I'm very upset. I have no idea what to do. I love EQ but....

Discussion in 'The Veterans' Lounge' started by Grtoski, Feb 19, 2023.

  1. Grtoski New Member

    I love EQ, played 99-PoP era, played p99 green/blue and a few TLPS to PoP. It's just I try to play the new EQ and it's too much, so overwhelming and confusing: tons of windows up, playing solo all the time, not sure what quests to do, etc. I'm very upset because I WANT to play EQ and get into an endgame raiding guild and have fun, but I have nowhere to start. I always quit.

    Within the last year, I've tried playing EQ Live -- Bertox, CT, and FV -- a total of 6 times, and I end up quitting every time.

    A. 1-60 is a slog with a merc, no groups anywhere, just plingers and boxers. I hate having the idea of boxing, and I don't want to do it. It's a damn MMO, I should be able to get groups.

    B. I bought a heroic character and deleted them within a half hour because I had no idea where to go, what quests to do, etc. I felt so lost.

    C. What makes me angry is all these videos for a 100+ character says to do this mission, do that quest, do all the achievements, get this Aug, etc. How the hell is a new player going to learn all of this? I just want to /lfg , get a group, pull, and grind. Why did EQ get so complicated? Is it that top heavy that only 5% of new players ever make it?

    D. I did the tutorial so many times too, and i hated it. I hate the tasks, quests, running around, etc.

    F. I was told do to the progression starting with RoF after I bought a heroic character, even getting there was frustration. Then I get there, and I have to solo. This game is nearly impossible for a new player.

    And im here, Sunday, debating to make another character.
  2. Febb Augur

    Just like any game, it takes research and playing to figure out things. If you're not willing to put in the work to figure the game out, then perhaps console games might be more up your alley.
  3. KushallaFV Playing EverQuest

    You’ve already tried 6 times, just accept this isn’t the right fit for you. Unless, you want to fill out a box crew this isn’t really the game for you.
    minimind likes this.
  4. Brickhaus Augur

    If you hated the tutorial (your point D), modern EQ isn't for you. The tutorial is EXACTLY what modern EQ is all about.

    When a game has been going for 23 years and has 28 expansions (and has special servers for those who enjoy lower levels), there's not going to be many folks at the lower levels on regular servers to group with. Especially when over those 23 years, people have formed groups/cliques/friendships. Try walking into any situation where other folks have been together for 20+ years ... it's tough to get integrated.

    EQ isn't for everyone ... it's why it's not as popular as other games.
    Quatr, Yinla and Xianzu_Monk_Tunare like this.
  5. CatsPaws No response to your post cause your on ignore

    Edit: After reading your past posts, yes the next TLP would be great for you.

    Yes, they do require a sub.

    As has been said in the past the cost of the game $15 is minimal in today's world but if you can't afford it then there are other games to play.

    Based on what you posted before it could be that EQ might be too much sensory overload for you:(
  6. Tweakfour17 Augur

    Play a TLP. A new one is scheduled for May, you can play to the way you want for at least a year from a new start and by that point you will have hopefully made the social connections to continue grouping and progressing. All the new confusing features that plague a heroic toon get added piecemeal as the expansions unlock so you're building your class knowledge as you go not being dumped into 5 hotbars of hotkeys.
    Aiona likes this.
  7. Syylke_EMarr Augur

    Unfortunately, Live EQ is not built for low level play without friends or soloing. The systems just do not enable that style of play like other MMOs.

    That being said, if you're ok with a weirdly accelerated content schedule, one of the TLPs would absolutely give you the experience I think you're looking for!
  8. Grtoski New Member



    lol that's rude, to tell someone to play a console when I'm having trouble learning.

    I play on p99 green/blue, and I've raided all the way up to ToV, etc. I have no problems grouping, exping, raiding, making friends, and having fun.

    I'm venting because new EQ is top heavy and forces people to box. I'm also venting on how it's not friendly to new players. I refuse to go out and research for 20+ hours on guides, etc. That's not a game to me. That's just a pain in the .
    Veteran_BetaTester likes this.
  9. Grtoski New Member



    at least you're honest. I've been told by many vets already: "Either learn to box or don't play." And to me, that's an honest answer, and I' starting to believe that may be the case.

    I pissed off that just because I don't want to box or MOLO means I need to go out and do more research and "Get good" at 3-5 boxing. smh
  10. yepmetoo Abazzagorath

    I'm not sure how you can claim to have played on several TLPs up to PoP, then say that solo with a merc on live is a slog. That makes zero sense. It is far faster to level with a merc on live with no PLing than to do so in early era TLPs.

    Same with the task system. Task system just organizes things for you. You can ignore it (other than 6 hour timed shared tasks) and try and play the old way figuring things out yourself if you want. Saying you hate the task system is bizarre.

    Personally, this feels like a troll. You say you "refuse" to do research for "20+" hours in order to effectively bypass 23 years of content? Then that's on you.

    This game isn't hard. And there is a ton of content to do depending on what you enjoy, but one choice never changes with regard to playing efficiently:

    Make friends or make boxes.
    Silvena, alanus and CatsPaws like this.
  11. code-zero Augur

    Deleting a Heroic character within half an hour indicates EXTREME impatience. type /ach and start way back catching things up. Start socializing, if you deleted an Heroic in half an hour I have a strong notion that you are not even attempting to meet anyone
    Genoane, Silvena, demi and 1 other person like this.
  12. Shakara Augur

    Lol I love how the first two replies on the forum were "play another game" which to be honest is not bad advice EQ Live is just not really a good game for most people. If you are returning to EQ though the best thing would be as many other people mentioned is to play on a TLP. Your best bet is the youngest TLP as they tend to have the larger populations where you can meet new people which is why you come to play EQ. If you find a group of people you like a lot and you are all willing to commit then you can ride your TLP to live and experience live EQ that way.
  13. Shakara Augur

    I think it indicates how new player unfriendly they are. And socializing doesn't really exist on live EQ and much less if you are not max level.
  14. Loup Garou De loop de loop

    Don't really know what to tell you pal

    Perhaps revisiting your old posts from last year - same questions - might show some new insight? Although you did play TLP and FV and seemed to get past the overload issue.

    https://forums.daybreakgames.com/eq...ession-path-returning-player-from-pop.281657/

    https://forums.daybreakgames.com/eq...ce-classic-does-it-get-better-yelinak.283933/
  15. Tarvas Redwall of Coirnav, now Drinal

    Good news! It does not take 20+ hours of research to figure out how to play any character or complete a quest.
  16. Zarkdon Augur

    Kill mobs get xp until 110. Then do ToV quests. Join a guild talk to people. Make 2 characters so you can box with 2 mercs.
  17. Strawberry Augur

    EQ is far too top heavy. And I don't just mean in terms of players, I also mean in terms of levels, AA, etc.

    EQ developers have furiously added levels and AA in every other expansion in the last decade. This created a giant power gap between players that undermines group matchmaking.

    Combine that with boxing where no one needs anyone anymore, and the focus on raids where people just log in for raids and log off, and you can see how finding a spontaneous group is nigh impossible in EQ outside of TLP. Add in Overseer now and that has pulled even more people out of the world and you can now see where so many EQ zones are just barren wastelands, even at the high-end.

    I have no idea what EQ developers are doing, but they clearly put EQ on a horrible path where they actively undermine the social fabric of an MMO.

    This is why Heroic characters are a bad solution.

    If you are very used to EQ, you can't appreciate how confusing it is to get so many abilities, AA, zones, spells, etc thrown at you at once.

    I appreciated this when I played Tera Online and was given a free heroic character. I had no idea what I was supposed to do with all these abilities, I didn't understand how the game worked. I just quit the game.

    EQ has far too many abilities, far too much focus has gone to adding power to characters and far too little to a fantasy world where the sense of wonder and exploration should dominate instead of how many stats one can add each expansion.
    Dre. and Brontus like this.
  18. Grtoski New Member

    Th


    Thank you. For all the vets to simply crap on my post is an example of how top heavy this game has become, how it's not welcoming to new players.

    The fact I'm told to 2-3 box w/ mercs was the final nail in the coffin for me. I'll just wait for an EQ 3, playtest M&M, Dark and Darker, or PA Pantheon, especially in 2023.

    If daybreak made a better UI and navigation, etc. I' m sure other new players would stick around more. Who wants to play alone most of the time while "researching" where to go, what quest to do/not do, keys, etc. I think EQ is done for a a lot of new players. Without boxing and krono farming, I'd bet the population be nearly cut in a half.

    I went on Bertox and did a /who all of my class, found 9 people. I'm angry because there is no direction from Daybreak to help a new player get used to playing. After CR, where to they go? Same old hotzsones and solo? Buy DS pots or buy a pling w/ krono or get a fungi. Still, you're soloing. Even at 100-105 I heard it's hard to group. Nobody wants to play an mmo alone no matter how much researching or videos you watch.
  19. Xianzu_Monk_Tunare Augur

    I cut this out to address it specifically, because it is key. You bought a heroic character and created or upgraded a character for it, and then deleted after just a half hour. To me that does not say anything about the game, but instead about you. You don't have a desire to learn how to play the game, and with a 23- going on 24-year-old game, you are going to have to spend more than 30 minutes figuring things out after you skip 85 to 100 levels of the game.
    You played through PoP that's great. You played on the P99 servers alright, and a few TLPs to PoP. Why did you stop playing at PoP? Had you continued playing on those TLP servers past PoP, then you would have naturally gotten to the modern game most likely by this point, or been relatively close enough such that the the jump to current would not have been such culture shock.

    I think part of the issue is your outlook on it. You are going in with the idea that you have no where to start, but you actually have too many places to start. You don't really need to start any specific place. Go back to the content you know and play around in it. See what the class can do.

    A. 1-60 is considerably faster with a merc than it was without one or when that content was current. You can level rather fast, especially if you make use of the Teek quests in PoK. Grab like a couple levels above and below yours and go kill 5 mobs in each of the various different zones. Chat in the Newplayers channel that you will have autojoined, and see about meeting people and making friends. Maybe find a guild that accepts low level players to build up.

    B. I hope that you at least put the plat, Bayle marks, and other one-time items into your shared bank before you deleted the character. Giving up after 30 minutes makes me think that you didn't bother going to anywhere like PoK and asking anyone there or in the NewPlayers channel for suggestions on your situation as a returning player.

    C. EQ isn't complicated. You're making it complicated. I haven't a clue what videos you are talking about. Most of us who have played EQ for any extended period of time still use Allakhazam which was around when you played originally. There is also a newer one for newer content, eqresource.com. Going back to the videos, I am assuming that they are just videos of someone showing how they did a specific achievement. A new player is going to learn everything the same way that every other player learned it, by doing things and using things. But you don't have to do any of those things. If all you want to do is group with people, then find a guild that is at least semi active.

    D. You don't have to do the tutorial. Most people suggest doing the tutorial at least once for new and returning players just to get the basics of how the game works as well as an overview of things that might have changed since they previously played. I mean the charm is very good if you are planning on being lower level for a while, but it isn't a must have. You can completely skip the tutorial if you like and just go to any of the other level appropriate zones to grind xp.

    E. This point apparently doesn't exist. I will however say find and join a guild. Ask around everywhere. That is the single best way to get groups. The second best way is to make friends. Talk in NewPlayers (or General if you are using your original account and thus have a Silver account). Ask for help or advice. Ask for suggestions on what guilds might take you. Talk to people and ask questions. I know that on all the servers you mentioned that there are people who would be more than willing to help you and group with you at any level.

    F. Not sure what level HC you are talking about, but either way, I am assuming that someone told you to go to RoF and do the progression rather than the game telling you to go do that. When you were talking to that person, did you ask them if they could group with you or if anyone else might want to go do it?

    If you make a character, it is going to take a bit of time for you to get some understanding of things.
    • Ask people how things work if you don't understand. Things like the /achievement window can be explained fairly easily when you and the other person can both be looking at it at the same time.
    • If you do a Heroic Character, then expect to spend a few hours at least figuring out how everything works. Then expect to spend the time it takes you to level up to 110-115 to learn how your class works and how to play it in the modern game.
    • Don't worry about learning everything at the same time. Learn what you need to do for the basic game play and expand from there. At times, you sound like you think you should be able to learn everything that has been added in the past 21 years in the span of 30 minutes.
    • I honestly would say, make another HC and go to the PoP zones and pwn them, then move on through the expansions as they advance and see what you can do. If you run into something that gives you trouble, then ask in Newplayers or /ooc in PoK about what you might try to get around what is causing you problems. When people suggest things like AAs or getting specific items, go look them up online.
    EQ is not a complex game, but it is also not a game where you are going to learn everything about it in a single day.
    Ssdar and code-zero like this.
  20. MyShadower All-natural Intelligence

    I get your frustration. It makes sense if you want to play with others, you have to be where they are and it is hard to just jump in where everyone else is on live. There is a fairly big disadvantage for classes that are not solo/molo friendly jumping in on a live server. Heroics do not really solve any problems with the learning curve and any semblance of instant gratification will be lacking without boxing or friends willing to push/pull you.

    If you prefer live and could find it enjoyable playing one of the strong solo classes, I found following the Hero's Journey (The Serpent's Spine expansion) enjoyable when jumping back in post-PoP. That expansion seems like a rather ambitious attempt to court new players. Of course it is not for everyone. It is a bit hand holdy but you can always let go at any point and make your own path. I think I dropped out of just following the quests around 55 - 60 but did come back to it again later (higher level than the content though so not a challenge). There were times I went back and visited some "old" areas I remembered well to see how it would feel with a different character. I had a lot of fun in parts of Kunark/Velious/Luclin/PoP/LoY/LDoN.

    Personally I enjoy the quest system so I am biased in that regard. Within that system, I really enjoyed the expansions below the most. Honestly, I can find something I like in every expansion though so take my take with a boulder of salt.

    The Buried Sea (pirates)
    Secrets of Faydwer (a lot going on, several story lines)
    Rain of Fear (the first half over the 2nd half)
    The Darkened Sea
    The Broken Mirror (the live/dead thing was interesting to me)
    House of Thule (Just a fantastic expansion that is on a lot of lists.)

    Seeds of Destruction, Underfoot and VoA feel very, very big, a lot to do if you are chasing checkboxes but a lot of places to just mindlessly kill too. CotF was a lot of fun following the stories and tasks but repeating the heroic adventures when chasing a named or item got really boring without other players around. Some are fun to repeat.

    The newest expansions that revisit/remake/repurpose/re-whatever your take definitely feel smaller but they each have good attributes and they do press the nostalgia button pretty firmly.

    The anniversary stuff is coming up soon. There is a lot of silly solo stuff you can do there as far as game play.

    The reason I recommend the Hero's Journey is more to do with the learning curve of playing your class through the eras. You take on challenges one at a time and you just pick things up by trying to beat the challenge. You may find you need to go work on some AA or level up a bit to get through a particular challenge but overall you just end up leveling, AAing, gearing as you follow the story, yet you aren't necessarily forced to do it that way.

    If you can only define fun in EQ as being max in (pick your thing(s) to max) right now and playing where everyone else is, starting on live can only disappoint you unless you enjoy boxing or have/make friends to help catch you up. If you can define what fun is for you in EQ, you will probably find there is something here still. It just might not be at max level, today.
    Captain Video and Xyroff-cazic. like this.