So many questions!

[Kalipto]

Hey folks,

I have yet to make a character, but I'm in love with the general idea of p1999 and have had my eye on it for a while. With that said I have a few questions about the current state and future state of the game. I'll post them below in an orderly fashion, I appreciate any input!


Class Roles - As SOE released expansions, some classes started slipping into different roles. Let me give an example; Druid. Pre-Velious druids were damage, utility, some buffs, some debuffs, etc. In Velious they started getting heals. Fast forward 5 expansions and Druids are now considered healers primarly. Nukes, dots, kiting, all of that just became an afterthought. Will it be the same way in p1999?
Class Population - What are the seemingly over populated classes at 60? What are the seemingly under populated classes? Do you find yourself always saying "Dang I wish we had a *insert class* handy". Or do you often say "Ugh, another bard?". Just curious what's over populated. I ask because part of the fun for me is being needed. Since I'm not needed in RL ;)
Gear - No Trade/Drop - It seems like pretty much all gear was droppable until after Velious when they startted flagging things as no drop. This changed the game in a profound way. I'll keep my opinion to myself, but am wondering, moving forward, will p1999 adopt the no drop idea or continue the way of old?
Global Chat - I don't think a global chat existed in the early game. Though it is a great way to find other folks to play with, it also makes the world feel small. Pros and cons of course. Just curious if there is a global chat or not. I'm guessing not.
Guilds - Are guilds in the game? Should I just be reading the entire wiki for this kind of stuff? Why do I have to keep asking so many questions? A simple yes/no will suffice!


I'm sure some of my questions could be answered with more research. So just tell me to fudge off if any of this was easily find-able.

Again, thanks in advance for any input! I look forward to seeing you all in Norrath - once I create a character that is!!!

-Kalipto

PS. I can't create a character because (http://www.eqemulator.org/forums/profile.php?do=loginserver) still only shows a blank page. Been that way for a while now. I tried different browsers. Same thing.

[Fiyero]

[LIST]
Class Roles - As SOE released expansions, some classes started slipping into different roles. Let me give an example; Druid. Pre-Velious druids were damage, utility, some buffs, some debuffs, etc. In Velious they started getting heals. Fast forward 5 expansions and Druids are now considered healers primarly. Nukes, dots, kiting, all of that just became an afterthought. Will it be the same way in p1999? P1999 will stop at Velious, so druids will never be considered primary healers on this server. They do, however, get better heals/buffs with Velious which will make them better back up healers. Currently they're rather weak in that department with Superior Heal being their best.


Class Population - What are the seemingly over populated classes at 60? What are the seemingly under populated classes? Do you find yourself always saying "Dang I wish we had a *insert class* handy". Or do you often say "Ugh, another bard?". Just curious what's over populated. I ask because part of the fun for me is being needed. Since I'm not needed in RL ;) The P1999 Wiki has a population chart from last year to see the percentage of each class at various levels. Druid, Necro, Enchanter, Monk, and Shaman seem to be the most popular. Least popular are Ranger, Paladin, and Wizard.

Your choice for what's needed also kind of depends on your goals, Group vs. Raid. In Velious, Clerics, Warriors, Rogues, Monks, and Wizards will all be needed in the raid game. Enchanter and Shaman too, but probably not to the same degree.



Gear - No Trade/Drop - It seems like pretty much all gear was droppable until after Velious when they startted flagging things as no drop. This changed the game in a profound way. I'll keep my opinion to myself, but am wondering, moving forward, will p1999 adopt the no drop idea or continue the way of old? If Velious was flagged with lots of no drop in the original release, it will likely be the same here.

Global Chat - I don't think a global chat existed in the early game. Though it is a great way to find other folks to play with, it also makes the world feel small. Pros and cons of course. Just curious if there is a global chat or not. I'm guessing not. It didn't exist originally, so no it's not on this server.

Guilds - Are guilds in the game? Should I just be reading the entire wiki for this kind of stuff? Why do I have to keep asking so many questions? A simple yes/no will suffice! Tons of guilds. Everything from super casual family guilds, to hardcore competitive raiding.

[Kalipto]

Thanks Fiyero for taking the time to hit on all my questions! I'll go check out population charts to get an idea of what's going on class wise.

New question:
I was told by a friend (who may have been making assumptions) that after Velious has been released that development would still continue. Not necessarily in the form of SOE's expansions, but perhaps new material created by the development team that's currently working to release Velious. He said they might use assets from the SOE expansions but release them with modifications that keep them more in-line with what the game originally was.

Any word on that? Was that just a rumor and the game's content will surely stop at Velious?

[Fiyero]

From what I've heard they will continue to do some custom content after Velious. What that actually involves I don't think anyone really knows.

[PurpleSK]

Class Roles Think "Kunark". Velious won't roll out until who knows when. You can play on the Velious Beta server if you want to have a sneak peak.

Class Population: Play whatever you want to play since you'll be looking at it for a very long time. There's no shortage of classes in the game, however, there does seem to be some hate for bards and rangers. If you poke around the forums, you'll see what I mean.

Gear - No Trade/Drop - There is no-trade/drop loop. Not sure how this affects Velious, but that's a ways off anyways.

Global Chat No global chat. Zone wide only for /ooc /shout /auction. /tell's are of course the exception.

Guilds Plenty of guilds. Some casual, some raiding, some in between.

Hope this helps.

[Kalipto]

There's no shortage of classes in the game, however, there does seem to be some hate for bards and rangers.

Just a touch of clarification, if you dont mind. Is the seeming hate for bards and rangers a hate for playing them or for having one with you in-groups?

I understand not wanting a ranger to group with because I guess they're pretty lousy in the early game. But not sure what to make of bard.

[Fiyero]

Just a touch of clarification, if you dont mind. Is the seeming hate for bards and rangers a hate for playing them or for having one with you in-groups?

I understand not wanting a ranger to group with because I guess they're pretty lousy in the early game. But not sure what to make of bard.

Group hate is merely due to them having a 40% XP penalty until Velious, which groups tend to hate. Bards get added hate because many of them AoE kite entire zones and steal everyone's mobs.

[PurpleSK]

Group hate is merely due to them having a 40% XP penalty until Velious, which groups tend to hate. Bards get added hate because many of them AoE kite entire zones and steal everyone's mobs.

^^^^^^^^^^^^ This ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[Kalipto]

So if I played a bard and wasn't a jerk then I wouldn't necessarily be the focus of random hate? I know what they mean though, even on EQ Live I remember contending with people taking up entire zones. Pretty frustrating.

[Thulack]

Your custom content question can be answered here:
http://www.project1999.com/forums/showthread.php?t=158094

If you dont feel like reading basically Server Dev/Part Owner said that they will do custom content but it will be on another server in the future. This server will stay classic.

[Thulack]

So if I played a bard and wasn't a jerk then I wouldn't necessarily be the focus of random hate? I know what they mean though, even on EQ Live I remember contending with people taking up entire zones. Pretty frustrating.

Tha hate is purely because some people dont like bards for their kiting or they dont like the 40% xp pen. if your not a dick you will have no issues with making friends, finding groups and enjoying your time.

[loramin]

Guilds - Are guilds in the game? Should I just be reading the entire wiki for this kind of stuff? Why do I have to keep asking so many questions? A simple yes/no will suffice!



There's a great summary of all the guilds here (whenever you want to join one):
http://wiki.project1999.com/Guilds:Guild_List


So if I played a bard and wasn't a jerk then I wouldn't necessarily be the focus of random hate? I know what they mean though, even on EQ Live I remember contending with people taking up entire zones. Pretty frustrating.

No, even if you're not a jerk some other people are, and they just hate bards.

But the thing is, there are always going to be jerks, so you should never let them dictate which class you pick. Same goes for worrying about which class is popular or not: no matter what class you pick some guild will need you, and you can always have a group as long as you're willing to start one. Sure if you pick one class instead of a different one you might find it a bit easier to find a group ... but the server population is constantly changing so it's impossible to predict the future and pick a class that will always powerful enough to be wanted, but is unpopular enough to be rare.

In my opinion the only correct way to pick your class is to pick whatever seems most fun to you and ignore what anyone else (including the statistics on the wiki) says. If you pick a class because of other people you have a decent chance of regretting it, but if you pick a class that's fun for you, even if it's less powerful than some other class, you'll have fun ... and that's what this is all about right?

[Vermicelli]

Skip the skip. What do you wanna play? Play what you want, baby. You'll feel better for it ;)

[phacemeltar]

i think you should play a paladin. they are *usually* always welcomed