I haven't felt that way in a long time

[ajohnymous]

When I first read the changes to ToV, I thought my time raiding in this game was over. Why on Earth would I want to spend hours clearing trash mobs when our current system let's us single pull to the zone in with intense, frantic competition? My main is a Monk (Iksar, obviously) and I was pretty damn good at what I did in ToV. I was a key member of my guild's pull team, regularly coordinated the roles, and knew what everyone was doing and why. When the changes hit, I felt like all that time and effort I had put into improving myself and my team was for nothing. Like some skilled laborer ruthlessly replaced by some new and expensive technology. I think a lot of people felt that way.

What we didn't expect is how we would feel when Vulak`Aerr was finally slain after the Great Change was implemented. Tonight was the first time in years where experienced raiders had to figure out new mechanics and encounters with barely a clue of what to expect. It wasn't just winning the foot or Coth race then executing the pull perfectly, it took hours of problem solving, cooperation, and coordination to figure out how to even approach a raid boss. We did, eventually, which made the rewards felt so much sweeter after the frustration and the struggle. The night progressed and the raid bosses were slowly dropping up until Vyemm and Vulak were the only two remaing. Everyone expected a stand off between the top guilds (Vyemm is the most difficult boss and must be killed before Vulak, who drops the best loot, can be engaged). We were not disappointed.

If you read my previous post about the Tunare agreement, you'll know that Aftermath is considered the big, bad evil guild on the server. They were doing well during this dungeon crawl using their superior numbers and some strategies that are frowned down upon (Leapfrogging is a popular term being thrown around). It was expected that a stalemate would occur between Aftermath and an alliance of Azure Guard and Core. If one of them were to start the long process of killing Vyemm's guards and the difficult fight with Vyemm himself, the other would work their way over to Vulak and wait for Vyemm to die. Whichever guild slays Vyemm would be too weak to fully recover and get into position at Vulak before the other guild engages him. So, Aftermath and Azure Guard / Core stared at each other, guns drawn, with the no man's land that is Vyemm between them.

While Vyemm was nervously eyeing the hundreds of players around him, the two sides were unable to agree on how best to proceed and chose to reconvene the following day. Queue a new alliance entering the field! Paradigm Shift, Kittens Who Say Meow, and Blood Guard strut into ToV, say screw this, and bee line straight for Vyemm. Azure Guard / Core and Aftermath quickly mobilize and match and counter each others movements like ancient Roman armies. After a rough fight, Vyemm falls to the new alliance, the first time any of those guilds had killed him (congrats guys, that was awesome), and Vulak is open to engagement.

The boss of ToV has eight guards which are basically mini-bosses for how quickly they can chew through tanks. It becomes a delicate balancing act of how many of these guards can be handled while also keeping Vulak occupied. Quick, intense pulling and a couple of wipes ensue from each side and two guards remain, so both AG/Core and Aftermath suddenly have a short window to start the fight. Both teams start running with reckless abandon straight into the maw of Vulak`Aerr's lair, but AG / Core are the first there. Their plan is to kite the remaining guards while Vulak is killed, unfortunately for them, an unknown mechanic is discovered where Vulak frequently calls out for his guards to return. Some of the AG / Core force is still moving into his lair, the two guards are flying like ping pong balls all over the place, chaos erupts, and eventually they wipe. They lost their shot.

AG and Core slowly recover and shuffle over to Vulak's lair with Paradigm Shift, Kittens, and Blood Guard to watch the Patriot's win the Super Bowl again. Everyone is slowly getting back on their feet, discussing what happened, and offering words of encouragement to those who need it. Aftermath engages with the plan to burn down the two remaining guards and slowly, but surely, whittle down mighty Vulak. They proceed and have it under control until, around the halfway mark, a patrolling Flurry Drake respawns on top of Aftermath! They do their best to divert people over to control it, but these guys are nasty. They fight hard and it's close too close to tell what the outcome will be. They lose a couple tanks and a handful of others, then, inexplicably, the Slow on Vulak wears off and the tank assigned to him dies. Next thing they know, Vulak is gobbling up Clerics and summoning people when he's out of food. The Flurry Drake kills the last of their raid force and Aftermath suffers a complete wipe.

By now, all the other guilds had recovered and Vulak was looking pretty smug, but not for long. It was revealed that an agreement between the two alliances transpired earlier, AG/Core would engage Vulak with their superior force while PS/Kittens/BG would tackle any and all of the Guards and Flurry Drakes that were in the way. Afterwards, they would all jump on Vulak and burn him down. Instead of the mad rush between the two alliances, they took their sweet time making sure every little thing was in place. It was extreme overkill.

When the overlord of the Temple of Veeshan lay defeated, the cheers and shouts of celebration immediately made it clear this kill wasn't about the loot. To have every raiding guild band together against the server's top guild, and who is widely regarded as causing the most issues in the raid scene, is a desperately needed breath of fresh air. You could feel the tension lift in Vulak's lair. Guilds who previously planned and plotted against each other gathered around and made space for the group photo. Vulak dropped two items between five guilds and no one was overly concerned about where it went. Some people even suggested giving it to Aftermath in an olive branch gesture. This Vulak kill was about people from every part of the world working together to overcome a challenge they've never faced, and it just felt really good to be part of it. I haven't felt that way in a long time.

[branamil]

Now that Vulak is way harder he should drop 3-5 loots

[phatogre]

After a rough fight, Vyemm falls to the new alliance, the first time any of those guilds had killed him (congrats guys, that was awesome), and Vulak is open to engagement.

Great post, but small correction, Paradigm Shift has killed Vyemm twice.

[Nexii]

Now that Vulak is way harder he should drop 3-5 loots

All of TOV except Dozekar is severely under rewarded now. When you consider there's about 7 targets that can be zone line pulled or done quickly AND drop better, more consistent loot. Some might say that's a good thing but I don't think it is. It wasn't a good thing when POG was left up 75% of the time.

For TOV to be on par with other raids, you'd have to up the drops to 4 on average per dragon - which as I understand is more in line with classic. Another argument is that while guilds can ally up, it does leave sort of a sour taste when only one walks away with anything good.

[Pyrrhica]

If you don't feel the content is worth your time, dont do it.

[Lurgort/Sseri]

All of TOV except Dozekar is severely under rewarded now. When you consider there's about 7 targets that can be zone line pulled or done quickly AND drop better, more consistent loot. Some might say that's a good thing but I don't think it is. It wasn't a good thing when POG was left up 75% of the time.

For TOV to be on par with other raids, you'd have to up the drops to 4 on average per dragon - which as I understand is more in line with classic. Another argument is that while guilds can ally up, it does leave sort of a sour taste when only one walks away with anything good.

I beg to differ.

https://i.imgur.com/NY9Vwn4.jpg

I think PS won the Knight 1HB, I can't remember due to all of the excitement of defeating the Server-First rooted Vyemm with usually rival guilds for our target tiers. Wish I had recorded it... D:

KWSM won the Abashi, PS won the Tolan's Longsword, BG won Onyx Gauntlets, Monk and Warrior Flurry necks, and a Necromancer Harmshielded his way to a rotting ring of superiority (behind several respawns). We all got some something good, but loot was only icing on the cake of crawl/race to Vulak. I'm not sure how much WToV armor or other random loot was dropped for all 6 guilds tonight, but it was a memorable night indeed.

[Nexii]

My point was that of those drops, only Abashis ranks in the top tier / BIS. Other items aren't bad but for ~6 hours spent (plus more yesterday), not that amazing. I think it'll become more apparent once the newness factor has worn off. Don't get me wrong, I much prefer the new TOV to the old. It just won't be regarded as premiere / top priority content is all.

[Lurgort/Sseri]

My point was that of those drops, only Abashis ranks in the top tier / BIS. Other items aren't bad but for ~6 hours spent (plus more yesterday), not that amazing. I think it'll become more apparent once the newness factor has worn off. Don't get me wrong, I much prefer the new TOV to the old. It just won't be regarded as premiere / top priority content is all.

Well the easy-mode days are over, now we gotta put in era-appropriate work to acquire some kickass items (to many people), hence all the team-ups tonight.

[Nexii]

Well the easy-mode days are over, now we gotta put in era-appropriate work to acquire some kickass items (to many people), hence all the team-ups tonight.

Yea all I'm saying is the rewards should also be era-appropriate. Currently they are not. Most dragons dropped 4 items or more in live era

[titanshub]

Excellent post. It was awesome fun. Im glad to have been involved.

[titanshub]

If you weren't there it went a little like this (https://youtu.be/nVw5qGVKFNs).

Credit goes to Psychtropical and the kittens content production crew. :)

[Pootle]

Thanks for the read, its great to hear the co-operation that went into this...

[Lurgort/Sseri]

Yea all I'm saying is the rewards should also be era-appropriate. Currently they are not. Most dragons dropped 4 items or more in live era

Ah, my mistake, can't really remember dragon raid tables from 18-19 years ago. All for changing loot to 4 per, but then again, we're all guinea pigs for Staff.

[fzzzt]

Congratulations <Blood Kittens who Paradigm Shift>! Wish I could've stayed up to help, but early work day today.

[Brocode]

its called "new" content or better said, "custom" adapted to the population what has been asked forever. Its fun, first time, might be fun 100th time, maybe at 1000th time we get bored again? What i mean is way to go devs keep it up, lovin it.

[Utmost]

Good times!

[DromalPhrenia]

I wasn't around for any of this sadly, but nice write-up and awesome job to everyone, especially the guilds fairly new to ToV!

Abashi's to a Kitten is the best and I need a screenie to harass some monks I know with it :D Congrats to whoever is beating ass (and dispelling) with it!

New ToV is cool, there's some fun drops you don't usually get to see and for whatever reason I like the idea that we won't see every raider on ToV faction. While the clearing can get a bit annoying at times, it's much more fun for non-pullers and watching people with encyclopedic knowledge of the zone put that to use is always impressive.

I do agree with Nexii about the loot though, especially if its true that in-era these dragons were dropping more loot. Actually I would have advocated for more loot even without the ToV changes, because more loot is cool. I have a lot of gear I want :p But now it feels less greedy because the time investment and effort required is a lot higher to get these dragons killed.

[titanshub]

The Abashis went to AG or Core as they won the first roll iirc. :) Grats to whomever won it though!

[DromalPhrenia]

Booooo that's not as interesting! So did a Kittens get their first Vulak loot?

[titanshub]

Not this time :)

[Zemus]

Abashi's to a Kitten is the best and I need a screenie to harass some monks I know with it :D Congrats to whoever is beating ass (and dispelling) with it!



I won the Abashi, and I’m in core. I think every piece of loot you get has a story to tell, and this is a great story! Thanks everyone for coming together last night. It was fun!

[DromalPhrenia]

Aww. Still awesome that you got your first Vulak kill but next on the list is first Vulak drop! Gotta load those dice, my man :D

[titanshub]

Grats Chillwin!

[DromalPhrenia]

I won the Abashi, and I’m in core. I think every piece of loot you get has a story to tell, and this is a great story! Thanks everyone for coming together last night. It was fun!

Yeah, Abashi's from the first Vulak 2.0 kill, in a 5-guild teamup is a pretty great backstory. Grats on the BIS 2hb! Now you just need them to implement triple attack (/tap)

I just like the idea of a Kittens monk getting Abashi off their first Vulak, I'd be linking that in guild chat every 10 minutes :p Actually I'll do that anyway once I finally win ring 10

[feniin]

Kittens has a Mask of Warfare from Vulak from last year. We didn't win anything from Vyemm or Vulak but that's how it shakes out when you have 2 drops and 3-5 guilds. Definitely worth reevaluating to see if 3-4 drops makes more sense with the stakes changing. In any event, it was fantastic to work together to take both down. Long night, for sure, but we had a blast.

[LazyHydras]

As an outside observer, I am glad that there is no palace intrigue and am refreshingly surprised by the good will on the part of most guilds involved. Good job, dudes and dudettes.

[Destruction]

Great write-up!

[kotton05]

Yeah, Abashi's from the first Vulak 2.0 kill, in a 5-guild teamup is a pretty great backstory. Grats on the BIS 2hb! Now you just need them to implement triple attack (/tap)

I just like the idea of a Kittens monk getting Abashi off their first Vulak, I'd be linking that in guild chat every 10 minutes :p Actually I'll do that anyway once I finally win ring 10

It’s not a bis 2hb, it’s used from inventory as a click, other weapons beat it in dps

[Arvan]

I had a lot of fun. One of the highlights for me was how our alliance was able to handle 3 mobs in camp while having pulls ready on the line at the same time. Great teamwork!

[Arcler]

Yep! I remember when Kittens got that Mask of Warfare off Vulak - it's when Ruiken from PS got his Abashi's. PS/Kittens team up on Vulak then - that was a lot of fun!

And yes, as someone pointed out earlier - PS has killed every dragon in NToV multiple times. We just don't join the race week in and week out for it - we're a bunch of casual scum that takes breaks and alternates targets, and doesn't care or desires to dominate content.

I want to give a shout out to Xystus of Kittens, Lavitzz of Blood Guard, Franswa of Core and Hollowlung of AG - it was great to have 3 (then 5) guild leaders come together in a show of unity and fun. After AM wiped to Vulak, it was definitely possible for each alliance to probably do it solo - so I appreciate the fact that people didn't just break an agreement the moment it no longer suited/benefited them exclusively.

Further, it was overkill but we had no way of knowing that - it's possible that the devs had put in some mechanic when Vulak hit 40% or 25% or 10% or who knows (as there was definitely other new mechanics) and sometimes it's best to enjoy having the encounter and being inclusive, even if it means loot gets split and some guilds don't walk away with an item (only the memory of a great experience!)

Last night was definitely one of my best memories of p99 - something I'll always treasure. Thanks to everyone who made it happen - a special thanks to my dear Runyan of PS, who organized and led the PS/BG/Kittens alliance raid last night - he did a fantastic job, and thanks all the people who offered suggestions, helped with pulls, tanked adds, and CH chained for seemingly hours in end to make it all happen.

[Slivur]

It’s not a bis 2hb, it’s used from inventory as a click, other weapons beat it in dps

Name one other 2hb that beats this in dps.

[DromalPhrenia]

Kittens has a Mask of Warfare from Vulak from last year.

Goddamnit all my kitten knowledge is way out of date! :mad:

[azeth]

Name one other 2hb that beats this in dps.

Also curious...

[Fifield]

signed, was there 4/9/2019.

Great night of gaming

[Baylan295]

Thanks to everyone who made it happen - a special thanks to my dear Runyan of PS, who organized and led the PS/BG/Kittens alliance raid last night - he did a fantastic job, and thanks all the people who offered suggestions, helped with pulls, tanked adds, and CH chained for seemingly hours in end to make it all happen.

I want to reiterate this. Thanks to everyone who was involved in the event. This was the server wide ToV crawl that needed to happen. Congrats to the winners, and a special thank you to Runyan, who is one of my closest friends in PS, and EQ. You are a true leader and shot caller. Always positive, always analyzing, and always willing to YOLO.

Thanks for laying off the bourbon until that bad boy was done though. We needed all of our faculties.

[Hotel]

I want to reiterate this. Thanks to everyone who was involved in the event. This was the server wide ToV crawl that needed to happen. Congrats to the winners, and a special thank you to Runyan, who is one of my closest friends in PS, and EQ. You are a true leader and shot caller. Always positive, always analyzing, and always willing to YOLO.

Thanks for laying off the bourbon until that bad boy was done though. We needed all of our faculties.

Where was loramin tho

[RedXIII]

I haven't raided in 5months? Idk how long but:

I don't like the unclassic things that i am reading/hearing. Don't get me wrong, Rogean and Nilbog can do whatever but these changes aren't classic and i feel we going more and more towards unclassic things.

I don't like it, Everquest end game experience is not for everyone, it's just the nature of the game. Call whoever created and bitch about it, but making unclassic changes to make people happy is not something i like to see.

When they made the unclassic 25 mobs AE cap was also terrible... Feels more and more of a custom server as time goes by...

Just my 2 cp.

[branamil]

Overall it's a good change. Crawling forces classes to use all of their abilities, constantly, rather than 75 people waiting for 5 people to do an absurd pull using a level 20 orc's mystical totem. It's more interesting for everyone. Also it gives access to flurry loot and kael armor which was severely under-appreciated. But there still needs to be some more tweaks worked out like spawn rates and number of drops.

[feniin]

I haven't raided in 5months? Idk how long but:

I don't like the unclassic things that i am reading/hearing. Don't get me wrong, Rogean and Nilbog can do whatever but these changes aren't classic and i feel we going more and more towards unclassic things.

I don't like it, Everquest end game experience is not for everyone, it's just the nature of the game. Call whoever created and bitch about it, but making unclassic changes to make people happy is not something i like to see.

When they made the unclassic 25 mobs AE cap was also terrible... Feels more and more of a custom server as time goes by...

Just my 2 cp.

Sounds like someone who wanted gift wrapped trophy mobs and welfare pixels rather than the experience of fighting them as intended?

[enjchanter]

Sounds like someone who wanted gift wrapped trophy mobs and welfare pixels rather than the experience of fighting them as intended?

The irony in this statement vs the person you quoted is just unreal

[feniin]

The irony in this statement vs the person you quoted is just unreal

Nope - he's whining about the change in the meta because it's not classic whereas ZERO dragons were ever pulled to entrance in-era.

[enjchanter]

And you're saying he sounds like someone who wants welfare pixels. Maybe it's just because I raided with him for a long time and that's why I see how laughable that response to his post is.

Anyways

[feniin]

And you're saying he sounds like someone who wants welfare pixels. Maybe it's just because I raided with him for a long time and that's why I see how laughable that response to his post is.

Anyways

That's nice - his post still sounds whiny. Woe is me, can't pull dragons to entrance and trivialize the whole thing anymore.

[mumpz]

It is not a server that allows you to just show up and press the "free loot" button, and it's not a server that rewards you for simply existing.

[Arvan]

I haven't raided in 5months? Idk how long but:

I don't like the unclassic things that i am reading/hearing. Don't get me wrong, Rogean and Nilbog can do whatever but these changes aren't classic and i feel we going more and more towards unclassic things.

I don't like it, Everquest end game experience is not for everyone, it's just the nature of the game. Call whoever created and bitch about it, but making unclassic changes to make people happy is not something i like to see.

When they made the unclassic 25 mobs AE cap was also terrible... Feels more and more of a custom server as time goes by...

Just my 2 cp.

Do you think pulling every single mob in ToV to zoneline is classic?

*SPOILER*
Well i played in that era, and it isn't.
*END SPOILER*

[Twochain]

It’s not a bis 2hb, it’s used from inventory as a click, other weapons beat it in dps

With the way ToV is now, Abashi is probably the best item in the game.

And yes i click mine from inventory. But most people don't have NToV/Tunare 1handers AND an abashi.

[Baylan295]

With the way ToV is now, Abashi is probably the best item in the game.

And yes i click mine from inventory. But most people don't have NToV/Tunare 1handers AND an abashi.

Beads. But the Abashi click is incredibly over powered.

[Twochain]

Beads. But the Abashi click is incredibly over powered.

250 range, only dispells positive buffs, unlimited clicks to split mobs. Just being able to dispell mobs in camp without worrying about tash/malo/slow getting dispelled too... I think Abashi is best. It makes a monk a fucking spell caster.

Don't get me wrong I have beads too

[Baylan295]

250 range, only dispells positive buffs, unlimited clicks to split mobs. Just being able to dispell mobs in camp without worrying about tash/malo/slow getting dispelled too... I think Abashi is best. It makes a monk a fucking spell caster.

Don't get me wrong I have beads too

100%.

Tash is poison based though. No worry about dispelling it.

[DMN]

I remember back in '63.
What a very special time for me.
What a lady, what a night.

[ajohnymous]

100%.

Tash is poison based though. No worry about dispelling it.


When you think you got a pretty good handle on the game, then learn something like this.

[DromalPhrenia]

Do you think pulling every single mob in ToV to zoneline is classic?

*SPOILER*
Well i played in that era, and it isn't.
*END SPOILER*
I personally don't obsess about classic or not classic so I'm not supporting an argument in opposition to the ToV change BUT, I see this posted a lot and I'm not sure I agree that it matters. The goal is (or was) for the server content to be as classic as possible, not for the tactics that players use be as identical as possible. Players try out new strategies all the time, and our knowledge base is far deeper and far more shared than it ever was in-era. Since we're locked in Velious as our end game, the same things have been experimented on and analyzed for years and years.

Having said that, with the earlier changes that poster mentioned, as well as this recent change to ToV and the discussions between staff regarding how to deal with ToV (including instances being on the table) I think arguing about what is and isn't "classic" has become irrelevant. That's not to say I lust for custom content, just that the powers that be have placed 'Health of the Server' over 'Strict adherence to classic'.

[Erati]

P99 has become self aware.

Dun dun dunnnnnnnnnnnn

[Twochain]

When you think you got a pretty good handle on the game, then learn something like this.

EverQuest is really.... a weird game when it comes to things like this. There is A LOT of things to know. You can constantly learn something knew about the mechanics. I mean shit, i swear to god once a week I see an item i've never seen before. And i've been playing for 20 fucking years.

[Maliant]

Yup, have some one cast cure poison on you if you get tashed.

[Danth]

...then, inexplicably, the Slow on Vulak wears off...

While they're no doubt scouring logs searching for a potential wayward dispell (and should be, such hijinks should not be tolerated), there's also a real possibility that someone slowed using the wrong slow. It's easy enough to do since they usually give the same message when landing or fading. In some cases the difference in slow % might not be immediately apparent, but the shorter duration of something like Turgur versus Togor could explain slow wearing off unexpectedly.

With several hundred players in temple veeshan last evening much of the rest of the game was more open than usual. Was a nice time to be out in norrath.

Danth

[Twochain]

EverQuest is really.... a weird game when it comes to things like this. There is A LOT of things to know. You can constantly learn something knew about the mechanics. I mean shit, i swear to god once a week I see an item i've never seen before. And i've been playing for 20 fucking years.

Holy shit new* lmao


Anywho, the last two days were the most fun I have ever had raiding. Regardless if things need to be adjusted/long term burn out becomes apparent.... that was the most fun I have had raiding. Any MMO.

Rogean said there was what, 237 people on the kill encounter log?

Is that approaching the most people to take down a single raid mob in any MMO? I know shit gets crazy in a game like EVE, but i feel like that's a little bit different/PVP oriented. I wonder what the record on something like this is.

[DMN]

There is this game I used to play a long time ago called Space Cowboy Online that mother ships often had fights 300+ people.

[ajohnymous]

Holy shit new* lmao


Anywho, the last two days were the most fun I have ever had raiding. Regardless if things need to be adjusted/long term burn out becomes apparent.... that was the most fun I have had raiding. Any MMO.

Rogean said there was what, 237 people on the kill encounter log?

Is that approaching the most people to take down a single raid mob in any MMO? I know shit gets crazy in a game like EVE, but i feel like that's a little bit different/PVP oriented. I wonder what the record on something like this is.


I would wager the mega-alliance of guilds who first woke and summarily killed the Sleeper would be more than that. 237 is definitely the most on this server. This was the biggest I've seen in person on any RPG, the second was probably playing WoW during the earlier expansions when the Alliance or Horde would organize a raid to kill a city leader.

[acoordinator]

I cant agree with the original post more. Last night was a great night to raid and be together as a server. What was dropped little compared with the positive energy and comradery that was experienced working together. There was mutual respect on all parties even dare I say AM.

<shameless plug for my vid of the raid>
P1999 - Vulak - Temple of Veeshan - KWSM and Lots of friends!!! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVw5qGVKFNs)

<Psychotropical 60 Warlock - Kittens who say Mew!!>

[Francois]

[Wed Apr 10 06:14:39 2019] Rogean says out of character, '220 Person Encounter Log >_>'

[Nexii]

The TOV open raid had around 200-250 if I recall. It was so many that pushing Vulak crashed the zone twice

[DMN]

The TOV open raid had around 200-250 if I recall. It was so many that pushing Vulak crashed the zone twice

This is why back in the day a 150 raid force was worse than a 100 one. And it wouldn't surpise me if the sleeper kill was actually under 100, too.

[Danth]

This is why back in the day a 150 raid force was worse than a 100 one. And it wouldn't surpise me if the sleeper kill was actually under 100, too.

200 plus at peak, though it dipped under 200 at times. Don't think it ever got under 100. Clerics alone numbered between 40-50. Zone stability was far better by that period than it had been during the game's early days.

Danth

[Fifield]

Im such a nerd, its 7:25pm, just got kid to bed, logging into EQ, still thinking about the fun last night.

Ahh good ol everquest

[Legidias]

Open vulak was stupid push lol. He just floated above everyone like 10 ft in the air and flew around the room due to massive push.

[Zuranthium]

Sorry to hear about this being a peak gaming experience for you. Standing around with that many people and just waiting for the other side to engage, or being allowed to fight only via "first to engage", is not what I call interesting.

Granted, it's less retarded than before, but this change is also just going to encourage as large of a raid force as possible and min/maxing the force to simultaneously handle as many guards as possible. Which means as many Clerics, Rogues, and Warriors as possible. Typical static PvE, with a further effect of warping the playerbase into playing these classes over others. With enough people and enough "power classes", the zerg guild can even split their force and simultaneously go for Vyem and Vulak at the same time.

A further complication is that other guilds can wait behind for their chance to "leapfrog". In the instance of a raid force not being able to handle all guards + boss at the same time (and most likely this will be case for awhile), other raid forces can sit behind and look for their chance to jump ahead to Vyem or Vulak. The latter dragon can't be engaged until Vyem is dead, which also opens up the scenario of competing raid forces just waiting there and spamming a tag on Vulak for the moment he becomes open. Thus the game remains the same stupid bullshit, random chance of who gets the lowest server ping to get the first tag on the mob.

Guilds doing weekly PvP tournaments, with an even number of players and equipment on each side, would be a far more skillful way of determining who gets the Raid rights. Winner of the tournament gets their first picks for raid targets, 2nd place gets next pick, etc. If a guild wipes on their target, then it becomes open to others. Limiting excess players in PvE encounters would also be better for the game, and actually technically classic, if you look at the actual composition of guilds back then and how people lagged when too many players were gathered in an area.

[Meguvin]

Most of people who killed everything and did not know Tov will know now. And ubber guilds cant clear the whole server in the first hours of an Earthquake. I know u want all the pixeles but instead It you Will have the most of them so dont cry.

[Nikkanu]

As someone who got their Vulak robe back when we were clearing to Vulak and before we started pulling dragons to zone in I approve this change and applaud those that put in the effort to down Vulak this week. You all rock. Thanks for the memories even though we didn't win this time. Grats Chillwin on the shiny stick. <3

[Lobster1071]

Definitely a memorable experience for me too.
Are people going to remember your 30th kill of Vulak, or the one where multiple guilds had a blast and banded together to beat a common enemy (and I'm not even referring to the dragons).

You see, for some of us, it's not about getting pixels all the time (or DENYING people pixels...Jesus Christ). It's about the experience. I received nothing in terms of loot the entire night, and would like to experience an event like that again and again. It was a bunch of fun, and was a joyous thing to see people band together for a good event, while at the same time stand up to a bully organization.

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." - Maya Angelou