Can anyone explain or link a page explaining the different leagues? I just started playing yesterday and have yet to purchase the All Access Pass. I expect I will be purchasing a subscription today though. I want to know what is popular and if, since it's the first time I'm playing the game, I should just stick to the Traditional league. Any other beginner tricks and tips are welcome here too. For example, what should I purchase first, besides the All Access pass? How much money will I be spending on this game to fully immerse myself in it? I am not into all the costume fluff--I'm more interested in content. Keep in mind I am only level 6. I look forward to revisiting this thread in many months and chuckling at myself for being so clueless. I am excited to meet all of you. Thanks in advance! Claypool
ALL ACCESS only allows a basic caveat in-game, slightly more coin per beasty looted, certain high-end specialty gear able to be worn, ability to learn improved skills, etc. The game is COMPLETELY playable, and 98% of everything is open to everyone without "Membership." There are quite literally countless quests one can involve ones self in,.. whether from one's home city, or Heritage Quests (which call back to the original EQ1), signature Quests, Epic Weapon quests, etc. etc. etc. there are many houses both free to the recently arrived, up to those that are purchased or plundered, or rewarded that one can furnish and decorate. {for examples of the many ideas presented, may I offer Febrith's YouTube channel, her's among others have many videos to whet your appetite: https://www.youtube.com/user/Febymir/videos?disable_polymer=1} Please keep this one very important fact in mind. Norrath is not, Not, NOT a console game where one "rushes to the end as fast as one can to go buy yet another game to rush through" It is a Role Playing game, where one can put on a persona and act that out,... There are countless weapon and armor sets available for however one wants to appear. One need NOT rush into anything, the content of the cities is specifically designed to be solo-able, to learn one's class, their skills, and the environment they choose to explore. But all this being said, I am unfamiliar with the term "Leagues." Are you refer to Guilds per chance? if so, Guilds are merely a collection of like-minded people who gather together to share, socialize, and join forces to defeat much harder beasties found in Norrath. does this at least answer some foundational questions you may have had?
I am referring to the different options available to you when you make a new character. They all require All Access besides the Traditional game. If I could log in now, I would be able to tell you exactly what I mean, unfortunately they are conducting maintenance on the servers. I remember there being 4 different "leagues" to choose from, Traditional being one of them. Claypool
That's a beautiful response, Ceyarrecks. Claypool, while the All Access Pass may seem tempting, give the game a try without it for a while. Some games give you access to the entire game when you pay a subscription. This is not one of those games. You have to pay individually to unlock the Beastlord and Channeler class, as well as the Aerakyn and Freeblood races. You also have to pay to unlock the Mercenary feature. This is by no means necessary, but it does help to have a little guy running around and healing you. When you are ready to explore the new expansion pack (currently Planes of Prophecy) you will need to pay for it as well. The All Access pass simply unlocks some game features, such as the broker and chat. Above all, take your time. Learn your class. One last thing: if you use Discord, I highly recommend joining the EverQuest 2 Discord server. You can usually find a helpful person around somewhere. /e grin
oh, yes yes. i realize what you are referring to, Traditional (start at L1), Time-Locked (start at a previous expansion, but none further), etc. The Time-Locked servers serve some who wish to experience the nostalgia of wearing diapers again, realizing these servers, in time, will advance to the current state of expansions. Were you to choose a Traditional server, you have available to you ALL of the expansions and the attributes afforded to players. This, in my humble opinion, would allow you to have the greatest amount of choices, without limitation(s) in which to explore. After that are the servers, which are in basically two categories, Role-Play encouraged (Antonia Bayle) and Less-so Encouraged, Maj'Dul. I think this is a bit over simplified, but should help in your decision process. I personally reside on the Maj'Dul server, and would welcome you should you choose to reside there
Thank you ma'am if memory serves, the mercenary feature comes with the Planes of Power expansion purchase,...
Server types. The 'traditional' server type is where most of the servers are (including Antonia Bayle, the role playing server). The upside to these servers are they're free, you can use mercenaries to help you level, you can explore most of the expansions without buying anything. You will have tons of content available to play through as you wish. The downside? These are all old servers, so almost all the population is at the end game. Getting caught up to the end game is a pain, lots of grinding, though of course not impossible. Some guilds will help new players do this! But, honestly, if you're not at the end game or trying to get there (and not all new players want to rush there, of course), the game's gonna feel pretty empty. How much of an issue that will be depends on how you want to play the game. Time locked expansion is another server type. Right now that is Fallen Gate and Stormhold. Do not join Stormhold, it's empty and due to be merged with Antonia Bayle at some unknown point in the future. Fallen Gate is alive and well at this point. Right now we are three expansions in, and a new expansion unlocks every 12 weeks. The benefit to Fallen Gate is that there are still a lot of people playing the lower levels, and it's not nearly as hard to catch up to the current level cap, should you wish to do things like raid. If you want to explore the old content with other people, this is the server to join. You get to become familiar with each part of the game as it comes, rather than having a ton of stats, AAs, ascension levels, etc, etc, thrown at you all at once. Cons to this server? Well, obviously you can't access the entire game right away. Experience is slower than the 'live servers' - that is, all the other servers. Travel is harder, but not very hard since many people offer transportation help. On a live server you can hire a mercenary NPC to help you, those do not exist yet on Fallen Gate. So if you want to solo, it's slower. (Of course, some people see this as a benefit. And as mentioned above, you will have to buy the current expansion or pay an additional fee to unlock mercenaries, anyway.) Frankly, this is the server I generally point new players to if they are looking to subscribe to the game, but again it depends on what you're looking for. One of the other options is the event server - which, there isn't one right now, so you can discard that category for the time being. I believe the last server type is the free trade server, Isle of refuge. It's the same as the standard, traditional servers, except there's a lot less "no-trade" gear. I believe that is the only difference (well, that and you need to subscribe for it - makes it an unlikely choice for a totally new player). The server population is pretty small, but I hear it's pretty closely knit and helpful to new comers.
a good summary. however, I would contend with the "empty" description, as Maj'Dul is one of the most populous servers available. with many whom would extend themselves to encourage and join in with others to help them experience x, y, or z area(s)
It will take me a while to read and comprehend all of this. I appreciate everyone's input. It is refreshing to see a community that is willing to help without being condescending or elitist. I don't plan on switching from Antonia Bayle unless I decide in the future to change server types. For all of those wanting to chat, add me! Claypool - Antonia Bayle RP Claypool
Overall population, sure. But as I said, the population of those servers tends to be at the higher end of the game, leaving the lower level zones naturally empty. Maj'Dul is the live server I usually play on these days when I'm not on FG, and I can run my lower level alts around questing without seeing anyone at all in most zones. That's what I mean by the lower level game being empty - not that there's no population on the sever at all. Like I said, you can usually find some helpful guilds, but at the same time sometimes it's just nice to see other people while you're running around doing your own thing, or to have those lower level groups available without always having to get things going yourself. The progression server and the live servers offer two pretty different experiences for a new player. One's not inherently better than the other. Someone who is looking more to solo and hit the tons of great storyline quests out there would probably like the mercs and such of a live server. (I'm not a new player, but that's what I've been doing on MD and it's been a blast - but again, those zones are pretty empty on their own.) Someone who is new and wants to get more into grouping and such might prefer the progression server. So like I said, it all depends on what someone's looking for.
Mercenaries now come with the lastest edition of the expansion bought, Planes of Prophecy. However, BL, channeler, Aerakyn, and Freeblood still require purchasing individually. Also, Free Trade server, Isle of Refuge, is exactly what it sounds like. Many folks shuffle alts back and forth between this server and their home server, taking plat or items there to buy or sell things that are either not tradable on home server, or of a different price. However, one must be at least lvl 100 to transfer from IOR to a different server, and the character must be kept 30 days before a transfer is allowable. It's pretty much a virtual bazaar.
honestly, for a new player I would recommend the Time-Locked server. You will find players across many areas, level up in a proper pace, enjoy more content and learn your class. Live (traditional) server is not balanced for the older content. It's just not fun. And for the new xpac, it will take several months at least to become competitive in groups and raids. There is not much solo content. It can be frustrating. Once you decide to stop playing on Time-Locked, you will get a level 100 boost token when purchasing the current Live xpac. At that point you better already know your class. At high-end content one can feel the gameplay is more performance-oriented.
i have to disagree with the people who recommend tle to new players. tle has its benefits, but this time last year i actually was that new player who had never played eq2 or eq ever. i prefer live. i have a toon on tle and hardly play it at all. honestly tle is better suited towards long time or returning players for their nostalgia fix. all the fun and the challenging stuff is on live.
Besides, if on Live, you can keep playing if you run into a money crunch and can't afford EQ2 for a month.
And Free to Play content on Live goes all the way through at least Altar of Malice, cannot remember if they unlocked Thalumbra or not for free to play, I know they did unlock Zek, the Scourge Waste for free to play. Also if you are free to play, you cannot speak in general chat, you cannot send/receive mail unless at a mailbox. you cannot use the broker to sell items unless you buy broker tokens, and a couple other things that I am not remembering at the moment.
To answer the how much money question, since the server issue was resolved, I pay for membership, 120 per year, then an expansion every year, 35 bucks. That totals to 155 per year for each account. This does not include kronos that I buy/sell throughout the year, but I am into costumes and fluff. lol. So, at the least for all the content is 35 dollars. To get the benefits of gold, 120 per year. Personally, I think the expansion is worth more then the gold, if there is any hesitation about spending too much money.
