Total newb looking for advice

[CroixRaoul]

So I have always wanted to play vanilla EQ but i thought it was gone until i saw this, so i immediately did everything to get P99. I have never played EQ, i just always wanted to. I was thinking of playing some of my old DnD characters.
I was thinking of a Necromancer dark elf (cliche i know)
Or a human female warrior and figuring i'd play tank for any party that'd have me.
But honestly i was just kinda wondering if i could get some starting advice/see if any guilds needed a specific character or just anything really. Any advice for me as a total newb?

[menadwen]

Half-Elf Ranger is good for starting out. Has a bit of everything.

[Ryanx3d]

I think you should play whatever you think you will have the most fun playing. Tanks are always needed, and if you are passionate about mastering your class you can do well with anything you roll. Just make sure you research your racial traits and primary stat. I guess it all starts with what role you want to play. Hybrids are pretty versatile and will let you get a feel for both spell and melee mechanics. My first toon was an SK and I loved it. Its all about what you enjoy really. Since you are new I would try a little bit of everything until you find something you like.

[Evia]

the human female warrior is a good idea. tanks are probably the hardest piece to find for me when I lvl alts up. So I don't imagine you'd have a hard time finding groups. It would be a struggle for gear lvling up but to me that is what makes the experience fun. Lots of great items to be had for a few hundred pp so you could manage.

[CroixRaoul]

So i spent quite a while looking up and reading Wiki's for the game, my problem is, even though i have been MMO'ing for years, it's always been with the same group so I dont really know how to approach players and ask for groupings and all that, if that makes sense. How do the groups on this game work exactly? i take it you shouldnt spam party invites and all that? what is the etiquette

[CroixRaoul]

I dont want to start a tank and not have anyone to play with is kinda my problem with that

[Kowalski]

Iksar necro

[Voland]

Look for people in your lvl range and send tells.

[Casteel]

You should just log in and play. Going to the message boards is informative, but you're never going to really find out what you really enjoy or really hate until you just do it. In that process, you can ask pretty much anybody in your level 1 starting area pretty much any questions and I've found that people are downright happy to help.

[Sorn]

You can send tells to people asking if they want to join you. It's perfectly easy provided you have manners. Stay classy, my friends.

EX:
Scenario: You're in Eastern Wastes and want a group at the giant fort, you've got your LFG tag but no one's biting, so you decide to be proactive. You need people in the 35-45 level range.

/who 35 45

Players on Everquest
-------------------------------
(38 Druid) Tadhg
(44 Bard) Dadian <Forsaken For Example>
(35 Cleric) Saldi <Bregan D'Example>
There are 3 players in Eastern Wastes

/tell Tadhg Hey, want to group/duo and kill some frost giants with me?
You tell Tadhg, 'Hey, want to group/duo and kill some frost giants with me?'

(You can get any sort of reply, but generally I give two different kinds depending on what I'm doing, as shown here)

Scenario 1: Tadhg tells you, 'Sure!'
(Commence meeting up with me for some fun giant killing times. You can also ask the others on the list the same thing and get a real group going.)

Scenario 2: Tadhg tells you, 'No thank you, I can't tonight. Good luck!'
(Commence asking the others on the list, search farther afield with /who all 30 40, or relocate to a zone that's easier to reach and try again.)

Some people might be rude about it or they simply never answer. Just ignore the rude ones (or /ignore if you never want to talk to them again) and consider those who don't answer to be actively declining your invitation unless they talk to you later (but don't sit around waiting for them).

Maybe it seems weird to go out of your way to send tells when you're advertising in OOC, which everyone in the zone can see, but I've noticed with most players you're more likely to get a response if you speak to them specifically. Occasionally I see two people calling that they're LFG in OOC and for some strange reason, even if they're in the right level range, they don't form a group on their own until one of them takes their fates into their own hands and contacts the other.

Once you have another player, you can hit OOC and say 'Giant fort looking for more/LFM' and name a type of class if you need that specifically, ie 'healer', 'tank', or 'dps'. People will go for the idea more often if you already have a group going.

TL;DR Be proactive! Decide your own grouping destiny.