Shards of Dalaya

[Grubbz]

Making a new 2 box on this customized everquest server. Anyone who wants to try it out can head to shardsofdalaya.com and download there patcher. Maybe if there is enough interest (18 people including or not including boxes) we can make a progression type guild.

If anyone decide's that they want to give it a shot drop a message below or hit me up with a pm.

[Grubbz]

War/Druid Combo made, hit me up in game.

Grubbz/Atraal.

[Swish]

2 box

http://media0.giphy.com/media/mClnbSWndssoM/giphy.gif

Also, any MQ prevention/detection?

[Millburn]

Shards of Dalaya is legit as hell. I played there for quite a few years during the TU era. We even got into Inner Sanctum all by ourselves without help from anybody, unlike Iratus Lepus(lol old grudges die hard).

I thought about coming back a few months ago but then I found out Tarutao is like head GM or something over there. No thanks.

[Tongpow]

yeah Tarutao is fucking terrible

he loves tradeskills enough to kill an entire class (ranger)

[Swish]

I like to look up what's going on elsewhere...maybe this'll answer a few 50/50 questions:-

Prime time evenings, I see 130-160 on at times, but overall it's way less than a few years ago. You really notice it if you play anyone under 65. The other night I was trying to get people together for a simple map in the 50-59 range... there were only 8 people total in that level range (this was about 9 or 10pm ET which is usually a fairly "busy" time in game).

Some of the oldest members there have a 2005 join date. Has the server been up 9 years?

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j125/luciferblack/games/SOD/screenshots/you-died-x2.png

wut?

population decline has been pretty steady since 2009, and here is why i think it is:

1) no one knows about this game. the vast majority of people in the emulated everquest scene use eqemu, and we do not use that client and are not on that little server list that everyone sees when they log into project99 or PEQ or EZserver. the effort required to find this game, download the archaic client, jump through all the hoops etc deters people. i think this is the biggest problem by far, because a higher population would help the next 2 things:

2) "unpopular" dev decisions. i'm trying to be diplomatic here, but i think it's undeniable that some people have quit the game due to various nerfs of the past few years: exp, items, pets, riposte, crystalis, marza, etc. the list goes on. just to give two simple examples, although there are many - there are zero tier 13 items with a Bane on them, except a tank helm with humanoid monster. six encounters, 30+ items, and it's been this way for a year now? - another is blazewind gloves: received the following nerfs: -2 fire damage | -15 h2h mod | proc changed from a very good pbae to very bad single target DD. the item is now worse than silence, an item from four tiers lower. it has remained this way for a year now? i'm sorry, but these are things that would take fifteen minutes to fix, and do SO MUCH to improve goodwill with the playerbase, but almost seemingly in a stance of defiance, on we go.

3) stagnation. the release of ikisith was amazing, all this new content to explore, but since then... most of the devs moved on, most of the new devs have given up due to various frustrations with script learning or the tedium or the politics, whatever.
overgrowth was a big deal but due to drama a lot of it remains unfinished and was nerfed to an incredible degree.
thaz was a big deal but was and still is incredibly broken and unfinished, well over a year after it's release.

i hope things change, i enjoy this game a lot and i would like to see it return to prosperity, but first we need to accept that the current path is not working.

I tried EpicEmu, I was skeptical but I gave it ago. I'm now more skeptical than ever about trying anything else, and their forums speak volumes about the box.

[Tongpow]

Has the server been up 9 years?

something like that, server used to be called Winter's Roar until a C&D from sony so if you count both of them as the same server then yeah

[Grubbz]

server has good and bad things about it, thats granted but if your looking for a fresh take on eq you should give it a shot.

i personally think sod has sooooo much stuff to do it would literally takes years to do it all. not to mention if enough people start playing we coul have our own in house guild.

[Somekid123]

3 months prior to Pro99 official release [2009?] I had been playing SoD for about 2-3 years. Had a 65 druid with 300+ AA's, consider'd "Tier 8" at the time in Revelation name was Tikal.

Game was fun at first since you got to see old classic zones but also newer zones with a twist. Plenty of custom quests you can go do, lots of raiding but it seem'd you were either a 65 with no raid guild or in top dog.

There is many many boss mobs that are classic version of Lodizal eventually become 2 mannable or soloable by many classes, either on X hours of X day spawns typically all killed on repop time and timers kept due to "Charms" that were anywhere from 1 plat - 1.2 million plat which ruined the game by the constant lockdown/farming of anything decent.

Also the top guild there I cant recall at the time I wanna say Twilight Underground? There leader was the original creator of SoD or head Dev not sure, he'd go ahead and tell them what nerfs/changes happened to updated encounters constantly giving them the edge over other guilds if there gear wasn't enough.

Don't recall why I quit, was before there SoD version of Kunark came out, Ikisith or whatever. I talked to a pal who continued playing it he said it was directed towards the raid scene, lots of "flagging" requirement similar to elemental planes.



- Here is my druid and again this was quite a few years ago " http://shardsofdalaya.com/fomelo/fomelo.php?char=Tikal "... look at the gear then, just imagine what AA's/Gear are there now, its like playing live, everything is over-did.

This is my monk which is considered not so good gear. http://shardsofdalaya.com/fomelo/fomelo.php?char=ticallion

-Andain

[Millburn]

^^ Oh shit it's Andain!

Revelation were always good people, glad you found a new EQ home duder.

I was Dainslaif in Ethereal

[Tongpow]

raided till tier 10 or 11 was actually Great when it was Chaotic Winds Vs Exodus for number 2 spot with Twilight Underground(FairWeatherFriends) being 1 CW kinda fell apart after the whole exploiting the shit out of a complicated Marza fight (ForestGloom) for something like 7months? before getting caught http://shardsofdalaya.com/fomelo/fomelo.php?char=Oshieh

[Millburn]

I had to dig super deep to find this screenshot. Probably my proudest moment playing on SoD. I think I was the 3rd person to loot them or something.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c317/UnagiSushi/Glowsticks.jpg

[Grubbz]

For those of u who contacted me about playing SOD go ahead and start leveling, i managed to get my warrior and druid to 12 so try and aim for that. Anyone else who wants to join us just drop a msg or leave me a pm.

[Nocsucow]

haha i remmeber 5 years ago getting banned for asking a few questions in public channel

[Quineloe]

What kind of questions?

[jarshale]

I can't believe this game is still around. The only thing I remember about it from years back was hours and hours of my life wasted fishing for maps.

[Nydosa]

I believe it was more like 2002 when the server started. The 2005 date was under the new name.

If you like P99, and are looking for a spin that feels like luclin/PoP-era everquest (minus quick easy travel) this is a great emulator to check out. It is definitely a dual-box haven, and I'd highly recommend it with my perspective as a player since 2005. You wont find another customized server like this.

This is definitely a game where 1-65 is the tutorial, and at 65 you are at a significant disadvantage. The gains you make for each raid-tier of gear along with AAs makes it a whole new game at those levels.

I'd definitely say to slow down your leveling - half the fun of SoD was the custom content all the way through. Check out the cesspits for the best possible loot before the lock sets in. Also, knock down some adepts for a little challenge and break from leveling.

Some of my favorite parts of SoD (feature-wise):
- Adventure banding (never out-level a friend/alt)
- Treasure maps - very fun for the first time around
- Focus on making limited functionality characters (warriors/rogues) much more interactive
- Melody!

Long live the multiple iterations of EQ that can keep us coming back for more servers with the same textures and basic game-play! :)

[Sobee101]

I have a few lvl 50's its been quite some time tho...

[myriverse]

"You feel bogus..."

WTF?

[Grubbz]

Online again hit me up in game if you plan on starting up.

Grubbz/Atraal 12 war/dru.

[Klendathu]

Server aint so bad as it's made out to be by a few. They do have MQ detection. The lore is extremely well done. They've done a lot considering the client they've been using, and I think they are about to change that anyway.

They have problems there like P99 does here. Devs and Admins get accused of corruption. There is one high tier guild that cock-blocks anyone trying to achieve the same goals. Sound familiar? Yeah, they 2-box. You can say "Shit's not classic, bro", and they will agree. But one thing they don't have is any perceived RMT problem. Maybe because they haven't the playerbase P99 does, I dunno.

I've played there off and on. There are some cool people there, same as here. There are some dicks there, same as here. And unfortunately, the dicks there seem to make a lot more noise than the cool people, same as here. All in all, I would still say give them a shot, you might be surprised. Just go in with an open mind, cause the zones are different, either renamed or relocated. Freeport on SoD is not a starting city, it is a 50-60 zone filled with undead. Unrest isn't even on the same continent.

Bah, TL;DR. It's not as bad as some say, Try it and judge for yourself.

[Tongpow]

They have problems there like P99 does here. Devs and Admins get accused of corruption. There is one high tier guild that cock-blocks anyone trying to achieve the same goals. Sound familiar? Yeah, they 2-box. You can say "Shit's not classic, bro", and they will agree. But one thing they don't have is any perceived RMT problem. Maybe because they haven't the playerbase P99 does, I dunno.




this makes it seem way worse than anything else in this thread, there is no cockblocking from the #1 guild because they are 4tiers higher than the number 2 guild atm and only log on to kill stuff noone else on the server is even keyed for / could kill even if they were lol

there is literally almost more raid mobs than actual people online at peak times so if this guild actually wants to progress legit from tier1 you will have zero problems finding mobs up to kill

http://wiki.shardsofdalaya.com/index.php/Raid_Tiers

[Grubbz]

Up to level 20 on both my guys, gonna be on all night if anyone else wants to run just install the game hit me up.

Grubbz/Atraal.

[BigHurb]

there is help for your addictions just talk to someone people

[Grubbz]

there is help for your addictions just talk to someone people

????? How does this contribute to this thread in any way ????

[Grubbz]

Few more people started up on the server. My guys are around 26 now while everyone else is still figuring out what there going to play. Done for the night will be back in the am.

[Grubbz]

Online again, Currently level 31. Server also has a hardcore mode that gives x5 or x10 exp rates (not 100% sure which it is) but if you die your character is gone for good if thats something that interest you, even has a list of all the hardcore toons on the wiki.

[Grubbz]

Online again, Level 47, Will prob be the last post for awhile since ill be playing SOD full time now. Gonna stop leveling at 55 to do treasure hunting / aa farming / plat farming and adept farming (mini 12 player raids).

Hit me up in game if you start playing.

[Enxienty]

This server still thriving?

[Packet]

Shards of Dalaya is legit as hell. I played there for quite a few years during the TU era. We even got into Inner Sanctum all by ourselves without help from anybody, unlike Iratus Lepus(lol old grudges die hard).

I thought about coming back a few months ago but then I found out Tarutao is like head GM or something over there. No thanks.

I was on Iratus Lepus on live back in the day...

Ole Zebuxoruk Server...

unF

[Millburn]

I was on Iratus Lepus on live back in the day...

Ole Zebuxoruk Server...

unF

Yup! Still has a core group of the original members as well. Man, it's been a long time since I've heard unF haha

[Grubbz]

you know if anyone has any old account there not useing and dont care for you can hook a brother up with some plat, just sayin.