More About EverQuest’s Retro Server

Recently, we brought you news on EverQuest‘s new retro-server – which will allow new players to experience the entire sweeping saga from its beginning. That server went live last week. Gamers have been curious about some aspects of the new server, so EQ producer Chris Lena answered some of their questions, recently.

Obviously, since EQ has been online since 1998, putting up a server that would amount to an archive of Norath’s entire history was no small task. “There’s a lot that went into this server, everything from designing and implementing the expansion-locking mechanism, to evaluating the 7+ years worth of content that exists all over Norrath,” says Chris. He added, “We have to be mindful of all of the new content, how it could possibly interact with the old content, create balance problems, and then make adjustments to handle all of those problems.”

Balance issues regarding era-specific content was also a major issue. Just because a 1923 Model T Ford exists in 2006 doesn’t mean it’s appropriate for a modern interstate freeway – and so it is in Norath: “Content is generally tuned for the era it was introduced in and not necessarily the era that it exists in. This creates a very real balance issue because these new items, spells, or abilities are generally extremely powerful in comparison to everything else that may be available in that era,” shares Chris.

What about features left in the Progression that were not part of the original game, yet not implemented until later expansions? Many – especially bank slots and the map window – were left for player convenience. “Transferring gear was always problematic in the original game,” Chris explains furthers. “It was always risky to lose a corpse in the original game. It was always hilarious to watch people (like me) run around for an hour in Greater Faydark completely lost because they had no sense of direction whatsoever.” Benefits of keeping these features, especially for the newer players, were considered necessary.

Some expansions will be unlocked out of sequence. Chris promises there will be a website to track such progress, but at this time, refuses to say exactly how this will work.

Finally, Chris was asked about what part of this project pleased him especially. He replies, “That’s a tough one to answer, really… I would have to say that the event mechanism we designed for this server would be the thing I’m most proud of since it just turned out to be a very elegant and simple system overall.”

Via MMORPG.com

Recently, we brought you news on EverQuest‘s new retro-server – which will allow new players to experience the entire sweeping saga from its beginning. That server went live last week. Gamers have been curious about some aspects of the new server, so EQ producer Chris Lena answered some of their questions, recently.

Obviously, since EQ has been online since 1998, putting up a server that would amount to an archive of Norath’s entire history was no small task. “There’s a lot that went into this server, everything from designing and implementing the expansion-locking mechanism, to evaluating the 7+ years worth of content that exists all over Norrath,” says Chris. He added, “We have to be mindful of all of the new content, how it could possibly interact with the old content, create balance problems, and then make adjustments to handle all of those problems.”

Balance issues regarding era-specific content was also a major issue. Just because a 1923 Model T Ford exists in 2006 doesn’t mean it’s appropriate for a modern interstate freeway – and so it is in Norath: “Content is generally tuned for the era it was introduced in and not necessarily the era that it exists in. This creates a very real balance issue because these new items, spells, or abilities are generally extremely powerful in comparison to everything else that may be available in that era,” shares Chris.

What about features left in the Progression that were not part of the original game, yet not implemented until later expansions? Many – especially bank slots and the map window – were left for player convenience. “Transferring gear was always problematic in the original game,” Chris explains furthers. “It was always risky to lose a corpse in the original game. It was always hilarious to watch people (like me) run around for an hour in Greater Faydark completely lost because they had no sense of direction whatsoever.” Benefits of keeping these features, especially for the newer players, were considered necessary.

Some expansions will be unlocked out of sequence. Chris promises there will be a website to track such progress, but at this time, refuses to say exactly how this will work.

Finally, Chris was asked about what part of this project pleased him especially. He replies, “That’s a tough one to answer, really… I would have to say that the event mechanism we designed for this server would be the thing I’m most proud of since it just turned out to be a very elegant and simple system overall.”

Via MMORPG.com