Fires of Heaven Guild Message Board - View Single Post

krazrussian · 05-21-2006, 05:26 PM

I think there's a by-partizan solution here. It's a little more difficult to code, but it would work consider the /raid feature is already in the game (and btw, SoE, dont' be stupid and remove this feature just becaues it wasn't part of the "original game") this is a useful and effective feature and doesn't do anything to "overpower" the game. Anyways, solution goes like this:

Part 1: Guild flags -
If X% of guild members are flagged through a certain event, the guild automatically receives a full flag. Lets say 80% of guild members have the flag, the guild automatically gets a guild access flag for all members under the tag (basically the same coding scheme as they enableed for the raid % thing, except it become a permanent part of guild tag. Not difficult since the /guild list menu or whatever the fuck its called already exists). However,members retain indivdual flags. Reason for this, the second portion of this. Set a maintenance margin - say if 80% initially to get the tag (arbitrary #, can change if necessary) then if the # of members who
have individual flags drops below say 65%, the guild tag is revoked. The purpose of this is to disable guilds temporarily inviting a bunch of outsiders just to get the guild tag and then disbanding them.

P.S., I actually suggested guild tags WAY back in the day during PoP/GoD to get rid of the entire re=flagging cockblock. And I can GUARANTEE EQ would have lost far fewer players if this was indeed enabled back then

Part 2: server-wide flags

If Y % of the server is flagged for a certain expansion, then the flag just becomes server-wide. This may not seem like a great idea when coupled with the previous one. HOwever, remember, this thing needs to be marketable to others. Only reason SoE's doing this is to retain the fan-base. Server-wide flagging allows them to retain a larger % of players because this thing also becomes interesting for casuals. Yes, I realize how much you all hate that term, but casuals are still an irreplaceable part of the MMORPG market. And despite the success of WoW, many casuals still miss EQ (there was some serious interest on my old server about this even from non-raiders).

As far as I'm concerned, this idea has the most merit because it addresses both concerns. It gives the competitive incentive for guilds beyond just the first ones to unlock the expansion, but at the same time it addresses the ever-annoying theme of backflagging. The only issues I can see are two-fold.

1) This would require some more coding - but logistically its not a difficult idea. Since there are only a few unlock mobs, adding hail mobs to get flags isn't exactly difficult. And calculating the % of guild tags isn't difficult either. That just requires checking % of members with flags in guild on daily basis. This is just a rudementary margin measure (every brokerage firm has this feature and its so easy to implement and requires virtually no maintenance once set up, which should take like 2 hours).

2) It somewhat discourages adding alts. But I can't imagine alts are gonna be any kind of a serious issue on this server until every expansion is well unlocked.

There is one REALLY nice feature of this though. Guilds that over-recruit and feel the need to zerg everything down need to reflag more often, which is gonna be a much bigger pain on this server since these mobs are gonna be contested as hell. So thats why this is the best idea.

P.P.S. The unlock mob for SoV had better fucking be Avatar of War. NToV is tough but seriously doable. If you want a fucking challenge it has to be AoW.

05-21-2006, 05:26 PM	#721 (permalink)
krazrussian In Soviet Union, Everquest plays YOU Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 126 +0 Internets	I think there's a by-partizan solution here. It's a little more difficult to code, but it would work consider the /raid feature is already in the game (and btw, SoE, dont' be stupid and remove this feature just becaues it wasn't part of the "original game") this is a useful and effective feature and doesn't do anything to "overpower" the game. Anyways, solution goes like this: Part 1: Guild flags - If X% of guild members are flagged through a certain event, the guild automatically receives a full flag. Lets say 80% of guild members have the flag, the guild automatically gets a guild access flag for all members under the tag (basically the same coding scheme as they enableed for the raid % thing, except it become a permanent part of guild tag. Not difficult since the /guild list menu or whatever the fuck its called already exists). However,members retain indivdual flags. Reason for this, the second portion of this. Set a maintenance margin - say if 80% initially to get the tag (arbitrary #, can change if necessary) then if the # of members who have individual flags drops below say 65%, the guild tag is revoked. The purpose of this is to disable guilds temporarily inviting a bunch of outsiders just to get the guild tag and then disbanding them. P.S., I actually suggested guild tags WAY back in the day during PoP/GoD to get rid of the entire re=flagging cockblock. And I can GUARANTEE EQ would have lost far fewer players if this was indeed enabled back then Part 2: server-wide flags If Y % of the server is flagged for a certain expansion, then the flag just becomes server-wide. This may not seem like a great idea when coupled with the previous one. HOwever, remember, this thing needs to be marketable to others. Only reason SoE's doing this is to retain the fan-base. Server-wide flagging allows them to retain a larger % of players because this thing also becomes interesting for casuals. Yes, I realize how much you all hate that term, but casuals are still an irreplaceable part of the MMORPG market. And despite the success of WoW, many casuals still miss EQ (there was some serious interest on my old server about this even from non-raiders). As far as I'm concerned, this idea has the most merit because it addresses both concerns. It gives the competitive incentive for guilds beyond just the first ones to unlock the expansion, but at the same time it addresses the ever-annoying theme of backflagging. The only issues I can see are two-fold. 1) This would require some more coding - but logistically its not a difficult idea. Since there are only a few unlock mobs, adding hail mobs to get flags isn't exactly difficult. And calculating the % of guild tags isn't difficult either. That just requires checking % of members with flags in guild on daily basis. This is just a rudementary margin measure (every brokerage firm has this feature and its so easy to implement and requires virtually no maintenance once set up, which should take like 2 hours). 2) It somewhat discourages adding alts. But I can't imagine alts are gonna be any kind of a serious issue on this server until every expansion is well unlocked. There is one REALLY nice feature of this though. Guilds that over-recruit and feel the need to zerg everything down need to reflag more often, which is gonna be a much bigger pain on this server since these mobs are gonna be contested as hell. So thats why this is the best idea. P.P.S. The unlock mob for SoV had better fucking be Avatar of War. NToV is tough but seriously doable. If you want a fucking challenge it has to be AoW.