Red curious...

[DBStrong]

Greetings all, after about a 15 year hiatus, I plugged back into EQ mid-late '19. Initially on live, on my old server with original characters. After doing some grinding; realizing just too much content had passed me by; no longer knowing what I was doing after about DoD expansion, and enjoying too many alts to ever truly get to endgame content anyway- I discovered p99.

I joined Green around Spring '20, so I missed the initial launch, but absolutely loved the (debatable, I know) "classic" feel of the game. I had some, but not much, difficulty finding groups/mobs to grind exp with, and was truly enjoying my time, albeit very limited availability. As I have perused the forums with bits of downtime while at work, and admittedly been lurking without much posting activity, (I believe in doing more listening than speaking; I never learned anything by listening to what came out of my own mouth) the aspect of PvP has become an undeniable urge.
I've made up my mind to roll something on Red; just debating on class/race combo. Considering all the info I've seen posted here, I'm wondering about the veracity of casters in general- the Necro class specifically. That has been my bread and butter over the years, and wonder if familiarity would breed success, or boredom...

Also wondering what all the commotion is, over the current Red server being 'broken', and wanting/needing a new version. Is current Red something to be avoided until things improve? What is so 'bad' about it? I'll not play live, TLP PvP or otherwise, so Red is basically going to be my go to PvP training grounds. Is it worth my (limited) time to begin a true newbie on Red? or should I just stick to grinding on Green?

Thank you for enduring my post. I offer my apologies for such a rambling stream of consciousness, and my sincerest thanks to anyone with helpful insight as I potentially prepare myself for a launch into the world of PvP via your p99 Red server.


***No red toon to drop in sig... other toons, Live/Green irrelevant***

[Penish]

You're asking if a sub 50 pop emulated pvp server is worth playing? lol

[magnetaress]

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

You're asking if a sub 50 pop emulated pvp server is worth playing? lol

This is really a dumb argument just used to troll because with boxing accounted for all the EMU pvp servers have about the same pop, like all two of them? if there's one I don't know about lol. Admit it most of you guys hotbox both servers (or green and blue+red99). And can't stay away from red99, or its forums because you are onlyfans.

Please reply here: Lets be super honest please about how many of you still play here. If you genuinely want to debate me so as not to troll the hell out of this newbies thread out of courtesy <3.

Also wondering what all the commotion is, over the current Red server being 'broken', and wanting/needing a new version. Is current Red something to be avoided until things improve?

There's no real good reason to avoid it aside from population. It's not broken per see. Some things aren't super duper classic. But close to classic. Like resists, agi/dex. Weighted Axe+low delay bow on an ogre (probably fixed real soon). Everything works and it feels very classic. Some players just are mad about not winning in 2018, 2014, 2016, etc and left to try and make better servers which are even less classic or allow boxing.

It uses the same (or almost same) code as green and blue do.

I'll not play live, TLP PvP or otherwise, so Red is basically going to be my go to PvP training grounds.

Red is perfect for learning how pvp works if you make it to the end game and hook up with either of the two guilds and make friends, they will support teaching u all the ropes.

Is it worth my (limited) time to begin a true newbie on Red? or should I just stick to grinding on Green?

You could hit 50 in less than a month, or 3 months. 60 in under a year. You could get decent 1 groupable gear within 6 months. There is a 300% xp bonus in grps and stuff so grouping even with people leaching exp is a bonus to your exp overall. That slows a lot at 50. So that's the kind of time investment your looking into for 1 character. Maybe a full year for two (a melee alt to compete in velious).

I'm wondering about the veracity of casters in general- the Necro class specifically

Necros are amazing at pvE you could literally get one to 60 probably in a month-or-two. Their lifetaps aren't half bad in PvP and their pets can do some dmg and add more stuff for ppl to root and pell in group pvp situations. vs Like geared players and noobs engulfing darkness owns all. They have a semi decent FR debuff. FD is amazing in pvp. Because you can escape players who don't have it. You can splurt or Ebolt ppl and FD somewhere else. Once you start adding teammates, and groupmates, guildmates the necro play style gets more diverse and interesting, you can heal and twitch, and do a lot of things for other players, DMF is an excellent pvp spell. I imagine you can sometimes land poison/disease dots in end game scenarios as well. Especially with a shaman buddy hanging around helping. (I'm really bad at actual pvp tho, so maybe we need a necro vs shaman or necro vs shadowknight thread).

All caster classes and priests are pretty viable on red as 1st toons. Cleric may be rough for someone who isn't an expert cleric and willing to afk a lot.

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Come 60, you'll probably want to have a real melee alt for pvp, just incase you are faced with more 1v1 situations. But EQ pvp is imbalanced, rock paper scissors, and melees are VERY strong in velious. Not saying 100% immortal but a lot of people have really good gear and are just going to win no matter what unless you're outside and just taking pot shots at each other which will be a stalemate.

Necros are great in mass pvp. Necros are mediocre in group pvp. Necros are very randomly good/bad in 1v1 pvp depending on who they are up against and the gear, and expansion.

Think about if you want to make a warrior, ranger, or rogue alt, and participate much in the end game, otherwise it will mostly be just a pve experience. High lvl end game pvp encounters can take all day. So you won't be wanting to pvp and contest regularly if you are casual, but no reason you can't log in one day a week and see if Apex or Perdition are doing things.

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I'll P.S. this and say: RoZ is offering level 55 characters, though the game goes up to PoP now? and has aas (probably a worse grind than 1-60 veious here), and a LOT of other un-custom stuff. It's a good not-classic-custom server. You can sorta learn to pvp there, but be prepared for grinding aas, boxing etc. It won't be the same as the EQ you remember so much. I'm leaving this here because its the alternative. It's not "better" it's totally different. Population is really about the same on both boxes, and RoZ is run by some clever coders who are actively trying to make the game neat.

[Gustoo]

Its low pop, but it allows you to quest and enjoy yourself. The other thing is that PVP makes the entire game more meaningful. You need to care about resists and your surroundings and you can't treat people like garbage because they can and will come back to kill you.

The red 2.0 server which has been promised and will eventually come will be the best iteration of classic EQ since 1999 and your practice on the current red server will serve you well to prepare for the PVP to come. When you get attacked just think as clearly as you can and try to live or be victorious. If you die and your EXP session is destroyed just let it go. The drawbacks are worth the benefits.

The current server petered out because of multiple guild bans, corruption early on, bad ruleset early on. A bunch of stuff that is kind of inexplicable. The fact remains that this is an excellent server and the staff is quite excellent and in fact is incomparable.

I would suggest playing a class that allows you to play the way you want. If you want to solo I would go with a necro, shaman, druid, or enchanter because they are all fairly efficient.

When you're playing, I think it is helpful to consider what gear and tools that will be available to you in a pre-kunark server so you can be most successful on red 2.0. I would even try to level to 50 in a pre-kunark way and think about a path, and even think about an alternative path because on red 2.0 all the popular zones will be totally covered with players and you will start thinking of alternate places to level in the outskirts of the game.

If you want a lot of people to sort of interact with, definitely play on blue or green right now. Either of those servers can allow you (green moreso) to practice somewhat for the red 2.0 experience which you will certainly not want to miss.

Blue you will probably be able to get more and better handouts from people if you want to get free items in east commonlands tunnel to help you on your quest to just tool around the game rather than go through the slow progression from cloth to ringmail to bronze to actually magical armor.

good luck pal!

[Tassador]

Instead of reading this dribble pick up the ball and play. Not much of anything going to be going on at your level obviously with 19 live people online on average.

[DBStrong]

Much thanks for your quality replies. Those are exactly the kind of comments I was hoping for, and I appreciate any & all wisdom shared.

With regards to getting to end game content: I will never get there, on any server, PvP or otherwise. My playing time availability just won't allow it. RL is REAL, and EQ is my fun downtime escape (within reason). I never made it to max level on Live. As max lvl increased with each expansion, I just got farther and farther away from it. I couldn't allocate the kind of time during my Live days, or now, to accomplish such feats. My Necro (main) was around 40 around Kunark Launch; Upper 40's by Velious; Low 50's by Luclin. During that time though, I managed to also get a Cleric up to low 50's by PoP also, and a Shaman to low 40's as well. I am fully aware that I could have had my Necro AT the endgame, but again- my short bouts of time didn't allow for extended camping/exp grouping, and time of day availability (MY prime time hours are Central US early-mid afternoon. I'm in bed by the time the west coast sits down to dinner) means no raiding either.

For me, the joy is in the journey. Call me sadistic, but I enjoy playing alts: struggling through the 20's, 30's, 40's in all the semi-classic/Kunark locations; grinding a loc off the beaten path while others fight it out in the more populous areas; farming stuff with my Necro to hand down to my lowbie alts; etc.

As Atypical as all that sounds for someone playing a 20+ year old elf simulator ( a phrase I've obviously heard here- and Love it! )... that is ME. A Necro at heart, with Priestly inclinations, and very little true melee experience.

Thanks again, and keep the advice coming!

[DBStrong]

I will "pick up the ball" when I have time to sit at my screen at home.
Forum time is 'at work, down-time'- when I can pick the brains of all the other folks who have dedicated WAY more time to this game than I will ever be able to do myself.

Thanks

[Gustoo]

If you just want to go slow motion cruising the game you might be better served on blue or green where there are more people to interact with. More camps will be unavailable to you so you may not get to do exactly what you want when you play, but that is the tradeoff of having more population.

Decide what you want to do. With the way red99 is now, PVP is going to be mostly an inconvenience because you won't be seeing a lot of competing guild activity and stuff at level 1-55

Can't go wrong with any of the servers and if you play red and just feel too lonely then just ditch it.

Iksar necro's are awesome. On green, kunark is still pretty fresh so there is a ton of people tooling around in kunark and there is even a guild that is doing an iksar only 1 life weird thing called "legacy of IK" which seems like a fun way to play if only for a little while.

[strongNpretty]

I've been a blue player since 2016. And I joined the green server race when that all started too.. Ultimately i have found my home on red these days... PVP is and was a part of EQ's history, so everybody should experience and make a character here regardless.. If you enjoy EQ, then you should have a toon on all 3 servers honestly.. They all have their reasons to play on.

That being said- Red is my home for a few reasons. I cannot compete with folks on green or blue.. my life doesnt allow such playtime. And i found myself getting quite discouraged by all my buddies getting loots and raiding, or developing these relationships that i wasn't..

Red helps me balance all these feelings.. The low populations keeps me feeling involved.. I know the names, the names know me. And i have 0 feeling of needing to beat everquest.. Everyday since i joined has been seriously stress free and enjoyable! Camps are open. The PVP aspect breathes fresh life into P99 for me, different strategies and what not. Bigger focus on other types of gear and what not.

Red is fun for what red provides and does best. Gotta be a self motivator over here.. Need to be the type of person that when there is nobody around to group with or kill, that you can find plenty of things to do to keep you busy.. Complete quests, or camp gear you otherwise can't on the other servers! Come here for PVP. Come here for PVE.. Whatever your reasons are- Try red today!!

[Gustoo]

Well said.