With the new ToV rotation on Blue...

[Irulan]

Good job bigjeff

[HippoNipple]

Active Red99 Devs, we are going to need this moved to Blue 99 section.

Just kidding Nilbog visits RoZ more than he does this shitty server.

[derpcake2]

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

Active Red99 Devs,

"no players with that name were found"

[heartbrand]

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

I was also thinking this might have the opposite impact as OP expects. ToV rotation has been speculated to increase competition at targets one tier down which may be true because it frees up players who would otherwise be staging and preparing for the FTE variance scramble. I think it's plausible that some of this free time may be allotted to developing characters on red, especially if there are guilds that enjoyed the "competitive" nature of FTE and want an alternative to a care bear pixel carousel.

Red has been around for over 8 years. The argument of "blue people will come because they are sick of sharing" has never come to fruition. It is highly unlikely that now going on year 9 that will suddenly change. I've written about this extensively in the past, but the readers digest is it comes down to 3 issues:

1) The barrier of entry on red is incredibly high since there's little to no pop to level up with, and there's essentially no economy. The leveling experience therefore is brutal if you are trying to solo a melee, and forces many people into roles they don't like. Also, due to the XP bonus, friends out level each other quickly if they play solo.

2) It is incredibly easy to grief a guild who wants to come here and contest. The "just come and compete" narrative of some noble fight in the Eastern Wastelands between two guilds going head to head for the right to slay the dragon is complete BS. In practice, it just takes a few losers who have unlimited free time who want to sit camped out with 100 alts at raid mobs to bring an entire raid force to it's knees. The vast majority of human beings do not want to sit at a zone in being wiped repeatedly by six to twelve no-lifers for 15 hours straight day in and day out. It's not even PvP.

3) Finally, part of the "excitement" of gearing up and raiding on Blue is the ability to show off your really cool "accomplishments" to others in the EC Tunnel, link your loot, etc. It's kind of like wearing designer clothing, or driving an expensive car that is functionally the same as a car that costs $50k less. On red, everyone has the exact same $100k car you do, with the same versace threads. There is no real feeling of accomplishment because literally everyone you play with has the exact same loot, and likely has it on five different level 60 alts [that they probably also box].

The End

[bigjeff100]

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

Red has been around for over 8 years. The argument of "blue people will come because they are sick of sharing" has never come to fruition. It is highly unlikely that now going on year 9 that will suddenly change. I've written about this extensively in the past, but the readers digest is it comes down to 3 issues:

1) The barrier of entry on red is incredibly high since there's little to no pop to level up with, and there's essentially no economy. The leveling experience therefore is brutal if you are trying to solo a melee, and forces many people into roles they don't like. Also, due to the XP bonus, friends out level each other quickly if they play solo.

2) It is incredibly easy to grief a guild who wants to come here and contest. The "just come and compete" narrative of some noble fight in the Eastern Wastelands between two guilds going head to head for the right to slay the dragon is complete BS. In practice, it just takes a few losers who have unlimited free time who want to sit camped out with 100 alts at raid mobs to bring an entire raid force to it's knees. The vast majority of human beings do not want to sit at a zone in being wiped repeatedly by six to twelve no-lifers for 15 hours straight day in and day out. It's not even PvP.

3) Finally, part of the "excitement" of gearing up and raiding on Blue is the ability to show off your really cool "accomplishments" to others in the EC Tunnel, link your loot, etc. It's kind of like wearing designer clothing, or driving an expensive car that is functionally the same as a car that costs $50k less. On red, everyone has the exact same $100k car you do, with the same versace threads. There is no real feeling of accomplishment because literally everyone you play with has the exact same loot, and likely has it on five different level 60 alts [that they probably also box].

The End

I'm a freshie on the red server! While i do agree with many of your views, i do also feel its my job to report back on my first 17 levels on red..

-I'm a 17 druid leveling at sisters in Lfay to finish getting money for my level 19 spells. I'm wearing full tattered leather stuff or whatever from handing in my CB belts quests.
-1 Very kind wizard made me some low wis jewelry
-1 Very Very kind gentleman passed down a Staff of Earthcrafter
-Yes a few folks have helped me out, but nobody twinked me. I have a couple 2 wis jewelries and a fancy staff.. The rest is single digit ac leather and cloth. And everybody else i see is the same. It's no different than blue. Nobody is sitting in the newbie yards handing out Planar armor....
-Pvp has been absolutely exciting and adds a refreshing mechanic.. I remember when it hit me first and i got a rush of adrenaline.. I was killing a sister when somebody started nuking me.. Soon i was at 50% health and hadn't even considered I was being pvp'd. Then i saw the damage text and i booked it to MM zone with a huge grinning smile haha. It was a rush to get ganked like that, sent the man a /tell saying the camp was his, he earned it! The next day i had a chance to attack somebody else who was at sisters while i was afk and invis. Broke invis and started nuking.. Noticed they had too much hp so there i went, running for my life haha. Smiling though! We became friends after, but promised that it was gonna be on next time we met!
-I have grouped numerous times in CB during numerous days. All complete strangers. -Every single person i've run into or come across has been absolutely wonderful. Not 1 toxic person yet..
-Weekends have been about at an 80 pop all day long

Conclusion- Red seems healthy, just low pop. But most folks i speak to and meet, are all new from the blue server.... Sooo I think red is still in a good spot.. Between blue going down for a few hours over the last month, and this change in rules today, Red still stands its best chance to get new folks..

All these negative things being said by the same red players every day can be ignored. These folks dont even play and don't represent the server today. Yes its low pop, but i can't express how enjoyable it is being there.

[bigjeff100]

Lastly- Red is perfect for casuals. The exp bonus helps you keep moving forward with the little time you have in life to play.

Whether its rushing to experience end game stuff, or its leveling a whole stable of characters to level 30's. Red will help you accomplish your nostalgia check list. It also opens up a whole world of possibilities..

1 thing i notice- No DaP.. I see more messages in /ooc asking for ports than anything.. A porting service for sure should start up on this server. But the porting comes with risks.. Of being ganked! I think it sounds exciting.. The risks of being a porter on red....

But things like that.. Red has so many things to offer. Things you would have to do different on red than on blue due to the pvp aspect.. Just wish folks would take the time to join red and develop these changes.

[Irulan]

Self buff and med to full for ports. Had some fun pvp battles after evaccing from a tough fight 1v5 etc.

Good times.

Low lvl pvp... 30s-50 is where it's at.

[HippoNipple]

I'm going to go with the judgement from the guy with years of experience in every major guild on the server over the guy that grinded in lfay for 3 hours.

[bigjeff100]

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

I'm going to go with the judgement from the guy with years of experience in every major guild on the server over the guy that grinded in lfay for 3 hours.

Ok... And you're an adult. You're allowed to do that.

Calm down man, i'm 1 newly transplanted player from blue to red. I'm simply providing my experience with the server 17 levels in. A fresh point of view from a player who enjoyed casually playing on blue for 3 years and blue only. Who now plays on a low pop pvp server in leather/cloth armor, maybe could share his experiences thus far.

You're a little intense man...

[Arogarn]

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

Red has been around for over 8 years. The argument of "blue people will come because they are sick of sharing" has never come to fruition. It is highly unlikely that now going on year 9 that will suddenly change. I've written about this extensively in the past, but the readers digest is it comes down to 3 issues:

1) The barrier of entry on red is incredibly high since there's little to no pop to level up with, and there's essentially no economy. The leveling experience therefore is brutal if you are trying to solo a melee, and forces many people into roles they don't like. Also, due to the XP bonus, friends out level each other quickly if they play solo.

2) It is incredibly easy to grief a guild who wants to come here and contest. The "just come and compete" narrative of some noble fight in the Eastern Wastelands between two guilds going head to head for the right to slay the dragon is complete BS. In practice, it just takes a few losers who have unlimited free time who want to sit camped out with 100 alts at raid mobs to bring an entire raid force to it's knees. The vast majority of human beings do not want to sit at a zone in being wiped repeatedly by six to twelve no-lifers for 15 hours straight day in and day out. It's not even PvP.

3) Finally, part of the "excitement" of gearing up and raiding on Blue is the ability to show off your really cool "accomplishments" to others in the EC Tunnel, link your loot, etc. It's kind of like wearing designer clothing, or driving an expensive car that is functionally the same as a car that costs $50k less. On red, everyone has the exact same $100k car you do, with the same versace threads. There is no real feeling of accomplishment because literally everyone you play with has the exact same loot, and likely has it on five different level 60 alts [that they probably also box].

The End

Agree with all of that heartbrand, I seem to remember a similar HippoNipple post somewhere breaking down the problems with the end game on the red server, but I can't find it now. All of these problems still persist and will continue to erode the playerbase no matter until it reaches a population tipping point. It's going to take a lot to breathe life back into this server, and I'm not sure that will ever happen. My point was simply that the ToV competition drama seems as likely to encourage blue players to join red as much as it is to do the opposite.