After 13 years of being available I'm going to give the (in)famous Everquest a try.  I'm curious as to what to expect though.  I know the game is old so the graphics are out dated but that doesn't bother me at all.  I still play NES games.

It is my understanding that attempting to race to max level was a fool's errand.  Is this still true?  I don't want to be max level next week so this is a plus.

Should I join a guild ASAP?  Or is the beginning more geared towards solo play?

In class based games I tend to play the crowd control / debuff type class.  What's my best bet?  Any classes I should avoid that will keep me from finding a group?

The game has changed alot so what you are playing is a shadow of what used to be there.

Yes, join a guild. And Yes, in theory you can solo to max level. But you would be missing out on alot if you do solo.

No you wont be max level fast.

Enchanter, bard, shaman are good for buff, debuff, CC to name a few.

Originally posted by xDayx

Enchanter, bard, shaman are good for buff, debuff, CC to name a few.

However, they are not among the free classes.

Originally posted by CasualMaker

Originally posted by xDayx

Enchanter, bard, shaman are good for buff, debuff, CC to name a few.

However, they are not among the free classes.

free classes? wtf?

Originally posted by Skuall

Originally posted by CasualMaker

Originally posted by xDayx

Enchanter, bard, shaman are good for buff, debuff, CC to name a few.

However, they are not among the free classes.

free classes? wtf?

You hadn't heard? EQ has gone F2P along the same lines as EQ2: restricted bag and bank slots, some nicer items are "prestige" (not usable on free accounts and no "unlockers" at present), limit of 4 character slots per server (no free access to the Progression servers), and you have a choice of 4 free races and classes (the rest for sale at the store).

  Been solo'g in my beastlord ( which i bought).  I seem to be leveling way quicker then before and I dont seem to drop a corpse when i die...doesnt seem to be a death penalty at all  :(   It is good to reminisce though..

Originally posted by apocoluster

  Been solo'g in my beastlord ( which i bought).  I seem to be leveling way quicker then before and I dont seem to drop a corpse when i die...doesnt seem to be a death penalty at all  :(   It is good to reminisce though..

Well.  The xp is quicker... and with the anniversay xp is boosted. 

The corpse run basically has been removed.  You now lose xp at level 5 opposed to level 1 (at classic) and level 10 sometime later... but you do not really notice xp loss until you reach higher levels. 

To a few posts above.  War, Cler, Rogue, Wiz are all free to play.  You can purchase a class to play however for $7.50  (or wait for double SC and pay half)

You can buy a race for $3.00.

There are limits to bags, money, character slots, aa's etc.  but you can always play and get most of your characters leveling etc out of the way, or just see if you enjoy the game and possibly upgrade to silver or gold in the future.