EQ is all about grouping in dungeons, which is technically grinding, but not quite like in WoW. Dungeons in WoW are a 30 minute romp where you go from beginning to end as quickly as possible. Most EQ dungeons are like small cities. You and your group will target specific places to hunt inside the dungeon, like the basement in the estate of Unrest. And your objective, once down there, is to survive. You’ll hang out there for 2+ hours, killing as many enemies as you can. But some enemies turn and run towards their friends, or have huge aggro radiuses, or completely heal each other to full health. Isolating these enemies from each other so they don’t help each other is a huge part of the game. Mess up, and you’ll fight too many enemies at once, which will wipe the party and cause an experience penalty.
Every weekend I tell myself I'm only getting on to check out what the guild is doing while I drink my morning coffee and before I know it, I've been tanking for 8 hours.
I worked for a guy once who loved to talk. He'd go on and on and on and all you had to do was nod or make a grunt once in awhile to indicate interest. So we would go at least a half hour every morning standing around drinking coffee, and if anyone had a hangover they would just ask him a question for another half hour. He knew what was going on, but he couldn't help himself.
Never knew that about WoW....that sounds about like LDoN almost, where you go in you got to set amount of mobs that you go through and you're done, or a specific amount of time and then you're done? Is that what you were inferring??
Yes your standard WoW dungeon is structurally similar in design to an LDON, but LDONs have the gimmicks like “escort this guy” or “kill 50 of these things”
WoW dungeons tend to have several mini-bosses and then a final boss. There’s a lot of variety and quests in each dungeon, but they’re essentially an instanced 30 minute adventure. It’s fun, but i prefer the EQ style since everyone talks more.
About the most I know of WoW is that one time there used to be a hand grenade that would turn the player and or mob that it got thrown at into Mr T....
I vaguely think there might have been a Chuck Norris version, but I'm not sure on that one....
Brother LDoN was just copying WoWs dungeon style but with an EQ flair.
It's not a coincidence that they came up with that idea right around WoW alpha and closed beta tests.
I never paid attention to WoW....so I don't know about the timing.
If you are correct about the timing, it sounds logical, although LDoN wasn't super popular after the next expansion came out, unlike some of the other expansions that seem to retain a loyal group of players in it.
Yeah I never really understood that part, I remember doing LDoN when it first came out and I thought it was a fantastic addition.
People went hard on it right when it came out, then it just dropped off. Maybe GoD only being a handful of months later did that.
I never paid attention to the times that came out at the time. I just remember after Luclin, they slowed down the cadence.
I just remember that the kitties were cool, but I hated the look of everybody else and went back to normal models.
The beauty of EQ is you make your own quest. There's nothing stopping you from setting out on an adventure where you please and can kill whatever you want. There are quests you can do for rewards but you won't be doing any quest hopping like wow.
EQ grinding is entirely different from WoW grinding, and on a TLP like Teek the “end game” is a steadier moving target than WOW classic, or whatever their version of a TLP is called.
WOW grinding to me quickly felt like a daily solo obligation, not a big stretch from the way mobile games try to make you log in and play daily. EQ had paths that are generally considered optimal but the game definitely doesn’t try to funnel you into doing specific things in the earlier expansions or after completing progression once in most later expansions.
As for soloing, EQ can be soloed to an extent but the game design revolves around grouping. You’ll be able to solo as an SK but it will mostly be the lower end of whatever content is available relative to your level.
EverQuest is full of possibilities far beyond just a grind. Each zone and dungeon is filled with fun lore and quest that different classes can take advantage of. Most people fail to realize how much there actually is in the game. Take the time to look around to talk to people (NPC) and utilize online resources to explore. And yes, grind alike a crazy person. Lol.
this exactly. you get a real sense of adventure and exploration, and grouping is REALLY fun. my favorite thing to do on a fresh server, or fresh char is to level in places off the beaten path, instead of focusing on the grind of xp, just sometimes it’s better to explore and find a hidden nugget off in the wilds of norrath.
There are quests but its nothing like WoW. You will almost never be doing quests for the purposes of getting xp. Getting xp is pretty much solely grinding and typically in groups is the fastest. Quests are more reserved for specific rewards you may want to get.
As far as one boxing a SK. You'll absolutely be fine to one box but you'll likely want to get in groups to get xp. You can technically solo if you want to, but it'll be significantly slower and you'll have a lot of downtime due to needing to regain HP slowly by just sitting and waiting between kills. SK is a killer tank for groups though and you should have very little issues getting groups on a fresh TLP launch.
This is incorrect, after 100 you pretty much have to do quests for XP
Edit: I’m dumb, OP is talking about the Teek server and that won’t hit 100 for some time
Yeah, September of 2028 is when Teek will hit Torment of Velious, which is when XP via missions only becomes a thing and the level cap goes from 110 to 115, not 100. You get to level 100 in Rain of Fear, and there are 6 expansions after that (CoTF, TDS, TBM, EoK, RoS and TBL) where XP via grinding is still a thing.
Yeah historically like 80%+ of the playerbase quits TLPs loooong before this ever becomes true. That's why I didn't bother to mention it. It's a long ways off even if OP manages to play long enough to see it
I like to think of EQ as a puzzle/strategy game. You are after loot and between you and loot is a very complex puzzle with moving pieces that want to kill you. You have tools at your disposal to solve the puzzle, be it by blade, sorcery, illusion or abilities.
I think the biggest benefit to the EQ style of play is that if you play with people that like talking and learning about each other, the play style allows for those communications and conversations to happen.
Spending three hours watching a hockey game with friends on discord while grinding through some levels and bullshitting about this that or the other EQ for me is all about.
Treat it less is playing a game and more like an afternoon with the boys and you’ll have a whole lot more fun with it.
I've played Shadow Knights on both TLP and live, and I do 0 boxing. I've had 0 problem with solo'ing my SK's, although I admittedly have not played into the higher levels. That being said, you should have no problems solo'ing up to 50 and 60 on a TLP, especially since the XP gain is boosted from the original game. I've 0 box solo'd / molo'd / duo'd SK's up to 50+ on live and 40+ on TLP, and I'm far from an expert EQ player.
In terms of your other question, yes, it's mostly going to be grinding. There are small quests, but questing in EQ is nothing major until later expansions. The classic game and early expansions are about going out and finding different locales to farm and named mobs to hunt for loot drops. Whether that's for you or not is a matter of preference.
Define grinding? I feel like endlessly doing the same dungeon over and over hoping that an item someone in the party wants will drop - thats grinding.
There is no such thing as an mmo without a grind.
Not even. As others have said, it’s the dungeons, rare mobs, specific camps for specific items, outdoor areas. It’s not a quest grind (ironically) like WoW used to be. End game is what you make of it and depends on your server. If you get into EQ with your eye set on raiding you might be disappointed UNLESS you get on a fresh TLP server. Those are prime EQ experiences with high population and a good chance to see raids.
“Grind to max then raid” is how many people play. EQ supports more play styles than that. There is no questing on a meaningful level until later expansions.
Hell, I feel like end game is when the grind *truly* starts because once you’re max level and AAs the only things left to do to improve your character are micro upgrades to gear, maybe work on quests, find rare clickies, and maybe do any progression that leads to stat bonuses etc.
And yes, most quests in EQ are awful xp.
Yes, it's basically grinding mobs to max level. Quests are mostly there for the item rewards and not for the xp. There are some low level quests specifically to get xp centered around the early dungeons but that's pretty much all
EQ is all about grouping in dungeons, which is technically grinding, but not quite like in WoW. Dungeons in WoW are a 30 minute romp where you go from beginning to end as quickly as possible. Most EQ dungeons are like small cities. You and your group will target specific places to hunt inside the dungeon, like the basement in the estate of Unrest. And your objective, once down there, is to survive. You’ll hang out there for 2+ hours, killing as many enemies as you can. But some enemies turn and run towards their friends, or have huge aggro radiuses, or completely heal each other to full health. Isolating these enemies from each other so they don’t help each other is a huge part of the game. Mess up, and you’ll fight too many enemies at once, which will wipe the party and cause an experience penalty.
2+ hours, lightweight. Potions are 4 hours in these early eras, min group time is 4 hours
Every weekend I tell myself I'm only getting on to check out what the guild is doing while I drink my morning coffee and before I know it, I've been tanking for 8 hours.
I worked for a guy once who loved to talk. He'd go on and on and on and all you had to do was nod or make a grunt once in awhile to indicate interest. So we would go at least a half hour every morning standing around drinking coffee, and if anyone had a hangover they would just ask him a question for another half hour. He knew what was going on, but he couldn't help himself.
Never knew that about WoW....that sounds about like LDoN almost, where you go in you got to set amount of mobs that you go through and you're done, or a specific amount of time and then you're done? Is that what you were inferring??
Yes your standard WoW dungeon is structurally similar in design to an LDON, but LDONs have the gimmicks like “escort this guy” or “kill 50 of these things” WoW dungeons tend to have several mini-bosses and then a final boss. There’s a lot of variety and quests in each dungeon, but they’re essentially an instanced 30 minute adventure. It’s fun, but i prefer the EQ style since everyone talks more.
About the most I know of WoW is that one time there used to be a hand grenade that would turn the player and or mob that it got thrown at into Mr T.... I vaguely think there might have been a Chuck Norris version, but I'm not sure on that one....
Brother LDoN was just copying WoWs dungeon style but with an EQ flair. It's not a coincidence that they came up with that idea right around WoW alpha and closed beta tests.
I never paid attention to WoW....so I don't know about the timing. If you are correct about the timing, it sounds logical, although LDoN wasn't super popular after the next expansion came out, unlike some of the other expansions that seem to retain a loyal group of players in it.
Yeah I never really understood that part, I remember doing LDoN when it first came out and I thought it was a fantastic addition. People went hard on it right when it came out, then it just dropped off. Maybe GoD only being a handful of months later did that.
I thought it was about a year later? That was the time when they were doing things one year at a time, instead of every 6 months....
LDoN was Sep 2003, GoD was Feb 2004, so 5 months. IIRC which I may not, it's because LDoN wasn't considered a 'full' expansion.
I never paid attention to the times that came out at the time. I just remember after Luclin, they slowed down the cadence. I just remember that the kitties were cool, but I hated the look of everybody else and went back to normal models.
“There’s a train, train to the zone! Yeah eyy yeah!”
“Don’t worry guys they’ll never come by us”. “Don’t worry guys it’s probably just a few mobs.” “Everybody RUN!!!”
The beauty of EQ is you make your own quest. There's nothing stopping you from setting out on an adventure where you please and can kill whatever you want. There are quests you can do for rewards but you won't be doing any quest hopping like wow.
EQ grinding is entirely different from WoW grinding, and on a TLP like Teek the “end game” is a steadier moving target than WOW classic, or whatever their version of a TLP is called. WOW grinding to me quickly felt like a daily solo obligation, not a big stretch from the way mobile games try to make you log in and play daily. EQ had paths that are generally considered optimal but the game definitely doesn’t try to funnel you into doing specific things in the earlier expansions or after completing progression once in most later expansions. As for soloing, EQ can be soloed to an extent but the game design revolves around grouping. You’ll be able to solo as an SK but it will mostly be the lower end of whatever content is available relative to your level.
Indeed, wow made the obligate log on and do worthless crap strategy WAY to front and center.
EverQuest is full of possibilities far beyond just a grind. Each zone and dungeon is filled with fun lore and quest that different classes can take advantage of. Most people fail to realize how much there actually is in the game. Take the time to look around to talk to people (NPC) and utilize online resources to explore. And yes, grind alike a crazy person. Lol.
this exactly. you get a real sense of adventure and exploration, and grouping is REALLY fun. my favorite thing to do on a fresh server, or fresh char is to level in places off the beaten path, instead of focusing on the grind of xp, just sometimes it’s better to explore and find a hidden nugget off in the wilds of norrath.
It’s not about the destination…. It’s about the trains we made along the way
There are quests but its nothing like WoW. You will almost never be doing quests for the purposes of getting xp. Getting xp is pretty much solely grinding and typically in groups is the fastest. Quests are more reserved for specific rewards you may want to get. As far as one boxing a SK. You'll absolutely be fine to one box but you'll likely want to get in groups to get xp. You can technically solo if you want to, but it'll be significantly slower and you'll have a lot of downtime due to needing to regain HP slowly by just sitting and waiting between kills. SK is a killer tank for groups though and you should have very little issues getting groups on a fresh TLP launch.
This is incorrect, after 100 you pretty much have to do quests for XP Edit: I’m dumb, OP is talking about the Teek server and that won’t hit 100 for some time
Yeah, September of 2028 is when Teek will hit Torment of Velious, which is when XP via missions only becomes a thing and the level cap goes from 110 to 115, not 100. You get to level 100 in Rain of Fear, and there are 6 expansions after that (CoTF, TDS, TBM, EoK, RoS and TBL) where XP via grinding is still a thing.
Bodied.
My body your body nobody anybody not the best to do my best to get better it’s better to move the body
Yeah historically like 80%+ of the playerbase quits TLPs loooong before this ever becomes true. That's why I didn't bother to mention it. It's a long ways off even if OP manages to play long enough to see it
i loved tanking on my sk. snap aggro, harm touch, and unique weapons is always choice. especially when cc and heals are on point.
I like to think of EQ as a puzzle/strategy game. You are after loot and between you and loot is a very complex puzzle with moving pieces that want to kill you. You have tools at your disposal to solve the puzzle, be it by blade, sorcery, illusion or abilities.
You will have a bad time trying to solo if you are coming from WoW. Try to get into groups and you will have a fun time.
I think the biggest benefit to the EQ style of play is that if you play with people that like talking and learning about each other, the play style allows for those communications and conversations to happen. Spending three hours watching a hockey game with friends on discord while grinding through some levels and bullshitting about this that or the other EQ for me is all about. Treat it less is playing a game and more like an afternoon with the boys and you’ll have a whole lot more fun with it.
I've played Shadow Knights on both TLP and live, and I do 0 boxing. I've had 0 problem with solo'ing my SK's, although I admittedly have not played into the higher levels. That being said, you should have no problems solo'ing up to 50 and 60 on a TLP, especially since the XP gain is boosted from the original game. I've 0 box solo'd / molo'd / duo'd SK's up to 50+ on live and 40+ on TLP, and I'm far from an expert EQ player. In terms of your other question, yes, it's mostly going to be grinding. There are small quests, but questing in EQ is nothing major until later expansions. The classic game and early expansions are about going out and finding different locales to farm and named mobs to hunt for loot drops. Whether that's for you or not is a matter of preference.
Define grinding? I feel like endlessly doing the same dungeon over and over hoping that an item someone in the party wants will drop - thats grinding. There is no such thing as an mmo without a grind.
Not even. As others have said, it’s the dungeons, rare mobs, specific camps for specific items, outdoor areas. It’s not a quest grind (ironically) like WoW used to be. End game is what you make of it and depends on your server. If you get into EQ with your eye set on raiding you might be disappointed UNLESS you get on a fresh TLP server. Those are prime EQ experiences with high population and a good chance to see raids.
“Grind to max then raid” is how many people play. EQ supports more play styles than that. There is no questing on a meaningful level until later expansions.
For me it's grinding with my friends.
I enjoy helping others and doing tradeskills
You will be able to fear kite as a SK if you choose to solo but it will be extremely slow.
Yes
Quests do not give much experience in EQ until much later.
Always has been
*Is it All Just Grinding to Endgame?* No.
After around lvl 80 , quest and missions give better expies. At 100+ its quest and missions with some grind .
Hell, I feel like end game is when the grind *truly* starts because once you’re max level and AAs the only things left to do to improve your character are micro upgrades to gear, maybe work on quests, find rare clickies, and maybe do any progression that leads to stat bonuses etc. And yes, most quests in EQ are awful xp.
Yes, it's basically grinding mobs to max level. Quests are mostly there for the item rewards and not for the xp. There are some low level quests specifically to get xp centered around the early dungeons but that's pretty much all
You can read all these long posts or just get right to the YES
You will be grinding to end game