Hey all, I've been playing on Angarr for a bit, it's been pretty fun and I enjoy the grouping aspect of the game. Having said that I haven't played EQ since Planes of Power and I was curious as to the state of live servers when it comes to grouping and raiding? I realize people probably do not group at low levels as there are mercs and all that other fun stuff, but do people group at max level for gear/xp? I have NO INTEREST in boxing characters, I would prefer to roll a character and focus on that character soley. If I did roll a character on live and leveled it up to max level, I want to be sure I would be able to find groups as previously stated for gear and xp and I would also like to do the raids. And as a side question, Berserkers are interesting to me, how are they on live? Viable for groups/raiding? Thanks in advance!
Welcome back. You'll find things a little more on the lonely side here on the live servers. With the huge increase in leveling speed, mercenaries, auto granted AAs, and hundreds of zones to choose from, most players make it to max level in a couple of months if they play at all regularly. They don't usually need to group at all until 90+. Said it a thousand times, but grouping comes down to attitude more than any other factor. Just joining general chat and spamming that you're LFG probably won't get you where you want to go. Likewise joining a guild...most of the other players are boxing their own full groups and may not even be reading guild chat. Anyone with half a brain will drop a mercenary to make room for a real live player, but you'll find that you will need to initiate contact most of the time. The good news in all of this is that it's not like EQ back in the Plane of Power days. Back then if you lost your slower or healer or tank or crowd control without having a ready replacement, your group was probably done for the night. Not so today. You really only need to make friends with one or two other players to get yourself established again. Pick a class that you like - berserkers are in a good state right now - and hook up with any other player. It doesn't matter if they are several levels above or below you. It doesn't matter if they are boxing or solo. Just two players and their mercs are enough to get things going. It's on you to find someone to join you or just someone to help with their goals. If you can make one or two friends that are usually online at the same time that you play, you'll be ahead of the game. Once you establish a reputation for character and skill other players will seek you out. Half a group already setting up a camp is a more enticing prospect than a random person spamming LFG for 3 hours and taking no initiative to go and do something - anything - with someone - anyone - instead of sitting on their butt wasting their time and then moaning about how it's so impossible to find a group. Keep an open mind and be a leader and doors will quickly open.
