When do you shelf a character?

[Jimjam]

When do you make the decision to shelf a character?

Once shelved, do they remain completely untouched?

When and why might you go back to them?

[Baler]

When I feel another character exceeds my previous character's power.
No, dabble with my characters, though I do play one more than the others.
I go back to them because each one can do something the other's cannot.
Never, It's a video game.
Why would you purposely choose to not play a character. (unless it's roleplaying, like they died.)

I know a lot of Vets have level 50 or 60 mages they never touch now-a-days. But I'd hardly call that shelfed. Some people look at their first character as a way to fund their next character. Unfortunately that's not how EQ works,. each class has it's own unique thing it brings to the game. This idea of shelfing a character perplexes me.
just my 2 cents

I do play one character more than the rest of my characters though. also is there a better word than shelfing?,. like how people have in their signatures that they have a 'retired' character. what the hell does it mean to shelf or retire a character. They're still playable aren't they?! (again unless it's RP) :confused:

Edit: put this in a spoiler as to avoid derailing a thread. Sorry JimJam

[RedSlave]

When I'm not having fun with them any longer.

[Spyder73]

I have 4 characters currently on P99. 60 Monk, 58 Necromancer, 52 Bard, 19 Druid. I use my highest level character to twink the next and so on and so forth.

Monk - My first P99 char - I raid and accumulate DKP on my Monk and rarely play him outside raiding. Decently raid geared - I will take him and "park him" in zones where raid spawns occur so I can quickly log onto him in the event of a spawn. Not retired, but also not really used much. I take him to Sebelis for Fungi Tunic farming when I am able since people love melee dps and monk pulls.

Bard - I made him originally as a Naggy alt (thus 52) but I have found I never play him at all. I spent probably 30k on him and have also got some PoG/Hate/Sky items...I would love to play my bard more but I honestly don't think I ever will. Maybe one day I will revist him and get to 60 and do my epic, but this char is "shelved" for the time being due to me just not really liking bards and how hard it can be to get a group.

Necromancer - My love child - heavily twinked (Zlandicar Heart for example) and I have bought most of his expensive spells already for when I get to 60. My end goal is to use the necromancer to replace my Monk as my raid character so I can go and roleplay on my Monk and help newbs out in Blackburrow. I will probably use the Necro to help farm items to give away though.

Druid - Wutaang - My newest project because I have never had a porting class. I am not so sure I will get him 60 but you never know. Main goal here is to reach 50 and be a port machine. I really like him so far

Future project - Some of the most fun I had was leveling my Bard because he was super twinked - I think I may make a Shadow Knight/Pally/War geared to the teeth (Fungi/CoF/BadAssWeapon)

[Tupakk]

I play til I dont feel a usefulness but I never really put it away. I rarely play my bard but when I do he is still beast mode eventhough he isnt fully geared anymore.

[Expediency]

If I roll an alt and dont enjoy it by 12-20 ish I shelve forever or make it some sort of mule. Ive tried six classes and only enjoyed three.

[Baler]

I made him originally as a Naggy alt (thus 52)

That's a great point I'd like to quote. I too have a 52 character that I keep for vox/naggy. But since I've never been in a guild. I've never done vox/naggy with that character.

So my point is,. Here I have a character that is "shelfed" and I can pull it down for a specific purpose. Like a druid alt for if you play with RL friends which can be trusted to sign into your main account so you on the druid can port the group to a destination.

I think I recall reading something about guilds having characters parked at specific spots to see if raid mob pop? I'd consider those shelfed characters. I think TMO in their hay day had the most shelfed characters.

Kinda makes you wonder just how many level 60's there are inactive at the moment. :)

[Swish]

Early 50s seems to be my clutch point, the thought of KC..,

[Tupakk]

Early 50s seems to be my clutch point, the thought of KC..,

There are other places to level at 50 other than KC lol

[Swish]

There are other places to level at 50 other than KC lol

Yes, yes there are. But XP at 51 makes it a grind and when there's other alts you can get easier levels on I find myself switching.

I know it doesnt make a lot of sense :D

[Cecily]

I consider a character shelved when I meet specific goals with them. My rogue was shelved for about a year in Velious, because I didn't find rogue itemization very interesting and wasn't inclined to sacrifice sleep anymore for minuscule upgrades. I was happy with Cecily and my Kunark gear was enough to survive anything in Velious.

My goal with Wyntir was 250 tailoring, make a bunch of money, complete Tunare / Shawl quests. Done, done, done, and done. Shelved forever.

Zalea's goal was a Baton of Flames or a Salindrite. I got the Baton... somehow. Shelved.

Cecily got unshelved because I got a Claw of Lightning... somehow. Ty Jumba! That made playing a rogue fun again for precisely 6 months. I'm top tier DPS and the only upgrades are primal / vyemm's fang or mrylo dagger / Doze quests. Gonna pass on those. Beat EQ, shelved again.

[dude]

my necro is perma shelved at 46. I have no interest in fear kiting. I like to be in control of the stuff i kill. you know like a necro should be. This is the single most thing that i would say I hate about eq cause I really loved to play necro. So thank god there is no boxing because its better to group with people than a pet i have found.

[TimTheToolmanTaylor]

character can only be shelved when BIS loot is obtained.

[Spyder73]

my necro is perma shelved at 46. I have no interest in fear kiting. I like to be in control of the stuff i kill. you know like a necro should be. This is the single most thing that i would say I hate about eq cause I really loved to play necro. So thank god there is no boxing because its better to group with people than a pet i have found.

Charming from 45-60 is totally a thing for necromancers (no fear kiting required). City of Mist/KC/HowlingStones are all great XP zones (the main ones really) where a necromancer is damn near the most powerful class in the game grouped or solo.

[shuklak]

I shelf them when agnarr comes out or i lose my password.

[nyclin]

my necro is perma shelved at 46. I have no interest in fear kiting. I like to be in control of the stuff i kill. you know like a necro should be. This is the single most thing that i would say I hate about eq cause I really loved to play necro. So thank god there is no boxing because its better to group with people than a pet i have found.

necros are fantastic root rotters, you have 4 high damage dots that don't have a DD component, and paralyzing earth at lvl 49

you can also join a grp in an area with undead (kc basement, CoM, HS) and charm for extremely high dps

[StephenD]

When it becomes a drag to play them.

[Lhancelot]

I shelf them when agnarr comes out.

You will be back.

[shuklak]

You will be back.

But not before i enjoy things like killing vox sans deleveled chars and participating in an 8 year old economy based on early plat hacks.

I'm okay with that and I'm not abandoning p99 as it were.

[Hakubi]

45 troll Shaman - My first P99 character Has his JBB/Banded/HP rings. Lost the will to continue once epic shot from 25-30k to 70k++ not to mention 130k+++ for torpor and 43k++ fungi, etc etc. He'd have been my preferred class but it's not going to work with this economy. Also was getting carpal and sick of groups expecting you to slow, root, STR/AC/DEX/STA/Tali/Haste, manage pet, canni dance, AND be the only healer while they chain pulled until you are within inches of low HP aggro with undergeared warriors tanks that needed root on the MT target. I can't do it all alone guys, shit. Also regretted going troll from what I've heard on bashes (I'd have rolled a true farmer and made a fungi ogre).

40 Necro - Intermittent and pretty much naked, I check late at night to see if oasis specs are open, close to prenerf CoS and I'll just go charm level. I'll probably take him to 60.

Rogue 40, SCHW / crystalline spider fang and some okay budget STR gear . I like my rogue, I'll be playing him to 60 for sure I just needed to roll a good farming char (druid) to fund my epic so I don't get discriminated against. He's currently stuck in LGuk and hasn't had his mask drop in over 16-30 hours of camping. 8 dirks in a row.

Druid 46, 200 wis suit/es vambs/almost enough for his Lumi/gobbo ring that will be sold to fund rogue. I'll probably take him to 53 for succor but he will just be for drop muling lore shit, EC, and some port cash (which is quite disappointing and not what I expected, I must say). Love the mobility, no regrets but it's so god damn boring and I have 3 monitors to med during the down time.

Cleric 14 - Stuck in unrest and what seems to be an oversaturation of clerics so groups never open up, everyone's got one and I don't see the money potential on ressing compared to porting.

Monk 7 - Seems fun so far, has a Wu's 2 hander and otherwise naked. Will probably be my last "twink" char. I hate pulling (especially with sneak nerfs) though so will probably be a solo-only project.

Magician 3 - Realized I'd probably hate pet chaining, micro managing them, lacking utility, epic never being obtainable, and never really being relevant outside of CoH/Rods.

[thebutthat]

I shelf them when I realize they're not my necro. Then I sacrifice them 46 so I have plenty of EEs.

[Jimjam]

Hakubi why don't you just get the shaman epic for free? Lots of appropriate guilds will take you on board at 46+ if not already.

[Phenyo]

druid - port alt
cleric - ch chain slave
everything else i pick up and play depending on mood

[Hakubi]

Hakubi why don't you just get the shaman epic for free? Lots of appropriate guilds will take you on board at 46+ if not already.

Like I said it's not a class I'd want to raid or group on, too busy buff botting a million people and have carpal from the canni dancing (prob gets easier with canni 4/torp/GCD reset), the golems are also heavily contested AFAIK. Rogue raiding would be fine but I also live with roommates (no bat phones) and much prefer to group/solo now. 130k for torpor still means I'd be doing a lot of my farming a slave to mana (I'll probably just sit in seb/king groups on a rogue or cleric which are my main priorities right now). I'll go back to him when I can dump 200k in his wallet, reroll as ogre with a fungi, and treat him as a solo only character.

[Lhancelot]

130k for torpor still means I'd be doing a lot of my farming a slave to mana...

Hey man, Torpor is only 110k-120k. So it's not that bad.

[Swish]

Hey man, Torpor is only 110k-120k. So it's not that bad.

I just spoke to Schwickisawus and he said "I'll see about that" while rubbing his hands together

[A1rh3ad]

I completely ditched my DE necro when he reached 30. Once you go iksar...

[mickmoranis]

My personal rule is no stripping of any of my characters to equip another character. Each one is like a little GI figure, or barbie doll.

Each one is placed in a glass box where I can rest easy knowing that I have a very well dressed druid available to explore the classic zones or well dressed enchanter camped at a sweet spot in a cool dungeon.

#charactersarepeopletoo #righttomarrypixels