----- Original Message -----
From: indeo
To: EverQuest@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, April 28, 2003 3:48 PM
Subject: [EverQuest] some encouragement for a humble newb

Hi
As a newb, its hard not to feel a little intimidated by the
discussions here. I am in AWE of you people even though I don't
understand half of what you say. I long for the day when I can talk
about the finer ponts of EQ like you guys.

>>> That won't be too long. Even though the zones might be different, the mobs are pretty much the same. Once you learn how to deal with one mob, it pretty much applies to all mobs. A little trepidation and common sense. Con before you attack. If it's red, stay away from it. If you're in a zone and EVERYTHING is red, invisible is a good thing. You never know just which mobs will aggro, and what idiot will traint he zone just for fun. Next thing you know you're caught in the crossfire of soemthign you didn't start and die for no reason whatsoever. That sucks!

For the moment I have a love/hate relationship with EQ after playing
for about two months or so. Its a type of game I have never
experienced before - I am totally fascinated and mildly (well, at the
moment!) addicted. The game boths thrills and scares me. I find
myself nervously approaching the PC every night mentally preparing
myself for the dangers ahead. Once I'm in, I am immersed. GET THAT
LEVEL UP is my only goal.

>>>> I was the same way when I started out. But EQ

has gone through a lot of changes since I started. Now it's a heck of a lot easier than it was before. Not because I'm experience but just because they've made so many changes that now it's just easier for newbies.

When I levelled 10 I knew that I was going to have to deal with REAL
dying and corpse retrieval. Boy, that was - and still is - a
learning experience. The first few times I got so depressed that I
vowed to give up and cancel my subscription. But I crawled to lvl 11
and am much more careful about conning.

>>>> The better you know a zone, the easier it is

to retrieve a corpse. 3 words: eqatlas.com

By nature I am not a team player so grouping is still a bit alien to
me although I realise its the only fast way to get xp. But too often
I find myself in groups that just gung ho for everything in sight
hitting anything that moves (= Excelsis having to retrive his corpse
ONCE more in some weird, out of the way loc).

>>>> Each character has very defined roles in terms of

grouping. How you solo is up to you but there are strategies and tactics to make it more effective. But in my experience, when you're in a group, people expect you to play a certain way, and those that don't, get kicked from the group. For example, you very rarely see a melee druid in a group. Unfortunately, druids are expected to just sit there and cast - buffs, heals, nukes, DOTs, whatever. Therefore, it's very hard for a druid to raise melee skills. What's the point of having 1HB and 1HS if you never have to use it? The sooner you learn your role in a group, the easier it'll be to group in a long run. The best groups are the ones where everybody knows what their job is. You can amass great amounts of xp in short periods of time in groups like that. You can even go up several levels in a few hours.

Can I ask you guys some questions? I reckon a 1/5 bub a night is
pretty average to aim for. That would lvl me up once a week. Is that
the norm? How long did it take you in the beginning?

>>>> On my own I can do levels 1- 10 in one night.

Being power leveled I can do it in less than 3 hours. At level 12 I reccomend going to Paludal Caverns on Luclin. I leveled 12-20 in 4 hours being PL'd by a 52 druid. After level 20 xp will slow down somewhat. You might be able to gain one level in a night, two if you're rockin. Otherwise be happy with 2 yellows if you get it. After level 40 xp moves much slower. It took me awhile to go from 45-47. At 50+ you'll probably be working on AA points so xp will creep.

I have tried to solo in Black Burrow but that is well nigh impossible
on your own. Grouping is the only way but I HATE that place so much
it makes me so nervous to go there. I am soloing in West Kerana but
grizzly and giant spider spawns are pretty rare so I spend a lot of
time hanging around and trying to avoid the bandits (by the way, they
seem to be walking all over WK recently, not just around their huts.
Is this new?)

>>>> Get a port to West Commons and hunt

there. Or go to Paludal. XP will move faster.

Any advice and encouragement you can give me is greatly appreciated.
I know I'm not alone, but sometimes it feels as though I am! I use
the English server Venril Sathir (I live in Amsterdam) and sometimes
the zones are completely deserted. Is it like that on the US servers
as well?

>>>> Depends ont he time of day. I've played various

servers and it really depends on the time. On Cazic Thule server that I normally play on, prime time seems to be after midnight EST. In the afternoons though, it's pretty empty.

Hope to hear from some of you anyway, especially your experiences and
feelings about EQ when you first started. I'm off again now to that
HUGE VAST world that we all know and love (and sometimes hate...)

>>>> Curiously enough when I started, I was deathly

afraid of East Commons. I died once and couldn't fnd my corpse. Someone asked me where I was, I said there were tons of orcs around. I had died at orc 2 but I didn't know it at the time. I was only level 5. Now, I know the zone like the back of my own hand and I can't get lost no matter how hard I try. I don't even bother doing a loc any more when I die. East Commons is home for me.

Wulfric Rennison // Raido Covenfall // Celric Feldrak

38 HEF ROG // 47 ELF DRU // 24 DEF CLR

Cazic Thule Server