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1) Am I going to find myself waiting forever to find an EXP party?
depends, but in a way it doesn't matter.. since you can solo while looking for group so you'll always have a positive XP flow should you wish it. Obviously healer classes will ALWAYS be in demand for groups.. as will tanks and DD's.. I don't play an enchanter so I don't know how it goes.. I don't group much as a Conjuror (nor do I actually LFG much since conjuror is a solo'ing monster of a class) but when I do group with my Conj, I bring an impressive amount of crowd control and DOT's to the group.
now I DO see lots of /ooc request about doing Armor Quest.. and I am on my own AQ1.. so those do take a bit of time but it's nothing like the weeks on end waiting for an AF quest group.. with the right classes it's likely possible to do some of the AQ's with as little as 2 people.. and I can solo AQ1 now, I'm jus waiting til 21st level so the scarecrows are not QUITE so tough a fight.. for the record AQ1 is a 20th level quest.. so this isn't like FFXI where you need to be 10 or more levels above the starting level in order to solo a quest, if you can solo it at all which is RARE in that game.
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2) Is it possible to solo for EXP? ( I don't expect to get extremely high this way, but if there is nothing else to do, is it possible?)
yes, obviously XP goes faster at lower levels because it takes LESS XP to gain levels.. that said, solo'ing as you go up in levels may or may not get any harder but it does take longer because you need MORE XP to go from 20 to 21 than you did to go from 10 to 11. What will determine difficulty will be your combat arts and gear.. if you're still throwing out an App III scarab summon at 20th level (if you're a conjuror) it's WAYY time to upgrade.
The abilitiy to solo will vary from class to class but every class I've played so far (Mage, Priest, scout) have ALL been able to solo white cons (even match) successfully.. as stated above, my conjuror is a solo'ing monster, taking on Yellow's is not that big a deal but does require hate management, taking down an Orange is even do'able but requires EXTREME hate management tactics (those 36 levels of White Mage actually taught me a thing or two about hate levels). Solo fights against oranges can be an experience.. but it is a lot of fun.
key to solo'ing is keeping your stronger combat arts or spells up to date and HO's.
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3) How does money making work in this game, and does this community have some sort of economy?
so far making money has been a breeze.. through questing you'll likely acquire gear that will be useful for a long time, or if it's not useful it's sellable.. a little time solo'ing will net you a bit of coin and XP.. what you gain through questing and solo'ing will likely be enough for you to fund your adventuring career for the most part..
however, harvesting and crafting will make you *BIG* money.. nodes are plentiful so harvesting is typically not a problem unless you're going for one or two specific things which means lots of running and looking... However, after a good harvesting session I can typically come away with a little over one gold after a night of selling.
I decided to upgrade two spells last night... so I'm down from 4 gold to 3 gold... not bad considering I can make it back very quickly.
MUCH higher end spells.. (Master level, and Adept III's) are VERY expensive.. however, now that I see how to make a bit better money it's not a problem, however, you will NOT have to spend Weeks on end "farming" and since you can solo, you can always split up your time, making money AND making XP.
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5) Is this game fun? (what kind of stuff to do)
so far I've having WAYYYY too much fun in EQ2.. what do I do..
obviously there's my harvesting career.. since my main is a conjuror.. I'll harvest and send my pet at an XP mob.. it can take down green, blues on it's own, it can take down whites with one or two heals from me and maybe a DOT if not alone.. above white con I have to work at it... Anywho, I start harvesting and tell the pet to attack.
exploration: I tend to spend a lot of time running around trying to just see what's out there.. (and get screen shots to send to friends) I've heard rumor of a sunken galleon off the coast of antonica so I may go see what's out there with a friend of mine. my Digi-photography career is coming along nicely. Also the first time you find a new point of interest you get XP for it... so exploration has an added benefit.
quest: and there are a TON of quest.. they're all worth a bit of XP, money, and sometimes you get an item too... so even a simplistic green quest is worth what little time it will take you to do it.. 'cause positive XP flow is always good. and even if the item isn't useful to you.. you can alway sell it to an NPC for a quick silver or two.
If I'm serious about XP, I'll find a populated spot of mobs and determine my exit route if things go badly and solo them for a while. usually this is best if I have a harvesting quest for what I'm solo'ing on... so once again I get XP AND money.. Some people say solo'ing is boring.. honestly I enjoy it a lot.. it's really somewhat zen-like to simply be out there without any other players nearby.. I've heard "there's no strategy to solo'ing" again I disagree.. there's MORE strategy to solo'ing cause you have to be aware, anticipate, and plan.
last night I was solo'ing giant kodiak's and hulking stalkers.. they're white con to me now, and the bears were for a tradeskill collection quest (12 silver yes please). The field was crowded.. I had to *constantly* be aware of where mobs were wandering.. a single white I can take.. 2 at a time is NOT good.
several times I managed to clear the field of all mobs.. this is actually MORE dangerous than a crowded field 'cause they do not "pop" all at once.. so seeing a single wolf pop and running at it isn't exactly smart.... unless you PLAN.. watch where it walks, know where the spawn areas are (somewhat.. since they are random). A few times I took the risk.. but ran to the opposing side and fought the mob with my back to the cliff-drop.. knowing that mobs NEVER spawn that close to the edge of a sheer drop.
several times I had to back out of casting range and let my pet work on it while a wolf or bear walked wayyy too close for comfort.. and to end fights quickly I would use HO's and DOT's cause prolonged battles in spawn areas lead to POP-Aggro, but aggressive Nuking leads to me taking hate which isn't good either.
this is how I solo.. not very boring is it? and I get nice XP numbers even at 20th level.
and lastly of course is grouping, which can net you XP VERY fast.. as with all things group related it can be good or bad.. Personally I have to be in a particular mood to do "decision by committee".. so I tend to solo, but I must admit group XP rates are VERY fast. Since you've played FFXI you pretty much know the drill as far as groups go.. some will be good, some will be bad.. the difference with EQ2 is you can always solo while looking for group.. and if a group isn't good, you can always leave it and go it on your own and STILL see nice numbers.
as for your machine specs.. I don't think you'll have any issues running EQ2 since you're above my spec and mine runs it fine.
Edited, Tue Jan 4 11:15:37 2005 by Iaini Edited, Tue Jan 4 11:19:38 2005 by Iaini