Should ZEM even be in the game this early?

[fischsemmel]

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

No one (except the staff) knows the current ZEMs

It's easy to test them.

[cd288]

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

It's easy to test them.

For real. It’s always funny to me when people go “No OnEs KnOwS tEh ZEMs” as though we didn’t just spend a decade on Blue watching our EXP go up significantly faster in those zones than in others lol

[Dolalin]

ZEMs were in from the start. But the insane bonuses on newb dungeon ZEMs was added during PoP when they added the low level cleric rez spells etc.

I've done all the digging.

In era sources from a ShowEQ dev that the max ZEM was 100 pre-Luclin, explicit references to Crushbone and Najena ZEMs being 80, and so on.

We are playing with PoP ZEMs and this should change.

https://www.project1999.com/forums/s...d.php?t=343193

[BlackBellamy]

Yeah, the ZEMs are most unclassic thing here. I'm getting a huge bonus in one of the most popular dungeons in the game, wtf? It's ALREADY popular. But it wasn't during PoP because by then everyone went on to new places, so they gave it a high ZEM we're seeing here.

[Zeboim]

I'd settle for HHK being nerfed into the ground.

[unleashedd]

everyone pines about classic this, and slow exp/enjoy the journey that, and wearing shit gear... just get rid of ZEMs, people will love it.

[cd288]

The ZEMs on P99 are also sort of weird in that they don’t seem to accomplish what ZEMs were supposed to be, which is motivation to go to places that you might not otherwise go due to danger etc.

Befallen makes sense, as does a zone like the Warrens. But CB? Unrest? Neither of those are particularly dangerous zones!(Unrest, for instance, if you’re in the MR you can pretty much avoid any trains for other floors by standing in the corner of the room). Highkeep? Hardly dangerous and phenomenal loot...people would go there regardless. Kurns? Barely dangerous at all.

Guk I think can be dangerous if there aren’t enough people in it clearing stuff, but even then the loot is good so people would go there anyway regardless of ZEM.

Then you have zones like Mistmoore, CT, and Splitpaw which I would argue should have higher ZEMs than the zones above since they’re much more dangerous. Permafrost is another that I think would make sense to have a higher ZEM than some of the zones above if for nothing else than just to encourage more people to hang out there.

The ZEMs just don’t really make sense in a lot of ways and we’d never have had them stay static for years back on live, which meant people wouldn’t just have this same EXP highway to do for years. Maybe it’s difficult or otherwise an annoying hassle to switch up ZEMs periodically and that’s why they don’t do it?

[fadetree]

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

ZEMs were in from the start. But the insane bonuses on newb dungeon ZEMs was added during PoP when they added the low level cleric rez spells etc.

I've done all the digging.

In era sources from a ShowEQ dev that the max ZEM was 100 pre-Luclin, explicit references to Crushbone and Najena ZEMs being 80, and so on.

We are playing with PoP ZEMs and this should change.

https://www.project1999.com/forums/s...d.php?t=343193

I think Dolalin is correct. My opinion:
ZEM was always a core mechanic. That way they could make small adjustments to compensate for the 'difficulty' of a dungeon/zone. It could also be used globally to slow people down across the board, as was mentioned.

Luclin and the insane zem on Paludal Caverns was the fist sign that the devs were beginning to react to fears that new people would be left behind as the huge wave of people that had been playing all along would all be end game. They were afraid they'd start to lose new subs because 'there's no-one to play with'. Solution - tinker with noob dungeons to really crank up the zem, that way people can blast through and join their friends. Of course, much later, they were like, 'eh...just start 'em at 80'.

They also started to think about underused zones and how to get people to them, since, craven little min-maxers that we are, everyone followed the same path through 4 or 5 zones to end game. This was what started the 'hot zone' idea later.

I also think the zems in play on p99 are probably from a much later era. Should they fix them? I think so...the problem is I don't think we have any hard data that describes all of the zems per zone at an era that applies to classic. Also, we may SAY we want it 'fixed', but of they did I bet it would cause a firestorm of complaining.

The zem change to Kedge was a p99-specific deal...not sure exactly but I think it was a response to people being able to exploit charm and.or pbAOE or something and render the dungeon easy and yet still with a high zem.

[Fammaden]

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

I'd settle for HHK being nerfed into the ground.

[lordpazuzu]

Back in the day we weren't aware of such a thing as a ZEM and so we all spread out more. Now, knowing what they are, we cram around the high ZEM zones and avoid zones with ZEM penalties, so certain places are camped to the gills while others remain under-utilized. Whether the ZEM in and of itself is classic or not, I don't know. But KNOWING that they exist and what they are definitely does not make for a classic experience (no pun intended.)