To put it blunt: How the hell do you play this game ?Follow

A few things:

1. This is an old game as games go. 8 years now is it?

2. Ever"quest" it's not. Ever"Grind" it is. Most of your gear, exp, money and everything else is gained by grinding. From group mobs to raid mobs, it's a big grind.

3. While quests do exist, you will not find "questgivers" like you would in other games. If you want to find quests and groups at lower levels go to the TBS zones and just talk to NPCs.

4. Your not going to be able to compare EQ to other MMOs. EQ is a game all it's own.

Unlike the hand-holding games you mentioned, EQ is a game of exploration. You actually have to go places yourself, you won't (necessarily) be told what to do all the time.

That said, I'd like you to meet your new best friend:

LFG tool meet Azureddream, Azureddream meet the LFG tool.

Next time you play, type /LFG and check out one nifty window. The real way to learn to play this game is to talk to other people, share your experiences and findings, and ask them questions.

And bookmark this: www.eqatlas.com. It is badly out of date, but those maps are just great for learning to find your way around the old world.

THe above posters are correct. There is no hand holding in question in the game. Another sugguestion adding to the others above would be in what ever home city you have, target random NPC's and hail then you can follow the text and respond to them in say for quests. Useing the search function on the sidebad to the left you can look up some low level armor quests.

The game was desgined baised on the old D&D pen and paper game. A lot of the questing is dont by talking to NPS and typeing in exactly worded responces to them.

It's been a while, but after leaving the tutorial, go to the npc directly inside the library in PoK and hail her. She starts you on your newbie PoK quests. Your char will be sent to various npc's around PoK. 3 of these npc's give out quests that result in armour and items.

There are good and evil versions of the armour quests. The evil npc is a DE. If you are at the main bank facing the front door, head to your left, take the second opening in the wall (I think) and turn right. He's standing a little ways down.

For the good armour quests, head from the main bank towards the Kaladim stone and you'll see the npc (half elf I think) on the way.

The item quest npc is a Vah Shir quite near the soulbinder.

Edited, Jul 11th 2007 11:18am by KEC

There are epic quests for each class - they're tons of work, but worth it for the satisfaction and your epic weapon you recieve. The first set of Epic quests (Epic 1.0) can mostly be completed solo and with one well geared group to finish off the tougher battles.
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no. no you cant. unless one of you wants to donate some uber raid gear to this new person, your not going to solo much of it at all. especially without any raid gear.

like they said, EQ is an old game. built long before quest givers had markers over their head. infact, most if not all of the people here have to go outside of the game to get quest info on web sites like this one becuase there are little to no clues ingame as to whom will give you a quest that is appropriate for your level and or class and faction. not to mantion, it is better to find out here it will take a mini raid to complete or a full group BEFORE you spend a few hours on it just to end your night in sheer fustraition.

and the quest themselves are very very vague. blind luck in alot of instances to find the querst item/mob. without going outside of the game, you will waste a friggin huge chunk of your playtime just wandering around whacking mobs hoping you get lucky and find the quest item that may not even be in the same zone.

they are very poorly done by todays standards.

everquest is not about questing. its about grinding levels, and eventually joining a raid guild to get decent gear. nothing you get in a quest solo in this game will be worth having. you can buy better in the bazaar for alot less time, trouble and effort. grinding mobs that drop coin is how you get gear. not quests.

they have always been this way. people have always complained about it too. but the solid core of players here raid and grind levels. the game is built around them. the empty low and mid level zones are a testament to it.

its a niche game. no one does raids better than EQ. no one. but if you dont raid, your going to find it more of a grind than fun. and if you try questing without getting the info on a website first, the only F words you are going to relate to EQ is not going to be the word "Fun".

enjoy your stay and keep your hands and feet inside the car at all times and no foul language.

Don't tell God to do with his universe, and don't tell other people how to enjoy a game. If this is what EQ is to you, I hope you enjoy it that way, but to many poeple EQ is so much more than that - which is how it stays alive.
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i didnt tell him how to play the game. i just pointed out how most people ALREADY play it.

he can play it any way he wants. and it wont take long trying to do quests ingame before he sees how increadably fustraiting the questing is in EQ compared to EVERY other game out right now. not telling him how he should do it, just pointing out reality.

it IS a niche game. didnt start that way, but sure as heck ended up that way. another REALITY, not a sugestion on how he should play it. EQ is still alive. but so are Elvis impersonators. both just a NICHE crowd. UO is still ALIVE too. so is Anarchy online. both by the way have better quest systems.

I guess what you may find frustrating, others find challenging.
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no this is.

in the sk tunnels in qeynos, you ge a quest at level 1 to go find some note. the quest tells you it is on this guy the necros boiled alive and sent to wander the tunnels for eternity. a named bonie, right? nope. first, you go get a few more levels for this quest you got at level one so you CAN kill the bonies in teh sewers. you go around killing bonies all day long, none of which are named, thinking one of them may be a place holder.

after a couple days, you start killing EVERYTHING in sight. by happensatnce, you run across a zombie, not a named either. he is level 9. you are mabe level 4 or 5 by now. guess what? thats right. the note is on a zombie not a bonie, adn it is not a named mob, just a common mob. to boot, you have to earn atleast 7 or 8 levels from the time you get the quest to be able to comlete the quest.

after all that, you get the note and your epic reward for that part of it. a couple silver, and some exp that MIGHT have been decent at level one, but barely moves the xp bar at level 9.

wait, it gets better.........

it is part of another quest. you have to get notes from three other people hidden around the city. not kill them, just find them. you find two, but when you get to the third.....he wont talk to you. doesnt like sk,s or necros,s. have to be a druid or bard to talk to him.

rofl, not only can you not complete the quest, you cant even do the first part untill several levels after you get it.
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another favorite. the key to colbalt scar.

yep, you hail a gargoyl in some dungong. he gives you a note to hand to a giant. you had the note to him, you get something to hand back to the gargoyl and he gives you the key.

the problem? because there is ABSOLUTLY NOTHING INGAME to let you know how or where to get the key in the first place, it was found by mass killing in the dungong untill someone stumbled on it by killing the gargoyl and got a key they had no idea what it was for.

yep, the gargoyl drops the key if you kill him.

so whats the problem?

hahahahaha, when the expansion launched, all the big guilds, knowing nothing about the quest, PERMA CAMPED the gargoyl for about 3 weeks. NO ONE could get the spawn to either do the quest or kil for the key for WEEKS.

me, i brught a chanter friend who charmed the mob when it poped adn they jumped on him. our group did the quest in less time than the 29 minute per key the raiders camped out.

my point? FRIGGIN STUPIDITY, not challenging. just STUPIDITY. no ingame clues. if i hadnt found the info on a website on everlore, we would be waiting in line for weekds just to see half of the sov expansion.
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there are many others. many many others. many quest you can get bout can not complete due to race/faction/ or class. many many quest you could complete but got rewards that you could not use because of race/faction/class. many many quests that you stumble on at higer levels that were for noobies, many quest you get as noobies that you can complete till mid 50 to 60ish.

thats not challenging, thats just stupidity. questing in EQ is a lesson in fustraition unless you look up the quest offline BEFORE you start it.

there is no defending EQs quest system. the quest appropriate for your class/race/factoion/level are hard to find. the rewards are laughable. competion of many of them is not "challenging" it is just blind luck unless you go offline to see how to complete them.

THATS why almost no one does them. not now, not when the game was new. the armor quests? for 100pp you can buy better in the bazaar. why would you waste your time and effort trying to do quests you may or may not be able to complete for a reward you may or may not be able to use, but even if you can you can CERTAINLY buy better form the bazar?

everyone does quests better. everyone. and SOE doesnt seem to care either. but why should they? the players they have left are not interested in them. so why fix something no one usses?

questing in EQ has always sucked. if it wasnt for websites like this one, none of them would ever be done.

challenging? rofl, no, just poorly thought out and poorly implimented with poor rewards for the level you can comlete them. by the way you use "challenging" you could also apply it to beating a hole in a wall by banging your head against it over and over. fustraiting and stupid are bettr words. but go ahead and use "challenging" if it makes you feel better.

My question is, Shadowrelm, if you hate this game so much, why do you still play it and post on the forums? I've heard nothing but whining coming from you, and it's really getting irritating. If you hate this game so much, go play something easier and stop spoiling our fun.

Sorry for the derail, but that's just been bugging me.

agree with rodth.

you either love it or you hate it. i do both. i love the world and the characters, but i really really lothe the actual game play.

the problem was a lack of foresight, and in retrospect, a lack of concern about anything but the current project.

when they started, they couldnt see what would become of the game because there was nothing to compare it too. when the game launched, you would stumble upon items that were for quests you knew nothing about, or you would get quests that were so vague, the only way to complete them was to write them down somewhere and continue with the game untill you stumbled upon the item you needed.

but they had quests. something we couldnt get before EQ.

eventually, the game became popular enough that web sites started growing. and imput from all those people eventually started getting enough information out to 1. find a quest that was appropriate, and 2. see if the reward was worth doing it before you started.

those two big concerns were better addressed in every game since EQ, ingame. now the standard is a means ingame to determine where to get a quest that is appropriate for your level/class/faction/race, and provide enough information ingame to complete it. and some games, like AO for instance, let you see the reward before you start the quest.

but developers are more interested in creating, not fixing. fixing is a bad word. it means going backwards. so, while the newer quests are better organized, the older ones are still blind luck.

the problem is the player market. the gear you can get in there is significantly better than anything you can get with a quest. or even from a mob drop. and the formula SOE usses to determine what is "approptiate" for your level, equipment wise, is soo outdated, the rewards for their quests are....lame. same with drops.

the best rewards are in the newest dungons. end of story.

and that mindset has led to 90 percent of all the quests, not to mention all the content that came before it as...obsolete. it is the same with EQ2 and SWG. all SOE can see is the current project. not much thought is given to how it will affect current content. some, but not much.

again, others have done a much better job. Blizzard for example, didnt touch their low end game with their expansion. they created content for only the cap and higher. the end result is their low and mid level game is still very revelant. the quests give rewards that are worth persuing. and it will always be that way as long as their added content moves up and not down.

if you are going to make content that is new to lower levels, you cannot give better rewards or all of the lower level content will be abandoned except for the latest and greatest.

ALL following games did a better job with quests than EQ. and if you played any of them before comming here, EQ will be a lesson in fustraition, not a "challenge". certainly not fun.

that said, quests are not why there is no low and mid level game in EQ anymore. it is the group concept. people do not want to group. they may like to group. but they would rather not. it is not time friendly. providing a path for casual players to achieve anything in 90 percent of the game is why Blizzard still has a thriving low and mid level game while all others do not.

i love the world of EQ. love the characters. i absolutly lothe the game play.

dont worry though, my 3 free weeks is over on the 27th. i enjoyed seeing the world again, but i still cant tollerate the gameplay enough to stay. just not my cup of tea. will be gone soon.

i also enjoyed a few of the quests. but only after researching them online.

the stein of moggok quest is a perfect example. it takes you to many places, some of which were hostile, and before kunark launched, the reward was great.

but.....

anyone could talk to the bartender in freeport to get the quest as long as you were not KOS in freeport. but....only an enchanter or a bard could complete the quest. why? because of he opposing factions needed to complete differant parts. anyone hwo could talk to the halfling in rivervale would most certainly be KOS to the bartender in oggok.

any and every one not evil could get the quest, but only someone capable of illusions could complete it. something you might not figure out untill you get to the last part. something you wouldnt know untill after wasting a couple hours getting the other parts done.

ie, the quest was only fun AFTER you knew 1. you could complete it, and 2. you could use the reward.

how would you feel about the baby in blackburrow if after wandering around hailing various NPC,s you finally find the quest giver in qeynos hills, work your way down there, with a group if you did it before kunark and were of the appropriate level, do the turn in and get the shiney new weapon for.....your wizard/cleric/enchanter/necro/bard/shaman/druid......

how prized and happy would you be then?

thats my point. thats why, unlike the ranger who completed this quest, 6 or 7 other classes that wasted time on it felt....like they wasted their time on it. adn unless you found out what to expect BEFORE you started it, there is a much greater chance you walked away from it fustraited as opposed to challenged.

anyone who has played any other game before comming here, is not going to like the quest system for the most part. there are people who do like banging their head against the wall though, so you cant really say all.......just most.

EQ2 did a much better job with their quest system. but again, their rewards are really really weak untill you get to the armor quests.

but again, its not the vague quests or the weak rewards that keeps the masses of online gamers away. its not the world either, i think EQ has the best world in the gaming industry.

its the group concept that keeps them in other games. untill someone finds a way to make grouping time friendly, most casual gamers are going to avoid it like the plague. even high level toons with twinks would rather double box or solo than deal with a group. you know its true even if you dont want to admit it.

so games with alot of content available to casual players are going to have a higher population than games that dont. an gamers who pay to play are going to feel cheated of 70 to 90 percent of the content is group only and there isnt much grouping going on.

EQ2 was a perfect example. the starter island was flooded at launch. but when the toons reached 20 or higher, and the majority of the content was group only, they started leaving. it wasnt untill SOE injected some solo content that the bleeding slowed to a manageable level.

and why did that happen to EQ2 and not EQ in the first year or two?

because at the time there was nowhere else to go. now there is. POP was the finale nail in thecoffin for a big chunk of EQ1 players. it set the stage that all content beyond this point is off limits to casual players. and they responded. by leaving. and when the following expansion didnt slow the bleeding of accounts, they backpeddeled on the keys, opening up some of the content to PUGs.

there is a market for time consuming group only content. it is just very very small compared to the mainstream casual market. a niche. adn that is what EQ and EQ2 have become. a niche game. something the mianstream players just want no part of. Vanguard screwed up big time by not reading where the market was heading early enough to adjust to it. now they are paying the price in a big way. if their new raid content doesnt stop the mass exodus, Vanguard will not be here in 2008 no matter what the SOE pr machine is spitting out. they went from 200,000 accounts to under 40,000 accounts since launch and july first. half way through july they are saying they lost another 10 to 30 percent from verious servers.

if i were SOE i would revamp EQ1 or EQ2 low and mid level content to be 90 percent casual game play. dungons included. save the group only content for the very top. and when the top is raised, revamp the content left behind into casual content. if you dont give the casual gamers content, they are not going to stay.

it is like trying to force the consumer to accept your product as opposed to creating a product the consumer actually wants. the results are the same. a poor selling product. log on to EQ1 or EQ2 at any prime time play time. if 90 percent of the people in the game, outside of raiding, are not grouping, then 90 percent of the content should reflect the prefered playstyle of those players.

simple marketing concept. EQ1 or EQ2 could become as big a WoW. but not untill they start delivering a product the majority of the mainstream players want to buy. time friendly game play. that means if you cant find a way to make grouping more time friendly, then change the product to solo content. dungons included.

or not. there is room in the market for a niche game. and you can bet someone will figure out what the largest number of players want vs what the few want and deliver it like Blizzard did.

hehe the first time i played this some player told me to start raising my skills in begging... begging guards can yield alot of plats so you can buy weapons... and so i did... and the guards keep killing me... apparently they hate beggars... a funny but very infuriating experience... so after 74 levels i found the same player... trained his group for several times until i got a note from a GM to stop hahaha... long story short this is a fun game.

Alla is a great source to find quests. Click on Zones and under each are are quests.

If your just popping out of the tutorial you proabably need to throw on some levels before you get to enthused over quests. The lower level quests can be pretty tough especially solo. The higher ones are tough even solo but then that is what makes the game fun, the challenge. IMO

Joining a guild even at low levels gives you somewhat of a captured audience to play with. If you can find one that has a decent amount of people and play time you can typically get groups etc.

I skimmed over this thread and seen someone mention Crescent Reach which probably is the most modern way to level in the game today. However the old zones really have some fun stuff in it and missing those one day will be something you wish you hadn't skipped over.

Okay, first, I haven't played EQ in about... 2-3 years. I have played FFXI since then, and am considering playing EQ2 (On the 7-day trial atm).

Now, since that is out of the way, I can begin.

You seem to be making a certain assumption. That assumption is that people would welcome this game becoming exactly like WoW.

You are suggesting they make EQ into a game like this: In which I simply solo until I get to a high enough level (granted in most games where that is possible, it either gets very boring, or takes under two months) to go on raids with people that barely understand group dynamics due to soloing for most of their "life" on that game. In addition, I get to pay this company money so that I can play what is essentially a single-player RPG that happens to have multi-player content when you reach a high enough level.

Oh wait. That game already exists. It's called World of Warcraft. If EQ were changed the way you suggest, it would lose even more players. All of the "hardcore" people would leave because it became too easy, and all of the people that like the game as it is would leave because they didn't sign up to play WoW.

In my opinion, the whole point of a MMORPG is to party and group with people. Otherwise, you may as well log on an instant messenger, and play a normal RPG. It'll be about the same as soloing through a MMORPG, trust me. In fact, it will probably be more fun.

There are three reasons WoW is so successful.
1: It's Warcraft.
2: It's Warcraft.
3: It was the first MMORPG that was designed to be played casually, and thus everyone that wants to play a casual MMORPG is already playing it.

World of Warcraft is essentially an anomaly. The combination of WoW fanboys and casual gamers already playing MMORPGs attracted their friends to the game rather than to a more traditional MMO, such as EQ2 or FFXI.

Another point, no one is forcing anyone to play EQ or EQ2. If you don't like how the game is, you might consider leaving, as that's really all that will catch their attention.

I guess my main point is that if I wanted to play WoW, I would be playing it rather than EQ, EQ2, or FFXI (Which also happens to be nearly impossible to play "casually" and accomplish anything. Yet it is doing fine.)

An interesting point, I have played EQ, EQ2 (kinda), FFXI, Ragnarok Online, Maple Story, and several text-based MMORPGs (Urban Dead and Kingdom of Loathing being two such games). Wanna know how many of them have "quest givers" and little arrows showing you what to do, and a ding or message telling you when you've completed it?

Two. EQ2, and Maple Story. One of these two only have two kinds of quests: "Go here, kill this" and the classic "get me this many of this item" (That's Maple Story by the way). The whole "hand-holding through quests" thing is not an industry standard or anything like that, nor should it be. I am more than capable of figuring out that I have killed three of those monsters, and that I just got to the location I was told to go. And oh look, I can remember a guy's name without having to have an arrow above his head. Funny, I would never have guessed I had to talk to the guy I was told to talk to. /endsarcasm.

One thing I will admit to is that most, if not all MMORPGs need more rewarding quests. I don't want to kill 200 skeletons and get some random piece of equipment that is likely worse that what I already have, if I'm lucky.

Edited, Aug 3rd 2007 10:06am by Murathek