How realistic is casual raiding?

[tadkins]

Originally Posted by Danth [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

It's all a matter of perspective. Recognize this game is loosely-tuned, and there is NO conventional content that actually requires high-end raid loot. My own character (level 60 for going on a decade at this point) wears mostly thurgadin-level equipment, accessible to about anyone, and guess what? Other than a couple of locked zones (Sleeper and Veeshan's Peak) that I don't have keys for, I do the same stuff anyone else does because, again, there's only so much to do in this game and none of it requires "best in slot" equipment. You *definitely* don't need top-end equipment to participate in the giant zerg raids that are the present main way the bigger guilds do stuff. I don't raid much--don't particularly enjoy it or have much interest in it--but still, I've been to the planes, been to all wings of temple veeshan, kael drakkel, whatever. It's there, it's not going anywhere, and you have all the time in the world.

If your idea of fun is being able to set a schedule and log on at 8 PM for pre-planned guild raids to a variety of different places, P99 is not the place for that and never has been. If on the other hand you enjoy the rest of the game you can find plenty to do that isn't heavily contested.

Danth

Well no, but it'd still be cool to one day earn some high end loot. Earn something nice that can't just be bought in the EC tunnel, you know? I don't feel like it's ever going to be possible to do that on P99. Assuming I can even get into one of the worthwhile guilds, you've got folks who've been raiding for years and it would probably be a decade before someone like me would even have a chance.

Always been a dream of mine to one day fight Innoruuk, Cazic-Thule and the like. To see the planes, Veeshan's Peak, Sleeper's Tomb and whatnot. It's demoralizing to know that I'm never going to get that chance here.

What else is there to even enjoy? Dungeons that I can never find groups for? Camps that are always taken 24/7? Tradeskills that mean nothing because plenty of others have already cornered those markets? There's no competing against people like Sumetal, and it'd be foolish to try. Working on factions that no one cares about? My human wizard is max ally with the Spurned, because it was all I really had to do. No one really cares.

Seriously, what is there for someone like me in this game?

[Danth]

Originally Posted by tadkins [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Seriously, what is there for someone like me in this game?

I've been able to do what you say you can't do--see most the raid zones, get an epic, etc. Even the two zones I haven't done on P99, I could have if I wanted to and I'm simply not interested enough to bother keying. If I can, you can. Doesn't mean it'll be fast. You've been registered on this board for four years. My Shadowknight was ~6 years old before he completed his epic. That kind of timeframe was acceptable to me but I recognize it isn't acceptable for everyone. If it isn't and you're a lower-hours player like I am, you're right to want to investigate other alternatives besides P99. As a rule, here, you can get stuff fairly quick, or you can be casual, but you can't have both. That was why I favored Blue over Green--I can't advance fast enough to keep up with Green's expected server lifespan. Progression servers just aren't meant for low-hours players.

Outside the raids, don't even try to tell me you can't find high-level group content to do because I know better than that. The wife and I have stuff we can do any time we log in. There are areas, camps, and even a few entire zones that go largely un-used because most players don't want to go off the regular XP highway. You'll need a few friends though. This is very much a multi-player game (well, maybe not for Enchanters), not Warcraft where it's a quasi-solo game until raiding and other people might as well be AI bots.

If it turns out you simply don't like classic EQ all that well, that's fine, but your issue is definitely not a want of things to do.

Danth