Server PopulationsFollow

In my opinion the New Server hurt the population of the other servers. Did not bring in the “New, Never Played EQ, Player to the game.
In the voting thread (above) you did not include a PvP server? There is one “Zek”, I know the poor step child of EQ, but there are a lot of die hard players there. Your pole is reflecting those numbers and other servers with specific rules or style of play.
I agree they need to combine some servers but they have to include all aspects of playing styles.
This is not a new subject either. The population problem has been happening for years and has been addressed here.
https://everquest.allakhazam.com/forum.html?forum=1;mid=1228771497304713574;page=1
With a lot of good solutions. But SoE has to market EverQuest to the Never Played Before Player. If you combine the servers all you do is prolong the inevitable. You need to generate enthusiasm with the playing population, so they will encourage more play.
I have noticed there was an increase of population on Zek, until the new Server came aboard, and now the population has been cut in half. Good move SoE. Lot of these comeback and new players were migrating from WoW. This is a good thing.
If SOE would spend a little time in marketing outside instead of within game it would do wonders. But I have no respect for there marketing department. IT IS A JOKE.






Edited, Jul 9th 2009 7:34pm by Vinney

Good Morning 07/10/09 ..must of been a patch last night? Only 86 traders up and 106 in General Chat on Zek!!! SoE should never of open up that other server. They should of directed any effort to promoting & advertising EverQuest in general. Especialy with the real life economy down people are looking for inexpensive entertainment. I wonder how they make dicisions? Flip a coin?
Keep you head in the sand SoE.

Edited, Jul 10th 2009 10:51am by Vinney

Well Said!

It has taken me some time to come up with a possible solution or alternative, just in case merging servers is not possible due to conflicts with titles, names, server locations (EU) or any other dilema SOE can think of. It is time to think outside of the box.... and come into the house for dinner. Yes that is correct, this is not a new concept I'm about to throw out but here it is. Get rid of the concept of players PAYING for the program. Make it FREE. They can't play it on their PC without a subscription anyway. You already have zone restrictions on trial accounts so that will eliminate the bazaar bums from utilizing trial accounts. Now you are wondering where you make your money? From the monthly fees of course.

EQ is competing with games with better AI engines, graphics, player populations, UI layouts and less restrictive when it comes to accommodating players needs in terms of bank space, bag space, quest flagging instead of carrying around quest items, content, zoning, logging in, customer service.... blah blah blah....... Ok so now what? Try to level the playing field and do what they do, make the game FREE to download. Get rid of that 15 year old concept that people pay for programs and accept the idea that people will pay to use that program instead. You can no longer have your cake and eat it too... The cake is gone now... time to make a new cake.

I might be off base here but hey I'm not the one in the rubber raft floating out to sea watching the sinking ship vanish am I? Not really, I can always find another MMO before lunch.

I for some... is a bit greedy myself... i don't want server merge. I would like an enhance gameplay for group size tasks. Maybe that would entice folks to come back to EQ. Or better yet... DOABLE solo tasks at end level. This what I like in this game. Its the never ending quests. But as PoP came in (i think) Raiding has become the primary way for you to advance. Now that merc came in most tasks is about doable and more fun to play.

just my opinion and abit greedy side not to play with anyone hehehe

Millions of people are not going to start playing and paying monthly for a soon to be 11 year old game. Marketing departments understand this. They are not a "joke".

All they can do is keep their current player base and maybe entice some former players to return.

Lower the task and mission requirement from 3 to 2 and they will have my 15 bucks per month again.

Also, higher populations make it harder for hackers! It also reduces the need for cheats when people can get groups at all hours of day and night.


Lee of Quellious

I don't know anyone who doesn't play because of the cost per month.
Rather, they DO quit because of expansions.

Tripodvi, I didn't say once you ding 51 you'd instantly vanish from the server! I envision something more like a level cap so when you hit 51 you can't level any higher. A window pops up to inform you that you are now advised to take advantage of your free server-transfer. If you want to stick around to help your wife or friend level, you can do that, but no more levels for joo! Or maybe you can earn some AA's but that would be capped at something reassonable like 100.

You wouldn't have lots of pharmers on such a server because, frankly, with levels capped at 51, pharming plat wouldn't be all that easy.

Hey, I don't envision it happening. But I disagree that such a server wouldn't help the game. The most common lament I hear from newcomers and returnees to EQ is that there's nobody to play with at low levels. If you take most of the new toons on all the servers and place them all on one new server, then low level players would find groupmates with relative ease. Plus they'd be playing in a world not dominated by high-levels so their very existence on the server would be more consequential.

Right in my post I said that a FREE game, with ALL the expansions, would be a far better offer! So I agree with you, they should just GIVE EQ away! But IMO that's less likely to ever happen than a noobie server because each expansion costs money to develop and I have to believe that the developmental budgeting process is designed to recoup at least the development costs of a new expansion from the sales of that expansion over the year prior to the next one.

The bottom line is Sony "dumps" prior expansions, allowing retailers like Newegg to sell them for $5, because they became no longer saleable at that point, like last year's Farmer's Almanac or last summer's "hot" potboiler paperback. It's not to bolster the gaming population. The lack of hype and promo over this $5 deal is a clear indication that they have no budget to promote the game. They're just going to continue to drain dollars from the current playing population, until it shrinks down so low that it isn't worth continuing "the adventure" anymore. Like he says above, after all, it IS all 11-year old game...

Ok I don't think a server merge would fix problems people are looking to fix. Just look at the simple math of the situations like this: There is never anyone in the old zones. Ok that's a fair statement but even if a server merge doubled or tripled populations you still have 0 people in those zones.

In my opinion a server merge would just further overcrowd already overcrowded zones. I've said it before but I'll say it again, 9 times out of 10 the people who have trouble finding groups for progression and such need to find a good guild with ACTIVE members and not try to cling the past and blame everyone else for being left behind.

Well they already revamped the Ro deserts and ate oasis so I'll use that as an example. Even with the map consolidated and updated and the removal of another zone when was the last time you saw someone just exp-ing off the spectres in the tower? Years. As for merging zones of starting cities I don't know what the point of that would be. Zone merges and revamps have hurt the game I remember, which is what so many people are trying to preserve.

If the main point of getting population in old zones is to remember what they were like then making them "New" would still not achieve your goals even if you did somehow manage to have people play there. The bottom line from Sony's perspective is they would rather work on a new expansion they can sell for money than to revamp old world zones for free. But the point from my other post still stands. If you take 3 zones with 0 people in them and condense them into 1 to triple the amount of people in the zone you still have 0 people in that zone.

reason they dont mess with the old zones is because they dont have anybody there with one creative thought process capable of creating a story for you to return to these old but great zones. And they should of done a ad campaign for the new server if they were actually trying to get new people or just funnel existing players to a new server for a few months.

“Out of sight, out of mind.” Marketing is everything. There are game players out there who have never heard of EverQuest. A computer/internet game that has lasted over 11 years is phenomenal. With the fast past the computer world moves it is remarkable how long the game has lasted.
By marketing, I am not saying match Obama’s campaign budget but just make the game available. There is no way that the “Never Played Before” game player would know anything about EverQuest besides word of mouth. There is a whole generation out there that was 5 years old when games started and is now 16. Chances are that their parents were not playing and now all they know is WoW. With the only slight references through chat on that game, tell me how they would know about EQ, besides lucky Google search? You can not find any reference to game at ANY gaming outlet. Only way to purchase game is through SoE site. There is nothing on a store shelf or a poster in a window.
A 99cent disk with Kunark and a free month’s subscription available on a counter display space as a trial would do wonders. Let their inquiring minds find out there is another world of zones out there through General Chat and what ever server they join’s chat channel. Maybe even make it the 50/51 server or pick one server is okay. Just get them into game. Don’t give it for FREE but let the store owner make a buck off the game. You would be surprised how a free $1 to a store owner helps to promote the game. You think WoW gets Free floor displays? If you do I have a bridge to sell you in Iceclad.
SoE needs to put game In Sight and In their minds.

Server merges are MUCH needed across the board.

Even on Maelin it feels empty lately.

I'm sure the new server has something to do with that and it may correct itself, but I'm far from opposed to have just a few very large servers instead of broken down the way we are now.


Slice the servers in half at least.