RED OR BLUE (New Player)

[Xaanka]

none of the people posting things like "everyone within 4 levels will kill you" have ever played on the red server, by the way

[Xaanka]

also gonna chime in and say, i give no shits about pvp and the red server's tons of fun to me. and there's many others on the server who feel the same way. hell there's two guilds on the server for that.

the server isn't "empty" and you shouldn't have trouble finding groups if you join <thunderdome> leveling. unless you'e in some weird ass timezone. while the population's low, the tight knit community and global chat facilitate grouping beyond just the benefits from the exp bonus. the server has a huge bias towards US primetime hours, but there is a pretty decent euro and aus community as well. you may just be limited in choice of guilds if you're one of those timezones, come time to raid.

there are twinks on the server, but it's not nearly as bad as it used to be. almost all of the really bad ones are retired deleted etc these days. it can be a bit rough when you have to deal with them as a new player with no gear, but if you're a good player you'll quickly learn strategies that will help you survive and escape no matter what gear or buffs the twink has. and those skills will stick with you to the endgame and make you a formidable player. pumice their buffs off, and debuffs off yourself. worst case scenario run to a zoneline, log out for 15 minutes and they've gotten bored and left.

on the red server, you can actually crawl through a dungeon, instead of just running through an already-cleared zone to your 1 camp. you can pull whatever your group can handle. often times nameds are already up when you first get there. you level and progress in gear quicker as a result (and the exp bonus) but by no means is red everquest on "easy mode," as certain red exclusive mechanics make the game more difficult than on blue.

on the blue server you wait in lines for named camps. not to mention all the petitions over them. getting griefed by fake petitions, etc. the raid scene on red isn't nearly the mess it is on blue either, but it's very 1 guild dominated.

it's hard to get started and make it from nothing on the red server but a lot of us on the server had to do it, and there are more people sympathetic to new players who will help, than people who will gank you on their twink. most players you will encounter leveling are new players with no gear, or people's alts with basic not-very-twinked starter gear.

play the blue server if you just want to casually level 1-60 without being bothered, but pick red if you want to play for the endgame. your character's progress actually means something beyond showing off in the EC tunnel because of the pvp element, and the pve is more challenging due to no item recharging, threats of pvp, etc. it keeps the game fun and challenging. red's a tougher road to start new on, but more rewarding in the end. there's reasons to like both servers, pick the one that you think fits what you're looking for better.

[Swish]

+1, good post

[Rastignac]

red

[Zill]

In my honest opinion I don't think Red is really a viable server to play on, especially compared to Blue.

I even prefer PvP servers, but Red's population is abysmal and the global OOC is the most annoying solution imo. Like people mentioned you can run across entire continents without bumping into another person but you'll certainly still read all of their opinions about everything thanks to global chat. To me that's not EverQuest, it's a lame chatroom EQ hybrid with the same few people.

Blue for me ty

[JurisDictum]

I never played red extensively. I did play mostly SZ on live though, and played a good amount of TZ/VZ Null's server. Basically PvP servers have always been much more fun once you are established. As in: 60, in raid guild, have some raid loot. Before that, a lot of the fun is ruined by people with low self-esteem that like to kill newer players via massive stat advantage.

Red is better in regards to griefers (on live SZ -- a lot of these guys were relentless); however, it is pretty bad when it comes to economy. I had the same problem on Nul'ls server, which had less than half the pop. Obviously this can make the game painfully slow early on.

I remember being on nulls server -- filled with about 60 people that were more interested in fighting eachother for the 1000th time than attracting new players. I guess since the server allowed boxing it might have been worse. But I might worry about the same kind of dysfunction on red. Particularly because of the TMO tendency toward RMT and cock-blocking stuff obsolete to them.

[Izmael]

Red is EQ on hard mode because face it, PvE is EASY, mobs are dumb, predictable and there's not a single mob on P99 that hasn't been killed repeatedly for the last 15 years (save for Kerafyrm or Jaled Dar I suppose). I guess there still are PvE challenges such as soloing or duoing very challenging stuff, or basically killing stuff with very insufficient forces.

But it all boils down to bringing enough tankage / healage / pullage and outhealing the damage the mob deals while pounding on them.

PvP adds (potential) intelligence to your opponents, and makes the game a lot harder at times and (therefore) makes your achievements so much more satisfying.

[Swish]

Another +1, some great posts in this thread.

[tizznyres]

It will all depend on how you prefer spending your time in an MMORPG, more specifically, a well dated and emulated one.

PVP in classic EverQuest is extremely awkward, and what myself and many of my friends have always called "clunky", let alone horrifically imbalanced on a one-to-one basis.

That being said, EverQuest PVP actually has a lot going for it, and when it is truly fun, can be lot more enjoyable and immersive than most of the modern PVP MMO renditions we've been getting in the last 10ish years.

If you are not very familiar with PVP in Classic EQ, and don't have an itch to play on a PVP server from the get-go, I would definitely recommend at least starting on Blue.

Blue will let you enjoy all the nostalgia and feels of classic EQ, and Red has massive EXP bonuses for new players anyway. You will likely level much, much faster on Red with refreshed knowledge from Blue + the EXP boosts of Red.

Population figures, I'm sure plenty of people have already answered. Blue is quite thriving, to the point of being overly congested in many areas. Red is the exact opposite.

Blue you will likely always continue to meet new people as you play, Red you will likely be encountering the same small group over and over.

If you really love Classic EQ, try them both out, like many of the players here have.

[Rastignac]

That being said, EverQuest PVP actually has a lot going for it, and when it is truly fun, can be lot more enjoyable and immersive than most of the modern PVP MMO renditions we've been getting in the last 10ish years.



So true. The difficulty and clunkiness do somehow make it more immersive. Maybe because it reminds us more of RL. PvP games are way too simplified. Life is full of difficulty and error.

Also when you pull of something smooth in EQ it actually means something because shit is so difficult and clunky.

Kinda reminds me of how EQ graphics achieve such a better sense of scale (bridge in GD, Overthere chasm, Gorge of King Xorb) than modern games, despite having like 20 polygons and 10 textures to work with.