New player, discouraged

Discussion in 'The Newbie Zone' started by Gotabigtoe, Oct 19, 2020.

  1. Gotabigtoe New Member

    After deciding I was done with the Toxicity of WOW and the entire philosophy of min/max-centric playing, I found nothing to do. Like in days past I allowed the nostalgia wave to wash over me and I began going back through games.

    1st is was the Asheron's Call player ran servers. Not too bad, but very vapid and pvp focused. I played AC back in the days FOR the pvp, but i no longer have the visual or mental acuity, much less the processing speed to go from realization to reaction, to action. It means I would be an easy to kill to nearly all advanced players.

    2nd it was Ultima Online! That last for under 4 minutes. The client was horrid looking, bulky, and terribly unappealing...so 2nd subparagraph! Player servers. FUN initially, about 2 weeks, then you run in to the rigmarole. You're new, they are not. Any issue you have is no issue, because you're new. You've not been here 10 years Here are a few items, go have fun. The action word, and focal point being GO. They are fanboi servers. Not UO servers. These are not Fanboi players of UO, but of THAT server, which was an odd realization to me. Sort of like being a football fan I suppose :) It became dull and I considered the donations as worthwhile for those football fans.

    Out of the blue while typing in MMORPG, a thread about EQ comes in to view. I had not thought about EQ more than a minute since I left in 2000. I reflect, WHY have I not tried EQ in all these years ? OMG! LOOK! A player server ...or sorts. I found Project 1999. Well, it was SORT of the EQ I remember. After 2 days of frustration over spell files, no, just the file, not the folder, no I don't know why they made a folder and not just the files needed and not clarify that while they ARE named the same you do not replace, just do it, ok !

    So here I am, whacking bats, dying to lvl 1 and 2 items ! THIS IS EQ~!!! By lvl 12 and literally seeing NO ONE who wasn't level 35-60, farming the guards.....I asked in chat. OH, so I am on the wrong server? This server is full of old vets who refuse to move and just keep recycling characters? ok. green? Gotcha! I roll on green. I see people everywhere. 67 people in the zone, woot! I level,level, level, I am level 8 ! LFG CRUSHBONE!...Nothing. orc hill? Nothing. Seems all of those anonymous players are leveling their friends, guildies, etc. Change zones, hell, lets ride that scary boat! Misty Thicket! ...*cricket chirp*. 2 days looking for any sort of group, as a cleric, nothing. This is not the EQ I remember so I started to browse again.

    Since EQ is now attached to my searches....google die...I get a post about an upcoming patch/expansion, or some such on Reddit. Then I find out there is a free to play server called Friona Vie on the servers that are owned by ...not sony, but Daybreak...whoever that is. At 1st I thought it was the same people who bought Ultima :) To boot I can simply DL it via steam. Even easier

    So that evening, logging in, Friona vie! Wait..what...barbarian in a jail cell? Teleport to a cave? 20 people running around in all blue armor? I had discovered the tutorial zone. Very wussified...but I liked it. No frustration palmed off as perseverance while dying to level 1 and 2 mobs. So, zip zip. No one groups there. Kill the big baddie? It says group, but it ain't happening. So yes, I killed it solo. But I didn't want to. This is hardly better. What's a TPL? Oh progression. Old Eq ? Why not, it's just 15.00

    Aradune HERE I AM ! What to roll? DRUID!! lvl 9....no group. "Go to Kurn". What's Kurn? A zone, lolz....a few trolls who must have failed so poorly at WOW trolling that doing so to old men in EQ was easier fodder :) I dunno. TBH, I have seen 3 trolls in 5 days and that pleases me. Jokes are fine, baiting the clueless is just being a man-child. So after sitting at the druid ring in Butcher block, and asking in general for an Emerald Jungle port (I Eventually had to look up the way to get there because NEW PLAYER channel simply means new character and the acronyms used, even when you say you don't, don't get changed or clarified they just stop responding)

    I get to Kurn on my stubby Cleric, im there 203 minutes, BAM! I am in a group. I am a chatty, annoying twit. I am actually grouped with PEOPLE. I had fun for about 3 hours. the EXP was a bit too fast, I know, sacrilege, but it was great playing with people which is all I wanted to do from the get go. Next day, I wait for these 2 to log on. I sit, read chat, familiarize myself with the current state of things as best as I can. Still checking. I move my cleric to Unrest, looking for a group, no luck. So I make a druid and add their names to friends. I finally see one log on...he has gone from lvl 15 to lvl 25.....perplexing. I send a PM "MAN you level fast" hehe is the reply and nothing else. I am deflated. one has out leveled me by 10 levels so I won't be in his group, but there is still another if he ever logs in. Let's play the druid....Danged bags, look, for 20.00 I get a bag that works in volume, the same job as 5 bags AND it is no weight. WHOA! For 35 I GET TWO and....potions of stuff. OMG! Membership Its 31.00 MAN WHAT A SAVINGS!! Yah, when it comes to games I am an easy sell. I mean, it's not like I am buying the holy sword of his holy whack-a-molness and I run around at lvl 1 killing Dragons, no, it is 2 bags.

    So, druid is lvl 4, can carry Freeport in his backpacks, and is still trying to meet people. EVERYTIME I see someone my level, they have a lvl ??? Up their butt, buffing, healing....At 1st I thought it was some oddball pet, a familiar, I had read about them and thought WHAT an odd thing, a pet that looks like a half elf, kooky...wait, it just healed that guy...ITs ANOTHER PLAYER! Just like the other server. it is a guy with a 2nd, and it 2 cases a 3rd account, playing guardian angel. Well, ok, if people want to spend 20-45.00 a month to play with themselves, who am I to care?...and in Unrest....it's 3 guys with their 2nds, and another 4 players with 2 of theirs..Wait a minute.

    So, here I am, with a lvl 16,lvl 9, lvl 7, TRYING to rediscover the fun. TRYING to not level up just to be a mindless leveling twit. SLOW ROLLING the game...and solo...still solo. Community has a different concept now, it seems, than it did in 99 and 00. I want to meet people, level with people, GROW with people. But that doesn't seem to be a common thing.

    It is discouraging to have this concept, this idea, of what will be fun, and then to see it is far fetched because so many people cluster around 2nd accounts, friends with 2nd accounts, and guildies with multiples so you can tag along. that they are solo leveling because they have spent I don't know how many thousands of platinum to have the best possible gear from 1 to 50 and soloing is simply les effort.

    So, I find I am logging in, looking for a group on 1 toon, waiting, logging to the next, doing the same ,just to play with people, in an effort to get to know people like we did back 20 years ago. I have 2 cool bags and a korno now. I think i will stop spending money as I am worried I am simply doing the same things for the next 4 weeks, trying to meet and grow, and failing to meet , group, and get to know people. Kind of funny how I want to level slow, enjoy the game and the company of people, yet most simply want to level as quickly as possible.

    Maybe I am just too old for EQ, with my view on what constitutes fun.
    Lorai likes this.
  2. Skaara New Member


    EQ has most definitely changed, the harsh reality of modern EQ is that the population is limited. Boxing has become a normal occurrence due to this, for better or worse. You are most definitely not too old, you just haven't found your people yet.

    My best advice is to find a guild. This is a change from someone accustomed to old school EQ where finding a group didn't require a guild. General, /shout, /ooc, etc. does in fact work still but guilds, especially family/casual guilds, are generally garnered towards finding people to spend time with in modern EQ. In almost all instances of finding people to group with, this is generally the first step.

    I appreciate your post as it was a nice trip down memory lane, I especially liked the
    :D

    I hope you stick with it!
    Pikachuuu and Lorai like this.
  3. Eindyina2 Journeyman

    I understand where you are coming from, I am a returning player from years ago. I left WOW bc it just was not that fun for me. I was able to recover my old account and play my wizard again. A lot has changed and you are right, most of the population are > 100 already and the lower levels you see are usually their alts. And the boxers? Wow! I can barely run my one toon let alone another lol.

    Advice from a semi new player to another:

    Get into a good guild. I happened to join a wonderful guild who have some really awesome people in it. If they are bored on their mains they may help you level or play their alts with you.. When they offer it to me I jump but I wait for offers bc I know they are doing it out of kindness and I don't want to wear out my welcome. And the conversation is good and makes it fun. My guild has been very good to me and I am very appreciative. Plus when you (grow up) aka get to 80 or so your options for grouping are much better in a guild.

    Have you hired a mercenary? They grow with you. I'm a wizard and I go splat easily so I hired a good looking barbarian tank mercenary. It helps tremendously to have a tank with you during those times you are riding solo. And with plat being a lot easier to get it's not hard to keep one.

    It sucks being a lower level main and trying to level up and experience the game. I feel your pain. But you'll get there eventually if you don't give up. And it makes you a better player when you have really played your toon from the ground up and know your class well.

    I enjoy grouping with my guildmates and I also enjoy going solo and just enjoying the game. In the end it's all up to you :)

    Good luck!
    Eindy
    Pikachuuu likes this.
  4. I_Love_My_Bandwidth Mercslayer

    The problem IS the nostalgia. Human habit and memories that stick with us mean we look for the same, positive experiences so we can relive them.

    Allow yourself the latitude to enjoy what is right in front of you rather than your interpretation of what it should be. There is lots of fun to be had in EverQuest right now. :)
    Pikachuuu and Skuz like this.
  5. Gotabigtoe New Member

    I think the guild thing is going to be far more difficult than I expected. Was asked to join a guild, said I would let them know later as I didn't know them. Found a group of 3 of their members and asked to join the group, that I wanted to get to know some of them as I was interested in joining. After a few minutes of making dad sex and gay jokes I figured that was a bust. I don't care for trashy humor in a video game. That and chat troll spam are what killed WOW for me.

    I will keep trying for a guild and see if that improves things. I don't want to holler that I am looking for a guild as I would think, like the days when the person was more important than the slot he filled, I would rather group with people to get to know them and go from there.
  6. Sakuraba Augur

    Far as the guild thing goes, it can be really hard sometimes, especially if you're on a TLP or Firiona Vie, for ruleset related reasons. Often times I have to try a few guilds and see what clicks. It has unfortunately been years since any game, eq included, has really had a "casually get invited while in a group" situation getting on. The top heavier a game gets, the more likely it turning out that way is to become.

    I certainly did not expect to find the guild I was in on Aradune before I got bored/too busy to feel like I was connecting with them. It just sort of happened because I was curious, and a necro named Gauu happened to be advertising.

    EDIT: This might sound like I'm discouraging you more, and I apologize for that. TBH it's meant to encourage people to just kinda explore for a bit, in terms of finding people that suit them. Sometimes you CAN do it the normal way, other times it's messy.
  7. Satrn New Member

    Ok, I see why you joined a TLP server, and why you created different characters. I cannot speak to the differing TLP servers, I can speak for a live server that I have been on since 99.
    Cazic-Fennin has been and continues to be in my mind a great friendly server. Yes there are and always will be trolls, and teenage and older fools that think like young teens. On the good side there are lots of older mature players that like you remember what it was like when we started and are willing to help and instruct if need be. I'll say this, moving to a live server and joining an older guild or even a newer one just might be the ticket for you.
    cadres likes this.
  8. cadres Augur

    I've been playing almost 20 years; never on a TLP server; everything I've heard about them doesn't encourage me to spend my time there.
    Also tried to make a baby toon on FV many years ago - failed to find fellow newcomers.
    So I've really only played on the European servers (now down to just AB). Like everywhere there are people being offensive, but they're really a minority. There are loads of fun and helpful people here. I would imagine most servers are the same
    My tip - get chatting in general chat so people know your name. Ask questions. Ask about guild recommendations. Most guilds are certainly skewed towards max-level folk, but others have, and look after, 'younger' toons. There's a steady stream of 'returners' - not huge numbers, true, but there always seems to be some newbies around
  9. Broozer Augur

    It's one thing to reminisce. It's another to try and bring the past to the present with different social dynamics. Never a good thing. I'm almost 50 years old and have been playing EQ for 20+ years. As someone above said, look at what's in front of you and determine if you can genuinely enjoy what is there versus looking fondly at just the positive aspects of the past. It's like thinking about an ex-spouse and only looking at the positive aspects, instead of taking the full landscape into account.
  10. jeskola pheerie

    Cliffs notes:

    He hates boxing and cant find low-level pickup groups 5 months into Aradune.

    My suggestion is to form your own groups. Go to an area you wish to kill in but can't find a group and use General and OOC to say "Unrest group looking for more" etc. And join a guild.
    Broozer likes this.
  11. Skuz I am become Wrath, the Destroyer of Worlds.

    1. Pick a class you intend to be your main & take it to max level before you spend a lot of time on a whole bunch of alts while getting nowehere. "alt-itis" is the biggest barrier to you seeing more of the game as it will eat up a huge amount of your time, far better to invest all your time into one character, get it to max level with raid gears & then worry about alts when you have a max level main that can easily feed your alt characters gear, spells & currency.

    2. Join a guild, without a guild you will be reliant on Pick up Groups (PUGs) and that scene dies FAST on TLP Servers, you will need to be in a guild to have a serious chance to make it to the end game & to have any chance of having the opportunity to raid - another reason why I said pick a main in point 1 above.
  12. Joules_Bianchi A certain gnome

    1) Boxing a couple free to plays, like a mage and a druid to help level a character and have campfires to port to camps fully buffed from PoK, etc is a boon, not a hinderance. (Tracking and Call of the hero are sweet too)

    2) THIS, THIS and more THIS.
    I'm in a large guild on Vox. Ive seen complete novice players get all sorts of help and get up to speed VERY quickly . It's the people. It's the people. It's the people.

    MMORPG

    Massively _____________ Online Role Playing Game.
  13. Skuz I am become Wrath, the Destroyer of Worlds.

    Works well on live servers, but he's playing on Aradune, F2P is not normally enabled on TLP
    (except when the devs want it to be as they can switch this on or off)

  14. Joules_Bianchi A certain gnome

    Good call. I missed the server status.
  15. Kerpin New Member

    Since the servers are down for patch day, I actually read your whole post. You're way too chatty for us to become friends but thought to express my thoughts regardless. (My advice: Work on TL:DR).

    I get that you miss the nostalgia. Other's advice to join a guild is a real solid clue. But most importantly, you'll need to take the lead in the pursuit of your expectations. Perhaps you should form a guild of your own and start advertising for like-minded players... there is every type out there of all levels of experience.

    It's unfair to expect a game to deliver the same player experience of 20 years ago. The game and the players have evolved. There are now far more choices on how to play and level. The game assists you with potions, mercenaries-for-hire, faster xp, adventures, even games-within-the-game like overseer.

    From what I read of your message it's not the game that is at fault, it's that you place too much importance on what you consider "fun" which is the companionship of fellow players. It's not up to the game to deliver that to you, it is for you to go seek it out.

    You certainly have the "gift" of gab so these forums are also a great space for recruitment. Perhaps commit to a server, advertise your level and guildmate parameters you are yearning and develop a catchy tagline on welcoming specific player types. Get your name out there and I'm sure some will come.

    Best of luck and welcome back to Everquest! Now go have some fun!!
  16. Nymera Nightshade New Member

    Keyword for me has been "family friendly" guild. There are usually a few on any server that have young people playing or adults that prefer cleaner conversations.
  17. Joules_Bianchi A certain gnome

    I know two guilds that are EXCEPTIONAL at helping new players-
    Vox server's "Wandering Norrathians"
    Corwyn's guild on Xegony - "Lions of the Heart"

    send a tell to anyone in either guild. You won't be disappointed and will have a better time as a newbie.

    I have characters in both.
  18. Crabby New Member


    I am going to jump on what everyone else says and say find a guild that seems to fit what you want. For most people these days on tlps, growing doesnt mean leveling, because as you commented, the leveling is very fast. Growing is now generally thought of as "Clearing content". The guild I'm in on Aradune has focused on clearing content quickly, So the leveling process from 1-50 was about4 days in classic, and then about another 3 days 50-60 in kunark (and I wasnt the fastest by any means). That wasnt the real growing, but clearing the dragons, getting epics, getting into VP all together as a guild wide accomplishment, that is how my friendships have blossomed on aradune.

    Are there still trolls? yes. Are there still people who you see in your zone and you just assume you are getting trained or ks'ed? yes. But such is the nature of mmo's. There are communities within the EQ community and I think you would have more fun if you find that right group. There are raiding guilds, leveling guilds, casual guilds and hardcore guilds, ask around and find what fits.
  19. metledmantis New Member

    Your trying to slow roll it like its 1999. It's not. there are 115 levels plus THOUSANDs of alternate levels. maybe pick up the pace a bit and do some of the content you have never done.... level 12 is like what ? a few hours of gameplay in crescent reach?
  20. Ezra Journeyman


    I've played on Aradune for over a month now, and never have trouble getting groups--sometimes even when I'm not looking for one. Advertise in general chat that you're LFG and be close to Unrest (lower levels).

    As others have noted, your looking for static players for regular companionship and community--that's a guild. But I'd add it sounds like you're an older player, so you should ask about the average age (and time zones) of other guild members, when guild shopping. If you played in 1999, remember that everyone shared a generation in the original game. Many players are millennials now--which is to say, many years younger than you. If you don't like trash talk, "family friendly" is the key phrase.