The problem with a "zerg" guild, and the challenge before us

[Videri]

The problem people talk about is that it is impossible to contest another guild if their numbers are sufficiently greater. However, that is not the true problem. If that were the only problem, the obvious solution would be to recruit enough members to beat them. That might be difficult, but it could be done.

For a game to be fun, one must have permission to do one's best. In EQ, that means recruit as many players as you can, bring as many of your members as you can to raids and PvP, gear your members as well as you can, and use every tactic you can to win (without getting banned). Only if we all do our best will we know who played best that round and thus deserved to win.

You can't fault a guild for trying their best to win, so you can't fault a guild's leaders for recruiting. So what's the problem?

The true zerg problem arises when players are given the overwhelming impression that they must join a particular guild to enjoy the game. This, of course, would lead to a vast majority of players joining that guild, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy and preventing other guilds from successfully competing.

Several members of Holocaust have claimed they are the only guild getting major raid targets on Red99. These players are trying to create that self-fulfilling prophecy and prevent competition. This type of statement is detrimental to the server. In other words, that's bad!!

Other players on the server are afraid of this happening because they want to be able to try their best and have a chance to win in PvE and thereby earn the right to down PvP targets. As a result of this fear, they protest the zerg guild.

This leads to a meta-battle in which the zerg guild tries to show they are the only choice and other guilds try to present themselves as good or even better choices for moral reasons.

So what do we do? As for me, the only defense I know is to show new and current players the fun we are having; and to show them how exciting the server would be if there were more competition between guilds - competition in which both sides have a fighting chance and no one can be completely sure who will win.

The rest of us must out-recruit <Holocaust>, then out-play them. It will be a great challenge and therefore worth doing. Let's do this.

I welcome any other thoughts and perspectives on this matter.

[Farzo]

Talk to a guy called Lite ingame, he has great ideas for beating the "zerg" and has managed to beat the zerg many times over.

Can contacted on:

Vantage, Bernard, Novus, Lite, Seekn *insert guild members name here* and many sub 50 toons plotting and planning.

---

P.s ur right on the fact that to beat the biggest guild you need to out recruit them; of the 200 players not in Holocaust that play on the sever you could make a guild with surplus players to contest.

Wont happen though. The other-side just likes to cry foul non-stop and try and poo up the server.

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[pharmakos]

Originally Posted by Farzo [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

P.s ur right on the fact that to beat the biggest guild you need to out recruit them

"To fight the Empire is to be infected by its derangement. This is a paradox; whoever defeats a segment of the Empire becomes the Empire; it proliferates like a virus, imposing its form on its enemies. Thereby it becomes its enemies."

-VALIS, Philip K Dick








meet the new zerg, just like the old zerg.

[Efwan]

Inb4Flamed.

Good luck man, honestly the real issue also stems from how long this server has been in kunark. A small option of raid mobs = EZ lockdown for one zerg guild. Velious should change a lot of this, but it is up to us as "the resistance" so to speak to really change this. At this point, every major guild outside of holocaust should be talking alliance, and rallying for Velious. It will be a lot easier to stop a zerg come velious when raid mobs take longer than 15 seconds to kill. As a member of The Curse, I don't speak for our leadership but I speak with a outside point of view, the smaller guilds need to be talking strategy for the future. For instance, (not saying this is necessarily true in all aspects but..) Fresh may have half the numbers of Holo, where Azrael/Friends/Curse have a lot of the good pvp'ers/raid strategies it could be a good mix if combined, but the guild leaders need to first squash their qualms in the next month, otherwise it will be the same trickle just with different pixels.

[Colgate]

well, holocaust really is the only guild getting raid targets outside of sim repops where we lose like three low-tier mobs out of the fifteen that spawn

that statement isn't false

[Videri]

Originally Posted by Colgate [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

well, holocaust really is the only guild getting raid targets outside of sim repops where we lose like three low-tier mobs out of the fifteen that spawn

that statement isn't false

I've seen <Fresh> do Ixiblat and Zordakalicus Ragefire and I believe Chardok royals. So, it's imbalanced, but not a lockout.

Secondly, that itself isn't the problem. The problem is that people think one guild getting a majority of raid targets means they can't enjoy the game playing with other guilds, and they join <Holocaust>, thereby contributing to the perception. If enough people joined <Fresh> and <The Curse>, or started their own new guilds, we could actually open up the higher tiers of raid targets and have more truly entertaining PvP. Would you support that, Colgate?

P.S.: Sim repops drop the same loot as weekly/times spawns. I just don't want anyone to think that they'll never down a dragon with <Fresh>, <The Curse>, or other new guilds that may spring up.

[Telron]

Originally Posted by Colgate [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

well, holocaust really is the only guild getting raid targets outside of sim repops where we lose like three low-tier mobs out of the fifteen that spawn

that statement isn't false

What will you do in Velious! Be a shame to let all dem pops go to waste. Holo needs more membas! Must have a 40 man raid for each continent ready to mobilize and destroy at the drop of a hat / Shake of a screen!

[Clark]

Originally Posted by Colgate [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I usually try to zerg

[Videri]

P.S.: To members of <Holocaust>, I'm not mad at you for kicking too much dragon tail. How could I fault you for doing your best? Red99 is a fun competition, like a competitive sport or a board game. I look forward to some healthy competition with you, topped with good sportsdwarfship! This is to Gradner and the others like him.

Though I can't help but wonder what it would be like if some of you joined other guilds to even it out. You could be partially responsible for making Red99 a lot more fun and exciting!

[FaithlessKR]

Originally Posted by Videri [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Though I can't help but wonder what it would be like if some of you joined other guilds to even it out. You could be partially responsible for making Red99 a lot more fun and exciting!

The major issue people are failing to see, is that holocaust has been preparing for winter for months in advance hearing that it was coming. Getting the proper steady 50+ members online at whatever times needed to down all content, is a step they took in advance.

Spilling members out now when the officer core has put in work gearing out blue transfers for this very purpose would be counter-productive. I'm not sure why fresh's numbers took a giant hit recently, they actually would have just as much as if not more during peak times a couple weeks ago.