EQ Growth

[Huppy]

This topic is not about any project in particular, but servers, (just an example), like The Firiona Vie Project (and others) can set a precedence for the infinity of time, work and dedication that people like Turmoiltoad and his team put into a project, before it's even ready to launch. Quite often, it goes without a simple "pat on the back", let alone being recognized for their commitment, that my own heart is not even capable of.

Over the years that I've been hanging around this community, I've witnessed many projects, that have had 100's or 1000's of hours put into them, but the rewarding feeling they encounter, is not necessarily all about that infamous "population". Each server dev/owner decides for themselves just exactly what "success" means to them. For some, it may simply be sitting back, taking a look at what they've accomplished, the road it took to get there and all the trials and tribulations they went through to climb that mountain. For others, it could be the excitement of getting past the alpha/beta stage and typing those long awaited words, "Server is up".

I once read a statement from a former server owner, in which he said "Players are toxic". Although I struggle, not to totally agree with him, without trying to stereotype the player community, sometimes a portion of them will not understand why that much time and effort was put into a server. Some can be very unforgiving, selfish or without an ounce of appreciation for the work that has gone into a project by a developer with an unconditional love for what they do. They are not trying to jump into a phone booth and come out wearing a cape, to be someone's hero at the top of the server list. In most cases, what they put into it, was seeded from their own soul.

Each and every one of us, who stumbled across the EQEmulator project, for the first time, began to learn and grow, then learned from each other and continued to learn and grow, not just within ourselves, but as a proven community. Nobody, whether a player or a server/project developer, has ever been immune to asking questions or getting help. The kind of work, time and effort that has been done on these kind of servers, has contributed a lot to helping this community grow over the last 17 years. The collaboration between those server devs, the Emu/PEQ devs and help from players over the years, has brought us all to where we are today. None of us should have to question who we are, or where we came from, in this community.

In a nutshell, all those hours and months of work put into servers like these, both past and present, helped build the foundation we stand on and their work should not go unnoticed. So the next time you look at one of these servers, instead of questioning their work, or looking at it in a condescending way, try letting them know, their work does mean something. I've learned a lot from them.

Thanks!

[chrsschb]

Great post Huppy. Been a long road to get where we are but can't say it hasn't been fun.

As a server owner I've always lived by this: "I'm building the server I want to play, and if other people decide to join me along the way, great!" Doesn't mean I don't take input, feedback or criticisms, but rather that I won't waiver on my vision to create the server I want.

Populations swing, not everyone has the hottest ideas or the biggest communities. Hell even my server I consider a slow burn as I definitely don't prioritize it over my own life. It's a fun passion project that will exist for years to come and people are welcome to come and go as they please. There's a lot of great servers out there!

[Splose]

Frankly over the years the community (at least the players) has changed significantly. Getting back into the game and running a fairly popular server the past 2 or so months I can't remember a time where players were more entitled and unappreciative as now. The best way to stay sane is to ignore 90% of them.

It isn't everybody, and there are still great people around in the community, but man it is super exhausting running a server and dealing with some of these people. People are also super unwilling to read any resource you may put out for your server and then get all upset when you don't answer their generic spam questions that are answered on your discord, website, server greeter, and every 15 mins via announcements.

This is the reason why servers last for a month and server owners just say fuck it.. In the end it is generally a thankless job that you do for free.. takes a special kind of person for sure.

[Huppy]

Originally Posted by chrsschb

As a server owner I've always lived by this: "I'm building the server I want to play, and if other people decide to join me along the way, great!" Doesn't mean I don't take input, feedback or criticisms, but rather that I won't waiver on my vision to create the server I want.

Originally Posted by Splose

Frankly over the years the community (at least the players) has changed significantly.

I agree with you totally Splose, but I also have the same attitude as chrsschb, above. It really does boil down to a "Stand your ground" game server, without stressing yourself out about population. Because of that, some players actually "think" you need them. They believe that you put all that work into it and put that server up just for the bragging rights of a population, but in the end, nobody wins a hero biscuit for it. The only reason it takes a special person to deal with it all, is because most will succumb to that infamous population addiction, much in the same way a player will care about nothing, except getting leveled, forgetting about the rest of the game.

Back before all this online MMO concept, we went to a store, like EB Games, took a box home, opened it up and hoped for the best. If you had issues, your only hope was dialing 1-800 suck-it-up-princess. There was no GM to talk to, no Discord, no in-game complaining or whining. You very simply started the game up and played it.

On EQ live servers, players inherited the right to complain and have a say in what happens to the game, because they pay a monthly subscription for it. But, on these free to play Emu servers, they tend to have similiar expectations and remain just as "needy". Once in awhile, a disgruntled player will donate to a server, with expectations, but sorry, if they are stupid enough to to do that without first knowing whether they are going to like it, or trust it..... 1-800-suck-it-up-princess

In the end, I would encourage any dev to stop worrying about the population. That's the only reason they allow themselves to get stressed out and say "fack it". Guaranteed, if I ever attempt to put up another server, there will be no discord, no gm holding their hands, no talk show host or live question period. There will a website for knowledge and forums to post bugs and issues, and that's it. What's the worst that can happen? No population ? Oh Facking Well! It's mine and It's free!

Anyone starting out, working on a new idea just has to ask themselves one question, right at the beginning. Am I making this server for my own enjoyment or, am I sitting wondering, "What kind of server should I make for the players?" That's for you to decide, but do you really really want to spend months and months, (or years) on a project without ever knowing whether it's going to make YOU happy ? Sounds totally ridiculous to me.

[ChaosSlayerZ]

Originally Posted by Huppy

In the end, I would encourage any dev to stop worrying about the population. That's the only reason they allow themselves to get stressed out and say "fack it". Guaranteed, if I ever attempt to put up another server, there will be no discord, no gm holding their hands, no talk show host or live question period. There will a website for knowledge and forums to post bugs and issues, and that's it. What's the worst that can happen? No population ? Oh Facking Well! It's mine and It's free!

Anyone starting out, working on a new idea just has to ask themselves one question, right at the beginning. Am I making this server for my own enjoyment or, am I sitting wondering, "What kind of server should I make for the players?" That's for you to decide, but do you really really want to spend months and months, (or years) on a project without ever knowing whether it's going to make YOU happy ? Sounds totally ridiculous to me.

THIS /\

I am making server that I will enjoy. And you can enjoy it with me if you want. And I am willing listen to ideas and suggestions, but in no way obligated to apply them.

[chrsschb]

1-800-suck-it-up-princess

Oh how I miss those days


/s

[hayward6]

Originally Posted by Splose

Frankly over the years the community (at least the players) has changed significantly. Getting back into the game and running a fairly popular server the past 2 or so months I can't remember a time where players were more entitled and unappreciative as now. The best way to stay sane is to ignore 90% of them.

It isn't everybody, and there are still great people around in the community, but man it is super exhausting running a server and dealing with some of these people. People are also super unwilling to read any resource you may put out for your server and then get all upset when you don't answer their generic spam questions that are answered on your discord, website, server greeter, and every 15 mins via announcements.

This is the reason why servers last for a month and server owners just say fuck it.. In the end it is generally a thankless job that you do for free.. takes a special kind of person for sure.

One of the biggest draws to Everquest for me over the years, and I'll admit it, I am an old timer, is the aging community. The last couple generations don't want to sit on their hands and wait 8 hours for a spawn, and they often have no idea what it was like in early EQ to sit and meditate back mana before a pull. So in most cases these folks just leave us to our own devices and decide this game sucks... I got into the emulator as a way to run around and explore zones I hadn't yet seen on live, but the ability to create my own content and the tireless efforts by the devs to turn out some amazing work has kept me coming back. The beauty of Everquest and the Emulator is not in the development of the next big draw, but in the fine tuning of something that was great and can be kept great by our hard work. Kid's don't see that.