A few questions for a newbie

[MegamanXZOBMV]

Well, newbie to Project 1999 anyway. I apologize if some of these questions are in the wrong area, or have been answered previously here or in other sections.

I played EQ when it came out in 1999, up until around the time Gates of Discord was released, so most of the things about the game itself I already know much about:

1. I know that the Titanium client is the most-used/''best'' one to use for connecting to the server. I haven't yet bought any of the packs that are compatible with this so far, but I want to jump in as quickly as possible. My question here is, is Secrets of Faydwer ''bad'' enough to warrant not getting it, and picking up Titanium in it's stead. I hear that it's unsupported, and there may be some issues while using it, but Titanium is a little pricey for me at the moment (upwards of $40, generally $50 to $60 on eBay and Amazon), whereas SoF is roughly $10 to $20 for a used one in good condition. Should I wait and save up a little longer for Titanium, or is SoF ''good enough'' if i want to just jump right into the action as soon as possible? Likewise, would any other clients/expansions be better than SoF and still cheaper than Titanium?

2. I have a classic example of ''Alt-itis''. My highest level character in the original EQ was about 43, a Half-Elf Warrior, and I littered countless servers with character slots filled with low-teens characters. I'm just as likely now to create many character (just not AS many), and wanted to know a little about the population in some starting zones. I'm aware the G'fay seems pretty populated, and I saw people on the forums saying that FoB is pretty hot right now too:
2a: How populated is the Qeynos area, such as the city, Hills, Surefall, and Blackburrow? That was my favorite, and most familiar, area when I originally played EQ, so I'm curious
2b: Thinking of making a Dark Elf of some sort, and wanted to know if Nek forest is empty or not. I'm assuming that the Commonlands and areas surrounding Oasis of Marr are pretty populated, seeing how popular that zone used to be, I just thoroughly enjoyed Nektulos Forest and Lavastorm Mountains, so curiosity gets the best of me.

3. My two mains in EQ were a Warrior and a Druid, both Half-Elfs. Because of this, I was thinking of making a Ranger of some sort, a class I had never really advanced far into compared to others. However, I see a lot of smack talked about Rangers as of late... not just here, but on other EQ sites. Should I still make one? I mean, I enjoyed the warrior (obviously), and as a Warrior I actually had Fletching as my main tradeskill, and used a bow with him quite often, and I love Druid and Shaman spells, so it just seems like a good combo. What is it exactly about Rangers that makes them so frustrating, difficult, and punishing to play as and/or with?

4. Sorry for all the text. =) Nice to meet you all, and hopefully I'll see you soon on the server.

[jyaku]

1. i'd just go with titanium, i'v heard of people with the SoF client crashing alot and some other issues i can't think of at the moment

2. i'm not sure about the city or hills, but i tend to see a few people in BB at points but it's not a constant like in EC/nro area. I have no idea about nek

3. Rangers are'nt the best at anything. not good at tanking at low levels (unless twinked to crap) without a cleric. Their DPS is fairly low, spell list is kinda lacking and they can't really get good weapons without assloads of plat or being end game

[maestrom]

Rangers also have that hefty 40% experience penalty which makes leveling slow (frustrating).

They're just tough to play and have fun with.

[MegamanXZOBMV]

Awesome, I was more concerned about BB than Qeynos or QH anyway.

40% experience penalty? I was never aware that classes were associated with an experience penalty. Granted, I never looked far into it.. I only knew some races leveled faster than others.

[Maelstrom]

I have both clients and have not had a problem using SoF with this server. If you're strapped for cash I'd say go SoF.

Qeynos is not nearly as populated as it was six months ago. I've only seen a few lowbies in the area lately, including Blackburrow. The most populated newbie area atm is definitely Field of Bone, and East Commons always has an orc group or two going. Nek forest isn't as populated as it was but there is always a handful of youngun's leveling there.

Welcome to the server!

[MegamanXZOBMV]

Hmm, does anyone here know exactly why the SoF client works, but doesn't work as well? Don't quite understand it myself, though that's not really too important.

Well, as long as there's at least a couple people in Qeynos every now and then. I just don't like it when it's empty on a consistent basis. I remember one of the biggest reasons I stopped playing EQ was starting zones like Qeynos, Freeport, and even Greater Faydark were almost entirely empty because of expansion material. That was a big turn-off for me, especially when places like Orc Hill were still great places to farm exp.