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EQ, noob to the game friendly?
Darkfyre97
Member CommonPosts: 2
in Everquest
Hi, I'm so tired of playing WOW that I can't stand it and I'm looking for a new game.
I was just curious if EQ would be the place for me. Other than being obvious lightyears behind on everything since I'd be starting from scratch, does that put me in an insurmountable hole, progression wise? Are the start zones dead and would I be stuck gridning out however many levels there are in the game by myself or with the occasional random stranger (or my girlfriend, if I can drag her away from WOW as well)?
I know its the right forum for it, but what about EQ2 as well? Same deal there? More nub to the game friendly? Worse? Any input would be MUCH appreciated!!
Comments
I believe you would probably not find people to level with on EQ but its definitely possible on eq2
Chances are you would enjoy EQ2 more if you are coming from WoW. You have to understand EQ released years before and the game isn't nearly as carebear as WoW is. There aren't question marks and exclamation marks above NPCs heads to signify there is a quest available. Its been awhile since I have played and they may have changed the aspect, but when you die you lose experience and could possibly de-level. You have to run for your corpses naked, with 0 gear not in ghost form and hit resurrect.
Honestly, you are a WoW player. It is almost certain that you will hate Everquest 1. Besides the lacking player base, the game is just an overall hardcore game. It takes time to get what you want, and nothing is an instant reward. You want an item, you form a raid or you go camp the mob you need to kill for that item, no world drops.
Just swing towards the EQ2 side. It is still a great game, but it is deffinately more user friendly.
I haven't played it in years. The graphics are definitely not impressive by today's standards, but I imagine they've implemented a lot of things to make it more noob friendly. I remember reading something a while back about them implementing a merc system (I don't remember what it's called exactly) where you can hire NPCs to accompany you and help you adventure and level - kind of like Guild Wars.
you need to own the latest expansion, Seeds of Destruction, to use mercs
- I havent personally tried them
store.steampowered.com/app/24130/
EQ2 fan sites
There are two types of mercenaries you can hire. One is the healer variety. They are pretty much a low intelligence moderatly equipped Cleric. The second is the Tank Mercenary that can step in front of you and keep you alive.
They are a great addition to the game as they allow the melee classes to finally be able to solo. So if you ever played the game before and quit because your big bad walking meatshield kept getting killed by low level mobs, then EQ is NOW designed for you. There are alot of complaints about the mercenaries in the community, but I think this is because they work so well.
As to the point of naked corpse runs...that has been changed. And with the advent of the guild hall, you can bind your soul in the lobby and if you are killed, for a little bit of plat, you can have a Lobby Summoner summom your naked corpse (you respawn with all your equipment on.) and have your merc cleric rez you.
Overall the game is fun and with the updated graphics they are putting in the game, it's not really as bad as most people think. It gets better everyday.
What do you mean "Updated Graphics being put into the game?" I think EQ would definatly be more popular in this day and age if the graphic engine got an overhaul (or replaced), keeping the core game the same, people would still have a hardcore MMO, but with stunning graphics and keeping the original EQ alive! Simialr to what EA did with UO when they released Kingdom Reborn.
Heres hoping.
Wow I might have to go check if they still have my 3 old accounts. My Necro,wizzie and shammie could hire a tank and a healer go off soloing old world dragons.
This is unnecessarily obnoxious.
Lets try to rephrase this for the OP in a less offensive manner. I come from EQ1 and I also play WoW. No carebear reference or hardcore comparison, just another game with a slightly different style.
WoW is far more player friendly, in that things are arranged to help you focus on playing and less on worrying about hiccups. EQ1 in the old days was a rudimentary implementation in comparison. The penalty for dying is a lot more expensive, in terms of game hours lost (xp losses), while WoW simply tax you a % of the worth of your gear (10% damage). EQ in the old days is very solo unfriendly, and you need groups to do pretty much everything, unless you 2box with skill.
EQ1 has less on screen hints, you have to guess your way thru, and with very limited mods, you pretty much need to read up on webs (web sites much less informative nor updated) or ask in game. EQ1 has less population at the starter zone, good luck finding consistent groups. The high level / end game boss grinds are gruesome and cruel, just fighting to the boss is pain, and many bosses are random spawns. He simply might not be there when you make it there. Raid bosses are always there. Dungeon bosses (named) are random.
Over the years, the game has been simplified, to make it less painful for starters. Soloing is slightly more viable, but even with the mercs, it is nowhere near soloability of hunters or warlocks of WoW. Practically every class of WoW in the right talent tree can solo comfortably, much less can be said so for EQ1.
Do not think about hardcore carebear, it is simply not the case. This game takes a lot of time to get things done, and preparation work is much more painful. Crafting and other activities are far less enriched, meaning raiding is about all you do at the end. The skill system and AA used to be pretty distinct from EQ1 (or EQ2) but now WoW has its own form of AA, there is nothing really distinct about EQ1 any more.
Quality of community varies by server. There is few trash talk barren type (now dalaran /2 type). There are also fewer talks if any, as the community is cold to new comers, unless you are an alt of somebody. You will have a hard time finding friendly people. If you find some friendly ppl, stick to them.
Is EQ2 better than EQ1? Well as a game, EQ2 is more friendly to newcomers, except price inflation. EQ2 is also a big time sink in terms of money grinding. Every skill got its own premium version, you can buy crafted versions of that skill with varying quality, or buy the exceptionally expensive dropped version. Meaning, for every skill/spell you got to paid for upgrades. This and gear, you can imagine the time costs to keep yourself geared and tuned to max.
Both games EQ1 and EQ2 are low in population, try to find the busiest server for you during your prime game hours, or you will be visiting a ghost town all the way till raid levels. Find a friendly server, friendly guild or friendly player or 2, or it will be a long hard lonely night, after another.
First of all,
Lvling to 50ish is very easy in EQ1 now. Tutorial alone with get you to lvl 10 and teach you all the basic and give you some nice noob gear. From there on, either you can hire Merc (mercenary, tank or healer) and get your way to lvl 50ish in about a week or less depending.
and I think you can buy Seed of Destruction (latest expension) with all previous expensions included for about $40.
And from my experience, you might not get invited by taking in general (esp for low lvl toons). It seems easier to lvl yourself with merc at lower level as it is way too easy to lvl now. From 50ish to 70ish, you can go the the zone you want to play (usually hot zones with exp bonus) and send tell to people in zone if you could join. Usually people will mostly suspend merc to include real life player. I never find it hard to get random group up until 75+ lvl (85 is max now btw). by the time you are 75+, you should have some friends to group with or guildies to play with. So, I do not see much problem there either.
But do not play EQ if you don't have patience as getting good loots can take days at high end. At high lvl, you will just be going like 1 weeks or more per lvl with casual playtime. To me, EQ is just big time sink... If you got time and patience, EQ is for you.
Yes, from now one buying the latest expansion will include all previous expansions as well as a free month of play for new accounts created from the box. So you are looking at $40+tax for every expansion and a months gametime now.
EQ is slower than alot of games, in every aspect, from downtime to kill time. But if you were interested in trying out the game as a "noob", you couldnt have found a better time as far as ease of playing goes. Alot of conviences that make the game alot easier, including Out of Combat regen, defiant armor, hotzones, merc's, the new bell curve for AA exp gain, respawning with full gear, and I am sure there are others I am missing.
If you dont mind the fact that EQ tends to be a slower paced game, its worth giving it a try. Enjoyable game, has kept me coming back to it no matter what other MMO I try, since 2003. And I must say, coming back this last time just half a month ago was the most enjoyable, nice to see so many good changes that enhanced gameplay.