A Beginner's Guide to the P1999 Raid Scene?

[Brontus]

I've been playing P1999 for about a year now and enjoying myself with various low to mid level characters. Some of them have reached level 50 and now I am starting to contemplate joining a raiding guild on this server.

Back in days of yore on EQ live, raiding was very rewarding as it enabled you to progress your character and enjoy a sense of camaraderie with your fellow gulidmates. And yes, it took a lot of work but the sense of satisfaction of taking down a uber boss was immense.

However, I have read many unsavory things about the P1999 raid scene on these forums. From all all accounts its seems like Lord of the Flies where a lot guilds are competing for a few raid targets. Apparently you need to have a "bat phone" and be ready to log on your character at a moments notice. I also hear that many guilds have raiding targets and zones on lockdown and sell looting rights to the highest bidder. After all of this, I'm honestly wondering if it's worth it to join a guild.

I have tried to read the Raid Discussion forums but the language is so complex, convoluted and full of legalese that my head hurts.

Does anyone have some advice or can provide links to a beginner's guide for new players about what to expect and what's really going on with the P1999 raid scene?

What are the pros and cons to joining a raiding guild?

How much time per week must one devote to a raiding guild?

This is not a troll post. I am really looking for some honest analysis of what is going on here and what to expect if I were to join a raiding guild. Thanks in advance for any guidance that anyone can provide. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Kodim]

Be a warm body who only logs in when a batphone goes out like 90% of other people.

It's very easy and doesn't take up too much time.

[Sadre Spinegnawer]

You did not mention your class. Different classes have different raid roles. Raiding as a monk or bard is very different from raiding as a wizard or bard.

Batphone is all. Batphone is God. Back in live, this was also true up until contested content got replaced with instanced content. p99 has no instanced content: it is all contested.

For raid mobs, there are "windows" of time in which they can spawn which raid guilds keep track of. So, a mob can spawn five minutes into that window, or 5 hours. Hence the need for a call list as well as "tracking" characters who track when a mob pops, and then the call goes out for people to log on immediately.

Burn out and turnover under such a raid scene is pretty high. I kind of disagree with Kodim. It is not "very easy." At least for some, jumping out of bed and getting into the world at 3am in 5 minutes on a worknight is pretty much the definition of a massive pita.

But if you can put yourself on that kind of notice, yes, p99 raiding is easy. The most efficient strats are super well-known, and stuff dies very fast as a result.

The big factor is what class you play. If you play a pulling class, you have a learning curve of how to do the strats. But if you play a dps or buffing class, you just have to not be an idiot and listen to instructions.

Ideally, p99 raiding is a perfect fit for you if you are a bubble boy who cannot leave their antiseptic room because of a botched immune system, and so being available to log on in a moment's notice during spawn windows is no problem for you. Just do not be surprised when someone says the actual answer is "moops" and the gm's side with them.

[Swish]

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[Ikon]

Some of things you mention here was the same on live in the uber guilds. I raided in one of the top guilds and before I quit we had to have bat phones / get up at 3am often, were required to be online 30 hours per week minimum, log into other peoples accounts and box them if they were not able to be online, often we were boxing 2 or 3 paid accounts in breach of the EULA on a regular basis to take down targets. Loot was denied to most people who had a job simply because they had a job and there was no way for them to beat out others on loot rights.

The main difference on this server is the level of discourtesy and anti-social behavior. We had a rants and flames forum for our server and it never reached the level of digusting it reaches here. In game in /ooc or /shout the disrespect between guilds is over the top and would have gotten you banned on live.

I think the main difference here is because of a lack of staff and because people have been able to get away with things that were not tolerated on live they've gone downhill over a long period of time and the toxicity has become concentrated to a point its embarrassing to read - considering the majority of the people doing this are grown up men likely with children and families and ex-bosses.

[Swish]

Is it time to axe blue RNF? Do the attitudes we are seeing in game stem from some of the RNF stuff out of the game?

[Ikon]

Originally Posted by Swish [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Is it time to axe blue RNF? Do the attitudes we are seeing in game stem from some of the RNF stuff out of the game?

I think its time to ban people who take things too far. To far being what an average person would consider unacceptable behavior towards another person on a forum about regarding a computer game.

I stopped my kid playing the game, he'was 13 at the time mainly because of forums. Sure I could tell him not to read them but the thing is those people are in game and as far as I'm concerned I wouldn't want him grouping or otherwise interacting with people like that - at the time they were posting explicit pictures of gay sex and so on, obviously fucked in the head.

[Swish]

Yeah that's a low point of the forums where hours would sometimes go by without anyone deleting threads/posts with that crap in them. Most groups I've been in have been fine, occasionally you'll get a guy who loves to make his weed habits public or there'll be some adult conversation but mostly people just get on with leveling etc [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Ravager]

Originally Posted by Brontus [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

However, I have read many unsavory things about the P1999 raid scene on these forums. From all all accounts its seems like Lord of the Flies where a lot guilds are competing for a few raid targets. Apparently you need to have a "bat phone" and be ready to log on your character at a moments notice. I also hear that many guilds have raiding targets and zones on lockdown and sell looting rights to the highest bidder. After all of this, I'm honestly wondering if it's worth it to join a guild.

You've read the threads. Those are the people you'll either be rubbing elbows with or butting heads against. If they seem like a fun group on the forums, you're probably deranged enough to enjoy their company in game.

[Xzavie]

Pick a new game unless you think sitting on mob spawns hoping you get "first to engage" is cool.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYQdmLgc71Q