Returning player wondering about leveling and high population.

[slowpoke68]

Hello all. Just reinstalled P99 after the Mangler TLP launch debacle.

Haven't played in a couple of years and I can't believe how much higher the pop is now. I seem to recall it maxing out at prime time at around 800 people or so. Why are there so many more people playing now...is there any consensus?

I have a 35 Wizard as my character and I am debating whether I should keep playing him or roll a new toon. I have read Wizards can have a hard time getting groups and am not interested in doing much soloing. I would like to level in a group as much as possible.

If i were to reroll, are there any classes I should avoid if I want to be able to find groups? Classes that interest me are Rogue, Magician, Paladin or Necro.

Also, how is the low level grouping scene these days?

Thanks!

[DMN]

If you want to group as much as possible, you should roll a rogue. You will sacrifice virtually all your solo ability, however.

I'd try making some cash on your wizard via porting so you can boost your rogue up with some items and such. It will help you get groups if you are actually decently equipped, and you might have to solo a decent bit at low levels, so some nice gear will make it that much more palatable and expedient.

[Foxplay]

I will second if you want to group and be dps on p99 roll a rogue, p99 has a hard-on for rogues I was literally in a group on my cleric with 4 rogues and a warrior once

[Foxplay]

Also the reason p99 is doing well on population is they continue to do things well and are consistent

Not saying it's perfect...the raid scene is very crowded and can be toxic, and at the moment we are running with very limited guide/GM numbers

But they are consistent and focus on their goal of the most classic experience possible, simple as that

[Nilstoniakrath]

If you want to group as much as possible, you should roll a rogue. You will sacrifice virtually all your solo ability, however.

I'd try making some cash on your wizard via porting so you can boost your rogue up with some items and such. It will help you get groups if you are actually decently equipped, and you might have to solo a decent bit at low levels, so some nice gear will make it that much more palatable and expedient.

Do NOT roll a rogue unless you are prepared to dump a TON of plat on equipment. p99 has no tolerance for non-twinks and this is especially true for rogues. Much better to pick a solo class and gear that char up.

[Dawning]

I think a lot of it has to do with that there just isn't a lot of great MMO's being released anymore. Even WoW is getting long in the teeth and people are getting bored :( I know with the last expansion I only played for about 4-6 months and have no desire to buy the next one.

Nostalgia > All <3

[DMN]

Do NOT roll a rogue unless you are prepared to dump a TON of plat on equipment. p99 has no tolerance for non-twinks and this is especially true for rogues. Much better to pick a solo class and gear that char up.

Did you even bother to read his post? maybe try that next time.

[Foxplay]

Do NOT roll a rogue unless you are prepared to dump a TON of plat on equipment. p99 has no tolerance for non-twinks and this is especially true for rogues. Much better to pick a solo class and gear that char up.

I disagree on needing a "ton" of plat... A crystalline spider fang and a frozen shard... Some other cheap velious piercer is plenty. Maybe a haste item to make dps from 1 to 46 better.

Dont need a fungi or anything. Most grps are happy enough just to have more rogues

[Gozuk]

Do NOT roll a rogue unless you are prepared to dump a TON of plat on equipment. p99 has no tolerance for non-twinks and this is especially true for rogues. Much better to pick a solo class and gear that char up.

I feel like this couldn't be any less true. In my opinion Rogues are probably the least gear dependent of any melee class in the game.. Unless you're seriously gonna count Bard as a melee class (hehe.) Even further off is P99 having no tolerance for non-twinks. Sure there are gonna be some jaded folks at the high end that may wince a little bit if their Rogue in King is replaced by anything short of a primal Rogue with a CoL but at that point you're 55+ and OP is talking about rolling a new character.

I've never once seen or heard of a player getting denied a group or anything else due to their poor gear. Honestly I probably get more enjoyment out of meeting and grouping with new players wielding rusty weapons and wearing raw hide armor than I do a group of multiple fungi twinks when playing low or mid level content.

[Nilstoniakrath]

I feel like this couldn't be any less true. In my opinion Rogues are probably the least gear dependent of any melee class in the game.. Unless you're seriously gonna count Bard as a melee class (hehe.) Even further off is P99 having no tolerance for non-twinks. Sure there are gonna be some jaded folks at the high end that may wince a little bit if their Rogue in King is replaced by anything short of a primal Rogue with a CoL but at that point you're 55+ and OP is talking about rolling a new character.

I've never once seen or heard of a player getting denied a group or anything else due to their poor gear. Honestly I probably get more enjoyment out of meeting and grouping with new players wielding rusty weapons and wearing raw hide armor than I do a group of multiple fungi twinks when playing low or mid level content.

I stand by my original post. Got a rash of sh-t comments when playing a rogue who didn't have his epic and said F this, I will spend my plat on other chars, I do not need the negativity. If others enjoy playing rogues and do not mind spending the plat needed to gear them up, more power to you.

[DMN]

You leveled your rogue all the way up to 50+ and quit because you didn't have your epic? And it's a joke of an epic to get, to boot? I somehow doubt you were interested in playing the rogue or simply made this all up.

[Foxplay]

You leveled your rogue all the way up to 50+ and quit because you didn't have your epic? And it's a joke of an epic to get, to boot? I somehow doubt you were interested in playing the rogue or simply made this all up.

30k can be pretty rough to get for a first timer especially on a class that is terrible at soloing , or someone who doesn't know EQ and p99 economy very well

Getting a guild and people to help them with epic can also be difficult to people that have terrible social skills or don't care to be social

That said I still have my doubts about his experience and think he is way overplaying how bad it was, I have seldom seen much gear shaming on p99 and usually when I did it was in a joking fashion and the group was still ok with having the person in the group (Monks in seb / KC with wu armor, etc.) The only class that might even be gear shamed would probably be warrior as their performance in their role is going to suffer if they are still sporting bronze armor in their 50s.... A Rogue literally just needs some decent weapons and some haste, that's it.... And even super cheap options like I mentioned previously are still way ahead of what you would "normally" have leveling up in a true classic sense (like rusty > bronze > fine steel weapons)

[DMN]

30k can be pretty rough to get for a first timer especially on a class that is terrible at soloing , or someone who doesn't know EQ and p99 economy very well


The point was: what in the world melee class are you going to play that's easier to outfit at 50+?

[Foxplay]

The point was: what in the world melee class are you going to play that's easier to outfit at 50+?

Very true, your post is 100% correct - Rogue is absolutely the "cheapest" option to have a functional well performing melee class , Monk and Warrior blow it out of the water in terms of cost without question

[Tethler]

I stand by my original post. Got a rash of sh-t comments when playing a rogue who didn't have his epic and said F this, I will spend my plat on other chars, I do not need the negativity. If others enjoy playing rogues and do not mind spending the plat needed to gear them up, more power to you.

I didn't have this experience at all. My rogue gained most of his levels in janky ass Ry'gorr gear and a rapier of oriin. Probably spent 3k total on his gear before level 50. Got epic at 53 when greater than 50% of the other rogues I saw and grouped with had it at 46. Never once got a negative or judgy comment. Sorry you had that experience, but I don't think it's the norm.

[Nilstoniakrath]

You leveled your rogue all the way up to 50+ and quit because you didn't have your epic? And it's a joke of an epic to get, to boot? I somehow doubt you were interested in playing the rogue or simply made this all up.

Never said I got to level 50+. I stopped at level 36.

Will also add that this was a few years ago, back when players could equip epics at low levels. So basically, if I didn't have my epic, I was a piece of sh!t. I know it is different now, since the level requirement was put in, but I have since leveled up plenty of other classes and will not be going back to that rogue any time soon.

[Nilstoniakrath]

Never said I got to level 50+. I stopped at level 36.

Will also add that this was a few years ago, back when players could equip epics at low levels. So basically, if I didn't have my epic, I was a piece of sh!t. I know it is different now, since the level requirement was put in, but I have since leveled up plenty of other classes and will not be going back to that rogue any time soon.

Further add- Back then, I could have afforded a rogue epic, if I pooled all my chars plat. I refused, I was not going to spend all I had gathered on all my chars just for my stupid rogue. Nowadays, this would be maybe 20% of my total worth to MQ the rogue epic, but I still refuse, out of the principle, one should not have to acquire their epic just to play this stupid game. Glad to hear any comments to the contrary.

[DMN]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV-Z1YwaOiw

[Lickum]

I am currently in the middle of leveling a rogue myself after coming back from a long break! I can tell you that I've had a very fun time (currently went from 22-27 in unrest in the last week)! Just like on live though, sometimes there just isn't an open spot in a group. My gear on my rogue when I started back was...I'd say somewhat average for Live. I had banded gear with a 8\23 weapon and a 9\31 weapon that I used up until level 21 that I'd be happy to hand off for free if you needed it to get going! I recently bought some Silver Chitin Handwraps (21% haste) for 1.3k and that is the most expensive item I purchased for him so far, everything else that isn't banded still only cost a few hundred each.

[kjs86z]

Further add- Back then, I could have afforded a rogue epic, if I pooled all my chars plat. I refused, I was not going to spend all I had gathered on all my chars just for my stupid rogue. Nowadays, this would be maybe 20% of my total worth to MQ the rogue epic, but I still refuse, out of the principle, one should not have to acquire their epic just to play this stupid game. Glad to hear any comments to the contrary.

you sound mad

[Nilstoniakrath]

you sound mad

Your deductive skills are impressive, padawan

[Danth]

Haven't played in a couple of years and I can't believe how much higher the pop is now. I seem to recall it maxing out at prime time at around 800 people or so. Why are there so many more people playing now...is there any consensus?

I don't know what happened either, but whatever reason the population surged within a relatively short period of time during this past winter. I certainly wasn't anticipating P1999 to be at all-time-high population levels at 9 years old.


--Rogues are the most group-friendly of the classes you list. They stack well in groups.
--Paladins do well in groups and are popular as group tanks, but they can have a harder time finding groups than Rogues since a group that has a tank seldom wants a second.
--Magicians and Necromancers are about even for groupability; they'll land groups but aren't necessarily sought after.

In other words the situation hasn't changed from what it was when you played before.

Danth

[jolanar]

Further add- Back then, I could have afforded a rogue epic, if I pooled all my chars plat. I refused, I was not going to spend all I had gathered on all my chars just for my stupid rogue. Nowadays, this would be maybe 20% of my total worth to MQ the rogue epic, but I still refuse, out of the principle, one should not have to acquire their epic just to play this stupid game. Glad to hear any comments to the contrary.

I would think the only time a rogue having epic would be 'expected' is 55+ group in places like Sebilis. But that is ample time to farm 30k for a MQ. Ultimately if you can't put the effort to get 30k by that point then that's on you not the group.

[Nilstoniakrath]

I would think the only time a rogue having epic would be 'expected' is 55+ group in places like Sebilis. But that is ample time to farm 30k for a MQ. Ultimately if you can't put the effort to get 30k by that point then that's on you not the group.

You missed the earlier post, this was back when level 1 rogues could equip the epic. And when the p99 economy wasn't so saturated as it is now, I only had the 30kpp if I pooled all my chars' money. Also, the "gear shaming" was not that explicit, it was more an unsaid lack of glee at my piss poor backstabbing compared to when I was on as another class and epic rogues were in the group compared to when my gimp rogue was grouped - suddenly the dog needed to be let out to pee, or the wife aggroed, or other such nonsense excuses to leave a group.

[7thGate]

I generally found that I wasn't gear shamed leveling up my Rogue, and as ALS I was very significantly behind the general server gear-wise up until my low 50's. Did fine in Mistmoore with Burning Rapier/Iksar Berserker Club. The damage output difference was noticeable vs. more geared characters, but people generally were not dicks about it.

[Gozuk]

Also, the "gear shaming" was not that explicit, it was more an unsaid lack of glee at my piss poor backstabbing compared to when I was on as another class and epic rogues were in the group compared to when my gimp rogue was grouped - suddenly the dog needed to be let out to pee, or the wife aggroed, or other such nonsense excuses to leave a group.

I know where you're coming from here but truthfully it sounds like it was mainly in your head. You may have let being self conscious about your dps (hehe) get you. It sounds funny but we all take at least a sliver of video game pride in our characters and not necessarily with how well geared you are but how well you can play your class, contribute to a group, or even just be fun to hang out with.

My Rogue was my first character on the server and it was a great experience however I do remember feeling almost guilty that I didn't have my epic a few times, especially when replacing a twink rogue with a Ragebringer at lvl 25 or whatever. People were super nice about it though honestly and even went out of their way to say nice things or let me know it was just fine and they would rather have me anyways (lol.)

Oh well man hopefully you're enjoying yourself whenever you get a chance to log in and play the game.

[Tyrgrim]

I know where you're coming from here but truthfully it sounds like it was mainly in your head. You may have let being self conscious about your dps (hehe) get you. It sounds funny but we all take at least a sliver of video game pride in our characters and not necessarily with how well geared you are but how well you can play your class, contribute to a group, or even just be fun to hang out with.

My Rogue was my first character on the server and it was a great experience however I do remember feeling almost guilty that I didn't have my epic a few times, especially when replacing a twink rogue with a Ragebringer at lvl 25 or whatever. People were super nice about it though honestly and even went out of their way to say nice things or let me know it was just fine and they would rather have me anyways (lol.)

Oh well man hopefully you're enjoying yourself whenever you get a chance to log in and play the game.

He is actually correct, that is the state of the game today. It was different 2016. Today starting upp and trying to get plat can be rough. The elitism is real. And not many are selling equipment new players can afford. I deleted my old characters and started a new one in january. I experienced similar things at times. There are some good people out there, and quite a few elitist asshats.

[Nilstoniakrath]

I know where you're coming from here but truthfully it sounds like it was mainly in your head. You may have let being self conscious about your dps (hehe) get you. It sounds funny but we all take at least a sliver of video game pride in our characters and not necessarily with how well geared you are but how well you can play your class, contribute to a group, or even just be fun to hang out with.

My Rogue was my first character on the server and it was a great experience however I do remember feeling almost guilty that I didn't have my epic a few times, especially when replacing a twink rogue with a Ragebringer at lvl 25 or whatever. People were super nice about it though honestly and even went out of their way to say nice things or let me know it was just fine and they would rather have me anyways (lol.)

Oh well man hopefully you're enjoying yourself whenever you get a chance to log in and play the game.

Yes, I LOVE p99 and enjoy playing my cleric, warrior, shaman and other such characters immensely. This conversation has been helpful and maybe some day my level 36 rogue will make a comeback! To any one else considering making a rogue go for it and do not let my sour experience from a few years ago discourage you from doing so

[Tyrgrim]

Yes, I LOVE p99 and enjoy playing my cleric, warrior, shaman and other such characters immensely. This conversation has been helpful and maybe some day my level 36 rogue will make a comeback! To any one else considering making a rogue go for it and do not let my sour experience from a few years ago discourage you from doing so

My advice would be to look around and travel alot if leveling, since the game is a bit overpopulated at sertain levels. It can be hard to get a group in the popular areas. There is also the possiblity of friction between camps. Overal it will be a positive experience leveling up.

[slowpoke68]

Thank you much for all the thoughtful replies!

[Veleria]

Paladin is a well-balanced choice they get some excellent grouping ability and moderate solo ability. Rogue would be an all in towards grouping choice. the main thing is based on your long term goals. Paladin can solo and group well but lack in raids. Rogue can group and raid well but lack in solo. I have never seen anyone gear shamed pre level 50 and even then rarely. most of the places where gear shaming happens is high cash camps that are usually monopolized by a steady group and they get a replacement because someone had to leave and the expectations are way overblown. It's a problem among a very small percent of players. I don't have my epic on any characters and never had a problem getting an appropriate group.