I'm having fun, but also am reminded why I disliked old EQ. No, it's not the deaths or the slow grind, nor the old graphics, nor the obscure feedback systems (alt+right click to view spells and items) -- no, it's the one thing that seemed explicitely promised in the very name of the game but was rarely present: Quests.
Give me something to do other than camping Orc templars in Neriak. I don't even care if they give much xp. Now of course I can find this on the other EQ servers. Point taken. No need for this on the progression servers. But it does REMIND me one reason why I left EQ.
there are lot of quest but no big exclaimation mark overhead so yes this mean pressing h a lot and write what the npc say you have to write [hail me] etc!
I began to ask the community "What do you like about EQ1?" and was met with what I have always found to be the case in "dead" (not really, but considered so) MMORPG communities. DAoC veterans, EQ1 players still around after a decade.
Bitter, anti-social, nasty troll rejects. A personality I find common in "dead" communities of decade old MMO's. The type of people who make you wonder why genocide is not more common in our world (joking...lol...)
Really? Because thus far I've found some of the friendliest people I've seen in MMOs since 2004.
What do I like about EQ? Well this is my first time playing it, and thus far I'm liking the depth and scope of the game, its far beyond modern MMOs. The dungeon and level design is distinct and amazing, far better than modern MMOs. The world is immersive beyond anything I've found in the over instanced linear mini game focused modern MMOs. It really seems like the creatures and NPCs are living in this world, and I'm just another adventurer. As a low level player, I feel scared and weak, not a powerhouse. Death is scary, I like that too. And I like how social everyone is.
It's really hard to die on Fippy. If you do manage to find a living mob in a newbie zone, and if it does manage to get the upper hand on you before someone kses it, all ya have to do is walk away. It will never cut through the lag to finish you. Between the server performance problems and the over crowding, it's been a pretty sour experience. Gonna give the overflow server a shot tomorrow, but I'm understanding the OP pretty well. This isn't my fondly remembered game any more.
Fippy will die like every progression server before it. Macroquesting players will hack, take over and it's done from there.
Everyone knows the place hackers go to so I won't link it.
I will link this, SoE to this day has not stopped MacroQuest hacks. They are and will be on Fippy and they will take over the server. I refuse to play SoE games until they do something about MQ.
Finally you missed one very obvious difference, EQ is designed to encourage you to group, even at level 1. If you were dying too much at level 1 you should have teamed up to make sure that didn't happen. Perhaps somewhere there was a cleric running around with only autoattack and a simple heal spell.
Can't stress that enough, although yesterday a lot of people were still stubborn wanting to solo their way through. My g/f and I are MMO vets, beta'ed and played EQ in 1999, played EQ recently since 2 years ago, so we know how EQ works. But even we died no less than 10 times yesterday making noobish mistakes.
Noobish mistake #1: Ran out and started attacking a social mob, forgetting that if the mob is near another one of its kind, it would pull the other towards you. Died.
Noobish mistake #2: Ran out to attack a yellow con mob, said eh why not, I can kill mobs higher level than me on regular EQ servers also in other games. Got pwned, died.
Noobish mistake #3: Ran to another zone because Qeynos was waaaay overcrowded. We got to Erudin, saw that there aren't as many people, we cheered and started killing mobs. Died, then realized we didn't rebind, back to Qeynos we go. Good lord I should've known this as an EQ vet right?
Noobish mistake #4: G/f's ranger and I, bard, were kiting mobs that were too hard for us to kill toe to toe. We got confident because we had good luck kiting some mobs. Then came up to a lion, started kiting, CRAP the effer runs faster than me. My bard had no selos yet, ranger had no sow or snare yet, damnit I should've known better. Some mobs do run faster and without snare or sow, you can't kite it. Died again.
Noobish mistake #5: We thought we found a nice quite spot to pull to, it was near the entrance of a zone, and said oh cool we can zone when we need to! While killing a mob, a train came through. To be fair, the person yelled train to zone, but we didn't notice it. So the train steamrolled both of us over, upside down, twice. Yes we died, and then we said to each other... wtf were we doing fighting near the zoneline?!
As you can see, it doesn't matter how good you think you are, you will die. You will die lots. But you die and you learn. You have up until level 6 before you start losing exp so you have plenty of time to learn. You learn from your mistake once and you usually don't make the same mistake again. It's part of old school EQ. You also learn to work with your team mates. Grouping allows you to not only learn how to play with others, but it allows you to learn what other classes do.
We were in a group looking at a group of 5 orcs, yellow to red con. Now, at level 5-7 we can't mez them, and we can't split pull. Most people would not even bother attempting a group like that.
Then the druid spoke up and said, "how about I root one, then snare the other to kite?" Shaman said "I can slow one and tank one, while the tank holds the other". So we attempted it, and we did it without a death. Ghetto CC is what you call it, thinking outside the box, achieving what isn't the norm. That's what you can learn from grouping, and the fun that comes from working as a team.
EQ isn't for everyone, but there is a new EQ via 14 regular servers, and the old EQ via the two progression servers. They cater to different crowds, and it's about time we get something different to play in the genre.
You make classic EQ sound pretty freaking awesome... Makes me really want to try it...! I think I will have to listen to OP though and remember how little time I have now compared to the olden days. :-(
It is true adventure and you are exploring a real virtual world. That is more important than anything. It will not feel like playing a action game. That was never intended... Mechanics are not intended to make it feel like fast paced action. People that need that to have fun will never be able to understand the game. Most new games are more or less action MMO:s. And they are intended for a different type of player. Some of the mechanics could probably be changed and be more modern without changing EQ in a negative way. But if you like the game that is not important... I have no problem with it. And I will not recognize it unless I try to focus on it.
Its possible the XP-curve is different now compared to 1999. I mean 1-50 could be the same or faster. But today there is less diference between levels. If that is true it could explain why the first levels appears to be slower compared to 99...
Its not linear and the game will not hold your hand and tell you what to do. If you want to explore and want adventure that is good. It is exactly the way it should be. If you think you need that to get things done as fast as possible. Because you dont want to "waste time"...you have the wrong attitude. If you have fun you are not wasting time...And if it feels like wasting time the game is probably not the right game for you.
I don't normally post here, but I was trolling the net for reactions to the new EQ servers this morning and came across this post. No disrespect to the OP but he is the one who comes across as somewhat bitter.
As a 40-year-old dude who played EQ when it first launched, I had realistic expectations going into this (free) progression server test. I knew it would be crowded, hard, merciless, and somewhat user unfriendly due to the antiquated interface (I still can't get over the lack of standard WASD movement).
But that is kind of what I wanted. I miss the brutality of old EQ, and the resulting feeling of triumph when you survive a tough encounter. That's what created the vivid memories many of us have.
Without question, the levelling off of hell levels has definitely made the first few levels take forever. My cleric is still only level 3 after playing for hours last night.
But frankly I did not die all that much. One upside to the length it now takes to gain levels early is that you collect more money, which you can use to buy stuff like patchwork armor and a tarnished weapon right away before even hitting level 2. Also, you don't lose exp when you die now until level 6, and you respawn with your gear intact. So if you do die, it is really not a problem.
As long as you do basic things like doing the newbie skeleton bones quest in the dwarf city and upgrading your armor and weapons asap, you can kill even mobs all day long without dying.
My real criticism is one I don't think they could have realistically avoided, which is that the newbie zones are too crowded and there are indeed a ton of two-boxers and bots out there.
I saw several people who were obviously controlling three guys at a time. But I am not sure how they could stop that. As long as you wander slightly off the beaten path you can find plenty of lowbie mobs to kill and grind it out.
I did not group much but I plan to do that as soon as I can now. Most grouping I saw was level 5 and up.
I tried out the new progression server. Too bad it's nothing like EQ circa 1999. Guess I'll stick to the 1999 emulator server. Sad SOE can't pull their heads out of their asses long enough to give people what they want.
When you join a game and already decided you want it to fail for you, then .. it will fail for you.
You died multiple times on level one, while others didn't - This tells that you need practise to become better (here is another point to eq, it matters how you play .. little things all adds up). I also took 4 hours to get level 2, and it was great .. everquest starts at level one, and the levelling and adventuring through the levels IS the game.
It is nowhere near the original eq, except for the group dynamics which (to use a word I hate) p0wns any other mmo. The revamping is horrible, the maps, the find button.. and yet I find I enjoy eq so much more than the other games out there. I played eq2 with raid guilds and though eq2 is not actually bad, it is different and falls into the category with wow (yes I also played WoW endgame).
Originally posted by Dredphyre
I'm having fun, but also am reminded why I disliked old EQ. No, it's not the deaths or the slow grind, nor the old graphics, nor the obscure feedback systems (alt+right click to view spells and items) -- no, it's the one thing that seemed explicitely promised in the very name of the game but was rarely present: Quests.
Give me something to do other than camping Orc templars in Neriak. I don't even care if they give much xp. Now of course I can find this on the other EQ servers. Point taken. No need for this on the progression servers. But it does REMIND me one reason why I left EQ.
See this is true and a valid reason not to play, unlike reasons like waaa waaa the bad orc killed me.. why didnt the game prevent me from going to the orcs, why cant I figure this out ? there should be a npc who tells me how, and where is my instant gratification ?
WAAAAAAAAAAAAH I tried out the new progression server. Too bad it's nothing like EQ circa 1999. Guess I'll stick to the 1999 emulator server. Sad SOE can't pull their heads out of their asses long enough to give me what I want. Because what i want is clearly what everyone else wants.
I fixed it for you with the underlined words.
Seriously if you think SoE didnt listen to what people wanted for this server I am surprised you are intelligent enough to sign up for a mmorpg.com account. Yes, not every little detail is there but the overall feel of the game is very much alive and well.
We were in a group looking at a group of 5 orcs, yellow to red con. Now, at level 5-7 we can't mez them, and we can't split pull. Most people would not even bother attempting a group like that.
Then the druid spoke up and said, "how about I root one, then snare the other to kite?" Shaman said "I can slow one and tank one, while the tank holds the other". So we attempted it, and we did it without a death. Ghetto CC is what you call it, thinking outside the box, achieving what isn't the norm. That's what you can learn from grouping, and the fun that comes from working as a team.
One thing that no game since EQ1 has replicated is the art of pulling in EQ1. In almost every other MMO the tank is the defualt puller, whereas EQ there were classes specifically suited to pull, plus it helped the exp gain rate if the tank didnt pull.
Seems to me the OP just got kicked by a moss snake.
I was in EQ since day one and YES it took 2 hours to get level 2 on release , it actually took about 3 days to get level 7 and like a week or 2 for level 15
also after level 25 (if I recall correctly) every 5th level is a "hell" level wich takes you like a week to go thru it. welcome to EQ
it used to take the average player around 4 months to get to level 40.
And the BOAT...... used to come every 15 minutes or so.
Like someone above posted in EQ you just cant pick an enemy your level and fight. you have to know what to fight and how.
Light blues are a safe bet to solo depending on your level and this is definatly a Group required game for the most part for a beginning player.
If you want to solo roll a Druid or Necro (easiest)
To me the glaring things about trying to play EQ 10 years later are the horrible interface and the lack of newbie friendly quests.
There are some quests, if you are knowledgeable, but unless you remember them you are unlikely to encounter them. That's because this version of the game lacks the guys with exclamation marks on their heads type of indicators we have come to expect from MMO questgivers in more carebear environments.
Since you can grind and make money though the only real problem for me is the interface. I am going to have to try and tinker with the controls tonight to make it bearable.
I know many people hate WoW and I can undertand a lot of the reasons, but that game really has a stellar interface, as you would expect for Blizzard.
Seems to me the OP just got kicked by a moss snake.
I was in EQ since day one and YES it took 2 hours to get level 2 on release , it actually took about 3 days to get level 7 and like a week or 2 for level 15
also after level 25 (if I recall correctly) every 5th level is a "hell" level wich takes you like a week to go thru it. welcome to EQ
it used to take the average player around 4 months to get to level 40.
And the BOAT...... used to come every 15 minutes or so.
Like someone above posted in EQ you just cant pick an enemy your level and fight. you have to know what to fight and how.
Light blues are a safe bet to solo depending on your level and this is definatly a Group required game for the most part for a beginning player.
If you want to solo roll a Druid or Necro (easiest)
Rogues being the hardest to solo.
Though it took a long time to level in old EQ. it did not take this long. This is clearly longer at the lower levels and the developers have admitted that. I think a big reason it took so long for people to advance back in the day, frankly, is that people did not know how to play. The MMO was revolutionary and they were not sure how to advance. Once people learned how to control their characters and make them stronger, going from 1-10 became very easy even if you were not twinked out. It is much harder right now in terms of how many mobs you have to kill, no doubt about it.
Since you can grind and make money though the only real problem for me is the interface. I am going to have to try and tinker with the controls tonight to make it bearable.
I know many people hate WoW and I can undertand a lot of the reasons, but that game really has a stellar interface, as you would expect for Blizzard.
If you don't like the default UI, which imo is pretty flexible, you can try an UI mod. Vert Mod is a popular one, and looks pretty modern and it's neatly organized.
And to anybody frusted with getting pwned, the flavor of the month right now is the mage class. So if you find melee classes hard, since melees are very gear dependent, try a mage. It's pretty much night & day difference in the early game. Mages are by far the easiest to level right now as their pets are beasts early on.
Just trying to help. I still suggest playing the class that interest you the most. And as suggested many times before, group up, even at level 1. Grouping up will level you so much faster, and the game itself will be a lot more fun. You get very good group exp bonus for having a full group, and you will kill more mobs, and have much less downtime than if you were soloing.
Thanks for that suggestion. My beef has to do with the way the buttons are configured in addition to the look of the current UI. I will check this mod out.
I am also running the game on a 1080p monitor which needless to say is not the way we did it back in the day... ;-)
As for the mage thing, I don't want to encourage people playing loopholes on the progression server, as that kind of defeats the point, but I see a very big advantage for casting classes right now based on mana regeneration among other things. Now that you can regain mana so fast right away, you can blast yellow mobs at low levels compared to melee classes, sit for a few seconds and do it again.
Thanks for that suggestion. My beef has to do with the way the buttons are configured in addition to the look of the current UI. I will check this mod out.
Was that you that said there's no WASD movement? I don't remember. If it was you that posted that, you can change your whole key layout by clicking on the EQ button > Keys tab > change your movement, command, UI, target, etc.. keys there.
Also don't forget EQ button > one of the selections will allow you to activate additional hotbars.
You can't expect a MMO to be the same after 12 years and 17 expansions, there are already Wow players comming back to it they say the sam thing and that is half the time and a lot less expansions.
Personally would I prefer if MMOs did like Guildwars instead, no new levels and the original good gear is still pretty good. It was a long time ago that EQ made an expansion too much.
And you might say that you like 5 or 10 extra levels but lets face it, you will level past those in days anyways.
Thanks for that suggestion. My beef has to do with the way the buttons are configured in addition to the look of the current UI. I will check this mod out.
Was that you that said there's no WASD movement? I don't remember. If it was you that posted that, you can change your whole key layout by clicking on the EQ button > Keys tab > change your movement, command, UI, target, etc.. keys there.
Also don't forget EQ button > one of the selections will allow you to activate additional hotbars.
Thanks, yes I remembered that you could do that, so I probably will change them. I also looked at the mod you suggested and it looks very good.
A lot of it may be in ones expectations and general attitude. EQ is a very in depth game. It has a lot of nuances that you're not going to find any newer games. If you're playing one dimensionally then the game is going to feel one dimensional. Exploration is a unique part of EQ along with Merchant Farming, Crafting and knowing beneficial quest. If you're just going to hunt, then the game is going to feel 'grindish'. If you know what to hunt or what's more beneficial to hunt, then that's going to keep things less 'grindish'.
Before I started I refreshed myself of what quest weren't going to require hunting MOBs as the first couple of days were going to be a challenge. The Mail Quest, which is in most cities was one I did not only do to gain experience, but to get decent coin and to travel throughout the continent. This allowed me to relearn the revamped zones.
While traveling I would Merchant Farm, there were plenty of quest items, easily purchased with the money you were rewarded with from doing the mail quest at most Merchants. Merchant farming is something that isn't in any other MMO I've played, most MMO's have static merchants. Not only could you collect items for quest, you could get a few items to craft with as well. A lot of it is in knowing what to look for.
Once I knew what to look for, Merchant Farming, Questing and exploring broke up the routine of finding MOBS to kill. The quest gave good experience, coin and items. I was able to raise a few skill points in Crafting along the way. EQ is about being resourceful, but most of all its about having good knowledge of the game so you can better utilize your character.
If you're focused on graphics and pace (leveling to Uberness - Hurry Up and Have Fun), then the progression server may already be taking its toll. If you're looking for depth, a change of pace, a sense of challenge and diversity, then maybe you'll come to appreciate the game. Is is like it was in 1999, no, but its unique enough to separate it from the other MMO's on the market.
The Old Timers Guild Laid back, not so serious, no drama. All about the fun!
www.oldtimersguild.com An opinion should be the result of thought, not a substitute for it. - Jef Mallett
the problem is for Everquest- it does take time to get reaquinted with it- in terms of getting used to the controls, it's old UI and furthermore doing that while plunged as being a newbie again. That being said level 1 the last time I played was nowhere near as slow as being suggested here? Have they slowed down this server specially or something?
Anyway.. I haven't come back myself, as I've come back a year ago and experienced it then. The game does still have some appeal there, but it has undeniably aged in terms of it's gameplay, combat, graphics and UI. Also the sheer number of zones of Everquest is alienating- it's just far too much.
Anyway roll on Everquest Next. In my view there is still an appeal seperate from the WoW games now.
Comments
I'm having fun, but also am reminded why I disliked old EQ. No, it's not the deaths or the slow grind, nor the old graphics, nor the obscure feedback systems (alt+right click to view spells and items) -- no, it's the one thing that seemed explicitely promised in the very name of the game but was rarely present: Quests.
Give me something to do other than camping Orc templars in Neriak. I don't even care if they give much xp. Now of course I can find this on the other EQ servers. Point taken. No need for this on the progression servers. But it does REMIND me one reason why I left EQ.
there are lot of quest but no big exclaimation mark overhead so yes this mean pressing h a lot and write what the npc say you have to write [hail me] etc!
Really? Because thus far I've found some of the friendliest people I've seen in MMOs since 2004.
What do I like about EQ? Well this is my first time playing it, and thus far I'm liking the depth and scope of the game, its far beyond modern MMOs. The dungeon and level design is distinct and amazing, far better than modern MMOs. The world is immersive beyond anything I've found in the over instanced linear mini game focused modern MMOs. It really seems like the creatures and NPCs are living in this world, and I'm just another adventurer. As a low level player, I feel scared and weak, not a powerhouse. Death is scary, I like that too. And I like how social everyone is.
I haven't had this much fun since Vanguard beta.
It's really hard to die on Fippy. If you do manage to find a living mob in a newbie zone, and if it does manage to get the upper hand on you before someone kses it, all ya have to do is walk away. It will never cut through the lag to finish you. Between the server performance problems and the over crowding, it's been a pretty sour experience. Gonna give the overflow server a shot tomorrow, but I'm understanding the OP pretty well. This isn't my fondly remembered game any more.
I've played EQ for a very long time.
Fippy will die like every progression server before it. Macroquesting players will hack, take over and it's done from there.
Everyone knows the place hackers go to so I won't link it.
I will link this, SoE to this day has not stopped MacroQuest hacks. They are and will be on Fippy and they will take over the server. I refuse to play SoE games until they do something about MQ.
But, it's hardcore! I mean, obvious better player is obvious! You have to know how to, umm press a button, just like WoW...
You make classic EQ sound pretty freaking awesome... Makes me really want to try it...! I think I will have to listen to OP though and remember how little time I have now compared to the olden days. :-(
Play as your fav retro characters: cnd-online.net. My site: www.lysle.net. Blog: creatingaworld.blogspot.com.
It is true adventure and you are exploring a real virtual world. That is more important than anything. It will not feel like playing a action game. That was never intended... Mechanics are not intended to make it feel like fast paced action. People that need that to have fun will never be able to understand the game. Most new games are more or less action MMO:s. And they are intended for a different type of player. Some of the mechanics could probably be changed and be more modern without changing EQ in a negative way. But if you like the game that is not important... I have no problem with it. And I will not recognize it unless I try to focus on it.
Its possible the XP-curve is different now compared to 1999. I mean 1-50 could be the same or faster. But today there is less diference between levels. If that is true it could explain why the first levels appears to be slower compared to 99...
Its not linear and the game will not hold your hand and tell you what to do. If you want to explore and want adventure that is good. It is exactly the way it should be. If you think you need that to get things done as fast as possible. Because you dont want to "waste time"...you have the wrong attitude. If you have fun you are not wasting time...And if it feels like wasting time the game is probably not the right game for you.
I don't normally post here, but I was trolling the net for reactions to the new EQ servers this morning and came across this post. No disrespect to the OP but he is the one who comes across as somewhat bitter.
As a 40-year-old dude who played EQ when it first launched, I had realistic expectations going into this (free) progression server test. I knew it would be crowded, hard, merciless, and somewhat user unfriendly due to the antiquated interface (I still can't get over the lack of standard WASD movement).
But that is kind of what I wanted. I miss the brutality of old EQ, and the resulting feeling of triumph when you survive a tough encounter. That's what created the vivid memories many of us have.
Without question, the levelling off of hell levels has definitely made the first few levels take forever. My cleric is still only level 3 after playing for hours last night.
But frankly I did not die all that much. One upside to the length it now takes to gain levels early is that you collect more money, which you can use to buy stuff like patchwork armor and a tarnished weapon right away before even hitting level 2. Also, you don't lose exp when you die now until level 6, and you respawn with your gear intact. So if you do die, it is really not a problem.
As long as you do basic things like doing the newbie skeleton bones quest in the dwarf city and upgrading your armor and weapons asap, you can kill even mobs all day long without dying.
My real criticism is one I don't think they could have realistically avoided, which is that the newbie zones are too crowded and there are indeed a ton of two-boxers and bots out there.
I saw several people who were obviously controlling three guys at a time. But I am not sure how they could stop that. As long as you wander slightly off the beaten path you can find plenty of lowbie mobs to kill and grind it out.
I did not group much but I plan to do that as soon as I can now. Most grouping I saw was level 5 and up.
I tried out the new progression server. Too bad it's nothing like EQ circa 1999. Guess I'll stick to the 1999 emulator server. Sad SOE can't pull their heads out of their asses long enough to give people what they want.
Make a difference!
When you join a game and already decided you want it to fail for you, then .. it will fail for you.
You died multiple times on level one, while others didn't - This tells that you need practise to become better (here is another point to eq, it matters how you play .. little things all adds up). I also took 4 hours to get level 2, and it was great .. everquest starts at level one, and the levelling and adventuring through the levels IS the game.
It is nowhere near the original eq, except for the group dynamics which (to use a word I hate) p0wns any other mmo. The revamping is horrible, the maps, the find button.. and yet I find I enjoy eq so much more than the other games out there. I played eq2 with raid guilds and though eq2 is not actually bad, it is different and falls into the category with wow (yes I also played WoW endgame).
See this is true and a valid reason not to play, unlike reasons like waaa waaa the bad orc killed me.. why didnt the game prevent me from going to the orcs, why cant I figure this out ? there should be a npc who tells me how, and where is my instant gratification ?
"I am my connectome" https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HA7GwKXfJB0
I fixed it for you with the underlined words.
Seriously if you think SoE didnt listen to what people wanted for this server I am surprised you are intelligent enough to sign up for a mmorpg.com account. Yes, not every little detail is there but the overall feel of the game is very much alive and well.
One thing that no game since EQ1 has replicated is the art of pulling in EQ1. In almost every other MMO the tank is the defualt puller, whereas EQ there were classes specifically suited to pull, plus it helped the exp gain rate if the tank didnt pull.
Seems to me the OP just got kicked by a moss snake.
I was in EQ since day one and YES it took 2 hours to get level 2 on release , it actually took about 3 days to get level 7 and like a week or 2 for level 15
also after level 25 (if I recall correctly) every 5th level is a "hell" level wich takes you like a week to go thru it. welcome to EQ
it used to take the average player around 4 months to get to level 40.
And the BOAT...... used to come every 15 minutes or so.
Like someone above posted in EQ you just cant pick an enemy your level and fight. you have to know what to fight and how.
Light blues are a safe bet to solo depending on your level and this is definatly a Group required game for the most part for a beginning player.
If you want to solo roll a Druid or Necro (easiest)
Rogues being the hardest to solo.
To me the glaring things about trying to play EQ 10 years later are the horrible interface and the lack of newbie friendly quests.
There are some quests, if you are knowledgeable, but unless you remember them you are unlikely to encounter them. That's because this version of the game lacks the guys with exclamation marks on their heads type of indicators we have come to expect from MMO questgivers in more carebear environments.
Since you can grind and make money though the only real problem for me is the interface. I am going to have to try and tinker with the controls tonight to make it bearable.
I know many people hate WoW and I can undertand a lot of the reasons, but that game really has a stellar interface, as you would expect for Blizzard.
If you don't like the default UI, which imo is pretty flexible, you can try an UI mod. Vert Mod is a popular one, and looks pretty modern and it's neatly organized.
EQ1-AC1-DAOC-FFXI-L2-EQ2-WoW-DDO-GW-LoTR-VG-WAR-GW2-ESO
And to anybody frusted with getting pwned, the flavor of the month right now is the mage class. So if you find melee classes hard, since melees are very gear dependent, try a mage. It's pretty much night & day difference in the early game. Mages are by far the easiest to level right now as their pets are beasts early on.
Just trying to help. I still suggest playing the class that interest you the most. And as suggested many times before, group up, even at level 1. Grouping up will level you so much faster, and the game itself will be a lot more fun. You get very good group exp bonus for having a full group, and you will kill more mobs, and have much less downtime than if you were soloing.
EQ1-AC1-DAOC-FFXI-L2-EQ2-WoW-DDO-GW-LoTR-VG-WAR-GW2-ESO
Thanks for that suggestion. My beef has to do with the way the buttons are configured in addition to the look of the current UI. I will check this mod out.
I am also running the game on a 1080p monitor which needless to say is not the way we did it back in the day... ;-)
As for the mage thing, I don't want to encourage people playing loopholes on the progression server, as that kind of defeats the point, but I see a very big advantage for casting classes right now based on mana regeneration among other things. Now that you can regain mana so fast right away, you can blast yellow mobs at low levels compared to melee classes, sit for a few seconds and do it again.
Was that you that said there's no WASD movement? I don't remember. If it was you that posted that, you can change your whole key layout by clicking on the EQ button > Keys tab > change your movement, command, UI, target, etc.. keys there.
Also don't forget EQ button > one of the selections will allow you to activate additional hotbars.
EQ1-AC1-DAOC-FFXI-L2-EQ2-WoW-DDO-GW-LoTR-VG-WAR-GW2-ESO
You can't expect a MMO to be the same after 12 years and 17 expansions, there are already Wow players comming back to it they say the sam thing and that is half the time and a lot less expansions.
Personally would I prefer if MMOs did like Guildwars instead, no new levels and the original good gear is still pretty good. It was a long time ago that EQ made an expansion too much.
And you might say that you like 5 or 10 extra levels but lets face it, you will level past those in days anyways.
Thanks, yes I remembered that you could do that, so I probably will change them. I also looked at the mod you suggested and it looks very good.
All i am going to say is there's better options then playing EQ on the live Servers.I'd strongly Suggest the OP check them out.
A lot of it may be in ones expectations and general attitude. EQ is a very in depth game. It has a lot of nuances that you're not going to find any newer games. If you're playing one dimensionally then the game is going to feel one dimensional. Exploration is a unique part of EQ along with Merchant Farming, Crafting and knowing beneficial quest. If you're just going to hunt, then the game is going to feel 'grindish'. If you know what to hunt or what's more beneficial to hunt, then that's going to keep things less 'grindish'.
Before I started I refreshed myself of what quest weren't going to require hunting MOBs as the first couple of days were going to be a challenge. The Mail Quest, which is in most cities was one I did not only do to gain experience, but to get decent coin and to travel throughout the continent. This allowed me to relearn the revamped zones.
While traveling I would Merchant Farm, there were plenty of quest items, easily purchased with the money you were rewarded with from doing the mail quest at most Merchants. Merchant farming is something that isn't in any other MMO I've played, most MMO's have static merchants. Not only could you collect items for quest, you could get a few items to craft with as well. A lot of it is in knowing what to look for.
Once I knew what to look for, Merchant Farming, Questing and exploring broke up the routine of finding MOBS to kill. The quest gave good experience, coin and items. I was able to raise a few skill points in Crafting along the way. EQ is about being resourceful, but most of all its about having good knowledge of the game so you can better utilize your character.
If you're focused on graphics and pace (leveling to Uberness - Hurry Up and Have Fun), then the progression server may already be taking its toll. If you're looking for depth, a change of pace, a sense of challenge and diversity, then maybe you'll come to appreciate the game. Is is like it was in 1999, no, but its unique enough to separate it from the other MMO's on the market.
The Old Timers Guild
Laid back, not so serious, no drama.
All about the fun!
www.oldtimersguild.com
An opinion should be the result of thought, not a substitute for it. - Jef Mallett
the problem is for Everquest- it does take time to get reaquinted with it- in terms of getting used to the controls, it's old UI and furthermore doing that while plunged as being a newbie again. That being said level 1 the last time I played was nowhere near as slow as being suggested here? Have they slowed down this server specially or something?
Anyway.. I haven't come back myself, as I've come back a year ago and experienced it then. The game does still have some appeal there, but it has undeniably aged in terms of it's gameplay, combat, graphics and UI. Also the sheer number of zones of Everquest is alienating- it's just far too much.
Anyway roll on Everquest Next. In my view there is still an appeal seperate from the WoW games now.