So, I made it to 10 through the Gloobidook Mines or something in Crescent Reach, but now.... What/where am I supposed to go, how am I supposed to level? What's the story? What order do you do the zones in? I have absolutely no idea how to progress in this game, and just looking at the map is terrifying in the amount of content available. Also, where are the players at? Is there a city people prefer?
Follow the Hero's Journey. It's a series of quests that take you through The Serpent Spine. You should be able to molo just fine through 60ish with a mercenary tank. You will find people in the Plane of Knowledge and Guild Lobby - but they're mostly just hanging out for buffs, getting dailies or just hanging out.
If you've played thru the tutorial, and feel like you understand the basic mechanics, and like how the game works, I'd strongly recommend paying the 15$ and rolling a character on Mangler. This server is set at an earlier time in EQ, before the tutorial was added. It has the most people playing at a lower level, and will be very much new player friendly.
Kind of to piggy back off Dythan’s post, what server are you on? I’d generally recommend starting on Fiona Vie (FV) or Vox if you don’t go the TLP, Mangler route. Vox tends to have more new players because it’s higher in the server select list. FV is popular because it always has bonus experience and fewer trading restrictions. Crescent Reach usually isn’t empty, at least not on Vox. Just type /who to see how many are in. From my experience people hand out free buffs pretty frequently there to the new/lowbies during peak times. Good luck and welcome to EQ!
I'm on Fironia Vie because I roleplay and it's a High Pop server. I'm thinking about trying.... Uhhh.... TLP servers? But won't I be behind in progress? Also, what about lore/narrative. How do I engage in the story and lore of the world, it's very.... Strange. Different from most games. Doesn't really tell you much and I can't find any tie-in multimedia.
First, Welcome to EQ! As far as being behind on the TLPs, I don't think it is that big of deal. Mangler is only 2 expansions in atm, and there is still about a month and a half of the second expansion (Velious). It will give you a good amount of time to learn the game more. The next expansion, Shadows of Luclin, adds a lot of QoL things; like travel, a central congregating area--mostley for MGB buffs, the Bazaar, AA's, and a bunch of other things. Possibly the newbie armor quests as well, but I'm not sure of that. Use the EQ button. It really has a lot of things attached to it. One of the things is the "storyline" button. It doesn't exactly explain lore, it does to some extent, but mostly it explains a lot of different things about a variety items like; zones, certain quests, travel, some expansions, etc... It hasn't been updated in awhile but I believe most of the info in it still holds up. If you stick with FV server definitely grab a merc if you haven't yet; that is where the term "molo" comes from. They are pretty over powered pre-level 65, especially the tank merc. You will level kinda fast with them, so if it is too fast just put them away for a bit. At level 51 you can start to earn AA's and that will help control your leveling a ton if you feel its too fast. Some good EQ sites are: http://everquest.allakhazam.com/ http://www.eqtraders.com/ http://everquest.fanra.info/wiki/ https://almarsguides.com/EQ/ https://www.eqinterface.com/ There is more but that is a solid start. Like I said earlier, Welcome and have fun. Just keep asking questions either here or in game. Most people are pretty nice and willing to help.
I read some of the story log things, but it seems to have started in 2004 or something? Didn't the game launch in 1999? Also, is there an overarching story for each expansion/zone? Is there a character story? Like who is the lady in the blue dress that used to be in all the promotional material? As for the TLP servers, I'll prolly roll on Mangler tonight. Dark Elf Enchanter.
https://everquest.fandom.com/wiki/Lore Is one good source for lore. The lore has been in depth from the beginning and after 20 years, there isn't really a way to grasp it ingame.
http://lorenorrath.free.fr/ https://loreofnorrath.wordpress.com/ http://everquest.allakhazam.com/ (Under the Wiki section) http://everquest.fanra.info/wiki/Lore http://www.roztov.epizy.com/lore/index.htm
@ barta what is your toon name in FV, i helped a lot of players there and could see what i could offer , like always all free. advices , items , ect.
Ok, EQ does not really have that sort of 'all-encompassing' storyline for the player, where you are done with one thing, and game tells you whats next. They kinda tried to create something of the sort with Hero's Journey in Serpent Spine expac (Crescent reach and thereabouts) But generally, once you started in your race hometown, you could go about talking to NPCs and seeing if they had quests. You would get a general idea of the lore from those various quests. Quests were mainly for earning some item, a bit of coin, or faction rep. For leveling/xp, it is primarily mob killing. Some quests are tiny, some are massive, like class epics. Additionally, many expacs have a 'progression' storyline within them, but that begins to apply at higher levels. Also, this progression is quite often tied into raiding. Hero's Journey is a good first step, it kinda gives you structure, but really, you can explore the world at large and see what you can find.
In the Plane of Knowledge there is an NPC near the guild lobby entrance, that will tell you what the current hot zones are for your level. Those zones will give you bonus XP for your kills. If your wanting to do current content, I recommend doing the armor quests in POK. Focus on leveling up while learning your class. But avoid being Power Leveled. It will cost you, later if you avoid learning your class by having someone else level you. Also, make friends. Leveling up is faster and easier if you have friends to help you.
Welcome to the game. I also suggest finding a good casual/family guild on the server you are playing on.
About that lady in blue... dress (which gradually turned into blue bikini). That would be Firiona Vie, daighter of High Elf king, but while she is indeed a sort of symbol if EQ, you do not really see her in game much. She appears in Seeds of Destruction (lvl 75-80 content), in House of Thule (lvl 85-90). And she is one of primary storyline NPCs in Darkened Sea (lvl 100-105) progression. In short, I would not worry about her.
Surprised no one has linked this yet. https://almarsguides.com/ Lots of great info in there and can be used on either Live or TLP servers at virtually any unlock point.
I started playing about 6 months ago on FV and it seems to be a generally lively server, there are people leveling out here
