Starting Red

[Wecoan]

Hey guys,

So after several characters on blue in and around the lvl 20 mark I've decided i want to give red a go for several reasons:

1) My favourite classes on Live were Paladin and Beastlord, BST doesn't exist and never will and paladins are generally slated on Blue, whereas they appear to be pretty good on Red.
2) Everyone is a twink on blue, I, in the past month or two is grouping on several characters have only grouped with what appears to be 3-4 actual new players who do not have high level mains or friends to twink them.
3) There is overcrowding in all the good xp zones, not to mention I hear the raid scene is pretty much non-existent if you do not belong to one of the top guilds.

The point of posting this thread is that I have questions about each of these points and the Red server.

1) The xp bonus on Red seems to cushion the blow of having a hybrid xp penalty which really makes me want to play that paladin, however, is grouping a real thing on red with the population being what it is (opposite extremes to blue), or is grouping only really a thing at the highest levels?

2) I'd imagine that Red has it's twinks just like blue but is it a 90% occurrence like it seems to be on Blue? I don't really fancy having to die here and there whilst (possibly solo'ing which would be worse) xp'ing without a fighting chance of actually killing someone or even damaging them (fungi T_T).

3) I'm assuming that a lot of gear camps will be open on Red where they are perma-camped on Blue, do players actively kill each other to 'steal' these camps even if you had been killing PH's for hours on end? (I get it, it's a pvp server, I just want a little clarity anyway) I like the idea of being able to kill the things I want in the zones I want but is there 0 protection? Is this the same for raid targets?

One last question, is there a leveling guild or starter guild on Red for people like myself who may need some weeks to adjust to the playstyle or who needs tips and hints on how to be effective at pvping with your chosen class? (I am new to EQ pvp, but not general pvp)

Any extra tips and advice would be welcome!

[Swish]

Paladins not the easiest to start off "gearless" but if you make some progress I think people will invest in you (me included in terms of JC if you want HP rings etc).

I've found groups at all levels so don't worry about that. The irony of red is everyone thinks there aren't groups so they don't play... which can make it difficult to find a group. If you're a Euro player it becomes worse as its the graveyard shift [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Gear camps are generally more open, but Lower Guk is usually a bit of a shitfest if you want something out of there and someone doesn't want you in there [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

If you go hybrid and want to camp anything, try and get a bind in the nearest city.

<Hokuten> was a guild mixed of skilled and starting players, Jib posted to say he was takign a back seat a bit more lately so not sure on their direction... but there was <Uprising> before that and something else before that. So don't worry, you'll make pals [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Like blue its a time investment, a lot of people are happy to spend 8 hours a day in the EC tunnel on blue but see red as empty and therefore a total waste of their time. Fuzzy logic I think [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Wecoan]

Well I am Euro... although I play late nights here because of my work schedule, probably something like 3-9 EST. What time does the populace start logging on at? I don't mind starting off gearless, it's a little fun in it's own right, just makes it a bit slower that's all but I have time [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I'm assuming there is some sort of etiquette for grouping, as in has there ever been a group invitation only to get ganked upon arrival? That would be pretty shitty.

[Swish]

Around 6pm EST onwards at a guess (12am CET), the weekends are easier though of course [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I've been ganked trying to get a group before. Turn up and there's 3 people there that beat you down. Take the silver lining in that situation, there's a twisted humour to it [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Find out what levels they are before going and do a "/who all cleric 17 count" or whatever. If there aren't any but they say there's a 17 cleric in the group, treat it with suspicion.

[Wecoan]

I suppose it adds an element of suspense, the times seem not too bad, I can see why you guys are always on the recruitment train haha. I'll give it a go and make my toon tonight, will be sure to post any more questions I have here as I go! Thanks for taking the time!

[Swish]

On the point of blue twinks by the way...

My blue SK and red cleric of the same levels [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] vs [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

(except swap a poison wind censer in on the cleric now)

Good luck [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Rangerdown]

How's the raid scene these days Swish?

[Swish]

on blue? full of drama.

on red? needs more drama [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Daywolf]

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

1) My favourite classes on Live were Paladin and Beastlord, BST doesn't exist and never will and paladins are generally slated on Blue, whereas they appear to be pretty good on Red.
2) Everyone is a twink on blue, I, in the past month or two is grouping on several characters have only grouped with what appears to be 3-4 actual new players who do not have high level mains or friends to twink them.
3) There is overcrowding in all the good xp zones, not to mention I hear the raid scene is pretty much non-existent if you do not belong to one of the top guilds.

Regarding blue:
1. If you like pally, then you should play one. Need more pallys here, and the only ones that get to cap, currently, are those that really like the class often having played them on live. A lot of people want quick leveling though (odd since this is "p99"), have no time to actually play the game like one often does with a hybrid. As a hybrid you level slower, and need to keep up with gear upgrades to be effective. Since there is a low population of hybrids though, you can usually buy class specific gear at a cheaper rate than most of the universal or multi-class gear.

2. Not true at all. I hardly ever see low level players running around with say raid gear. And the ones that do, they usually hire someone to PL them, since they rather not actually play the game apart from end-game. For other gear, say for like my ranger, some would say "twinked" leveling my ranger, but it's all mostly earned gear with that character, either bought or dropped, plus a near maxed craft to make extra plats to buy stuff. That's more common, like I said you can get deals on class specific gear due to the lower pop of hybrids. Supply and demand.

3. Overcrowding, one reason due to people wanting to just level as fast as they can, while skipping most of the game. Not classic [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] Then there are some other factors I won't get into here. But yeah, when everyone crowds into certain zones to level faster... well they level slower since they wind up waiting too long for groups or spots etc. As for raiding, yeah if you are big into raiding, then you will want to join a raiding guild. Would seem logical. But it's not locked out to just the large guilds, there is still some raiding to be had for more casual raiding.

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

on blue? full of drama.

on red? needs more drama [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

You guys need more drama on red because you blow it all out onto the forums hehehe

[Wecoan]

Hey Daywolf, thanks for your input!

I'm creating my paladin now [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] I don't mind the slow leveling as long as it stays interesting enough (earning plat, grouping, solo'ing or camping spawns). You say we need to keep up with gear, is it worth investing into blacksmithing for cultural armor?

I don't mind, infact I prefer to avoid the good ZEM zones just for a more interesting experience but on Blue it seems if you are not a solo class you are restricted to these zones if you need to group (i.e. Rogue, Warrior, PALADIN) which is why I was wondering if people tend to be more flexible on Red.

Rolling Tunarian High Elf for ND in Velious! (if it ever comes!)