Server Idea

[tman]

Just an idea and realize before you post it won't be for everyone and will in no way hinder the current state.

Idea: Start a new server, no toon transfers allowed.

Premise: A server for a fresh start, loot has meaning again and the content will gain flavor as it can't be zerg'ed by over the top mega rich toons. (i.e I probably fall into that category)

Advantages: Allows new players to start on an equal footing. Allows those of us that have been playing for 3 years to test our skills without the aid of vorpals, wop rapiers and race restricted newbie gear for our lowbies. For you founders, remember when having "ONE" vorpal in the party was awesome!

Disadvantages: I'm not sure what it would cost Turbine to add another server, but with new hardware added recently, they may have the capacity without much if any material cost. i.e. I don't think it would take much on Turbines part and an opportunity to increase ROI. Plus it may actually draw new players into the game easier boosting their player base as a whole.

Yeah, eventually this new server will become just like the rest, but for a while it would be really cool and new. I see the return on the investment as a real positive for Tubine so a win/win, especially for those of us wanting some new flavor in the game. For those not interested, they can stay on their current servers, no harm done.

Ok, please flame away or give your input.

Tomoman

[Kalari]

I have to admit a part of me likes the idea, it can be overwhelming as a new player trying to keep up with the Jones on established servers and I know ive already fallen into the mind frame of "got to have this to be effective" its affected most of my new builds now. I also never realized how much fun it was to start out with nothing and have to build you way up till I started playing on Risia, its been a blast signing on there knowing that everything I have on my girl so far I worked hard and took lumps for. Not knocking my main server love it but things did go fast, got a lot of stuff handed to me, and now know what to have on my girls and can get it pretty easy now. But on the preview server you really have to work hard to get your character up there and ive been enjoying it. So if they did this id definately roll up a character just for the different change of pace, then when Im tired of the limited money and gear id go back to playing my main girls and have fun that way.

[Ringos]

It would be cool, and I would log on there. I would hope they could tweek the loot tables though so that first +1 weapon means something!

[Korvek]

The only real problem I see with this is that it won't exactly solve anything unless the entire game was tweaked just for that server.

In one year the exact same problem would exist for new players going to that server.

Another question though: There are no character transfers to that server, but would transfers from that server be allowed?

[tman]

I've tried playing toons with no twinking and perma death, but it is hard to manage this without *everyone* also doing the same unless you have a pure static group participating.

A fresh start server would bring the economics back in line to what I think the developers intended. (My opinion). Give new players opportunity to compete right off the bat, and give veterans the opportunity to see the game from a different perspective.

Ok, not everyone will want to *give up* all their gear and start over, but I wager there are a BUNCH of you who would want to bring the excitement of opening the treasure chest. Right now I bypass treasure chests at low levels as I know I have gear waiting for my lowbie once he/she reaches the next level that is much better than anything I'll find in that chest. I wager there are a bunch of you who want to relive the first few months of DDO when it first came out. Sure, you'll know the content, but the game will be vastly different if you can slam through the missions duel weilding vorpals at level 10.

The only downside is if Turbine can't swing it from a hardware or operations perspective. I really can't imagine they don't have the capacity, and I also think they can grow their base and see some growth from the idea. So from a business perspective they really don't have much to lose, and potientally a lot to gain from this idea. If it fails to launch, they can fold it into another server pretty easily.

Tomoman

[tman]

The only real problem I see with this is that it won't exactly solve anything unless the entire game was tweaked just for that server.

Tweaked in what way?

In one year the exact same problem would exist for new players going to that server.

Agree. But a year is a long time and hopefully we see more content and level cap increases. Imagine if the game launched with all the content we have now...
Another question though: There are no character transfers to that server, but would transfers from that server be allowed?

I don't see why not. The idea is to keep the new server free of "old" gear and gold.

[In_Like_Flynn]

The easiest way to keep up with the Joneses is to realize that's there's no reason to do so.

[VirieSquichie]

This would be a very short-term fix if the loot tables and monsters' stats on the new server remained the same as they are now. The game is Monty Haul, with monsters inflated to keep pace. The monsters are the ones trying to keep up with the Joneses.

If the new server were to decrease chest drops by 1 level for each repetition the character has done in that dungeon, it would drastically help the inflation. Grinding particular chests into the ground is part of why we have such loot imbalance and so many people are wearing the same gear.

[Kadagan]

Just an idea and realize before you post it won't be for everyone and will in no way hinder the current state.

Idea: Start a new server, no toon transfers allowed.

Premise: A server for a fresh start, loot has meaning again and the content will gain flavor as it can't be zerg'ed by over the top mega rich toons. (i.e I probably fall into that category)

Advantages: Allows new players to start on an equal footing. Allows those of us that have been playing for 3 years to test our skills without the aid of vorpals, wop rapiers and race restricted newbie gear for our lowbies. For you founders, remember when having "ONE" vorpal in the party was awesome!

Disadvantages: I'm not sure what it would cost Turbine to add another server, but with new hardware added recently, they may have the capacity without much if any material cost. i.e. I don't think it would take much on Turbines part and an opportunity to increase ROI. Plus it may actually draw new players into the game easier boosting their player base as a whole.

Yeah, eventually this new server will become just like the rest, but for a while it would be really cool and new. I see the return on the investment as a real positive for Tubine so a win/win, especially for those of us wanting some new flavor in the game. For those not interested, they can stay on their current servers, no harm done.

Ok, please flame away or give your input.

Tomoman

Love the idea... may actually bring a spark back. But toning down the loot tables but not the mobs would be a good idea. I'd also remove min lev requirements to allow more legacy.

Ie... lev 5's should have a fair chance at obtaining a +1 longsword. Not every level 5 has a +2 flaming kopesh of righteousness.

[zavozod]

Start it up...

[DoctorWhofan]

I like it!


Then again, I've done it on Sarlona already and Khyber (then I transferred one of my clerics over guess that doesn't count)


But I like that Idea. And it would be a great place for meeting Forumites in-game. And group meetings, if we ever had them again.


Restriction: You have to have a toon pass level 10 on any server to be able to log in.

[binnsr]

J
Advantages: Allows new players to start on an equal footing. Allows those of us that have been playing for 3 years to test our skills without the aid of vorpals, wop rapiers and race restricted newbie gear for our lowbies. For you founders, remember when having "ONE" magic weapon in the party was awesome!

fixed it for ya.. that first weekend, we all were wearing and using whatever dropped from chests.. my founding fighter didn't get a magic sword until he was level3 (or was it 4?) - and that dropped in STK, not even the Harbor.

[tman]

It would take some time to get to Monty Haul syndrome, but agree it would happen eventually. But that is a total game issue and another topic. This idea only really acts like a server wipe but without destroying anything done previously by loyal customers. But to keep the integrity of the server we couldn't allow anything from the veteran servers to transfer over.

I wouldn't put any requirements on this new server either, as I would think we would want to encourage new players to play on it. Why? We as the DDO community would appreciate an increase to the player base, so Turbine can invest more money in programming, content, etc... (Assuming they would re-invest it of course).

This idea doesn't solve all the problems, just gives players a fresh look at the game for awhile if they choose to log on, and it gives new players an equal footing for at least a short period of time.

Would like to hear from a developer as to feasibility? If it isn't really in the realm of possibilities, we could end the discussion.

Tomo

[Uska]

It would be cool, and I would log on there. I would hope they could tweek the loot tables though so that first +1 weapon means something!

I would love masterwork to mean something for at least a couple of levels

[tman]

In those first 6 months after DDO went live, masterwork and +1 weapons did mean something. I remember finding my first POP X, and thinking I was now on Sorceror heaven. Back then, magi items were very rare. I remember when only a couple players on the whole server had vorpals and you knew who they were and wanted them in your group. It was a different awesome experience, and my idea was generated off the thought that everyone should get to share that experience with DDO. Maybe not feasible, but worth asking...

Tomo

[Uska]

In those first 6 months after DDO went live, masterwork and +1 weapons did mean something. I remember finding my first POP X, and thinking I was now on Sorceror heaven. Back then, magi items were very rare. I remember when only a couple players on the whole server had vorpals and you knew who they were and wanted them in your group. It was a different awesome experience, and my idea was generated off the thought that everyone should get to share that experience with DDO. Maybe not feasible, but worth asking...

Tomo

I was there and I really dont think masterwork or +1 meant a thing after the first month and thats to bad.

[Solmage]

As long as they change all the loot tables completely to keep the mega bloat from happening again, I would totally be there. a +1 flaming burst weapon should be something amazing, not vendor trash. I do miss the wonder and ahhs and oohs of the first flaming weapons wielded by players. As such, said burst weapon should be a min lvl 10 weapon if it drops in a level 10 dungeon.

[ThrasherGT]

Even better........

Create a server That has a one year cycle. Set it up so that the price is reduced to transfer (say 5 or 10 bucks) from the Yearly server to the regular servers. Then every year on, say the DDO anniversary, The Yearly server is wiped (with plenty of notice, E-mails, and whatever to let people on the server know) and it starts fresh again.

Now, not everyone would want to do this but it would allow those who wanted to to start fresh every year with a huge group of people all on the same footing.

I would do this in a heartbeat, and I think it would be lots of fun AND highly contribute to keeping this game "fresh".

[gfunk]

Idea: Start a new server, no toon transfers allowed.

Premise: A server for a fresh start, loot has meaning again and the content will gain flavor as it can't be zerg'ed by over the top mega rich toons. (i.e I probably fall into that category)

Advantages: Allows new players to start on an equal footing. Allows those of us that have been playing for 3 years to test our skills without the aid of vorpals, wop rapiers and race restricted newbie gear for our lowbies. For you founders, remember when having "ONE" vorpal in the party was awesome!

I agree entirely, it is difficult for newer players to get a similar group together so that they can experience the new quests (without someone zerging ahead in them, which is a common complaint among newer people). The problem is, the game needs to be growing in order for this to be viable, and i am not sure that it is (it sure doesn't seem to be growing very much on my server anyways).

I once tried WOW (for about 4 hours before I disliked it.. mainly due to the oversimplified game play and combat mechanisms). The one thing that was good about the game was the server joining options at the beginning which listed server "style": things like PVP server, RP, etc etc, and also listed server populations. Several servers (presumeably the older ones) were listed as "full", however there were several servers listed as low population that would be ideal for new players. As long as a game is growing, this sort of system would likely work (imo). I think that DDO has a long way to go in terms of marketing before additional servers would be merited.

[Deadz]

Server: DDO Hardcore
Rule set: Extremely Decreased loot drops..
Incompacitaded(i can't spell that word) characters can res a shrines, dead characters are dead..

and if i read them implementing this at work, i would have to wait 10 minutes to stand up at my desk to keep from suffering the embarrassment.