Hello! So I'm returning to the game after a 14 year break and had some questions on using a Krono and/or going GOLD. I want to use a Krono and play the game for a month before committing to a membership but I had some questions on it. When purchasing a Krono, you get the perks that the F2P players don't get (lots of AA points, J5 merc access, T1 armor, more spells etc). When the Krono 30 day playing period expires, If you have the j5 merc, do you lose access to it? If you spend more than the 250 alloted AA points for F2P, do you lose everything you spent with those points that was over 250? How does it work? Also, being F2P, i've been told theres some limitations on how they will be able to play the game around 80-85....
I just returned myself. If you're gonna start over fresh you might want to check out the Test server. You get all the benefits of gold, except the Station Cash, and you get permanent double exp. That way you can try out the game without buying a Krono. The only down side is there's not as many raids and plat is pretty much worthless. As for the other, I'm not sure, but I think you keep the spent AAs. If you're gonna use your old account, you may be Silver (not available anymore but you might be grandfathered in) in which case you're limited to 1000 AAs, And as F2P you only get the first 18 expansions free, you will have to buy the last 2, so you won't have access to the higher level zones so you're stuck grinding lower level mobs for less exp.
You lose access to the j5, you keep any aa's you have, you just can't earn more till your gold/use a krono again. You lose access to any prestige items you are using, which can be bad when all your augs are prestige. Honestly, here are my suggestions: Play free for awhile Use a krono at 75-85, take aa grant. Find a family style guild ASAP. With a good guild/group if friends, you can still do quite well free to play.
Also, buying expansions is a separate issue from All Access. You still have to buy CotF, whether you are Free or All Access.
Since everyone has access to VoA expansion level 95, and the SOE Live is going on right now in Las Vegas- expect announcements about the upcoming expansion. You can make better decisions with more information, assuming you still know your original access you would have grandfathered silver status and can do a lot of your investigations for free. If you do decide you want to play with All Access using either Krono or a sunscription, waiting a few months for release of the new Expansion and buying it, would gain you the ones that came before. I started 14 years ago with Ruins of Kunark so even without the perks of ROF/CotF there is a lot to learn for some one who didn't get beyond that. The matter of cost to play, if you have notable disposable income then buying current Expac now and the new one in 3 months would be a minor matter, but if like many of us saving $ while checking EQ out, you can learn most of what you want to know for free, go All Access when you decide that you do want to play on, and buy the new expac when it releases (or pre order) and have full zone access then.
