My wife and I recently returned. As a couple who left way back harboring basic MMO upgrade questions it often appears our questions go ignored. By guild and /OOC. The general public is almost exclusively elitist. End game only. Most are on solo missions. /OOC looks like the same six people having a conversation on alts. Very few engage in conversation with people they don't know. I am not criticizing anyone for their achievements, more making an outside looking in observation. It's very hard to get attached to a game with such a rough welcoming. Anyways...back to the newbie zones. Ha!
I highly recommend subscribing (if you aren't already) and trying the TLE server, Varsoon. The live servers are as you described, focused almost solely on end game. Varsoon only just reached KoS, so will likely give you a better experience.
The game's lack of detailed tutorials to explain the mechanics that seemingly keep getting added in with every expansion (Mercenaries, Ascension classes, Overseers, Resolve, Mount and mercenary training, mount gear and barding, mercenary gear and barding, adornments, temporary adornments, etc) makes the YEARS of repeated questions of returning players wear down on the veteren players. They always have to answer again and again and again. There's always going to be people who will help answer those questions, but the game in general has a mentality of assuming that everyone is going to know what to do.
If they're in the newbie zones I doubt they'd be asking questions about any of that since most of it is irrelevant below level 100. However, chances are that nobody will know about the things they are asking as they probably skipped all those levels with a stupid bauble.
I don't know what server you're on, but I will say /OOC being tied to the zone you're in is going to vastly limit your audience for answers, as is /guild - It sounds like you've just picked a poor guild to join, honestly.
I was the thinking the exact same thing. I’ve played since day 1 and I still ask questions because the game is so deep and expansive. OP needs to use general chat, it’s got a much bigger audience. I would recommend either Varsoon or Maj’Dul servers. Varsoon’s population is booming, but it won’t be long term as it’s a TLE server, but it’s been great so far. Maj’Dul is the highest populated ‘normal’ server. If you’re on any other specialty server, you’re going to be playing with a very small group of people. Lastly, please understand most people doing end game content. So no matter the server you’re on, if you’re in low level zones, you’re going to be playing alone.
Welcome back ...man!!! Part of the problem is most people dont have the time anymore to chat much. Babies...etc. It sucks, but then again...so does attrition of life...
/ooc only reaches people within a short distance. It isn't even zone wide. General Chat is a much better option.
Hail, well met and welcome back! Nice to see more folks coming back lately, and even better when it's a couple or family coming together for the ride. Wife and I have been on and off in EQ2 for ages, so I feel you on the coming back part. That said, dunno what it is, but I was able to find a nice guild more or less immediately after returning. In addition, every single time I ask something in general chat, be it a quick info or some help with a dungeon that requires more ppl to beat, I always get someone to respond within mere seconds. With that in mind, question: Which server are you on? I'm on Halls of Fate, been doing all of the old (but golden) content myself after coming back a few years ago, no issues with the community there. There sure is a lot of stuff to digest when coming back, lots of mechanics, updates, info in general, but I actually like that. I consider it to be a challenge instead of an annoyance tbh, and I also enjoy reading stuff, so there is that. Actually just did the Estate of Unrest and Hold of Rime the other day, needed folks to progress in both "dungeons" mainly bc I was filming these locations for my YT channel, and had a blast with the folks helping out. The two ladies doing Hold of Rime with me even started explaining all of the lore and how it ties into EQ1 etc., enjoyed every bit of it. So, if you can, try to find a nice guild or try another server if everything else fails. Whatever the case, glad to see ppl not give up on low level content after their initial comeback. That's the spirit! Lots of nice things to (re)discover in the old zones. Edit: Now that I think of it, totally forgot to credit the gal that helped me with Unrest. Crap. Gonna try to find out who it was and correct this, lol.
There are plenty that try to help answer questions on returning players usually but right now, they are deep into the new expansion trying to figure out and survive there. It will calm down but please ask in general if your guild doesn't respond. You might also think of joining a larger casual play style guild. Just an idea.
