So...
 

I'm looking to get into EverQuest, as I never got to play the original game other than a very brief stint after it went F2P.

I originally played EverQuest Online Adventures (and Frontiers) on the Playstation 2, and played EQ2 for a while near launch before switching to WoW because EQ2 melted my computer at the time. After WoW I just kind of bounced between MMO's for a while, playing nearly everything that came out: WAR, Rift, Age of Conan, LotRO, Tera, SWTOR, FFXIV, etc... After EQOA none of them but WoW really stuck for very long, and that only lasted until the first expansion drove me off.

So I'd been playing other games, and got into Planetside 2 right after its release (I was about 5 months late due to being in Afghanistan at the time). I've been with that for just over a year now, and SOE changed all their memberships to all access. Because of that I've hopped back into EQ2 and am enjoying it thus far, though the linearity of it and the blind "follow the glow on the map" hand-held questing is bothering me at least a bit. Though getting back into the EQ universe has got me interested in it again, with the all access membership being a boon as well.

Which brings me to EQ1. I'm wanting to give it a more serious shot this time around, as I was kind of occupied with other games during my brief F2P stint. From what I've heard, my old favorite EQOA is far closer to EQ1 than it is to EQ2, with the open world, zero hand holding for quests, slower less mobile combat and etc.

So I guess that means my question is: if I'm going to play EQ1 for the first time. . . Would I be better off playing the "original" with Project '99, or playing the "live" version of the game?

All of the games on your list are EZ mode games compared to EQ. If you think you may have an idea what you're getting into because you played EQ2 and those super shitty xbox versions you are very wrong. However seeing as how p1999 is free at least give it a shot..... No harm in trying. Yes I know eq live is FTP, but in the same way SWOTOR is ftp, you can't do shit unless you subscribe. I have literally played every game up there except for age of conan and I always find myself coming back to p1999.

I have to say I think they lost A LOT of people to the high settings it needed to play. Mine was quite jerky and I didn't stay too long :p

<3 for Planetside 2, I was a big PS1 player :)

If you start here it really isn't too difficult, people will probably help you out with some starter gear. There's a huuuuge gap between difficulty here versus live over the last 6-7 years though if you've played there. Nothing is "easy" in that sense.

I'd totally grab Titanium from wherever you can "find" it (see thread at the top of this forum) and give it a shot :)

P99 is great. Just don't get discouraged that you're "so far behind" everyone. On one character you can be just as geared as anyone in about 4 months--providing you put in quite a bit of effort :P

The only people that care about what gear you have are those that have worse gear than you. In fact, I'd say the only person that really cares when I get an upgrade is myself. My friends might congratulate me, but truly, they don't really care. As long as you're content, that's all that matters. The game isn't a race.

Also, you need to be aware of how slow leveling is in p1999. It's slow.

And I dig it, mostly. You spend time places and levels in p1999 in ways you don't in other games. In EQ2 you can rocket out of the newbie area in a few hours, leveling into your teens. Expect to spend days in the first few areas of p1999 (depending on how long you play each day).

Because of that, I get to know areas in EQ the way I don't in other games. I get to know my class, and the enemy mobs. If you focus less on the xp bar, and more on getting the whole experience, it can be enjoyable.

+1 I like how put that.

It was the Playstation 2 version, actually. Which is nothing like EQ2, or any other modern mmo. It honestly seems like the middle child between EQ1 and EQ2 - you level up through large amounts of grinding mobs, no random fetch/kill quests all over the place (quests were at certain level markers, gave good rewards, and were quite long/involved), no LFG tool, no auction house, etc. Plus the world was completely open - and I mean completely. There was never a single loading screen in EQOA anywhere other than traveling between continents or fast-travel between coaches.

Though it did have a bit of the less "hardcore" stuff in it that ended up being in EQ2, such as EXP debt rather than EXP loss, a much more streamlined UI, and etc. I can't really compare it to EQ1 that well due to limited experience, but EQOA is nothing like EQ2.


I mentioned that I'm already a subscriber, because SOE changed all of their game memberships into All-Access memberships, and I'm a Planetside 2 member, so I also get gold membership for EQ1 and EQ2.

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Anywho, back on topic. Thank you all for the responses, but my biggest concern was being forced to solo or not. There's no way to tell the population of the live EQ1 servers, but EQ2 has at least 2 high population servers, and finding a group even for lowbie content is easy. I think I'd rather try p99 for my EQ1 experience, but even the live servers seem rather empty, and the forums/reddit complain alot about it basically being solo play or nothing.

As much as I might want to give EQ1 a shot, and think it might be a genuinely better experience for what I'm looking for... I don't think it would be worth it if I have to solo everything. Regardless of how much better of a game it is, that defeats the entire purpose of an MMO - and I'd rather stick with EQ2 if that were the case, as finding a guild/group to go through the content with is easy there.

So I guess that gives me a little addendum to my original question - will I be able to find assistance or a group for anything in p99? Will I be able to on the live EQF2P servers? Or both, or neither?

Groups are pretty common at low levels in p99. My tip would be to play a class everyone wants in their group, cleric, chanter, warrior, rogue etc. Hybrids cause a pretty big xp penalty to incur for the whole group and are often turned why by the min/maxing elitests that dominate this game, but I managed to get to 42 on my first character, a Shadowknight, and earn enough plat for Best in slot shield/sword for my lvl.

Grouping is there on p99. Not so much on Live, due to the mercs and box armies.