Question about the game and community

[Energias]

Hi, I've recently heard about this server from a friend and was intrigued. I've played various mmos over the years and enjoy the genre, but was looking for an experience that's very difficult to find in the genre now. Everquest is a classic and more old school mmo and having heard about how this server retains the classic feel of the game, I've been interesting in trying it out for myself. I've never played Everquest before, so I wanted to ask, is the game generally hard to get into for a new player unfamiliar with how it works? I have no issue with learning and getting a feel for things of course, and I actually enjoy a challenge(I've gotten rather tired of the current crop of mmos now that practically throw rewards at you and make things so pathetically easy), I'm simply curious about just how difficult it can be to get into the game and start learning and playing since this game is more classic style and challenging compared to the games I've played before.

I'm also curious about the community here in the game. Is it generally friendly, and is it inviting to new players? Or is it more a community for established people who have played Everquest before and have experience with the game, and experience on this server? Thank you for your time.

[Omnifiend]

Blue community is great. Everyone loves seeing new players. If you love challenge, this is the game for you. Utillize the Wiki, read the new player guide, etc, and get ready for a very long, very challenging ride as a brand new player.

Red has some good people, but it is more toxic than blue for sure. Not sure I'd go to red as a new player, unless you are a masochist.

[Ando]

Red is great. Blue is great until you get to lvl 50 and then you see how awesome the late game is.

Bring your socks.

[L4m3st0n3]

Red is great. Blue is great until you get to lvl 50 and then you see how awesome the late game is.

Bring your socks.

^^ - Truth. Also, red has insane XP bonus so leveling isn't nearly as bad as it is on blue. But since the population is lower, it makes finding groups harder. On Blue every raid target is on rotation by all the guilds, which I don't care for.

Here are some random jumbled thoughts of mine that may help with deciding if you want to play this game or not:

Everquest is a game that isn't meant to be played alone like all other "MMO"s where you can solo to top level with no problem doing worthless quest. Some classes can do this though.

The game isn't that hard to "learn" with all the info on the wiki and from players, you can figure everything out fairly quick. You have to rely on other players for faster travel(druid/wizard), hunting, quest, etc. This is why I always loved EQ, it was the best community in all games, and people want to play together. Don't expect instances either, because no MMO should have them EVER, it just separates the players. Open world, contested stuff is so much more fun/rewarding.

The world is huge and scary to travel at low level which makes it all more exciting.

Most items are trade-able and not level dependent, so you can get high end gear at a low level. These items usually do not make you godlike by any-means though(except for regen/haste items).

tl;dr I just started and made characters on blue and red and have been helped by people on both and given some starter gear.

[Clark]

Welcome! Just make sure you don't join the pvp server it's full of low class morons. Terrible community there.

[Madbad]

Both communities have their rejects

[Clark]

Both communities have their rejects

True. However Red is 90% rejects, and blue is about 20%. Most being tagged to BDA.

[Nimmanu]

I don't know about the red (PVP) server community of P99, so I speak henceforth of the blue (not PVP) server. I personally don't enjoy PVP, your mileage may vary.


The server is extremely pleasant for new players. If you aren't someone who begs, you should find yourself well treated. The "don't beg" thing is a very strong EQ thing... and I find it opposite to a lot of other MMOs where such behavior is pretty much rewarded immediately while those who do NOT beg tend to be ignored. So be prepared for this.

Also, a few things of note... reputation is everything in EQ. Try to form a positive one from the get-go. If you're acting like a jerk, you never know if you're being a jerk to the alt (alternate character) of someone who can make your life miserable. It's political, and that can't be avoided in a smallish community such as this. So one main factor is courtesy and remembering that while someone else might act like a jacka**, you may consider not responding in kind. Not for that person's sake, but for your own personal reputation.

The learning curve in EQ is steep. Anyone who denies it is a liar. :p That's the bad news. The really great news is that EQ is self-teaching for the most part. In other words, when you make the mistake of running up to a random decaying skeleton and get your ass handed to you... you learn to consider EVERYTHING before attacking... or to (at minimum) consider (Press the C key to learn its view of you and its difficulty in comparison to you)... pretty much everything. If you haven't fought a vengeful soloist before, you'll learn to con it.

You'll find that while EQ is very unforgiving, it's a school of hard knocks... mitigated by the fact that there are helpful people everywhere. Lost your corpse? Say something about it in OOC. Chances are someone will find it. Died and forgot to bind? Well, first off, you will NEVER do that again. Seriously, never. Second off, chances are you'll find a nice wiz or dru to port you (perhaps not right away, though, sadly).

Many, many a friend has been made simply by turning to your number one resource in EQ... the community.

Everquest is what I like to call "enforced community". Where you're not FORCED to engage with others. You CAN do it all yourself. You'll find, however, that it's a poor choice. It's tedious and painful to do so. You don't NEED a port to get from Highkeep to Butcherblock Mountains... but wow, it can be hours faster. So you're not FORCED to seek druids or wizards. It CAN be done.

But EQ has a way of making it 100x more appealing to appeal to other players. To work together. In so doing, you'll make friends. That's something EQ offers that few other games do... you pretty much NEED other people. Not in the rawest sense, but in the broadest sense. To make your life comfortable instead of a continuous pain in the neck... reach out to others for help.

Yes, you'll learn in EQ. And you won't necessarily need guides or the like. But believe me when I say that the learning curve can be steep and brutal sometimes. It's not a game with sparkly paths and detailed descriptions of quest locations.

It's a world. And like our real world, that world can be beautiful and incredible at times... and cold, cruel, and harsh at others. Which is what makes it feel like a world instead of "another game'.

[Madbad]

Nearly everyone I have met on red is pretty cool. At least for the amount of time it takes for every one to get their fill of xp,

I'd say about half the people on blue are AFK in EC tunnel, trying to mooch something, rule lawyering, KSing, or poopsocking somewhere at any given time.

[Sadre Spinegnawer]

It's a persistent world. If you persist, you persist with it. My suggestion is, if you find the game fun, find your niche and enjoy it. Myself, I own the market in bixie wings. Just try to /auction for one in east commons. None will show up. Why? Because bixie wings: I own them. A bixie spawns, it's avg life ~= 15 seconds. You want bixie wing? You gotta go through me.

Sadre
Fed. Prisoner #G677759801
gen pop since 99 baby
parole date: 2029

[Madbad]

It's a persistent world. If you persist, you persist with it. My suggestion is, if you find the game fun, find your niche and enjoy it. Myself, I own the market in bixie wings. Just try to /auction for one in east commons. None will show up. Why? Because bixie wings: I own them. A bixie spawns, it's avg life ~= 15 seconds. You want bixie wing? You gotta go through me.

Sadre
Fed. Prisoner #G677759801
gen pop since 99 baby
parole date: 2029


Do you accept cigarettes? Or is that considered RMT?

[Ando]

True. However Red is 90% rejects, and blue is about 20%. Most being tagged to BDA.

This from your extensive experience leveling up 6 60s on Red?

[Vorkon]

As someone who recently returned from a 11 year hiatus from the eq genre, If you are looking for a community based game this is the place, everyone has been super helpful be it groups, advice, help and gear. Reminds me of the glory days of eq.

That being said, some of the more popular dungeon zones are super overpopulated, which can lead to people getting overly assertive of mobs and what camps own what mobs, generally it isn't an issue but everyonce in a while you'll some some ooc chat with people going at each other over random pathing mobs and the occasional retaliation train. Its not all the time, but something to be aware of.

Welcome to the server hombre.

[maskedmelon]

We have a fantastic community here and EQ is a great game. P99 is infinitely easier than EQ was back in 1999 primarily due to availability of information. Much of the challenge of EQ is that it just dumps you in the world. That's it. Tool tips offer little if any useful information and as a result you have learn a lot outside the game, from other players or through trial and error. That information has been consolidated and published throughout the web. Additionally familiarity with other mmos also provides a useful knowledge base. In 1999 most players has no idea what they should expect.

The second aspect of EQ that makes it challenging is the asymmetric scaling of npc-PC power increases. NPCs become powerful much more quickly than you are able to acquire gear to keep up. This problem is however largely mitigated by the age of the server and knowledge of the player base aiming together to make many powerful items available far before they otherwise should be.

Casters are affect less since they are less gear dependent, but even so caster effectiveness lags behind NPCs just the same. A certain level of understanding of your class and each if your spells is required. You cannot simply press buttons and expect to kill anything. This all of course ties back to point one though and the availability of information. Whether you know what to do or not, there are many others who do and will gladly teach you.

The UI is also quite a bit more restrictive than many modern mmos adding a bit more challenge to gameplay from that angle.

Tldr;

EQ was challenging in 1999 and for players new to the mmo genre will provide much ye same challenge in a vaccuum. P99 is not that vaccuum and you are not that player, but still will find it at least somewhat more challenging than other mmos. The more you read/ask, the less of a challenge it becomes.

[mgellan]

If you aren't someone who begs, you should find yourself well treated. The "don't beg" thing is a very strong EQ thing... and I find it opposite to a lot of other MMOs where such behavior is pretty much rewarded immediately while those who do NOT beg tend to be ignored. So be prepared for this.

Yeah, I'll hand a hundred pp and items to someone who simply asks for a SOW and tells me he's brand new to the game, or just give away items in EC to someone who asks prices and can't afford them, but if you approach me and ask to help you out with plat or gear I'll generally say "Go kill stuff, get plat and items. Very simple!"

Regards,
Mg

[Dacien]

I've been playing for the last couple weeks as a newcomer, and everyone 1-20 has been super cool.

But if you poke around the forums a bit, you'll see there's a lot of drama in the end game.

I'll probably level a bunch of chars to 50 just to keep the sense of community.

[Supaskillz]

Alot of good comments on the EQ game play and community. I would like to counter the negative statements about the end game to an extent.

The end game is what you want it to be, if your goal is to get best in slot for every item, then you are going to deal with some of the drama that comes with the competition for those items. I personally love the dugeon content and would just as soon get a few buddies and kill froglocks as kill a dragon with 30 other people and there are plenty of other folks who hang with friends, still find challenging content and still get upgrades doing planar raids and dugeons who mostly ignore the drama in Veeshan's Peak.

[lecompte]

But if you poke around the forums a bit, you'll see there's a lot of drama in the end game.

I'll probably level a bunch of chars to 50 just to keep the sense of community.


The end game is what you want it to be, if your goal is to get best in slot for every item, then you are going to deal with some of the drama that comes with the competition for those items. I personally love the dugeon content and would just as soon get a few buddies and kill froglocks as kill a dragon with 30 other people and there are plenty of other folks who hang with friends, still find challenging content and still get upgrades doing planar raids and dugeons who mostly ignore the drama in Veeshan's Peak.

There is a lot of perceived hostility regarding "endgame" raiding and such that stems from a, relatively, few, very verbose individuals. It doesn't really exist as much as people think. The "endgame" guilds have 1000+ members in total and 90% of them are really solid, cool folks. Sure, we fight over dem pixels and we kick and scream about it but as soon as that is done, we are all hugs and kisses, banding together to help unguilded folks with their epic fights and aoe pulling droga to help some random monks get crescent armor. The longer you are on the server, the more you will realize we are all connected. I know someone in TMO who is RL friends with one of my real life friends... I have a different RL friend who is in TMO. Hell, someone in TMO even knows my brother... I leveled up with some of them and they kept inviting this ranger to their group over and over. Pixels ain't gonna break that shit, but it is fun to be competitive.


That being said, some of the more popular dungeon zones are super overpopulated, which can lead to people getting overly assertive of mobs and what camps own what mobs, generally it isn't an issue but everyonce in a while you'll some some ooc chat with people going at each other over random pathing mobs and the occasional retaliation train. Its not all the time, but something to be aware of.


I've been petitioned more times by random folks who are upset that I'm violating their "camp" cause I'm sitting within eye sight(orcs in orc alley are not a camp and you can share when there are 1700 people on the server, and for Tunare's sake... WL room and hand room and jails are all different camps.). And folks who feel bad that they don't have all the mobs they can possibly kill. Inevitably, some fool will say something about getting on their high level character to start denying me kills (as if they are the only one with a high level toon) or they train, or they petition. This is the more frustrating experience for me than fighting over dragon pixels cause they are perpetuating a lie that not sharing is okay, and that I'm an asshole (which maybe true... cause my duo is gonna get more kills their whole group)


TL;DR: High level guilds are mostly good, decent people who play and talk dirty (but try REEL hard to stay within the rules) for pixels and are best pals the rest of the time. Low level folks are far more likely to be shitheads.

[toolshed]

Absolutely nothing to do on P99 if you don't to raid after getting 60. I guess you could try to camp stuff for alts? Kind of boring.

Your worst experiences leveling up will be people that are absurd twinks with boxed clerics (or, 'oh my friend logged on to my 60 cleric to buff me). A lot of people are min/maxing on this server, so you better not choose to roll a hybrid or you will not be able to find a group. Best bet is to level a solo class

[b_rob242]

Coming from someone who is completely new to MMORPG format (and playing on a PC vs console), this game is definitely fun, once the controls and kybd commands are learned. I got introduced to pr99 by a friend/co-worker who has been on here a while. I will say, even as a solo player in a vast game, there are many helpful players out there who just hit you with buffs. It's a pretty awesome community so far that I've seen. Good luck!

[Zade]

OP -

Everquest is/was not like any MMO you have likely played. As a new player, you will have NO clue what to do, where to go, how to get there, etc. The community on the blue server is VERY helpful to new players. You will run into bad seeds everywhere, but for the majority, they are great. The game itself is pretty easy. There aren't rotations like WoW or combat circles like lotro, or anything like that.

You click a snake.... you click attack.... and EQ does the rest. Just be forewarned, leveling in EQ was slow and this project replicates live EQ in all its glory. It will take you at least an hour to get level 2 and it increases from there.

There are two servers. Blue and Red. Blue is poopsock, red is pvp. You won't need to worry about poopsocking until you are raid ready. The red server has a great population. People are willing to help you, probably not as prominent as the blue server, but white knights are around. Red server has increased exp gain, but people can steal your money if they kill you.

I would say almost ALL of the people who play on this project are here because of nostalgia. We all love EQ. It gave a gaming experience like no other before or after it. Best thing i could recommend is give it a try. Roll a character on the blue server and play your heart out. If you like it, go to red and try it there. See which you like better.


And another note on the community, there is a lot of hatred between different guilds on both blue and red. Most of these people spam rants and flames about how madbadsadfatugly the other guild is. Don't read rants and flames. Most of the end game player base are mega nerds who want the best loot in the game, and when you have 6 guilds fighting over one dragon, it gets bonkers.

Also, for a first character, I would recommend starting an easier class. Stay away from warrior / SK / Pally as they are the most gear dependent. Monks are a good bet since they need relatively little gear. Casters and healers are a good all-around choice.

Enjoy your time here. PM me if you need any help or have questions.

[Ravager]

I'd suggest just looking at the different classes on wiki.project1999.com and seeing which of them appeals to you the most and just running with it. If things seem tough or you get lost, don't hesitate to send anyone in your class a /tell asking for help or advice, 99% of the people here are more than willing to help a new player.

e.g. "/who all rogue" will give you a list of rogues that are online. Pick a higher level one if you want to ask for some advice on where to go or how to play your class. As long as you're polite you'll have all the in game assistance you need.

[Sadre Spinegnawer]

The gay community is very active on this ser.... oh wait, sorry, misread your post title.





That's my contribution to your question. It's the internet. It's stupid, fun, and irritating all at the same time.

[loramin]

Don't read rants and flames.

Perhaps the most sound bit of advice in a post chock full of good advice.

[Whirled]

Hi, I've recently heard about this server from a friend and was intrigued. I've played various mmos over the years and enjoy the genre, but was looking for an experience that's very difficult to find in the genre now. Everquest is a classic and more old school mmo and having heard about how this server retains the classic feel of the game, I've been interesting in trying it out for myself. I've never played Everquest before, so I wanted to ask, is the game generally hard to get into for a new player unfamiliar with how it works? I have no issue with learning and getting a feel for things of course, and I actually enjoy a challenge(I've gotten rather tired of the current crop of mmos now that practically throw rewards at you and make things so pathetically easy), I'm simply curious about just how difficult it can be to get into the game and start learning and playing since this game is more classic style and challenging compared to the games I've played before.

I'm also curious about the community here in the game. Is it generally friendly, and is it inviting to new players? Or is it more a community for established people who have played Everquest before and have experience with the game, and experience on this server? Thank you for your time.

+1 for your friend being cool playing EQ http://www.project1999.com/forums/images/icons/icon10.gif

Suggested reading; if you have not already perused,
http://wiki.project1999.com/
Most have shared great advice already; so just login, make a few characters & give it a whirl.

[Asharad]

I've been playing for the last couple weeks as a newcomer, and everyone 1-20 has been super cool.

But if you poke around the forums a bit, you'll see there's a lot of drama in the end game.

I'll probably level a bunch of chars to 50 just to keep the sense of community.

I'm new to the server too, after playing the original game at launch and up through...an expansion or two after PoK maybe? I don't know, I'm old and my memory is fuzzy.

I am having a great deal of fun. I've always been nostalgic for that old EQ experience and they have captured it perfectly here.

I've seen a lot of stuff about high end drama and honestly...that captures the original EQ experience as well. It was always like that. The most important spawn were always camped. The biggest raid areas were always contested. Because EQ is more time intensive than just about any game before or since tempers would flare and guilds would bitch at each other but...it is still a great deal of fun. I spent a lot of years playing and enjoying EQ on high population servers. I can't speak to the high levels here but if you are just out to enjoy yourself and don't get too caught up in "gotta raid, gotta have the absolute best item possible" the game has plenty to do.

[Zehrikrom]

Absolutely nothing to do on P99 if you don't to raid after getting 60. I guess you could try to camp stuff for alts? Kind of boring.

Your worst experiences leveling up will be people that are absurd twinks with boxed clerics (or, 'oh my friend logged on to my 60 cleric to buff me). A lot of people are min/maxing on this server, so you better not choose to roll a hybrid or you will not be able to find a group. Best bet is to level a solo class

Don't listen to this guy, if you wanted a game where you'd make a blind rush to cap and min/max every possible thing you wouldn't be playing classic EQ. If your goal is to have a good time grouping with people and leveling in an expansive world, this is the place for you. If you only focus on winning, raids and how terrible every hybrid class is, you'll end up being a cynical weenie like Toolshed here.