Stoopid N00b Question: What's the Best (ie. Dev-Desired) Way to Facilitate Change?

[loramin]

As this is my first post ever let me start by saying that Project 1999 is awesome, I'm having a TON of nostalgic fun playing on it, and I'm incredibly greatful to "the devs" for putting the whole thing together and maintaining it (even when annoying stuff like hard drive failures happen). Kudos.

I do have a (stoopid n00b) question though, and as with all stoopid n00b questions please feel free to tell me "you dumb F*ing *OFFENSIVE TERM OF CHOICE* this is already answered in another thread" ;).

My question is this: from the devs perspective, what should the community do to make changes happen to Project 1999? Is posting on this forum the best bet? Private messaging the devs with well thought out ideas? Should people get polls together to show how much support there is for an idea? Or do the devs feel (and they would totally be justified in feeling this way) that they don't want community feedback, so any of the above would basically be a waste of time?

I ask all this because not because I have any particular rules change I want. Rather, I read a lot of posts on this forum that advocate for a rules change (usually, but not always, to raiding), and people get very ... passionate, but it feels like everyone's just wasting time arguing with each other. Of course, online forums will always have a ton of unproductive yelling, but I have to think there's a more productive way to harness all that passion, and channel it towards making Project 1999 better for everyone, so I'm wondering what (if anything) that is.

Or, if the devs really don't want feedback, at least knowing that might save people some stress. Just curious ...

[zanderklocke]

To be honest, not much you can really do.

GMs tend to make changes to the game if it's a bug, something isn't classic, or if it will save them time from dealing with disputes.

We recently got FTE shouts implemented into the game to prevent GMs having to show up at raid targets to determine who had aggro on a mob first.

However, there's always the hope that if you post something on the forums and get enough support behind it, the GMs might take notice. However, I'll say I've played on this server over a year and have only seen variance windows extended, FTE shouts incorporated, and server repops been utilized 3 or 4 times, so don't think that having the community behind you will automatically pop something into the game.

The GMs are already busy and spread thin to begin with anyway. Basically, if it's a feature that will drastically decrease their time spent settling disputes, it might get implemented.

I'd just worry about having fun and getting to 60.

EDIT: By the way, I would discourage sending the developers messages about ideas you have for the game. They are pretty swamped and have very specific ideas of what direction the server should be going. Messages you send to them not related to urgent matters will likely get deleted and be seen as a nuisance.

[LordSterben]

From what I understand, the best course of action is to blackmail the devs by using spreadsheets acquired from Platlord. Create a post in the forums that points out all of the things that are wrong with the server, then promise to expose the people behind it if you are given a high-level RMT'd character. It's ABSOLUTELY IMPERATIVE that you do NOT provide and real/useful information or provide anything of value to the developers. Focus strictly on name-calling, finger-pointing, and make sure that you implicate TMO in every wrongdoing somehow. Keep on top of the thread that you've created for about nine hours straight...keep posting how you will eventually blow the lid off of everything but don't show your hand just yet. You have to make sure you hold on the real dirt until you can leverage it in your favor. If the GMs demand anything, spaz out and call them names and accuse them of being in bed with Platlord, Al Jazeera and Satan. Make a public spectacle about how they don't care about the server.

If that fails (how could it???) then fire up the DDoS attacks.

There's no sticky confirming this, but it seems like the way to go!

[webrunner5]

Nilbog,the head guy, does respond a lot on these threads. He has over 10,000 posts in the forums. But this is his sandbox and he has a goal in mind. This is a lot better server than what you read about in the forums.

So as been said, just try to have a lot of fun on here and help others out. That is pretty much what it is all about. The raid scene is a LONG ways off for you, and if you are a Hardcore player, well guess what? Join a Hardcore guild down the road. It will all work out. :D

[xnolanx]

EDIT: By the way, I would discourage sending the developers messages about ideas you have for the game. They are pretty swamped and have very specific ideas of what direction the server should be going. Messages you send to them not related to urgent matters will likely get deleted and be seen as a nuisance.

[loramin]

Thanks for the responses all; they're more or less what I expected.

I was kind of hoping for a more official response (or a link to a previous one), so that when people are going off on each other unproductively in a thread I could (politely) suggest they follow the dev's preferred practice of ______, but it sounds like there is no such practice, and the best people can do is to argue in forums in hopes that a dev takes notice.

[Elizabetha]

From what I can see over the years: research.

They will respond to guiding the code to as classic as possible. If you see something out of whack, please petition and provide evidence. I've seen them say that many times over the years: give them numbers.

If you're talking about anything but that "towards-classic" goal, then I do not know. I haven't seen that addressed before. If it was, I missed it.

[Orruar]

If you want change, move to another server.

[Sadre Spinegnawer]

Nilbog,the head guy, does respond a lot on these threads. He has over 10,000 posts in the forums. But this is his sandbox and he has a goal in mind. This is a lot better server than what you read about in the forums.

So as been said, just try to have a lot of fun on here and help others out. That is pretty much what it is all about. The raid scene is a LONG ways off for you, and if you are a Hardcore player, well guess what? Join a Hardcore guild down the road. It will all work out. :D

all very true. but not a single player has told me to plan on raiding. that part of the server is fubar'd. But that is a limit of the game itself. Big huge freakin traffic jam at the end game, due to the fact everyone knows the encounters inside and out. Creative solutions emerging from the player base have not been forthcoming, and the server simply has the old zerg guild + batphone = lockdown model of how to play the high end.

My personal solution to the end game -- which is the only chronic problem, imho -- is that end game guilds can only contain their fielded raid force, but that would be a drastic non-classic rule to impose. It would involve breaking up the dominant guilds into smaller guilds, and how in the hell could it be policed?


Just take yer time leveling, and if you want to be a boss, get people to form groups with and go do infrequently used dungeons and just have fun. For example, Cazic Thule is seldom used exp zone. A shame really, because that place can be a real hoot, even if totally maddening when you get healers healing through walls and then the mayhem starts....

[melkortshea]

Basically the goal of the server is to replicate the same game as it was from launch to Velious. As such no ideas will be considered because if its not classic its not going in. Even the features that people hated are implemented in order to create the classic experience.

Most of us like it this way.

There are many things the devs could do that may be cool or neat in some fashion or another but in the end it just turns the server into some custom server and not a classic experience.

Something to consider is that the devs did not launch this game for us all to enjoy. This server is a project that they embarked upon to replicate the classic experience and the fact that we get to log in and enjoy the fruits of their labor is a wonderful side effect.

On a personal note I have found that what has ruined most MMOs over the years is players trying to get Devs to listen to their "Ideas". Its when the devs started to listen whiners and people who claim they know how to make the game better (Not referring to the OP as I am not trying to flame him in any way) that good games went straight to hell.

I am pretty sure the main things devs may want to hear from you is if you found something that wasn't classic like a quest change or something.

[webrunner5]

On a personal note I have found that what has ruined most MMOs over the years is players trying to get Devs to listen to their "Ideas". Its when the devs started to listen whiners and people who claim they know how to make the game better (Not referring to the OP as I am not trying to flame him in any way) that good games went straight to hell.

That is what will probably happen to EQ Next. EQ 1 kissed all the high end Raiders asses and the game went to hell for the average person. I will give Nilbog a LOT of credit for not caving in on the Raid Scene on here.