Tower of Frozen Shadow and Crystal Caverns ZEM's?
 

So, both of these dungeons were listed as 85 ZEM, but then changed to 110 on the wiki before the November 2021 patch that increased their ZEM by 11%.

Does anyone know where these 110 numbers came from, or what the actual ZEM's are right now?

If they were originally 85, then currently they should be at 94 with the 11% patch.
If they were 110 (for some unknown reason), then they should now be at 122 since the patch.

The wiki is filled with much misinformation. Try using waybackmachine or alahkazam.

The wiki ZEM numbers are based on known EQEMU values, the devs have repeatedly stated they aren't really accurate to how they coded the ZEM here, but the general differences are in line with which zones are higher than others.

On the wiki, 75 is baseline. So when we see a zone had an 85 that means the ZEM (the modifier to the baseline) is 10. Baseline 75, zone experience modifier of 10, for a total of 85.

When the staff says they increased a ZEM by 11% they are increasing the modifier, that's what the ZEM is, just the modifier above baseline. So for the previous 85 zone they would be increasing the 10 modifier by 11%, not adding 11% of 85 to the total.

So yeah, the way you are calculating it would be more accurate, but most of the player base completely misunderstands it (including whoever updates these wiki values) and just applies that % number from the patch notes to the total zone value the wiki shows and declares that the new "ZEM".

Rogean confirmed this in prior posts following ZEM patches, but won't say more about how the actual server ZEM values work other than to say that the wiki isn't really accurate in terms of the literal numbers and that it confuses players more than helps them.....and to just play and enjoy the zones you enjoy and then come to your own XP rate conclusions.

As far as your question about when the hell the 85 changed to 110, I'm not sure but maybe the wiki editor changed that based on another prior ZEM patch before November 2021? There was a previous one where they changed some ZEM's around, including the famous huge boost to the Hole's already sick modifier.

(Incidentally, the Hole should still be the best place for everyone to level through the fifties, even after the slight nerf to the zem last year. But the playerbase are knee jerk reactionary people who were overall sick of grinding the hole for so long and now we are stuck in shitty KC for all PuG's.)

KC is the literal worst shit ever.

Make your own groups. Go back to Hole. Go to Seb. Get the fuck out of KC so the mouth breathers are stuck with their shitty selves.

TOFS is accurate @ 110 ZEM currently. Floor 3 mobs have a specific level range. Did several full levels with xp calculator, the math checks out within +/- 3 mobs

ZEM is not a "modifier above baseline". ZEM stands for "zone experience modifier". It's a specific number used in the Everquest exp formula to determine how much exp you get per kill.

When they state an 11% modifier in the patch notches, they mean the whole ZEM number itself being multiplied by that amount. BTW, I think Rogean was mostly bullshitting when he said he didn't know where the wiki numbers came from. ZEM's were a known thing since early 2000 and most of the numbers carried over into p99 (although for some zones it was post-classic ZEM's being used), and the numbers on the wiki for many zones were tested for accuracy.

The first ZEM update in March 2020 only updated Old World zones. There wasn't another update to ZEM's that I'm aware of until November 2021.

Interesting! It sounds like the wiki may have been originally incorrect about the ZEM's in those zones then.

HOWEVER, it's very strange the ZEM's would be 110 after receiving an 11% boost. That means they would have been 99 beforehand, which is a number never used in the past, that I know of.

tofs should be right up there w/ kedge

or rotate the damn zems, make it random...anything to get away from KC

Well... that's good to know..

Well... that's good to know..