Questions from a (now nearly jaded) newbie...
Nathan Ladd
Ultima Online since the first commercial release, I thought I'd do a little
reading and see if people were having the same problems with EQ that I did
with UO. For the most part, everything I've heard was fantastic! (Suffice
it to say, I hadn't read this newsgroup until AFTER I bought the game).
I haven't played the game much yet (haven't had too much time), but the two
or three hours I DID spend online led to mixed results. In a couple of
battles, people tried to steal my kill. Though, in another battle where I
was clearly being beaten, a high level mage arrived to save me. But, at no
point, did I ever encounter anyone who supposedly knew how to roleplay. Nor
did I encounter anyone who was able (or willing) to offer some direction to
a newbie (As in, how can I join a guild? Or how do I obtain quests? Or how
can I find out which characters are NPCs without behind forced to listen to
some half wit ask "hey wanna duel me i can kik your ass?" (yes, that
happened more than once))
And yes, I happen to be the type of person who doesn't want to get hints and
tips from a web page. Personally, I'd prefer to roleplay the learning
experience within the game. Which leads to my main question: Is it
possible?
Or, to break it down more - which server would be best for a newbie who
truly wants to roleplay, join a group of adventurers, and not just try to
become a powerhouse of magical weapons, armor, money, and jewels? What's
the best way to find a group of (or some solo) roleplayers?
And do any of you experienced roleplayers have any advice for surviving in a
world filled with people who's main concern is the bidding on E-Bay?
Gladimir
where all the would-be role-players from UO came to rest. Some are here,
but many of the players are here for different reasons. Some play from
level-to-level, some play from item-to-item, and some play to build a
character/persona in the land of Norrath. The "newbie" areas are quite
tough, and they are a poor representation of the rest of the game.
So, my suggestions are as follows:
1- Look for a roleplaying guild (i.e. Burning Heart on Innoruk)
1a- You don't necessarily have to join the guild, but you can role-play with
these characters both in the game and on out-of-game forums that BH has
established.
2- Powergame to level 5. I know it's a dirty word, but only a few newbie
areas (i.e. Innothule Swamp) affords the luxury of role-playing at the early
levels. Don't work on trade skills or do much exploration until you're at
least 5th level.
3- Explore Norrath after you have some levels under your belt. At 9th
level, I took my Troll Warrior to Steamfont Mountains and was "in-character"
95% of the time. One of the greatest times I had in the game was the time
Baphomet spent on Faydwer.
- Gladimir, Barbarian Shaman of Clan Blackwatch, Cazic-Thule
- Baphomet, Troll Warrior, Cazic-Thule
Nathan Ladd wrote in message <7o4mqt$aml$1...@hiram.io.com>...
Yappie
and because of that you may be quite a bit disappointed. I've seen many
good friends leave because they were disappointed at the lack of roleplay in
the game (and for them, the lack of fun).
Having said that, I believe that EQ gives me much more opportunity for
roleplay than UO did, and for that I am happy. I've found that the roleplay
I receive is directly proportional to the amount of roleplay I put in, and
I'm usually the one who has to start something. This isn't always the case,
but generally speaking, I can get people into it when we're playing for a
while.
I'm staying with EQ for the other advantages as well, as follows:
- A skill system that doesn't mess up your character's stat points
- A system where you don't recall from point to point just to get somewhere
- A world where there are actually MANY monsters and dangers about (if you
play UO, you know how pointless it is to run around looking for critters to
kill)
- PK Switch
- BEAUTIFUL SUNSETS
- Fishing
- A chat system that is miles better than UO ever was (bye bye ICQ)
- A more balanced system (sometimes TOO balanced)
- A landscape that isn't sprawling with houses
- An environment that is lag-friendly
- A beautifully-rendered 3D world
- Free-range grouping system where group members can participate no matter
where in the world they are
- Multiple races
- Actual classes (no tankmages)
- Wood Elf Women *wolf call*
- Rubicite (sooner or later you'll find out)
- Beautifully rendered spells and sounds (this really makes the game for me,
even the 10000'th time I've seen heal or heard that lightning rip through
the air)
- Hairy Halfling Feet
- Sand Giants that can kill you in 5 seconds
Okay, I won't go on, but I could for a LONG time. In short, this game is
fun for me, that's what's important. Hopefully you can find the same
enjoyment I am. If you can, prepare for a lot of hours staring at your
screen. :)
-Yappie-
Nathan Ladd <cnl...@io.com> wrote in message
news:7o4mqt$aml$1...@hiram.io.com...
Morkai
you said the game was fun for you.
That's right, that's the most important of all. I like this game, that's
all. There are some abnormalities and defaults, some kill stealer and
twinking, but it's fun anyway. Stop whinning about this or that, if you have
fun that's all that matter.
Glass Rome
Dan Harmon
played the game more than a week had my best friend not already been
involved with the game a couple weeks (HIS mentor was a beta tester). I've
mentored my roommate, then later my li'l bro.
Answering very very basic questions that Verant neglected to include in any
sort of readable (and free) manual gets tiring. Online I will answer many
individual questions, though I do my damnedest not to become a stranger's
mentor. I'm not THAT nice and patient. :)
Most people don't know that much about quests. You get them from NPCs
(light-blue names...they almost always have a 1st & last name), but WHICH
NPCs - and hints of where to go once you get it - is the hard part.
Newbie area kill stealers - I try to remember that most newbies are newbies.
They haven't learned strategies and game oddities yet (such as, you can see
a critter from a mile off, but not the player fighting it). Sure, there's
lots of exceptions (those powergaming to get out of the newbie area with no
regard for others <not all, or even most of the non-newbie newbies, I
think> ), but it's all in YOUR attitude.
Guilds - best thing to do is keep an eye on guild tags after you get out of
the newbie area. You'll soon see which guilds are worth a damn. On The
Rathe, I like a few guilds (New OutRiders, Everlasting Alliances, Pain
Mercinaries of Silence <PMS> ) come immediately to mind as guilds with
mature players, though I don't know if any of those are dedicated to
roleplaying.
AS for roleplaying, if you were looking for RP heaven, you haven't found it
yet. EQ allows RP, but they're trying to cater to everyone (roleplayers to
powergamers), so everyone pays.
Heh, someone /tell'd me "Are you the type of person to duel me, or a wuss?"
My response was:
Neither, I'm the type of person to ignore someone like you.
/ignore <snert>
Nathan Ladd <cnl...@io.com> wrote in message
news:7o4mqt$aml$1...@hiram.io.com...
>
Gladimir
> <snip>
>
>Heh, someone /tell'd me "Are you the type of person to duel me, or a wuss?"
>My response was:
>
>Neither, I'm the type of person to ignore someone like you.
>/ignore <snert>
ROFL! EXCELLENT! I especially love the resurrection of the SNERT acronym.
- G
Dan Harmon
Gladimir <cfen...@san.rr.com> wrote in message
news:5tnp3.1528$2p6....@newsr1.san.rr.com...
Well, I'd say "troll," but that would be an insult to EQ trolls. :)
Desdinova
>And yes, I happen to be the type of person who doesn't want to get hints and
>tips from a web page. Personally, I'd prefer to roleplay the learning
>experience within the game. Which leads to my main question: Is it
>possible?
Yes, but difficult. I would actually recommend an older server if
you're looking for less powergamers in the newbie areas. The newer servers
are almost entirely populated by powergamers who want to win the race to be
the most powerful character on their server. There was a 21st level Bard
on Brell Serillis 10 days after it went up. Of course, this leads to the
problem that the newbies in the newbie area really *are* newbies, just like
you, and they don't know the answer to your question any more than you do.
>And do any of you experienced roleplayers have any advice for surviving in a
>world filled with people who's main concern is the bidding on E-Bay?
Make sure your humor module has been recently upgraded. There
aren't many serious roleplayers on any of the servers, certainly not in
comparison with the kewl dewds and the casual roleplayers like myself. You
can either get all wound up about it, or you can roll with the punches
until you find a group that really enjoys the roleplaying bit.
Desdinova
Humble Erudite Conjurer of the 5th Circle
Innoruuk
Pig
you
start building good comraderie in the beginning levels, some of your members
are
going to have more time to play then others and will start getting ahead of
you in
levels. What will eventually happen is they will be able to go to tougher
and tougher
zones and will leave you in the dusk. Why? If they are not within 4 levels
or so from you
the high end or low end person will not gain anything due to level
differential. You
can't go to a new zone to roleplay with them because most of creatures will
con red
to you and animals there know who you are, they will pick you off and then
you will
die, thus losing exp and getting further behind. For me I joined a guild
hoping for
comraderie but I have yet to adventure with any of the higher level members
because
they are able to goto more diffiicult zones then I. The only comraderie we
have is
when we meet in town or on occasion the chat rooms. I suggest you return
the
game for full refund if comraderie and roleplaying is your thing.
Nathan Ladd <cnl...@io.com> wrote in message
news:7o4mqt$aml$1...@hiram.io.com...
>
Dan Harmon
new player would have no clue.
Fennin Ro Server is apparently an unofficial RP server, and certainly one of
the busiest and oldest. I started in March on The Rathe, and I understand
it existed during beta, so that's another well established server. I
believe Karanas is another.
Brell Creme (or whatever it's called) Server is, I believe, the new
"unofficial" RP server...at least, Verant is hoping it will be. Lots of new
customers would have no idea what Verant's visions for particular servers
are, because they don't seem to care about communication. They load patch
messages for the following day at 11:30p Eastern the night before, so no one
knows about them.
At EQ's official website (HTML), there is no official mention made of Tallon
Zek. There's a couple of player articles mentioning some little aspect or
other, but nothing from Verant. Since I read this ng way too much, I
already know of upcoming events, but the VAST majority of players know
nothing of anything in advance.
Desdinova <abu...@erols.com> wrote in message
news:37a61fa0....@news.rcn.com...
Frank Williamson
...all you will do is wait.
Wait for Middle Earth?
Got a year.. mebbe more to wait eh?
-GE
Jules
wrote:
<snip>
> In a couple of battles, people tried to steal my kill.
This happens, esp in newbie zones....get used to saying "Im fine" or
"Leave it alone" if they persist, move to another area.
>Though, in another battle where I
>was clearly being beaten, a high level mage arrived to save me.
These often prove a good point for learning or even RPing as such.
Ususally you have to take the intitiative though until at higher
levels. Its nice to be saved isn`t it :)
>But, at no
>point, did I ever encounter anyone who supposedly knew how to roleplay.
Topic of much debate. At lower levels, i`m afraid its best to
concentrate on getting a few levels and battles under your belt to
build up your experience so that you can then start your travels.
However, its also a good time to start meeting others who will be at
your level.....make sure you have created a profile of your character
(hit F9 and click on yourself in the window and then type in your
profile so that when someone inspect you they can read some background
on you) Usually, you have to be the one to initiate the RP`ing, as i
said. Once people know you are a RP`er they either adapt or ignore you
or taunt you with KeWl DoOd phrases....hang around other groups and
pick up bits of conversations...you`ll be amazed at what you hear !
Then use /tell to ask someone something more specific or use the : key
to use emoticons.
>nor
>did I encounter anyone who was able (or willing) to offer some direction to
>a newbie (As in, how can I join a guild?
Some people help, some hinder...give it time.....Guilds are still
evolving....if you see a guild member ask them about thier guild, its
values etc...usually if they know you are interested they will advise
you what to do next. Also, quite a few websites have Guild pages with
info....if you want to look that is :)
>Or how do I obtain quests?
Talk to NPC`s everywhere....."Hail <insert NPC first name>"
Pick up clues from them. Reply using any words in brackets in the
text. Generally you need to be higher levelled for quests (at least Lv
5 up) Some are very hard and require lots of travel.
>or how
>can I find out which characters are NPCs without behind forced to listen to
>some half wit ask "hey wanna duel me i can kik your ass?" (yes, that
>happened more than once))
Use the /ignore <insert player name> to get rid of the idiots banter.
>
>And yes, I happen to be the type of person who doesn't want to get hints and
>tips from a web page.
I`m like this, but TBH with you, there are some really great websites
out there with some great stories and background...not just hints and
tips...(also maps are helpful later on)
> Personally, I'd prefer to roleplay the learning
>experience within the game. Which leads to my main question: Is it
>possible?
YES !! It is possible. The more i play, the more i Roleplay. Its
true.....and every day there seems to be more players willing to
Roleplay.
>
>Or, to break it down more - which server would be best for a newbie who
>truly wants to roleplay,
The newer servers are hard.....i started a char on Brell Serillis (the
supposed RP server) but i have given up as it is full of complete
idiots and power gamers.....i`ve kept my Lv 6 cleric just in case it
gets better. For now, the server i started on, erollisi Marr, which
is quite new, and had problems, is maturing i find. This is my home
for now. Read this NG to get an idea of which servers are mentioned a
lot.
>join a group of adventurers, and not just try to
>become a powerhouse of magical weapons, armor, money, and jewels?
I group and solo as needed.....Grouping can be a hard experience, so
aim to find one or two people who roleplay like you, or are your
friends and then group with them later on.....i find smaller groups
better....larger ones usually contain at least one asshole who spoils
it or gets the group killed.
>whats
>the best way to find a group of (or some solo) roleplayers?
As above...offer to join or start your own group with a friend. Listen
out for shouts for groups (time to time you get a definate RP group
advertise) Solo RP`ers are harder to find....but once you get a few
levels and start travelling...hang out at some of the meeting points
in the zones, like Inn2 in the east commons is a good place. Players
with their names in purple are said to be in Roleplaying mode...talk
to them in character and suss them out....do a /who and see if their
is anyone in your zone at your level and then use /tell to ask if they
want to group and if they roleplay......lead on from there.
>
>And do any of you experienced roleplayers have any advice for surviving in a
>world filled with people who's main concern is the bidding on E-Bay?
>
Yes, stick at it. It takes time to find what you are looking
for....but time is experience...use it to develop your skills, combat,
role play style, character preference, profile, hot keys, learn where
things are (the inns that sell water and bread) learn some routes to
places around you, use sense heading all the time.....watch some
groups fight....keep talking to everyone......and above all Enjoy
yourself....i did...and i am enjoying myself more today than i did
when i began.
Good luck.
--
Tropinin
Half Elf warrior
Erollisi Marr server.
--
Nathan Ladd
best explanation of what I'm looking for varies between "hard-core
roleplaying" and "casual RPer". I just want to stay away from the
powergamers and other idiots as much as possible. <shrug> I'm just looking
to have fun in my own way. :)
For the most part, I really like what I see in EQ. Some of it is a bit hard
to get used to, but I still like most of it. :)
Another question I have, dealing with monsters (that I forgot to ask in my
first post) goes back to one of my major complaints on UO: Are there any
problems with monster population? Can I expect to go into a dungeon and
find forty or fifty other people there - with no monsters or treasure in
sight?
And thanks again everyone for the great responses! <grin> It's given me a
much better impression then those first few encounters with k001 d00dz. :-)
(speaking of which, is there a limit to how many of those people I can
/ignore?)
--
Nathan Ladd
Desdinova wrote in message <37a61fa0....@news.rcn.com>...
>"Nathan Ladd" <cnl...@io.com> sez:
>
>>And yes, I happen to be the type of person who doesn't want to get hints
and
>>tips from a web page. Personally, I'd prefer to roleplay the learning
>>experience within the game. Which leads to my main question: Is it
>>possible?
>
> Yes, but difficult. I would actually recommend an older server if
>you're looking for less powergamers in the newbie areas. The newer servers
>are almost entirely populated by powergamers who want to win the race to be
>the most powerful character on their server. There was a 21st level Bard
>on Brell Serillis 10 days after it went up. Of course, this leads to the
>problem that the newbies in the newbie area really *are* newbies, just like
>you, and they don't know the answer to your question any more than you do.
>
>
>>And do any of you experienced roleplayers have any advice for surviving in
a
>>world filled with people who's main concern is the bidding on E-Bay?
>
Dan Harmon
> Another question I have, dealing with monsters (that I forgot to ask in my
> first post) goes back to one of my major complaints on UO: Are there any
> problems with monster population? Can I expect to go into a dungeon and
> find forty or fifty other people there - with no monsters or treasure in
> sight?
Yes, lots of overloaded zones during primetime. Luckily most zones have
SOMETHING worthwhile to hit if you're not hunting for rare items. Once
school starts up, if you live in a good time zone, or can play during
American school times (8a - 2p Eastern is probably best...so-so up to 5p),
you may be able to hunt for more of those rare items.
> (speaking of which, is there a limit to how many of those people I can
/ignore?)
The max is 20 people, but that's enough if you perform maintenance on your
list. There'll probably be less than 5 people that you'll want to leave on
Ignore for eternity.
Gladimir
> < snip misc >
>
>Another question I have, dealing with monsters (that I forgot to ask in my
>first post) goes back to one of my major complaints on UO: Are there any
>problems with monster population? Can I expect to go into a dungeon and
>find forty or fifty other people there - with no monsters or treasure in
>sight?
Depends on your race/class. If you're going to play a popular race (i.e.
elves and humans), then things may sometimes get crowded. On Cazic-Thule,
the newbie areas in East and West Freeport will supply a large number of
players with rats, snakes, and skeletons to kill. I found Greater Faydark
to be the most "competitive" newbie area where crowding and "racing" to
kills was taking place most often. On the other hand, Feerrott and
Innothule Swamp were the least crowded in my experience.
>
>And thanks again everyone for the great responses! <grin> It's given me a
>much better impression then those first few encounters with k001 d00dz.
:-)
>(speaking of which, is there a limit to how many of those people I can
>/ignore?)
I have 2 insignificant escapees from the shallow end of the gene-pool on my
ignore list (permanently) out of a total of 51 levels of adventuring. I
regularly disable shout and ooc in certain zones, then re-enable it once I
am in a more "quiet" area.
Desdinova
>I just want to stay away from the
>powergamers and other idiots as much as possible.
Don't be a Dark Elf then. :)
>Another question I have, dealing with monsters (that I forgot to ask in my
>first post) goes back to one of my major complaints on UO: Are there any
>problems with monster population? Can I expect to go into a dungeon and
>find forty or fifty other people there - with no monsters or treasure in
>sight?
Depends on where you go.
Blackburrow is a great low-level dungeon, but at peak times it
can get pretty crowded (~40 folks). However, if you play a
spellslinger (i.e. Enchanter, Magician, Necromancer, Wizard), keep in
mind the following survival tip: A crowded dungeon is a safe dungeon.
An empty dungeon is a deathtrap.
Sure, there may be ~40 folks in BB during peak times, but if
you suddenly find yourself playing the engineer for a train of
guardsmen and elites, you can *usually* get the folks on Healer's Hill
(aka The Bleachers, aka "that little slope near the two bridges, where
everyone hangs out to meditate and heal") to jump in and help you out.
Paw, on the other hand, is routinely empty. Paw is a dungeon
filled with gnolls, just like Blackburrow, and the level range is
comparable (i.e. if you can survive Blackburrow, you can survive Paw).
But if you pull a train in Paw, there isn't going to be a huge group
of fellow adventurers all meditating or healing in the same spot.
Which means that the train you've just pulled won't have anybody else
to focus on but you. If you're a caster, you'll be lucky to make it
10 steps before getting greased.
(Having said all that, I hasten to point out that Paw is a
fine dungeon worthy of exploration.)
The most popular dungeons in the game are Blackburrow, Unrest,
and Cazic-Thule. The rest are less crowded, with Paw being probably
the most consistently empty, and with Kerra Isle running a close
second in the "Nobody Ever Goes There" competition.