Phinigel server launches in exactly one week! We do not have a time yet, but according to the official EverQuest Twitter account we can expect them to release that information sometime before launch.
How crowded will launch day be on Phinigel? Looking back at Ragefire’s launch, the queues were insane for one week. They launched a second server (Lockjaw) for players to overflow into which did help some. Like all MMO launches, hype fades and queues go away over time regardless of opening more server.  In this case, we can look at it two ways:
- Phinigel will likely see an initial surge from players on both Lockjaw AND Ragefire which means there will likely be queues in the first week.
- The initial hype of a TLP has faded, and players may not see Phinigel with the same wide-eyed enthusiasm they had back in May.
Here’s a potential problem, and it keys in to my second point above. Daybreak is likely capitalizing on the hype of opening new servers, and the enormous surge of Krono purchases that accompany them. That’s great for Daybreak, but awful for the players. It will burn out the rather small group they have remaining. Hopefully their plan isn’t a 6-12 month cycle. But moving on to more optimistic plans…
I have decided on my race/class for Phinigel: Gnome Necromancer! Yep, I’m going to take the plunge and once again go for a pet class. Now most EQ vets will say, “Wait three months and play an Iksar! The Regen is op!” True. The regen is fairly game-breaking level 56+ when it feels like unlimited chloroplast. I simply don’t want to wait until Kunark to take advantage of the following:
- Necros solo very well which means I have options
- Necros get groups pretty easy since pets and dots are great dps in this version
- I can farm plat on my Necro to pimp out an Iksar alt in 3 months
I also do not like Iksar casters. I don’t like how they stand straight up when they cast, and the tail poking through the robe isn’t for me. I think I’ll go Iksar Monk again when Kunark comes out, or I’ll lean toward an Iksar Shaman. Honestly it all depends on what my friends play at that point. I don’t care.
Gnome was a choice for obvious reasons. Gnomes are awesome. End of story. And I think a Gnome Necro can go into Neriak… which makes them awesome for the convenience factor of both continents early on.
My friend, Damage, is going to play a Halfling Druid. That makes my decision to play a Necro even more enticing since a Druid and a Necro duo is among the best out there in classic.
Are you taking the plunge and playing on the Phinigel server? If you need more details on what type of server it will be, check out my post on the Phinigel server rules and unlock explanation. Want to play with my small group of friends? Having a group is always nice, and people to talk to makes EverQuest way more fun. Let me know here or post on our EverQuest forum and I’ll get you set up.
Still undecided what to roll thus far. My friend is rolling a shaman but probably wont be on for the late night sessions. I will probably end up having a char for soloing and a char for grouping, so I may lean towards an enchanter to play with you guys and then have a hybrid (pal, rng, or sk) to solo with.
Awesome! We’ll have a great group.
My hope is, with all the tech changes they made during the Ragefire/Lockjaw launch (instanced zones, larger population caps, logout timers, and an actual queue) plus the fact that there are four other TLP servers running, and that this is a single-box server (so nobody logging on a dozen clients at once), that Daybreak will be able to keep this to a single server, rather than having to drop a second almost immediately, so that the post-hype drop in players will leave it with a sustainable population base.
That said, I’m not really up for it myself. But Daybreak seems to get that the servers are a real draw and shouldn’t be dropped and forgotten about for a few years, so I hope to find one coming up when I am feeling the urge. Just so long as they don’t totally overdue things on the nostalgia front. Five such servers running at once might be pushing that limit.
@Wilhelm: I think that’s the risk they have already started facing. People will be willing to ditch Lockjaw and Ragefire, but if 6-12 months from now they say, “We have a new server!” … I doubt people are going to respond with the anxiousness to start over.
My main wish right now is to let this play out until these 3 TLPs hit modern day EQ. Then at that point start over, or say, “we’re starting at Velious” rather than classic again. –OR– Start one at classic, and one at Luclin, or something like that.
EQ is one of those games where I want the vesting period. I need it. I’m willing to forgive the quick turnaround after Ragefire even though I dropped a little bit of money into it. Let’s not have the same mistakes twice.
I understand the whole necro soloing attraction in eq. I did it for a long time after I wasted the first 40 levels with ranger. Fear, dot, pet, repeat. But groups didn’t really need me, and when they did it was just to drop a few dots. Kinda a snooze fest really.
And given the graphics are basically horrible today, I’m not sure why anybody would want to solo eq. That’s not its sweet spot. Never was. Yeah you can do it, but why?
I had far more fun on my next characters, a warrior and cleric, who couldn’t solo a thing.
@Sanz: Times have sorta really changed. I was a necro in 1999-2003 as well and you’re right — groups did not want me. However, now’days a Necro is very welcome in almost any group. Snare, dots, pets, etc., are great dps and utility. Honestly, this isn’t the original EQ where things were UBER hard. Things are much easier now, and people are much more forgiving. Even Rangers get groups. 😉
So second dumb question: This is era locked, but are the zones as they originally were, or are they updated zones but expansion locked?
@Darkstryke: The zones are basically the live versions. New Freeport, Commonlands has replaced EC and WC, etc. A few things they had to keep era specific, but most of the zones are updated versions.
This sounds like fun but I am not sure I have enough free time to start something like this up again. I am enjoying the new expansion with EQ2 and I finally just purchased a PS4 on black friday. Now there a ton of games for the PS4 that I want to catch up on.
Not enough gaming time!
I feel you. I have a long, long list of PS4 games I’m working through right now. We used to have the problem of not having enough good games to play. Now we have the problem of too many games to play and not enough time to play them all as fast as we would like.
Oh my god! Rangers get groups?
Oh yeah, definitely. Rangers are quite a bit better than they were, though not quite what they become in later expansions. I’ve never had a group say not to get the Ranger. Granted, when a slot is needed it often defaults to something like needing to replace the tank, the enchanter, the mage, etc. Certain roles are definitely claimed by classes that are better. The remaining slots are up for grabs.