Consider...Al'Kabor

[SowIsLifeSowIsLove]

This is, I guess, a recruitment post. But honestly I kind of like where Al'Kabor is at as a server. I've /waved hi at Sir Lucan several times. He has a good life here - plenty of time for wife and kids. From what I can tell Nagafen and Vox get a chance to bang and aren't perma killed by the main guilds' kill force - leveling guilds (Nephilium, which I'm a part of) have a chance to kill them.

However, Al'Kabor does deserve a larger population. To be honest, I wouldn't want it to get to p99 status, seeing what has happened to the server and economy, but I would like to see more people there. You can take a look at the forums: their staff and developers are very active and listen to the community (though they do have a job and that's to make the server like it was on the original Al'Kabor server - EQ Mac - you can play with a PC though.)

Starting out for me was pretty cool. I posted that I was thinking of joining and was welcomed with many responses to help me get started and some info about the server (there are cool newbie armor quests on this server that you can do to start out, link to my forum post http://www.takproject.net/forums/ind...e-server.6493/) Since then I've met some cool people and had some help along the
way. There was a plethora of people happy to help me out and get me started with some spell money and hand me downs. I can't tell you how many times I've seen higher ups /ooc for free items, as well as "come loot this if you can, it's rotting". And from what I can tell there is little to no MQ market.

So far I've really enjoyed my time there. It's not for everyone, especially right now with a lower population (looks like 150 logged in at peak?) So you have to be willing to solo for a bit or box (3 boxes max + 1 flagged as trader if you want to keep a trader active
in bazaar) If you do solo though, most are welcomed into a 3 box group no problem. I've never been a boxer so this is a new experience, and I'm having fun with it as a new challenge.

To give you an idea of the major raid guild, they are doing VP right now. Kunark is the furthest the server is at, with Velious starting up on the 21st of September (big GM event planned.) The server will eventually end at PoP, which I'm super stoked about. I
enjoyed my times in Luclin and PoP and can't wait to relive those again... not to mention AA's will be available once Luclin hits.

TL;DR (which is still kind of long...)

Pros:
- You can probably pick a name you'd like to have for your
toon. Server accepted my toons names right off the bat.
- It's mirrored from the EQ Mac server but you CAN play on a PC.
- PoK is up with all books active except Velious, so is Nexus.
- Low server pop, usually most camps are open, have your pick.
- Very active server devs and staff that listen to their population.
- From what I've seen, there is a nice relationship between guilds on
server, some things aren't contested and lower end guilds do have a
chance at some raid targets
- Newbie armor quests (these are fun)
- Welcoming group of people
- Bazaar (this is subjective I guess)
- 3 box MAX (again subjective)
- Velious starting on 9/21, server will eventually goto PoP max, AA's will be available in Luclin
- Serverwide Auction and OOC
- No MQ market.
- Very little bottleneck on epic quest mobs
- A server wide 20% xp bonus
- Focus effects are already implemented (Good or bad I guess for some? From what I've read, and I'm not a computer guru. The server uses a PoP based client, so things like focus fx are already in, and Chardok 2.0 is in etc.)
- An alleged raid rotation monitored by staff


Cons:
- Boxing, I'm enjoying the challenge but honestly wish it was a like p99 blue w/ regards to no box and went all the way to PoP.
- Low server pop, means you pretty much have to solo/box or don't mind grouping in a group of 4 (you plus some guy 3 boxing)
- EQ Mac has some weird quirks that were different from live
--- No mouse wheel scroll out
--- No cycle through NPC's (though, you can cycle between last two targets)
--- No coloring pet text/dmg
--- Cannot see raw mana value
--- 1 Hotbar, 10 keys, no extra
- No /hidecorpse looted, however /hidecorpse all/none works
- Economy...although there are usually a decent amount of traders (allowed to have a flagged trader active while you 3 box) in the Bazaar, mid lvl gear just really doesn't get sold, though with that being said, the ability to 3 box lets you go camp pretty much any of the gear you want, you just might have to wait until you're 3 box is of level to camp it.

Well, whether you've been thinking about leaving p99 or not, for AK or not, hopefully this was informative for some of you. I've had a great time and like what the server is about and wanted to share my exp with my old fellow p99ers. If any AK'ers read this and see something inaccurate please chime in. My goal was to be honest and share what I've experienced thus far on AK, while still having p99 fresh on my mind. If you come on over look me up on Montague, Tadmor, or Katatonic. I'm in no way rich on this server but plenty have helped me out and I'd like to pay it forward in anyway I can.