Friday evening and barely hitting over 1000.

[jwargod]

Did something happen? Been off for awhile and got some good time to play again, but not really seeing the same numbers, even pre-velious, play as they did before.

[Terdnado]

Fallout 4

[Pyrocat]

Undertale

[Danth]

Velious burnout is setting in, I think. I suspect some folks forgot that the first expansion to realistically support 5 day a week raiding required spending most of that time in the same zone...over, and over, and over, and over. This applies both to the lower end folks (endless Kael) and the high-end guys (endless Temple of Veeshan). My own friend list, composed mostly of lower-end players like myself, has indeed thinned out a bit lately. "Sick of Kael" is a common refrain. The problems encountered by high-end folks are well-known (just go read the Rants forum to get a taste) and contribute to member churn.

Danth

[wormed]

Velious burnout is setting in, I think. I suspect some folks forgot that the first expansion to realistically support 5 day a week raiding required spending most of that time in the same zone...over, and over, and over, and over. This applies both to the lower end folks (endless Kael) and the high-end guys (endless Temple of Veeshan). My own friend list, composed mostly of lower-end players like myself, has indeed thinned out a bit lately. "Sick of Kael" is a common refrain. The problems encountered by high-end folks are well-known (just go read the Rants forum to get a taste) and contribute to member churn.

Danth

Yup, probably the case. There's no fun or desire when you know Velious is the end of the line. Just the same ol, same ol, ad nauseum. Too bad P2002 is run on such an awful client... and boxing.

[mropey]

Yup, probably the case. There's no fun or desire when you know Velious is the end of the line. Just the same ol, same ol, ad nauseum. Too bad P2002 is run on such an awful client... and boxing.

Who is this Wormed guy that doesn't play anymore?

Btw, need Paladins.

[fastboy21]

two for one lap dance night at the tatas bar.

[SamwiseRed]

velious is a shitty xpac

[Tankdan]

No Velious raid targets are in window, thats 200 bodies.

[Nuggie]

The server's population is on an ever decreasing spiral now, I think. What is to keep people coming back after they have killed ST warders and AoW?

[indiscriminate_hater]

We need a sleeper awakening to liven things up.

[ManuelThePopStar]

The server's population is on an ever decreasing spiral now, I think. What is to keep people coming back after they have killed ST warders and AoW?

Remember, though, that these people farmed Kunark raid mobs for FIVE YEARS NONSTOP

[Invalid_Bard]

Remember, though, that these people farmed Kunark raid mobs for FIVE YEARS NONSTOPKinda makes me sad to read that and realize the truth bomb you just dropped haha!

[Origin]

Remember, though, that these people farmed Kunark raid mobs for FIVE YEARS NONSTOP

heh

[Lune]

Also Kunark pop dropped as low as 450 primetime following the IB ban in 2011, and stayed 450-600 for roughly a year or so before getting to 1200+... all before Velious date was even announced.

I don't think a constant stream of content is why people are here.

[Swish]

omg that low pop toxic server surprised anyone logs in lolol...

sound familiar?

[Llodd]

Remember, though, that these people farmed Kunark raid mobs for FIVE YEARS NONSTOP

Ahh but there was always the velious carrot waiting for them. What have they now? Perhaps some custom content, perhaps not.

The casuals will inherit norrath eventually.

[Swish]

Better to enjoy whats there for months/years than to do everything, get everything, sleep 4 hours a night and burn out.

To that end, why not join a zerg guild and wait months for items :o

[Feanol]

Red99's population numbers have never been more consistent than they are now.

[fastboy21]

I don't think p99 is going anywhere fast...

Obviously, at some points in the server's history their have been marked increases and decreases in population. I think it may actually be true that the historical high point may be behind us (probably Velious launch and the few weeks after). Such is the nature of a server like p99.

Of course, there are reasons to play. Many of us who don't raid at all are perfectly fine with the permanent static nature of things and can continue our social game play experience without even taking much notice to the so called "end game" of Velious. I'd imagine that hard core pixel chasers will find it increasingly difficult to enjoy the game as time progresses without new content to fight over.

Re99 (the next blue p99 server) or whatever they title it will start the cycle all over again. In my opinion, getting 6 years out of classic EQ content (even with all the delays in expac release, DDoSers, raiding disputes, hacking scandals, RMT feuds, etc.) has not only be a victory for Nilbog and Rogean (and their teams), but it has been a whole boat load of fun.

If/When they launch the next server I know I'll be there on day 1 ready to roll. Until then (at least for the foreseeable future), I'm still loving my friends and toons on p99 and having a lot of fun playing EQ and having classic EQ adventures.

[EQJubilee]

The launch of new TLP servers by Daybreak is probably taking a lot of the players. Once those servers get to the expansions that players hate (PoP and past) then people will probably come back here or to the other EMU servers.

[SirAlvarex]

Also Kunark pop dropped as low as 450 primetime following the IB ban in 2011, and stayed 450-600 for roughly a year or so before getting to 1200+... all before Velious date was even announced.

I don't think a constant stream of content is why people are here.

Isn't that about the time some people started doing twitch streams? I remember I stopped playing around the 450 at primetime mark then came back for another go when the pop was around 800. Then it spiked up to the 1200 or so it's been at for a solid year or 2.

I vaguely remember seeing posts of some "popular" twitch streamers and that could have brought in a couple hundred active players.

Regardless, eventually the stream of players just finding out about P99 and wanting to relive the early 2000's will disappear. Because eventually everyone who wanted to relive EQ will have.

I don't think that'll be a problem tho. As long as the admins are willing to keep the servers alive there will be people wanting to play. And I'm sure friends-of-friends-of-friends will join as I've met a few like that throughout P99.

[bktroost]

Things are broken and there is no deadline to fix them. 10th Ring War, though we keep doing it for data, has not had the same issues changed. Mage epic is broken since revamp. NToV has been abandoned by CSR until this week when they announced to us that it would follow normal raiding rules... which no one understands at the moment because people are no longer respecting with no punishment. Such as camping at ZLs or not in zones for planar mobs. Earlier in the week someone pulled a Klandicar and another guild snatched it and killed without FTE and there was no enforcement of rules...the server feels largely abandoned because there is no longer a figurehead giving direction to it. Also, Dain is currently, unclassically spawning on a broken, unwinnable ring war. See here (http://www.project1999.com/forums/showthread.php?t=220783)for details.

None of the bugs are really problems if we know there is a resolution and that the GMs or guides are given authority to punish people abusing them. But its more or less a ghostown.

Without goals and structure it becomes too much hassle with too little hope of a better future. People just give up and walk away.

[wormed]

Who is this Wormed guy that doesn't play anymore?

Btw, need Paladins.

<3

[ronasch]

I already have my 9 and 13 year old son playing, EQ replacement birth rate I score 2.0 woot.

[ronasch]

<3

Most Paladins quit, I know used to be one on live. Shitty class, shitty gear, shitty DPS. Roll any other class and you don't have those issues

[heartbrand]

The content is easy, and once you beat it, you're just playing Barbie doll with your toon with the prospect of no new content ever again.

[ronasch]

The content is easy, and once you beat it, you're just playing Barbie doll with your toon with the prospect of no new content ever again.

I don't think the devs are simply just going to allow p99 to fade away once velious is mastered. Custom content may be a lot more expansive then you think. Their are plenty of things they can do within the Titanium client that can easily be modified to keep people playing and also keep an Original Format.

[wormed]

Most Paladins quit, I know used to be one on live. Shitty class, shitty gear, shitty DPS. Roll any other class and you don't have those issues

I actually love my Paladin. I just went on extended hiatus because of the realization that Velious is it - no Luclin, no Planes, everything is done as a zerg. Not to mention, poopsocking is not fun at 32 years old. The class has nothing to do with the reason why I stopped playing. That may be a reason for some Paladin's, but not mine.

[SamwiseRed]

I actually love my Paladin. I just went on extended hiatus because of the realization that Velious is it - no Luclin, no Planes, everything is done as a zerg. Not to mention, poopsocking is not fun at 32 years old. The class has nothing to do with the reason why I stopped playing. That may be a reason for some Paladin's, but not mine.

well said.

[ronasch]

I actually love my Paladin. I just went on extended hiatus because of the realization that Velious is it - no Luclin, no Planes, everything is done as a zerg. Not to mention, poopsocking is not fun at 32 years old. The class has nothing to do with the reason why I stopped playing. That may be a reason for some Paladin's, but not mine.

well it's not like we were all surprised the server is only going to SoV, we all knew this ahead of time. As for Zerging, that's EQ raiding when u have so many guilds competing. Yeah not everyone gets a trophy after every dragon, but that's life. I would support a server split.

[Fettsack]

saturday evening (here) and 1.200 players online. maybe just a point of view during a to short period of time watching the values. ;)

[fastboy21]

well it's not like we were all surprised the server is only going to SoV, we all knew this ahead of time. As for Zerging, that's EQ raiding when u have so many guilds competing. Yeah not everyone gets a trophy after every dragon, but that's life. I would support a server split.

Support for a server split?

We are less than half what a live server population was on live. Splitting the server to deal with the top heaviness of one aspect of the game (i.e. raiding) would only harm the entire server community as a whole.

Its a static server. No surprises in the content or the game play. Anyone who wants a perma-classic server has to do deal with this reality. P99 stopped "recreating" classic EQ a long time ago---we are in some kind of crazy experiment testing what would have happened on live if the game froze in classic but continued to play on for four years.

There are only two types of folks who will be happy on p99 imo. 1) Those who enjoy the static game (resulting in no new content, crazy economy, crazy gearing, top tier bloating, etc.) for various reasons of their own. And, 2) People who are having fun playing, but will quit eventually when the static nature of the server gets to them.

You want to know the highest population date in P99's life when we look back? It won't be Classic launch, Kunark release, or even Velious release. It will be the day that the next iteration of p99 (re99, etc.) goes live. Folks will come back to play in droves if/when a new blue server opens.

[Nirgon]

The day break servers are bad and you should feel bad


Tons of afks on blue to jack that pop # btw

[Fame]

bunch of ungrateful plebs up in here

[Hroth]

The launch of new TLP servers by Daybreak is probably taking a lot of the players. Once those servers get to the expansions that players hate (PoP and past) then people will probably come back here or to the other EMU servers.

This.

I haven't played live EQ in close to 10 years, but I'll be trying out the new TLP server and consequently haven't had any desire to play P99 in the past week. From what I hear, live may have a lot of issues, but so does P99. The level of mudflation on this server is unreal, both in terms of gear and in terms of how many accounts/characters people seem to have. Plus as a casual player with a family, I have no desire or ability to poopsock or batphone to see raid mobs.

There's a lot of hardcore neckbeards on this server, but I'm willing to bet there's a few others like me out there as well who want to see if the grass is greener on the other side.

[wormed]

The launch of new TLP servers by Daybreak is probably taking a lot of the players. Once those servers get to the expansions that players hate (PoP and past) then people will probably come back here or to the other EMU servers.

Contrary to popular belief, and has been confirmed by polls on these exact forums, there are plenty of people who loved PoP.

[Swish]

how long til Cats on the Moon? that'll keep people motivated :)

[FlipisWin]

Sounds all doom and gloom =(=(

[Ivory]

Support for a server split?

We are less than half what a live server population was on live. Splitting the server to deal with the top heaviness of one aspect of the game (i.e. raiding) would only harm the entire server community as a whole.


Once they create p1999 green.....things will be perfect :D Especially since it will recycle every so often for a fresh start and fresh adventure again.

http://media.tumblr.com/f493270dc431d977ea1ef1146fe8c143/tumblr_inline_mgfacuk12A1qjcpcb.gif

[fastboy21]

Once they create p1999 green.....things will be perfect :D Especially since it will recycle every so often for a fresh start and fresh adventure again.

http://media.tumblr.com/f493270dc431d977ea1ef1146fe8c143/tumblr_inline_mgfacuk12A1qjcpcb.gif

I agree with you. When exactly it should happen is a matter of technical matters (things I know nothing about) and opinion (for me I'd say another 8 months or so to exhaust velious).

[botrainer]

Number of reasons the server pop is dying off.

1. Velious is end of the line.

2. To get any gear on this type of server you have to raid for 3 to 5 months to get 1 great item. Sell your soul to a free EMU server for 30 hours a week waiting to log in at a moments notice gets old for 1 White Dragon Helm or 1/2 NToV item(s) is not as fun as it was on live where you could collect your whole mains loot in 4 to 5 months.

3. Guilds playing by its own rules (see #2 as to why) as rare as the mobs are, the drops are even rarer so no one guild wants to work out a deal to rotate mobs with each other.

4. Broken unfixed quests, items, mobs, drops, etc. One difference from live to here is the staff isnt paid, and Live had many many more patches to fix problems that were simple, fast fixes to keep people on a roll. However, on this server we maybe get 3 to 5 hard resets a year, been nearly forever since we've had a hard reset with so many "pending" fixes ready to go that could make people happier.

5. Policing, this server doesnt have much of it anymore. GM's punishments dont seem to take much of a hold, and repeat offenders never really get tossed from the server for good. (aka the risk of losing an account dont mean much on P99, didnt pay monthly fees or pay to even open an account).

I believe #5 and #4 are the bigger problems that never seem to be addressed to well. With more patches after a number of easy fixes have been completed, and more hard resets (YES LIKE LIVE DID!) would help the players stay happier. Rather then seeing on the forums "Pending Update" for 7 weeks or longer.

Also if offenders on the server are removed and those offenders lose their account and Gms would actively reban returning offenders it would make the server healthier. Right now its a wild west that 70% of the server is not happy with.

I would love it if this server actually applied the Live rules. First time, 7 to 10 days, second time, 10 to 14 days, final time Banned. Currently people can train, and nothing will happen for weeks on end, and IF for the slight chance they do get busted, a GM just asks the guild to leave the zone give up the ONE mob, and the player's account gets 3 day break, which that offender just logs into another toon and keeps playing. Then that offender just puts in a petition to have it removed which you see that toon playing the same tricks the following night. Which I think people are tired of seeing too.

[wormed]

Number of reasons the server pop is dying off.

1. Velious is end of the line.

2. To get any gear on this type of server you have to raid for 3 to 5 months to get 1 great item. Sell your soul to a free EMU server for 30 hours a week waiting to log in at a moments notice gets old for 1 White Dragon Helm or 1/2 NToV item(s) is not as fun as it was on live where you could collect your whole mains loot in 4 to 5 months.

3. Guilds playing by its own rules (see #2 as to why) as rare as the mobs are, the drops are even rarer so no one guild wants to work out a deal to rotate mobs with each other.

4. Broken unfixed quests, items, mobs, drops, etc. One difference from live to here is the staff isnt paid, and Live had many many more patches to fix problems that were simple, fast fixes to keep people on a roll. However, on this server we maybe get 3 to 5 hard resets a year, been nearly forever since we've had a hard reset with so many "pending" fixes ready to go that could make people happier.

5. Policing, this server doesnt have much of it anymore. GM's punishments dont seem to take much of a hold, and repeat offenders never really get tossed from the server for good. (aka the risk of losing an account dont mean much on P99, didnt pay monthly fees or pay to even open an account).

I believe #5 and #4 are the bigger problems that never seem to be addressed to well. With more patches after a number of easy fixes have been completed, and more hard resets (YES LIKE LIVE DID!) would help the players stay happier. Rather then seeing on the forums "Pending Update" for 7 weeks or longer.

Also if offenders on the server are removed and those offenders lose their account and Gms would actively reban returning offenders it would make the server healthier. Right now its a wild west that 70% of the server is not happy with.

I would love it if this server actually applied the Live rules. First time, 7 to 10 days, second time, 10 to 14 days, final time Banned. Currently people can train, and nothing will happen for weeks on end, and IF for the slight chance they do get busted, a GM just asks the guild to leave the zone give up the ONE mob, and the player's account gets 3 day break, which that offender just logs into another toon and keeps playing. Then that offender just puts in a petition to have it removed which you see that toon playing the same tricks the following night. Which I think people are tired of seeing too.

I'm not some P99 veteran as I joined very late, but what always seemed odd to me was how the staff would pick and choose what was denoted as, "SHIT'S CLASSIC. STFU", and other stuff would just be totally different, contrary to classic. The big one being Velious drops being severely nerfed. I mean, why? Doesn't make sense.

[Gain]

I'm not some P99 veteran as I joined very late, but what always seemed odd to me was how the staff would pick and choose what was denoted as, "SHIT'S CLASSIC. STFU", and other stuff would just be totally different, contrary to classic. The big one being Velious drops being severely nerfed. I mean, why? Doesn't make sense.

4 years of Kunark farming......think about that and then why they would nerf drop rates for Velious.

[86753o9]

Its a video game, well more accurately it is a recreation project. Except for weirdos, people are supposed to eventually grow bored of it and move on.

[myriverse]

We need a sleeper awakening to liven things up.
That would just drive people away, right? Sleeper is like the least interesting mob in the history of the game.

And there were over 1200 people on Friday night, no different from most nights for months.

[Ivory]

Number of reasons the server pop is dying off.


Nope!!!!! 1 reason why!!! Because the economy is SOOO bloated that you can easily twink.

Extreme twinking means players don't have any reason to actually hunt for gear or quest outside of raiding (which is super saturated).

When you take out gear / quests from everquest....all you have left is efficient grinding for EXP.

So basically, outside of waiting in lines and poopsocking for raid gear, the only thing to do is sit around on your twinked alt grinding out exp in the same handful of dungeons.

Sure, you "can" get a group and do a rare dungeon for some new adventure....but that involves dragging people out to some random place and doing rebinds and all sorts of BS just for a change of scenery ((usually won't happen)). Oh, and that isn't even counting people logging on their alts to buff their EXP teams to make it even more of a trivial grind.

And the incentive to group is SEVERELY weakened by being so twinked, you can easily just solo a lot of the time.

Basically....the game is boring in god mode :P The reason EQ is so fun over other MMOs was because it is more difficult and you actually NEED each other (outside of raids!).

That is why live servers suck. Because they made it so much easier and you can just go do your thing in your little world grinding out exp.

http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/53f7791769beddc81835ca4d/bored-zombie.gif

[zanderklocke]

Maybe we all just realize that EverQuest nostalgia goggles wear off. EverQuest isn't particularly a great game for mechanics or challenging gameplay. All of the challenges on this server are player made. With Velious on the horizon, there would be new stuff we wanted to see nostalgically. Now, there isn't. The game revolves solely around gear progression, and at some point the work to earn gear upgrades becomes absurd unless you live and breathe the game. Newer games have better content and challenges with a more reasonable requirement of time for progression.

[Swish]

I'm not some P99 veteran as I joined very late, but what always seemed odd to me was how the staff would pick and choose what was denoted as, "SHIT'S CLASSIC. STFU", and other stuff would just be totally different, contrary to classic. The big one being Velious drops being severely nerfed. I mean, why? Doesn't make sense.

Still can't figure out why blue never had duck/cancel taken out. Wasn't meant to be in until now/soon. Couldn't have been hard to implement as its classic and its been on red from the get-go.

[Terdnado]

I don't think p99 is going anywhere fast...

Obviously, at some points in the server's history their have been marked increases and decreases in population. I think it may actually be true that the historical high point may be behind us (probably Velious launch and the few weeks after). Such is the nature of a server like p99.

Of course, there are reasons to play. Many of us who don't raid at all are perfectly fine with the permanent static nature of things and can continue our social game play experience without even taking much notice to the so called "end game" of Velious. I'd imagine that hard core pixel chasers will find it increasingly difficult to enjoy the game as time progresses without new content to fight over.

This ^

Some people are driven by externals and aquiring something new(pixels). Much more gratifying to just play for social reasons. P99 has a great community.

[Naethyn]

Veksar would be a cool custom content.

[jwargod]

Number of reasons the server pop is dying off.

1. Velious is end of the line.

2. To get any gear on this type of server you have to raid for 3 to 5 months to get 1 great item. Sell your soul to a free EMU server for 30 hours a week waiting to log in at a moments notice gets old for 1 White Dragon Helm or 1/2 NToV item(s) is not as fun as it was on live where you could collect your whole mains loot in 4 to 5 months.

3. Guilds playing by its own rules (see #2 as to why) as rare as the mobs are, the drops are even rarer so no one guild wants to work out a deal to rotate mobs with each other.

4. Broken unfixed quests, items, mobs, drops, etc. One difference from live to here is the staff isnt paid, and Live had many many more patches to fix problems that were simple, fast fixes to keep people on a roll. However, on this server we maybe get 3 to 5 hard resets a year, been nearly forever since we've had a hard reset with so many "pending" fixes ready to go that could make people happier.

5. Policing, this server doesnt have much of it anymore. GM's punishments dont seem to take much of a hold, and repeat offenders never really get tossed from the server for good. (aka the risk of losing an account dont mean much on P99, didnt pay monthly fees or pay to even open an account).

I believe #5 and #4 are the bigger problems that never seem to be addressed to well. With more patches after a number of easy fixes have been completed, and more hard resets (YES LIKE LIVE DID!) would help the players stay happier. Rather then seeing on the forums "Pending Update" for 7 weeks or longer.

Also if offenders on the server are removed and those offenders lose their account and Gms would actively reban returning offenders it would make the server healthier. Right now its a wild west that 70% of the server is not happy with.

I would love it if this server actually applied the Live rules. First time, 7 to 10 days, second time, 10 to 14 days, final time Banned. Currently people can train, and nothing will happen for weeks on end, and IF for the slight chance they do get busted, a GM just asks the guild to leave the zone give up the ONE mob, and the player's account gets 3 day break, which that offender just logs into another toon and keeps playing. Then that offender just puts in a petition to have it removed which you see that toon playing the same tricks the following night. Which I think people are tired of seeing too.

I think this is alot of it. Heck alot of the Rants and Flames worthy stuff is now making it over to Server Chat with people openly swearing among other things.

I don't know if it's the case here, but I remember a certain something on Fippy Darkpaw/a previous TLP server on live. Around the time velious came out, I finally decided to join a raid guild. Good guys and all, but finally got an idea of the mentality of the raiding/top-tier guildies.

Apparently, alot of them were just on the server for the sake of being on top, including making sure others never see the light of day on certain content. People running bot armies of SKs. Also more bot armies monopolizing certain camps (FBSS and Efreeti in classic especially). Porting across zones and such with certain programs. Hell the server died when one of the guilds used a program to port to and wake the sleeper in the dead of night and didn't get punished. (Died as in drastic server pop, i realized how much it progressed past that).

When I came here late Kunark/Late Velious, I seem to see alot of that, albeit reigned in with some rules, and now that's starting to or is falling apart. Can't tell because I haven't been on in a two months, but I'm seeing more fighting on RnF and it carrying over to Server Chat.

I like to think alot of the "top" guilds here have a love/hate relationship with the rules of this server. Love when it goes their way, hate when it doesn't. I guess that's why rules lawyering is a thing. But the "shits classic" excuse doesn't seem to fly when a person is sociopathic, 16 years of EQ knowledge including gameplay and experience, and would bring hell to the server if the rules didn't effect them. Heck, the situation seems to be amplified on Red where the GMs have openly acknowledged one guild turning the Red server into their personal stomping grounds and openly breaking rules since its onset.

Also probably doesn't help when lowbies are trying to level up/camp and someone comes along and says the passive aggressive or literal equivalent of "GET DUNKED" because they have their guild to fall back on i.e. antisocial clowns. I know there's been some personal bad experiences of my own, and all of them get protected by the "Calm down man, every guild has their clown!" excuse.

[Crevex]

fallout 4

[JayDee]

velious is a shitty xpac

[Swish]

I roll my eyes when I think of how much factioning is required. All part of the Velious experience of course, and it should keep people busy with alts etc for years to come providing it stays fun/interesting on whichever server you play on.

But yeah, I do get the feeling the mountain is too steep for the ultra casuals to stay in distance of the top folks with Velious, so much grinding to do just to get started :o

[applesauce25r624]

OMG ONE SLOW WEEKEND. EXTRAME PANICKZZZZ

[indiscriminate_hater]

time to load up on fungis and wait for the summer thaw

[Swish]

http://i.imgur.com/Y1zTOul.png

[Rasah]

Here's an idea for custom content. Put Ssraeshza Temple in Veksar. No need to go to the moon, and the style of zone wouldn't be that far out of place.

[thufir]

The casuals will inherit norrath eventually.

On a long enough timeline, perhaps. Survival rate, &c.

If it makes y'all feel any better, Solusek's Eye has been pretty crowded the last couple of weeks. Three groups in there on weeknights, plus a couple of solos/duos, have been the norm.

Certainly the lower level game seems fine. Can't speak for you ToV farmers, of course.

[baby]

151208
Project 1999 has status http://www.eqemulator.org/index.php?pageid=serverlist
It is about the highest population private server, even if is is nearly impossible get an actual unpatched copy of Titanium.