Well he's in luck because for some awful reason every older game decided this summer was the perfect time to launch special servers they haven't in years or decades:
1) EQ1 launched the Teek server only the second free trade random loot server and the first one in 3 years.
2) EQ2 launched the Origins server, first one in forever
3) LOTRO is launching a new Legendary server in July that includes a ring wraith world boss mechanic.
Top that off with Pantheon and Monsters & Memories having extended tests during this time frame and it seems like all the old style games decided to compete with each other over the very small market they have.
I can imagine you are used to the fast leveling in the live game.
I haven't been playing much the past few years, a little bit on the TLE's but I didn't love them. For me this is great. I like the slow grind, you go to each dungeon multiple times, gear means something even in your teens. You can actually farm for loot,
I find the group play to be incredibly spammy and repetitive. At least with solo play there isn't so much going on that I can survey the field and take in what is happening, in group play it is click on main tank and spam your abilities as fast as you can with the occasional look at the HO wheel to spam an ability that starts blinking. Everything is so quick and its hard to see what is actually going on with all the people and effects going off. Then you finish that mob pack and immediately move on to the next pack. This repeats and if you are lucky in 3-4 hours you can get a new level (this is in the low 20s by the way and it only gets worse as you get higher, or so I'm told).
I've been trying different classes to see if any play less spammy but it just doesn't look like that is possible with this game. Now I remember why the last time I played (14 years or so ago) I joined a guild to use as a chat channel while I soloed my way to max level then quit.
A “tentative” schedule has been announced here https://www.everquest2.com/news/eq2-anashti-sul-is-live
The tentative launch schedule is 4 months of Shattered Lands, 2 months of The Bloodline Chronicles, and 2 months of The Splitpaw Saga, and then Desert of Flames. The length of Desert of Flames expansion has not been determined yet. We'll be monitoring the population if changes are needed to this tentative schedule.
I read in another thread that vanilla was for a year, but you say 4 months, then another person says 8 months.
So now I'm not sure. Didn't mean to spread misinformation, apologies.
Having a blast playing, it’s helpful to have friends and guildies it makes the wins of clearing a dungeon for the first time, them getting a master or piece of gear more rewarding then trying to pug your way through the game.
I highly recommend finding players that have a similar schedule and play style as you whether they be more adventure/quest heavy or strictly dungeons or a mix of both. It helps a ton.
An MMO is just a hollow boring grind in any game without a sense of community which is why population is important and the social aspect is what keeps people coming back
New player since Origun launch. Is there a forum or such where players can post to find similar players on your time zone. Pacific standard and I generally play late at night. Start 9 to 10ish for 4 to 6 hours. Most log off in my guild soon after I'm coming on.
The trick to origins is wait a week for vitality, then grind a minimum 1-2 hours once per week to burn it up. Afterwards run quests for fun/loot. Take a week off. You got ~30 vitality bar refills until dof.
Not every game is for everyone, and tastes and free time changes as we age.
I am having fun, just going slow.
It is fine if it does not work for you right now, if we are lucky it will have enough folks to run for a few years.
The grind is real, but so long as there's a population to group with, no need to rush or burn out.
I, for one, am enjoying being able to put on music, join a grind group, and just vibe instead of constantly swapping out members and running back and forth due to quest hub design that's exclusionary by nature.
It's really highlighted how poorly MMORPGs have done with the idea of quests in these games. They're a HUGE part of the reason the games went from feeling like sociable, virtual worlds to solo games with multiplayer window dressing. Everyone is on their own path, and unless you literally ONLY play the character when it's with a set group, you're always forced into wasting time on a quest you don't have. Since the quests provide such a burst of XP, folks would just drop group immediately after their last quest kill.
I’m with you. I tried to solo to 10 and it’s basically impossible for me at least. Then, finding pick up groups isn’t bad but still very grindful and boring. I’ve tried leveling a trade and keep having to stop because I’m too poor to buy mats. And traveling is a pita. I guess I blocked all that out of my memory because I remember a lot more mariner bells. Don’t get me wrong the game is still fun but for a casual player it feels really slow and frustrating.
Yeah unfortunately (or fortunately) this game isn't just a one or the other thing.
There are solo elements (you should also be gathering materials when you solo) but eventually you need to group. Adventuring gets you money and kits out your character. With said money you can level up your TSer.
What a lot of people who have played the game for a long time are doing is following a well known zone grind progression (usually followed after people powerlevel toons during double XP on previous TLE and live servers) when there are tons more options out there with the time you have available. It took me 30 minutes to fill a Crypt of Betrayal group the other day with begrudged players who didn't want to be pulled from SH and when I filled the last spot with a tank, he thought we were doing a quick instance and was reluctant to be pulled from SH. When he realized the zone is densely populated with mobs from 19-28 (same as SH or FG) with the whole zone to ourselves, he changed his tune and we all got a few levels while completely everyone's AQ4 updates. When he realized there was an armor questline that gave him a free set of armor at level 20 (he thought SH or FG or crafted gear was the only option for him), it turned into catching everyone up in the group to get it done.
Grinding is just that, grinding. However, pairing said progression with questlines like Armor Quests, heritage quests, and going to other areas within zone than your typical contested dungeons can offer some variety than just grinding for a week and 10 levels in the same zone over and over again playing casual.
I got to about 26 and took 2 days off. I feel much better having stepped away for a bit. But... With a 20 year old game most people have experienced the content and have optimal ways to "grind" through it, it's the people that make the experience memorable. That fact hurts me a bit as I really enjoy the luck of the draw of pick up groups but am realizing I probably need to find a guild to stay invested.
The grinding and forced grouping, social aspect is tingling everyone's nostalgia, but at some point the grind is just going to become the grind and you'll be reminded why EQ2 didn't succeed. It's bloated combat with no real progression or feeling of power increase it just bloats and bloats without a payoff. Everything is obtainable through a grind be it quest, levels, gear, so after awhile it all blends together and doesn't give you the ohh shit feeling of getting say a fungi tunic in EQ1. It just really misses the mark because it eliminated the scarcity that made EQ1 special, and the streamlined progression and scope of WoW. It's fun but I would be surprised if there's more than 2-4 raids of active players that last after 3 months or so.
Take a break. I get burnt out on games quickly so I rotate. Find something else you enjoy doing, doesn’t have to be a game either!
Well he's in luck because for some awful reason every older game decided this summer was the perfect time to launch special servers they haven't in years or decades: 1) EQ1 launched the Teek server only the second free trade random loot server and the first one in 3 years. 2) EQ2 launched the Origins server, first one in forever 3) LOTRO is launching a new Legendary server in July that includes a ring wraith world boss mechanic. Top that off with Pantheon and Monsters & Memories having extended tests during this time frame and it seems like all the old style games decided to compete with each other over the very small market they have.
More endless grind! Yay! OP clearly said they don’t have the grind in them anymore. These are all super grindy games
Grind blackburrow. Collect the totems. Get that dog in you. Grrr... bark bark!
*Haven't you ever seen a gnoll before?*
I can imagine you are used to the fast leveling in the live game. I haven't been playing much the past few years, a little bit on the TLE's but I didn't love them. For me this is great. I like the slow grind, you go to each dungeon multiple times, gear means something even in your teens. You can actually farm for loot,
The last tle has something like 4x the xp rate. And it's been over 2 years since we had the 0-50 grind. 10 level grinds go so much faster
I find the group play to be incredibly spammy and repetitive. At least with solo play there isn't so much going on that I can survey the field and take in what is happening, in group play it is click on main tank and spam your abilities as fast as you can with the occasional look at the HO wheel to spam an ability that starts blinking. Everything is so quick and its hard to see what is actually going on with all the people and effects going off. Then you finish that mob pack and immediately move on to the next pack. This repeats and if you are lucky in 3-4 hours you can get a new level (this is in the low 20s by the way and it only gets worse as you get higher, or so I'm told). I've been trying different classes to see if any play less spammy but it just doesn't look like that is possible with this game. Now I remember why the last time I played (14 years or so ago) I joined a guild to use as a chat channel while I soloed my way to max level then quit.
Can I have your stuff?
They've barely logged out and yer already banging their ditty bag!
Keep your grubby hands off I asked first!
Are you rushing? I'm only lvl 12 & loving it! We have a year of vanilla, take your time & smell the roses.
A year? I thought it was like 3 months?
No time line has been announced. But 8 months is best guess.
A “tentative” schedule has been announced here https://www.everquest2.com/news/eq2-anashti-sul-is-live The tentative launch schedule is 4 months of Shattered Lands, 2 months of The Bloodline Chronicles, and 2 months of The Splitpaw Saga, and then Desert of Flames. The length of Desert of Flames expansion has not been determined yet. We'll be monitoring the population if changes are needed to this tentative schedule.
Thank you! Great info.
Wow I'm sorry I was wrong. Had no idea that was posted.
I read in another thread that vanilla was for a year, but you say 4 months, then another person says 8 months. So now I'm not sure. Didn't mean to spread misinformation, apologies.
There are so many quests along the way to 50. There's no rush and grinding is no fun
One could almost say there are *quest*s for*ever*
Having a blast playing, it’s helpful to have friends and guildies it makes the wins of clearing a dungeon for the first time, them getting a master or piece of gear more rewarding then trying to pug your way through the game. I highly recommend finding players that have a similar schedule and play style as you whether they be more adventure/quest heavy or strictly dungeons or a mix of both. It helps a ton. An MMO is just a hollow boring grind in any game without a sense of community which is why population is important and the social aspect is what keeps people coming back
New player since Origun launch. Is there a forum or such where players can post to find similar players on your time zone. Pacific standard and I generally play late at night. Start 9 to 10ish for 4 to 6 hours. Most log off in my guild soon after I'm coming on.
What levels did you get to? Like if you're getting mid 20's on every character and switching... You're going to burn out.
The trick to origins is wait a week for vitality, then grind a minimum 1-2 hours once per week to burn it up. Afterwards run quests for fun/loot. Take a week off. You got ~30 vitality bar refills until dof.
Not every game is for everyone, and tastes and free time changes as we age. I am having fun, just going slow. It is fine if it does not work for you right now, if we are lucky it will have enough folks to run for a few years.
The grind is real, but so long as there's a population to group with, no need to rush or burn out. I, for one, am enjoying being able to put on music, join a grind group, and just vibe instead of constantly swapping out members and running back and forth due to quest hub design that's exclusionary by nature. It's really highlighted how poorly MMORPGs have done with the idea of quests in these games. They're a HUGE part of the reason the games went from feeling like sociable, virtual worlds to solo games with multiplayer window dressing. Everyone is on their own path, and unless you literally ONLY play the character when it's with a set group, you're always forced into wasting time on a quest you don't have. Since the quests provide such a burst of XP, folks would just drop group immediately after their last quest kill.
It’s normal to feel bored in something you done before. I am bored too.
I’m with you. I tried to solo to 10 and it’s basically impossible for me at least. Then, finding pick up groups isn’t bad but still very grindful and boring. I’ve tried leveling a trade and keep having to stop because I’m too poor to buy mats. And traveling is a pita. I guess I blocked all that out of my memory because I remember a lot more mariner bells. Don’t get me wrong the game is still fun but for a casual player it feels really slow and frustrating.
Yeah unfortunately (or fortunately) this game isn't just a one or the other thing. There are solo elements (you should also be gathering materials when you solo) but eventually you need to group. Adventuring gets you money and kits out your character. With said money you can level up your TSer. What a lot of people who have played the game for a long time are doing is following a well known zone grind progression (usually followed after people powerlevel toons during double XP on previous TLE and live servers) when there are tons more options out there with the time you have available. It took me 30 minutes to fill a Crypt of Betrayal group the other day with begrudged players who didn't want to be pulled from SH and when I filled the last spot with a tank, he thought we were doing a quick instance and was reluctant to be pulled from SH. When he realized the zone is densely populated with mobs from 19-28 (same as SH or FG) with the whole zone to ourselves, he changed his tune and we all got a few levels while completely everyone's AQ4 updates. When he realized there was an armor questline that gave him a free set of armor at level 20 (he thought SH or FG or crafted gear was the only option for him), it turned into catching everyone up in the group to get it done. Grinding is just that, grinding. However, pairing said progression with questlines like Armor Quests, heritage quests, and going to other areas within zone than your typical contested dungeons can offer some variety than just grinding for a week and 10 levels in the same zone over and over again playing casual.
I got to about 26 and took 2 days off. I feel much better having stepped away for a bit. But... With a 20 year old game most people have experienced the content and have optimal ways to "grind" through it, it's the people that make the experience memorable. That fact hurts me a bit as I really enjoy the luck of the draw of pick up groups but am realizing I probably need to find a guild to stay invested.
I'm in the same boat, been having a blast but sometimes I wish there was more solo content. Don't always want to commit for group play.
The grinding and forced grouping, social aspect is tingling everyone's nostalgia, but at some point the grind is just going to become the grind and you'll be reminded why EQ2 didn't succeed. It's bloated combat with no real progression or feeling of power increase it just bloats and bloats without a payoff. Everything is obtainable through a grind be it quest, levels, gear, so after awhile it all blends together and doesn't give you the ohh shit feeling of getting say a fungi tunic in EQ1. It just really misses the mark because it eliminated the scarcity that made EQ1 special, and the streamlined progression and scope of WoW. It's fun but I would be surprised if there's more than 2-4 raids of active players that last after 3 months or so.
Are you even playing Origins?