Epiquin

6 years was just a ballpark figure. I don't see a reason to be accurate for the context in question, the intention was to establish that L2 was popular a long time ago. I don't correlate the success of the game to the update, because the trend I noticed regardless of chronicle is that the game is reduced to grind for few weeks then sit at Oly manager. There are very few encounters out of town and even fewer reasons to actually do so. Game has become shit, but I won't blame it on NCSoft or updates. At the end of the day, if we are on these forums, we shouldn't really care about whats happening on official servers...

Define mastery...? I haven't coded in Java, but I am pretty comfortable looking at code and saying what it does. I learned programming on MATLAB. Certain operators/functions do things. You can write your own functions to do things. It's obviously more efficient to use existing functions to keep the code tidy, ease troubleshooting, etc, if possible. A lot of systems that you'd require to make are typically driven by logic. If your logic comprehension is not great, programming will be very tough for you. But that's not difficult to fix, you will see common patterns the more you look at logic related subjects. Knowing how to code on a programming language really comes down to having the appropriate documentation for the functions and operators. Then it's just google. When you get more experience you become less reliant on documentation. Getting into L2J now would probably be very difficult. Think about it - decade worth of code, L2jserver pulled the documentation. Getting the necessary support would be extremely difficult if you are not familiar with the code.

Hilarious. Lineage2 became popular 6 years ago. And thats when we had tons of servers. Now we just have out-of-the-box servers with minor changes to config. There is no "popular" set up. Its entirely up to the herd mentality - when the more infamous individuals join a server with a group, other's flock over it. L2 has become an arranged fight between prominent alliances like a clan fight in CS, with some random peasants jumping in on somebody else's thunder.

Got banned the first. So don't really care about the registration date.

Depending on how the budget is used, might attract some older players which left eons ago. Not that there is anything to come back to. PvE grind is still a PvE grind. Not interested in spending weeks of /attack for 3 days of PvP and then have people leave as soon as the first epic boss is killed. Also clan size snowballing. People start to group up in one big clan and they roll everyone over. See you guys in EVE: Online! Literally the only MMORPG to date that actually matters, excluding the fantasy island cakewalk that is WoW.

Epic bosses used to have lore/story attached to them, and a relevant item drop, like a piece of jewelry. Back when doing these was actually difficult, the value of these items was enormous due to rarity and the lack of supply. Only large alliance could do them. Drop was never guaranteed, and picking up/stealing was common, which was a conflict/drama driver - sometimes clan leaders would demand the items for themselves, to horde and monopolize or to distribute. So it required loyalty from other clan members. But you could always join a clan and attempt to steal the item during a raid, then leave... Basically there were real political machinations and consequences regarding those items, and they were typically the reason for most conflicts, whether its between clans and alliances or inter-clan members. This made epic bosses a focal point of the game, because for that time it was "THE GAME". Everything before that was just intermediate: quests, leveling up, etc - was just a journey to that point. Epic bosses spanned throughout the entire leveling range of characters. That's why there are end-game epic bosses, because in contrast, there were low-level epic bosses like Ant Queen and Orfen. Usually end-game bosses would imply the use of the highest grade gear possible along with the top-level characters to even have a chance at succeeding, like Beleth. Mages and Nukers are identical. The term "Nuker" is an archaic nickname given to magical skill characters in light of their ability to two-shot or "nuke" everything else. With recent updates and the power creep it's less likely to happen, but Nuker remained as legacy slang.

Must be the only 100x Interlude server. Not sure. 50 buffs maybe? We all know that ends well...

I can't responsibly agree with making a 1x server, because I cannot see the opportunity. There are no doubt reasonable motivations behind making one, just don't see it as something that's convincing enough to drop all other servers and log in. The introduction of a majority of those features to a new player will be delayed by the simple principle that the player would have to get to the arbitrary level you lock your instances to, which could take weeks or months to grind towards. Then the player is faced with reviewing your custom instances, very likely non objectively or critically. So, its a gamble. If they don't like it even one bit, the obvious question for the player is whether it was worth the time and effort... And if it wasn't, then that player will lose trust in anyone trying out new things again. Just a thought.

Fast lvling, but there is XP loss on death. Rather than farm back to get XP, there is an item that you can purchase/manufacture that gives EXP. This way you introduce a cost to losing, a direct way to influence another player by winning, but don't make it annoying in that you would have to go back to killing mobs to get back into the PvP scheme. So players establish an infastructure where they obtain these EXP items, and ensure that they have a continuous supply to further their PvP agenda. The side which begins to financially fail loses. So, a PvP conflict isn't decided by who wins the fight because they zerged all the time, but who becomes averse to fighting after bad mouthing for an hour in local chat. Perhaps this can be achieved by the weaker side attacking the zergs supply of those EXP items, causing the zerg to be cautious about their losses, forcing the bigger side to focus on defense. Right? Or you could just open a server with 100x rates and be done with it.

So when do you expect people will start PvPing on an x1 server? And how many people will quit after first death?

See what? I do want new things. Quite frankly this is not what I had in mind. New things are mutually exclusive from a mega-load-ton of new things. Quality over quantity. I outlined the issue I have with a majority of servers - lack of conflict drivers. Faction/Event servers have fabricated fights; these drive action, but there is no conflict. The game plays like a sport. This guy is Red, the other is Blue, they fight each other because the event engine says so. High rate servers have small conflict drivers, but they are old in design - secure farm spot to maximise farming efficiency. But this is short lived - once you get your shit you don't need to secure the spot. That, and the population is too sparsely spread out. And its related to farming, which is obnoxious and inspires maximising 2 different, conflicting builds. One that is good at PvE and another that is good at PvP. And it has the stupid WOW syndrome: A: "why do you farm this boss?" B: "so I can get good gear!" A: "why do you need good gear?" B: "so I can farm a harder boss!".

Probably not. CBA to read it TBH. Ok. But why do you need 4 lines to explain this? In any case I am playing EVE.

I'm not gonna preach and say that you should follow your "dreams" or whatever. I wouldn't believe in it myself. I think the key to success is systematic assembly of a plan. A lot of people say that custom L2 server would fail on the simple principle that people don't like to learn new things. Well, the obvious solution to is either making things simple enough that people can learn new things intuitively, or through non-compulsory tips like perhaps in the form of ambiguous and open ended quests. BUT, if you already identified that people won't play it, then you oughta know what they would play. I think an event-type server in general (drawing parallels from faction/race war servers) can show success. However, it is already known that these servers (or any server with artificially bloated progression SPEED) die quickly. I think identifying the reason for this, and then coming up with a solution, can end up in an opportunity for a good server. Also, using other servers for study examples is worth it. For example: InfiniteL2, GvE and etc, always end up in a wipe after 2-3 months. I played InfiniteL2 and I think the problem is that there is a distinct time: "half-life" to the server - everyone knows (like a dogs instinct) when there is a point where vets are so far ahead that starting from scratch is pointless. You can even notice it because people rush to get as far as possible (in terms of progression) in the first few days. Ironically, the vets get tired because there is no competition. I think this is intuitive - you need to progress to compete with them, but they (naturally) prevent you from doing it (by killing you). Find a way to combat this, and I think you can get a solid, long-term event-type server (faction or not).

This is what L2 is reduced to... Watching a yellow, red and blue bars going slowly up and down.

There was a server somewhere with loads of mods. Quake sounds and all. Race war is identical to faction server, with sides just being races. Nothing special or interesting. There is barely any motivation to create meaningful conflict between TWO sides, nevermind 5 or 6... You really want to make a new server? Strip L2 down to the very basics, regardless of chronicle. Even if it involves leaving chars at 1st prof with bloody windstrike. Before you start adding skills and items and shit, figure what is there to do in the game. I think exploration has potential. Loads of areas that never saw use. Maybe like spawn somewhere random and then you get to survive. Not zombie survival or someshit, no food and water. Just use whatever gear you fin to get past obstacles. Maybe no/little/limited teleportation. Really visceral feelings in regards to meeting other players (trust, cooperation, etc). Then instead of PVP counter you count how many hours someone survived outside of safezone. Full drop on death, etc. Not hardcore; it may sound hardcore, but consider conditioning a new standard - where players are less carebear and are more brave, and don't cry for every loss/death.

Massive fights have their downsides. Take a look at Planetside 2. InfiniteL2 had 60v60 24h/7d. It wasn't too great sometimes. Too much of a meat grinder.

What about not making threads with ambiguous titles, baiting people into viewing? If you make a se

More streamlined gameplay. Less trash items and less clutter (elemental stones, talismans, etc). Gameplay the depends on principles, not a farming NASCAR race. But yeah, good riddance. NCSoft took the shittiest decisions, and the remaining community takes them for granted. So they are pretty much set in stone.

I am critical enough to make my own decision on whether I'm willing to follow on the inducement. Good marketing isn't aimed at sheeps. It's your job to convince me (anyone) to join. We're not playing farmville. No sheeps here. You have not argued why the server in your link is worth joining. Just butted in and started bragging about it being professional. When confronted you deflect from the question each post. I guess there is nothing to mention? Going through the server features - again just another generic mess.

That's not how it works. I don't use a product and decide if I want to buy it. The seller induces me to buy it by doing his job and convincing me it's a worthwhile purchase. AKA advertising. You've mentioned nothing that convinces me to login. The lack of players proves my point. I have no interest in joining a server that you admitted is not popular. Or a server where admins have admitted they did not do proper advertising not do proper testing post generic update logs (probably because you did the same NPC XML edits you bash the OP with) follow in the usual season bullshit like its the perpetual Grey's Anatomy episode for the Xth year. I already spotted that you did nothing for the economy, hence you server needs wipes. Ever wonder that players sniff this shit out like hounds and simply do not join because they know when the critical mass of the server is? Not rocket science - there is a distinct period when people know everyone they will compete with is well established and competing is pointless. Yes the OP is next in line after all the other enthusiasts who joined this forum and said they will "change" something. But at least he outlined the things he did. All you did was drop a link to yet another generic server.

Duh. I don't see how people still cling to making C6 servers with mild changes to server config and rates. My grandma could open up a notepad and make a server like that. Whats good about http://l2aepvp.net/forum/index.php ? Name one thing they did no one else did that had any merit.

Some of that sounds interesting. From a skill perspective, but from a design perspective - why make more classes? More abilities and effects. At the end of the day that's more maintenance, you have to keep track of what works well and what doesn't, what is balanced and what isn't when people complain, and more initiative required from the player to learn all the new things you introduce.

So its just going to die as soon as the first 10 chars get S-Grade. People will just emo quit. And after everyone gets top gear server will live for another week. Then it will be just Olyage 2

There is no motivation to actually play the open world. Beyond the typical farming traps (mats, element crystal, SA crystals, Lifestones, etc) there is literally nothing to do outside. NCsfot designed the game to be a grindfest, thats palatable when doing it with friends. Occasionally there'd be an epic with some cliche lore story attached to it and some gimmicky mechanics that never extended beyond dealing enough damage. Reality is there is no good server because of A LOT of reasons. This subject can be debated on a lot. And we are likely to never come to a consensus as to why. Neither is that important. The important part is to deal with the problems. > Motivate people to compete for out of town and open world areas to actually generate EMERGENT content. Stuff that isn't controlled by an event engine rolling a DM every 60 minutes. > Abolish carebearing ideals, like not allowing scam (srsly if you let yourself be scammed you deserve it), overbuff, spying, etc. Generally stuff thats relatively clever but made victims very butthurt. > Create an environment where players are not pressured into farming for 2 weeks before they can even begin to be relevant. The common issue I find is that you need to have TOP gear, TOP skills, TOP everything before you can even bother to PvP. By the time you get there people start realising how shit everything is and quit. Need to stop prolonging the inevitable and fix core problems. There are many other issues, but I think the above are the generic 3 out of 5-10 that would be a good start.

Sad that you take forum statistic for granted. 17 opinions do not represent the whole potential population.