Hi all. After playing EQ for a month or so, I guess it's time for us to
ponder abit on how we can play & enjoy EQ better, in term of adventuring,
grouping, lvling or camping for artifacts.

I believe the local kakis are lvling pretty fast, some even managed to
train 2 or more mid-lvl chars by now within the short period. This is most
obvious when we take a look in QHD, where the local kakis lvl much faster
than the other members (without stealing kills). H/w, I think there is
still room for improvement, in all areas. In this msg, I will only be
focusing on group(s) hunting, so as to get the BALLS start rolling (wait,
YY kena scared by ya wife until ya balls drop again? hehehe).

1. Be realistic.
So far, all the hunting events turn out to be a corpse looting session,
which take up more than 50% of the hunt. IMGO (in my goon opinion), I
think everyone has to be realistic. If we are going to camp for a lvl 20
mob, and we know that in order to reach the mob, we need to go thru'
several lvl 15 mobs, it's definitely inefficient to bring along any lvl 18
or below kakis coz we will then be spending most of the time protecting the
lower lvl kakis, if not helping him/her to loot corpse. For eg, to camp
for Dvinn, a lvl 20 mob, it will be best to bring in a team of all lvl 20
and above, so that we can concentrate our time camping for the mob, hunt it
down and get out of the place FAST, since all other mobs will not attack u
as they con green to us. (NB: This point exclude those hunting event
which we are out to wipe and rule the whole place.)

2. Be grateful to those who help, be considerate
Everyone on the list is paying for the EQ monthly usage, the telephone fee,
and many hrs of sleepless night playing the game. If a group of tanks of
enuff lvl wish to hunt certain mob but need a high lvl caster to help
nuking the mob, I think it's only fair if the low lvl tanks show their
appreciation by offering some token to the high lvl who help. Just like
the Staff of Observer hunt, I think it's only fair for Garren if we paid
him some nominal amt for his time and service. Whether he wanna accept the
token is another story, it's the thought that counts. Friend friend is one
thing, but this friend thingy shldnt be abused. Can anyone imagine Garren
get msg every now and then asking him to get stuffs for his friends?
C'mon, not tat I'm calculative but we shld learn to appreciate helps from
others, and be considerate at times ;)

3. Most people don't PLAN to fail, but they fail to PLAN
a. See the key word? PLAN PLAN PLAN! ;) Before any event, someone pls at
least dig out some info of the artifact, quest or the mob dropping the item
from the net - it's easily accessible.
b. Be puntual. Ok I know this is hard, esp when we have students, working
class, idling personal (ops sorry Garren, hehe) etc in the local community.
That's why I always plan events on Fri/Sat night, where most pple are free
and dun have to worry abt working the next day. Getting the relevant lvl
players to participate in the event is also impt, so that no time is waste
to fetch other pple. If u wanan participate in the event, at least arrange
to meet those who know the assembly venue to bring u there, IN ADVANCED.
Dun wait till last mintue than msg all say "I'm at xxx, can someone come
to fetch me blah blah blah". If my UO members from all over the world can
meet at certain time (some even wake up at 4am for guild meeting), I see no
reason the local kakis cant make an effort to achieve it ;)

c. Be prepared. Nothing is more anoying than to see the following
situation.
A : Ah, everyone is so puntual today, let ROCK!
B, C, D, E : Yeah yeah, let rock! WOWOWOWO!
F : Sorry guys, no more food, drink and reagents, can someone spare me
some, summon for me, OR gate me back to town purchasing, OR teleport to
town and buy for me?
"NAH!" *A, B, C, D, E all point their middle fingers to F's nose, mouse,
earholes, assxxxx*

4.Patient, Effective, Efficient
- Patient. If we set our mind to hunt Dvinn, then be patient to wait for
it to spawn. Dun suga suga show off and hunt other mobs with one swing or
one nuke. Yeah no doubt it's very facinating to show those newbies how
powerful you are, but hey, why are you here in the first place? And when
the mob spawn, you are either resting or OOM.
- Efficient. At places which is heavily camped, casting the 1st spell on
the mob may mean you get it or not. Eg, when I camp in Ziltus Hill (hehe),
group of lvl 20 casters wanna fight kill with me. When the trainer spawn,
I'm always the 1st one to hit it with a spell that hurt it more than 50%,
and the other casters r jus helping me to finish up the job. Do some
timing (eg aviak guards take 6-7 min to spawn, pickclaw 13 min, trainer 16
min etc), manage your time so that you can get fully med and rest b4 the
spawn. You can chit chat and sing song, but when the spawn is near, you
better stay alert and watch out for it.
- Effective. Sometime nuking with the most damaging spell is not always a
sure-win situation. Eg, when a lvl 40 enchanter help her friend to get
kills in Ziltus Hill, I think she is casting the most powerful nuking spell
she has. H/w, I only using the 3rd most powerful spell I got to get all
the kills. Wonder why? COZ...my 3rd most powerful spell, no doubt not as
powerful as the lvl 40 enchanter, but it cast FASTER and hurt the train for
more than 50% HP. So when the enchanter's spell hit the mob, she is just
helping me to wipe the floor. Simple as it is ;) Nuking with the most
powerful spell is not always the one who stand up with a wining smile - we
have to "eat brain" sometimes, not "eat grass" ;)

5. Get the RIGHT team
Get the right party for the hunt. For train-proned places like dungeons,
dimiss the pet. For places with fast random spawns, get some tanks and at
least a healer. For places where firepower mean sure-win (eg double or
solo aviak guards), get some bombers with u. For places of unknown and
danger, get a balance group. Having good team work is a good starting step
to a successful hunting trip, but getting the wrong party combo may mean
you r stepping on the wrong path. Eg when there is so many players crowded
in the CB tower, one lvl 29 wiz will work better than a group of 3 lvl 30
warriors. On the other hand, in Runnyeye, a lvl 29 paladin can last longer
than a group of 3 lvl 30 wiz. See the light? ;)

I'm not the best player around, but merely rising some points which I think
we have to ponder them in depth. No doubt it's sometime fun to have those
"U DIE I DIE" kinda hunting, but in the long run, we shld work out
something better and more enjoyable ;)

Just my 2c.

Ziltus Planeswalker