Low Rate - ideas?

[Tai]

First of all if you don't like low rates then that's fair enough - we all have our own tastes and dislikes - please don't feel the need to post anything along the lines of "lr is crap dont bother". If these are your thoughts then this thread shouldn't really concern you and you can move on.

This is a question to those who DO enjoy LR, or those who are still willing to try one.

I basically want to know what you think are the most important things to have a successful LR server. Obviously our population has decreased a lot recently so a "high" usercount isn't really something we can hope for on ANY rate server, be it high/med/low. But on the other hand we'd want to attract as many players as possible.

Here are some of the things I feel are important:

1. Stability is imo the most important factor, and being able to know that the server isn't gonna dissapear because of a crap host is important, otherwise what's the point in putting all your effort into the game for it just to go pop?
2. Now when I say low rate, I mean low rate that's contemporary (i.e. no longer x3 EXP, but a minimum of x6)
3. Balance between classes and caves
4. No euro clones. The server would probably be based from the official server, but by no means would it stop there...(custom items, mobs, maps, quests etc. will be important just as ever, it goes without saying)
5. The files would be up to date (not 2.3, meaning a lot less boundaries, plus a lot of new content that isn't available in 2.3)

So as I say, I just want your thoughts on what you'd want to see in a stable LR.

 

[Bon]

in all honesty, if some1 copied euro, but renamed + reimaged every mob and item, maybe changed the caves around abit it would be good

but low rates never last, and dont interest ppl.. so isnt much u can do rly

 

[Anonlol]

Youll put a ton of effort in, people will ***** and leave, youll get tired of it.

Trust me, been there, done that.

 

[Gezza]

A good, stable low rate is needed it's how mir works best imo. In all the servers that i've played nemesis was by far the best which was a low rate only thing that let it down was being hosted on a home pc for most of the time from what i remember.

But what i would like to see..

1. : Non donation based, and any extra donations given back to the players (make what you need for dedi costs etc), and rest given out in prizes in events or simple accept no more donations until needed.
2. :A stable server from the beginning. (No silly mistakes either).
3. :A complete new server (almost) based off euro but using different skins/maps etc (Make it feel new).
4. :A professionally as possible run server, (less gm's the better)
5. Lots of quests and unique ideas for in between levelling.

PS. i love low rates, but only a fair, good and enjoyable one.

 

[Tai]

Youll put a ton of effort in, people will ***** and leave, youll get tired of it.

Trust me, been there, done that.

Haha. I've been there too so don't worry about that.

I agree with everything gezza said though

 

[Liandrin2]

Try not to make levelling the only focus of the server.

Make sure players have other objectives such as getting rare items and maybe add some other time consuming things such as a PVP system and maybe some sort of reputation system similar to WoW.

Items and gold need to be difficult to get otherwise people will turn back to levelling and quickly get bored.

 

[Skyline]

Steady levelling, not too slow but not too fast you can get to the highest level required within a day.
All the usual Euro caves, maybe less floor for some though such as PT/PSC so you only have 3 or 4 floors instead of the 8/9 different ones.
New caves, mobs, items - SOme nice original ideas are always good.
Well thought out quests to help with the levelling. Some people prefer to just grind the EXP but others prefer to quest a little.
Bosses that require a group to kill, but not so every boss needs a big group, it's always nice to know you can go and solo a boss or go with just two of you, but it's also a nice feeling to get a bigger group together to kill a more challenging and rewarding boss.

Best way to make a server IMO is to do it in stages, have so much up to say level 45, after a while and people have got to that level or higher and got the better kit for that level, then you can concentrate on adding more stuff for the next stage for level50+... This is your new "patch" which has the ability to bring back player as well as attract more.

Low rates are always the best for me, I've been drawing up ideas for the past 12months on a low rate but never had the time to actually make a server.

Edit: Donations... Need to be careful with these if you want a successful server. Donations are acceptable obviously, but the minute you start giving items out for donations you spoil the server for a lot of players.

 

[DiabloDoom]

If the servers good it won't matter what donations you have.

Most of the time the servers are ****, so people just choose the donations as a reason not to play, if the server was half decent, nobody would care.

Look at all the Highest Usercount servers that have been out and up for over a year, most of them have items, exp and loads of other stuff donatable.

I'd play a Low Rate if it was ran by someone trusted, there was enough content to keep me occupied and there was a benefit to me grinding out levels.

There's no point having Gold/Items super hard to get, as people just get bored camping a boss for weeks on end to get a rare.

Have basic kits that drop often so people don't get wiped out in caves meant for there level, slightly rarer kits, rare kits and then a Server Kit.

Give people a reason to level, make stat increases noticable rather than people grinding level 47-48 to get DC+1 Kit.

Don't let people wear Death Gauntlets and Great Axes for weeks on end either, as euro items get boring (even changing skins and names would do).

 

[Bon]

best way to get a low rate to work is to make it like a high rate rly

ppl like the way levelin is easy, and if u just give a mixture of easy to get - super rares what more can they ask for?

its all about addin lots of stuff to do ingame

 

[Tai]

And what about preferred exp rate?

Would you rather have lvl 50 as a big milestone or lvl 60?

After say 6 months of playing the server, what level would you want to be? Or doesn't it matter to you.

 

[Skyline]

After 6 months I'd personally like to be at the highest level really required, but still hunting for better items.

 

[Bon]

i dont think many ppl see themselves still playing the same server 6months later these days....

u should plan 1 month at a time really

 

[Mask]

i would suggest, doing it in a similar way to wow, like skyline has already suggested with level caps.

they keep the game balanced, and allow time to create new patchs/expansions. if you was to go with this method i would suggest you bring the game to the level of 50 cap, and also complete the next patch which would be for around level 60-100. this way you are always 1 step ahead. you dont want people on your back 24/7 asking about the next patch.

set interval's (countdown timer on your website), and incorporate them into the game ( like wows ahn qiraj event, players collect items for the war effort, when the server has collected enough items it unlocks the patch), nemesis had great success with this when we released our first patch.

create tiered gear / group zones for the capped levels. depending on the difficulty of a dungeon it will reward a tier set item, the higher the tier the more valuable the item.

if you have coders, i think talent trees are much needed in mir, aswell as an aggro/threat system implemented into mobs and spells.

 

[Keiththfc]

I would without a doubt play any LR no matter how good or bad if it was promised it would not go, if it could promise it would still be there in 6months id spend 6 months grinding.

a bad LR beats a good HR