New player. In over my head after just 2 minutes.

[Memory]

Late last night i finished the setup of this on a whim, and i'm suitably excited for it considering that i never was part of the everquest phenomenon in the late 90's (i was playing Quake II and Diablo back then). This is a whole new experience to me, despite how dated the game looks and feels. I logged in for a short minute just to make sure everything works, created a Half-Elf Bard and stepped out into the first town...only to realize that i have no idea how to do anything other than walk in a particular direction and type in local chat. This is dense man, and i don't mean that in a bad way. I look forward to learning it, but i feel like an idiot or a little kid at the moment. I watched a troll (i think?) killing a town guard, for god knows what reason for a while, then logged off. I hope to make some more time for it tonight, but I want to know if there's a laundry list of things i should do first, or things i should learn how to do in order to get rolling.

Thanks in advance for any tips you can leave for me!

[ganedar]

That's the joy of EQ!

You're given almost nothing to start with, and you're taught almost nothing to start with.
But that makes learning the ins and outs of the game so much more enjoyable. I am jealous [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[mgriff02]

Start killing low level creatures. Collect their loot and sell to merchants to collect money to buy your songs. There are specific items, like certain hides, spider silks, and bone chips, which are much more profitable to sell to other players than to merchants.

The wiki is and always will be your best friend.

http://wiki.project1999.com/index.php/Main_Page

In particular check out this page, it has some real basics that are important:

http://wiki.project1999.com/Players:..._killing_me.3F

Welcome to Norrath! I think all of us here wish we could have a second opportunity to discover the game for the first time. If you have any questions feel free to ask in /ooc chat in game or post again here.

[RDawg816]

Make a hotkey for /loc (on the social tab in the "menu")
Hit it often. It will tell you you're coordinates. Assuming you're in Kelethin, 0,0 will be "home" and if you get lost just move around until you get to that number. If you die, look for your last location and that will get you close to your corpse.

[Yoink1986]

I'd suggest rerolling to a char maybe little easy to handle. I'd look into a mage or even a Druid. Prolly easy for newcomer to deal with. But really if you have any question do /ooc then ask away. Good chance if there's other people around they will help you out in one way or another. But yea being totally noob has its pros and cons. But have fun and expect some o shit moments. GL.

[Pyrion]

Bard can be very complicated to play. In a group you are expected to play several songs at once, a technique called "twisting". It almost requires the setup of macros if you don't want to get insane very early on, since your song effects only last 18 seconds if not played constantly. In later levels a well played bard is a power house, but i don't recommend it for a beginner. If you like a steep challenge, by all means stick with your bard.

Start with something like druid, mage or monk if you like melee, that's far easier. All those classes don't need a lot of money to gear out enough (the casters being the cheapest, just buy your spells and you are 90% there).

[Ravager]

If you like, I can spend a couple hours showing you the ropes of the game, answering questions and getting you started adventuring.

I wouldn't give up on bard right away, just because it's a little harder, but I would definitely recommend trying a few classes that interest you, at least for the first 5-10 levels to see what you want to commit to.

The first 10 levels won't show you what each class is like for the rest of the game, but it's enough to give you an idea of what they do. Anyway, it seems like the class you stick to the longest turns into the class you like best.

[Memory]

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

That's the joy of EQ!

You're given almost nothing to start with, and you're taught almost nothing to start with.
But that makes learning the ins and outs of the game so much more enjoyable. I am jealous [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

i like discovering new things, even in my 30's. i used to scratch that itch by getting into a lot of beta/alpha games. it made me feel like a pioneer. i think maybe P99 could do the same thing from a different perspective.

"How then am I so different from the first men through this way?
Like them, I left the a settled life--I threw it all away
To seek a Northwest Passage, at the call of many men
To find there but the road back home again."

[Memory]

@mgriff: Thanks for that! i've been watching/reading off and on now. i killed some mobs yesterday, and learned how to activate a song, and gained a level so progress is being made :-p I think i'm going to go shopping next and buy some of the suggested basics.

@yoink/Pyrion/Ravager After some consideration i think i'll stick with Bard. I've never been one to give a care about how hard something is or how will i perform. I used to play Diablo, and later Path of Exile exclusively on Hardcore mode because that's where the thrill was for me. it didn't matter that it was basically impossible for me to get to the end of the game. I'll either master the techniques that make bard cool, or i'll fail at it. It is the same journey :-p

[mgriff02]

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

@mgriff: Thanks for that! i've been watching/reading off and on now. i killed some mobs yesterday, and learned how to activate a song, and gained a level so progress is being made :-p I think i'm going to go shopping next and buy some of the suggested basics.

Songs are going to be your most important purchases. You can find them at the bard guild in whatever city you started in. Bards are unique among EQ classes in that they get a new ability (song) every level. You can find a list of them here:

http://wiki.project1999.com/Bard#Songs

As a newbie it's ok to start out with crappy armor, like the cloth that drops from low level orcs/gnolls. I would recommend getting yourself a sewing kit and making some patchwork armor using ruined cat pelts. You can see an explanation at the tailoring link below. Basically you put a ruined cat pelt into a sewing kit along with the appropriate pattern and pray for a success. You'll want to put some skill points into tailoring first, you do that by visiting the guildmasters at your bard guild.

http://wiki.project1999.com/Tailoring

The first real important purchase you'll want to make is a better, magical weapon. This is best done in the zone East Commonlands next to the city of Freeport. This is the zone where all the players who want to sell or buy things congregate.

Good weapons are pretty cheap compared to what they were 16 years ago when I was in your position. I don't know about bard weapons specifically but I'd imagine you can get a really good weapon in EC for 50 platinum or less. That's a ways off for you, of course.