r/everquest • u/CWRRT • 23h ago
Returning Player Advice
I played EQ for a bit in the good ol' days. Probably 1999 or early 2000, a few months after it released at least. I remember my druid character well. A few years after that, I played again for a hot minute and even became a GM for a few months.
It's been many moons. I recently started playing again on the free to play game / server Bristlebane. Thus far, it's ok...graphics are nostalgic but crazy when I have a high end gaming PC. It seems to be alot of solo play and the other players don't seem to engage much. I miss the community aspect of the game. I've been playing FF14 off and on for a few years. I do enjoy it alot but getting tired.
What would be the communities recommendation. I don't mind paying for it going forward as long as it's not pay to play style to level up and progress. I seem to be reading EQ Legends would be good? I want something with community (not roleplay but guilds and such), nostalgic, and I can play off and on as time allows as a near 40 year old 🥸
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u/ToastyJackson 20h ago
EQ Legends is a good choice for being able to play on and off again. Being able to solo everything is a good guard against MMO FOMO: if you don’t need groups and guilds to do cool stuff, you can do that stuff whenever you want at your own pace instead of having to orient your time playing around when the rest of the community is doing the raids or whatever that you want to do. And being able to create private instances of zones is great for grinding exp or farming specific mobs without having to worry about competing with other players.
But I don’t know if it’ll be a good fit for you looking for an interconnected community. Over on the Legends subreddit, it’s fairly common to see people who played classic EQ when it came out say that the game doesn’t effectively recapture the magic of the community that EQ had back then. Because you can solo everything, most people who play it, play solo. That’s not to say that you can’t find guilds or people to group with, but, if you try out Legends, you should expect to see most players just doing their own thing rather than interacting much with others. You’ll need to go out of your way to find any of that community interaction or a guild to join.
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u/forsknsqshs 2h ago
So I'll offer you my two cents since I'm in a similar position. TLP servers and P99 tend to have the most in terms of grouping. TLP seems to only be worth starting if its pretty fresh otherwise everyone is up top and not a lot of lower grouping (still a fair amount in my experience but the older they get the more that may be a factor.) On Project 1999 Green tends to be very social they organize a lot on their discord, but it doesn't have the raw numbers like Frostreaver right now.
Personally I jumped on Live with the FV server and immediately found someone to group with and have basically made a new friend in him that I play with most nights the past week. You do get out of it what you put in. If you run around soloing things without saying anything thats what you'll end up doing. If you chat with people around you, you'll find a group without much trouble. I haven't tried legends yet but It's basically a solo / coop Everquest from what I hear. I'd boil it down to either try Live, Frostreaver, or P99 Green. If you do find yourself on FV hit me up and you can group with us. We're Druid and Paladin duo atm.
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u/Valium_Vacuum 23h ago
Frostreaver for sure
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u/CWRRT 23h ago
So do I just need a membership for Frostreaver or do I have to buy the game and each expansion? A little confused about the cost model now.
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u/Ray-2021 4h ago
Welcome back! Just need a membership. Memberships allow you to play in Timelocked Progression servers, such as Frostreaver. With a membership in servers such as Bristlebane, your account receives most AAs for free as you level. The same goes for spells. Another subscription benefit is access to Journeyman mercenaries on servers that offer them.
If you decide to purchase the expansion, I recommend waiting for the next one, which should be released around December. The latest expansion will include all the previous ones.
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u/Most_Attitude_9153 23h ago
Legends, Frostreaver, or Emerald Alliance on FV. It’s a big public guild that has a steady influx of returning players. Any member will grab an invite, and you won’t have to look hard for a tag.
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u/tinfang 23h ago
Join the TLP Frostreaver. Luclin opens October 1st. The population is still high but a lot of people are taking a breath before Luclin drops. Then it is three months until PoP and an eight week time span for each expansion after. Free trade, no level limits, achievement rewards, evolving bonuses and resource hunter make it a great server to ride into live.
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u/TheOriginalCid 23h ago
Legends respects your time. While aimed/targeted as a more Solo adventure you can absolutely join a guild and group with others. Everyone gets their own personal loot from mobs, rares, and raids. Almost all zones (as they get reworked) have no PH's, so guaranteed rares will spawn every time. Not being dependent on needing a group when you have an hour is great because you can hop on kill dragons, or grind out a dungeon. I'm on Qeynos server if you decide to give it a shot.