I've played several mmo's over the years, starting with Dark age of Camelot back in 2003. I kind of miss the old school graphics and stiff char/camera controls. Been thinking of trying EQ for years, and finally decided to try it out. A few things I'm wondering: 1. what server(s) have good communities 2. what class's are in demand and/or usefull for both grp'n and solo 3. how is crafting/gathering in game, is any of it profitable 4. how is the free insta 85 system
Avoid the very low population servers: Zek, Test, Trakanon, Fippy, Vulak. All the rest are more or less equivalent (but AB is european based). You may want to make your own checks. Mage and necro are good solo classes, but (as you might expect) tend to be overpopulated. You can make money with trade skills if you know what you are doing: but I doubt you would ever make back the cost of skilling up to max levels. Heroic characters work, come with a decent basic set of gear, spells/skills and AAs, but cost a lot (equiv of $35). You getting to grips with them isn't a simple task. Best advice is to make a low level of whatever class you like and run it through the tutorial (at the very least) before buying the upgrade.
I can speak from experience that Vox is pretty decent. The leveling there is a bit easier than other servers due to it being less top heavy. It still is quite top heavy as more and more are getting to the higher levels. Couple of guilds are up and going that do help newer players. Asking this question is usually going to give you the "play what you like" response. I'm going to warn you right now that you will NOT know what you like until you get it over 80. Most classes fundamentally change past level 75 and sometimes past 85. For example a cleric has a heal, a long casting complete heal, and a few buffs till about level 75ish. Then you get decent heal over times (you get these earlier, but they start getting really good past 75), and a promised renewal heal that casts quickly, but doesn't heal till it wears off 18s later. And even later you get decent damage spells that will also heal the mob's target. And heals that will heal the target and damage the target they have selected. Other classes have other class defining abilities that start showing up there too. Just keep that in mind when you ask around. As for what is in demand, people like to forget that what is in demand is usually server based. If anyone says a list of classes, make sure they explain what server they are talking about. On Vox it seems to be Tanks (Warrior, and Paladin, SKs aren't needed so much), Healers (clerics, druids, shaman), Enchanters, and Bards. You might see alot of bards but they are usually buff bots on auto follow. Actual played bards are very rare. As for soloing ability, Paladins solo extremely well. They can tank everything, and heal themselves while doing it. Some say its slow going. Yeah... just use a caster merc and you're good there. In fact most of the classes listed up there can solo well enough with mercs. Though this does get tougher for everyone cept paladins and druids (who won't need mercs in some areas) past 80. As someone said before, Mages and Necros solo really well. Even without mercs. But because of that reason, they are a dime a dozen and don't find groups as often. Gathering is done by loot drops from mobs. There's no ground spawns with mats on them. And it can be quite profitable. Requires playing the market a bit, but with patience you can make quite a bit of plat. Heroic characters are no longer free. That was a short window. But how heroic characters work in themselves is you get a 85 character with a mount, some starting money full spells, skills, and AAs up to 85 as well as some starting gear that will help you get started in the House of Thule expansion (85-90 content). They can be daunting to play if you're new. You literally get dozens of abilities and even more spells (if a spell caster) that you have to sit and learn all at once. When it was free, I made a heroic beastlord. Ended up deleting it and making a ranger instead since I had a 80ish ranger on another server. Just couldn't get the feel for it. And I have been playing since 2002. Some classes are easier than others. But just giving a personal experience so you can get a better idea of what you're getting into. Not trying to discourage you. Some newer players have gotten them and done well.
All of the servers have good communities; each have their bad spots or people, but none of the communities are bad in and of themselves. Expect some joking and pranking to be done at your expense, so avoid any commands people offer you that start out /ex or /q; they will not end well. The crafting system (generally called Tradeskilling) involves using items that are primarily drops, but also can include vendor bought items, foraged items, ground spawns, other tradeskilled items, and the results from turning in items to NPCs. Most older recipes are learned using the experiment option where you will put the items into the appropriate Tradeskill's (TS's) container and hit the combine button. Upon succeeding the recipe will be memorized and you can use the newer TS UI. Additionally several newer recipes tend to be Scribed from the books you find the recipes in so that you do not have to succeed in making the item before gaining the recipe in the newer interface.
1/ Server From experience, if you start at level 1, you will find Vox has a better population on levels 1-90. When I first came back I played there to level 70 and found it to be a good community and some social / family guilds that are really helpful. I then switched to Bertox, simply because that's where the guild I want to raid with is based. Bertox also has a nice community but it's top heavy (most people are lvl 95-100 and you will likely not find any groups at all till you get high level) 2/ Classes This will depend a lot on the server and guild you join. In my case there was a need for chanters so that's what I ended up rolling. Clerics are needed for high end raiding, but find it hard to get into groups to level up (everyone seems to have a healer merc) Typically the classes that are easiest to solo are also the hardest to find groups with, ie Mage / Necro. Tanks can be in demand, but are very gear dependant, and you may struggle to gear up if it's your first character. 3/ Crafting No idea I only craft under duress (ie to complete a step for an epic quest that requires to do some crafting) 4/ Heroic Characters I tried a few and they are well designed and packaged, come with decent gear for their level and a bunch of AAs. However, starting EQ at lvl 85 can be very confusing (some classes more than others, I found Monk very hard, Mage fairly easy) Since there is no rush as free heroics are gone, I'd suggest you try a few classes, pick a server and guild that suit you, then choose a class and make a Heroic of that class. The time you spend doing that won't be wasted as it will give you valuable basic knowledge and an idea of what the different classes can do etc...
