What would it take to get you to play on the P99 Beta server?

[Lazortag]

Now that the beta server's back up, I'm guessing things will be like they were before where the population averages at about 20-30 players during peak hours. Like everyone I want Kunark to be out soon and I want it to not be riddled with bugs and inaccuracies, but that's only possible if people play on the beta.

One thing I'd been doing to make things easier for lowbie Iksars is giving out large amounts of free plat on my Bard in FoB, so that they can afford spells/food/etc. Before the server went down I also did a fair bit of powerlevelling to make things funner/easier. I'm wondering if other people have any other suggestions to make the server more desirable to play. They can be suggestions for the devs too I guess but mainly I'm thinking of suggestions that can be implemented by players, like the ones I already mentioned.

[Aprio]

Exp boost so I would consider levelling my enchanter to go to Lake of Ill Omen, I want to make an Iksar Shaman when Kunark goes live but screw doing it twice.

[DarkRazzy]

i defninately think i would play the beta server more if more people were on it on a regular basis. i joined p1999 after the beta had come out so i had no high lvl mains to use on the beta, leaving me to start an iksar character. dont get me wrong i love the iksar, but endless hours of solo grinding and dying just to get up 1 lvl is really aggrivating. and seeing how there is only ever like... one person, two tops in the same zone as me grouping is kinda out of the question.

i want to test the kunark beta, really, but half the time its just too boring for me by myself. the main thing that would get me on more is a number of people to play and test with.

[Airdefier]

Yea I got on the beta to play iksar but its the same thing I don't want to level something up twice. I just don't have the time. And I'm quitting my druid when kunark comes out to level an iksar monk. So for now I jump on it here and there.

[Orruar]

We need a /betabuff command to change to any level, with all spells and appropriate gear. This would allow us to test any content that suits our fancy without the need to spend many hours grinding on lowbie content that has already been well tested.

[DarkRazzy]

We need a /betabuff command to change to any level, with all spells and appropriate gear. This would allow us to test any content that suits our fancy without the need to spend many hours grinding on lowbie content that has already been well tested.

I agree with this. the need to lvl up for alot of kunark content seems to be a giant rock in the path of testing everything

[Ralexia]

What about making certain zones hotzones(boost exp) for about a week? Boost the exp in the hotzones 2-3 times or more. This would congregate all the players in a few zones, making it easier to find groups.

One week you could have:

swamp of no hope(lvl 1-25)
Kurns tower(lvl 8-30)
Frontier Mountains(25-45)
Temple of Droga(lvl 35-45)

another week do

Field of Bone(1-20)
Lake of Ill Omen(1-30)
Kaesora(30-45)

another week do
Warsilik Woods(1-30)
Firiona Vie(22-45)
Dreadlands(30-50)

And just keep cycling them.

[Scrooge]

How about, increasing XP only in low-level zones for Iksar characters, and keeping it normal at high-levels since the Devs want to test 51+ XP also!?

[Yinaltin]

why not enable #setlevel command for the beta ? we want to test an ammount of stuff that is about the same size as classic everquest with 30 ppl peak hours that also need to lvl up their chars ?
using ur lvl 50 mainchar from live server to test stuff wont bring you much in some cases . you need to be level 20 to see if the mobs in loio hit for the right ammount of dmg . or in fm you have to be lvl 30 .

want lvl 30 ? use the command .
want lvl 40 ? use the command .
that easy .

just a thought

[Rhambuk]

if they would recopy the p99 chars and transfer them over, my rogue is 50 on p99 but 41 on beta, weak

[Slathar]

open zones that dont suck

[ukaking]

I have to agree with the command to change your level. Id love to test out Dalnir at lvl 25-30 ish and areas most people didnt go.

[Olacaten]

I would say also to have it open earlyer hours not 3am, im sorry have a family and i cant get on at 3am. pluss ya i say a /betabuff command would be awsome or just turn up the exp.

[Cars]

I think if you wanted to see more people on the beta server it would need to have atleast some sort of accelerated level gain. I would be lured by double xp even but without it I just can't justify the time sink.

[Mardur]

They want to test 50+ experience so some sort of /betabuff command is preferable.

[Scrooge]

Maybe they should just put the real P99 down while Beta is up...that'll make people login for sure, I guarantee it!

[DarkRazzy]

Maybe they should just put the real P99 down while Beta is up...that'll make people login for sure, I guarantee it!

That would be likely to work but it would create an endless tide of whiners and possibly hurt their player base for the future as many people would be pissed im sure.

[burkemi5]

great idea for a thread and great ideas all around. I think /setlevel is cool, but might be a bit too much. accelerated XP at least, and /betabuff that gives you every good buff would be nice and fun to mess around with. If the buff command gave you every good buff, I imagine a lot of people would spend more time on it.

[Scrooge]

It'd only be down for a week or two at most I imagine, that'd be more than enough time to sort all the bugs out with even a quarter of the population of P99 participating. It'd also give people incentive to do it right the first time to get back to their farming ways...

[Salty]

karnors

[Goobles]

Should just release Kunark with all the bugs, and when people whine.. tell them "Too fucking bad, you wanted it"

[Bubbles]

Should just release Kunark with all the bugs, and when people whine.. tell them "Too fucking bad, you wanted it"

This would be the classic Kunark experience anyways. :)

I'm a necro..

Two words:

Skyfire.

[Goobles]

Is that 2 words there, Bubbles?

[Cribanox]

I was actually thinking that the beta phases for Kunark probably won't get done like it should, so they should just release it in its current state and have people just report bugs per usual. It'll probably be wasting time to keep the seperate server.

That is, unless I can /change class, /change race, /change level, etc, on command, maybe even /summon item? That might be too much lol.

[Ashimar]

Why doesn't Project 99 just release Kunark officially without a beta? - then all if not most players will no doubt flock to the zones - in turn players will find bugs and report them, then Developers will know what to work on.

[Randy]

Why doesn't Project 99 just release Kunark officially without a beta? - then all if not most players will no doubt flock to the zones - in turn players will find bugs and report them, then Developers will know what to work on.

The problem with that is abuse. Cause any bug or exploit will take time to fix. If its a beneficial bug and players find out about it, they'll abuse the shit out of it cause its easier which then cheapens the server.

They have to at least have a solid version to start the release.

[Pyrocat]

And you'd lose playerbase because of really annoying bugs.

[azeth]

I'd play on the Kunark beta if they gave non expendable sow pots, auto lvl 55 at least and if you die you die with your gear.

[Rhambuk]

I would play on kunark beta all day if,

1) my rog was current
2) there were people to group with
3) it were up!

I would be horribly disappointed if they just released kunark now as is and tried fixxing it we went. It wouldn't be to to bad for the little bugs I just dont want to see a premature kunark like we saw a premature sky where guilds were getting to island 7 because it wasn't ready.

I don't want to see people in vp early because of some stupid keybug or trak is weaker than hes supposed to be etc.

P99 is the server for the Closest Classic experience possible, id rather wait another month or 2 and play proper kunark than a buggy kunark.

[Scrooge]

Everyone seems to have their own set of conditions for "I'd play-test the Beta IF...."

If this goes on like it does, Kunark won't be out within 3 months...maybe not for another year even, but the majority seem to enjoy repeating their daily routines instead of making the server progress.

[DarkRazzy]

i think if the devs decided to announce taking everyones created iksar test chars and copy them over to the main server when kunark launches, it would quell alot of the "waaaaah i dont wanna lvl the same char twice" whining.

[Chanus]

Oooor, they could just implement a /betabuff feature so people don't have to spend days or weeks leveling up an iksar character in order to test things like quests in the 30s and 40s.

[YendorLootmonkey]

For each player, there is an investment of time to play EQ. At this point, we decide how to spend that time we invest. Right now, to do proper testing, the players have to invest time leveling characters, finding groups, etc. in a test server where that investment will be completely wiped at the end of the test period. All those hours personally spent for no personal gain. Therefore, from a utilitarian/selfish standpoint, it makes more sense to invest that time on our "live" server where we can continue to level alts, raid with guilds, help our guilds equip/prepare for Kunark release.

So it stands to reason, the easiest way to compel players to test in Kunark is to remove most of that time investment requirement. Since all progress/gear/levels will be wiped at the end of the test period, there doesn't seem to be any harm in adding functionality for players to /changelevel, /changeclass, /changerace, /teleport at will... whatever makes testing easier and faster and reduces that time investment.

[DarkRazzy]

i understand the whole set your own level concept in the light of testing everything as fast as possible. its a sound idea, but i personally dont really see it happening. seems like something that would make more sense being implemented for the devs themselves, rather then the average users like us.

[mokfarg]

For each player, there is an investment of time to play EQ. At this point, we decide how to spend that time we invest. Right now, to do proper testing, the players have to invest time leveling characters, finding groups, etc. in a test server where that investment will be completely wiped at the end of the test period. All those hours personally spent for no personal gain. Therefore, from a utilitarian/selfish standpoint, it makes more sense to invest that time on our "live" server where we can continue to level alts, raid with guilds, help our guilds equip/prepare for Kunark release.

So it stands to reason, the easiest way to compel players to test in Kunark is to remove most of that time investment requirement. Since all progress/gear/levels will be wiped at the end of the test period, there doesn't seem to be any harm in adding functionality for players to /changelevel, /changeclass, /changerace, /teleport at will... whatever makes testing easier and faster and reduces that time investment.

Makes sense to me. This is only for testing purposes, in many betas xp is increased dramatically so all content can be tested properly. I think it is counterproductive on a test server to make it difficult to level up. I think just putting in an extreme xp speed is the way to go.

[Rasah]

Could we just skip even numbered levels? We could check exp gain through level one, but instead of going to 2, we go to 3. Then 5, and so on. The game would still be the same, the progression would just be twice as fast.

[Loke]

...and if you die you die with your gear.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree with Azeth on at least this part of his post. Dying shouldn't really a penalty on this server since you're trying to encourage people to test things, which often involves risk taking.

That being said, a lot of these suggestions are good - but it's pretty weak if any of these ideas are legitimately keeping you from playing on the beta server. Many would make beta testing much easier and more enjoyable, but aren't really necessary and shouldn't keep people who want to assist this project from playing.

[Teensy Weensy]

my character is only level 40 on there and with horrible gear. I could not find a single player to test any zones with. I'd love to help out more, but there's just nothing I can do aside from creating a lvl 1 iksar.

[Roscoe]

For the purpose of testing, they should make the beta server sort of like the EZ server. Have an NPC to level your character to 60, an NPC to grant you all your spells/abilities & NPCs to give you good gear. The point of the beta is not to level up, it is to find bugs & you would find more when players have all the tools available to them.

[Chanus]

Well, just went to try and level up an iksar anyway, and god damned Trooper Taer KS'ed the entire newbie yard in Field of Bone.

So eff that noise, I can't level up if I want to.

WRU /betabuff ?

[Folkar]

I am getting my copy of Titanium today, and I am open to playing first on a beta server over the live server (depending on beta rules for eligibility). I think for the most successful beta, having a command to jump levels is good, and perhaps class specific item vendors who sell some basic items for gear at different levels. If someone wants to verify something works on various Kunark epics, this could be done this way. Also, you might consider lifting the current P99 live ban on boxing. Since the accounts would get wiped at the end of the beta period anyway, if someone is able to 2box or more to test content, it only benefits the overall community.

Either way, hope to meet people online soon!

[Chanus]

You can box on the Beta server, and it's open to anyone.

[Dantes]

I'd play beta if I weren't desperately trying to get up to level 50 before the release of Kunark. With every delay -- I have more time to catch up. I suppose if I were already level 50 and bored, I would have no excuse.

[Dr4z3r]

Add my voice to the call for a set-level command, along with cheap spell and gear vendors. Removing the ban on boxing just isn't enough to ease the timesink that getting an Iksar out of the FoB would require.

Also, as others have said, double-exp wouldn't work, because the speed of exp gain is an important thing to test.