Never played EQ, how hard to get started?

[SabbyPuppy]

Hey all! I never played EQ, but I had friends who did I've heard quite a bit about it, and after being very unsatisfied by anything else out there, I had a co-worker mention this to me and I thought I'd give it a shot. But I was wondering if I never played EQ in it's original incarnation, how difficult would this be to pick up? I've been playing WoW since early BC, and I've played about a million different MMOs, plus other various games.

I just need to feel challenged, and WoW isn't doing it for me anymore, and I remember my friend telling me how hard EQ was. I just wanted to get some input from people before I downloaded and such.

thanks <3

[Bristletoe]

Sabby

Welcome to Everquest. This game is by far more challenging then WOW. I recently moved over and I completely love how hard EQ is. It's free so download and try. Everquest does not have quests like WOW so it requires killing things and turning in items. I would suggest, since it's what I'm comfortable with, is to start in Qeynos ( humans, erudites, half elf ... I can't remember the rest)

Kill mobs in qeynos till level 4. Once you are done, you'll wonder off to Blackburrow and have some fun grouping and Collecting.gnoll fangs. You get tons of xp from them!!

If you do, hit me up. Ingame name is Gonnadorn.

[Tre_Selor]

A good thing too remember is that Classic EQ is essentially a dungeon simulator (like Wizardry) and shouldn't be compared too WoW..

EQ is difficult and requires lots of time and attention, not too mention a group. The game encourages grouping by being difficult.

[AbstractVision]

It can be difficult for a modern mmo player to come to original EQ. Be sure to brush up on the /chat commands. Aside from that, faction can be pretty brutal to a new player. You can make entire cities and races hate you and all their NPCs kill on sight all over the world just from your race choice but also things like killing other npcs, certain guards, ect. So make sure you understand faction.. other than that just have fun. I recommend a druid for any first time player, it does everything and you'll be able to travel around the world quickly as well as make money at your early to mid levels.

TL : DR Understand chat commands, faction, and be a druid.

[JurisDictum]

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

Hey all! I never played EQ, but I had friends who did I've heard quite a bit about it, and after being very unsatisfied by anything else out there, I had a co-worker mention this to me and I thought I'd give it a shot. But I was wondering if I never played EQ in it's original incarnation, how difficult would this be to pick up? I've been playing WoW since early BC, and I've played about a million different MMOs, plus other various games.

I just need to feel challenged, and WoW isn't doing it for me anymore, and I remember my friend telling me how hard EQ was. I just wanted to get some input from people before I downloaded and such.

thanks <3

Its hard to get people to see the merit in the old and dated concepts in EQ -- unless they learned them before modern games.

Unfortunately it doesn't help how leveled and geared everyone is, at least from a new players perspective. Its like going to college surrounded by trustfund babies driving Porsche when you have to make due with the bus. Its not a big deal when its a few, but when its every god damn person -- you get disaffected pretty quick.

I find that you have to set up a static group with your rl friends and give them starting gear...hopefully they will overlook the sheer oldness of the game and come to appreciate the slower pace and more challenging curve EQ offers.

If they are complaining about games being "too easy" or being like a "hamster wheel," that's a good sign. If they are annoyed over some other BS they probably are just your average impossible to please gamer these days.

[Phenyo]

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

Hey all! I never played EQ, but I had friends who did I've heard quite a bit about it, and after being very unsatisfied by anything else out there, I had a co-worker mention this to me and I thought I'd give it a shot. But I was wondering if I never played EQ in it's original incarnation, how difficult would this be to pick up? I've been playing WoW since early BC, and I've played about a million different MMOs, plus other various games.

I just need to feel challenged, and WoW isn't doing it for me anymore, and I remember my friend telling me how hard EQ was. I just wanted to get some input from people before I downloaded and such.

thanks <3

Its difficult and incredibly satisfying. Risk vs reward gameplay. Read the wiki religiously and forget everything about wow and other mmos, as mentioned previously, this is more akin to a dungeon crawler. Take things slowly, consider EVERYTHING. EQ takes level differences extremely seriously.

You will die, a lot. Dont get frustrated and put off, its part and parcel of what makes the game so enjoyable. Dont expect to power through levels, some people focus so much on the destination they forget to enjoy the journey.

The community is unlike any other and you'll meet people that will check in on you from time to time or bend over backwards to help. A big part of the server is keeping players and good deeds tend to pass forward. However, like any community there are mentally unwell and generally toxic players. It is what it is and you'll learn to spot them.

Gear is nothing like your typical mmo fodder, you wont be replacing your nooby gear every level and items hold much more use throughout the leveling experience. There are untradable raid drops like you will be familar with, however a huge amount of the gear is freely tradable and wearable at any level.

It may seem simple and clunky at first but you'll soon realize how complex and immersive eq can be.

Its a fine wine.

[EQBallzz]

You are a brave soul and I commend you for it. If you are looking for a challenge and can get beyond the dated graphics you are in for one hell of a ride. EQ is still the best MMO out there even today IMO. I recently came back after 15 years or whatever and it's still great and I'm having a blast compared to the modern MMOs I was playing like BDO and even ESO which I liked (until it went B2P).

Like others have mentioned you need to throw your other MMO experiences mostly out the window as far as expectations go. This game is hard and punishes you without a second thought. It doesn't hold your hand. You have to figure stuff out. It literally drops you in the game world with a tattered note to get some terrible potato sack for armor and then you are on your own. Luckily, the p99 wiki is very good so use it.

I like to think of EQ like a graphical and real time pen and paper D&D session come to life. Unlike other MMOs where you are always the hero and always win and nothing bad ever happens...things bad can and will happen. You can fall through a trap door and be literally locked in a cell deep in a dungeon. You can fall to your death. You can lose your corpse and it can rot (with all your gear). The game allows you to screw up character creation or ruin important factions. If you turn a quest item into the wrong NPC it's probably gone. You really have to pay attention to details. It's also very rewarding..especially when you have a great group of interdependent classes working together well or even just hitting that next level feels like an accomplishment.

I suggest finding a guild ASAP that is willing to answer questions and give you info. This game is really meant to be played with others. If you try to tackle everything solo all the time and have nobody to talk to you will probably have a bad time.

Feel free to contact me in game if you want to join my leveling guild. We have mostly under lvl 45 players. Not a ton under 10 anymore but we are still inviting people of all levels so we do have people in that very low level range still and we have helpful people that will answer questions and help out when they can even though most of us are pretty poor in game (no twinks here!). There are some other good guilds I'm sure but I think they mostly have min level requirements starting around 15.

[Arkanjil]

Wow! Hats off to you for giving Classic EQ a try! It's really a different experience than modern MMOs...one of the 1st sandboxes. You make your journey in this world, it's up to you! Shoot me a tell in game if you have any questions and I'd be happy to help.

[Jimjam]

It's pretty easy to get started. If you can get hold of the old kunark disks to create a separate install there is a good tutorial with that for how to play the game.

When you create a character you have everything you need to get started; a basic weapon and some food and drink. You'll also have a couple of quest items: a tome of discord to flag yourself as a pvp player (not recommended) and a note inviting you to your classes NPC guild.

Once you're in game it's just like real life; you walk about talking to people, going on adventures whilst trying to avoid new and interesting ways to die.

If your character does die, don't worry! You'll reappear at your starting point with no equipment and can keep playing from there. You'll be able to find your corpse to get your old stuff back. There are also banks in game which will let you store items and currency you don't need on your adventures (perhaps a spare weapon banked will be useful to help you on a 'corpse run').

Going on an adventure to retrieve a corpse is one of the most fun parts of EQ.

[RDawg816]

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

Going on an adventure to retrieve a corpse is one of the most fun parts of EQ.

There is no in game map. You navigate by landmarks or by using /loc to get your in game coordinates. I suggest making a macro that says /loc on line 1. Hit that whenever you are fighting/exploring. If (read: when) you die, navigate back to those coordinates and get your corpse. If you die in a bad spot, make another macro for/drag to pull your corpse to safety...