New player - Crumley, Half-Elf Bard, starting in Kelethin.

[Nitis Nithoss]

Hi everyone! I'm ecstatic to be stating up on Project 1999 - Blue. I just got everything installed and set-up. These loading screens and this music. My gosh! It's great to be back to my childhood! I've decided to play a Half-Elf Bard named Crumley, who is named after the crime-fiction author James Crumley. My goal is an adventure through Norrath, to eventually getting the Troubador title and to one day share my hard-boiled stories in the Commonlands.

I started in Kelethin, got my guild tunic and I've been crushing skulls ever since. I just hit level 2 and bought my first sewing kit for storage. My questions are -

1) Are there any quests I need to be looking to do as a low-level first-timer?

2) Should I be prioritizing selling what I loot to buy more storage, or should I be saving what I sell to be able to afford spells? For example, what is the starter progression - is it storage, then spells, then finally vendor instruments and armor?

3) Lastly, is there a "mouse-look" command? I would like to be able to freely look around without my character turning as when I hold down the right-click on my mouse my entire character will turn with my gaze. That's all I'm curious about for now.

Overall, I'm excited to start playing EverQuest again! I look forward to meeting everyone out in Norrath. I'd like to find some friends to adventure with or simply chat with. Are there are more casual guilds? The reason I'm seeking something casual is that my play these first few weeks will be sporadic at best, but my goal is to be able to be in a position to play a little more in mid-September when I have time off from work. I'm wary about meeting a bunch of people and then falling shamefully behind in levels. Regardless, if you see me running around lost in Greater Faydark send me a tell.

[Mewse]

1. You could do the "Going Postal" quest, delivering mail between Felwithe and Kelethin, or the bone chip quest in Kaladim. But if this is your first character on the server, I would strongly suggest just killing in the newbie yard, then moving to orc hill, and eventually into Crushbone.

2. As a bard, you shouldn't have much difficulty affording your songs, so I would prioritize storage space first so you can carry more stuff without having to vendor every five minutes. You'll want to buy Medicine Bag's over Sewing Kit's, as they weigh less (.04 vs 3.0) and carry the same amount. Sewing Kit's can carry GIANT items, but you'll very rarely run into anything at this level that requires that size storage.

3. F9 is the default for cycling through camera angles.

4. There's three major leveling guilds on the server, the first two being <Dawn Believers> and <Kittens Who Say Meow>. Then you have <Auld Lang Syne> that's a specialty guild that plays different from the rest of the server, in that they have a closed economy, and play the game like it really is 1999. You quest and loot most of your own gear, and the rest you buy from guildies. It's a really fun way to play, and really helps you see more of the game world outside of the handful of leveling zones most stick to. I'd suggest checking them out and maybe rolling an alt over there once you've gotten your feet wet, if the style sounds a little too hardcore for your first character.

Anyways, always good to see a new player. Hope to see you in Norrath!

[Nitis Nithoss]

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

Anyways, always good to see a new player. Hope to see you in Norrath!

Thanks for the information. I also went ahead and checked out the Norrath in a Nutshell guide it answered a lot of my questions, and by reading about all the intricacies of classic Everquest, I feel confident that I'm well-versed now in the differences between Project 1999, my hazy perceptions of what I remember from back-in-the-day and live-Everquest. I do have two new questions if you don't mind answering -

1) Now, I'm not a min-maxer or whatever, and this doesn't really concern me, but I'm confused about grouping experience... As I understand it, the experience is shared among group members. Players split experience and a modifier is applied depending on group size. So, are there are situations where not being in a group or grouping with only one other person may be preferable than grouping in a full group, despite the 20% modifier? The reason I ask, When I was playing last night I met two people, one who wanted to group, but I was about to log off right when they asked, and another who did not want to. When I asked the person who didn't want to they suggested that "we would get better experience solo" or something to that effect. Now, if I'm understanding right, for that to be true, they're saying at our pace we couldn't kill monsters fast enough to overcome the 50/50 even with the bonus 2%, correct? I just want to make sure I'm understanding the system so that I have a better understanding of what situations might be ideal for grouping and what may be ideal for grouping.

2) Are there any specific items I should NOT be vendoring at low-levels? From what I've read I'm believing that I should be hoarding bone-chips and bat wings? The rest of the stuff I can vendor, correct? I was confused about hides, I thought hides could be valuable, but I assume that the ruined pelts and the lower hides aren't in demand? I've had great success looking out for enemies carrying weapons as those seem to vendor for at least a gold, sometimes more. I've been reading the Project 1999 Wikipedia as I play. However, there are just so many quests and possible tradeskill recipes it's hard to know what is junk and what is useful to me or someone else. Obviously, that comes with experience, but I['m just trying to avoid any blunders.

Sorry for the silly questions, I don't remember much about classic-EQ, and on the live-servers, even the "progression ones" you're basically level 10 and fully geared for the next 20 levels in an hour or two. However, the consequence of the streamlined nature of the newer version, and my horrible memory is that I don't remember how to be helpless again. I'm finding it refreshing. Seeing my HP and an Orc pawns HP race to the bottom and praying I get a lucky roll and hit him for 3+ before he knocks me down is a unique experience I didn't know I was missing. It's refreshing to see the zones I remember full of people all sharing the same misery. Thanks for taking the time to answer my begininer questions.

[Mewse]

1.) Yes, it's all very circumstantial, but there are many situations where grouping with others is less efficient than soloing, duoing, etc, particularly in the low levels. It really boils down to skill of the player, class you or they are playing, gear level of said players, etc into infinity. Since so many players on this server have been here a while, many have money to burn on alts to twink them out, so a large section of the server might never group with anyone until around 20. It's at this point where mob hp and damage starts to force players to work together rather than alone, even if they're well-geared, for mutual benefit.

2.) You can vendor the bat wings, most players aren't going to buy them from you when they can buy them cheaper from a merchant in EC. You want to hang onto bone chips, crushbone belts and pads, high quality hides, bandit sashes, and a few other things I can't think of at the moment. If you're ever in doubt, look up the item on the wiki. If there's not a price listed, it's (normally) okay to vendor. There are some items that people just have never gotten around to adding tunnel prices to (http://wiki.project1999.com/Frozen_Orb, for example), but generally speaking you're in the clear.

We all started somewhere, so don't feel bad for asking questions, even simple ones. It's community that keeps this game alive, and nobody knows everything. I'm glad you're having fun, sorry for the late response, and I hope to see you running around Norrath. If you ever see me in-game, I've got a spare drum and lute for you if you're still rocking out on the bard. Cheers!