What is the ultimate gameplan for Project '99?

[ELance]

As far as I can see, with the release of green, Project '99 has gone from a stable, functioning server to a 3-4 year novelty ride. People seem to be living completely in the short-term now with no thought to the future.

I would think one of the founding principles of Project '99 would be that an MMORPG is a long term game. It is not something that is replaced by sequels or needs constant expansion packs. Yet that is in effect what has happened.

I have 4 characters on blue in the 30s and 40s that I have been playing off and on for years. I cannot play them any more, because blue is no longer a functional server.

I am a reasonable person. I am not averse to reasonable change. But the way I see it, I have no options. Even if I deleted and remade all 4 of my characters on green, I would only have 3 or 4 years before the same thing happened again. On top of that, I have no desire to remake my characters. The Everquest I enjoy is at level 30, level 40, level 50, etc. not at level 1.

I waited a few days before I joined green, but I could only stand to see 0 population Mistmoore so many times. I now have a level 11 character on green. But being my fifth, she is only my fifth favorite class, and one that I had withheld from till now. My effective experience in Everquest has worsened. I am replaying easier levels with a character I enjoy less with less variety of characters.

I was ready to play Project '99 as a game with a soft ending at level 50 or 60. I would then explore the world, learning the secrets that were hidden around it. I would make friends with other players and form alliances as necessary. Looking back at the history of Everquest, I see how naive I was. Ruins of Kunark was released within a year. There was never time to explore, learn, discover, use your imagination, and form close alliances. It was not that kind of game.

So I asked a question but answered it myself. I see now that commercial, online, graphical and massive can never be good. Even commercial and online is troublesome. Graphical is out of the question. I once idealized the early MMORPGs from '96-'99, but now it has hit me like a ton of bricks. Where are they now? They were not victims of a crisis that could have been averted. They were just temporal oddities.

[Psyborg]

The idea from the outset was that Green was going to eventually roll over into Blue at some point after the end of the patch cycle. This is now undecided. If this does happen, Blue is going to be king again as most of the people that rolled Green are going to want to continue their characters rather than start over again. The nature of EverQuest makes it very difficult to continually start over from scratch and there will still be quite a bit to achieve for folks years into Velious. There will always be a subset of players looking for the evergreen experience of constantly rerolling but for the most part Blue will be the place to be if Green does merge into it. Either way, you're safe to roll on Green. Either you'll be dumped back into Blue eventually with everyone else or you'll stay on Green.

I do feel for your current situation though.

[Swish]

Was blue ever meant to be a server that spanned 20 stable years OP? It's a new frontier.

[El-Hefe]

I really think people overstate others resistance to rerolling every five or so years.

Starting fresh is fun, I'll never understand peoples aversion to it.

I hope Green 2 has the old stone UI.

[Lhord99]

I really think people overstate others resistance to rerolling every five or so years.

Starting fresh is fun, I'll never understand peoples aversion to it.

I hope Green 2 has the old stone UI.

There is some sick gratification when you punch gnome skeletons, don’t get me wrong. But there’s also a big rush when you score a 600+ crit on a velious raid mob with a BFG.

‘Twixt the two, I’ll take the latter.

[Tecmos Deception]

People seem to be living completely in the short-term

3.5 years is not short term. We're not planning for retirement; we're playing a video game.

[Lhord99]

3.5 years is not short term. We're not planning for retirement; we're playing a video game.

All due respect, Noman Enchanter god, we ARE playing a game that is almost legally old enough to buy a drink, take home, and... well, level up. It’s a marathon for many in Norrath. I don’t think any of us would say we’ve only got 3 more years in us.

[Swish]

Until I make 13 characters max level with epics and BiS gear by the end of the last Velious patch on blue, my work here isn't done.

...and even then I'd probably roll another necromancer <3

[Lhord99]

Until I make 13 characters max level with epics and BiS gear by the end of the last Velious patch on blue, my work here isn't done.

...and even then I'd probably roll another necromancer <3

Facts.

[Naxy]

I think I will try a bard, when I retire. We’ll be around.

[ScottBerta]

Different strokes for different folks. Il stay True 2 Blue.

[Videri]

OP, don't think of Green/Teal as an expansion pack for Blue.

Think of Blue as a beta test for Green. And yes, that's how it has always been viewed by the people who run the server.

Creating a server that walks through the patches was always the end goal. We have arrived.

[Jimjam]

Blue seems a good server for slow burn players. Problem is slow burn players play for an hour or two maybe 4 times a month. Their limited play timemmakes it unlikely they cross paths.

I suggest you send tells to pretty much any character online explaining you are a level x class y and ask if they have an alt in that level range interested in visiting zone z.

[scifo76]

Different strokes for different folks. Il stay True 2 Blue.

Same here. I have a couple of 60 toons on Blue and love playing them. I mostly play solo/duo, so the decrease in population doesn't bother me at all. Yes, the economy is less vibrant at the moment, but I can already see it slowly coming back compared to a week ago.

TRUE 2 BLUE! <3

[Izmael]

The plan is probably (and hopefully) to wait until EQ becomes abandonware and spin it into a real company.

[Deadfather]

10 years lifespan for a 2xpac server is impressive already no ? Whats the plan now ? If people continue to play, great, but all patches are done, and it was meant to cap at velious. Nothing more

[Tethler]

The whole point of blue server was to be a beta for the green server that you're seeing now. It is just now finally coming to fruition.

My personal game plan is to have fun playing the game until I no longer have fun playing the game. At that point I will play another game until I feel the itch and come play EQ again down the road.

[ELance]

Starting fresh is fun, I'll never understand peoples aversion to it.


Alright I'll bite. <<Long rant about Everquest forthcoming. Feel free to ban me for it. Don't read if you really like it.>>


The contortions of reason needed to call Everquest a role-playing game at low levels are extreme. It is like Deer Hunter '99. I gritted my teeth and played through that Disney Land for degenerates once, but not twice; not with the same character. I see no social or moral good in the low levels in Everquest. Rather I see a device by Sony to earn even more money than they already would through distortion of reality and presentation of falsehoods. What good comes of this game in society? It is not realistic, it is not moral, it is not believable, it is not challenging, and it is not artistic. There are no tutorials in war. If Sony wished to make a game of combat, the least they could have done was to present it more realistically. I might as well be listening to Snoop Doggy Dogg, watching Beavis and Butthead and clicking on the sheep in Warcraft till it explodes. I only, and I repeat only played through that rubbish once to experience an online graphical role-playing game. Because it is the only blinking one on the Internet now. Yeah I heard Ultima Online was good. ULTIMA ONLINE, AKA Ultima NINE. A doomed genre if ever I saw one.

[ELance]

Blue seems a good server for slow burn players. Problem is slow burn players play for an hour or two maybe 4 times a month. Their limited play timemmakes it unlikely they cross paths.

I suggest you send tells to pretty much any character online explaining you are a level x class y and ask if they have an alt in that level range interested in visiting zone z.

Yeah good point. Good for people who like that kind of thing. But green ended blue as a functional server. A massively multiplayer game is meant to have massive amounts of people. I wish them the best. For those us beta testers (hey, where was THAT written?) who feel left in the lurch, there are MUDs.

[loramin]

Speaking of short-term and long-term ... the "Blue is dead" folks in this thread are thinking incredibly short-term.

Blue is NOT dead. It's not even on life support. It's simply having a great vacation period, and during that period it's easier than it ever has been to find that rare mob you've always wanted. Think of it like that, and enjoy this brief vacation while it lasts, because ...

... the server is absolutely not going anywhere! As time goes on, a very significant percentage of the Bluebies currently playing on Green will absolutely go back to playing their Blue characters. Heck, at some point (and this might be six months or six years) the staff will add custom content, and I can guarantee the server will experience a resurgence then (if not long before).

If you think otherwise, you're just being ... well ... short-sighted.

[nectarprime]

OP is probably the dumbest person to ever post on these forums. Could you imagine having such an insane thought process like he has? There is no way he is a functional member of society.

[PieOats]

I really think people overstate others resistance to rerolling every five or so years.

Starting fresh is fun, I'll never understand peoples aversion to it.

I hope Green 2 has the old stone UI.

I'm with xer^

[Donkey Hotay]

What is the ultimate gameplan for Project '99?

[Lhord99]

Speaking of short-term and long-term ... the "Blue is dead" folks in this thread are thinking incredibly short-term.

Blue is NOT dead. It's not even on life support. It's simply having a great vacation period, and during that period it's easier than it ever has been to find that rare mob you've always wanted. Think of it like that, and enjoy this brief vacation while it lasts, because ...

... the server is absolutely not going anywhere! As time goes on, a very significant percentage of the Bluebies currently playing on Green will absolutely go back to playing their Blue characters. Heck, at some point (and this might be six months or six years) the staff will add custom content, and I can guarantee the server will experience a resurgence then (if not long before).

If you think otherwise, you're just being ... well ... short-sighted.

Loramin and Raddok out here making the case for Barb Shamanism.

If I haven’t told you directly before, I appreciate what you do for the p99 community. I use your resources on a nigh-daily basis. Thanks for that!

[loramin]

If I haven’t told you directly before, I appreciate what you do for the p99 community. I use your resources on a nigh-daily basis. Thanks for that!

:D

[Frug]

Same here. I have a couple of 60 toons on Blue and love playing them. I mostly play solo/duo, so the decrease in population doesn't bother me at all. Yes, the economy is less vibrant at the moment, but I can already see it slowly coming back compared to a week ago.

TRUE 2 BLUE! <3

https://monosnap.com/file/wam2r9jxh0RAqpM4gDA3yevoXgM6Ax

Is it though?

I agree blue isn't "dead", not even dying, but it has some time before recovery.

[kerafym]

As far as I can see, with the release of green, Project '99 has gone from a stable, functioning server to a 3-4 year novelty ride. People seem to be living completely in the short-term now with no thought to the future.

I would think one of the founding principles of Project '99 would be that an MMORPG is a long term game. It is not something that is replaced by sequels or needs constant expansion packs. Yet that is in effect what has happened.

I have 4 characters on blue in the 30s and 40s that I have been playing off and on for years. I cannot play them any more, because blue is no longer a functional server.

I am a reasonable person. I am not averse to reasonable change. But the way I see it, I have no options. Even if I deleted and remade all 4 of my characters on green, I would only have 3 or 4 years before the same thing happened again. On top of that, I have no desire to remake my characters. The Everquest I enjoy is at level 30, level 40, level 50, etc. not at level 1.

I waited a few days before I joined green, but I could only stand to see 0 population Mistmoore so many times. I now have a level 11 character on green. But being my fifth, she is only my fifth favorite class, and one that I had withheld from till now. My effective experience in Everquest has worsened. I am replaying easier levels with a character I enjoy less with less variety of characters.

I was ready to play Project '99 as a game with a soft ending at level 50 or 60. I would then explore the world, learning the secrets that were hidden around it. I would make friends with other players and form alliances as necessary. Looking back at the history of Everquest, I see how naive I was. Ruins of Kunark was released within a year. There was never time to explore, learn, discover, use your imagination, and form close alliances. It was not that kind of game.

So I asked a question but answered it myself. I see now that commercial, online, graphical and massive can never be good. Even commercial and online is troublesome. Graphical is out of the question. I once idealized the early MMORPGs from '96-'99, but now it has hit me like a ton of bricks. Where are they now? They were not victims of a crisis that could have been averted. They were just temporal oddities.

You have a gift for creative writing. Do you have some sort of blog?

[Bbeta]

TRUE TO BLUE. I love blue and its community.

[sentinel]

then you are lost