Its time to go Red. Pop on the rise. Noobs protected. GM Events. Put your story here!

[theguyy]

That's exactly what I mean. "Just practice" is not going to help any brand new red player at all. People like me are behind in EQ PvP experience by more then a decade. We need at least a faint idea of what to do vs. each class.

Should we dispel self against a necro? Do we have time to dispel against a wizard? Should casters still carry pumice? What macros/keybinds are essential? Etc etc. A decent PvP guide is severely lacking on this server and it only reinforces the idea that you guys market it so much to simply kill inexperienced noobs.

[Swish]

First pvp encounter: you're probably going to die.

How did they kill you?

Was it a caster? What can you do about interrupting nukes? Did you recognize what they were casting?

Was it a melee (monk/rogue)? What can you do about your positioning to make them miss any jousts/backstabs/etc?

There's nothing wrong with wanting your hand held and wanting a good guide written when you're new, but the more you play the more tricks you'll see and the more you'll pick up.

If you go there with a "I'm never going to win in pvp" attitude, you're probably less likely to be receptive to picking up what people are doing and why.

What class do you play? Maybe someone from the Zeks and extensive red time should write a comprehensive guide for each class and how they should individually respond to all of the other classes. I'm definitely not the person to write it.

The difficulty is that you're not fighting NPCs anymore, players play differently, they have different habits and approaches - you can't really put that in a guide and building up experience really is something you'll benefit from.

Watch some red pvp vids, listing a selection from a YouTube search:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29i6oSoLqiQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmhDHcdCZ48
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUoI8DLpptw

Hope some of that helps. There's no blueprint for pvp success. Even when you're raiding there could be some large scale pvp about to go down (check vids above)... how do you write a guide for that?

[Nirgon]

if you played Dark Souls with your internet cable plugged in and liked it, red is for you

[curtischoy]

Originally Posted by Nirgon

if you played Dark Souls with your internet cable plugged in and liked it, red is for you

That game was so dumb, randomly being killed from someone who has played the game for 200+ hours when you have played for less than 3 is not fun.

Without internet it was better. But their idea of difficult was clumsy gameplay. That is my idea of tedious.

[wormed]

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

That game was so dumb, randomly being killed from someone who has played the game for 200+ hours when you have played for less than 3 is not fun.

Without internet it was better. But their idea of difficult was clumsy gameplay. That is my idea of tedious.

...then you won't like red, clearly.

[stormlord]

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

People keep talking about a low red population...I think it was early 2011 that blue had about 450-500 players and nobody complained here that I remember.

When they switched off the old XP bonus on red the pop dropped down to 65-70 and Red Dawn which had the majority of leveling red players fell away. After one patch it was switched back on, a lot of RD players returned before it was said that it was a mistake and turned off again. That caused the guild to disband.

Red needs an XP bonus, because:-

1. The server is top heavy and if you want real pvp you need to get there.
2. People trying red don't want to repeat leveling to 60 on blue. Cutting the time it takes is a decent incentive.
3. The XP bonus in groups brings people together and helps new players make friends. Typically you aren't twinked from head to toe starting on red, you're going to need a little help from some pals.

It needs an exp bonus because if any zone on blue had monsters as smart as players the reward would have to be higher, correct? Otherwise, why go there? Monsters on blue are always conveniently stupid and inviting. They're like a whore waving at you 24/7. Pvp, by comparison, puts you into situations where the "monsters" will gank you at every opportunity. By "gank" I mean to say they'll exploit every circumstance to the fullest, striking at you when you're at your weakest.

Not only that but I don't think the EQ game designers took into account the extra deaths and grind resulting from pvp and item/coin loss. There're so many other things too. The economy on pvp servers on live was always worse. Everything was more expensive, especially if it had magic resist. This all could have many negative effects.

And as many have stated, pvp servers are less social than blue. Virtually everybody is anon. On blue you can say whatever you want about yoru level and class and it's a lot easier to find a gorup as a result. On pvp servers, it's not as easy. So if it's harder to make/find pickup groups then it's probably going to mean you'll level slower, or more cautiously.

The group exp change I don't agree with though. While it's a nice thing and fits well in an MMORPG, it's a stretch for me. It reduces hte required minimum expectations placed on new group members. So if you get 200 experience solo and you invite a 2nd member, this change on red brings the experience you receive upon kills closer to the original 200, meaning the expectations on the additional group member are fewer. Secondly, the 266% bonus over soloing means soloing classes have less value. Soloing, as a whole, becomes less viable. For players whom like to afk a lot or just go at their own pace, soloing is attractive. If they feel like they're going to lose so much by soloing, they might feel forced to group and that's not going to go down well.

I mostly am fine with red. It's very attractive to me. But I want to add the only reason I played on the pvp servers on live wasn't because of the expectation I'd level faster. In fact, I was well aware I was levelling slower than on blue servers. And it was abundantly clear everything in the bazaar was more expensive. And the population was lower. I played on the pvp servers because of the added risk and inertia of activities. THAT's the real reason I kept playing. I fear by focusing on how fast players are levelling, you and others are going to miss entirely why some of us, like myself, play on pvp servers.

I just think some players.... many contributing to this thread.... are unwilling to cope with random kills from other players while out adventuring or doing pve in the open world. Many here do not actually want the added risk or delays. They want the relaxed state of blue and fair pvp, but those won't exist in this game in its pvp format. They want something they won't get. While I think some bonus experience is good on red, these people will never have enough because they're in the wrong game.

[RevengeofGio]

Wasn't there a ban wave a long time ago too?

[Swish]

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

I just think some players.... many contributing to this thread.... are unwilling to cope with random kills from other players while out adventuring or doing pve in the open world.

Good post generally, but that's what people need to realize when they make their character. You're going to die to another player at some point, its inevitable. They might catch you on 10% health, they might steal "your" Ancient Cyclops after they run you into the ground...its not for the feint hearted.

That said, its a fun twist on blue EverQuest where you've got a highly toxic raid scene that's so competitive the casuals (BDA etc) will sit at a camp for 6-8 hours waiting at a zoneline and all kinds of camp lawyering happens, people getting mad at each other over Quillmane.

If you want to get away from that, give red a go... make some friends, see how you get on. If you don't like it, nobody is making you play. I can make up some basic resist gear for people but having drained my red bank account they'll need to provide the mats (not always expensive, +7 MR bracers very cheap and the MR necklace isn't too pricey either).

Stil 2.5 months to Velious...plenty of time to get something to 60 on red.

[Magikarp]

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

For players whom like to afk a lot or just go at their own pace, soloing is attractive.

wrong use of whom. consider it like this: "he or she would like to afk a lot" not "him or her would like to afk a lot"

source: 1,000 hours of experience inggrish language

[Iumuno]

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

Thanks to the un classic xp bonus, ironically my time on red has been infinitely more classic than my time spent on blue.

I feel exactly the same.