This game, this community... holy crap.

[Herp]

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

Maybe be a man and just quit the game and let others build up sleepers keys? Instead the leftovers will form a new zerg guild and claim there is skill involved in the high end raiding instead of just patience, time, and the most numbers willing to commit that time.

I sense hostility in your text.

[Pokesan]

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

What guild were you in? One guild had 85% of all Sleeper Keys. The other guild had majority of the other 15%, so unless you were in either of those 2 guilds, you are talking out of your ass and would not be killing in Sleepers Tomb for another 10 years at the current rate.

you have 100% of gay autistic posts in this thread

my good chum

[LostCause]

forums are full of the same 10-20 people pretty much don't judge by forums.

that's like watching twitch saying o I don't see this game on there must be dead.

[Lowako]

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

stuff

raid scene isnt as bad as forums portray. either way its better than playing SoD

[Thulack]

Originally Posted by Spyder73 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

raid scene isn't that bad - gets over blown on the fourms.

There is this imagined image of eighty 30-40 year old men all staring at a computer screen with drool dripping out of the corner of their mouths sh!tting into socks. Its simply not the case.

I mean the drool dripping is the only untrue thing you said in that sentence.

[Hangerbaby]

The best part of P1999 is that it's full of no-lifers who literally play all day long. I periodically log in when working from home and it's crazy to see the same dozen people or so (speaking about red specifically) trash talking call each other no-lifer permavirgins or just spamming up OOC with their PvP threats.

Truly the most entertaining aspect of all this is imagining just exactly how pathetic one's life has to be to be able to put in 40 hour weeks minimum on fuckin P1999

[Tuljin]

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

glad u made it all the way to lvl 60 before you realized that you're not playing warcraft this game isn't designed to cater to casual players

The problem with this statement is that what the "raid scene" has evolved into ~~~is~~~ accessible to casuals because they have transformed essentially transformed P99 into WoW. This is a direct result of the perennial neckbeard "raid" cabal that for years has dictated what the "raid scene" according to their own terms exactly.

Everybody keeps bringing up exclusivity and barrier of entry when the "raid scene" is discussed. What exactly is the barrier of entry? Time. Time and only time. Well, time and how much bullshit you're willing to put up with from your overlords.

In EQ time is not the sole variable in the barrier of entry for high level play. This is unlike WoW where you never lose XP on death, never have to do a corpse run, and you carrot-on-a-stick your way all the way to 60.

The other EQ variable for high level play? Ability/skill/whatever the neckbeards want to use for the term that describes your competence as an EQ player.

WoW is intentionally designed to carebear everybody to 60. "You get lvl 60, you get lvl 60, you get lvl 60" (cue Oprah meme)

In EQ, ~~~~~level 60 is not guaranteed~~~~~. Yes, it does take a shit load of time to get a toon to 60. However, if you don't make friends with fellow adventurers, learn game mechanics and how to play your class with others, and learn the idiosyncrasies of specific zones and camps, you won't get to 60. If you don't cultivate the necessary knowledge, relationships, and resources to successfully play the high level content of the game (these elements combined are what we call "skill") you will die repeatedly and ~~~~~you will not reach level 60~~~~~.

In WoW, every class can solo, every class can heal, you carrot-on-a-stick your quest log and minimap, and you never lose XP. All getting to 60 takes is time.

Back in 2011/2012 when the VP train wars were happening was really the development of the poopsock system due to the implementation of variance. During this time, there was a stranglehold on Trak Teeth and there was very limited access to VP. TMO and IB were the only guilds with access to VP (and I guess FE too but who the hell can even keep track of the guild "merges" anymore.) What they did to try to one-up each other and maintain their edge is secretly and exclusively run guild AOE groups in Fear and Chardok to crank their alts to park at raid targets.

Back then, there was no steady Chardok AOE machine at all. AOE groups were very irregular and required a good bit of coordination to find enough people available to do them. The knowledge of how to successfully pull the entire zone and kill the mobs back then was quite esoteric and in fact the knowledge was deliberately withheld in order for one guild to maintain their advantage over the other. They were keeping their exploit under tight wraps. (120 mobs at a time is only theoretically "classic")

When the class C/R guild rotation was implemented in the beginning 2014 is when Chardok AOE opened up and became the machine it is today. Everybody wanted to jump into the alt leveling race to maintain an edge. All you needed to do was join a guild that had a steady Chardok presence, or RMT plat to pay for proxies. Or save your plat and proxy your way to 60...like that ever happens...

Essentially what you've done is completely remove the "hardest" part of the game - the grueling path from 55-60. ~This~ is the barrier of entry. Yes it does take a shit load of time, but it also takes not dying and being able to play your way out of a three-mob encounter, something very few players on this server can barely do anymore without a mini-"raid." It also takes your guildmates and friends actively playing together to move the XP bar, not sitting around like a bunch of warmbodies at Chardok waiting for the next pull.

So now what you end up with is not only an easy and fast way to get to 60, you get an easy and fast way to earn obscene amounts of plat with no "skill" required at all, and with that plat you can proxy more alts. Before the AOE machine, generating a lot of plat required a lot of "skill", i.e. having a level 60 toon in the first place and subsequently having the ability and time to successfully kill difficult targets that drop lucrative loot without dying. The real "hardcore" players who had the time and "skill" to do this successfully were the people who could generate said amounts of plat. With Chardok AOE, the "skill" is taken out, and all you're left with is time.

"Hardcore" used to mean time AND "skill." Now, "hardcore" only requires time and no "skill." Essentially, if you're a hardcore WoW player (you have lots of time) you can come over to P99 and be a hardcore EQ player (when really hardcore EQ players need time AND "skill")

The "raid" cabal has essentially lowered the barrier of entry over the years and completely removed the "skill" variable of getting to 60 in EQ, which is a fundamental part of the game design. Essentially, they have turned the endgame into WoW using their own guild specific carrot-on-a-stick quests for DKP as well as removing the big variable of having to be a player that can move the bar to 60 without being carebeared. Get to 55 and we'll take care of the rest so you can warmbody for scraps and we can keep collecting our phats.

Contrary to popular belief, its the warmbodies that make this "style" of play possible, not the pullers and trackers. A zerg could faceroll their way through "raid" trash and kill a dergan easily, however if there is no zerg to train the mob to that mob won't drop. This is a parasitic relationship, not symbiotic, unlike what they have led you to believe.

Add another dimension to the WoW-ification of endgame P99 by the "raid" cabal ------- the designation of "raid useful" toons. On Live, raids were not all level 60, and there weren't 20 Clerics and 20 Rogues. The "raid guilds" consisted of the few players that had both the time and "skill" necessary to get to level 55+, regardless of their class. WoW seriously watered down classes to carebear everybody and make the game "accessible" (easy) What the "raid" guilds have done by designating classes "raid useful" or not is pigeonhole the WoW nubs that have been leaking over the past few years into rolling a certain few classes to trivialize the raid content (consider in 09 at P99 launch WoW was very much in full swing.) The variety and diversity of classes in EQ and how they synergize is a major part of what makes EQ great. WoW watered everything down and it sucks. The new players to this server don't even want to roll non-"raid useful" classes. WoW much?

So what the "raid" cabal has essentially done is -

1. Trivialize the path to 60
2. Trivialize end game content
3. Change the definition of a "hardcore" player to a player that only has lots of time and not necessarily "skill"

Why does the end game suck? Not only because the "raid" cabal is a bunch of insufferable assholes, but because they have flooded this server with a bunch of people that should have never gotten to 60 in the first place and feed into all this bullshit because they know no different. Due to Chardok AOE not only do these players have one level 60, they have multiple. They dont go hunt in any of the deserted Velious zones that actually have great cash drops, they all line up at NToV every weekend.

The "raid" cabal has fucked up this server beyond all recognition, and its been happening for years. Its all their fault.

And guess what? We're all fucked and stuck here sitting and bitching about it while they ~~~~~~~~still collect their phats~~~~~~~~. They've been collecting phats the whole time. Everyone on P99 is getting gamed so fucking hard its laughable.

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

^ mad that I'm shitting on their plans to use and abuse another rotation.

It's np guys, you talk about community building but when it comes down to it you don't run any community events and dunk on smaller guilds while playing the numbers game.

It's quite embarrassing the double standards on show.

I would say this is quite accurate.

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

Maybe be a man and just quit the game and let others build up sleepers keys? Instead the leftovers will form a new zerg guild and claim there is skill involved in the high end raiding instead of just patience, time, and the most numbers willing to commit that time.

Not only has the "raid" cabal fucked the way guilds and players operate on this server, they smear shit all over the walls when they leave. A bunch of stand-up guys, really.

[iruinedyourday]

[You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Yumyums Inmahtumtums]

Join red, experience content and leave this place satisfied.

Notice how the only real quitters are the ones who've seen everything? The eager neckbears are like mr meseeks just trying to help someone so they can end their life.

[Colgate]

wow i hope no one reads that dissertation a few posts above

i hope even more it was a copy/paste good god man