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1) Is the game dead/dying? Or will it last for a while still?
While some people might say it is dying I would say the influx of newer games, WoW in particular, have taken quite a bit of the playerbase of all the older games. I've moved from MMO to MMO and back again and can easily see the trend. Online games like these are something of a niche market and that market has become very competetive.
I recently returned to EQ and have met a surprising number of people that have also just resubscribed. Within days of coming back I found a guild that has very few max level members and there are guildies my level to group with.
On the other hand, as I said earlier the playerbase isn't what it once was on my current server, even with the server merges. Yes, there is much more content but the majority of it is for higher level players and I've spent marathon grinding sessions in some of the best leveling spots without ever seeing another player come in the zone. I really don't mind this though as I often prefer to solo (and created an apropriate character for this) and would rather have a zone to myself than have to fight for xp camps which often happened when the game was smaller and more popular.
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2) There are so many xpacks/cds out there.. which do I need to buy in order to get started playing?
Sony very recently started offering Everquest Platinum as a digital download. It has all the expansions except the last 3. More information can be found at:
https://store.station.sony.com/game_index.jsp?gamecode=EQ Quote:
3)Is it to late in the game for someone totally new to get started?
Its not too late. I started fresh but had a friend to give me some items which helped me level faster but did little else. EQ might have a slightly greater learning curve than most other MMOs, being around as long as it has. I had been away fro a couple of years and pretty am still in the process of relearning its quirks, intricacies, and basic workings after being back for 1.5 months.
*Edit* I couldn't get my hyperlink to the eq store to show up for some reason.
Edited, Thu Dec 8 08:55:47 2005 by DeMiUrGe