Alright, I've played many MMOs in the past, spending the most time on FF XI, CoX, and WoW.  I have never played EQ.  I didn't have enough time per sitting for FF XI, CoX got repetitive.  WoW was fun, but the community was immature,  and there was no real grouping.  I live for team play.  I tried LotRO, but again found myself soloing.  I am looking at EQ2 due to mentoring.  I hate outleveling or being outleveled by friends.  I mean, if you can't play the game with friends, what's the point?

Anyhow, I'm off the subject.  I got EQ2 RoK awhile back, and quit after a month.  I am strongly thinking of trying again.  But I worry about the same problem as last time.  Namely I was simply, utterly overwhelmed.

I would like to play as a Fae.  Now I read all about betrayal quests and such.  Would I have to betray to go to other good-aligned cities?  If I have to, will I be locked out of Kelethin?  When should I get a house?  5 sp a (real time) week seems steep at low levels, especially if I don't play much in a given week?  What happens if I don't pay?  Do I lose the house, or just access to it until I pay?  What is all this AP I keep hearing about?  Why are they so important?

All I want to do is play in groups, grind out some quests and instances, and *learn* the game at first, in small doses.  Right now, I feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of things I need to learn/juggle at a low level.

Am I overreacting?  Do I have a right to be overwhelmed?  I almost feel like, since I never played Everquest, that I'm not expected to know what I am doing in EQ2.  I hope I'm wrong, as it looks like EQ2 takes all the aspects I like from FF XI (Beautiful, well defined world), CoX (Team-based quests and instances), and WoW (Interface and playstyle).  But, is there too much for me to process?

Help?

-Xerek

Well, if your planning on returning for grouping you'll be sorely dissappointed, as EQII has adopted the WoW mechanics and almost everything has changed to solo.  Even many of the instances have been dumbed down and can be done solo on some classes or small group.

I last played Dec '08 and and returned cause of Shadow Odyssey and while I did get into a very friendly guild I ended up playing solo entirely up to 58 at which time I got bored and quit!  Not only did they all but refuse to do anything group with me but they kept urging me to just skip everything that was group based and power-level to cap and just raid.

Thats all it is anymore is a solo rush to the cap and raid game now.

Now don't get me wrong though there is a ton of lore and lots of very interesting things to see and do and you can take your time, but a majority of it will all be solo.  I tried many times to recruit players around my level and got the same responses most the time as well.  FYI I was on Antonia Bayle, the most populated server too.

Nobody wanted to group cause there really isn't much group content anymore except raids at end-game!

Originally posted by Khrymson

Nobody wanted to group cause there really isn't much group content anymore except raids at end-game!

dungeons still require groups

groups frequent Stormhold, Fallengate, ROV, Runny Eye, Death Fist Citadel and others

many players under level 40 visit these places

Well i play a necro and i get groups whenever i want it isnt hard you hear people all the time asking to group willing to mentor. Playing a Fae means you are good......kelethin always was and is a good ctiy you only betray if you wanna be a fae and play an evil class but then you have a evil version of the fey and they are basically identical. If you were overwhelmed before you still will be, EQ2 lets you decide what to do, you shouldnt worry about what to do just do stuff you level and if you wanna do other stuff make a new character. As far as 5sp a week, you can make 20sp a day easily just doing quests and killing things, low level writs will get you your rent with each one you do and they take about 10 min to do.

Been playing on mistmoore server for half a year now and i solo when i want group when i want and im never at a loss for something to do. The game is more solo friendly now but its nowhere near the hold my hand till level 80 snore fest wow is, some stuff is very easy and some stuff will have you pulling hair but you dont log on almost wondering why you arent 3 levels higher just for having the account.

Originally posted by Xerek

Help?

-Xerek

good aligned characters are welcome in any good city -- same as evil characters can visit any evil city

housing is not required

if you dont pay the rent -  you still keep your house.. always

you just cant re-enter the house until you pay another 5s (or whatever your current fee is based on size of house)

my advice to you is join a guild that does not raid  (unless you like to raid)

I have never raided in EQ2 - ever -  and I have several 80s

I personally have no interest in raids and rather do pickup groups in under 80 dungeons

I have played EQ2 since it was new, anyone who says there isnt any grouping isnt looking for it, i suggest you find a very friendly guild, they are not hard to find.  GUILD is everything when it comes to grouping, yes pugs are hard to comeby at some levels, but a good guild and friends will always be there, but maybe im lucky i have had the same core group of friends and guildmates since EQ1 and we always group together.  If your in need of a friend come to Kithcor server and look up Zimre that is the toon i currently play, i will help you anyway i can

The best thing is to just start slow.  Whats the chat channels for 1-9, 10-19 as you level up.  Generally you want to keep 1-9 open as most people in the game at least have that channel open.  when you get to the point where you want to do a group dungeon like fallengate turn on your looking for more flag in the lfg tool.  then search for players lfg.  Also post a message in the 1-9 channel nad the channel that is appropriate for your level.

From the 1-9 channel you will frequently get people to join to mentor you.  From your level appropriate channel you will get people your level.

In any event it is overwhelming and the best thing is to not try to take it all in at onces.  Just start soloing, doing some quests, killing some stuff.  Don't be afraid to ask questions.  Do some grouping, join a guild, etc and you will be fine.

Thanks for the advice so far.  I plan on playing on a RP server (I'm an RP nut), and I hope those servers are more group oriented then the 'mad dash to endgame'.  I mean, what's the point of RPing if you solo all the time?

One thing I prefered about FF XI and CoX was the grouping.  FF XI required it (though FINDING a group was an issue), and CoX, large PUGs were easy to pickup (and since I was the healer, I didn't need to rely on someone else to KEEP said party upright.  Sounds like if I look for it, I can drop into PUGs frequently (my preference).

Thanks for the info on housing (I can drop all my furnature and stuff off, and then not pay for awhile if I cannot afford it), and about betrayal (I want to play good, and play with good players from all good aligned areas).  That was a main concern, I didn't want to be trapped in, or be unable to return to, Kelethin.

Thank you for the feedback so far, it really does put my mind at ease.

-Xerek

Originally posted by Xerek

 want to play good, and play with good players from all good aligned areas

-Xerek

after level 20, everyone  -good and evil-  are adventuring in the same areas

altho many people stick with the newer zones like Butcherblock, Steamfont, Revamped Everfrost, etc

eq2.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Solo_Timelines

Originally posted by Xerek

Thanks for the advice so far.  I plan on playing on a RP server (I'm an RP nut), and I hope those servers are more group oriented then the 'mad dash to endgame'.  I mean, what's the point of RPing if you solo all the time?

Don't need an RP server fpr that, people in my guild love taking their time and fully exploring every dungeon till we get everything out of it, I am constantly turning EXP off just so i can enjoy some areas longer. But have fun and if your on Mistmoore give anyopne in Respect a shout we are casual as a rule

Originally posted by Xerek

Thanks for the info on housing (I can drop all my furnature and stuff off, and then not pay for awhile if I cannot afford it), and about betrayal (I want to play good, and play with good players from all good aligned areas).  That was a main concern, I didn't want to be trapped in, or be unable to return to, Kelethin.

-Xerek

Major advantage of getting an apartment: you can have two sales boxes on the broker instead of just one. (If you betray, you lose your current home and are back to one broker box.) You can also place a market board in your room and handle your sales thru that; you still have to go to the broker to buy things.

Just try to enjoy the game, there are parts of the game mechanic that I'm still yet to touch and I'm almost end-game. Once you pine for more content / stuff to do then its there waiting for you. Its pretty hard to make a broken class.

When, if you come back and start to look for a guild look for a small one that you can help grow and be an acutal part of. If you join one of the lvl 80 guilds full of 80's then yeah they will help every once and a while but mostly they want to do content for their lvl. Plus its better to help something grow then seep the rewards of someone elses guild gives you more to do.

Also low lvl guild will help you do group quests because they offer status to help the guild lvl increase.

just relax and enjoy yourself. No need to get stressed.  Click on all the little question marks that pop up on your screen to get helpful information. You will see them when you have done/experienced something new, or need to do something that you haven't done before. When you get your first AP point (mostly refered to ingame as AA points)  a question mark will pop up with an explanation about them. Once you open the window and look around it will start making sense to you. if you have questions there is a newbie chat channel ingame, so feel free to ask questions if you feel lost. Overall, it is a pretty helpful community.