Multiboxing is a sign of a deeper problem with the game.

Tbh, that depends entirely on your perspective.
If you want to have a meaningful player experience with a low-level friend immediately(because you think EQ starts at level 1), then it is better to shroud down and group with him right away. (one of the reasons why shrouds should be allowed in the tutorial imho)
If you are convinced that EQ only starts at max level, and want him to experience that as soon as possible, then a week long powerleveling session will be your choice.

EQ actually has a lot of content that can be entertaining, even grouped with a shroud, and it is more entertaining for a newb to experience that, than enduring a boring powerleveling session. Especially if he is still not convinced about the quality of the game yet.
Telling him day after day, "it will be fun next week, I promise", is not the best way of welcoming a newb.

Fair point at an intellellectual level, however I would still wager the number of players remotely interested in doing that is so miniscule as to make the investment a complete waste of money.
Current shrouds suck, maybe some new non-sucky ones could be made, the concept of playing in old content for zero reward is why I think the idea falls down and why the money would be better spent on something that would see more use.

Can't say I agree with you there.

I do agree with you here, that's why side-kicking is such a great system, and I played City of Heroes which used it & can say from experience it works well there, I see no reason why it would not work as well here or in any other MMO that's been around a while.

That type of content is only fun for its novelty and nostalgia. There is no demographic of player looking to grind up from lvl 1, with or without friends. It's not a practical use of anyone's time in 2022 with WW3 on the horizon. People have a few hours to game with their friends and family, they want to make the most of it. If they choose EQ, they most likely want to experience whatever is newest. That is why the only healthy population on live is at the latest couple expansions.

Right now that latest content is *at best* a cut n paste expansion that just isnt keeping people's attention any more.

People have been boxing since EQ was created. Theory Flawed and Void. Next please

"It's always been a problem therefore, it's not a problem. Proceed with the plan immediately!" /entireworlddestroyed.gif - Dystopian Scifi

I remember trying to box on dial up.

The people boosted don't know what they are doing, and you don't succeed.

Will have to disagree, as I only did PUGs from the time I started until well after the first set of mergers with no issues. Luclin was one of the easiest times to do it. Now perhaps if you were at the very tip top of the game at that point you might have had issues, but your average person from 15-55 didn't have problems finding them.

You misunderstand me, it's not that you couldn't get PUG's, it's that by Luclin the really bad players were very much an issue so my friends and I began boxing regularly because a healer or DPS being played alt-tab by one of us was a lot better than most of the randos LFG

Right, but how are they going to get to learn with no help?

Making a tutorial is costly in dev time, do you seriously expect them to solo from 1-116 and then start LFG ready to play their class well? They will still suck, so why not cut out that needless 1-115 solo slog, get them into groups & yes they will not know wtf they are doing to start with, they are noobs, but that's what the community should be willing to help them with if they want new players at all.

Sounds to me like you are fine with new players joining EQ just so long as you don't have to interact with them until they are competent, AKA let someone else help them, you aren't interested.

How long will guilds last with that attitude?

Rogue mercs. I'm an ENC boxing a mage and CLR and have always gotten lower DPS from caster mercs than rogue mercs. I also would have caster mercs run OOM and die more often than rogue mercs making total DPS much, much lower than a rogue.

I would love to not have to box in this game. I would love to just log in my main and run missions/progressions. But there are literally zero groups ever. I can't even find someone willing to sell TAs to missions so I can play the expansion I bought.

So unless you're willing to commit to a guild, or are content only playing 30% of an expansion you paid a premium for, you have to box. And honestly as a boxer you spend more time interacting with 3rd party tools than the game itself.

It has only "always been a problem" in the eyes of the boxer witch hunt crew.

The discussion is not about, if boxing is a problem. It is a discussion about, if people boxing is a symptom of a fundamental flaw in the game design.

I honestly can't remember trying a well designed game, where I felt that one copy of the game was not enough. This also goes for other MMO's. In other MMO's there was plenty to do even without a group, So I never needed a group just to do "something". Of course, there was also worthwhile stuff to do with a group in those games.

Should there be more soloable content in EQ? would the game be worse off, if they added that?
They might loose some subscribers if they do(mainly those that only box because they feel pressured to do so, but doesn't really enjoy it, so they might reduce their box-crew), but it might make the game more approachable for players who don't want to box. I think the community would improve if they attracted more players. The boxing "requirement" might scare potential newbies away...Boxing is too hardcore for many potential players I think.

Personally, I don't think it is a problem that people box(a subset of boxers find it fun and challenging), but it is imho a problem if people feel they have to box.

My tank merc can tank current content including named without much issue.

not saying they dont need a boost but its def up to snuff and can tank better than some actualy players

In Sony's defense I don't think any of the early designers had a clue where this game would go in 23 years. They were just riding the wave and doing their best. At this point the only thing that will "save" Everquest is going to be a new paradigm. Good luck with that.

More to the point I don't think they expected it to be around 5-10 years later let alone 23+ years later. Combine that with how much expectations have changed for online gaming over the years and you can see why it has issues.

It’s a solid reason for launching EQ2, within 5 years. Dismissing the following 18 years of development post-EQ2/WoW really just paints the picture that the game was very, very poorly managed.

How about letting me play the game the way I want to play it.

You are better off just creating a new character that you play with that low-level friend.