Been on and off on project99 for a couple years but the server is old. The high end is bottle necked and not to mention toxic. A couple questions What is population like primetime ?(people. not total including boxes) Do I have to box to exp because of population? How many raid guilds? Is the server casual friendly? Thank you
Dunno if anyone can give you a population count on people, there were almost 150 characters on last night for Kunark release. The best we can do about that is assume everyone is 3 boxing and then you have 50 real people. I doubt everyone was 3 boxing though. Do you have to box to get exp? No, but if you pick a rogue dont expect to log in everyday and get a group right away. People enjoy having real life people in group over boxes, but population is low (not too bad for classic/kunark tho). Imo if you dont want to box (not even 2 box) then pick a class like necro, mage, druid, bard, shaman, pally, ie someone that can solo if you have to. 3 raid guilds server is very casual friendly
It is really hard to give an actual people population number, as Surron said. There are quite a few people who don't box here and it is a viable option. It really depends on your class and your attitude. Right now is a great time to start up there are a lot more players due to the Kunark rush. The server is casual friendly because of its slightly slower content release. There is a focus on ensuring everything is polished and complete, rather then rushing content forward to prevent stagnation.
I definitely agree with Sketchy here; if you like roaming around, checking out new things, quests and adventuring, you'll love it here. But, if you are in a hurry to max out your character and get to the top of the game, you'll probably get bored pretty fast. I play a monk and can solo some things, but when I have needed help with things, I haven't had much trouble finding it. That being said, if you log in at 2am on a Tuesday morning, you'll probably be on your own... unlike live EQ, where you can usually find someone online at all times. I could see a situation where, if you are a class that is really dependent on groups (warrior for example), it could get quite frustrating. But, if you have a solo class or don't mind 2-boxing, you'll be fine.
Wizards are also a great solo option, just to throw that out there! I [mostly] solo leveled a wiz from 1 to about 55 back in the day without too much huff. On a side note, I have a couple of low level alts that I'd love to group up with others, and I still pretty regularly see people in crushbone and befallen, unrest, highkeep, etc.
I am in the process of working towards a promotion at work so my play time is limited until I get (or don't get) the position. But if you catch me on as any of my characters I wouldn't mind grouping now and again. I just entered the double digits with Team Fear, and my other two teams are between L1-3 so they are still under-developed.
My trio below is currently sitting at 24. I'm slow with my many real life obligations currently, but if you pass me along the way, feel free to group up! Or if I'm around POK, i'd love to give you some regen and low level shaman buffs to help through those tough 1-5 levels. If you can't stand the bottle neck on p99, and want a community a little more inviting, with life beyond Velious, you chose the right place.
The population is a bit low but there aren't many alternatives to p99 and I'd say this is the best one. A lot of the alternatives like PEQ and Titan have no limits on boxing so there is hardly any grouping there because people can box entire raids by themselves. There are a few solo only EQ emu's like Legacy of Froststone but they have basically no players at all. This server is great because it limits boxing to 3 which means you do plenty by yourself if you like to solo and box, but you still need to group up to do a lot of the higher end stuff. So people still group on this server. It is also an accurate representation of EQ, it even has the older client so there are no maps and it makes it a more hardcore experience like early EQ was. Also with Kunark there is a lot of content to play already, and they will keep releasing expansions all the way up to PoP so there will be tons of content in the future and yet it wont go too far. For me it is the perfect EQ server.
Our recreation of Al`Kabor is coming along nicely. AK was always different from the PC servers (which I never played on AK was my first EQ experience). Population was low except during raid times because the server was very top heavy by the time I started playing there. I quickly discovered it was a soloist paradise, and lots of fun at the high end of the game once you catch up to everyone else up there. Expect to solo or 3 box a lot and group with some of the most amusing people playing this game.
Casual friendly? Definitely... even as a casual player you have a chance at obtaining virtually any contested camp (FBSS) as nothing here is really on total lockdown. Want to raid? Again, possible for anyone, including casual types. Raiding guilds here make valid efforts here to be cooperative, amiable, and are welcoming to serious and casual players alike. Anyone who wants to raid will likely have a chance to do that here. The developers have open ears, are enthusiastic about this game, and regularly involve themselves directly with the community. Reputation matters here. If you are a douchebag, you will be treated like one. Best server in the EMU community... hoping it stays that way for years to come
