Hi guys, What can I say, I'm an addict . I'm thinking of joining one of the new TLP servers. I've played EQ back in the day up until planes of power and more recently I've played a bit on non-live servers, but never got past level 40 there. I have some questions to which I couldn't immediately find the answer. 1. I am on a mac, can I just run the client in parallels or is that against the ToC? I have no other way to run it. 2. I have limited play time and there are a lot of times that I have to go AFK suddenly. I played an enchanter before and I loved that class, but probably the reason I quit is also that playing was stressful due to not being able to go AFK. I am therefor thinking of creating a necro, assuming that things are still mostly similar to back in the day (I can feign death at any time walk away from the pc and come back without seeing a corpse)? 3. Do pets still "steal" xp if they do more than 50% of the damage? 4. There are 2 news "random loot" servers that seem identical to me, does it matter which one I pick? Will these be merged eventually? Are they physically in the same location (I'm based in Singapore)? 5. Any other big changes I should know about comparing the TLP to P99? 6. I see you can buy a 40slot WR backpack for like $20, I guess this is a must have item, anything else I should get? Not a huge fan of P2W, but not having to continuously make trips for selling loot is worth some money to me .
Some more points I ran into while playing the tutorial on a regular server: 7. It seems the game is still best viewed in 4:3 format? When using the 1920x1200 resolution and opting for a viewport of 1600x1200 it seems I see just as much left and right but more at the top and bottom? So recommended is still to run in a viewport when using a widescreen and just put the UI in the black space? 8. The buff timer bars don't count down, GINA still recommended/allowed?
My advice is buy a PC, a few players do still use macs to play EQ but there aren't many of them left these days. There is ZERO company support for Mac so if you have a problem you will only have other players that can offer help. TLP unlock expansions every 1-3 months, if you have playtime that is limited to several hours a week you should avoid playing on a TLP as you will absolutely not keep up with levels & AA at that unlock pace. TLP servers are best suited to players who can commit to several hours a day at least 3 days a week or more. If you have an organised group of friends who play at the same hours as you can you may be able to accomplish a lot on 2-3 days a week but if you cannot be sure of that you are wasting your time. Live servers are far better suited to casual players, the disadvantage being they have a much larger gap between a fresh player and the level range where most activity is. With your need to AFK so much then a class that is a strong soloer will be better than one that depends upon groups, but if you plan to solo a lot you are again better off on a live server which will have much better "catch up " mechanics, on a TLP unless you can keep pace you'll soon fall behind in levels where the grouping is taking place, and while there will be groups who don't mind you taking frequent extended AFKs most will simply boot you if you are doing that too much. Yes Both of them use the exact same rules and yes there is a plan top merge them eventually should the player numbers fall enough to justify that. Both of those are USA located servers, there is in fact only one server that is not physically located in the USA, which is Antonius Bayle, that is physically located in Amsterdam. There are so many differences that you should not even consider P99 to be the same game as EverQuest, they are nothing alike apart from a loose graphical & mechanical similarity. TLP servers are not "Classic EQ" and use the same modern up to date code as the Live servers do, they just have a way to limit the expansions, features & zones you are able to access and then unlock them on a schedule. A bag is not player power, so it isn't pay to win, it is merely a convenience that allows you to stay in a zone collecting items for a bit longer before you need to find a place to sell up. You can use smaller bags if you wish but you'll need to make trips to a vendor to sell up a lot more frequently which is why such items are extremely popular on TLP servers and they are a big seller, they are also available on Live Servers but the "Hunter Achievements" also have rewards of bags for killing every one of a long list of rare creatures in each zone. There are also some long duration potions from the Marketplace that are very popular and these can even persist through death, such as Experience boost, though some buff potions can be over-written by player spells like Runspeed, Mana Regeneration, Hit Points Regeneration etc.
I'd like to play the game, but not that much that I'm going to buy a pc for it . Fwiw it is running fine on my mac through parallels with all the options on high, after all it is a 20 year old game. My concern is more that running it from parallels isn't allowed due to boxing restrictions. I'm not completely sure that I follow. With the TLP I'm sure there are a lot of players who consider it a race, but if anything the max level and items are still low. After a year we might be in PoP, my character might not be max level then, but even when he is like 50 that i fine right? I'm running through the tutorial on a live server now and it' nice, but I like the nostalgia of EQ, I 'm level 4 and have items better than I ever had on live during Velious (including a right click Jboots light item) I think it ruin the nostalgia a bit . Would be nicer if I get "eased into it a bit". To be honest I probably won't even last a year playing, so what happens after the TLP server hits PoP is a bit mood. Sorry I said that wrong, there isn't really any winning anyways no PvP. If people want to buy ingame items or plat that is fine by me it won't ruin my experience. But like you said a 40slot WR bag sounds really handy and worth the $20. With limited amount of time to play I'd rather not spend a lot of it for trips back and forth to merchants.
