I'm New, Raid Questions

[Folly]

I've never played EverQuest. I'm the type of player that likes to be able to do everything. But I can't always have so much time to play. I'm fine doing slow leveling and grinding.

But raids require you to be at the computer for quite a while.
I'd like objective answers, how long does one need to be at the computer for a raid in an average guild.

And from reading some of the raiding post, there is all sorts of rules and rotations between guilds. Is that correct, do guilds have an agreed schedule for each other so they don't conflict? Or is there a lot of raiding conflict?

If I played 3 hours a day in the evenings, would I be suitable for a raiding guild?

Raiding is just something that scares me, I want to participate in it. I've never raided in any game.

[fiveeauxfour]

turn back while you still can

[Sweettouch]

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

turn back while you still can

[luckynclover]

From what ive gathered you can raid it just wont be the current top end of top end unless you basicly live and breathe your computer. This isnt wow where you can lfr everything. But if you get up there join a good guild meet people make friends youll see some raiding.

[simp403]

Raids are not instanced in Everquest, so raid bosses are on timers that can range from hours to days and there is only one spawn that all guilds must compete for. This means that raids can't necessarily be scheduled and instead must take place when the raid mob is about to spawn. From what I've read, there's also some variance to when a raid mob spawns with regard to the timer, such that it can spawn +/- a few hours from the exact timer. This means that guilds have to sit and wait for the spawn for a few hours in order to secure it before other guilds.

What this all means is that if you are in a guild that is contesting the major raid mobs, you'll likely have to log on at fairly odd hours and wait for a few more hours to be able to engage a raid mob. I'd suggest joining a casual raid guild instead. They are much more flexible on time and you won't have to fuck with your real life schedule as much to raid.

[Mojo24]

No. You'd need more than a 3 hour window.

Raids are just big zergs and whoever can field more players off a bat phone are the winners.

[kined]

if youve never raided in any game before you probly arent ready for eq raids, nor is it likely to seem fun. they are long, slow, and for the higher end guilds its more a matter of being available at any time to pop in and smack a mob down when the batphone rings.

casual guilds do raid the planes though, and that can be a fun experience to do a couple times but after that its pretty mind numbing. i dont recommend this raid scene at all, but thats just my own preference. with your limted availability - getting in the prominent raiding guilds is simply a no-go.

[Ele]

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

If I played 3 hours a day in the evenings, would I be suitable for a raiding guild?

Raiding is just something that scares me, I want to participate in it. I've never raided in any game.

Depends on what you mean by "raid." Have a good time exploring dungeons and getting armor with friends for a few hours? Or experience end game content and defeat the baddest of the bad bosses and get the best loot?

Can you dedicate more than 3 hours a day to the game?

Do you AFK frequently?

Are you willing to wake up in the middle of the night to a batphone alert or people yelling over your computer speakers when a dragon spawns?

Since you are new to EQ, you will need to spend your early time getting to 60 and getting a baseline of gear to be able to do the top end raiding.

What class do you play or plan to play?

[bktroost]

Raids are broken up into unspoken tiers, but they are ambiguous because different kinds of guilds exist that consider raiding differently.

Definitions of used terms:

Hourly Raids-- Defined by a guild locking down an area and slowing farming or killing that area of mobs uncontested and at their leisure.

Instant Engage Raids-- Defined by a guild having an intricate alert system to the player's real world forms of communication in order to alert them to a monster spawning and having players stare at a spawn location ready to engage the monster the moment it spawns for up to 16 hours. The mob is then instantly engaged, announces the name of the tagger and is pulled to the spot of the guild that must be logged in and ready by the time the mob is brought to the camp. (there must be zero downtime in the pull; directly to the kill spot or it is considered stalling).

Leveling Guilds:
Hourly Raids--Plane of Hate and Fear are top end raids. Mobs that generally are trioed or duoed by top end players like Yael could also be considered raids. Bread and butter are going to be Chardok Royals and Juggs, but usually they lose people around this area to full raiding guilds. (raids generally go a few hours)
Instant Engage Raids--None.

Casual Guilds:
Hourly Raids--Spending an afternoon or day in Temple of Veeshan doing East wing (Halls of Testing), Plane of Growth or Plane of Sky. Occasionally AOE Fear or a hate crawl for epic pieces. (raids generally go between 2-6 hours depending on content)
Instant Engage Raids-- Anything classic and Kunark. Some Velious outside of North Temple of Veeshan.

Less Aggressive Hardcore Guilds:
Hourly Raids-- Hall of Testing or West Wing in Tower of Veeshan. (No idea how long they go).
Instant Engage Raids-- Anything Classic, Kunark and most Velious and Veeshan's Peak. Some North Temple of Veeshan.

Hardcore Guilds:
Hourly Raids-- None that I've ever seen.
Instant Engage Raids-- Everything including Sleeper's Tomb.

Breakdown of Notable Guilds (as I see em):

Leveling: Clue, Kittens who say Meow, Knights Who Say Knee, and others not mentioned.
Casual: Europa, Omni, Azure Guard, Asgard, Haggard Krew, Anonymous
Less Aggressive Hardcore: Taken, BDA, Divinity
Hardcore: Rampage, Forsaken


I'm sure people will disagree here to some degree, but this is not meant to be inflammatory towards anyone who disagrees. Just going off the kill count and how fast people can get a zerg to an area, train their enemies and take their kill.

[Spyder73]

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

if youve never raided in any game before you probly arent ready for eq raids, nor is it likely to seem fun. they are long, slow, and for the higher end guilds its more a matter of being available at any time to pop in and smack a mob down when the batphone rings.

casual guilds do raid the planes though, and that can be a fun experience to do a couple times but after that its pretty mind numbing. i dont recommend this raid scene at all, but thats just my own preference. with your limted availability - getting in the prominent raiding guilds is simply a no-go.

I don't want to get started b!tching about the time sink that is "raiding" (aka sitting around not actually playing EQ), but needless to say it is time consuming and not fun. If you want dragon loot, expect to immerse yourself deeply into the game. You can get nice stuff from questing, planar runs, epic, ect - But don't get your heart set on killing anything that is on a 5 or 7 day timer.