Is there a vanilla server? Or is there a way I can start a human character in Qeynos? I'd like to recreate my original experience I created a human and was in some kind of jail place.
No, yes There are no official "vanilla" servers. The jail you started in is the Gloomingdeep Mines, which is the tutorial zone. Uncheck the box for "enter tutorial" on character select if you don't want to go there. If you want Qeynos to be your home city, you'll need to have a subscribed account, and then select Qeynos as your starting city when creating the character. Free accounts all start in Crescent Reach. If you're running a free account, you could also just start in Crescent Reach and then take the Plane of Knowledge books over to Qeynos in just a few minutes, and then start there.
TLP (time locked progression) servers are the closest to the "vanilla". If a new TLP is starting in Classic, it's as close as you can get to the 'original' experience. TLP servers require an All Access account. Only Live servers allow free-to-play accounts. On Live servers and TLP with the applicable mid-timeline expansion unlocked (not sure which one off the top of my head), if you have the "Tutorial" button pressed when you create a new character, the character starts in Gloomingdeep Mines (waking up in a jail). Before you finish character creation, click off that button to not start in the mines. From the Mines, you can leave via a cave entrance on the other side of the water. There is a sign next to the cave indicating it goes to Norrath or something like that. Leaving the Mines will put you in a grove with big trees. That's Crescent Reach, the new default starting zone (unlocked with The Serpent's Spine, TSS, on TLP). If you have a free-to-play account, you are limited to starting in Crescent Reach. If you have an All Access account, during character creation you can select one of the original starting cities limited by race/class/diety as it was originally (and how it is on TLP until TSS is unlocked). The default is Crescent Reach. If you don't change the starting city, your starting city will be set as Crescent Reach. The Knowledge Book for Crescent Reach is actually in the next zone over, Blightfire Moors. From the spot you start at or appear at if you leave the Mines, take the path to the city that's in a cave. On the other side of the area you enter, there will be another path out to an very low level adventure area (newbie field). Cross to to bridge that is to the right. Follow that path through a small valley to zone into Blightfire Moors. In the Moors, hug the right hill wall, round the corner and you should see a book on a pedestal. Click that book to go to Plane of Knowledge. In PoK, you will appear next to the Crescent Reach stone. The stone to Qeynos is near the outer wall close to the CR stone. I'm not in game so can't recall what cardinal direction. It should be on the default map, I think. If you started in CR or the Mines and want to adventure in a different location in the low levels, be sure to find the nearest Soulbinder (in Qeynos the Soulbinder is by the bank) and 'bind' your soul or else you will end up in the Mines or CR when you die. When you reach level 6 (or is it 5) you will have access to a special AA called Origin. This will take you to your starting city, the one that was set in character creation. It's on the General tab of the AA UI (v to open that UI).
Here are some easy ways to get out of where you are.(although it is a good idea to go thru the tutorial to learn a lot of what the game does and its short) 1) Go to Arias and /say "ready to leave" this will port you to POK - once in POK use your find button and look for the book/stone North Qyenos - click that and it will send you to Qeyons. 2) When all characters are created they immediately get access to a group of special AA that used to be called "Veteran's Rewards" So on your character screen look for the button that says "achievements" - click it and then look for the tab at the top that says "special", scroll down and you will see "Throne of Hero's" Click that, click the button that says make a hot key and put it in your bar where actions are like auto attack. Click it and it will port you to the Lobby in POK. Then you can go thru the door to POK and onto the stone to Qyenos. Its also a good spot to grab a bind. Keep in mind that once you are over level 15 and die you cannot go back to the tutorial in the mines. It will try to send you to the mines but because your too high of a level it will send you to POK and freeze your screen for a few minutes. So you need to set somewhere else like the lobby, Qyenos etc by going to a soulbinder and telling it to bind your soul. If you did want to assign Qyenos as others have stated you have to make a paid account. Keep in mind that live servers, while free, are pretty dead in lower levels to find groups or help to level. So you will be on your own. Which is ok if, say, you wanted to hone up on the game and then when the new TLP opens in a few months you could go paid and join that. Those all start back like the old EQ and there will be tons of players to join up with.
All these things I mentioned like using "find" or "binding your soul" or "achievements" and many other helpful ways to play are in the short tutorial quests in the mines you are in.
Note that only a gold account can start at a home city. If you are ftp you have to start at crescent reach.
All Access = Gold (i.e. subscribed, subscription, sub) Accounts that were started before Free to Play was added but aren't All Access are 'grandfathered' in with Silver that has slightly more access/unlocks/permissions than a new account that's not All Access (i.e. FTP or F2P or ftp, etc.). Only All Access / Gold can equip Prestige items (which start to show up in the 70s, I think or maybe later). These are often the 'better' items of an expansion cycle. Only All Access can get Auto-Grant AAs (a bucketful of "catchup" AAs that start from level 58ish or when it unlocks on a TLP). All Access does not have a restriction on the number of assigned/spent AA. All Access can store more unspent AA (either 2 or 3 times level - someone will correct me *laugh*). Only All Access can sell in the bazaar. All Access can hire Journeyman mercenary(s) (better quality) All Access get a stipend of 500 DBC every month. All Access gives you subscription to several DBG games including EQ and EQ2. Someone else is bound to add something I missed Basically the higher in level you get, the more useful it is to be subscribed. FTP is playable but gets more restrictive once you get into the 80s. I have a 120 wizard on my 3rd account that I have FTP. I started that account (and that character) back in the aughts (when FV was 1 character per account), so it is a Silver unless I pay for a month or two. I use her primarily for travel, her purpose when I first started her. I only get the expansion on that account if there is a feature I particularly want, like the Tradeskill Depot. The other characters on that account are less than 70 but I don't adventure much with them either. (I have too many characters on my other 2 accounts ). If you have a FTP account and want to get the Auto-Grant from time to time while leveling, etc. You can sub for a month and then go back to free until the restrictions start to get too annoying and you really want to continue playing so decide to sub. Subscription can be paid via the website (with discounts for 3, 6, or 12 months at a time vs month to month) or via Krono which unlocks 1 month. LONG ago, there were a couple times that the game company offered a Lifetime All Access. I think both times were when the game company was still SOE. The first one was right before I was burned out and was deciding to stop playing MMOGs.
I just want Freeport and east commonlands back! Good memories from many years ago but no longer as the zones look so different now.
Agnarr server is perma-locked at LDoN. Dunno if it does have all the classic zones. There is no real vanilla server hosted by Daybreak. The closest one should be TAKP, which does use an original PoP client code, followed by Project 99.
The devs have said before it's impossible to put those places back due to missing files and/or the zones added later linking to them (Archstone for one).
It is possible to put them back in their original/last state with a few modifications like zone clicky objects being added to the new zone versions, or a dialogue question box before zoning. Arcstone does not have to be linked to them. It does only need one zone entrance like a clickable statue or an NPC dialogue, to connect the original zone cluster of West Freeport, East Freeport, North Freeport, North Ro, Oasis of Marr, South Ro, Innothule Swamp, East Commonlands, West Commonlands, Nektulos Forest, and Lavastorm Mountains to Norrath. These are eleven original zones which are already stored on the client side. Such an NPC dialogue or object could be added to PoK or West Freeport. Maybe to the PoK NPC that is wielding the Fiery Defender (flame sword). I do think that it is important to reconnect all the original zones to Norrath for nostalgia, as they had such a huge impact to the memories of early players and are part of EverQuests history. It is a shame that they got disconnected for such a long time. The current 25th anniversary would be the perfect time for connecting them back ! Happy 25th anniversary everyone !
The tutorial gives you a SoW clicky that lasts 5 minutes every 10 minutes. It is extremely easy to get. iirc you just have to talk to the cat, not even finishing the rest of the tutorial. I would highly suggest you deviate from vanilla enough to get this clicky.
Correction: They said it's impossible for time investment reasons, not because it's literally impossible from a technological perspective.
That's why thousands of us play on non-Daybreak servers, honestly. I have a lot of fun on the annual TLPs, and I'll be playing again this year. But just because grouping and raiding that classic content is much more possible. But the feeling of the game world is not nearly the same as it is if you log onto those other private servers.
