nonproductive
Member
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2023
- RedCents
- 346¢
(no idea if I picked the right prefix for this.... or if I am in the right forum even... But here goes)
A little background first:
I am not normally a forum poster. I might lurk or ask a question in Discord that will fade into the ether with time. But I really wanted to share my experience for those that might be on the fence abut the CWTN plugins or VV / MQ in general.
I started playing EQ on launch day in 1999. I continued to play for nearly 10 years before life's responsibilities took over all of my free time. I have 2 accounts I used to manually multibox back then - usually a Bard and a Druid and I would kite all over Norrath. I have friends I speak with to this day that I have only ever met "face to face" in EQ.
For years I have been saying "I wish there was another game like EQ" until finally deciding (after some encouragement from others) I was wishing for something that already existed: EQ.
So I started playing on a TLP server and 2 boxing...The nostalgia was real. But I felt like I was repeating everything I did in 1999 without the social interaction from back then. I met some great people and continue to play there, but I wanted to get back to the higher lvl game I left.
Grouping proved to be a hassle at best and non existent on most days. I decided to use some of my old chars + a couple new heroic chars and make my own group. (SHD, DRU, CLR, ENC, MNK, BER - for those that are interested) So I tried another program that sends keystrokes...it worked, but I'm older with slower reaction time and less coordination. I died a lot. I don't really have the time to raid so I was looking for something to help a single group.
I researched alternatives and came across VV. I'm an IT guy - the nerd factor got me interested and I decided to give RG Mercs a shot. (Honestly, not sure why I chose that first over KA or MA). CWTN plugins looked neat, but they seemed to be for raiding only.
I created a low lvl group and played them into their 40's in a matter of a week. RG Mercs was everything I hoped for... until I started using it on the ~100 group.
It worked, don't get me wrong, but it seemed to leave me without mana after just a few pulls. I tweaked settings, used RGUI, still didn't like the result.
Next one to try was Xgen. This is, in my view, a nice alternative to RG Mercs but for some reason I struggled to get it to do what I wanted. I was frustrated. I'm not caught up with all the latest AAs, Discs and Spells, nor do I really care to spend my limited free time doing that. KA and MA seemed powerful but I didn't want homework at this stage.
Back to RG Mercs and decided to do some light pulls in Tempest Temple. Druid got aggro 3x and died 3x. Ugh.
So, I decided to forego some coffees this month and I try the CWTN Eskay plugin. I ended up buying the CWTN plugins for SHD, ENC and CLR. - MNK, BER, DRU were still on RGMercs. I figured that would be good enough.
Holy Road Apples! What a HUGE difference. my SHD was out DPSing the MNK and BER on many pulls and without burning AAs and Discs on every pull. Mana also seemed much better managed.
Except...I don't like to read instructions.
So after having my toons camp, then having them follow me somewhere else (without turning camp off) - they ran straight back to their spot and promptly trained a dozen mobs.
Surprisingly, they held their own on CWTN power and without a tank for quite a while until the ENC went down. Lesson learned and hotkeys made, I blew the dust off my wallet and grabbed the MNK and BER CWTN plugins also.
Back to the group... DRU was only one not on a CWTN plugin because I wasn't sure if it was usable on live right now.
I fudge a pull close to camp and think "well, another wipe..." I have limited time to play - a wipe means spending time Rez'ing instead of exp'ing. My initial thought was that I was too close to feign them off and not quick enough to get each toon to "fade" them off. I was going to have to eat the wipe and would get back on my feet and camp for today.
All of a sudden the ENC comes running out, passes me, charms a mob, AE mezzes the rest and runs back to camp with pet in tow.
What...the actual...fudge. I was so taken by surprise that I stood there a sec getting slapped by the remaining mob before I ran him back to camp.
It seems like a trivial thing, but the CWTN plugin - with no intervention by me - saved me from a group wipe.
If you are on the fence, If you think they are for raiding only, If you look at the money you spend on EQ and shudder - GET the CWTN plugins. Seriously. A few hours of playing and I felt like it was a different game. "Out of the box" is spot on. BUT definitely get those hot keys set up... I think Sic mentions that somewhere.
I just wish that the plugins (specifically the ENC) would give some indication that they are mezzing in group chat or in the plugin output for all chars running CWTN at least. It would be nice to see something like "Mezzing %T" or "Charming %T" or even have other classes say things like "Buffs in to %T" so I know not to run away. Maybe that's there already and I missed it...by not reading the instructions.
Sorry so long winded, but wanted to share...hopefully this pushes some folks that may be hesitant to try the plugins - they are phenomenal.
A little background first:
I am not normally a forum poster. I might lurk or ask a question in Discord that will fade into the ether with time. But I really wanted to share my experience for those that might be on the fence abut the CWTN plugins or VV / MQ in general.
I started playing EQ on launch day in 1999. I continued to play for nearly 10 years before life's responsibilities took over all of my free time. I have 2 accounts I used to manually multibox back then - usually a Bard and a Druid and I would kite all over Norrath. I have friends I speak with to this day that I have only ever met "face to face" in EQ.
For years I have been saying "I wish there was another game like EQ" until finally deciding (after some encouragement from others) I was wishing for something that already existed: EQ.
So I started playing on a TLP server and 2 boxing...The nostalgia was real. But I felt like I was repeating everything I did in 1999 without the social interaction from back then. I met some great people and continue to play there, but I wanted to get back to the higher lvl game I left.
Grouping proved to be a hassle at best and non existent on most days. I decided to use some of my old chars + a couple new heroic chars and make my own group. (SHD, DRU, CLR, ENC, MNK, BER - for those that are interested) So I tried another program that sends keystrokes...it worked, but I'm older with slower reaction time and less coordination. I died a lot. I don't really have the time to raid so I was looking for something to help a single group.
I researched alternatives and came across VV. I'm an IT guy - the nerd factor got me interested and I decided to give RG Mercs a shot. (Honestly, not sure why I chose that first over KA or MA). CWTN plugins looked neat, but they seemed to be for raiding only.
I created a low lvl group and played them into their 40's in a matter of a week. RG Mercs was everything I hoped for... until I started using it on the ~100 group.
It worked, don't get me wrong, but it seemed to leave me without mana after just a few pulls. I tweaked settings, used RGUI, still didn't like the result.
Next one to try was Xgen. This is, in my view, a nice alternative to RG Mercs but for some reason I struggled to get it to do what I wanted. I was frustrated. I'm not caught up with all the latest AAs, Discs and Spells, nor do I really care to spend my limited free time doing that. KA and MA seemed powerful but I didn't want homework at this stage.
Back to RG Mercs and decided to do some light pulls in Tempest Temple. Druid got aggro 3x and died 3x. Ugh.
So, I decided to forego some coffees this month and I try the CWTN Eskay plugin. I ended up buying the CWTN plugins for SHD, ENC and CLR. - MNK, BER, DRU were still on RGMercs. I figured that would be good enough.
Holy Road Apples! What a HUGE difference. my SHD was out DPSing the MNK and BER on many pulls and without burning AAs and Discs on every pull. Mana also seemed much better managed.
Except...I don't like to read instructions.
So after having my toons camp, then having them follow me somewhere else (without turning camp off) - they ran straight back to their spot and promptly trained a dozen mobs.Surprisingly, they held their own on CWTN power and without a tank for quite a while until the ENC went down. Lesson learned and hotkeys made, I blew the dust off my wallet and grabbed the MNK and BER CWTN plugins also.
Back to the group... DRU was only one not on a CWTN plugin because I wasn't sure if it was usable on live right now.
I fudge a pull close to camp and think "well, another wipe..." I have limited time to play - a wipe means spending time Rez'ing instead of exp'ing. My initial thought was that I was too close to feign them off and not quick enough to get each toon to "fade" them off. I was going to have to eat the wipe and would get back on my feet and camp for today.
All of a sudden the ENC comes running out, passes me, charms a mob, AE mezzes the rest and runs back to camp with pet in tow.
What...the actual...fudge. I was so taken by surprise that I stood there a sec getting slapped by the remaining mob before I ran him back to camp.
It seems like a trivial thing, but the CWTN plugin - with no intervention by me - saved me from a group wipe.
If you are on the fence, If you think they are for raiding only, If you look at the money you spend on EQ and shudder - GET the CWTN plugins. Seriously. A few hours of playing and I felt like it was a different game. "Out of the box" is spot on. BUT definitely get those hot keys set up... I think Sic mentions that somewhere.

I just wish that the plugins (specifically the ENC) would give some indication that they are mezzing in group chat or in the plugin output for all chars running CWTN at least. It would be nice to see something like "Mezzing %T" or "Charming %T" or even have other classes say things like "Buffs in to %T" so I know not to run away. Maybe that's there already and I missed it...by not reading the instructions.
Sorry so long winded, but wanted to share...hopefully this pushes some folks that may be hesitant to try the plugins - they are phenomenal.



