A Challenge Server

[Arcadio]

I'm going to start this post out with a disclaimer: I have no idea if this is natively possible/how much work it would take to implement.

 

I was wondering if anyone else would be interested in having a challenge server where IO drops and/or the auction house is disabled. Potentially incarnates too. There has always been a lot of discourse around balance at the SO level, and I think it could be pretty fun/interesting to play on a shard where no one has any exaggerated defenses or damage. I think it would at least leave room for some of the softer ways of dealing with enemies.

 

I'm also curious about how many people are actually interested in playing with only SO's. So here's a poll!

Edited July 28, 2021 by Arcadio

[Doomguide2005]

     Perhaps, if curious, about how many would be interested in SO play only you should include this as a selectable option.  There's also a lot, a LOT, of devils in the details related to your second option -> yes depending on the restrictions.

    Overall I'm in the camp of:

1. There's another CoX server that does this already (isn't there?).
2. I really prefer not to further divide the player base to yet another shard.  Null is already a pretty busy bird but this sort of option or as part of a notoriety setting would be better.
3. Maybe add links to the several related discussions already on these forums.

[Coyotedancer]

It would be a tough thing for the HC devs to do...

They would basically have to maintain and update two completely different branches of the game, which just isn't practical with a small, all-volunteer staff. 

 

That said, the game's code is out in the wild and other server groups are A Thing. If someone decided to take on building and running a version of the City like that, they would probably find interested players. Maybe not a huge number, I suspect... But some. 

[skoryy]

Didn't we have this poll before?

[Doomguide2005]

Just now, skoryy said:

Didn't we have this poll before?

Wouldn't surprise me but offhand I don't recall a poll.  It has been discussed a number of times.

[srmalloy]

9 hours ago, Arcadio said:

I was wondering if anyone else would be interested in having a challenge server where IO drops and/or the auction house is disabled.

Is there something stopping you from throwing away (not selling, because then you'd be benefiting from them) all your recipe drops and ignoring the AH on any one of the HC servers now?

[Doomguide2005]

5 minutes ago, srmalloy said:

Is there something stopping you from throwing away (not selling, because then you'd be benefiting from them) all your recipe drops and ignoring the AH on any one of the HC servers now?

     Nope.

     There's a group/SG running "Issue Zero" characters along with various other 'hardcore' variants.  Be self restricting can readily be done.  What can't be readily done by a player is the opposite (i.e. Cake server stuff)

[Haijinx]

Would just end up being a solo server

[Normal Thomas]

I don't support this. While challenging, I think it is a much better use a resources to maintain the shards we have now for a wide variety of players, casual and hardcore.

[Greycat]

On 7/28/2021 at 8:56 AM, Coyotedancer said:

That said, the game's code is out in the wild and other server groups are A Thing. If someone decided to take on building and running a version of the City like that, they would probably find interested players. Maybe not a huge number, I suspect... But some. 

 

There *was* a server with no P2W, AH, etc. that was as close to "old school" as I think you could get. Almost nobody on it when I looked (granted, it's a jarring experience) and I don't think it's still up - I can't find its name or reference to it any more.

[TygerDarkstorm]

1 hour ago, Greycat said:

 

There *was* a server with no P2W, AH, etc. that was as close to "old school" as I think you could get. Almost nobody on it when I looked (granted, it's a jarring experience) and I don't think it's still up - I can't find its name or reference to it any more.

This sounds like Rebirth, which is still around.

[TygerDarkstorm]

7 hours ago, Krimson said:

Last time I checked Rebirth, a few days ago, there was a whopping seven players online. I suppose if forming a team isn't quite challenging enough... 

I never said they were populated, lol, just that they still exist. They post stuff on Reddit and supposedly have a somewhat steady player base (I've never played there so idk). I mentioned it because I think they have the experience @Greycat was talking about and are still around.

[dtj714]

This game never catered to those seeking a “challenge”, so it’s logical that the “ez mode” server is the most popular. People who play(ed) early EQ, Vanilla WoW, etc. are an entirely different breed - hence the presence and success of the more “authentic” private servers for those games.