Returning after 20 years. Which server suits my goals?

My original EQ journey began on a very young Sullon Zek server, and I was a member of that community for many years. I've recently decided to return to EQ, and am hoping that you can help to guide me towards a server that suits my playstyle and goals.

I enjoyed a great many things about EQ, including its unapologetic and often punishing difficulty, the slow but steady leveling grind, and the sense of unlimited growth and potential I got when the AA system was introduced. I used to love solo kiting wyrms in Skyfire on my necromancer, grouping with friends on my cleric, and later, helping people with lengthy and dangerous PvP corpse runs on my paladin.

I enjoy grouping with good people, but I'm far from a social butterfly. I lead a raid guild on SZ at one time, and I enjoy dipping into raiding, but I am not motivated by it. I don't seek an 'accelerated' experience or desire to race through content. I enjoy challenge, I like to obtain and achieve things through my own ability, and not buy my items or power. I understand that a viable PvP server is unavailable, and that is fine.

If you have any suggestions about which server I should choose and why, I'd love to read your thoughts. Any other thoughts, suggestions, or tips you'd like to offer as I begin my return to EQ would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading my post!

First off I would try and recover your old account. If you can't that's fine but its worth a shot. https://help.daybreakgames.com/hc/en-us/articles/217481518-How-do-I-recover-my-account

If you can't then just set up a free account for now.

Next, create a new character. Does not matter which server (but not TLP yet) and go thru the tutorial. This should take about 30 minutes if you read the directions (which few bother with)

Now you have a basis to see how fast you kill and gain loot, with a merc, without and how some things have changed on live servers.

If you want a server where there seems to be a lot of help for everyone and you can buy everything (even raid items) then Fionna Vie would be good. But you need to learn half elf language right away which someone will offer to teach you. Can play Free or Paid

Or you can try a TLP which you have to be a paid account. These go at a slower pace and are based on old eq. But not quite. Some players really are into them .

Or a random server, like Tunare, might be good. You could solo, molo, there are a couple guilds - kinda an in between server.

Then download maps - Goods Map for eq and Brewells map. Both are free

Thank you for your great suggestions, Catspaws. My original EQ account is not recoverable, but I do have a Daybreak account that I played EQII on for many years. I like to buy All Access to support the developers, so TLP is an option, I'm just not sure if it's a good one.

For now though, I will take your advice and get started on the tutorial. Your logic is sound, in that I have some learning to do, and that can be done on any server.

Also, for you and future readers, a question that I should have asked in my OP:

What server do you play on, and why?

In July 1999, I selected Bristlebane because it was a middle-sized server then. It was a lucky choice because it has remained intact and now it is the most populated of the classic servers. EQ is all about relationships among players, even with mercenaries. I remain here because of the people I know, although many have deserted to join raiding guilds, in which I do not participate.

I also was lucky enough to pick BB when I started and am happy with that choice. People are on at all hours of the day. I did not really see if you distinguished a choice between a classic server or a TLP. If your longing for the old EQ perhaps one of those would be a good choice and I cannot say which because I do not go to those. Personally it sounds terrible from what I have read but who knows. If you are going classic I would pick BB since you do not want to buy your way to power. That seems to be what FV is all about. If you make the effort you can find people to group with , but I would not expect LFG to do the trick for you anymore. You may look into boxing. With FTP accounts you can be your own group to kick start yourself.

I chose Tormax because I wanted to start on a fresh TLP and experience most of the expansions as they released one at a time. Also because I like to make alts and so prefer separate racial starting areas like in the old days so I don't get bored doing the same thing on each alt.

My choices were Teek or Tormax if I wanted to get in before the first expansion. Teek is way too intense for me as I'm a slow-paced, casual, social type and not interested in racing to be the Best Anything or even hurrying to max level (I don't raid). Tormax has been just what I was looking for. Nice people on the whole, jokes and chat in General chat sometimes instead of just a constant flood of acronyms and numbers and item links. Feels like people, not robots. That's my (jumjum) jam.

I joined Teek for all the opposite reasons that Tansy joined Tormax. And levelled up a few characters there, and just this week i have finally reaslised that Teek is not the greatest server. In fact, Teek is pretty horrible. All the mobs are constantly camped, there are 6 box bot crews everywhere. Incessant advertising from power levelers and krono traders. For a normal person who just wants to go and pick up an item for their epic, it can be pretty much impossible. There will be 10 people at all hours of the day in Everfrost camping Karg Icebear. Yendar Starpyre has a life expectancy of about 6 seconds. The worst bit is, that the people camping them are not after the item, they just sell it for 2 krono in the EC tunnel a minute later. There will sometimes be 10 or 12 picks of common zones, but when you go in, the whole zone is being pulled by PL crews. And these are not obscure zones, this is the Hole and Chardok. And despite all that drama, all those PLers, all those Krono traders, it can still be hard to find a group.

I think i am just too old and tired for all that mess. So i abandoned my characters on that server (no, i am not giving anyone my stuff) and started up on Tormax. It is more fun. Zones are mostly empty. There were 10 people in the only pick of Unrest today. But that is more my style i guess.

I have not and do not ever intend to play on TLP servers. But the wide favor of Teek over Tormax puzzles me. Random loot means that it is nearly impossible to farm a desired item. This is like the Defiant armor for 80 and under. If you want a specific piece, the only real way to find it is to shop Bazaar.

Not per se.

I mean, you're never guaranteed a piece to drop. How many times have we sat in the same camp and killed the named mob 10 times and it keeps dropping the same items over and over without the one we actually are there for?

This just pools all rare mobs within a level range and ties their loot tables together. So now instead of not being able to get your Bone Handled Scimitar because the mob is perma camped, you can now get it off of 12 different mobs in the same level range.

More available camps = better CHANCE but lower probability.

Maybe I'll see you around in General chat sometime! I'll be the one making terrible Dad Jokes. Enjoy Tormax

I think you misunderstand how the random loot thing works. Mobs marked RARE when you con them, of a similar level range, in the same expansion era, often share the same loot tables. Bobbybick did a breakdown on Mischief and put it all on a spreadsheet, which if you take a couple minutes to look over, is easy to read. You no longer have to camp a specific mob for a specific drop, outside of a very small number of items (a monk epic drop is still limited to a mob in LGuk IIRC). I got a pegasus feather cloak from a rare, nowhere near SK, though I forget which mob, it's been a few years.

Seriously, search for Bobbybick posts in the TLP forum, it stands out and is easy to find.

I see people whining about not being able to camp a particular item and I'm always amazed. There's a whole lot more rare items dropping everywhere rather than less and it's easier to get them. Otherwise why would they be offered for sale more often?

If you still have your EQ11 log in info, try using it to log in to EQ, it should show you as silver, as paid to one is paid to both