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Question - More Returning Player Questions (1 Viewer)

gothicangel8

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Dec 15, 2017
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Hello all. This post may be a bit long winded, so I apologize in advance. I've been playing EQ on and off since 2000, mostly boxing. Last time I played was on Lockjaw (now Ragefire), which I stopped around DoN. I used ISBoxer for years and then added MQ/KA, which is amazing and something I would never want to play without. Recently I have been playing WoW classic, which I was very excited for, but sadly it's just not the same feeling of nostalgia as the original. The idea of having to go through all those dungeon and faction grinds again isn't very appealing to me. And not being able to use any boxing software pretty much sealed the deal.

I have been thinking a lot about EQ lately and am getting the itch to come back (again). I just don't know how I should come back, and when I talk about this to my friends they think I am crazy, so I figured if I could get good advice anywhere, this would be the place! When I played on Lockjaw/Ragefire, three of my accounts were friends and family (free), so I only had to pay for 3 of them. I no longer have the F&F status, so that is why I need some advice before I jump in. I have the old RAF bonuses on them (they still worked when I played on live several years ago), but they only work with gold accounts, and $90/month is quite a commitment, plus the sub fees for the boxing programs. Paying for 6 subs isn't out of the question, but I want to make sure I know what I want to do before I make that commitment.

Since the itch to return started, I have been trying to decide the best way to come back, but haven't made any progress. I am hoping that if I lay out my options, I could get some feedback from this amazing community on might be the best way to approach this. I am not interested in raiding (no time), and I don't really care about current content. My goal is to feel the "magic" again where I get excited about playing the game. There is a ton of content that I missed (pretty much everything after GoD), and I would love to experience that and explore everything that the game has to offer. That being said, here are my options:

1. Drinal - I have a level 100 6-box on Drinal. I think most of them have prestige augs at the very least, so I guess I would buy all access for a couple of the accounts and try free for the other 4? I think I keep the AA that they currently have, but what happens with the prestige items that are currently equipped? That account has my standard set-up of Warrior, Cleric, Enchanter, Druid, Mage, Wizard. It also has my original character that I played in 2000. I think I played this team through some of HoT and VoA before I took a break. This seems like the easiest way to jump back in, but I have no idea where I left off and would feel pretty lost. Also, I am unsure about the server population. My guild is pretty much dead, so I would need to find a new one (which might not be a bad thing).

2. FV - For whatever reason, I rolled a team on FV. They are currently around level 40. This option is appealing to me, because I have never played on FV and people talk about it a lot. I could play them as is, or I could use heroic boosts for them (I have one heroic character available on each of my 6 accounts). The good thing about this is that I can kind of do a "fresh start" since level 40 is pretty low. The bad thing about this is that grinding out all those levels takes time and wasn't particularly enjoyable. Or maybe I am confusing the exp rate with lockjaw, which definitely was more painful than I would have liked. Or I could use the heroic boosts and have a level 85 team, although I would probably replace the warrior with a SK after reading some of the team comp posts on this forum. I suppose there is nothing stopping me from taking a group of 85s through old content to experience it. One possible downside is that FV seems to be a pretty popular server, so doing things like epics might be difficult? Are old named mobs camped often?

3. Rizlona - I hear nothing but wonderful things about this server, and I think I would enjoy it. All access for 6 accounts is a lot though, especially when I am still kind of on the fence about coming back. Also with limited playtime (1-2 hours a night during the week) and slower than live exp, I fear I won't be able to keep up. And without having time to raid with a guild, I don't know what benefit the server would have other than to experience old content in a new way. It took me a long time to level on Lockjaw, and while it was fun, I don't think I can commit that much time to the game right now.

If you have made it this far, I appreciate you taking time to read through it all. Any and all feedback and advice is welcome!
 
Welcome back!

there's always test server which is "all access" without any expense - you can at least give the game a whirl and see if it is something you want to commit to

you can do a lot of stuff while F2P as well, F2P has access all the way up to 110 and TBL expansion. it is kinda rough with a F2P tank without prestige augs.

re FV and epics: nah - you won't have some weird lingering problem not being able to complete your epics

re Rizlona: I'm sure you could catch up fast! there are lots of helpful people there as well
 
FV actually has a permanent exp bonus (+50%) so if you're worried about the lower level grind, it's one of the best choices (Test has a higher perma bonus). With a full 6 box and modern exp rates, the low levels just absolutely fly by, honestly. Once you start getting up into the 70's it starts to slow down, but then you can start running HA's and there's lots of variety there and good exp.

As Sic already said, FV you won't find yourself having issues with epics in my experience maining there for several years.

I just took a few months away from EQ (and by extension RG) and went back fresh on Rizlona just to ease myself back into everything. So far the server has been quite kind to me. While the bazaar isn't totally loaded, I had no issues finding very good low level weapons for my crew for cheap and everyone I've run into has been good to me. (Including drive by rezzes when I forgot I was fighting mobs 10 levels higher than me.. oops). Rizlona isn't too far on right now, so with an hour or 2 a night and a proper crew you could get caught up decent enough.

Still on that hour or 2 a night, though, that makes Test or FV with their perma bonus more appealing in my eyes. And as Sic pointed out, Test has free all access so you don't have to worry about not being able to earn enough aa's or wear certain gear. It is a different environment than Live with a totally messed up economy, but free all access is a pretty big incentive if you're just looking to try things out again.
 
Lot of good advice here. I’ve played on test for some years due to having raid copies from FV. Double xp + lots of ts and other things on copy makes it easy to manage gearing large groups with low investment.

FV - it’s a great server but if your worried about the $90 commitment it’s hard to recommend - my opinion is you need krono to get you rolling (4.5million to 5million pp per krono) on gear. If you start with it though it can be a great server to manage on.

Rizlona - just started up a 6 box here 10 days ago - I’m now max level and 150aa in thanks to element plane access ( 3 krono per group per plane typically) and the 76% bonus last 1.5 days. Honestly early eq has few aa ( 115-150 gets you aa’d pretty strong and 300 is more than all relevant ones these days). Right now with my so pots I’m doing about 10aa an hour in my 6 box group on fire. Without pot/xp bonus it’s about 5-6 but it’ not crazy is my point to get geared/aa up. One note I’m using an ench for charm kilying which is OP so that helps probably only 3-4 aa an hour without ench. Frankly we won’t see Omens until November which means you have plenty of time to gear up p and aa a key group. I actually think this is a great server if you prefer old school EQ and lot of ways to catch up since omens is not out for awhile.

Otherwise I’d say hit test up it’s a great way to go old school and you can even go to 12-18 boxes with no cost
 
Hello all.

1. Drinal - I have a level 100 6-box on Drinal. I think most of them have prestige augs at the very least, so I guess I would buy all access for a couple of the accounts and try free for the other 4? I think I keep the AA that they currently have, but what happens with the prestige items that are currently equipped? That account has my standard set-up of Warrior, Cleric, Enchanter, Druid, Mage, Wizard. It also has my original character that I played in 2000. I think I played this team through some of HoT and VoA before I took a break. This seems like the easiest way to jump back in, but I have no idea where I left off and would feel pretty lost. Also, I am unsure about the server population. My guild is pretty much dead, so I would need to find a new one (which might not be a bad thing).

You keep any and all AA they have. The block is you are unable to earn more until you subscribe again if your over the cap for F2P/Silver which I am sure you are.

Prestige items currently equipped will be purple and lose stats - keep in mind that it may be the aug in the armor item that is prestige that is doing it, so you need to figure that out.

There is a but load of good non prestige armor now

Pretty much all the gear dropped or vendor-bought in The Broken Mirror is not prestige as well as the augs that go with them to level the gear from 75-105 (the type 5 augs from this expansion remain the best non-prestige augs available, so good to get those resplendent sulstones if you plan on keeping some characters silver/ftp. The visibles this expansion are called "Crypt-Hunter's" gear.

Level 105
The next step up from TBM gear is the Tier 1 gear from Empires of Kunark. All the gear dropped in Tier 1 zones: Lceanium, Scorched Woods, Frontier Mountains, and Gate of Kor-Sha is not prestige which includes the visible "Cohort's" gear.

and so on.

Also the top merc (if you use merc ) that is can only be used on a paying account.

As far as where you left off you can look on your character inventory screen for the button the bottom that says "acheivements" click that and it brings up "The Hero's Journey" and you can look thru each expansion on the left and see what quests and missions you completed.
 
For easing back in, TLPs are awesome because they let you start with content you know and work your way up.

Another option is to just play a few characters (or a duo) on Rizlona and see how you like it before you commit.
 
Question - More Returning Player Questions

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