TLPs are a money laundering op

[Wakanda]

Project 1999 is vastly superior to TLPs, but I think TLP is actually dramatically harder than P99 unless you don't mind being subpar and below average.

When a TLP first launches all of the top items in the game are basically locked down by professional players. There's no PNP to protect you from this. People will literally walk up on top of your group and steal stuff. You know how you think the FTE will make it harder for players to KS you? It actually makes it easier. I can't tell you how many times I've had a single player walk passed our group, and pull a rare mob from our camp passed us as we're unable to stop them.

Secondly, on P99, just because you can't camp a rare item doesn't mean you can't purchase it, right? Well good luck doing that without spending real life money. Guards, Hill Giants aren't the cash crop they are on P99. Treants don't exist etc.

Thirdly, the mechanics play completely different. You know how root is a huge form of CC on P99? It's borderline useless on TLPs. Mobs are also smarter too. I've talked about this with my fellow P99 friends who played over on TLPs with me because they noticed it too. I'm playing a Cleric. I haven't even stood up to cast a spell, and the mob literally drops aggro from the tank and runs across the room and begins attacking me instead because it recognizes I'm the healer and targets me accordingly. I almost never have enough mana to fully buff my group when I play my cleric.

Fourthly, playing on TLP will actually make you better at P99, no exaggeration. People on P99 always point out how insane I am at CC on my Enchanter compared to other Enchanters they've played with. This is because I played on TLPs. Where it's the norm for your group to be chain pulling 30 frogloks on top of you at any given time for hours on end. While you're still expected to charm a pet and what not.

But another huge learning lesson you can get from a TLP that you won't get on P99, is learning the insides of zones. I doubt the average person I meet on P99 would be able to run through Sebilis, The Hole, or Sol B without getting lost or killed. On TLPs - make a Monk - your groups will require you to pull to Efreeti, run all over The Hole pulling mobs, it's super common to get invited to a group in Sebilis or even Chardok and have to solo navigate your way to the Fungus King or Chef. I feel like the average player on P99 would never have enough experience to do this. Hell, I even learned the insides of Howling Stones because again, players regularly group there, unlike on P99.

Now when I play on P99 I know how to comfortably get to most places in the game because I spent so much time in these same exact zones on TLP. Velk's lab is another good example. Groups outside the castle are super common, and pulling from inside the castle and you learn how to avoid the trap etc. Again, the average player is never going to get this kind of experience from playing on P99.

Lastly, one of the hugest parts of TLP is the multi-boxing. Which I actually hate, but ended up doing it because I do have multiple computers at my desk for work-related purposes. It started off small. My friend told me I could use their Druid to teleport myself around when they weren't online. Then I decided I might as well keep the Druid in my group for extra heals, and then my other friend asked me to help them level their character, and gave me access to their account as well. At one point I was literally playing a Cleric, Enc, and Wiz all at one time. This made me realize it's easier to play a Cleric and Wizard simultaneously than it is to play a single Enchanter or Shaman.

I genuinely feel like I took years of my life off of playing 3 characters at once because of how strenuous it was, I was having to swivel around in my chair from keyboard to keyboard and it was super disorienting the entire time to the point I would feel dizzy and almost pass out in my chair after 12 hours. But it felt like gimping yourself if you didn't play like this.

Again, I don't like boxing and I'm glad it's illegal on P99. Not only does it give a major advantage, it makes classes like Cleric become bot characters. No one mains a Cleric on TLP because it would be pointless. But for me this is another part of TLP that makes the game way harder. If you aren't boxing then you aren't competitive or playing at a high level, and are extremely gimped compared to the large amount of people who are boxing. And that crap is super physically demanding.

In closing, this is not a plug for TLP. I haven't played a TLP in over a year, and am actually in the process of downloading Project Epoch to try that out. I just don't share the idea that TLPs are super easy and P99 is super hard. I just remembered another that makes P99 dramatically easier is the fact that the game is relatively static. One of the things I really dislike about TLP is if you take a break from the game for 2 weeks, a new expac has probably already came out and now you're super behind. That feature of the game gives it a very modern WoW-esque feeling where it feels like you are required to constantly log in and play, whereas with P99 I have character I've been leveling for YEARS and I don't feel as pressured that I'm going to be punished severely for taking a hiatus.