Hi.
Let me preface this by saying that this is in no way a troll, or an attempt to slander our Blue brothers. What I want this to be is a spark. A catalyst that ignites a more intelligent discussion on the age old debate: Blue vs. Red.
Why now? The answer is obvious. The Sleeper is now awake on Blue. The community is at each other’s throats. Guild suspensions are rampant. Red stands to offer everyone a new way of life. One that is free from the constraints of insane rules, 16 hour variance windows, and a primal-less and Warder-less future. That’s right – I want those of you who are jaded and confused to look to Red. Start fresh. Control your own destiny. Play EverQuest how it was meant to be played.
UNDERSTANDING RED
The biggest roadblock to the Red server has always been misunderstanding. Red is played up to be a toxic server full of trash talking and training and griefing. It is viewed as a prison of sorts, to “keep those players off of Blue.” This could not be further from the truth. Sure, you will find your share of griefers and trash talking, but overall, the server is in a great place.
The rules on Blue and the rules on Red are night and day. Blue has variance. Red does not. Blue has FTE. Red does not. Blue has convoluted raid rules that require a law degree to understand. Red does not.
What does this mean in terms of real gameplay?
Variance: On Blue, guilds need to be ready within a 16 hour window to engage their raid targets. This generally requires a raid force on standby, a person ducking Call of the Hero for up to 15+ hours, and a person waiting to spam a Mallet on a mob. Often times this is done with the help of autofire programs. On Red, there is no variance. The mob spawns exactly 3, 5, 7 days from when it was killed. Everyone knows the timers. You can show up and prepare however you see fit, and the winner gets the dragon. No bullshit.
First to Engage: On Blue, once a guild is in position, the FTE is the deciding factor on who gets to kill the dragon. On Red, you claim your dragons by winning the PVP and being ready for the spawn. No bullshit.
Raid rules: On Blue, Variance and FTE and numerous other factors including “stalling”, training, not having sufficient forces on FTE, camping in the wrong part of the zone for a mob, etc. can affect whether or not you actually get to keep the loot from the dragon you just killed, or whether your guild will be suspended from raiding for a week. On Red, the only thing stopping you from another dragon is your enemy. No bullshit.
Notice the common theme: No bullshit. Red offers you the ability to play EverQuest and take matters into your own hands without asinine rules and hoops to jump through. You secure the zone, you take your targets, and you leave. No bullshit.
LEAVING BLUE BEHIND
If you are worried about starting over, realize that outside of the few legacy items, everything can be obtained on Red. The XP rates are faster, more camps are open, and even if they aren’t – you have the ability to literally take ANY camp that you want, at ANY time. Pretty great right?
Another issue that is always a hot topic is the population. Sure, Red is never going to be as dense as Blue. It never was on Live, it never will be here. That being said, do not let the numbers fool you. On average, say Blue has 1000 players online. Red has 250. How many of those players on Blue are AFK, or sitting in EC spamming sales? 250-300? How many are just logging on and chatting in /gu, or sitting in a zone not really “playing” EQ? Another 100? How many are boxing? Subtract some of the bullshit, and you are left with maybe 600-700 people actively engaged in EverQuest. On Red, everyone is ALWAYS actively engaged because you can’t AFK. If you log into Red, you need to be ready to fight at any given time. The population difference isn’t as bad as it seems at a glance, and is certainly nothing to worry about.
Lastly, the grief. You have our word that we will not grief or disrupt your raids, just as we did not grief TMO’s when they came to Red. Sure, someone may show up and fight you, probably kill you here and there, but they will always rez you up and allow you to continue your raid, possibly even help you with it. We will also help fend off “real” grief from the other guilds on the server until you are comfortable within <Tempest>. There are plenty of mobs for the taking here due to the nature of our schedule and the incompetence of current competition – come seize the opportunity with us in <Tempest>.
DISCLAIMER: For those that are appalled at the ability to kill other players in game, let us remind you and reassure you: EverQuest is a PVE game first and foremost. It always has been, and always will be. The Red server is still PVE-centric. It’s not “Counter Strike with Elves” – it’s just EverQuest. EverQuest that gives you the opportunity to take matters into your own hands and resolve disputes without the need for GM intervention and threads dedicated to guild suspensions.
TL
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Come to Red. Level up with the help of <Tempest> and join.
There is no better time than right now. Talk it over with your friends and your guild(s) and take the plunge. I guarantee once you get your footing, you will never look back – just ask any of the many Blue to Red converts that make up the Red server today.
Hope to see some of you in the future.
Project 1999 Red: No bullshit. Just EverQuest.