Getting people to play P99

[Mblake1981]

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

You can also take them to see something cool like the wood elf city in the trees or go fishing in a lake to show them the game has other things besides just killing mobs. Buy them an ale or stout at the bar in east freeport.

Go to Neriak, to the bar that has two dark elven strippers that dance for gold.

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

I'd love to have all of my students in the same guild, doing ridiculous 14-person newbie raids on Crushbone, the Warrens, etc. and twitching the experience the whole time - or whatever that 'live streaming gamer cam' thing is. I doubt any of my students would have the wherewithal to actually commit to 60, but it'd be super fun to have a two-group raid of toons in the 30s to go hit some of the goofy content. Holding down Royals in Sol B, or breaking into BR in LGuk, would probably be harder for them than anything they're currently doing in gaming... haha.

Maybe.

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

I find my general crew of gamer-pals just can't get past the box graphics. Even the DnD circle won't give it a shot.

Ocarina of Time still gets played, perhaps for the same reason.

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

As noted in many posts above: if you didn't play before and don't have the nostalgia, you probably aren't playin' now. And if you're into this sort of game and didn't play before, you're probably already around or you're playing something similar so you don't need to convince them.

Inclined to agree.

[mattydef]

Start them off with a fungi and some decent weapons and all of a sudden the game feels like WOW.

[Hrothgar]

Yeah, they might find p99 too hard - Regardless, I feel like a ragtag group of my 15-18 year olds playing p99 would be pretty funny. I like the idea of rewarding them with incrementally better gear by completing hilarious sub-quests, like a raid on Blackburrow, or waiting through a spawn cycle until the rare spawn pops (and is killed).

I'm also in the process of making my classroom themed after D&D/Viking Raids, where groups of 4-5 have to score above a certain point value in order to inflict 'damage' on the 'raid boss' (the essay). Groups scoring the highest damage get to deck their little South Park-esque character in shiny raid loot, unique to each raid boss. It's a work in progress.

[wagorf]

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

The only way to get someone into EQ who's never played it before is to twink them out from level 1. If they're starting the game fresh with no gear, they won't get attached to it. Level 1-20 sucks ass when you're naked.

Don't get me wrong, I loved the struggle...but that is 100% nostalgia. A modern gamer who's used to hand-holding MMO's won't enjoy it.

i think you should let them explore and xp naked for 2 to 3 hours, THEN you twink him

this should get them into the mentality of what ifs. what if i level to xx? what if i acquire this and that? what if i get into groups or raids? what if i go to dungeons?

[Hibbs]

I had a buddy and after months and months of trying to get him to play he said okay come install it. He made a Halfling Rogue (prob thinking wow rogue) wandered around Rivervale for a few fell in the water and died to a large piranha. After he spawned in Misty Thicket and found his way back into Rivervale he died a few more times. After he found out how hard the game was he logged and hasn't been on since.

I had another buddy that finally let me install P99 on his computer. He made a Half Elf Bard and ran around Qeynos for a few hours killing bats, gnolls, and fire beetles. Died a few times to guards while he figured out how not to leave his songs on while in town. He asked some question and I answered the best I could. He is still running around playing now.

I don't have a final statement but its very tough to sell a game from 99 and say oh its the best ever and have people just jump on the bandwagon and immerse themselves in Norrath. Some people will run around and just fall in love with it, and then some people will just be like this is the lamest game I've ever played. But I really feel like they have to experience the game on their own in the first few hours to see if they like it or not. Having a buddy join EQ and being like "lemme give you a bunch of bad ass armor and a weapon" or "let me power level you through the first few levels" is pretty lame..
YOU DONT GET OFF EASY LIKE THAT! You die and you figure it out!

This post is getting long. I wish I could be someone figuring out EQ for the first time. Running around not caring if I was leveling, getting gear, factioning.. whatever it is. I could log on and run around for 5 hours exploring Akanon and log off feeling like I accomplished something for the day.

No matter how much you talk about the game or tell them all this cool stuff unless they find that spark they wont dig it.

TL: DR Show them some sweet dragon pictures

[aaezil]

Its gotta be some form of cruel / unusual punishment to get people hooked into EQ

[aaezil]

Also running around empty cities with empty noob zones isnt all that enticing. Part of the magic of early years eq was that most people were lvl 1-35 ish, not 50-60.