A Sidelong Glance At and a Question about Power Leveling

[Arakash]

Once, in the Qeynos Hills, an Erudite caster shouted out for all to hear that he had enough Gnoll fangs to skip from level 10 to 20 or something like that. One or two folks in the zone cheered for him, most ignored him, the perpetual Hadden campers were AFK, but I was confused.

I was confused because I genuinely could not understand why someone would play this game just to skip (at the time) around 20% of it. Mind you I didn't really care, I was just curious.

Recently, parts of these forums seem to be filled with many people who really don't seem to like much of this game or have played it so much they are bored with most of it. And that melancholy Erudite, who shouted with a sense of genuine pride and accomplishment about having enough Gnoll fangs to have not play 1/5 of the game, seems to epitomize many forum posters.

So, my question is, what is the best part/zone/experience/challenge et al. of P99 that impels you to log on still? What is it that impels you to gather enough Gnoll fangs so that you can skip much of the game just to get to that part?

For my part, I like the slog and the repercussions for bad gameplay. (I'm a super casual btw) and the nostalgia I still feel when EQ was new to me. But, I want to keep an eye out for the parts of the game that the jaded ones find enchanting still, so that I can savor it when I experience it and perhaps one day join them in hating much of the gameplay except for that small part.

[Thulian]

Well he camped them on his main character clearly so he did play the game.

Also many believe the game starts at higher levels when tedious leveling is over with.

Everyone plays for a different reason, i personally think the best part of everquest is crushbone, after that its a pile of crap.

[Arakash]

i personally think the best part of everquest is crushbone,

Thanks for that Thulian! I'm leveling up an alt and will spend my teens there.

[Fammaden]

Many people have leveled one to max over and over. Just because he farmed fangs doesn't mean he's going to PL any other part. Most will still do the bigger grind of 35 - 50, and now beyond to sixty. A much bigger grind BTW, your insinuation that 10 to 20 is 20% of the game is not accurate.

I understand your opinion on this, but the low levels in EQ are really the most tedious, boring, and lacking in replay enjoyment for most people who have multiple high level toons. Skipping these levels with the relatively cheap and easy to farm quest items is very understandable. Most classes don't even begin to develop a real identity and a full range of their toolkit until level 12 at minimum, but more like level 20 in most cases.

I have a lot of toons on blue and green, I don't mind going 1 to 5 especially with any bit of twinking done, but that 5 to the low teens is just lame on every class. I tend to use quest turn ins to bypass that and then in the low teens I go back to leveling for real, often the crushbone path like you.

I did a lot of my alts without any questing on blue before I had any money to waste or a max level that could farm fast. But as time has gone on I started to understand wanting to skip to the meat of the game.

[hannahgrams]

i think you're wrong to assume they're jaded because they're leveling in a different manner.

many people have spent /weeks/ killing the same 8 bears in a classic zone with the release of kunark -- all because they find some different value in being 60 than someone else might. but perhaps at level 60, they will adventure for an entire year and see zones and mobs and loot and gear that someone who adventures their way to 60 (and gets bored afterwards) ever will.

some will kill the same giants for 20 plat for 12 hours to buy an item they could've farmed in 6.

fun is fun is fun. i think it's odd to expect others to have or want the same experiences as you -- i'd be quite excited to farm that many gnoll fangs, and have a good time doing it myself.

[Jibartik]

to be fair the teens can be the worst for like 90% of classes :p

[Tunabros]

to be fair the teens can be the worst for like 90% of classes :p

[Castle2.0]

My class gets X spell or Y ability at Z level -- SoW, clarity, port, charm, FD, pet, etc. etc.
My friend(s) / guildie(s) are 10-15 levels head of me and we want to group
I want to join a guild but I need to be X level
I want to join open raids, but I need to be 46
I want to go to the planes, but I need to be 46
I really enjoyed X zone, but it's for levels Y-Z
I want to complete X quest, but it's a huge time sink or impossible unless you are level Y
I really wanted to camp X, but I need to be Y level


This is just off the to of my head.

[Nuggie]

After spending 7 years on Blue, killing everything outside warders in ST(sorry no warder loot), the thing I enjoy the most is seeing how far my son and I can work our way into dungeons with a cleric+mage duo. The pacify split fails often keeps things interesting.

I enjoy seeing people who have never raided before get to experience things for the first time.

I enjoy the excitement getting the item we've spent an hour or two a day (I try to not get us caught up in grindy sessions) for the last couple weeks trying to obtain finally drop.

[Shrubwise]

Imagine his surprise if he rolled a toon here and collected that many gnoll fangs only to learn there’s no quest exp. hueheh

[BiG SiP]

i also like seeing how far i can progress with irelves
and
pickup groups
oddly satisfying once in the XP zone

[sajbert]

Some classes are just a tedious chore to play until they get some levels under their belts. Grouping can be hard to find at low levels too.

[M.J.]

The teens can be fun when twinked to the gills, but mostly its just a frustrating 10 level range where warrior mobs get 2 attack rounds compared to one for hybrids for the majority of the range, where casters are fucked if they lose a pet or get a spell resist, and where everyone fights near a zone or otherwise embraces the fact that exp is easy come easy go and just eats deaths.

Good on that erudite for skipping those levels, 20-30 is a lot more fun for the majority of classes, and only mages with fire pets really get to face roll 10-20: for everyone else its a tedious challenge where you fight mobs with higher dps than any tank that can actually hold threat. Unless you decide to farm massive amounts of blues in a zone with a high ZEM, which is why Unrest and Kurns are so popular 10-20 for full groups.

[Videri]

Imagine his surprise if he rolled a toon here and collected that many gnoll fangs only to learn there’s no quest exp. hueheh

Quest exp was turned back on a week ago. It was off temporarily, for one month, just as the staff said it would be. We can disagree with their decision, but don't say "there's no quest exp" as though that's still the case.

[Exard3k]

People are usually impatient. All classes unlock very class-defining skills/spells from 1-30. Knights dont get spells at all until lvl 9 and meditate until lvl 12. Wizards dont get stun until lvl 20.

I can understand not wanting to play the levels that have not much to offer in terms of things to do (ability-wise).

And then there are the "higher level is always better, real EQ starts at 60, I dont want to play the prologue 1-59" people.

I myself didnt get any PL or turned in hundreds of quests for quickly leveling up. Except for one character where I used xp quests quite a bit...because I made a new one with different race and wanted to be back at my previous lvl (27) quickly.

[Gustoo]

at least 80% of everquest players never hit level 50 during live.

Thats how important I think that part of the game in. My PVP preferences, my game preferences, everything I think about everquest revolves around the actual journey which was literally everything besides END GAME when the GAME ENDS once you hit 60 and are just collecting DKP its a totally different obsession.

PVP is more fun at sub level 60 levels where you are trying to choose a level range that is best for your class. For example, level 10 for rogues is excellent when using droppable twink gear. Level 12 and 16 are good for wizards and mages, level 20 (first damage cap removed) or level 30 for SK's and Paladins

And other stuff. You get to build a character around a specific level and plan your weaknesses against people who are +-4 levels of you.

When everyone is level 60 there is a lot less variety.

But everyone should enjoy everquest however they want. If maxing our characters does it for you, I am truly happy that it does.

[Sheriff_Cockroach]

Personally Ive spent enough time under level 20 on live, lol.

[zaldaben]

Personally Ive spent enough time under level 20 on live, lol.


now thats the damn truth. when I first started I couldnt find a character I wanted to stick with until I made a necro. and for classes that are very group dependent like rogues those low levels suck on a server thats so top heavy that low groups are rare.

[Sarkhan]

Just created a warrior, groups were fun but I agree sometimes you just wanna play for a 10mims, do laundry, come back play a bit more, go make food... Personally I just picked up a runed oak bow for like 50p and solo'd red cons. Lvl 7 killing lvl 15 mobs getting around half bubble of exp a kill. Once the warrior hit 12 and could crit/crip bow kiting sped way up by keeping up in berserk range and doing 76dmg crips.

Its the fun way to get yourself to 20.

[Natewest1987]

The game isn’t linear like that. 10 levels does not equal 20% of the game by any means, especially 10-20, which can be done so quickly

[svevin]

I mean, I use quest XP as a bonus. I grind on mobs that drop quest items, get a level or two, then go turn in and get a few bubbles. It just helps reduce the monotony of pure grinding. And I know, in my heart of hearts, that that was the original intent.

[Kich867]

Once the gnoll fangs stop being great in Qeynos, you can hop over to Halas and continue handing them in for impressive XP, unless they nerfed it recently. I got a surprisingly huge chunk of XP farming Halas warrior rep in my 20's handing in gnoll fangs.

[cd288]

IMO pre-late teens EQ is a pretty big slog and for most classes you don’t have your full toolkit so I can’t blame him for wanting to skip it.

[greenspectre]

Honestly, f*** the teens for most classes. Most of them are barely coming into their role or still missing key pieces of their class identity. Shamans, for example, don't get canni/regen till 24, and a pet till 34. Enchanters don't get Clarity till 29. Druids and Wizards don't get self-ports till 19/20. Rangers don't get SoW until 39, SK doesn't get Invis/FD until 30. Paladins don't get anything ever. Before a class' defining level, they are just simply less fun to play.

Yes, the first time you're playing EQ, there's an allure of earning every single blip of exp through blood, sweat, and tears, but after that there's no shame in trying to skip the more monotonous parts of the game and enjoy playing your class in its actual role.

[Shrubwise]

Just created a warrior, groups were fun but I agree sometimes you just wanna play for a 10mims, do laundry, come back play a bit more, go make food... Personally I just picked up a runed oak bow for like 50p and solo'd red cons. Lvl 7 killing lvl 15 mobs getting around half bubble of exp a kill. Once the warrior hit 12 and could crit/crip bow kiting sped way up by keeping up in berserk range and doing 76dmg crips.

Its the fun way to get yourself to 20.

Wait... what? Could you please expand on this further. How did you manage to be in berserk HP range but keep the mob far enough away to use bow?

[Sarkhan]

Wait... what? Could you please expand on this further. How did you manage to be in berserk HP range but keep the mob far enough away to use bow?

strafe running and avoid the wolves, they outrun you... When you're running around you don't exactly regen that fast so you stay berserk for a long time, just try and keep your health around 40%.
If you see a shaman around ask for a sow and it makes life easier but isn't needed.

[Feracitus]

Lol matey, i think i was that erudite wizard, and as you can see, it's my 3rd alt at this point, and sadly the fangs were enough only to get me to a high 16" wich was fine since it was my next spell circle anyways. Leveling is not everything there is to this game, and honestly, the first 12 levels suck beyond belief, so i wouldnt get surprised with ppl wanting to be done with it asap.

Imagine his surprise if he rolled a toon here and collected that many gnoll fangs only to learn there’s no quest exp. hueheh

Well if it makes you happy, that did cost me 4 gnoll fangs =/

edit: apparently a lot of people on this thread don't know the fangs are NO DROP, so i didnt really skipped anything as i had to kill alot of gnolls for them.