Project 1999 - Global ooc/auction return to zone-wide

With this patch, server-wide out of character and auction channels have returned to zone-only. I believe we owe it to the spirit of the project to try and develop a community. It has not been possible since classic and we now have this opportunity. If there are issues, then we have contingency plans.

There has been an opinion poll running the past week in regards to when would be the ideal time for their removal. The poll results were about 50/50. Half of the population wishes it end immediately. The other half wishes for it to stay, either temporarily or indefinitely. There was never a question of keeping global channels permanently. The question was should their removal be sooner or later.

When the server initially launched, this same topic was addressed. At that time, there were around 200 people playing concurrently. It was suggested by many that when the population reached around 500 players at a time, it should be removed for sure. Presently we have a much greater population with new players joining everyday.

It is the goal of this project to emulate Everquest from the time of its initial launch to the end of Velious expansion. During this time, global channels were never an option.

Now to address some of the concerns.

The primary reasons player feedback advocate global channels is for finding groups and auctioning.

Tips and suggestions for finding a group.

-Use "/lfg on" if you're in search of a group.

-Use the command "/ all lfg" to return a list of players looking for a group.

-Use "/ all zonename" to display who is visible within a certain zone. e.g. "/ all nro" would produce a list of players visible in north ro.

-Wanting to hunt somewhere in particular? Go to the zone and shout for a group.

I ran a test this week of "/ all lfg" at various times over the span of 5 days. The results were around 20-30 players lfg at a time.

Auctioning:

-An in-game form of global auction should not be available to players whatsoever. One of the agreed-upon elements which made everquest immersive was its community. Whether the East Commonlands tunnel re-emerges as the dominate social area or another location, you should have the opportunity to forge your own community.

Last but not least, IRC and the forums.

irc.eqemulator.net
#project1999

This channel is always open and always has people in it. Bring epic ooc chat to irc where it belongs.

Go find each other.