Potential new players

[Norathorr]

I am an old time EQ player who started in Kunark and quit sometime during the VoA expansion! For a long time pretty much since Luclin I did not feel EQ was the same (I did rather enjoy the game up till OOW came out as I was not a GoD hater due to my hardcore playstyle at the time). There will be potentially five of us and we were wondering how people are spread across the level ranges. Are there plenty of people to group with after level 20 or so? I ask this because I do not know how many of us will see it through and how many will quit.

My other question is the raiding scene. Is there a good variety of raiding guilds for all content, or is there like one crazy guild with a huge call list that monopolises all content like we see on the official progression servers. I am not even sure we would want to raid, but I guess there is a point that if we play long enough that will be the only thing left to do! Mainly we want to level up in zones we did not play in the past because they were considered unpopluar due to difficulty and experience the game once more in a non dumbed down enviroment. Hopefully the community here embodys a more oldschool mentality in both work ethic and also decorum. Old EQ had the best community I have seen in any MMO!

Thankyou in advance for your replys!

Norathorr/Ogrebane (Former Dwarf Paladin later Dwarf Berserker Mithaniel Marr/Venril/Antonius Bayle for those that may have met me in the past!)

[Swish]

Hey there - some good questions! I take it you'd be playing European times in the evenings? There's enough of a presence on the server by then that you shouldn't struggle to find a group... if 2 out of 5 roll a tank and a healer you're half way there to filling the gaps anyway :)

Mostly people stick to a well trodden path. So it's usually Oasis, Unrest, Mistmoore, Sol B, Karnors, Sebilis etc. Allow some flexibility there but the point is you won't find many people in Kedge Keep, Nurga/Droga, Dalnir etc :p

The raiding scene is probably best described from someone more active in it, but the forum spin tends to be that TMO dominate a lot of the content and BDA / Forceful Entry are also a presence but with different approaches.

If there's 5 of you, you've pretty much got your own group right there! I think that's one of the best assets to your life on the server...a ready made group :D

[August]

Leveling here is somewhat tricky because people concentrate in a couple of zones and don't go much elsewhere.

Lucky for you, you're going to have a group of 5 which makes it quite a bit eaiser. This is where you find people

1-10 Newbie Zones
10-20 Crushbone, Unrest
20-35 Unrest, Mistmoore
35-40 - good luck finding a group. i had to solo these levels due to limited options
40-50 - solb, lguk (if you're lucky). loio (solo again)
50+ - tons of groups. KC, Seb, HS, chardok

Basically, people tend to stay in Faydwer for leveling as it has central banking (Gfay) - lots of people play gnomes etc, and a great zone experience modifiers on all those dungeons.

The problem with other zones is limited capacity, difficulty of zone, etc. For instance:

HHK is great exp for goblins, however gobs can only support 1 group there, and it's quite a far ways away from anything. So, you'd have to build a group to go there

Paw - great exp, however there is a bug that pulls the whole zone on you in like the 3rd room (to the bridge).

Kedge - great exp but underwater, first room has to be pulled cleverly or broken for you (7 spawn i think).

I personally would have loved to exp in runnyeye, najena, sola, etc. however i always had to make groups to go, and then it was rarely worth it vs. the insane exp i could have gotten in MM. The Kunark dungeons are also ghost towns, but I remember them being that way on live - mobs are much harder, loot is... ok... and it's a pain to get to any of them with DL being the only port of entry outside of a boat, and they're all pretty far away with KC being the exception.


The server is VERY top-heavy. If I was going to do it again, I'd basically try and rush to 50 so I can enjoy the scene. Most people have been here awhile and you will see a ton of twinks for every 1 noob.

Raiding scene -- I'm not a part of it but from what I understand TMO dominates the raiding scene and most fights are 'poopsocks' which derives from the fact that you can't leave your computer because the mob might pop any second, so you have to poop in a sock instead of a toilet. Mobs die incredibly fast.

There are, from my understanding, 5 'raid-capable' guilds:

The Mystical Order (TMO)
Bregan D'Aerth (BDA)
Forceful Entry (FE)
Flawless Victory (FV)
Full Circle (FC)

I am not a member of any of them so don't hold me to that.

Hope this helps.

[Prince]

(3:03:38 PM) naez: it was a fat vagina but surprisingly hairy

[godlovesninjas]

Welcome! Here's a perspective from a player who hasn't even been here for a month:

As said here, the server's incredibly top-heavy. There seems to be a pretty slow but steady influx of lowbie players that you'll be able to play with, and lowbie camps are often available and easy to get. On the other hand, because of the high-level population half the lowbie population is twinked. It's a double-edged sword. I was able to solo to 20 with no issues.

Everyone will tell you to go to Unrest, which regularly has 20 players in it and is drastically overcamped with people whining at each other. I recommend not even bothering. I haven't been to Mistmoore but it seems equally as popular; HHK is always camped as well.

If you have a dedicated group starting new with you, you should have no troubles. If not, be ready to solo in outdoor zones.

I can't speak for the raid scene since I'm not yet a part of it, but the best piece of advice for this server was said above: If you're going to play, you'll probably get the most enjoyment here if you rush straight to 50 as fast as you can.

[falkun]

As others have mentioned, leveling follows a player-made list of "hotzones". Finding groups outside the path is nearly impossible.

As for the raid scene, The Mystical Order are the "big dogs on campus". They will mobilize at any time for all targets, and are the only guild actively raiding Veeshan's Peak (where training other raid forces is legal). Bregan D'Aerth and Forceful Entry are also raid guilds who manage to get some full size raid targets outside of VP (Trak, Gorenaire, VS, etc.), but their share averages <25% of a week's worth of spawns. There are also many guilds that do regular planar clears for planar armor, Flawless Victory, Divinity, and Taken come to mind, but I'm sure I'm leaving some out. They will also get the occasional Maestro, and Severilious and Draco once in a blue moon.

This server, to combat its top-heavy nature, has implemented large spawn variance on raid spawns. Instead of mobs spawning every 7 days, they spawn every 7 days with a 48 hour margin, allowing mobs to spawn as early as 5 days after the last spawn or as late as 9 days after the last spawn. These spawns can also happen at any hour they are within window. This gives advantages to HUGE guilds that can field a sufficient force (30+) at any hour of the day and day of the week. There have been talks about reducing the variance and/or adding simulated patch days (where more stuff spawns simultaneously), but that solution is still in development.

My biggest suggestion for this server is to take time to smell the roses. Its a fantastic recreation of classic. If you are just trying to burn through the leveling to get to the end-game, you will probably be disappointed. But if you enjoy the journey, I think you will enjoy your time here on P99. Good luck!

[Norathorr]

Thanks very much for the responses guys. That in itself is a good sign that the good old style of decorem and a sense of community still exists! I was going to ask does Velious exist also? There has been alot of talk of Kunark and VP raiding. I assume if the top guild still raids VP that velious is not out yet. Surely if a guild was dominating most content in Velious they would not bother with VP? It certainly sounds alot of fun!

It is interesting that people go to Mistmoore! Back in my day that was a zone people tended to avoid! I remember there were a ton of nuking mobs there and some questionable pathing! It was a zone I loved though I still remember getting my pots there and Xicotyl kill for my Ro bp and Soulfire!

How does the server react to cheaters. Please tell me they ban macroquest users and warpers etc? In a competitive enviroment cheating really ruins the experience. When I want to play classic I want to play within the rules and hope those around me do the same thing?

[August]

Thanks very much for the responses guys. That in itself is a good sign that the good old style of decorem and a sense of community still exists! I was going to ask does Velious exist also? There has been alot of talk of Kunark and VP raiding. I assume if the top guild still raids VP that velious is not out yet. Surely if a guild was dominating most content in Velious they would not bother with VP? It certainly sounds alot of fun!

It is interesting that people go to Mistmoore! Back in my day that was a zone people tended to avoid! I remember there were a ton of nuking mobs there and some questionable pathing! It was a zone I loved though I still remember getting my pots there and Xicotyl kill for my Ro bp and Soulfire!

How does the server react to cheaters. Please tell me they ban macroquest users and warpers etc? In a competitive enviroment cheating really ruins the experience. When I want to play classic I want to play within the rules and hope those around me do the same thing?

Can't tell if starting flame war... or if he doesn't know...

Cheating is 'not tolerated here'. That means no MacroQuest, no ISBoxer, no nothing. Hell, you can't even two-box here (IP ban - if you try and log in from EMU server w/ a redundant IP it blocks the connection).

Of course, people break these rules. From my understanding, once upon a time there was a great banning that got a whole bunch of people.

However, lately, there have been more reports of RMT (Real Money Trading) and MQ'ers in various high level guilds. There is an open petition to 'ban all players that are flagged for using 3rd party programs'. So, apparently there MAY be KNOWN cheaters who are NOT being banned. Let your tin foil hat theories fly.

I have encountered two people who are using MQ (not 100% confirmed, but they managed to do some things I would consider impossible w/o the use of MQ). I don't think it's as rampant as some people suggest, but what do I know.

[Tecmos Deception]

My biggest suggestion for this server is to take time to smell the roses. Its a fantastic recreation of classic.

[Snagglepuss]

Some classic dungeons are just plain dangerous, but on this server some are death traps. I'd follow the hotzones these guys gave if you guys want PUGs, but if you have your own group, enjoy the tons of low-mid level content that most of us didn't (on here).

Also, you should know the forums can be a dangerous place. Tons of trolls playing "forumquest" who love to PK. Avoid them until you get hooked on the server. Wouldn't want to scare you guys off too soon

[Sirken]

welcome to Project 1999!

[Norathorr]

Thanks again guys for the responses! This sounds very good indeed. I love the idea of a server thats actually policed properly at last! Of course some people are going to cheat, but at least if they are caught it sounds like they are dealt with! I should be popping into this server after the 7th once I get my new comp up and running!

All being well there should be 5 of us playing so im sure we can always find a 6th to come along with us on our silly journeys on a day by day basis! We are going to try and build the group in a useful manner so that we can get alot done. I seem to remember gearing up is not hugely important till lv 35ish if you always have a group so long as you have a couple of key items? The other thing I forget is are clerics the only viable full time group healer for tough content or is a druid a viable alternative?

[Smilkers]

The other thing I forget is are clerics the only viable full time group healer for tough content or is a druid a viable alternative?

for tough content... unless your druid has a manastone (and is in a zone where they can actually use it), cleric outshines druids on healing 10x. clerics get complete healing at level 39, after all.
we don't get our superior heal until level 53, and it costs 250 mana to heal roughly 600 dmg.
there is no way a druid can compete with Cheal (400 mana to fill up entire HP bar).

you may want to look into SHAMMY vs. cleric, however, since shamans receive an incredibly powerful Slow (some people say shammy's Slow is more powerful than the entire druid class... and I would agree with this, group-wise). Shammys also receive Torpor at level 60, an incredibly overpowered heal over time spell.

with Torpor and Slow, a Shaman is almost better than a cleric. (minus rezzes :D )

[Norathorr]

Thanks Smilkers. So under classic rules is superior heal the best druids get until 60? I Seem to remember there was chloroblast too and some CHeal spell to like 75% or were those introduced in luclin or velious. Its been so long everything has become a blur to me! We were thinking the druid would be nice as we would have ports then and we want to mainly be a melee based group with possibly a paladin for a tank as classic warrior despite being a better numeric tank was not the most exciting class to play nor did it have great snap aggro in multiple mob situations. I remember shaman being awesome healers wit torpor and with a knight tank they could still cast their aggro spells and thus the slow and snare would have less effect than on a warrior.

[Toehammer]

Welcome to the server, it is a great place. The way I see starting out on here is that finding groups is the biggest road block, which you already have covered. Gear is dirt cheap really, since all the good mobs are overcamped 24/7. For example, you said that you guys are thinking of a melee heavy group... things like sword of skyfire 10dmg/22dly sell for like 150pp in EC, or a monk could get a cane of the tranquil 11dmg/25dly for free probably. Also, people hand out stuff all the time for free in EC. With 1000pp, you could get buy weapons for the whole group that would last you until level 50.

Also, you are all playing together, and I am sure you can choose characters of different races and can find a friendly druid/wiz to port and bind you all to one place to group together from level 1!

The community here is odd to me. It seems more immature in a lot of regards, such as insults, trolling, etc, but the skill level is much higher than live and there are a lot more friendly people than I remember.

Also, #1 protip: avoid the forums outside of Server Chat, East Commonlands Tunnel, or the bug reporting/tech forum. Ignore all forum drama.

The raid scene is a bit messed up with dirty tactics but don't worry about it, can worry about that when you are level 46+ and the pixel lust is in full effect and you are foaming at the mouth for gear. Also, although I am in one of the raid guilds, I suggest you start out in smaller guilds that do planar clears, leveling groups, etc. once you get into the teens. Check the Guild Discussion forum.

Enjoy it... EQ is 5x better to me than the original was, now that I don't linkdead every hour and take 5 min to zone. Welcome back!

[falkun]

Chloroblast and Nature's Touch are both at 2.445ish hp/mana in efficiency. That's nowhere near the efficiency of CHeal (5k for 400m is 12.5 hp/mana, 5 times as efficient). Torpor is 1200-1500hps (depending on how good the player is at hunting for that 5th tick) for 200m, so 6-7.5 hp/mana, still over twice as efficient as druid heals (which Druids won't see until Velious anyways). Druids are just completely outclassed in the healing department.

However, they are much faster travelers than Clerics or Shamans due to ports (and SoW in a Cler-Dru comparison).

If you are trying to stack melee, the one caster I would suggest is shaman. They have heal, slow, and haste for your melee, as well as SoW. There is a reason the sham/monk combo is commonly recommended...

[Twain]

Welcome to P99. If you're interested in PvP at all, check out R99. The server population is lower but that is because people see it low and don't come build it up. I do not have any interest in blue because everything is always camped. With the lower population on R99, your group would be able to pretty much camp anything. Also, with 5 people you could take out any twinks that tried to pk you. If you decide to play on R99, message Twainz in game. I could help you guys and may level another alt with you.

[Toehammer]

Welcome to P99. If you're interested in PvP at all, check out R99. The server population is lower but that is because people see it low and don't come build it up. I do not have any interest in blue because everything is always camped. With the lower population on R99, your group would be able to pretty much camp anything. Also, with 5 people you could take out any twinks that tried to pk you. If you decide to play on R99, message Twainz in game. I could help you guys and may level another alt with you.

I actually think this is spot on. I have a 60 on blue and a 55 on red. If I were starting a group of 5 I would play red99... Exp is much faster and you guys can pound on any one hogging a camp... Maybe I will start again too....

[Twain]

R99 has the potential to be an even better community. If we had 50-100 more people playing, PvP would be a lot more fun. Currently the only PvP is either noobs ganking noobs in Unrest or Castle Mistmoore to Azrael coming into KC and getting slain by Nihilum. KC is really starting to see more and more pvp as of late. I would love for pop to get up so we can have some huge guild battles for raid targets. Raiding is fun but raiding Guild vs Guild is even more fun.

Edit

Also we have an exp bonus until lvl 50.

[Norathorr]

Cheers Falkun! Sounds like a druid is not a viable option for our healer. I guess a cleric + shaman + bard + SK + Monk and a rogue if we could get a 6th would be a good combination! We would not have ports but at least we would have SoW and Selos.

Thanks for the advice Toehammer and Twain, but we would have limited play time and alot of the guys really hate Pvp, especially when it turns into gank fests. We are very much Pve players. Essentially whatever we are doing we dont like to have to watch over our shoulders for some high end zerg guild booting us out of any highly sought after camp or some high end player who just wants to pick on low levels for the sake of it. Pvp would be alot more time heavy if we are forced into CRs by some high end with nothing better to do than easily squash lowbies!

[Jenni D]

sadly on red that is what would happen friend. nihilum zerg and new players that do join red mostly join nihilum for easy pixels like twainz here. thus preventing any guild vs guild pvp on even footing.

welcome to p99 & enjoy blue :)

[Twain]

Twainz didnt join Nihilum for easy pixels - status confirmed. Still unconfirmed on who this Jenni D person is. Do you even lift Jenni D?

[Jenni D]

this is not rnf.

[Silo69]

sadly on red that is what would happen friend. nihilum zerg and new players that do join red mostly join nihilum for easy pixels like twainz here. thus preventing any guild vs guild pvp on even footing.

welcome to p99 & enjoy blue :)

lvling on red 1-51 is a waste land

the only time you engage in pvp is when its 3 vs you... or your low hp, on a cr, or when its someones red twink

sounds.... like a great investment of time

no thanks jeff i prefer to community of blue

[falkun]

Enc + bard is much more synergistic than sham + bard, at least from my experience, but feel free to take my min-max advice with a grain of salt. It is much better for you to play what you enjoy than what is "the best". You will also already have heals covered with that set-up. The ENC class is amazing with charm, at all levels of game-play from 12 to 60.

[Norathorr]

Ahh I was thinking that the Shammy would be better as the stat buffs + avatar are very nice for melee and since the bard can provide overhaste surely the enchy haste would not be that much better than the shaman haste. Bard can mez also when required. With old gear especially class armor of kunark are stats not pretty hard to max too? With Velious coming out the ench does not have alot of use vs giants either due to lack of mez etc?