Server stats

[Elmarnieh]

Just wondering what EQ is running on considering stuff today is a bit beefier than back then. Was thinking of trying to host something for my friends and I for bsing on and I have an old Sunfire t2000 was wondering if that would be enough for limited zone and playerbase.

[nerdvsgeek]

If you look at the livestream a few weeks back, I asked Rogean about specs of the current server base and while he kind of avoided a detailed answer for Project 1999 he did state that many people run small servers inside virtual machines.

If you're not looking to host more than a few dozen people, that should be able to do it.
I'm looking at possibly doing something along the lines of Project 1999 (only going to POP without the damned books).

[Brynnag]

(only going to POP without the damned books).

Then whats the point?

[Rararboker]

Then whats the point?

Every part of PoP that wasn't trash? Use your imagination.

[Elmarnieh]

Great thanks. I doubt it would even reach a dozen people.

[nerdvsgeek]

Then whats the point?

We're quickly reaching the point where this would better off in the "Off Topic" section.

The point is simple... when people talk about "Classic" on here they're talking about one of two things. They are either talking about the original game of EverQuest - and by extension Kunark + Velious - or they're talking about aspects of the game that mesh with the design and philosophy that was behind the original EverQuest.

1) Content is king
2) Games that are truly challenging are truly rewarding.
3) There needs to be balance between risk and reward.
4) You need downtime in the game to encourage social bonds.
5) Actions should have meaning and consequences.

These are not the reasons I started to play on Project 1999, but they are the reason I kept coming back. I think those are the essential elements of the game and if you have them covered, you have a solid experience for your players. I do not believe that Nilbog simply means "X" expansions meaning Classic, but content that keep in accord with those principals.

Back to Planes of Power... That expansion had no real content for low level players and because of this the portal stones to move from starting zones to advanced zones were not necessary and violated several of the design/philosophy axioms of the original EverQuest expansions. The foundational experiences of characters were cheated with the portal stones - you want a Troll but don't like Innothule? No problem, just take a portal stone and go to someone else's starting area. No risk for a lot of reward.

Most of the time you were twinked and didn't need to loot or sell what the mobs dropped, so you didn't care about that. If you did, you could just magically zip up to PoK and sell to halfling merchants who didn't care if you were a halfling-baby eating troll.

No matter how many halfling babies your Troll destroyed, the halflings in PoK simply didn't care one whit. This broke the axiom that character actions should have meaning and repercussions. This also trivialized the content that was intended to be a formative experiences of Trolls.

There's a lot of content within Luclin/Planes of Power that doesn't break these axioms or designs, but the damage done to the lower end of the game with the quick travel, social forming, the important aspect of actions having consequences wasn't immediately noticed by many at the time. It had long term effects on the rest of the game and now you have a live version of the game that is overfilled with mage-bot armies all driven by one person... (e.g. current Live and Ragefire progression servers.)

I do not believe there's enough content in Velious to keep people actively engaged without attracting the worst of the worst - we see a lot of that in game now with Kunark being the state of end game for Project 1999 for years. This is where I think Luclin/Planes of Power content could be utilized. Luclin/Planes of Power also had elements that were in accord with those elements that are the reasons most of us play here and also added to the enjoyment of the game. There's no reason this content can't be curated and the preserve the original essence of EQ within them.

I've started setting up a test server where I can play with this idea. If I can get some of my thoughts working, I'll open it up to others and see if they like it...

Note: I mean no disrespect to the noble Troll community of Norrath, no, no ... it was just an example. Eep! Don't eat me.

[Clark]

Hefty post whoa.

[gloine36]

You could change POP and make it lower level. You could put faction into it. You could remove or add anything you do not like. There's a lot that could be done with the code to make an EQ game that embodies classic EQ, but yet is a different game with different loots, spells, quests, etc.

You would only be limited by your imagination and coding abilities.

[BrandeX]

You don't really need to "code" anything related to your examples. All of the things you mentioned can basically be simply edited by anyone in the database tables.