(Artist) Contemplating Paid Membership

Discussion in 'Tips, Tricks, FAQs, and New Player Discussion' started by BronzeBeard, Apr 19, 2020.

  1. BronzeBeard New Member

    Hey everyone!

    Very excited to be back in the game! I would consider myself a new player as when this first launched and I was paying monthly I only made it up to I believe level 34 and ran several dungeons as a tank on my Guardian.

    I used to have an account where I had some sort of bear mount? I remember getting a pewter bear when we bought the game way back when... doubt I will be able to make it back into that account.

    Currently I am a freelance artist who spends a lot of time at the computer working, but occasionally I get to break away to play some EQ II. I am trying to determine if the paid membership is something that I should look into.

    I thoroughly enjoy collecting materials and professions as well as the thought of eventually running an in game store of my own. Being a tradesman and guild master has been something that has always appealed to me in MMOs. Plus it is kind of fun to also potentially dig deep into a forum once again... alas I am here seeking answers to some questions and just overall wanting to chat with the community.

    • Is the membership worth picking up for someone who may only have an opportunity to play for a couple hours for a couple of days out of the week?
    • Would I be required to pickup any of the expansion packs? What benefits would I gain if I did?
    • The game seems very in depth including Role playing options. Do players often times roleplay outside of the normal questing? Like events put on by guilds or servers?
    • Is it easy to dive in and out of membership similar to World of Warcraft?
    Just a curious Free player seeking some information before making any purchases. Appreciate any and all feedback and looking forward to making some friends in Norrath.

    Respectfully,
    -BronzeBeard
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  2. Leeroy 16 year vet. Forum lurker. Altaholic.

    If it's possible to get back into your original account, try to do so. Longevity items over the years would be very useful using the command in game /claim.
    It's fairly easy to get some things done even with a couple hours a week if you aren't in a hurry.
    Roleplaying is mostly restricted now to a few guilds that have housing venues where they indulge in this. And yes, there are events once in a while that are roleplay, even some I've seen hosted by devs/gms.
    Membership can be paid for a month at a time if you wish, or up to a year (saves money). If you have loads of plat, you may be able to afford a Krono that will be useable for a month of membership.

    Keep in mind that there are perks for being a member. Twice the number of awarded currency, access to all world channels, unrestricted use of the broker, no restrictions on wearing your class' equipment, bonus to EXP, bonus to amount of game money drops in chests, faster mount speed, several more character slots, access to mail, no restrictions on spell tiers, certain member-only zones, and loyalty merchant items as you start earning those loyalty tokens....and yes, a member may start their own guild.

    You will have up to but not including the last 2 expansions I believe. This will still get you to level 110 if I remember right. In game you can type /show_account_features. This will give you a list of what you have available to you.

    If you do not have Mercenaries listed when you do the show account features command, and do not intend or need anytime soon to purchase the latest expansion, then you may want to go into the Marketplace (in your menu bar) and purchase that ability. If you plan to solo, it would be MUCH easier with a merc that complements your class than trying to go it alone. Not necessary but can make things much smoother.
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  3. BronzeBeard New Member


    Awesome, overall it sounds like it may be worth it to look into the membership based on what you've explained. I personally would love to create a guild once I have more experience of what the game has to offer. However, I have experienced frustration in building a guild once a game has been out for a long time. Most people seem to be loyal to their larger guilds and stray further away from new ones that are started.

    I am definitely taking it all in and just trying to enjoy the game as much as I can by allowing myself to not rush through. I appreciate the speedy response!
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  4. BronzeBeard New Member

    I will have to look into seeing if I can find the information for my old account. I will have to rummage through some really old documentation :)
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  5. Seth Well-Known Member

    Dont do it !

    You still have time to enjoy life before eq2 sucks you in to a world where Our opinions dont matter!

    Save yourself.

    Dont get me wrong the game is great, the parts they dont touch...

    But i would suggest waiting like 2 more months before coming back, because they are opening a 3rd failed pvp server, and that will strech their limited staff of like 5, and that will suck for all the other servers. And who knows it may be close to closing.

    Well that's a lie, the bots will keep it open when all us real players go..

    But then again, botting is useless if it's just them. #hmm

    Come back or not, but you have been warned mr BronzeBeard.

    Honest Opinion, No Hate, Nothing Personal, Just Business.
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  6. BronzeBeard New Member

    Thank you for the honest opinion Seth I will take that into account during my decision!
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  7. Rosyposy Well-Known Member

    Free to play accounts can play up through Altar of Malice xpac, which will take you to level 100. It's a great way to get your feet wet and see if you are enjoying the game. If you decide to purchase the current xpac, Blood of Luclin, you will receive the Mercenary feature at no additional cost and be able to play up to level 120.
  8. Corydonn Well-Known Member

    I'm actually surprised nobody answered this section for you. This game is probably still the best MMO I've played for roleplaying options thanks to the housing system. I can't speak for other servers but Antonia Bayle still has a bit of a roleplaying community with usually a tavern or guild hall being open to the public every other night. I highly recommend checking out the Soulfire Club on monday nights or The Spider on Tuesdays. You can usually see when these events are happening by typing /join rplfg when you log in to be able to communicate with the RPers on the server. I do believe they still have player run good and evil festivals once a year as well if running your own event suits your fancy.

    If you get really into decorating houses which you may since it's really addicting, There is a homeshow forum and chat channel that I can't recall currently but is surely posted there and that seems to still contests run by players every now and then.


    As for people saying stay away, I've been on that boat and also on the boat of not encouraging friends to play it but coming back to it.... the game just has a fun class that I don't get the experience of playing in any other MMO so combat is always fast and lively for me. They have removed a lot of meat to the game recently and I do feel it plays like a very mobile/idle game experience where numbers are just massive at the end game and are just getting more and more ridiculous it really is only a problem you will see if you want to skip to endgame. Otherwise there is years of exploration and experience to be had and you can do it at a free level, Especially if you disable combat experience or quest experience until you are done with a zone.
    Cyrrena, Rosyposy and BronzeBeard like this.
  9. BronzeBeard New Member


    Thank you for answering this. I mean I have been having a blast on the free level so far. Some of the things that annoy me about not having full access are mainly not being able to talk to people in General chat while I am chilling (helps build in game friendships) and having only 2 character slots which limits my ability to explore which classes I will really enjoy. So I am leaning towards picking up the membership.

    I think it will be worth spending a bit per month to explore the content a bit more and open up the game for myself to talk to people. I will just have to make sure to at least make $15 per month with freelance art... which should be manageable.
  10. Raff Well-Known Member

    I've played every other MMO out there at one time or another. But I still keep coming back to EQ2. It is not problem free and sometimes I don't like certain content. But overall, it is still a really good game. Membership really unlocks the social part for solo players. That said, if you are still thinking about not subbing? Joining a guild will give access to guild chat.
    Cyrrena, Breanna, Rosyposy and 2 others like this.
  11. BronzeBeard New Member

    I am actually going to go ahead and subscribe today to check out all of the features and to possibly make some new class characters to try them out to really get the feel for what I would like to play.

    I actually was thinking that they would block me from joining a guild on the Free to Play account, so to hear that you would be able to and gain access to that much needed social aspect would be great. If I don't enjoy the subscription I will just bump back down to free and join/maintain in a guild.

    I was/might still be the same way with World of Warcraft with always coming back to it. However, I had the chance to play both WoW and EQ II during launch and I find a deeper rooted RPG element similar to that of Lord of the Rings within the world of Norrath and have found myself reading more of the quest lore here just because you are actually thrust into having to use the lore to your advantage within quest lines.

    I wish they would bring back that magic and importance of the dialogue between the player and the world within quests. Also, I wish we didn't live in such a fast paced gaming world where the main goal is to get to max level and get all the gear. I do understand the appeal of it, I just know that I am always the one who is lagging behind lol.
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  12. Raff Well-Known Member

    There maybe guilds that won't allow free players, but I've never heard of one. Most people start free to decide if they want to sub. Most guild folk realize this. I doubt you'll have any problems along those lines.
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  13. Cyrrena Well-Known Member

    Actually, there are 4 player run festivals a year that are recognized by DPG, one in each season. You can find decorations out in Antonica, Commonlands, and New Halas to name a few for some of the festivals, which typically run from Friday through Monday.

    There is also a player written book available very inexpensive on the broker if on AB, Small Corners Guide, not sure on the entire name, but just searching for that will get you the book. If there are none on the broker, you can send an in game mail to Slipps and request a copy, send some coin to cover mailing and the book. This book tells you which venues are open which nights of the week and at what times. If more than one venue is open it will list any agreements made such as every other week or whatever or if both are open at the same time. It might give you an idea of the type of venue that is being listed. The various people that run venues request to have their venue put into the Small Corners Guide, if they do not request it, it is not included.

    As for the house decorating, Corydonn was thinking of the Homeshow channel which you can join by typing /join homeshow. Personally, I make separate chat tabs, and put Homeshow in one and RPLFG in another, that way things do not get missed. The folks in Homeshow Channel are some of the nicest, friendliest, and most helpful people in the game and they are from all servers. They will try to answer any question, not just decorating or house item questions.

    I have hosted 2 game/server wide events, the one that was game wide, was a Harvest Faire, inviting Devs/Guides/Players from all servers to Isle of Mara on AB. And the one that was server wide was the Grand Opening of a Player Run Marketplace. As well as being the wedding planner extraordinaire, I have planned and hosted more than a dozen weddings!!!
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  14. BronzeBeard New Member

    Sounds like there is still a lot going on then and it is good to hear of all the events. Congrats on hosting the weddings that is pretty freakin cool!