Hello friends! I've been torn the past few weeks. I'm tired of the TLP gambit; tired of investing time & money into a character and then the server population moving on to the new greenfield that open's up the following year. I have characters on Live that have ton's of cool stuff I have not touched in years. Epics, rare illusions, cool ornaments from GM events etc, etc. However aside from boosting those characters to 85 via a Heroic, I have no clue how to 'EQ' beyond CotF (the last time I played live). I may not be looking in the right places; but I'm finding it hard to do prior Quests, Missions, Merc task's to level up and gear up as I'm not finding people doing them / interested in doing them (cant blame them, they may have already did it when it was current). And I cant just jump into EoK+ as I'd be terribly underpowered in all forms. I've been doing Overseer for the limited amount of EXP it gives. What other tools can I use that I'm not aware are at my disposal to get caught up aside from hoping for a handout or OP kill session. I know having friends or a good guild certainly helps; but what can I do for myself to get to 120 or even just up to semi current content people are active in. Is there a guild on a server that is planning to do a '85 to Live' self imposed TLP-esque thing to catch up to live? That would be the perfect find lol.
IMO you're gonna want a guild or some friends to play with that are active in group-related activities and/or are willing to help. Either that or box your own group. Outside of that I don't have much advice. The 85-110 leveling scene is dead. Deader than dead even. And There aren't a lot of avenues offered to help newbs or returnees to catch up.
Some servers are better than others. If your Euro go AB, otherwise I think you are looking at Xegony or Bristlebane. Before considering any transfers hop on the live servers you are thinking about, make a level 1 char and ask in general chat about guilds that might be doing your level of content. Find out what your options are. Good luck and have fun.
Players on Xegony and Bristlebane report performance issues probably due to the high pop. I would try a mid-high pop server such as Luclin, EMarr, or Bertox. FV server might be good for the OP as he describes chasing items. FV is not for everyone, however.
Raid performance is an issue on BB, as with ALL servers. The zoning problem on BB has been resolved as of the last patch. So any server will be fine really.
There are essentially two ways to go about catching up after a long hiatus where you might not have friends left from previously to help you: 1) Boxing 2) Finding a good large family guild where people will happily play their alts with you. There are a few out there. I'd try to find a larger one for the simple fact that more people in the guild = there's a much higher chance that people are online to play with when you've got time to play.
Thank you all for the ideas and information, I suppose I'll hunt down a server that has a population to support a returning player and see about finding a guild who is large enough and active enough to support a returning player. Based on recommendations, I gather that the following are options to consider. Bristlebane Xegony and Firiona. I don't think my play times would work well with a Euro guild, so I think AB is out. If anyone on those servers see's this and has a recommendation on guilds to look at I would appreciate your input. Thank you and Happy Friday!
This- There is population on Bristlebane enough for several guilds like this. The Dark Reign being the one I chose. I'm on day 2 on the server. Lots of friendly people in and out of guild.
Welcome back Spazin. As others said its all about connecting with others or figuring out how to solo/box. You might consider making a new character on a couple of the servers people have suggested, then doing to the tutorial and newbie areas till your are maybe level 20. During that time watch for and ask what guilds are active for new/returning players and see which servers suits you best. Be sure to include if you want to do raids. Depending on the class and your commitment there are guilds that will give you significant help if you are playing a key class, like cleric. Good luck and welcome back.
Boxing not only let's you play on your own, but also makes it a ton easier to start groups and socialize.
Hello! First of all, the experience of EverQuest is what YOU make of it. Not what EverQuest makes you experience. Options within EverQuest are varied and seemingly infinite. The world is huge and population on Live servers ever-concentrated at max level. Achieving such a catch-up can feel impossible. I am here to affirm the opposite. You can achieve it. The manner and height to which you climb is wholly dependent upon you. Find a guild with people you connect with and inspire THEM with your journey. Start at level 1 and just fly. Find your people. The search for connection can be the adventure. Good luck.
Returning Players Part 2: Setting expectations - YouTube This is a 10ish minute video worth listening to for players looking to play on live. It expounds a bit on what has been discussed in this thread.