Good news, I only had a 20 minute Q!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not so good news, everyone is level 30+ and trying to get a group at level 5 with chat spam and LFG/on = nothing for an hour+. I love the idea of this server. I wanted nothing more than to group with people, instead of boxing or mercs. I wanted to go back to the original version and vision that this server was named after. I have always had a fondness for the original intent of this game...the social aspect, and how important that was to the longevity of the game, and the enjoyment. What made EQ great for me, was the grouping, and the downtime chats. I made great friends in the original EQ, some I still have to this day. That was the memory of Brad I was trying to re-live. I get what you as a company are trying to do, maximize profits, for a game that should have died a very long time ago. I appreciate that anyone still has this game open (same can be said for project 99). That being said, the cycle that I have just gone through, which was subbing a few weeks before the TLP release to get re-acquainted, ...let's not even talk about the server stuff that went on then, and then the subsequent release of Aradune, has just left me sad. I don't really give a hoot about the money, I don't care much for 15 bucks, but this game, and this experience, meant a lot to me...I'm not convinced it means a lot to you. This post isn't about some hyperbole about what circle of hell you people are from, it's about disappointment. It's especially disappointing given the server name, and what that meant to some of us. All I wanted was access, when it was viable to have that access. It's not about loot, or winning, or getting ahead, or being first, it's about the community, which given my circumstances, I've largely missed.
So...when you talk about loving the social aspect of the game, you mean you actively talked to people and invited them to come group with you, right? You didn't just type /lfg on and occasionally drop a "5 wiz LFG" in a public chat channel and wait for someone else to jerk off your nostalgiabone for you?
The community won't be the people who raced to 50 the first week and then walked away. It won't be the people who are only here to farm for profit. It will be people who know that PoP is a year away and there are lots of social things to do in the meantime. Casual family-friendly guilds will be formed. I suspect quite a few players are purposefully waiting for the chaos to die down before they even roll. New people who don't even know this particular server exists yet will trickle in. Nine days after launch (eight if you factor in the downtime) is a tad bit early to throw in the towel, IMHO.
Whether you are referring to EQ today or 20 years ago, it has never been a /LFG on, find instant group. This is especially true for certain classes. Some days you can do that and get a group instantly, others you'll be waiting all day. The people getting the groups are the ones that put in the time in the game. They spend more than an hour in game. They have better chances of getting into groups if they are playing a class really wanted for groups. Right now on Aradune, good pullers or enchanters are the ones most sought after it seems like to me. The people with the social skills to form up groups are the ones always getting groups. You can't just form up a group. You have to be a leader who has a place for the group to fight at, you have to prompt them to get moving. You can't just say "Forming up a new group" and then have the group sit around 20 minutes with no one sure what is going on and nothing happening. Nothing is more irritating than a "leader" who doesn't lead and make things happen. You are playing a wizard. Right now there are a thousand wizards out there, and five times that in mages who will do the same thing you do but also with a pet. You want to find a group? You have to be patient. You need to move around and go to where people your level are at. Look at the groups out there. You see five people? Talk to them and ask if you can fill that last slot. You can't just sit at the zone line with /lfg on, expecting to get a group. You can't just occassionally say /ooc 5 wizard LFG. You have to do more. It's always been that way in EQ, from day 1. It is those random pickup groups where you develop your friends and people you will adventure with. And at the very worst, you may have to do a little solo'ing while you find a group. Be happy you can do so, and relatively well. Some classes, like the rogue, are utterly terrible at soloing and completely screwed if they don't get a group.
These servers are designed to bait casuals into an initial subscription while the hardcore players with hundreds of Kronos spend nothing and RMT thousands at their own benefit every single TLP. Daybreak could EASILY detect their transactions but they'd rather bait newcomers into paying real money for subscriptions and Kronos.
Low levels are still popping, you are by no means behind the curve. Though you'll probably have to be more proactive and form groups on your own. Nobody's running level 5 camps and searching for replacements. Ironically the hardest part about getting a group right now is just how much grouping there actually is. It takes ages to send tells and do who commands. And then it takes ages to find a place that isn't camped. It's like that Yogi Berra quote, "Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded."
You're looking for a game that no longer exists. You'd be better off on p99 with your stated goals, although p99 is really nothing like the old game either, mostly because the playerbase has changed. If people already can't get groups at level 5, Aradune is doomed. Although Aradune is already doomed eventually when no one can catch up in later expansions because of very limited boxing.
Went to blackburrow to farm up a rusty spiked shoulders (got them on the first mob I killed, horray), found two picks and about 6 different active groups. There are still low level players looking for more out there.
Aradune is a failed experiment. A majority of people boxing have 3, 4, 6 accounts. The queue, and the chat lag, and zoning have made this an abomination. Zero gm support. As for the guy saying it took 10 mins, my 5 druid has been lfg in cl for like 12 hours and not a single tell. Luckily for many of us its just a fun sink till GoD comes out on Mangler.
Yes way too many have 3+ boxes, because its not being enforced enough. We knew it was going to be like this way way ahead of time, lets not fool ourselves.
