New Player Tutorial

[Ab3n]

Hey Guys,

I just successfully setup a windows eq server and had a quick question. I've never played eq before and thus wanted to go through the tutorial after creating a new character. However once I get placed into the tutorial zone there's a quick message about kobolds and thats it. Everyone I try to talk to in the starting area (that's not a merchant) just asks me what I want on my tombstone. Is there a quest I should be doing or someone I should talk to?
I've explored a bit and killed some rats/bats/spiders, but have yet to encounter a "tutorial". Is there something I need to do to my server or am I just missing something?

P.S. I have a note that I'm supposed to give to "Master Trueshot" to start my ranger training, is that part of the tutorial cause I couldn't find the guy...Thanks for the help!

[Yeormom]

Everyone I try to talk to in the starting area (that's not a merchant) just asks me what I want on my tombstone.
This has to be my favorite thread on the eqemulator.net forums to date.

First of all, if you are new to the game, the absolute last thing you should do is make your own server to play on. You're missing the whole point of the game any other way.

[Richardo]

Ab3n,

the "tombstone" message is when you "con" a mob which essentially means that you get an idea of how strong the npc is. When you see the red text, it means that you should probably not attack that npc. If they scowl at you, then they're probably going to attack you!

A suggestion for you might be to play on PEQ for a little while to get used to the game dynamics before you take the big time wasting task of server development. PEQ is the closest to EverQuest live that you're going to get and I think it will help you figure out the game enough to create your own server some day. While you're leveling and learning the game, brush up on some MySQL tutorials. Also try to learn basic programming with C++. This will start you on the road to understanding the structure of EQEMU.

Here are some useful links for you:

http://dev.mysql.com/tech-resources/articles/mysql_intro.html

http://cpp-tutorial.cpp4u.com/

[Ab3n]

Thanks for the advice guys, but it doesn't quite answer my question.

@yeormom
The whole reason I've created this server is because I don't have internet access at home, but would still love to play this fine RPG MMO or not.

@richardo
I realize that considering them is what triggers the "tombstone" response, I just assumed I would actually be able to hold a conversasion with them. For example when right clicking on the "exit tutorial" guy I would have expected to see some options or dialogue that would allow me to exit the tutorial. Since all the npc's are saying the same thing I thought it might be a glitch in the serve hence this post. What I was really looking for was some guidance on finding the start of the tutorial or how to fix this glitch if it is one.

Also, thanks for the links, but I'm actually pretty we'll versed in both as I use them daily in my job.

Thanks for the replies, and further help would be appreciated!

[Zeice]

Since you have never played EQ before, it's an OLD game. circa 1998. You talk to npcs by hailing them, the H key. You go through dialogue by typing responses, they are usually in brackets. Sometimes they don't give you any clues as to what to say, but you have to guess via reading the chat. Hope that answered your question.

[Ab3n]

Thanks zeice! I'll give that a shot!

[Tookya]

Hail, lawl!

[computerweekend]

I usually do a lot of lurking around these forums, but this one caught my eye and I couldn't help but giggle. I mean, we've all been there...

It makes me think of things that I know I've taken for granted - simple things, like knowing how to hail an NPC. My first reaction to this post was to think wow, how much of a noob can a guy be? Then I realized... god, if I plopped myself down in the middle of an Eqemu-style Mines of Gloomingdeep, I would have nooooo clue until I looked through the keybindings. Funk knows I've had my unforgivable noob moments.

Doesn't mean there aren't tutorials for people just starting out in EQ... or that it wouldn't be a good idea to read them... /nudge /wink

Ab3n, it sounds like you're fresh out of World of Warcraft :wink: I don't mean that in a mean way, it's just that RPGs these days are so... well, easy. That doesn't mean I don't play WoW, City of Villains, Star Wars Galaxies... yadda yadda. I remember my first day of SWG, and it was soooo hard to keep from hitting that H key. The idea of not hailing someone before I talked to them was just unheard of - EQ was my first MMORPG though... well, first graphical one at least. And now, the thought of hailing an NPC seems dated. There's something about it that stirs a lot of fondness in my heart, but I fear a lot of it's just nostalgia at this point!

Anyway, sorry for rambling, I just couldn't help it.

You sound like the kind of person who isn't easily scared off from a challenge, so I'll tell ya right off the bat - EQ is a very user unfriendly game. If you are as good as you say you are at SQL, you'll probably enjoy tailoring the game to your liking. There's a LOT of tweaking to do if you want to play solo, but there are great tools to help you out as well. Once you get all settled into your server, make sure everything's working right, and you understand the table structure of the database, I would highly suggest going over to the development section of the forum and check out GeorgeS' tools. I learned sooooo much from them, myself, and they're very easy to use, and will save you tons and tons of time.

EQ has a very steep learning curve, so there's a lot more to it (even the beginner stuff) than we can really tell you here. It's a world where you can't go through it alone (without database editing, of course). You can't right click to attack, or talk. You don't get a waypoint to your next quest - heck, you don't often get quests. You don't always get your spells from the same vendor. You can't always tell where you are, and there's not always an easy way home (unless you're a spellcaster - lucky jerks!). It's a huge, confusing, and oftentimes nonsensical world - but we all love it a lot, we've all done our time on the live servers, and some of us are still doing time ;) Don't know any links off the top of my head, but Google is a good friend - search for things like EverQuest Tutorial and Allakhazam, and you will get a lot of really good information.

So please do ask questions, but please do help yourself too :D I always search the forums and google before I ask a question here, because most questions have already been answered...

Good luck to you :grin: