Greetings all, from an original EQer from 1999 that quit at Luclin. I've played off and on with P99 for the past several years. I haven't played since May of 2016, and just stumbled across this server. Given my past experience, I've got a few noob questions regarding the mechanics of this server. 1) How does boxing actually work? AKA, do I need 2 computers to do it? Or can you do it with just 2 monitors somehow? 2) If I don't box (it honestly does not sound like my style) will I be forever cursed on this server with having a LFG tag up, but find no one to group with? I like the social aspect of EQ, (I enjoy playing a bard in a group, for instance, not swarm kiting) but P99 is a bit overpopulated, and I like the idea of a fresh start. 3) Any advice you'd like to give after reading this is appreciated. I'm currently downloading the client, but with my internet it's going to take a while...
1) if you're on PC the client comes with Hotkeynet which is the boxing software, it's a bit more sophisticated than alt+tab between windows. for Mac you have to set up extra desktop instances. 2) it's not bad if you try, show up to zones with other people in them and ask to join vs. sit in PoK saying you're LFG. 3) no.
You can single box, but you'll feel like a scrub. You'll be a lot happier adding something like a Druid or Cleric bot that casts heal every few minutes.
Boxing sounds intimidating but it's really not. No one said you have to box well, Tunare knows I do do not. Easily done on just one machine, two button window switching (on Mac anyway, no clue about the dark side) allows easy switching between spaces or instances or whatever. Pop off a heal or debuff or hit auto attack and switch back to other toon. I was initially turned off by boxing, now its just a super convenience.
I think that bard is actually a great class to single-box. You may have a hard time finding groups while leveling - the server is top-heavy and far less populous than p99 - but that'll be no less true if you're boxing.
Well, two things. First, you CAN alt tab just fine on a PC. It is smoother using hotkeynet but alt tab still works. Second, single boxing works just fine but you will have to ask groups directly to join, just putting up lfg will not work. The simple fact is a group of four gets exp faster than a group of three, even on a per mob basis, so the various people trioing out there WANT you in the group. But, they probably won't go looking for you. If you do that, you will have little problem single boxing once you get to the unrest or highkeep levels.
Thanks for the replies, ladies and gentlemen. This boxing idea might open up whole new possibilities for me... When traveling, I'm guessing you just put one of the characters to auto follow the other? I suppose getting all the loot has its advantages
I only alt tab. Don't know what hotkey net is or how to use it. *grumbles about back in my day going up the hill in the snow with no shoes*
I have a vision of playing a single box bard. Pulling with pacify. Twisting mez, charm, slow, snare, cantata, resists, damage shield, and the breath of harmony click and generally kicking ass. On a per character basis, possibly the single best class in EQ in the PoP era. Then zoning in and watching someone whose only EQ talent was rolling CLR/ENC/SK fumbling around and still killing 3x as much stuff with 1/10 the keystrokes. This is why I don't like boxing. Boxing forces you into 'I'm going to play 3 characters poorly, because it's way more effective than playing 1 character well'.
Delorne did more as a single-boxed bard on AK than most 3-6 boxers. A well-played PoP bard is a thing of beauty.
At the end of the day box if you want to, and don't box if you don't want to. On live I played a beastlord as a single box for two to three years and then eventually was able to add a second box and played beast + shaman. For me, I immediately noticed the difference in utility and fun, and I never looked back. On Takp I do like to go on raids (which I rarely do anyways) with just my beastlord. Day to day though I always play with my three boxes (unless I am in a group with too many humans to box ratio). I love boxing, to me it makes the game a lot more fun and engaging. Also, while I certainly don't play each class at an optimum level, I think I manage to play fairly well with all three as part of a team. In my opinion it's almost like I just have one super character since I can always have the three toons with me. Some obviously hate the idea of being able to more easily accomplish goals on our box friendly sever then if we just had to play one character. For me, I don't care, because it's a video game and I play video games to have fun. I would rather accomplish my goals in game and play my characters "poorly" then just play one and never get to do the things I want to do.
You think managing a charm pet, tashing, slowing, FD pulling, tanking, and healing while switching between three boxes takes 1/10 the keystrokes of playing a single bard well? That's a bold statement... And even if you're right, the # of keystrokes does not necessarily equate the amount of skill something takes.
Other side of that Is someone single boxing a class the requires few actions per minute and sitting in a group pressing 2 buttons a minute for hours on end In a group. A bard is a unique class that when played well adds so much and I don't see you have an effort being included in things
What can I say, trolling is an art form. Every single reply is a strawman. Except for GGG who is pretty chill. Unfortunately, I'm too much of a perfectionist to really be satisfied with playing 3 characters at 60%.
Quick, someone mention an easy way to exp that takes no skill and barely any attention. That'll scare Raev away from this thread. Or mention how strong paci is here, he hates that. On topic though, boxing is pretty chill even if you just wanna duo. Just having an extra support class like a cleric or something that sits in safety healing between battles or however you wanna play will net you a bigger gain out of your play time, for very little attention.
As someone who started recently and wasn't sure he would like boxing, I'd say give it a try. it takes a little bit to get used to, but it's really enjoyable. It's like the baldurs' gate type game feel where you manage a team and not just one character. I like the fact that it's not nearly as much downtime as playing solo (might not apply to bards), and I like the fact that with a decent trio composition it allows to slow crawl dungeons on your own. That last point is really what does it for me. I spent some hours with my trio just carefully killing the king in solb this weekend, and that was really fun. I can imagine finding group might be harder than on 99. If you go solo you'll need to be fine with grouping with a trio. For sure a 3-boxer cannot be as efficient as 3 different players solo boxing (all skill level equals), but the group bonus more than make up for that. I'd recommend joining a guild for the social, help twinking if you're into that, and grouping. Goren/Milena/Arabelle
Tolon Nurbyte gets attention because it is an infinite number of spawns under total controlled situation with no risk whatsoever in a city level ZEM that you can use right to 60, and most importantly, is completely macroable and everyone knows it's happening. It is absurd it is still being allowed. They either managed to hide this back in the day from the devs or it is not accurate to how Live was then because no sane developer would let "content" like this stick around for long. Every bit of the Tolon Nurbyte farm is bad for the game.
I don't like to brag, but I wiped once walking from the bank to the JC vendors in PoK. Should have rolled on that Yeli purse.
I did most of my questing and gear camping before I reached level 60 on any of my characters. Leveling is the worst.
