our ALPHA stage, we are accepting character inventory transfers from ALL servers. We will most likely begin to restrict this activity as we enter our BETA stage, but we're willing to discuss your specific needs (for a time) while we continue down the path of tweaking our world to suit us. One of our main focuses has been to restrict content to the Luclin era, with a handful of exceptions. Our intention is to progress into the Planes of Power expansion, and then let our unique storyline secrets begin to unfold.

As a result, we are not allowing all items to be transferred over without restriction. We will continue to reserve the right to interrogate your transfer requests with this tenet in mind. As an example, certain cosmetic items won't be allowed (some illusion items, petamorph wands, etc). The reason for this is that we want to be able to reserve some of these items for our world, and its progression--such as rewarding players for participation in special events on our server. Hopefully this makes sense to you, and if you managed to collect a rare artifact on your older Emu server, you will understand why we will scrutinize the item while we're performing your import.

Additionally, some regular gear items that are part of a later era, or overpowered for our current content, won't be imported due to balancing issues. Again, it is not my intention to produce an all-encompassing list of these items, but we will communicate with you when we're evaluating your requested import.

REGARDING 'BUGS':

As I'm sure you're aware, the EQEmu Development team works very hard to provide a playable and stable environment that will allow just about anyone with a little bit of knowledge to embark on the journey of setting up their own server. Out of the box, they provide a FREE, workable code base that does what is says it will do, and a database that represents an extraordinarily accurate depiction of the EQ world that we know and loved.

It is our vision to exclude portions of their work as enumerated in my post and other posts in this thread--and that takes time and effort. It is also not always without inherit danger, but we feel that it will pay off for us as we toil to achieve our vision. Again, our thanks goes out to an understanding player base and we look forward to building a world that you will enjoy for many years to come.

REGARDING 'GM CENSORING':

This simply does not happen. The post mentioned above was made by one of our friends and he later regretted having posted it in haste. He asked for the thread to be removed, and we did so. Personally I would have liked to have kept the post intact, but I wanted to give him the chance to consider the points he raised and to give him time to write another post without things devolving--his intent was to be constructive, and we appreciate that. For those of you that didn't catch it, his post focused on some of the issues that we're working on, and some of the issues that he asked us to focus on--we are certainly doing so as rapidly as possible, but we are all busy, and certain issues have to be given a lower priority.

For anyone that has run a server before, I'm sure you're familiar with the feeling of having to get these issues resolved while maintaining a playable environment, and helping out your incoming users as quickly as possible. It's not always easy, and it won't always be without missteps.

AN APOLOGY:

As a server policy, we do not discriminate or favor any characters, guilds, or server transplants, despite what you may have read on this thread. This has been reiterated with all of the staff, and I would like to apologize if any comments have been made that would indicate otherwise. Small course-corrections are a necessary part of any organization, and we welcome you to give Gates of Time a try to evaluate our commitment to the ideal of inclusion and mutual respect.

REGARDING THE COMMUNITY:

We are trying to foster a helpful, positive community, and in order to do so, we cannot tolerate any troublemakers or trolls--we are seeking players that are accountable for their own actions, who wish to have an enjoyable in-game experience and ensure that other players have the same. For the Gates of Time server, the community is the priority, and the game is just a helpful and fun UI that helps to grow and entertain the player base.

I encourage anyone interested to check out our forums at http://forums.gatesoftime.com and come chat in our Discord channel at https://discord.gg/2WnFZHv.

I hope this post has made it more than clear that everyone will be welcomed to join our server--come slay some dragons with us, and be a part of our rapidly expanding community!

[Cominon]

I have been playing on Gates of Time for the past week or so and have had a great experience so far. I transferred from another server and the transition was as smooth as it could be. I have not experienced the issues others are complaining about in this thread. The staff has been more than helpful with any requests I have made. Honestly, considering that the server itself is only about 2 months old, it is extremely well put together. I transferred from a server that was 2 years old and I didn't realize how many things they had wrong until now. Now, is it 100% perfect and with out bugs? Of course it isn't! Which server is completely without bugs? Yet, the staff is attending to bugs as fast as they are able to. Bug reporting also comes down to the community itself getting reports in and helping by doing what they can do. Which is also happening here.

If you like old content with some QoL improvements from later expansions, then this is would be a good server for you. The QoL features really help for those of us that can only get a few hours in to play here and there. Everyone has things going on in their RL and this server is out to help in any way they can. They also are asking for input from the server population itself rather than just doing what they want (still, it is their server and they would have the right to do that if they wanted).

Give it a try!

Just don't expect to be able to say you have 10 fungi tunics and the staff will just give them to you... (and don't get all pissed off and make fake posts when you get denied)

[mjbcb0717]

I'm cornfused on how the whole transfer works so you can transfer from any server? Or just legit/live like one?

[sunbeam]

What can anyone tell me about trade skills on this server?

It's not like I want to be a trader mogul or something, but I like to do quests.

And a surprising number of quests, and some very good ones, require trade skills.

Now most people are familiar with EQ trade skills, in particular the "classic era" versions. So everyone knows what it is like to level these up, with the dependencies on other trade skills, no bazaar with a lot of other crafters, and people putting up materials for sale.

Plus I plain just don't want to spend 800 hours or whatever getting carpal tunnel, and leveling up enchanters and whatnot, so I can make Earrings of the Solstice.

So what can you tell me about this?

[eldarian]

Well the mass Trade skill combine works 20 stacks of silk make 10 silk swatches with 1 click! Currently we are on Luclin. and as you know there are a bunch of quest, Coldain Shawl Coldain Ring, Earing of Ver. We even have a player base averaging of about 85 people during prime time. So our community is there. I hope you give us a shot.

Anubis

[clobby2]

FYI the server is ending its alpha stage and therefore character transfers will end June 14th.

[sunbeam]

Originally Posted by clobby2

FYI the server is ending its alpha stage and therefore character transfers will end June 14th.

I wasn't real sure on the rules for that reading your site.

For example I have a 65 mage with essentially maxxed AA, and gear we wouldn't want to talk about, including having done the epic quest.

I also have other chars on servers like Stormhaven, where they have a totally different approach to things like gear than other servers.

Also thought of something else I'd like to know the answer too, since I mentioned mages.

Cazic's Deathtouch is something that can be dealt with. Same with Golems in that zone.

When you start trying to do PoSky, which is absolutely needed for some classes' epics, that is a whole other kettle of fish.

So do you nerf those deathtouches? The Avatar of War was soloed a long time before anyone started puttering around PoSky doing things alone or boxed on live.

No one really wants total EZ mode. But a raid force of 40 or 50 people just isn't in the cards on most servers. And I think that's what you would need for PoSky. And while an SK or even necro could make a decision that the epic isn't worth it for them, a mage just doesn't feel right without the epic pet.

Actually depending on where and what you fought, the epic pet was arguably better than the 61 pets in a lot of zones and situations. Wasn't until the 65 pet that they were surpassed for sure.

[Cominon]

Hey Sunbeam, I may be able to help answer a couple questions for you. Please note that I am not a GM or involved with the server beyond being a regular member of it. So please, Vack or Odin or anyone more versed than me, step in and correct me if I am wrong.

As far as I know, we have not gone to level 65 yet so you would be set to level 60 if you transfer. As long as your gear was era appropriate then you should receive everything. If it is something custom that was made by another server, it would most likely not transfer. My personal example is I had a pet clicky on my characters that was made by the server I transferred from. This was not transferred with my toons. It's not a big deal, so I am not worried about it. However, I had a gnome illusion clicky that was custom that did transfer.

PoSky - I do not think they are nerfing any content like that. There is a guild on the server that can field a 40-50 man raid force at this time and has been to PoSky in the past. I am not sure if they have done it lately. Other guilds are already starting to form on the server as well. I am sure as the population grows, there will be more and more people wanting/needing to go to PoSky and beyond to get epics done.

I guess the main thing is the server wants to keep raid content and the like as normal as possible. The main QoL things really focus on things like tradeskills and things that would otherwise give you arthritis rather than making the actual content easy.

Once again, anyone please correct me if I am wrong. Just trying to help.

[Geddar]

I've been on the server for a few weeks now and it's great!

Not sure where the p99 thought came from. I know our guild recently picked up a warrior that xfer'ed from p99 and he's been great. There was a guy who was assumed from p99, because he was making comparisons, that was trolling and acting like an ass in ooc - I haven't seen him sense so assume he was banned. But that had nothing to do with what server he was from, just that he was an ass in general.

QoL is great and generally people will go out of their way to help one another.

Raids are not tweaked to be solo'able. If you wanna kill AoW etc, you're gonna have to field the appropriate raid.

@Bugs, the GM staff has been clearing those up quickly. Obviously with a new server they are found, reported, and cleaned up quick as they can - they are after all human, with lives/jobs outside of helping to run the server. But, the GM's have made themselves very available to the server community.

I'd like to see many more people head on over - I always need people to blow things up for

-Driz

[Modrod]

This server is great & ran by some really good peeps. With all new servers their are some issues but GM's are working hard as well as a great community so far helping with any bug reports. Sure some class in-balance & qol mechanics make it abit easier then other servers but POP release should fix most of that as well as some 'polls' being taken for 'players' point of view. I have not seen any lag thus far which is sweet. ( those haters posting here smell like trolls from another server with their feelings hurt btw)

[Ikubi]

checked out this server last week after being approached by someone on the Project 2002 server via tells, who asked me to come give it a try. My first impressions:

- Character Transfers are a terrible idea, since you can not only transfer NO TRADE items, but any item you want, which leads to people transferring multiple same items on all of their different characters. As a result of that, there is practically no economy, and there was already big controversy about people doctoring up their character export files. Also, it leads to people not experiencing the (mostly broken) content from level 1 to 59.

- Tons of inaccurate data and other problems. Many of which have been reported, and have been shrugged off with reasons like 'working as intended'. They recently announced a new term called 'time touched' which basically is a universal excuse for leaving broken content (spawn times, wrong stats on NPC, wrong drop rates etc) unchanged

- Super low population. The only reason you see the amount of positive testimonials here is that every single person who plays there is shilling for the server here on the eqemu forums

- Front page, bug report templates and many other things are directly ripped off from the server I usually play on (project 2002). Furthermore, they didn't even proof read it or remove the information which is incorrect (compare http://p2002.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3215&p=17331 http://p2002.com/ etc)

- Patch notes appear to be written by a person with the maturity level of an 8 year old - Which goes hand in hand with their questionable 'fixes' to raid content and questionable 'non fixes' to everything that is broken

- The people who run the server were run off their old server by another guild, after having failed to compete and beat simple Luclin encounters. As a result, the content on GoT was immediately nerfed down to a level that makes it beatable by the people who failed it on the other server. Don't expect this server to be at all challenging.

- Server runs on an almost unmodified version of the eqemu codebase, same goes for the database which is riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies, as anyone, who has hosted his own server before, knows. When people point out these inaccuracies, or point out non era specific features that completely change the game, those things are being sold as deliberate QoL features. When in reality, most stuff remains unchanged because the developers are either too lazy or too incompetent to fix/change them.

- There are better servers out there for the same content and/or client. Vegarlson's Asylum (https://www.vegarlson-server.org/index.php?topic=165.0), Project 2002 (http://p2002.com/), TAKproject (https://www.takproject.net/), etc, with more skilled and dedicated developers who actually want to recreate original EQ mechanics, and have a population of more than 30 to 50 total players.

Bottom Line: I will check this server out again in a half a year. But the fact that with the server being in its current state, they are already moving from alpha to beta, that is a really bad sign for the future. Wish the people the best of luck but the server (at least in it's current iteration) is not for me.

[mjbcb0717]

[QUOTE=Ikubi;254816]checked out this server last week after being approached by someone on the Project 2002 server via tells, who asked me to come give it a try. My first impressions

They are trying to fish other servers? Tisk tisk.

I played here a few days and learned a few things 90% of the server are all friends from another server and won't really offer help unless you know someone.

Only reason this server has a high pop 30-60 people are because they keep toons logged in to make it seem popular. Found this out after half the server was sitting in pok at guild lobby entry not moving for hours or the whole day. Other then that I found it dead an no one to group with.

Some people are vary rude asked for buffs one day in ooc and was told to *shut it* was trying to find out info on the server as the site does not really specify what this server is about and was told to * play and find out for myself* putting it nicely With this.

Everyone was already 60. 3 days after server came out and had BIS gear what's the point in playing lol the idea of transfers is dumb makes the server pointless.

I don't know why we have servers like this anymore.

[AlmostUnreal32]

Originally Posted by Ikubi

checked out this server last week after being approached by someone on the Project 2002 server via tells, who asked me to come give it a try. My first impressions:

- Character Transfers are a terrible idea, since you can not only transfer NO TRADE items, but any item you want, which leads to people transferring multiple same items on all of their different characters. As a result of that, there is practically no economy, and there was already big controversy about people doctoring up their character export files. Also, it leads to people not experiencing the (mostly broken) content from level 1 to 59.

- Tons of inaccurate data and other problems. Many of which have been reported, and have been shrugged off with reasons like 'working as intended'. They recently announced a new term called 'time touched' which basically is a universal excuse for leaving broken content (spawn times, wrong stats on NPC, wrong drop rates etc) unchanged

- Super low population. The only reason you see the amount of positive testimonials here is that every single person who plays there is shilling for the server here on the eqemu forums

- Front page, bug report templates and many other things are directly ripped off from the server I usually play on (project 2002). Furthermore, they didn't even proof read it or remove the information which is incorrect (compare http://p2002.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3215&p=17331 http://p2002.com/ etc)

- Patch notes appear to be written by a person with the maturity level of an 8 year old - Which goes hand in hand with their questionable 'fixes' to raid content and questionable 'non fixes' to everything that is broken

- The people who run the server were run off their old server by another guild, after having failed to compete and beat simple Luclin encounters. As a result, the content on GoT was immediately nerfed down to a level that makes it beatable by the people who failed it on the other server. Don't expect this server to be at all challenging.

- Server runs on an almost unmodified version of the eqemu codebase, same goes for the database which is riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies, as anyone, who has hosted his own server before, knows. When people point out these inaccuracies, or point out non era specific features that completely change the game, those things are being sold as deliberate QoL features. When in reality, most stuff remains unchanged because the developers are either too lazy or too incompetent to fix/change them.

- There are better servers out there for the same content and/or client. Vegarlson's Asylum (https://www.vegarlson-server.org/index.php?topic=165.0), Project 2002 (http://p2002.com/), TAKproject (https://www.takproject.net/), etc, with more skilled and dedicated developers who actually want to recreate original EQ mechanics, and have a population of more than 30 to 50 total players.

Bottom Line: I will check this server out again in a half a year. But the fact that with the server being in its current state, they are already moving from alpha to beta, that is a really bad sign for the future. Wish the people the best of luck but the server (at least in it's current iteration) is not for me.

Im sorry to hear that Lance :(

[Felouire]

Originally Posted by Ikubi

- Character Transfers are a terrible idea, since you can not only transfer NO TRADE items, but any item you want, which leads to people transferring multiple same items on all of their different characters. As a result of that, there is practically no economy, and there was already big controversy about people doctoring up their character export files. Also, it leads to people not experiencing the (mostly broken) content from level 1 to 59.

I can definitely respect your opinon on this. Thank you!

Originally Posted by Ikubi

- Tons of inaccurate data and other problems. Many of which have been reported, and have been shrugged off with reasons like 'working as intended'. They recently announced a new term called 'time touched' which basically is a universal excuse for leaving broken content (spawn times, wrong stats on NPC, wrong drop rates etc) unchanged

Many have been reported? I think our bug forums are maybe a page or two long and quests have zero reported. Remember, this is a brand new server. There WILL be bugs and there WILL be problems. Yes, there have been situations that have been adressed as QOL and working which include tradeskill window working as originally intended instead of point and click like p2002 but thats what the server wants. I think its unfair to tell a brand new server it has a ton of inaccurate data and other problems and personally feels like an attack rather than criticism.

Originally Posted by Ikubi

- Super low population. The only reason you see the amount of positive testimonials here is that every single person who plays there is shilling for the server here on the eqemu forums

Super new server and Pretty sure every server does this and its encouraged....by every server.

Originally Posted by Ikubi

- Front page, bug report templates and many other things are directly ripped off from the server I usually play on (project 2002). Furthermore, they didn't even proof read it or remove the information which is incorrect (compare http://p2002.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3215&p=17331 http://p2002.com/ etc)

Sure, P2002 had a great format for their bug reports and their front page for quick info. I think the team did a great job to create a quick page to say, "Hey! This is what this is! Come play!" and we all applaud them for their work on creating a great template for bug reports. We wanted to continue this great work with our server and seeing as we are coming from a similar fomat not only server atmosphere but server info i wouldnt see why this would be a surprise at all. As far as it not being proof read and having inaccurate info with no examples being given i again feel like this is more an attack than criticism.

Originally Posted by Ikubi

- Patch notes appear to be written by a person with the maturity level of an 8 year old

i again feel like this is more an attack than criticism.

Originally Posted by Ikubi

Which goes hand in hand with their questionable 'fixes' to raid content and questionable 'non fixes' to everything that is broken

Give me an example please and submit a bug report!

Originally Posted by Ikubi

- The people who run the server were run off their old server by another guild, after having failed to compete and beat simple Luclin encounters. As a result, the content on GoT was immediately nerfed down to a level that makes it beatable by the people who failed it on the other server. Don't expect this server to be at all challenging.

The people and guild frankly who were "run off" had issues with the current establishment and decided we wanted to create a different atmosphere server. Did we create a big firestorm leaving the server? No, we actually communicated this with GM's consistently and there has been a zero tolerance policy on our server that we will not be "server bashing" I hope you respect that and continue this on your own posts and server.

Originally Posted by Ikubi

- Server runs on an almost unmodified version of the eqemu codebase, same goes for the database which is riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies, as anyone, who has hosted his own server before, knows. When people point out these inaccuracies, or point out non era specific features that completely change the game, those things are being sold as deliberate QoL features. When in reality, most stuff remains unchanged because the developers are either too lazy or too incompetent to fix/change them.

Again, NEW server man. yes most of its unmodified because....its new. To also go as far as saying the developers are too lazy or incompetant feels AGAIN! like an attack rather than criticism.

Originally Posted by Ikubi

- There are better servers out there for the same content and/or client. Vegarlson's Asylum (https://www.vegarlson-server.org/index.php?topic=165.0), Project 2002 (http://p2002.com/), TAKproject (https://www.takproject.net/), etc, with more skilled and dedicated developers who actually want to recreate original EQ mechanics, and have a population of more than 30 to 50 total players.

There are absolutely better servers. We are new developers and want to create a fantastic community. I feel like you are constantly attacking the server and are looking to place blame or create a firestorm.

Originally Posted by Ikubi

Bottom Line: I will check this server out again in a half a year. But the fact that with the server being in its current state, they are already moving from alpha to beta, that is a really bad sign for the future. Wish the people the best of luck but the server (at least in it's current iteration) is not for me.

Bottom Line: I hope you do check us out again in 6 months but the fact that you are judging a server on its current state when its brand new and consistently attacking its staff as stated in almost ALL of your points is a new low. I wish you the best of luck with your server choice and hope we can continue are strive for a great server!

[zeonick]

So, I am not involved with the development of the server in anyway, but I did transfer over from p02 with the guild Noble Heros.

Yes, the community is 95% made up of those who transferred from p02, so you will see a lot of AAing/raiding at level 60. That's just the reality right now. That doesn't mean we won't be welcoming and helpful to new players. In fact, please feel free to send me a message if you need help with ANYTHING! I love helping new players.

Also, people have mentioned nerfed content. Raid content here is fully unnerfed and requires a raid force (someone mentioned raiding as a trio in cloth, this is pure slander, that person has never raided here). Some encounters are currently needing work, but this server is new, lots of things need a little work(and will be fixed promptly).

I don't think any of the posts on here are trying to be misleading - the server does have a vibrant community, because it is primarily populated by our guild, which does have a great community! If you are on the "outside looking in" you may not see that, so I for one will be doing my best to be inclusive and helpful to new players, and I know my guild mates share that sentiment.

I could go on and on addressing the points people have brought up, but I wont. Come check the server out if you are at all interested, but know you will see high level characters. This isn't a "fresh launch" server like Agnarr or anything. Having said that, please feel free to reach out to me if you would like assistance starting out!

EDIT: First post, wooo! Haven't posted here since making my p99 character years and years ago, but feel free to check me out on p02/GoT forums to see that I am active in my community.
EDIT2: oops, this wasn't the account I made my p99 characters on. Oh well