Serious boxers only discussion

Discussion in 'The Veterans' Lounge' started by uberkingkong, May 21, 2022.

  1. uberkingkong Augur

    Couple questions for serious boxers, as in people who box more than 3.

    1. Whats the most you've boxed before? One machine too?
    2. What do you do to cram all your boxes on one machine if so? Ex. lower CPU usage to minimum. Far clip minimum. etc.
    3. Is there any hotkeys you make to adjust for using good amount of computer resources because your moving or doing something where its easy to mess up if its on low settings.

    click a button 'good settings' then when your trying to not kill/overheat things on your motherboard due to high usage, click a button 'low settings'?

    btw, my questions in regards to doing serious boxing with no key transmitters, only alt tabbing, no 3rd party stuff. Using the ingame macro/social feature.

    Can the ingame settings be changed via windows explorer?
    Say I need to go low settings on 6 boxes, rather than go into each account and click buttons, can I drag and drop the settings files that is set for low settings into the respective spot and poof, all 6 boxes are low settings? I doubt there is a hotkey for changing the display settings/in-game computer resource usage so have to improvise a bit I assume.
  2. Viper1 Augur

    don't set your "background FPS" to minimum, that's what causes problems with /follow were the followers run around in circles.
    Arkanny likes this.
  3. I_Love_My_Bandwidth Mercslayer

    What resolution? What CPU? What GPU?
  4. CatsPaws No response to your post cause your on ignore

    Deleted post - OP clarified he wants to box 12 characters, and I only box 3-6
  5. uberkingkong Augur

    no kidding, already discussed this.

    Low settings, high settings quick change.

    That is my question.

    Not how do I prevent my boxes from running around. This is a serious boxer discussion not newbie questions.

    The issue isn't my boxes running around, its serious boxing, as in more than 3 boxes. Myself I'm talking about 12 boxes on one PC. I'm looking to get more and I'm looking out for my PC as in overheating.

    This is about serious boxing and making sure the computer doesn't overheat. So we talking SPECS here. Obviously can upgrade the PC but can also, tinker around with EQ ingame display/advanced settings. Obviously it takes A LONG LONG time to adjust 6+ boxes to go into low settings and back to high settings. I'm wondering how other SERIOUS boxers more than 3 boxes, go about this.
  6. I_Love_My_Bandwidth Mercslayer


    1. I've boxed 24 characters on one machine (Ryzen 5950X, RTX 3090, 64GB RAM). Lowered all instances to 1280x720 resolution, granted this was within I S Bee. I also reduced all instances detail to minimum, turned off shadows. Far clip plane to 10%. FPS on each instance was around 60.
    2. Without using boxing software, order of launch is important. Alt-Tabbing effectively means your instances/characters are in a specific order.
    3. Once you get used to it, low resolution is fine.

    I am sure you could script an eqclient.ini swap to change settings. But it won't happen in real time.

    In-game settings CAN be changed via Windows Explorer. But the game engine only references the entire settings file at game launch, and then only certain settings in-game, while zoning. If you want to change settings for all boxes you need to exit the game as far as I know.
  7. atchoom Lorekeeper

    i box up to 7 same comp / screen , never used any 3rd party software .
    it is not bad , but i must admit for me ,playing caster group is much easier than when i try to play my warrior as main tank ( incredible how many times he goes * can't see target or out of range to attack , even if sometime he seem to be right at the right spot to attack...............) so i prefer using mage pet as tank, so i can send pet and start right away the assist / dps hotkeys.

    i still use win 7 , and all my eq icon are on taskbar so i can click the toons i want to use ect.

    in the past i was ( with mouse ), clicking the eq button and with mouse again clicking the hotkey to cast malo and some dps, { other toons it is the assist keys and all.}.

    but i changed some setting and now it is much faster than what i was doing.
    now all my toons got their hotkeys at the same place , and i settled that hotbar ( hotbar 4 for me ) '

    for me hot button 5 is my assist key and under keypress ~ alternate i clicked #1 on the right of the keyboard .... so pressing #1 on the right of KB it does :
    1~~/pause 5, /assist my mage main toon to assist, [3 mages.shm.chanter and druid }, i add my 7th toon ( 4th mage here and there too ) so alliance is easy to proc with 4 mages. and * of many line dd is :D with shm pet proc as well...
    2~~/pause 5, /pet attack
    3~~/pause 5, /pet qswarm ( since i use 3 or 4 mages )
    4~~/pause 26, /cast 4 ( for me it is servant pet )
    5~~ /cast 1 , for me the best nuke.

    my #2 on the right of KB is my mage assist and alliance +
    my #3 is my dps hotkey
    my #5 is my heal hotkey ect,
    my #8 is my mage assist and send the aa swarm pet aa.

    depend which toon i use , they got their hotkey a little diff than when i use my mage.
    EX: shm add aa slow / chanter add aa tash , druid add aa debuff ect with their assist and dps,

    since all my eq icon are on taskbar and the mouse pointer is already there , it is much faster to click the eq icon that you want to use and press #1 on the right of KB to click the assist ect ( you can set any keypress too as you wish .as well ).
  8. Tucoh Augur

    6box, one machine. Background fps is king for /follow. I limit to 85fps which is responsive enough with selos. I don't see other people using stick figures, but they help a lot especially in PoK lag piles.

    I don't recommend boxing more than three without inner space boxer. In intense situations your fourth character is unlikely to outperform a merc.

    Here's a vid of me doing the toughest mission in the current expansion.

  9. Viper1 Augur

    Ok, serious answer: 3rd party programs. No one boxing 6+ characters effectively isn't using 3rd party add-ons.

    Anyone who says that they aren't is a liar.
    Wyre Wintermute and Randel Flag like this.
  10. Bigstomp Augur

    Even with just 2, I find this really depends on the zone. It used to be I could set background FPS to max and /follow worked like a charm. I remember being amazed at the change after I did that where I could autofollow up twisty ramps in RoF's end zone.
    In modern zones it's really hit or miss. Large open zones like umbral plains or maidens eye seem to be worse than more closed in dungeons (Ka Vetha works pretty well)
  11. Prepared Lorekeeper


    The most copies of Everquest I've launched on one PC without any 3rd party software, that is only using the Everquest launcher was 48 accounts. This happened just earlier this week. It was more of a "can I do this" and "what will happen" thing than actually play the accounts. Granted, I have the absolute best gaming PC you can have right now with the RTX 3090ti video card and 12th generation i9 processor and 4800mhz 64gb ram.

    The most important thing you'll need to find out is the sweet spot for the advanced option in display options for /follow to be effective for Max Frames per Second and Max Background FPS. It will be different for each PC (Personal Computer). For me, I had 60 and 35 and /follow works fine. But the settings largely as you may already be aware are dependent on several factors. How many characters/clients are played and strength of the computer and graphics card are the largest factors.

    The other settings are under Display Particles. Everything can be turned off or set to a minimum except for Env Opacity can't be lower than 15% or you won't see 5 fingers in front of you. The Far Clip Plane can also be reduced from the default of 75% but you'll want to play with it to get it optimal for your computer and zones you go to.

    My suggestion is to get everything set for one client as a test that will be used for all clients that you're going to launch. Set it all up, then camp out to save the eqclient.ini settings. Launch the clients one by one using the launcher and position the windows the way you intend to play. Try it out with your team and see how well things work out. If there is something that needs to be adjusted, camp everything out and start over with setting for one client again.

    P.S. I forgot to mention that you really need, I can't stress this enough! You really need to get HWiNFO64! This is the best temperature reading software free program for Windows available that I'm aware of. This has a sensor status window that you can click on interested options such as Core Temperatures and GPU Temperature along with fan speed and view not only in real time but with a history in a graph that shows when the system got its hottest.
  12. Randel Flag Elder

    This, Truth!
  13. minimind The Village Idiot

    I JUST noticed that you asked for responses from those that box >3 not 3+. Feel free to ignore my input.

    1. Single machine: 3-box (zerk, shaman, something else) plus 3 mercs (tank, healer, healer)
    2. Assign EQ instances to specific CPU cores. That's it. I use close to all the highest settings on my Gen 11 i7 (16GB RAM, SSD, GTX 3060). Even before the upgrade (previous: Gen 7 i5, 8GB RAM, SSD, GTX 1060), I was 3-boxing just with medium settings.
    3. Nope.
    I'm almost always streaming a documentary or movie when I'm 3-boxing as well.
  14. Hitmehard New Member


    Boxing 6 effectively and boxing well is not the same though.

    Even boxing 6 badly is better than mercs.
  15. Chikkin Augur

    My ideal setup on FV, and later Test the last few times I did some "boxing for a few months from 1-75/80/85" has been 3 toons, 3 mercs, but then i reach ares that I want to see and progress and mercs aren't allowed or something. (I think VT was one of the first heart-breaking offenders) I don't remember exactly. I haven't fooled with it since 2018/2019 (on boxing on a live/test server) and the last time I did EQ was TLP 2020 release.

    Anyway, so i read your post, did not watch the video, are you saying/implying you usually do 3 toons, 3 mercs, or are you 6 boxing, no mercs?

    More than familiar with your name on Forum Quest, appreciate your input on boxing, I think I've seeked your guidance in the past when had specific questions about it.
  16. Chikkin Augur

    Reply-Tag-Quote also:



    Is this true? You seem pretty confident (not sarcasm, I have boxing experience, but not to the level of the experts in here), and while I have done both, I think I found that the best for me was something where your puller or tank (if not both) are 1 window, then 2nd and 3rd toons being low maintenance bots like Bard with Melody, a Cleric-CH bot, a pet class like Mage who can just send pet in, or a "worth their weight from the buffs, plus their merc they brought with them" types like say a Shaman or Enchanter who maybe do nothing but buff refresh and slow (or in Shaman case, backup heal a cleric merc or something) ---- and then bring 3 mercs... rarely-to-never a tank merc, always some variation of 3 DPS mercs or 2 DPS mercs and a cleric merc.

    But the theory-crafting and building and setup of the groups are always "quite an event" in it self, then comes all the setup of installing the files/UI everything how you want it, then setting up the in game UI for your bots (if not wanting to use copy UI or whatever)... blah blah blah... but even if you put aside the headache of "Mercs come ready to go, and they don't need to be spoon-fed so much" ....

    .. should I revisit boxing 6 toons instead of 3 toons and 3 mercs? -- what is considered an ideal or realistic setup on this. --- for example, are we trying to make a "good group" and just tornado-tab like a crazy madman controlling them all and having them do their roles, and use mana effectively while catching runners/snare or gaters/stun etc. Juggling taunt, or heals, Charm and pets...

    OR! are we saying that yes, 6 toons instead of 3 toons and 3 mercs -- but don't try to be multitask-er sent from Heaven about it, instead of have a lock of 3-4 toons you can handle amazingly well, and the last 2 can be special case uses not made for every single fight, like say a Wizard blowing his load, or a back up healer, or just someone who sits there and is a buff-bot getting exp and adding to the "full group means more exp" count....


    I'm going to tag the other two who weighed in with detailed stuff as well. -- I'm looking at Vaniki and Mischief hard, and only playing 1 toon since True-box and I don't want to buy a cheap laptop.... but the EQ bug is definitely itching lately, and good chance i could just go for another detailed 3box (or 6box?) setup again since it's been about 3 years since last time I did it seriously. So this discussion is interesting to me.


    Edit: Bonus Question, the last few times I set all this up, I gave each account it's own folder, even if everything was copied over from the base/main account, I think I read somewhere, that it actually helps the CPU or perhaps it was the HD/SSD load everything instead of just 1 folder, and changing the account at the Launcher 3-6 times. --- the actual question is, does this help: speed of loading, speed at which the accounts stay in sync with each other, and also possibly reduce crashes? My computer should be 100% fine, it's starting to get out of date, but it's never been an issue, and i did the boxing of 3-6 toons on the outdated computer I had before this one. Specs are: i7-9700K @3.6 ghz, 16 Gigs of Ram, great SSD, and the video card is Geforce RTX 2080 Super. (I play at my desk, 1920x1080)
  17. Tucoh Augur

    I 6box. I'm tempted to switch back to 3boxing every year to save $$$ and to make the game more challenging, but I know I'll still shell out $35 + 3 months sub per account every expansion.
  18. Tucoh Augur

    Key factor is that if your 3box contains some combination of melee ADPS, the melee mercs are quite good. If you've got a popular 3box combo of say, sk/brd plus a shaman, berserker or beastlord, it will be difficult to add a fourth DPS character that produces more DPS than a melee merc.

    This is especially in difficult situations where you need to focus on maintaining aggro on your tank, healing your group from AE, CCing mobs, dealing with debuffs, popping cooldowns on all your characters etc. In easy situations where you're pulling consistent mobs it's feasible to stack a longer and longer action sequence that produces results, but that all crumbles when you're fighting a tough named mob that starts popping adds or whatever and you can't spare the time to alt-tab to your auxiliary DPS.

    Another important note is that when you get a solid 3box setup up, you can easily add a fourth using fellowship xp / vitality. https://everquest.fanra.info/wiki/Fellowships#Fellowship_Experience_Sharing I started with a 2box, then moved to 3box, then 4, then 5 and finally six, and have continually swapped new characters in using fellowship XP. In many ways for a new/returning player it'd actually be easier to go with 3box and add new characters in later than try six boxing from the start. I've raised a few 6box teams from scratch and leveling 6 characters at the same time is really tedious.

    I don't have any opinions about TLP boxing. For folders and stuff, inner space boxer takes care of all that nonsense for me. I recommend it for "serious" boxing.
    Chikkin likes this.
  19. I_Love_My_Bandwidth Mercslayer

    So much this.^^^^^

    It can be and usually is completely overwhelming to box 4-6 toons. Even if you know the particular classes well, the workflow is different when you're boxing that many. It takes time (and many deaths) to develop the skills, knowledge, in-game macros, and muscle memory to deal with the various scenarios in-game.

    Add to this Tucoh's point of leveling 6 toons together and realizing you have to gather spells/tomes x6, quests x6, vendor x6, AA x6, skillups x6, mounts x6, bags x6, housing x6, collections x6, TS x6, etc etc....ad nauseum. It's tedious x6. :D

    The payoff here is being completely self-sufficient. Your team rolls into the zone and you're ready to go. Drop a campfire, buff, start pulls, kill, profit. No waiting. Need an AFK? No problem. Double invis and walk away.

    Echoing Tucoh's advice - if you're just getting started with boxing, start with 2-3 and add as needed/wanted.
    Chikkin likes this.
  20. Smak Augur

    No one seems to remember what box means anymore. Box is just slang for a computer. And i have seen one crazy fools setup with 17 monitors, keyboards, mice, and yes boxes all tied into an illegally high bandwidth to play eq with.

    Granted most were just wizzies and took a single key to dps with, he also had a warrior, 2 clerics, a chanter, and a shaman. 12 wizards...