Exploring Norrath

[LordSephleon]

Hail and well met to all!

I'm a new player who discovered Project 1999 through various YouTubers – AC-Gamer, level1undercon, FlattsHD / HeyFlightmode, and SuperBitsandBob, to name a few. I only dabbled in EQ on a friend's account back when Kunark and Velious were still relatively new. While I never really liked MMORPGs even to this day – I'm a die-hard, old-school RPG fan and roleplayer who personally tends to find MMOs to be watered-down grindy experiences, with rare exceptions – I always wanted to explore Norrath as I love the lore behind it. This server has given me the chance to finally do that without all the crazy plane-hopping, over-complicated expansions, but I fear that that despite my preference to do things alone at my own speed, I may have to <gasp> group to see some of the more challenging locations. ;)

So, I extend greetings to you, my fellow players, and hope that maybe when I am able to actually get any of my characters to 10th level and up, I may be able to join up with any number of you what I hope to be the start of a grand adventure. Mostly likely, my High Elf Wizard (Faydark for life!) will be the first to reach this point, though I plan to play all the caster classes (each of different races) and Bard at least a little. As I played the same race/class back in the day, I am most familiar with Greater and Lesser Faydark, though I have explored a little of Nektulos (as a Dark Elf Necromancer and a Dark Elf Warrior) as well. Every other zone/location is on my itinerary to experience for the first time at some point.

Unfortunately, despite having been a gamer since before I learned how to read, I'm very much a casual gamer and not all that versed in playing MMOs, so my contributions may be... shaky, at least at first. I also work nights Tue through Sat (eastern timezone), so I will probably be on at wonky hours or on Sundays/Mondays.

All that said: I look forward to exploring the depths and heights of Norrath with any who are willing to join me on my crazy touristy expeditions. :)

[Hopefully this doesn't come off as too odd; typing this up quickly during some scattered downtime at work, so it might seem a bit... erm... fractured and eccentric]

[wvredskinsfan]

Welcome to the forums and to P99! I've also recently started playing and have a level 6 Halfling Clerk. I played from 1999-2002 and EQ is the best gaming experience I've ever had. It's been so much fun diving into the world of Norrath again.

[mgriff02]

Welcome to Norrath! Hope you enjoy the world as much as we do. Ask away if you have any questions.

[LordSephleon]

Welcome to Norrath! Hope you enjoy the world as much as we do. Ask away if you have any questions.

Thanks for the welcome! As of right now, I'm just trying to get through the early levels and learn the ropes again for now. However, this time I'm playing without my friend coaching me with what spells to focus on, what to avoid, where to go, and so on, so I'm enjoying the trial-and-error that I missed out on back in the day. I probably will have a few questions later on as I start getting into unfamiliar territory – which is basically after maybe a delve into Crushbone (assuming a Faydark character gets to that level first). :D

[LordSephleon]

Oh, before I forget again: I'm on the Blue Server with the following characters so far. I believe the character names are as follows:

Elyssara - High Elf Wizard 4 in Felwithe (main)
Katyra - Half Elf Bard 2 in Kelethin
???? (forgot the name at the moment) - Dark Elf Magician 1 in Neriak

I'll, um, edit this later with correct spellings if I misspelled any like a doof. Currently not at my PC, so I can't really check. :)

[Nagoya]

Wizard and Bards are cool tourist choices!
Welcome and enjoy your trip.
If you like tourism I may also recommend Druids on your list of class-to-try as they probably have the best overall box of tools to get around almost all of Norrath with very little trouble :)
Also, grouping is just clicking on follow/invite and then killing stuff with other people, stay calm relax ^^ many people of the "starting zone" insist so much on them being "casual" and looking for a solo class cause they can't play a lot but you can play 15 mins a day one day a week and still group 95% of your time without anyone ever complaining hehe.

[Megasiel]

Welcome, LordSephleon! Norrath is an interesting world and there's a lot to do and experience in it. I've found there are many people on the server who enjoy taking their time and enjoying the journey rather than rushing to hit max level; i.e. there are plenty of like-minded people to group with. The challenge MAY be to find some that play the same hours as you, depending on what hours you play; in my experience, I've found that the standard weekday workday timeframe (9AM-5/6PM ish) is a low population timeframe but it picks up significantly in the evening.

I agree with Nagoya about trying out druids. I started out with a necro because of their soloing abilities; it's a fun class but I enjoy my druid a lot more. They are strong at soloing and still have awesome mobility once you get Spirit of the Wolf and their ports.

Hope you enjoy your adventures!

[Vinylblair]

Welcome! I am in a similar boat to you, having joined literally last week after playing in 1999!

I'm also a Gfaydark brethren too! /high 5

I'm at least as rusty as you are at the moment, and I'm blindly wandering around as a level 3 Druid, so if you fancy some co-op, and random touristy type shenanigans, I can help us get there a bit quicker with SoW :)

I'm in the UK timezone, so with your shifts, it may even work!

My Druid, if not dead, will be flailing around uselessly in and around Gfay, name of Vinylblair.

Good luck out there, we're all counting on you.

[Triiz]

Bard is a great class to explore with, imo.

You can outrun anything in the game outdoors. This is especially nice now that mobs forget about you if you run far enough away from them.

Indoor/outdoor you can mez huge packs of mobs all at once if they are level 25 or below. You can lull mobs to pass by them without getting attacked. You get invis that is the most reliable invis in the game for a non-rogue, it will never drop in a bad spot unless you stop the song. You get sneak which helps get around and allows you to sell to any vendor. You get faction song which can be extremely overpowered, for example if you don't kill any Goblins in Sol A you can make all the goblins like you so you can explore without getting attacked. You can heal yourself while running. Eventually you can turn into a Dark Elf allowing you to venture into evil cities.



Wizard sounds like a good choice for exploring, but outside of porting from point A to point B they don't have many options for when they actually get attacked and without SOW it will be slow going to get from the wizard port in to whatever zone you want to see. Outside of a rogue, which moves slow as shit while exploring, and a monk that feign deaths its way around, bard is one of the best options.

[Vinylblair]

I nearly rolled a bard! Never tried one and was very tempted.

[Phenyo]

necro

[Rapunzara]

Welcome! I am very much in the same boat as far as loving to explore and time I have to commit. My difference is I played the original EQ a LOT, back in the day. :D It's been so long though...I can't even find the bank in Freeport...lol. Rapunzara is currently a level 3 warrioress and if I can figure out how to traverse the lands like the old days, maybe we can group! *gasp* heh...enjoy!!

[LordSephleon]

Thanks to everyone for their responses! I apologize for taking this long to reply to all of you! Unfortunately, a busy Nov/Dec work schedule (and a very unscheduled bout of pneumonia in the last couple of weeks) have pretty much killed all of my exploration time. I'm going to try to sneak back into Norrath maybe Christmas Eve/Day, but I probably won't have much time until the new year rolls around at this point. :(

@Nagoya @Megasiel
I recall an old friend playing a Druid and swearing by it in terms of travel. While I do appreciate a lot of what the Druid offers, I've always had a soft spot for wizard-types (and Necros and Bards - and that's not just in EQ). However, that said, I'm most likely going to end up having to play different characters to see everything anyway with EQs Faction thing anyway, so I'm sure my Halfling Druid (yes, that's what I rolled up) will need to be used eventually. :)

@Vinylblair
I'll keep a lookout for you whenever I log in! I'm sure at this point you're beyond my levels, of course, since I haven't been able to do anything videogame-related in weeks, but I'll hopefully catch up and maybe we can see the world!

@Triiz
Honestly, I've always loved the concept of the Bard since I tend to prefer support roles (although being extremely self-sufficient is a huge deal to me since I rarely play with people I don't know unless I have to), and the EQ Bard plays this role well. I look forward to leveling her up enough to where I can get places quickly and NOT die horribly.

[LordSephleon]

@Rapunzara
Hey, don't feel bad. I know absolutely nothing about anywhere else in Norrath. Greater Faydark and Neriak are pretty much it, and I've never even gone farther out than the low-level area of Nektulos! If I ever end up over the sea with ANY character, I'll look you up! :)