Promoting Project 1999!

[shadesofjoe]

Hey all:

Been working today on some things to promote the server. I don't see any reason why we can't get this server population to ~2k or so. These are the things I've done so far:

Created a blog: http://backtonorrath.blogspot.com
Created a twitter account: http://www.twitter.com/backtonorrath

I am also working on developing a podcast. This is a bit more tricky though as I would most likely need access to the developers to get juicy tidbits and nuggets for the audience to gobble up. Still, this is a very effective medium to generate and maintain interest in the game and server.

These are some of the strong points I think the server has going for it:

1) It's free! The only cost is obtaining the EverQuest Titanium discs.
2) It's well maintained. Bugs are dealt with. Patches are rolled out on a regular basis. The developers are accessible and in constant communication with the player community.
3) It requires minimal hardware. Today's lower end PCs can still play the game with ease. Hell, the game even runs on a Motorola Droid (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duaJz_RoKh0)!
4) By in large, the existing community is very inviting and eager to help get players acclimated to the game. This is invaluable.
5) The complexity of the game is a selling point. It offers something that most other MMOs these days sorely lack. This is a game you can really invest yourself in and not run out of things to do. Ever.

I haven't decided whether or not to make a Facebook page. Any thoughts on the pros/cons of such an endeavor are welcomed and encouraged.

That's all for now!

[RKromwell]

Hummm, I am conflicted on this one. Telling your buddies who used to play is one thing. Promoting something that SoE could squash like a bug is another.

[Tseng]

Hummm, I am conflicted on this one. Telling your buddies who used to play is one thing. Promoting something that SoE could squash like a bug is another.

^ yea

I'd wait for the green light from the people who run this place before you go full steam ahead with that.

[Rogean]

I'd wait for the green light from the people who run this place

http://www.rogean.com/images/greenlight.jpg

[oldhead]

You think SoE doesnt know about this?

You think that is why its up and running?

I would highly doubt that SoE doesnt know about EQEmu ;p

[Walabaego]

^ yea

I'd wait for the green light from the people who run this place before you go full steam ahead with that.

Yes. It's a great idea but at the same time, could cause some problems real quick if it catches the wrong eye. Something like all this would need to go through Dev's etc for sure.

Edit: Green light was just made! Good luck with the promoting :)

[Rogean]

One condition: Do not post on Official SOE or Closely Affiliated SOE Forums.

[shadesofjoe]

One condition: Do not post on Official SOE or Closely Affiliated SOE Forums.

That should go without saying. But I understand why you have to say it anyway. :)

[Tseng]

Good luck with you efforts then!

[thxer]

I've been tempted to post this on my old guild forums to get some inactive players here with me. The guild is still raiding pretty well and have a section for the old timers who no longer play. Is it bad taste to post this on a guild forum with active players on Live? And if not, is it bad mojo to promote an emu server on the forums of a Live guild?

[Rael]

I've been tempted to post this on my old guild forums to get some inactive players here with me. The guild is still raiding pretty well and have a section for the old timers who no longer play. Is it bad taste to post this on a guild forum with active players on Live? And if not, is it bad mojo to promote an emu server on the forums of a Live guild?

Not really. Say you raid 3 times a week, that still leaves a lot of time to play other games/servers. Plus they're already paying their subscription to SOE so there's nothing unethical about that.

[Malrubius]

I expect P1999 will hit 1k (online) soon after the summer winds down. Then Kunark will simply blow the doors off of this thing.

2k within a year would not surprise me in the least. Keep spreadin' the word.

[Straif]

I'm kind of conflicted about this.

I love P99. I've come to accept the community as it is: with tons of awesome and helpful people and even the handful of douche bags.

My first thought is, a boisterous community would improve the overall classic experience.

On the other hand, with all the end game drama, high end guild bitching, and clashes in general that typically come with all MMO's do I really want an influx of people? I'm not sure what the reaction would be if more people got word of this emulator. The comforting thought is that classic era kept alot of the kiddy bullshit you typically find in today's ez-mode MMO's at bay. But that doesn't mean everyone signing up is going to be a model player and a champion of EQ ethics.

Live had multiple servers, we have one. Double the average game population and realize there is only contested content that's usually squashed shortly after it spawns. Some servers on live (Prexus did anyway) had a community of high end guilds come together to make a rotation list for raid encounters. I highly doubt that will happen if there were more high end guilds to be built. It'll be a FCFS rage fest.

This is just a thought I had. I can't see into the future or predict what will happen but I like this server enough that I've actually begun to care about the community and the people who work hard to run it. Which never ever happened on Live. lol

Change scares me :(

[Overcast]

But if enough were to join - and donate, perhaps another server could 'follow' this one on progression. One at Kunark halfway to Velious and another just starting 'classic' again. Who knows?

I told a friend about it yesterday and he's playing now as well. I see the population swelling everyday.

Yesterday, I told someone how to use a /corpse button to pull a corpse to them - so not all are EQ vets, for sure.

[Dantes]

2k population? Guk, Unrest, and Mistmoore are already crowded as it is. Raid mobs die almost instantly after they pop. Why does everybody think we need 2,000 people on this server? It sounds to me like more hassle (server load) and harder to find groups.

[Malrubius]

2k population? Guk, Unrest, and Mistmoore are already crowded as it is. Raid mobs die almost instantly after they pop. Why does everybody think we need 2,000 people on this server? It sounds to me like more hassle (server load) and harder to find groups.

Kunark

[shadesofjoe]

2k population? Guk, Unrest, and Mistmoore are already crowded as it is. Raid mobs die almost instantly after they pop. Why does everybody think we need 2,000 people on this server? It sounds to me like more hassle (server load) and harder to find groups.

That won't be the case once the new continents open up.

[guineapig]

That won't be the case once the new continents open up.

True... sort of.

Kunark will open at some point late in the year (still unknown). That's 1 continent and many dungeons to be sure.

Velious will be roughly a year after Kunark.

I think the current population will have enough to do split between Kunark and Classic but there is no telling how many inactive players we already have that are just waiting for Kunark. I would say that those innactive players alone could easily bump the 700-800 (peak times) to 1200-1300.

Chances are many of those inactive players are already level 50.
So for a while everyone will be leveling up to 60 but once people get there the end game will be twice as crowded as it is now and who knows how many raiding guilds there will be.

As far as levels 1 - 50 though, Kunark adds tons of great outdoor and indoor options that will make people happy.


It will be interesting for sure! :)

[Straif]

2k population? Guk, Unrest, and Mistmoore are already crowded as it is. Raid mobs die almost instantly after they pop. Why does everybody think we need 2,000 people on this server? It sounds to me like more hassle (server load) and harder to find groups.

Agreed.

As for more servers. There are human beings running this thing. I'm pretty sure they have responsibilities and families. What they do is solely their decision, our experience is at their digression. I can't speak for anyone but I doubt more servers is a part of the game plan. As for donating and contributing, we might as well implement a subscription fee (though legally you probably can't). Not to knock on helping the server out but I'm unemployed, which is the main reason as to why I invest as much time as I do in this server.

For the people who played on Live from Classic through PoP. Contested content sucks ass when you have a lot of people gunning for it. Not even raid encounters but other things as well (i.e. Epic weapon clusterfuck is incoming.)

[Agecroft]

Woo! I've been looking to do something along these lines myself. I try to post the url in a positive way anywhere I can relate it.

I love this server!

[dallammarr]

But if enough were to join - and donate, perhaps another server could 'follow' this one on progression. One at Kunark halfway to Velious and another just starting 'classic' again. Who knows?


I don't remember which dev said it and it what thread, but I could have sworn one said that once this server hits Velious, that they would most likey start a new server starting all the way back at classic to go through the progression again. So you essentially would have to start all over again from scratch to play on the new server. Can any devs confirm this? I cant find the thread/post.

[guineapig]

I don't remember which dev said it and it what thread, but I could have sworn one said that once this server hits Velious, that they would most likey start a new server starting all the way back at classic to go through the progression again. So you essentially would have to start all over again from scratch to play on the new server. Can any devs confirm this? I cant find the thread/post.

I'll look for it later but it wasn't a "likely" event, simply an option. One of many.
They basically can go by anything they want to and are free to change their minds at any time. So even if they did word it differently I wouldn't worry too much about something that would not happen for at least anther 2 years.

[Aarone]

True... sort of.... It will be interesting for sure! :)

Bingo! :D

[mgellan]

As for more servers. There are human beings running this thing. I'm pretty sure they have responsibilities and families. What they do is solely their decision, our experience is at their digression. I can't speak for anyone but I doubt more servers is a part of the game plan. As for donating and contributing, we might as well implement a subscription fee (though legally you probably can't). Not to knock on helping the server out but I'm unemployed, which is the main reason as to why I invest as much time as I do in this server.

It can be done IMHO. I'm pretty sure in the server population there's people who could assist with various aspects of the technical operation of a remote hosted server, have done it before, are knowledgable about running an eqemu, and willing to spend some time doing it. Me for example, but probably there's more :)

Of course, donations would need to be reflective of the costs. When I ran a couple of web servers with a back end database server for a large web event (100hoursofastronomy.org) in a decent data centre last year it cost $410/mo per server with dedicated firewall... plus $349 for one time setup. A more rugged DDOS-resistant firewall might be more. Dunno if they break out the eqemu and database servers right now to seperate boxes but thats $920/mo plus $700 setup... pretty steep just to get another server off the ground.

Content wise I don't see much more load, since the content would be mirrored on the servers. Customer service would need to be beefed up but that could be a guide program IMHO...

Possible, but a pretty sizable initiative. There'd need to be a lot of trust established between the leadership team and the newbies before they'd probably let something like this rip as well!

Regards,
Mg

[mnemonikos82]

Just a friendly warning, if your going to promote p99 don't use copywrited material. SOE gets their panties in a twist anytime someone uses a copywrited picture or video. Other than that, SOE generally hasnt cared at all about EQemu (the exception being Winter's Roar).

[shadesofjoe]

As far as I'm concerned, a server can never be too populated. Once Kunark hits there will be plenty of content for an entire server of players to enjoy and experience. Velious will only add to that.

More people = more groups. More people = better social experience. More people = more different types of character classes, which creates greater diversity in the endgame.

Yes, there will be competition for some spawns. Isn't that part of what makes classic... well, classic?

[Dantes]

You have a very optimistic view my friend. I don't have a problem with the server becoming more populated, I am just really comfortable with the way it is now and I don't see the need for marketing urgency. Nobody knows for sure when Kunark will come out - it's done with it's done... but 2,000 people is a lot of people, even with Kunark.

More people = more waiting lists for groups
More people = more camps taken
More people = more solo casters getting in pissing matches with full groups over camp rights
More people = more overhead, more GMs, more bandwidth needed

I would have actually preferred my live server had only 800-1000 people on it during peak hours back in the day. I'm all for success of P99, donations, etc. I can just see why some people are apprehensive about launching an entire marketing campaign to get more people on here.

[Straif]

As far as I'm concerned, a server can never be too populated. Once Kunark hits there will be plenty of content for an entire server of players to enjoy and experience. Velious will only add to that.

More people = more groups. More people = better social experience. More people = more different types of character classes, which creates greater diversity in the endgame.

Yes, there will be competition for some spawns. Isn't that part of what makes classic... well, classic?

In comparison to what EQ looks like now (TONS of empty and unused content), yes.. filling out zones and having people around to do stuff will be awesome. Competition is fine too, it gives that much more of a special feeling to an item / quest / raid etc. However I am thinking about it because of what was most psychologically damaging in live: ridiculous and painfully long camps / drop rates etc. EQ2 for example is all instanced content, there is a small bunch of contested stuff that normally one or two high end guilds lay claim to. They do this by way of 24/7 call lists. I don't know if people on an emulator will take it to that extreme but it wouldn't surprise me.

The people who have done it know, camping a mobs for hours or even days, or waiting days just to get a shot at the camp blows.

As for diversity, there's already a giant base of people who discriminate about class / race penalties. Plenty of people don't make said classes because of it.

Quality > Quantity, more doesn't always equal better. No one will know how an influx of players will affect the server till it happens. Might blow, might be awesome, we're just gunna have to see what happens.

[HippoNipple]

One more reason why red > blue. Having new people join is never a bad thing on a red server.

[xorbier]

Go for it! btw i find it hard to believe live servers had 2k populations since most zones on project99 are fairly full. Did live servers really have this high of a population???

We could use more for kunark for sure though. :D

[Damaja]

Any promo videos?
I didn't read this entire thread so forgive me if links have been posted. I just got off work and am very tired.

[Pyrocat]

Oh hey we just hit reddit

http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/cs26r/anyone_play_everquest_back_in_the_day_nostalgia/

[Malrubius]

Not sure what a reddit is - but it appears to be down atm.

[BuzWeaver]

One condition: Do not post on Official SOE or Closely Affiliated SOE Forums.

I happened to mention P99 on MMORGP.com, in reference to the article from Ten Ton Hammer and I received a warning PM from one of the MMORPG MODs as well as having the post deleted. Nothing major, but it would appear that leading Gaming sites discourages people from mentioning EMUs.

[Rogean]

Yea some of them don't like it. If you run across that, post here so people know to avoid those forums.

[shadesofjoe]

For anyone living in fear that SOE is going to shut down this server if we promote it, I'd like to refer you to this post by Rogean:

http://project1999.org/forums/showthread.php?t=4095

Their own EULA validates the legal existence of this project.

[shadesofjoe]

Any promo videos?
I didn't read this entire thread so forgive me if links have been posted. I just got off work and am very tired.

There are plenty on YouTube. Search for "project1999 eq" to find them.

I'm looking into getting a domain for my blog and will have a videos section there as well.

I'd like to take some new footage but haven't decided on fraps for ishowu to do it. Anyone have suggestions?

[RKromwell]

Go for it! btw i find it hard to believe live servers had 2k populations since most zones on project99 are fairly full. Did live servers really have this high of a population???

We could use more for kunark for sure though. :D



2K? Try closer to three or four. There were groups in every corner of every zone. Hell, I would get home from work in the mornings and log on and there would be 1800 or so.

[Dersk]

I'm thinking there's a lack of recollection concerning just how many people can fit into places like loio, seb, and chardok. Those can take 100+ players and still have enough mobs to kill people with trains. Kunark itself can handle at least as many people as we have now, and the zones that are already here weren't obsolete with Kunark. If the population doesn't double there will be more gloom and doom posts about how empty zones are.

[Rogean]

Numbers are going back up pretty damn fast.

I see that reddit post has a ton of comments.

Anyone other posts getting a lot of attraction?

[Phelp]

2K? Try closer to three or four. There were groups in every corner of every zone. Hell, I would get home from work in the mornings and log on and there would be 1800 or so.

Servers crashed before 3.6k

For a long time they used to have population count on the server login.

[Rogean]

Another Reddit thread getting popularity:
http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/cvoch/classic_everquest_project_1999_eqemu_server/

Keep it up.

[toyodafenninro]

This is the little write up I distributed to some of my WoW and other MMO friends (who never experienced original EQ) via forums and email.



Reliving The Old Days
or
“The Ultimate TLDR Post Ever” =)

2010 has been a reflective year in gaming for me. It has been 11 years since I first set foot outside a starting city in a massively multiplayer role playing game, a hobby that quickly overtook a passion for pen and paper tabletop gaming. Throughout this decade, I have tried my hand at a fairly broad swath of online RPG’s – having many fun times with many players across the globe. Some of these individuals have become close friends outside gaming, and I value each of them immensely.

Despite the good times, something has bothered me about mmorpg’s (mmo’s) for a good part of this past decade. Call me a hippie, but these games have simply gone much too far in the corporate direction! Now, I know what you’re probably thinking.

“Toyo! Sir! These games have to be corporate, all game companies make money.”

True, but in making a business comparison…some games are more like a mom and pop grocery store, while others are much more like Wal-Mart. Knowing this, I have decided to leave corporate mmo’s until such time that the product cycle repeats itself, cookie cutter and formulaic mmo’s stop making money, and small community focused games begin popping up again. From a business standpoint, this is at least five years away. WoW, with its advertising department trained by the Spanish Inquisition, will be number 1 and subsequently copied and recopied until at least 2015. I’m happy for them, but that’s a LOT of gaming time wasted.

One amazing thing about technology getting cheaper is that it places power increasingly in the hands of the laymen – the weekend warriors of the gaming world. These are the guys and gals famous for creating the “private servers” you might hear about in your current gaming ventures…servers with their own rulesets, bylaws, and direction. I love it.

More people unaffiliated with corporations host private servers now than ever before, and they’re not all about cheating - as you might think. As today’ corporate mmo developers adopt an increasingly formulaic and profit driven structure, old timers are exploring the possibilities of harnessing technology to recreate the gaming days of their youth. I have recently experienced one such effort: Project1999 (P99). This humble endeavor, made possible entirely by the efforts of a few volunteer developers, recreates the environment of the computer game Everquest (EQ) as it existed between the years of 1999 and 2000. I have been blown away and deeply moved by their work. These guys are the real deal. To help see why, a bit of history is in order.

In 1999, a small company called Verant Interactive designed and built the game of EQ. They created the world, the lore, the player classes, the enemies, and everything a player saw or did while in-game. Though the Sony Corporation technically funded Verant, they considered EQ to be a small venture and thusly were uninterested in design or content of the game. Verant’s design style, based heavily on elements of pen and paper rpg’s, required both environmental and inter-player interaction on the part of players. The entire world was an open environment, and each EQ server developed its own way of running things like economies, raids, and dungeon exploration.

In contrast to the modern mmo World of Warcraft, there was no auction house, instancing, or means of quick travel (without help from a transporting class). Put simply, players had to work together or be unsuccessful in literally every aspect of the game. Those who didn’t enjoy the style of the game simply didn’t play it, and because Verant had created the 3d mmo with no knowledge of how much revenue it might generate, generating massive profits never registered on their radars. A game designed without profits in mind…

In 2001, executive control by Sony was asserted and Verant Interactive ceased to exist. Everquest became simply another game on the menu of “Sony Online Entertainment.” Having seen the revenue-generating success of the world’s first 3D mmo, Sony next moved to direct the game using macroeconomics and the pursuit of profits. As such, content was tailored to become inclusive of elements being seen in other rising mmo’s like Dark Age of Camelot and Anarchy Online, ostensibly to net players from these games and prevent anyone from canceling their account in favor of something new.

These elements: instancing, less class distinction through broadening abilities and talent points, centralized point-and-click travel portals, and automated buying and selling through a bazaar window, made the game much easier and more tempting to the potential players turned off by EQ’s initial unforgiving nature. They are all tenets of todays “easy” mmo’s, most popularized in World of Warcraft. It was these Sony-control years that moved EQ from a skill based mmo where items mattered, to an item based mmo where sheer playtime mattered. Anyone with a keen eye for gaming will see this is the prevailing model in mmo’s today.

This is where P99, and other servers like it, come into play. It is provided and managed by individuals who loved the gaming experience of Everquest before Sony took full control. In addition to the gaming content, which has been painstakingly structured to most accurately reflect the original experience, the 2 expansions this server will eventually provide (Kunark and Velious) will be released on the same timeline they were in 1999. In this way, unlike Sony’s “progression servers”, the hardcore powergamers cannot dictate the speed at which content is released by racing to down bosses. Everyone has an equal shot with time on their side, just like it was in 1999. After EQ’s second expansion, Velious, is made available, progression via Sony expansions will cease. At this point, custom content can be added by the developers, content that is in-line with Verant design and vision, without raising level caps and trivializing encounters.

There are additional bonuses of this community. First and foremost, this server is by players and for players. Never will the profits of a publicly traded corporation affect the content of this fantasy game. Secondly, there is only one account allowed per IP address allowed on P99. Any multi-boxing, or one person playing two characters simultaneously, is punishable by an instant IP ban and character deletion. Unlike Sony servers, being able to pay for more than one account, and use 3rd party software to drive them, won’t get you ahead on P99.

Speaking of paying for accounts, the registering of one account for your IP address is free. There is no monthly fee to play, though donations are accepted via paypal to help cover the cost of hosting a server for 1,000 dedicated old school gamers. Another great feature is the lack of cheaters. Because policing a single server with a great presence of both GM’s and volunteer guides is much easier than 25 servers, anyone cheating or using third party programs is quickly caught and banned. Custom code exists to detect speed modifications, warping, etc, and the punishment of instant ban without mercy is severe enough to provide sufficient deterrence.

Those familiar with Everquest might remember “play nice policies” from the live servers, and how they were essentially not enforced. This is not the case on P99. Intentional training, Kill Stealing, Camp Stealing, etc is heavily regulated by the GM staff. Repeat offenses will not only ruin your reputation on this server, but will likewise quickly result in you finding something else to do with your gaming time.
It is very refreshing to play on a server where, especially after the difficult newbie levels are behind you, reputation matters. People know each other, and treat each other with the respect of players who want to stick around. No name change service exists. You cannot transfer to another server. No one wants to be blackballed from pick up groups, and it happens within Everquest. I love that, and I’ve missed it since 2000.

If one defines their gaming experience within mmo’s as enjoyable interaction with other players, whether that interaction is cooperation or competition, this sort of server would be right up their alley. It’s definitely not for everyone, because this game will not hold your hand. You will die, a lot, as a noob. You will lose experience with each death, and if you do not find a high level cleric to resurrect you…you will never get that experience back. Lose enough, and you can conceivably lose your current level. When you die, you will have to go retrieve your body…naked…as all your gear will lay where you fell. You will have a long walk and perhaps a boat ride if you need to get across the world and cannot pay for the services of a Wizard or Druid. You will work for each precious piece of platinum you earn, being broke constantly until around your character’s 30th level. If its player versus the environment you want, with no handicaps, this server will challenge you. Consider yourself warned.

You will, though, find a warm community here. You will find people happy to buff you, group with you, and discuss with you without the mention of achievements or gearscore. You will find a community of players who, if you have what it takes to level up among them, will know you and remember you based on your actions. You will find forums where your friends (and enemies) discuss server happenings. You will be able to be a part of something which has not existed with this degree of authenticity since 1999.

Until the next cycle…

Information can be found at www.project1999.org

Toyoda, Enchanter of Project 1999

[ukaking]

Damn he posted the wrong website addy! LOL

[toyodafenninro]

Damn he posted the wrong website addy! LOL

True, but only on here. In the one that got sent out, it was correct. That addy mistake was the result of a cut and paste I did when posting it to these forums. Several of my friends checked it out via the original with no issues...now if only more of them werent "we need the best gfx" type gamers. Sigh.

[renegadeofunk]

This is the little write up I distributed to some of my WoW and other MMO friends (who never experienced original EQ) via forums and email.

...


Awesome write up! You might want to post this in the comments of that reddit post, or even make a new one.

[Lusst]

I seriously had no idea about Project 1999 until I saw a banner with a link to the site on Youtube after watching some EQ Classic videos.

PS - EQClassic(dot)org - Has anyone even heard of them? If so, how are the feelings towards them? A guildmate of mine is the lead dev over there, and has been working his ass off for about four years now trying to get the game to a running condition.

Having said that, I think I'm going to post a link to this site and possibly Toyo's write-up on my guild's forums, hopefully without pissing off Yeahlight in the process. There are about 200 active members spread out across all MMOs out there, and I'm sure a few of them would be more than happy to give classic EQ a go again.

[ukaking]

You will definitly piss off the devs over at eqclassic. I've been following that project for a few years myself.

[ukaking]

True, but only on here. In the one that got sent out, it was correct. That addy mistake was the result of a cut and paste I did when posting it to these forums. Several of my friends checked it out via the original with no issues...now if only more of them werent "we need the best gfx" type gamers. Sigh.

The write up was awesome and Im glad the link was correct! I also had a long time player from classic back in the day say the same thing about the graphics and how cheesy they were and he couldnt get back into the game like we were in early 2000's. Very disappointing.

[Lusst]

You will definitly piss off the devs over at eqclassic. I've been following that project for a few years myself.

I figured as much - what the hell are they doing over there that P99 did over a year ago? I understand they're coding the game from the ground-up, but I have to ask: Why?

[ukaking]

Brother, Im not sure. The bugs on P99 are so small, I'd rather play now with small differences than wait x amount of years. I am very proud of them and what they are doing. But the few things I miss on Classic EQ, I can deal without to be able to play right now.
I just want to play an Iksar...on the Kunark I remember from 2000-2001. Populated. Alive. Glorious.
SoD dropped the ball on Kunark. Other Emu's dont have the population to make it matter. P99's Kunark will make me weep tears of joy when it happens.