so happy yet so sadFollow

I am relatively new to this game (about three months) and am thinking about leaving. Let me start by saying I love this game I really do. The problem is that I should have started playing 5 years ago. I am running into situations where nothing is new and everything is figured out. I am lvl 58 and it seems that everyone wants to do LDoN or planes. If I wanted to play a game this limited then I would play my playstation. I have not seen a third of this game and it's starting to get to me. With much coaxing I can talk people into going to veksar because the exp is still good. I have sooo much more fun in zones like this where you work your way thru the zone, get some good drops and have a good time doing it. When I am LFG and people ask me to join a group in POI or PON we end up sitting in one spot and pulling mobs to us and killing them for nice exp. Well at the risk of sounding unpopular ***** EXP. The race to get to 65 as fast as possible is ruining this game for me. LDoN are more fun and still yield enough exp and adv points which keep people interrested in them but I still require more options. Now it is fun going invis and just wandering around and discovering new zones. This is lots of fun and I do this often. The problem is that if I want to kill anything I need a group and then we are back to /tell joe shmo cleric: hey how are ya want to go to zone x with me and explore around and kill stuff?
joe shmo cleric replies: sorry I was there with my alt three years ago and I really want tier 2 planes exp
/sigh
Now I know that most of you have been to those zones three years ago and yes you happen to know that there is no uber loot there and the exp sucks. Well frankly I dont give a ****, I havent been there yet, I want to go there and I need you to heal me while I take all the damage. Now if I switch to a new game maybe EQ2 maybe something totally different like warhammer online (which looks cool) then everyone is new, everyone must group with each other in order to explore and figure things out. Last night a buddy asked me to help out with his epic in COM, we had soo much fun and I got little to no exp(believe it or not) Now I have heard that once you get to lvl 65 the game totally changes. I have even heard some people describe the game as begining at 65. Now if this is true perhaps I will hang around and see if this is true. If its not true then perhaps it is time to find something totally new in order to gain what I want out of a mmorg. Also if there are any guilds on Emarr that are more into going to old school zones and having fun pls let me know as that would also be an acceptable solution to my problem.

Hey maybe you should try something different... like creating a character on Firiona Vie which is the role playing server. FV is a REALLY different experience when compared to other servers. Lots of newbies joining FV all the time. Or you can make a character on Morden Rasp the newbie server. Or try PvP. Or try playing a different class. Or find a new guild... There's lots of ways to amuse yourself with EQ.


Barto Fleshsmacker Lvl 58 SK - Povar

The OP does have a point. Sadly, what Ralston advised is about what you're going to have to do. Make a toon that can solo. It's unfortunate that this HUGE world was created for us players and most of it goes unused.

It really is difficult to get people to go to different (especially unknown) places. It's ironic that it's difficult to find adventurous people in this adventurous game.

edit: And why was this nuked?

Edited, Thu Apr 29 17:11:50 2004 by Yanari

There is a fit for everyone just need the patience to find it. Come to Rollas Zek and everyday is an adventure. Just one step in a newbie zone can hand your *** to you. PVP servers offer something other's do not. The unexpected in the expected world. I am completely "anti" but I have no interest in playing on a server that doesn't have PVP. Part of the thril on a PVP server is good/bad and having to be on your toes constantly!!!!! The thrill in escaping or being able to defend when a spineless pk'r can't backstab you or take you by surprise and he runs to his momma's apron strings. Mix all that in with trying to level, find a group, a guild, a LDON and you get the unexpected in a very expected world.

There are guild's out there that have a relaxed atmosphere. Those guilds also need leaders that will put together a hunting party and take everyone to unknown places. The guild I am in spans levels 15 to 65 and though from 20 to 50 most are LDON's it is due to "augs". In a PVP server augging equipment is a must or you are gonna have it looted by a PK'r. After 50 yes the planes step in but so do the old world zones. My two favorite places are Veksar and Naddox. Both killer and to be killed zones with much to explore. You just have to find the right people and the right groups. More often than not a good xp group is one that fights together a lot. Pick up groups typically are less than chaos.

Myself I am ready to explore the planes and the other zones but as you mentioned need a group to do so. I can grab a well rounded 6 man group easily but Tanks are harder to come by with so many people playing so many alts. Raids well unless your in a raiding guild that is tough on Rallos Zek or you can end up being picked up on one.

Make a friend and head out most people are waiting to be asked. Sounds silly but even with a computer to be the barrier many will not take the initiative. That holds true in many aspects of the internet and then there are those that grab hold of reigns and head for high ground happily. You have to choose which role you want to take so be the aggressor there are tons that will follow you once they get to know you and trust you.

You have to also let yourself be open to creating your own adventures. Many a time I have been asked about a certain spell or quest or what to do. The adventure starts there...

I'll give you two instance of spur-of-the moment stuff.

1. 20ish level monk asks my 27 monk about the Shackle of Clay quest. This quest has several parts to it, involving many zones. Having done the quest 2 or 3 times already I join him. I ended up having a great time, taking him to the zones, killed what we had to kill, got xp on some, some were green. Did just about everything you do in EQ, (cept getting killed). We only did about 1/2 of the quest but I probably saved him a ton of time figuring out where to zone, what to kill etc. I left him to finish it.

2. Level 12 enchanter is asking me where to get some of the spells for 12 level. Well I say, ALL OVER the place. So I take him on a whirl-wind shopping tour of Norrath. We had to invis through Kithicore to Highpass and lots of stuff. I did not remember exact details (I was level 16 ench. at the time) so we had to search some merchants here and there. Paid me 80pp for the help too!

Just offer to tag along...

So it does not have to be xp-grind-get-the-best-loot-in-the-game-my-toon-is-the-uberest...

Have you ever tried soloing on your warrior WITHOUT sitting around waiting for your health to regen? You'd be amazed at how exciting "berserk hunting" is for a warrior.

And yes, I've solo'd on my warrior before, never went above 40% HP, never stopped fighting any longer than it took me to bandage to that 40% level, and had a blast(did some nice damage too always being low HP). And he was in the mid 40's at the time if you're thinking I was doing this at low levels.

I sympathize with new players who have trouble finding people to go exploring with them. I've been lucky enough to have pretty much gone everywhere and seen everything in EQ, and to have done it with friends.

My best advice to you is to try to find a guild you fit with - once you have a group of people who you can group with, you can find a reason to go to pretty much any zone if you reach hard enough.

The most common reason that people won't go to an unusual zone with a stranger is because there's not a whole lot in it for them - and the last thing most people want when they just are trying to grind xp on an alt is to get in a CR with a group of strangers who will probably leave them to rot. With a group of friends and/or guildmates, that totally changes.

To be quite honest. ***** the groups then. Go to these new places on your own. I as a necromancer and starting 4 years after EQ came around still find so much to check out. Anytime someone asks for a corpse summon in a zone I have never been to, I offer my help. Great way to check out a zone that is new to me and a free summoning to the one who leads me there. But hell yeah, I agree about finding people playing their alts. Many of them will be willing to go back to an old zone for them. In you lfg message just put as your comment something to the effect of you wanting to explore new places. Let them come to you. Many players get stuck in a rut and keep going back to the same types of groups because it is a no brainer. How many of you have been back to Droga? Droga kicked my behind and I loved it. Verant and Sony only put the tools in front of you, it is up to you to make your fun and while you are trying to do that, I will be doing it.

you are lvl 58 after 3 months of playing!?!?!
i can see how the game would be boring if you have so little time in the newb zones, where you can mess about and learn from mistakes wihtout getting laughed at...

Ok most of you had some very good advice and for that I thank you. Some of you I think misinterpereted what I had to say. I have never been power leveled, which seems to be a popular hypothesis as to my situation, but I did level fast. I didnt do this on purpose. I like to play alot as I said I do love this game. I wish I had not leveled so fast, the problem was that I also like to group. I am a sk and have soloed and its ok but the main part of this game that I enjoy is meeting new people and working together in order to strengthen our total force. Again thanks for the advice from all of you about soloing and finding a guild. After all that was the point of posting here was to gain information. Now Mr. Devilwind, first of all I am sorry if I upset you. When I said, "I need you to heal me while I take all the damage." That was an apparently failed attempt at humor. It would be so much easier if I could somehow express the tone of my voice into my post. Saying that this is the same as begging for some powerleveling is rediculous. First of all I have never begged for anything in my life in EQ or not. Second I am a tank class, with a healer we get more accomplished together than we do seperately(some things should not have to be said) now it would be different if being a lvl 40ish I sent tells to a 65 druid or cleric asking to come powerlevel me. I am pretty sure that I was clear about this because of the context of my post. I went home last night and started a necro and I must say that I love him so thanks for the usefull information, even you devilwind, the information you provided was most insightfull and appreciated.....just had to get halfway down past the ugly stuff to find it. Others just spewed meaningless junk onto the page which took what I said and repeated it lol ...kinda made me laugh but not worth responding to

Edited, Sat Apr 24 16:52:30 2004 by jakstrw

Hey whatever floats your boat. It's just my opinion. I was consumed with leveling up until I got to 65 and now I feel much better about going on raids or whatnot. Sure you can have fun before level 65, but the real fun is 65+ with the most challenging mobs to kill and a lot of people wanting to kill these mobs. Before then most people will not want to waste their time on anything but leveling up.

This is a common, though often bad misconseption

Its the same logic as real life - thinking that it doesn't begin until your out of highschool/college.

Yeah, thats when you don't need to go to school anymore, but then you missed out on a lot of goodtimes you could have had that really weren't that bad. Look at the EQ live forums and all you see is complaining about how the knights aren't built for god trials, and how shamans need better spells, and how mages are gimp compared to beastlords, etc. All these people are complaining about the part of the game they rushed so much to get too. Now many of them are unhappy because it didn't turn out how they expected.

Remember, life isn't a destination, and neither is EQ - If you think that the game only really begins at 65 your missing out on a lot of fun you could be having.

edited to add - I do however know how feeling like the game won't start till a certain point. When I started my shaman I so wanted to have a pet - I raced so hard to get there - now my combat skill suck beyond belief :-/

Edited, Sun Apr 25 19:44:35 2004 by Devilwind

There sure is a lot of poor advice in this thread.

The two most important items you can have in EQ are a good reputation and, good friends.

Or, is it good friends and a good reputation?

It takes time to accumulate both, don't know how someone that levels to 65 in "x" weeks or what ever, can have either.

Also don't know how some one who plays dozens of low level characters can have much of either, either.

This is something that does not necessarily come easy, but if you plan on staying around for a while and getting to adventure in and see the more exotic parts of the world of Everquest, you have to work at it.

The first step along this path is to put yourself out there. Join pick up groups, put up with the pain for a while. Make sure you do your job to the best of your ability. Take note of the other good players you meet. Make an effort to group with them again. When you strike a chord with someone, stay in touch with them. When one of them mentions that they need help with something, or want to finish a quest or get some item, do what you can to make it happen.

In time you will have a circle of friends that look for you to join them. And a reputation as someone that can be depended upon and "necessary" for any serious undertaking.