Project 1999 VS EQ Live

[Mitchell92]

Hello,
I know I'm probably making myself sound like a complete idiot right about now, but here it goes...

If anyone is able to give me an honest answer:

I do have an All Access subscription to play EQ2. I never got much into EQ1 (either on the Emu or EQ Live, although I've just gone around starting zones a bit...)

If I'm to get started all over again, what are the benefits of playing on Project 1999, and the benefits of playing on EQ Live? (Other than Project 1999 being free to play).

I'm curious what sets the two apart, and if I'm to return, which one is better off to start on if I've just explored the starting zones and nothing else. I already have my All Access subscription, so that isn't an issue.

I also want to take into consideration the amount of players online to group up with, guild with, and so on.

Right now I'm undecided which one to go on. I am sure many here are biased to playing on P1999, although I'd really appreciate some unbiased input.


Thanks again

[Deckk]

Honest perspective:

Project 1999 is hard. It's slow moving and tedious at times (less so if you roll on the Red PvP server due to exp bonus). There are class and race experience penalties and travel requires Spirit of Wolf, ports from druids/wizards or good old fashion run and boat exercise. There's corpse runs and experience loss from deaths.

Sounds kinda meh, right? Wrong. THIS is the way EQ was meant to be played in my opinion. This is why the game became popular. It wasn't easy. It didn't cater to the every day player... Even as a casual I'm LOVING this. I'm in no rush (although I do like to advance, I'm not running around going, "OMG! NEED TO RAID! NEED TO RAID!". Grouping is fantastic and the way the game was meant to be played. There's a ton of places to level.

Live is a different experience. Put it this way, I got a character in live to level 10 in about 2 hours or so. It's taken me a hell of a lot longer than that on P99. Live is easy mode. There are mercs, overpowered gear, there's hand holding quests, and you get new spells every single level. It's for all intents and purposes a totally different game.

If you want a challenge, play on P99. If you want to group a lot at all levels and be social, play P99. If you want to solo/molo and level quickly and just get to the end game quickly, play live.

But they really are two different games.

OR... Play one account here and one account on live at the same time (Which I may do... Playing on Blue and Red at the same time is a disaster waiting to happen with PvP... I didn't like other emu servers... and You get bored silly camping a timed mob spawn) :)

[Mitchell92]

Honest perspective:

Project 1999 is hard. It's slow moving and tedious at times (less so if you roll on the Red PvP server due to exp bonus). There are class and race experience penalties and travel requires Spirit of Wolf, ports from druids/wizards or good old fashion run and boat exercise. There's corpse runs and experience loss from deaths.

Sounds kinda meh, right? Wrong. THIS is the way EQ was meant to be played in my opinion. This is why the game became popular. It wasn't easy. It didn't cater to the every day player... Even as a casual I'm LOVING this. I'm in no rush (although I do like to advance, I'm not running around going, "OMG! NEED TO RAID! NEED TO RAID!". Grouping is fantastic and the way the game was meant to be played. There's a ton of places to level.

Live is a different experience. Put it this way, I got a character in live to level 10 in about 2 hours or so. It's taken me a hell of a lot longer than that on P99. Live is easy mode. There are mercs, overpowered gear, there's hand holding quests, and you get new spells every single level. It's for all intents and purposes a totally different game.

If you want a challenge, play on P99. If you want to group a lot at all levels and be social, play P99. If you want to solo/molo and level quickly and just get to the end game quickly, play live.

But they really are two different games.

OR... Play one account here and one account on live at the same time :)

Thank for your input.

You've sold me on P99. Mainly because of the social and group play.

I'll see you online soon.

I'm going to try one account here and another on Live... I guess I can't go wrong by trying both.

[Deckk]

Thank for your input.

You've sold me on P99. Mainly because of the social and group play.

I'll see you online soon.

I'm going to try one account here and another on Live... I guess I can't go wrong by trying both.

There may be times on p99 where you can't find a group... That's not because people aren't grouping. It's because the zone is camped. For that reason, I recommend rolling a class that CAN solo as your first character.

Necro, Mage, Enchanter, Druid, Shaman are good choices!

Ranger, Bard are good but they have a major experience penalty.

But in the end, play the class you want. You'll take some lumps, but the game won't be enjoyable if you just play a class because someone else told you to.

[Mitchell92]

Great! Thanks!

I'm playing on my MacBook Pro on OS X. Just setting things up as stated in the Mac setup guide. If that fails I'll play it in a VM.

[dafier]

Honest perspective:
Sounds kinda meh, right? Wrong. THIS is the way EQ was meant to be played in my opinion. This is why the game became popular.

Just wanted to point this out....

The games out at the time, mostly referring to AC (Ashrons Call), had similar concepts. Nothing before 2004 was like WoW. WoW was the kiddy version of all the MMORPG games that came out prior to its release.

EQ was unique in the way the game mechanics and other stuff was, but all MMO games back then weren't exactly a cake walk, hello kitty adventure like most people are witness to now (WoW).

Also, I like your point of view Deckk. Cheers.

[Mitchell92]

Just wanted to point this out....

The games out at the time, mostly referring to AC (Ashrons Call), had similar concepts. Nothing before 2004 was like WoW. WoW was the kiddy version of all the MMORPG games that came out prior to its release.

EQ was unique in the way the game mechanics and other stuff was, but all MMO games back then weren't exactly a cake walk, hello kitty adventure like most people are witness to now (WoW).

Also, I like your point of view Deckk. Cheers.

If I understand this correctly:

You're saying that MMO's prior to 2004 (When WoW came out) were designed to be harder to play, take ages to level up, and take a lot of time to progress?

[username17]

Pretty much yes. I personally think it was the games bean counters. They needed some way to keep the masses ensnared and paying. So they stretched things out like levels, world size, travel, xp loss, corpse runs, etc.
It turned out to be a great mix. All of those things forced people to work together and communities were built as a result.

[Omnifiend]

Yes, I would very much say prior to WoW MMO's were about the journey, not the destination. Then WoW came out, put everything on rails, and made the "end" game the complete focus.

[Mitchell92]

Yes, I would very much say prior to WoW MMO's were about the journey, not the destination. Then WoW came out, put everything on rails, and made the "end" game the complete focus.

That's too bad.

To me, the journey is much more important than the destination.

I'll be on later.

[Vorkon]

Just something you'll run into on p99 that you wont on live.

Gear/Economy. Unlike other mmo's where decent gear will drop off of just about anything as you level up, P99 is focused around 'camps'. After 5 years of being locked at 1 expansion the economy is saturated with platinum, without any real sink to take it out of the economy. So certain mid level gear like a 'Flowing Black Silk Sash' haste item which is pretty much a considered melee must have for leveling runs in the 6-8k plat range. Which you won't see anytime soon as a new character. Though you can find some very decent later game weapons dirt cheap or even free from people in the 100p range.

As someone who started 3 months ago as a warrior, it was incredibly hard to gear appropriate, without having a ton of cash laying around. It may be easier for you to start a class that can port and make money off donations as you level, or a class like a necro/shaman that can solo well.

Unlike live where you can just go to the bazaar and buy stuff off player merchants, the main trading/selling zone is East Commonlands where you will need to get good at haggling, and dealing with people selling their wares. If you are looking for a certain item you'll end up wasting a couple of hours just sitting there hitting '/auction wtb item_xxx' then haggle over the price with someone, as opposed to other games where there is an auction house with set prices.

Yet again some people are eq millionaires, so the prices of items can be all over the place. Getting used to using http://ahungry.com/eqauctions (ecom auction streamer) will help you get a feel for the cost of things.

People have no problem throwing 400p items at legit noobs/new players, so while asking for help is encouraged, I wouldn't beg for things.

As others have mentioned the community for the most part is awesome, being forced to work with people in groups, help on corpse runs and porting helps bring people together.

[dafier]

If I understand this correctly:

You're saying that MMO's prior to 2004 (When WoW came out) were designed to be harder to play, take ages to level up, and take a lot of time to progress?

Well, it's not necessarily that they are designed to be hard to play, but they were because of the genre. What I am saying is that WoW changed all that when it was released.

[jolanar]

You could argue for days about what being "hard" even really means.

Ultimately they are two completely separate games that happen to have the same backdrop and shouldn't even really be compared in that way.

[dafier]

You could argue for days about what being "hard" even really means.

Ultimately they are two completely separate games that happen to have the same backdrop and shouldn't even really be compared in that way.

I beg to differ sir. They are both MMORPGs. They have different stories, concepts and such, but they are still RPGs. You can easily compare them.

My point is simple:

EQ and it's genre is MUCH different (more difficult) to people who were exposed to MMORPGs post WoW.

[Vorkon]

I think a better way to look at it in current generation MMO's the story line have you being the hero and a big part of the lore. In EQ you are a character and part of the struggle against whatever, and the eq storyline continues with or without you.

Current mmo's have an individual storyline, quests and rich character development.

EQ classic was more of a single task to go kill x with your guild, retrieve items amounts off bosses and combine for an epic. Velious had more storyline with Dain/Yelinak/Tormax/Sleeper but they were still pretty basic and part of the overall lore.

[webrunner5]

Well the BIG draw to P1999 is that it is about as "Classic" as it can nearly be now. So if you want to remember the old days when you first played EQ well this is it. :)

If you want a MMO to hold your hand and be level 60 in a week this Ain't it. :(

It depends on the time you have and what you want out of a game. I like it here because it IS hard and you have to earn gear and levels. Not much on here is given to anyone. :eek:

But the price is right, Free, and all it takes is some downloads and a little time to see if you like it. And I bet you will. So Welcome Aboard to the past. :p

[Deadmantis]

I have a P99 account and 3 Live accounts. I could go on and on adding to the list of comparisons, but here are mine in a nutshell.

When I feel like shit stomping the seemingly endless amount of newly updated almost unrecognizable content on Live, I can log on my 3 defiant geared boxes with mercs and do just that. I usually have whatever zone I am in all to myself and yes I still do this from time to time. Getting epics for all of my alts lol.

When I feel like exploring the old zones and enjoying that content almost exactly how I remember it, with other players in most of those zones, I can do that on P99. Not concerned with epics or raiding this time, having more fun fishing on boat rides. Heck I don't even look at the exp bar anymore.