Before I get started...

[Golaniel]

My people!!! I've scanned the landscape of MMORPGs over the last 10 years for a new "Everquest" but all I ever see is cookie cutter remakes of the new style of MMORPG that plays more like a 1+ player rather than a true multiplayer game. I had actually pretty much lost hope in MMORPGs, figuring I must be in an extreme minority of folks who actually LIKED Everquest because it was HARD and REQUIRED grouping...where a single trash mob could take down a group if everyone didnt know what they were doing! Then I found you guys, and my excitement for the genre has been rekindled.

I'm working on acquiring a copy of Titanium so I can join you all soon and re-experience the land of Norrath as I did back in the early 2000s. Needless to say, I'm stoked.

As I get back rolling, I would appreciate all of your help with the following (admitted wall) of questions!

- My true love is tanking...was a Warrior in EQ1, and again in EQ2. I honestly can't see myself being anything else. However, is being a *Human* warrior going to hinder me over being a Barbarian/Ogre/Troll warrior due to the reduced stats (especially strength)? If so, is it worth reconsidering Barb in favor of Human (I won't go Ogre/Troll)?

- What are the grouping prospects for a Human Warrior? If I remember right, blues will be killing me solo after lvl 10-15, so I'm really curious how hard it will be for me to find groups in all of the level tiers. I'm a casual player, so I'll likely not be able to stick with the same group of folks for long periods of time (they will out-level me) so I will either need to find PuGs or guild groups.

- Does the pre-endgame content get played a lot? I'm talking low level dungeons like Befallen and stuff. One of the saddest things about EQ2 is that it has so, so, so much beautiful content that absolutely no one plays b/c expansion gear has made those places absolutely worthless to go to unless you want to beat the area for the sake of beating it. I like loot just like the next guy, but I really, really would like to experience a lot of the lower level content in the game even if it is "just because". I'm hoping to not have the EQ2 experience where you basically need to PL til the end game in order to be able to do anything with anybody.

- How's the tradeskilling saturation? Are any of the tradeskills profitable, or are they either too saturated and/or the items are not worth using b/c the gear table is too saturated? Back in the day I mastered every single tradeskill (except Alchemy, not available to me as a Human Warrior) but my true love is smithing, and I'd be thrilled to be able to spam EC for Banded and Fine Plate sales [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

- Do any of the low lvl tradeskill mats from loot drops sell (i.e. is it profitable to farm as low level)? Example items I can think of would be HQ bear/cat pelts, Greater Lightstones, Spider Silks, etc.

- EQ to me is fun for the people. Do people use voice chat at all? If so, is it baked into the game, or are people using things like Vent servers? I can type as well as the next guy, but honestly I have a whole lot more fun being able to really talk with people.

- Is there a recommended UI mod for tanking? Back in the day I pretty much just used the standard UI, but if there's a good tanking mod I definitely want to install it.

- Are there in-game maps (don't think those existed until well after Velious)? If not, are there 3rd party map integrations, or are those disallowed (I'm totally fine either way)?

- How's the population on Friday and Saturday nights? That's generally my only time to play.

- Does armor still come in 3 sizes, fitting only certain races? I actually really like that.

- Is Kithicor still certain death at night for anyone below lvl 35 (unless of course you run around the edges of the zone boundaries, everyone knows that)?

- Does the lvl 25 Griffon (damn him!!) still ravage East Commonlands in his reign of terror over n00bs?