Last Updated: October 31, 2008

Latest Changes: This FAQ is the work of the community of the alt.games.everquest newsgroup.  If you would like to visit this newsgroup but don't have usenet access, you can access it through this portal at the Erollisi Marr community forums:

http://www.erollisimarr.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=64

If you see any errors or invalid links in this FAQ, or if you want to submit content to be considered for inclusion, please contact the current Keeper of the FAQ, Don Woods, at age-faq@icynic.com.  I will edit submissions as I see fit for correctness, size, or style.  I will not add any in-document credit for any work submitted.  This is not because I am ungrateful, but because this FAQ is the product of many different people, over a very long period of time, and I am simply unable to track them all down to provide proper credit.  It just doesn't seem right to give credit to some people and not to others.


Contents

1.  General Questions
2.  Questions about EverQuest
3.  Questions about How to Play
4.  User Interface
5.  Chat Channels
6.  Posting in alt.games.everquest
7.  EverQuest II
8.  Miscellaneous Tips
9.  Glossary
10. Useful Links
11. Comical Links and More

Note:  In the web version of the FAQ, clicking on a question in the list of questions takes you to the answer, and clicking on the question in the answers section takes you back to that section of the questions list.

1.     General Questions

1.1    What is the FAQ for?
1.2    What is the newsgroup for?
1.3    I think something in the FAQ is wrong.  What should I do?
1.4    Where can I find the FAQ?
1.5    Why do you repost the FAQ every month?  Why not just post a link to the updated web site?

2.     Questions about EverQuest

2.1    What is EverQuest?
2.2    What do I need to play the game?
2.3    What are these expansions I keep hearing about?
      2.3.1 What is Ruins of Kunark?
      2.3.2 What is Scars of Velious?
      2.3.3 What is Shadows of Luclin?
      2.3.4 What is Planes of Power?
      2.3.5 What is Legacy of Ykesha?
      2.3.6 What is Lost Dungeons of Norrath?
      2.3.7 What is Gates of Discord?
      2.3.8 What is Omens of War?
      2.3.9 What is Dragons of Norrath?
      2.3.10 What is Depths of Darkhollow?
      2.3.11 What is Prophecy of Ro?
      2.3.12 What is The Serpent's Spine?
      2.3.13 What is The Buried Sea?
      2.3.14 What is Secrets of Faydwer?
      2.3.15 What is Seeds of Destruction?
2.4    What is EQ Macros and where can I get it?
2.5    Where are the EverQuest servers located?
2.6    There are so many servers!  Which server should I choose?
2.7    What is the newest server?
2.8    What are the special servers all about?
      2.8.1 What was EverQuest Legends?
      2.8.2 What is the Test Server?
      2.8.3 What is the Zek Server?
      2.8.4 What is the Firiona Vie Server?
      2.8.5 What is the Progression Server?
2.9    I bought a set of EQ disks and created an account. Can I give the disks to someone else so they can create an account, too?
2.10    What are "veteran rewards" and how do I get them and use them?

3.     Questions about How to Play

3.1    What do all these acronyms and jargon mean?
3.2    What is the best race/class combo to play?
3.3    Can I change which deity I worship, or become Agnostic?
3.4    What are the Priests of Discord for?  Can I become a PK on regular servers?
3.5    Can I transfer a character from one EverQuest account to another?
3.6    It would really be helpful if I could use Notepad or the web while I'm playing.  How can I switch out of EverQuest to a different window (Alt+Tab) and return to the game?
      3.6.1 How do I get Alt+Tab to work for Windows XP?
3.7    What is a hotkey?
3.8    How do I make a hotkey?
3.9    How do I make a spell a hotkey?
3.10    What is a social?
3.11    How do I make a social?
3.12    Where can I get an up-to-date list of commands and/or emotes?
3.13    Where should I hunt given my level/class/race?
3.14    How can I make money to buy spells and armor and stuff?
      3.14.1 That's taking too long!  How about I just beg some money?
      3.14.2 Well, how about just buying plat then?
3.15    Why can mobs hit through walls?
3.16    Hey, I can't even play at all!  The servers are down!  What gives?
3.17    Why did I get chewed out for inspecting someone?
3.18    How can I send a message to my friend on another server?
3.19    Can I ignore someone on another server?
3.20    What is grouping about?  What am I supposed to do in a group?
3.21    All those expansions, plus regular free patches that have tweaked the game... I've heard that EverQuest's game balance has changed a lot since it first came out.  Is that true, and if so, how so?
3.22    What is a "guild"?
3.23    What is being in a player guild like?
3.24    What is autosplit and why is it unfair?
3.25    What is "stat food" and how do I use it?
3.26    What are the different languages used for in the game, and how do I learn them?
3.27    What is "Fabled" all about?
3.28    The game keeps crashing! How can I fix it?

4.     User Interface (UI)

4.1    How can I increase my frame rate to make the picture move more smoothly?
4.2    How do I change the colors of the text?
4.3    How can I see where I'm going when my map window fills so much of my screen?
4.4    What's the key that opens the such-and-such window?  Or whatever?  And can I change it?
4.5    What else can I change about the User Interface, and how?
4.6    I've heard I can use a different User Interface (UI) from the one that comes with EverQuest.  How do I do that?
4.7    How do I get the UI I have downloaded to work in EverQuest?
4.8    I play a warrior and do not need a caster or mana bar with my character.  How can I change this?
4.9    My UI does not work after the last patch.  What happened?
4.10    I want to design and code my own UI.  How do I go about it?
4.11    Sony changed the default UI and I liked the old one better. Can I change it back?
4.12    What are audio triggers and how do I use them?

5.     Chat Channels

5.1    What are chat channels?
5.2    How do I join/start a chat channel?
5.3    How do I leave a channel I have joined?
5.4    Can I automatically join a channel every time I log in?
5.5    How do I stop automatically joining a channel?
5.6    What are some current serverwide channels?
5.7    I've joined too many channels and now the text is flying by too fast!  What should I do?  Can I have separate chat windows?
5.8    How do I find out how many people are in a channel and who?
5.9    Can I send text to a channel without knowing the channel number?

6.     Posting in alt.games.everquest

6.1    I posted one innocent little question, and got flamed.  Why?
6.2    So does that mean that I can't ask any questions here at all?
6.3    What is top posting, and why is it so hated here?
6.4    I've noticed a lot of unfriendly posts coming from the same people.  This newsgroup sure has its share of jerks, eh?
6.5    Will everyone hate me if I make an off topic comment or post?
6.6    I posted something I heard was true, and then some guy jumped all over me for being wrong!  Why did he make such a big deal over it?
6.7    What else should I know about newsgroup etiquette?

7.     EverQuest II

7.1    What is this EverQuest II game that I hear about?
7.2    Does this mean that the EverQuest I am playing is ending?
7.3    Can I post about EQ II on alt.games.everquest?
7.4    How can I find out more about EverQuest II?

8.     Miscellaneous Tips

8.1    Performance / Raid settings
8.2    Spellcasting
8.3    Corpses and other Targets
8.4    Socials and Speaking
8.5    General
8.6    Lost Dungeons of Norrath
      8.6.1 How do I earn/spend points in the LDoN camps?
      8.6.2 What is the Adventurers Stone for and how do I get it to improve?
      8.6.3 What are some general LDoN tips?

9.     Glossary

9.1    What abbreviations and jargon show up in the game?
9.2    What other abbreviations and jargon show up in the newsgroup?

10.    Useful Links

11.    Comical Links and More


1.     General Questions

1.1    Q: What is the FAQ for?

A:  This FAQ is designed for a newcomer to the game Everquest and/or to this newsgroup, but long-time players may also find useful tips, particularly with regard to game features added after they learned how to play, as well as various tools and techniques they may not have happened to encounter.  It attempts to answer some basic questions about the game, but owing to the complexity and depth of EverQuest, it is not possible to answer all queries.  If you have a question that requires more detail, there is a list of URLs at the end of this document that you might like to visit.  (Or, of course, you can post the question to the newsgroup.)

1.2    Q: What is the newsgroup for?

A:  For the discussion of all things related to the game of EverQuest.  Other online games are occasionally mentioned, but generally only in passing or for purposes of comparison.  The particular "other game" called EverQuest II is best discussed in alt.games.everquest2, and this FAQ does not cover it; see section 7 for more on this.

1.3    Q: I think something in the FAQ is wrong.  What should I do?

A:  The current keeper of the FAQ is Don Woods, which is to say, me.  I'm relatively new to the game (started in late 2003) and don't have anywhere near enough time to play, so I rely on community input to help me come up with answers.  If you see something wrong in the FAQ (or just have a suggestion for an improvement), the best way to let me know about it is either to reply to the thread that FAQ was posted to, or to send mail to age-faq@icynic.com.  If you send mail, please include FAQ or EQ or EverQuest in the subject so it'll be sure to get past my spam filters.

1.4    Q: Where can I find the FAQ?

A:  A text version of the FAQ is posted to the newsgroup once a month; the subject will always be the date of posting, but the "Last Updated" line will show when significant changes were last made.  The FAQ is also available as a web page (with active links to answers, etc.) at http://www.icynic.com/~don/EQ/age.faq.htm.

1.5    Q: Why do you repost the FAQ every month?  Why not just post a link to the updated web site?

A:  Though some people read this group through the EMarr forums or other web sites, a.g.e is actually part of a larger medium called "usenet".  Usenet predates the web by over a decade, and as such there was originally no place to which to refer people for things like FAQs.  Though things have evolved somewhat, it's still the case that some people reading usenet groups do not use a browser to do so, and thus it remains the convention that FAQs are re-posted at regular intervals (commonly once per month).  Posting the FAQ also ensures that archive sites such as "Google Groups" will have up-to-date copies on file in case the FAQ web site were to vanish suddenly.

If you're reading this in a web forum, you might bookmark the FAQ web site, and take the monthly post as a signal to check the site and see what's new.  The web version generally has links from the "what's changed" section to the more significant actual changes.

2.     Questions about EverQuest

2.1    Q: What is EverQuest?

A:  EverQuest is a real-time 3D massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) run by Sony Online Entertainment (SOE).  Another equally accurate way of describing EverQuest is to call it a graphical MUD.

2.2    Q: What do I need to play the game?

A:  Ideally you should check Sony's web site regarding system requirements, since they are subject to change as the game evolves.  But here's what Sony said as of fairly recently:

Minimum Required Specs: Recommended Specs: Note that your graphics card and system need to support Direct X 9.0, and that Windows 95 is no longer supported at all.

You will also need a valid credit card, or a pre-paid game card.  (In some countries you may be able to link your game account directly to a bank account.)

2.3    Q: What are these expansions I keep hearing about?

A:  Expansions add new content to the game: new locations, new quests, new monsters, new skills, and also new user interface features.  If you want access to the new stuff, you have to buy the expansion, but you can also keep playing the game without the new features.  Like the original game, you only pay once for the expansion; your monthly fee doesn't change.  Most recent expansions to EverQuest have included all previous expansions as part of the package, making it easier for new or returning players to get up to date on content.

There have been fifteen expansions to EverQuest so far:  Ruins of Kunark, Scars of Velious, Shadows of Luclin, Planes of Power, Legacy of Ykesha, Lost Dungeons of Norrath, Gates of Discord, Omens of War, Dragons of Norrath, Depths of Darkhollow, Prophecy of Ro, The Serpent's Spine, The Buried Sea, Secrets of Faydwer, and most recently Seeds of Destruction, released in October 2008.  For a while there was an expansion every six months, but more recently that's been scaled back to once a year.

2.3.1    Q: What is Ruins of Kunark?

A:  Commonly called Kunark, Ruins of Kunark was the first EverQuest expansion to be released.  It included a new continent with many new zones to adventure in, with lots of new dungeons, items, mobs, quests, and spells, plus a new race that players could choose to play, the Iksar lizard-men.  People with this expansion also were allowed to advance beyond level 50 (up to level 60), which was previously impossible.

2.3.2    Q: What is Scars of Velious?

A:  Commonly called Velious, Scars of Velious is an expansion similar to The Ruins of Kunark, including another new continent with new zones, dungeons, items, mobs, quests, spells, level 60 cap, etc.  However, it was geared towards higher level players (level 30+) and did not include a new playable race.

2.3.3    Q: What is Shadows of Luclin?

A:  Commonly called SoL or Luclin, this expansion added new zones on the moon, including new hunting areas for all levels, and four new cities.  It added the beastlord class and a new playable race, the Vah Shir cat people.  It added Alternate Advancement abilities as a new way to spend experience (especially for characters who were already at the level cap and thus could not use experience to gain levels).  It also added the Nexus spires to somewhat facilitate transportation, The Bazaar as a place to trade items with other players, and new, more detailed player character models.

2.3.4    Q: What is Planes of Power?

A:  Commonly called PoP, this expansion raised the level cap to 65, greatly expanded the Alternate Advancement options available, added the ability to form raids of up to 72 people, and added a very efficient transportation system, with direct teleportation between the Plane of Knowledge and most major cities.  It provided additional hunting grounds for levels 46 and up.

2.3.5    Q: What is Legacy of Ykesha?

A:  Commonly called LoY, this expansion added expanded bank space, in-game maps, armor dyes for all slots that show a graphic, the story window, a log journal, Frogloks as a playable race, and a few new hunting zones for levels 40 and up.

2.3.6    Q: What is Lost Dungeons of Norrath?

A:  Commonly called LDoN, this expansion provided "instanced" dungeons.  An instanced dungeon can be accessed only by the group that activated it.  To activate a dungeon, the group must have at least 3 members, and the members must all be within 10 levels of each other.  (Originally the limit was seven levels.)  Dungeons have missions that must be completed within 90 minutes, or 120 minutes for a lesser reward.  A win or partial win grants each member a number of Adventure Points that can be spent in the Wayfarer camps (which is also where missions are assigned).  LDoN also introduced the concept of "augmentations", which are items that can be combined with other gear to add stats or abilities.

2.3.7    Q: What is Gates of Discord?

A:  Commonly called GoD, this expansion added a large tradeskill-oriented boat/city zone, as well as the berserker class, plus normal and instanced zones aimed at characters level 50 and higher.  It added a "tribute" system where one can trade plat (game money) or items for buffs by talking to an NPC in the character's home city.  It also added "Leadership Experience", wherein the leader of a group of three or more members, or the leader of a raid, can choose for 20% of the experience they earn to be diverted into Leadership Points, with which they then purchase various abilities that enhance the performance of people in their group, including later groups.  (Only members who also have the GoD expansion get the direct benefits of the group leader's Leadership Abilities.)

2.3.8    Q: What is Omens of War?

A:  Commonly called OoW, this expansion raised the level cap from 65 to 70, and added new zones for the high-end crowd.  It added quests for upgraded "Epic weapons", voice macros, more Alternate Advancement skills (including one that will provide an extra spell slot, and ones that let players have more active buffs), new player titles, and a "task" system which is a series of specialized individual quests geared towards characters of most levels (with varying degrees of success).  It also expanded the tribute system from Gates of Discord to let tribute be shared by all players within a guild.

2.3.9    Q: What is Dragons of Norrath?

A:  Commonly called DoN, this added new, mostly high-level content off the Lavastorm Mountains.  Players can go on "missions" (sort of a cross between tasks and LDoN adventures) for crystals that can be traded among players and cashed in for special gear.  It also added the Bandolier and Potion Belt for quick access to selected inventory items, Guild Halls (with guild banks and other useful features, including some available to non-guilded players via the Guild Lobby), the ability to set up a Buyer in the Bazaar, and cultural tradeskill-related quests at many levels.  DoN also introduced in-game mailboxes, which are available to all players whether they've purchased the expansion or not.

2.3.10    Q: What is Depths of Darkhollow?

A:  Commonly called DoD (or DoDH), this added new, mostly high-level content (for levels 45+) off Nektulos Forest.  Players with this expansion can also form groups that, regardless of their character levels, can take on "monster missions", where they take the role of monsters in an instanced event (such as a dragon defending its lair); success in these missions yields rewards for the "real" characters.  Characters can also get "spirit shrouds" that let them take on "monster" forms with different abilities (e.g., a cleric could play as a warrior-type monster, or vice versa).  The expansion also added "evolving items" that become more powerful as their owner gains experience.

2.3.11    Q: What is Prophecy of Ro?

A:  Commonly called PoR, this expansion added new, mostly high-level content (levels 60+) in zones and missions accessed from Freeport and the Desert of Ro (both of which were revamped as part of the release of PoR).  It also added player-settable traps and "auras" (spells that set up an area-effect buff), the ability to destroy certain walls and other objects in the new zones, increased bank space, and some new tradeskill quests.

2.3.12    Q: What is The Serpent's Spine?

A:  Commonly called TSS or just SS, this expansion added the Drakkin race and their starting city, Crescent Reach (which can also be used as a starting city for new characters of other races), plus other new zones off of Highhold Pass.  The level cap was raised to 75, and the new zones have content for all levels 1 through 75.  Many other changes were made at the same time as TSS but are available without buying the expansion, such as reduced downtime when out-of-combat and faster accumulation of Alternate Advancement points.  This was also when the color system for identifying monster levels changed to include gray.  (TSS was also the first EQ expansion without "of" in its name!)

2.3.13    Q: What is The Buried Sea?

A:  Commonly called TBS, this expansion added new content off Toxxulia Forest for levels 70-75.  It added "guild banners" that guilds can use to let members teleport quickly from the guild hall to wherever the guild is raiding, and a similar mechanism called "campfires" that can be used by "fellowships" of up to nine players.  The Buried Sea also added an inventory slot for a new "Energeian power source" that affects all Energeian-based (also known as "infusible") gear you have on.

2.3.14    Q: What is Secrets of Faydwer?

A:  Commonly called SoF, this expansion raised the level cap to 80 and added new clockwork-themed content off the Steamfont Mountains, aimed almost solely at levels 75-80. SoF introduced items that bestow "heroic" stats, which automatically raise the corresponding stat caps to allow increases beyond the normal caps, as well as granting various additional benefits.

2.3.15    Q: What is Seeds of Destruction?

A:  Commonly called SoD, this expansion raised the level cap to 85 and added new content set in the distant past, aimed almost solely at levels 75-85.  It introduced "mercenaries", NPCs that you can hire using in-game money and add to your party.  Other details are sketchy as the content is not yet well-explored.

2.4    Q: What is EQ Macros and where can I get it?

A:  EQMacros was a program whose purpose was to provide a way for users to circumvent some of the more tedious aspects of the game.  It also dispensed with some character disadvantages, such as night blindness.  Third-party macro programs, such as EQMacros, tend to be frowned upon by both SOE and a large number of players.  Therefore, they will not be discussed in detail in the FAQ.  This is a controversial subject in this newsgroup, and has been argued to death.  Posting questions on this subject is generally discouraged.

2.5    Q: Where are the EverQuest servers located?

A:  The entire EverQuest universe (at present, about 25 separate worlds) is run on approximately 1,000 servers.  These are located in an onsite datacenter and at AT&T CERFnet (in San Diego).  The Antonius Bayle server is located in the UK.  The servers Venril Sathir, Kael Drakkel, and Sebilis are located in Europe.

2.6    Q: There are so many servers!  Which server should I choose?

A:  For the most part it doesn't matter; the game is the same on all of them, except for a few special servers.  Characters generally stay on whichever server they start on (moving them costs real money), so if you have friends who are already playing, you may want to play on the same server they're on.  All the servers, wherever they are located, tend to have players from all parts of the (real) world, but depending on where you are you may find that some servers have more or fewer people playing at the same times you do.  (More is usually better!)  The most recently added server tends to have a slightly higher concentration of novice players and somewhat fewer top-level characters, which has both good and bad points.

In early 2005, various pairs of servers were merged, presumably with the goal of making it easier for players to find other people to group with.  Each merger came with a one-time opportunity for players on the affected servers to move their characters for free to another server, so this was an opportunity for friends on different servers to bring their characters together.

Incidentally, the servers tend to be named after deities and other major characters from the game.

2.7    Q: What is the newest server?

A:  The last regular server added was Morden Rasp in February, 2004.  This server allowed transfers from other servers from the very start, so never really had a "virgin" economy, and was merged with the Povar server in 2005.  The last server added that did not allow transfers is Stromm, added in May, 2003.  While this server's economy was not "contaminated" by an influx of transfers, it has had enough time to be considered mature.

The newest servers overall are currently the Progression servers.

2.8    Q: What are the special servers all about?

A:  The special servers include EverQuest Legends (now defunct), Test, Zek, Firiona Vie, and the Progression servers.  These have different rulesets or conditions that change the gaming experience to varying degrees from the regular servers.  In general, all the special servers except Progression have lower server populations.  Your regular subscription fee lets you keep characters on all of the current servers, regular or special.

2.8.1    Q: What was EverQuest Legends?

A:  EverQuest Legends refers to the now-defunct Stormhammer server, a premium service server.  Players had to pay extra to be able to create characters on Stormhammer, where the game included various bonus features and increased dynamic content and customer service via GM-driven events.  The Legends server was shut down in early 2006, with existing characters being offered a chance to transfer for free to regular servers.  Note that the Legends server is not related to the collectible trading card game, Legends of Norrath, which was introduced in late 2007.

2.8.2    Q: What is the Test Server?

A:  This server is designed to be a place where the developers can see how potential changes to the game will work when regular players interact with them.  Players on Test often get to see new developments to EQ before people on production servers do (if the changes get implemented at all).  They also play on the most unstable server available.  The Test server is frequently taken off line, with and without warning, and there can be small rollbacks where minutes or hours of gameplay may be undone.  Also there is a chance that SOE might elect to do a total character or equipment wipe.  To date, there has never been a character wipe, and there was one total equipment wipe.  To access the Test server you must go into your EverQuest folder and run the application TestEverQuest.

2.8.3    Q: What is the Zek Server?

A:  This is a server on which all players are subject to Player versus Player (PvP) gameplay as well as the Player versus Environment gameplay.  There used to be four such servers (Sullon Zek, Rallos Zek, Tallon Zek, and Vallon Zek) with varying PvP rules, but due to declining population they were merged in early 2005 to form a single server, Zek, using the Rallos Zek ruleset.  Many people love the PvP experience, while others hate it and consider the Zek inhabitants to be among the worst "griefers" that EQ has to offer.  While it is up to the new player to decide their feelings on this matter, many would consider it a good idea for truly new EQ players to get a handle on the PvE aspects of the game before having to deal with the added challenges of PvP.

2.8.4    Q: What is the Firiona Vie Server?

A:  Firiona Vie is a "roleplaying preferred" server.  This server has several special rules including a limit of three characters per account (the limit was one per account until late 2008), Trivial Loot Code (TLC) where if a mob is gray to anyone in the party that killed it then any loot tagged Lore or Magic disappears (poof!), the ability to trade many items tagged "No Trade" on other servers, and a lack of Common Tongue (each race starts with their own racial language, and Common is replaced with Human).  The old rules about alignment grouping restrictions and language learning have been lifted.  SOE doesn't enforce any roleplaying rules, though several members of the server do with varying degrees of commitment.

2.8.5    Q: What is the Progression Server?

A:  Two Progression Servers, called The Combine and The Sleeper, were opened in mid-2006 as a way of recreating some of the experience of playing the game as it evolved.  These servers used the same rules as the regular servers, but most of the content (zones and quests) was not available until players on the server accomplished certain key events, such as defeating top encounters from the earlier content.  This is based mostly on the expansions that have been added over the years; thus, no content from Ruins of Kunark or later expansions (and especially the easy travel and other amenities offered by the Plane of Knowledge) was initially available.  Many long-time players returned to give these servers a try, and they were also an interesting way for new players to start out on a more equal footing.  As more advanced content was unlocked, populations apparently waned, and characters on The Sleeper were merged into The Combine server in March 2007 (by which date the servers had advanced past Lost Dungeons of Norrath into Gates of Discord).

2.9    Q: I bought a set of EQ disks and created an account. Can I give the disks to someone else so they can create an account, too?

A:  No.  The disks let you install the game on any number of computers, but to play the game you need an account (the station name and password you use when you log in).  To create a new account you need a special "code", a string of letters and numbers that came with the disks.  Each code can be used to create only one account.  You can use the account from more than one computer (though only one at a time), so if you go to a friend's house you can bring your disks, install EverQuest, and log in and play using the same characters you play at home.  But to create a separate account, with a new set of characters, you must pay for a new account creation code (e.g., by buying another set of disks).

2.10    Q: What are "veteran rewards" and how do I get them and use them?

A:  Veteran rewards were added in May 2005 to reward long-time players, but newer players may also reap some benefits.  However many years your account has been active, you can claim the rewards on that many characters, and each of those characters will get as many rewards as the number of years.  Thus, if your account has been active three years, then each of three characters can claim the first three veteran rewards.  The rewards are things like double experience for half an hour once per day, recover full hit points and mana once per three days, etc.  You can read full details at http://eqplayers.station.sony.com/news_article.vm?id=50003&month=042005.

To claim the rewards on a particular character, log in as that character and type /veteran.  You'll be asked to confirm, because the choice is permanent, counting toward your limit of characters eligible to claim the rewards.  To use the rewards, go to the Alternative Advancement window (via the button in the bottom left of the Inventory window) and select the Veteran tab.  Select a reward and click the Hotkey button to make a hotkey that you can use to activate the reward.  (If you find the names confusing, you can create your own hotkeys and use /alt activate ### to invoke them.  Do "/alt list" to get a list of activated AAs, including the veteran rewards.)

When activated, some vet rewards show up in your buff window (and presumably count toward the maximum number of buffs you can have active).  However, they are immune to being dispelled, and their timers continue to count down even when you're in the Guild Hall or Lobby.

3.     Questions about How to Play

3.1    Q: What do all these acronyms and jargon mean?

A:  There are various glossaries online that can help you understand some of the odd terms you'll see both in the game and in the newsgroup.  Here is one, though it's considerably out of date: http://tinyurl.com/2qnmb

On the other hand, if you just want a short list of terms that are most commonly seen, try section 9 of this FAQ.

3.2    Q: What is the best race/class combo to play?

A:  To answer this question you have to ask yourself what is important to you.  If you're familiar with other RPGs and games of this nature, you probably know that each character will have his or her strengths and weaknesses, and that no single class/race combo will give you all the good with none of the bad.  The question to ask is not what race/class combo is the best, but which is best for YOU.  The best way to answer this question is to learn about all of the classes and races, and make your decision based on that knowledge.

The biggest factor will be your choice of class, since that determines most (but not all) of your abilities and thus your typical role in a group.  Your character's race mostly determines your starting city (not a big deal these days since it's fairly easy to travel), and some abilities (night vision, sneaking, more initial agility or strength or intelligence, etc.), and may affect how some NPCs react to you, but its main effect is that each class can only be played by certain races, so again your biggest decision will be which class to play.  Section 3.20, grouping, has a brief description of the roles of many classes.

3.3    Q: Can I change which deity I worship, or become Agnostic?

A:  No, sorry.  The only way you can "change" your deity is to delete your character and start over.  Even that may not help, because some races have a limited choice of deities.  What you see on the character selection screen is what you get.

3.4    Q: What are the Priests of Discord for?  Can I become a PK on regular servers?

A:  The Priests of Discord (PoD) will give you a Tome of Discord if you talk to them and follow their prompts.  If you return the Tome to them, you will become a "player killer" (PK) and your name will now show in red.  Becoming a player killer has grave consequences that you may not understand completely from reading the tome.  A player killer can engage in combat with other player killers, but cannot kill or be killed by non-PK players (except in a duel).  More importantly, if you are a player killer, you will NOT be able to receive most forms of aid from other players, nor will you be able to aid them.  This means that you cannot be healed or "buffed" by anybody who is not a player killer.  Since more than 99% of the players on normal servers are not player killers this totally ruins your ability to get in a group beyond level 15 or so.  If you want to be a player killer, play on a PvP server.  If you do turn in a Tome and later change your mind, there is no guarantee that you will be able to change back to normal status, so only do it if you are certain that you want your character to live a solitary life.

With the release of the Omens of War expansion, the Priests of Discord also provide the means to access the new OOW zones.  Hail one to learn more.

3.5    Q: Can I transfer a character from one EverQuest account to another?

A:  Yes, you can, but it will cost you real money.  You can also move your character to a different server, though not all servers can be transferred to/from.  Full details can be found at SOE's web site:
https://store.station.sony.com/eq_char_moves/index.jsp

3.6    Q: It would really be helpful if I could use Notepad or the web while I'm playing.  How can I switch out of EverQuest to a different window (Alt+Tab) and return to the game?

A:  EverQuest can run in either full-screen mode, or in a window.  To switch modes, press Alt+Enter.  Alternatively, open the Options window (Alt+O) and click "Switch to Windowed" or "Switch to Fullscreen" in the Display options.  (If you use both methods, you may find that the Options window shows the wrong setting, but the button there will still switch modes.  You may have to wait a few moments for the screen to settle down, so be patient, and don't switch modes in the middle of combat!)  In Windowed mode, you can minimize the window EQ is in, or use Alt+Tab to switch to other windows and run other tasks, surf the web, or even open another instance of EQ if your machine can handle that and you have another account on which to play.

It used to be, after switching to Windowed, you had to type Alt+Shift+R to make EQ relinquish control of the mouse pointer, but that is no longer true.

3.6.1    Q: How do I get Alt+Tab to work for Windows XP?

A:  (From the EQ Live FAQ, with some modifications owing to the dead link they provide):  Windows XP keeps a list of program compatibility information.  Up until recently, EverQuest was not built to allow Alt+Tab, and so our executable ended up in this list explicitly preventing the Alt+Tab functionality.  Obviously that has changed.  We are working on getting that changed.  But in the meantime, if you are using Windows XP and you would like to enable Alt+Tab, there is a way to get it to work.

First, you'll need the Windows Application Compatibility Toolkit:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/appcompatibility/toolkit.mspx
(if that URL wraps around, try http://tinyurl.com/9bf1).

You'll need to download and install the toolkit. Then: 3.7    Q: What is a hotkey?

A:  A key that is customized to perform an in-game function.  Most often this refers to the keys 1234567890, because typing one of those keys will perform the action(s) associated with the corresponding button on your "Hot Buttons" window.  (If your Hot Buttons aren't displayed, type Alt+H to show them.)  There are actually 100 hot buttons, in ten sets of ten.  You can change which set of ten is active (and thus what will happen if you type a number) by hitting shift-1, shift-2, etc., or using the little arrows in the Hot Buttons window.  Often you'll tie a hotkey to a "social" (see Q3.10), but you can also make hotkeys for spell gems, skills, and inventory items (but not items inside containers).

For those who find it awkward switching between sets of 10 hotkeys (or, more likely, who forget to switch back and later invoke the wrong hotkey!), the game added three more banks of hotkeys in late 2005, so now you can have up to 400 separate hotkeys, with up to 40 of them "available" at any time.  If you want to use Hotkey windows 2-4, however, you must either use the mouse to click on them, or use the Keys tab in the Options window to set up for yourself what keys (or combinations of keys, such as shift-alt-#) you wish to use to invoke the additional hotkeys.

3.8    Q: How do I make a hotkey?

A:  Press and hold down the left mouse button on the spell gem, ability, or item that you want to make into a hotkey.  After a few seconds you should get a hotkey button on your cursor.  Click on the desired hotkey box to place it.  (If there was already a hotkey there, it'll pop onto your cursor.  You can place it in another hotkey box or click on the ground to discard it.)  Some windows (for instance, some of the skills in the Skills window that you can get to from the Inventory window) let you click a button to create a hotkey, which again you then place by clicking on a slot in the Hot Buttons window.

If you want to make a hotkey for an item inside one of your bags, you're mostly out of luck; only top-level inventory slots (including worn gear) can be made into hotkeys.  But if the item is a stack of potions or something else with multiple charges, and its item window says "Potion Belt Enabled", you can put it on your Potion Belt.  Open the belt using Shift-P, then drag one or more of the stack into a slot in the belt.  (Only the first two slots are available until you spend AA points to unlock more.)  As long as you have some of the item in your bags, you'll be able to use it via the potion belt. You can also use the Options>Keys>Commands window to set key combinations for invoking items in the potion belt.

3.9    Q: How do I make a spell a hotkey?

A:  Left-click and hold down the button over the spell gem until the spell icon appears on your cursor.  Then drag that icon to your hotkey window and left click to drop it into the slot that you want.  (See section 3.8.)  Note that if you change which spell is in that gem, it'll change the hotkey.  (The same is true when you make an inventory item a hotkey; the hotkey will invoke whatever item is in that inventory slot, not the item that was there when you made the hotkey.)

If you want to invoke a spell as part of a more complex hotkey, for instance to have a key that announces the spell being cast, you must create a "social".  Within the social, the command to cast a spell is /cast 1, /cast 2, etc., with the spell gems being numbered from the top down.

You can also cast a spell by pressing the corresponding gem number while holding down the ALT key (alt-1, alt-2, etc.).

3.10    Q: What is a social?

A:  A social is a way of doing up to five typed commands with a single press of a button.  Typical commands include casting spells or using skills (via /cast, /doability, and /discipline commands) and saying predefined phrases.  Socials are often made into hotkeys to make them easier to invoke.

One important thing to know about socials is that you can't invoke a social if you already have one that hasn't finished.  So if a social takes a long time to do its thing (e.g., because it includes a slow action such as casting or fishing) you won't be able to invoke other socials until it's done.

3.11    Q: How do I make a social?

A:  In the Actions window, press the rightmost tab; or just type ctrl-O.  Either will get you the Socials window, which has several buttons with pre-made sets of commands.  You can modify a social by right-clicking it.  To edit a line of a social, just click it and start typing.  You can edit the name of the social in the same manner, and can also select what color the name shows up as.  Note that there are actually 120 socials available; you can find blank ones by clicking on the arrows in the Socials window.

When you finish (press Accept), you can invoke your social by clicking on it, or you can make it into a hotkey by pressing and holding down the left mouse button on it.  When you activate the social, it executes whatever you typed in on the lines of the social key.  For example, you can make a social that looks like this:

/afk
/groupsay I'm going away from keyboard for a sec, guys.

If you activated this social key, it would flag you AFK, and you'd tell your group "I'm going away from keyboard for a sec, guys."  Any "line command" (command that starts with a slash) can be used in a social.  There are even a few commands that are specifically intended for use in socials.  For more information on these commands and others, read eqmanual_supplement.doc in your EverQuest directory.

You can also create a new social by typing /ho somename /blah blah.  (The /ho is short for /hotbutton.)  This particular example would create a social named "somename" that invokes the nonsense command "/blah blah".  The social is left attached to your cursor so you can drop it right into your hotkeys.  If you want to include a space in the button name, put the name in quotes.  (But note that the name can't be very long since it has to fit on a button.)  When a hotkey is tied to a social (either using /ho or by dragging it from the Socials window), you can right-click on the hotkey to modify the social, just as though you were in the Socials window.

3.12    Q: Where can I get an up-to-date list of commands and/or emotes?

A:  Type /help to get a list of commands.  You can also try the eqmanual_supplement.doc file in your EverQuest directory, though it tends to be out of date.  Also, if you visit http://everquest.allakhazam.com/ and scroll down for the links to "Commands & Terms..." you will find 3 links: Emotes, Game Commands, and Chat Terms.  These are again not necessarily up to date, but will give you a good base to work from.  Another site that seems to be more current is http://www.jaburt.com/eq/eq_commands.htm.

If you want to put an Alternate Ability into a social (to make it part of a more complex hotkey, or just to give it a more meaningful name), you can use "/alt activate ###", where ### comes from the list generated by "/alt list".  (Veteran reward AAs are listed only if your character has claimed them.)  Similarly, melee disciplines can be invoked via "/disc blah" where blah is the first part of the name of the discipline, e.g. "/disc Fearless".

3.13    Q: Where should I hunt given my level/class/race?

A:  The following sites have good level-based charts on this:

http://www.eqatlas.com/huntguidelevel.html (only the first few expansions)
http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/zlvlchart.html

Race tends not to matter too much, unless you're kill-on-sight to high level guards (e.g., at Highpass Keep).  Some classes prefer fighting vs. undead, or prefer fighting in spacious outdoor zones, etc., so you might use class considerations as a way to choose among the level-appropriate zones listed.

3.14    Q: How can I make money to buy spells and armor and stuff?

A: Kill things, loot them, sell the proceeds, repeat.  Some of the items found on "newbie yard" critters sell for a few gold to NPC merchants (the famous Plague Rat Tails used to sell for 2 plat, but got nerfed in mid-2006), but the best way to raise money at low levels is to find items you can sell to other players in the Bazaar.  Many items whose information windows show "This item can be used in tradeskills" are needed in large quantities, and higher-level characters are happy to pay you for them rather than spend their time "farming" the stuff.  Spiderling silks, spider silks, bone chips, and various pelts can all be sold to players for considerably more than merchants will pay for them.  Check the prices these are going for in the Bazaar and you might be pleasantly surprised.

Before you set out on low-level hunting with a level one character, however, you should consider going through the Tutorial.  You might not want to hunt there, but you should at least get the Kobold Skull Charm and fully activate it (by visiting all of the Tutorial NPCs).  If you do skip that, you can get the charm later by doing the first assignment from either the elven or dark elven "Armor Quests" NPC in PoK.  It's a very nice item for many levels, and you can't beat the price!

Also, if your character has the Forage skill, you can forage many things to sell in the Bazaar that higher level players need for trade skills.  Even common forages like vegetables may sell for a few plat each, depending on what new trade skill recipes people are trying out.

3.14.1    Q: That's taking too long!  How about I just beg some money?

A:  Sure, there are tons of fabulously wealthy people walking past you.  And if you beg from them, there is a fairly good chance that some of them might give you something.  But DON'T do this.  Many people get angry at beggars, considering them to be the lowest form of life in the EQ universe.  You will damage your reputation, end up on ignore lists, and stand a good chance of being insulted with varying degrees of venom.  Also, if someone is trying to beg from you, feel free to ignore them.  Not giving them money does not mean that you're a bad person, any more than not making an effort to feed cockroaches makes you an animal hater.

In contrast, it's not unusual to see people asking for spells to be cast on them (such as SOW -- Spirit of the Wolf -- which makes you run faster, or Temp -- Temperance -- which makes you tougher to kill).  Though some spells do cost money to cast (because of physical components being used up), many cost "only" time and mana, so people are often willing to cast them for you.  Even so, the people able to cast such spells are often deluged with requests, and they may prefer to get on with their own business, so always be polite, even if nobody will cast the spells for you.  Also if it's within your means, it's common practice to offer a few plat to the caster (who may decline to take your money, in which case you should be especially grateful).

3.14.2    Q: Well, how about just buying plat then?

A:  You've seen the banners and advertisements at various EQ sites, and it does seem to be a quick way to get the plat/item you're lacking.  Should you do it?  Well, there are a few different schools of thought on this matter.

First is hell yes, we need your business and all your friends are doing it and you can't play without it and give us your freaking credit card number already!

Second is more laid back.  Some people think that buying plat is a personal decision, and if someone has enough real life money to spend it this way there's no harm done.

Third is perhaps the most common, or at least has the most vocal proponents.  They feel that EQ plat buyers/sellers are doing a Very Bad Thing, and they have several reasons for this that many find to be compelling: Soooo.... should you do it?  That is up to you, of course.  Just know that, if you do, a great many of your fellow EQ players -- including many who frequent alt.games.everquest -- will think less of you because of it.

3.15    Q: Why can mobs hit through walls?

A:  You were happily trading inside a vendor's shop, when suddenly you got smacked by a Griffon for 300 points... Loading, please wait...  WTF?  Mobs and other NPCs in EQ are controlled by a computer AI, which is no substitute for a (supposedly) intelligent human being controlling an avatar.  Monsters all behave according to strict rules on pathing, aggro-range, etc., and don't really employ sophisticated tactics and strategy in the same way a human player would.  To avoid unbalancing the game, mobs are given some "unfair" advantages: they can hit through walls, they ignore the z-axis of 3D space to hit from a long way above or below a player, and generally have the ability to hit back from seemingly unreachable locations.  This is to avoid exploits like getting easy experience by raining down spells or arrows on a mob from a location which that mob (because of its programmed pathing) cannot reach.  Pet-using classes may gain some satisfaction from knowing that their pets have the same unfair advantages as other mobs, and can hit back at that pesky monster whacking you from under the ground.

There are other things NPC monsters are immune to that would be good for you to know:  NPCs and monsters can't drown, take falling environment damage, or be burned by environment lava.  They can also "warp" (teleport instantly) to you if they get stuck in the world geometry.

3.16    Q: Hey, I can't even play at all!  The servers are down!  What gives?

A:  SOE is ripping you off, the sons of bitches.  Well, that's the sarcastic answer.  Actually, EverQuest is an evolving game, and it requires periodic maintenance known as patches.  Patch time is also when various changes to gameplay are made.  SOE does not promise you'll be able to play 24/7/365.  SOE will not compensate you the 40 cents per day or whatever it is for the time you could not play.  Also, SOE will bring down the servers with little or no notice if they learn of a bug or exploit they consider to be major.  You can check on network status and scheduled downtime by going to:
http://eqplayers.station.sony.com/network_status.vm (though the information on that page is notoriously slow to update).

Scheduled downtime is usually accompanied by an estimate from SOE as to when the servers will be available again, e.g., "Going down at 4am PST, estimated downtime is 8 hours."  If you try connecting shortly after the servers are due back up, you might not succeed.  This could mean the downtime is taking longer than they expected, but it could also mean that the servers are back up and are trying to handle the flood of players all trying to reconnect at the same time.  Patience, grasshopper!

3.17    Q: Why did I get chewed out for inspecting someone?

A:  Many people feel it is very rude to inspect someone without asking first, akin to walking up to a woman and pulling down her pants to read the label on her underwear.  Others feel it's no big deal, and that people who make a big deal out of it need counseling, or a long flame session, or something equally useful.  Regardless of how you feel about the matter, if you want to do your best to get along with your fellow EQ players, it is best simply to ask before you inspect.

If you find you keep inspecting people by mistake (e.g., because they're standing too close to the banker you meant to click on), you can turn off your ability to click-inspect players by typing "/toggleinspect off".  (To re-enable it, use "/toggleinspect on".  And even with it turned off, you can examine someone's gear by targetting them and typing "/inspect".)

3.18    Q: How can I send a message to my friend on another server?

A:  ";tell servername.friendname message".  For example, to send to your friend Giggals on the Karana server while you are playing on The Seventh Hammer, you would simply type:  ;tell karana.giggals Tag! You're it!  Note that you must NOT include a forward slash ("/") when you do this; start the command with a semicolon (";") instead of the customary slash.

3.19    Q: Can I ignore someone on another server?

A:  You betcha.  If it turns out that Giggals simply hates tag and is now threatening to kill you, over and over again, type /ignore karana.giggals.  This also can be used to stifle people who are being pests in any serverwide channels you might be in.

3.20    Q: What is grouping about?  What am I supposed to do in a group?

A:  This question warrants a rather detailed answer, so it's being put into a separate document, which is also posted to the newsgroup and on the web at
http://www.icynic.com/~don/EQ/grouping101.htm
It talks about some of the different types of group, the various roles that group members must fill, and which classes are better suited to each of those roles.  It also discusses some typical group tactics and etiquette.

3.21    Q: All those expansions, plus regular free patches that have tweaked the game... I've heard that EverQuest's game balance has changed a lot since it first came out.  Is that true, and if so, how so?

A:  Yes, definitely.  EQ has been adjusted fairly continuously from the get-go, in ways big and small.  The developers have always said that the game would never be frozen in time, and they've meant it.  Here is a very brief summary picture.

The initial learning curve has been eased, a lot.  It's easier and quicker to get a character up to level 10 (or even 20-30 now), and the game has many more helpful hints and clearer directions on what to do.

The developers have regularly adjusted the powers of the various classes, trying to keep them balanced.  Several classes are now significantly more or less powerful relative to each other than they were at various times in the past.  As of mid 2008 there isn't any particular class that is really widely seen as in need of being "nerfed" (reduced in power) or boosted, but the game is dynamic and that will undoubtedly change.

The consequences of dying in EQ have been made much less severe, though once you hit level 6 death does cost you experience (but several character classes have spells that can "resurrect" you, restoring most of the lost experience).  As of 2008 you no longer need to find your corpse to recover your gear, and there are summoners you can pay to fetch the corpse for the resurrection.  Dying in EQ is still annoying, but it's not much more than that except in a few unusual circumstances.

Traveling around in Norrath is far easier and quicker than was originally true (even though the game world is much larger).  One side effect of that is that racial faction is less of a factor now -- being a dark elf or troll used to have a pretty severe downside in terms of moving around the world without NPCs attacking you on sight.  They added an in-game player market (the Bazaar) which made the in-game player-to-player market of gear and items much more efficient and therefore more ubiquitous.

While the developers have drastically eased the game for newbies (old-school players call it "training wheels EQ"), they've also repeatedly extended and broadened the endgame.  In any game there is a point at which a player character has seen it all, done it all, and advanced in power to the point of there being no challenges left.  EQ began with a level cap of 50, that jumped to 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, and now 85; "alternate advancement" levels were added, then deepened; "leadership abilities" were added as yet another way for characters to advance.  More high-end zones have been added, many with big tough "boss" mobs that can be killed only by large parties of high-end players (called "raids").  Entire tiers of such zones, called the "Planes", now have a complex lengthy "trials" process for which reaching the level cap is just the start.  In general, hard-core players now tend to view the level cap as just the first step towards becoming "uber".

In 2004 the Lost Dungeons of Norrath ("LDoN") expansion added a fundamentally new way to play the game, using "instanced" zones where a group or raid gets its own copy of a part of the world, working toward a goal without the risk of interference by other players.  The LDoN content itself has since grown dated and is rarely visited these days, but later expansions have added their own instanced content.

The Seeds of Destruction expansion in 2008 added the ability for players to hire "mercenaries", NPCs who act as party members as long as the hiring players continue to pay for them.  The cost, paid in 15 minute intervals after a larger one-time hiring fee, scales with the level of the player and the skill and "confidence" of the merc.  Mercenaries provide an alternative for players who may find it hard to form a group at some levels as server populations decline.

3.22    Q: What is a "guild"?

A:  The word "guild" is used two different ways in EQ and they have nothing to do with each other.  In the game's cities there are buildings called class guilds (the warrior guild in Kaladim, say); not every city has a guild for every class.  In each guild are NPCs you interact with: one or more guildmasters where you train your character's skills, and vendors where you can buy your spells and some other stuff.

The other form of guild is player guilds, which are voluntary associations formed and managed by players themselves on each server.  The name of the guild displays in the game under the character's name, and guilds get their own private chat channels in-game and access to the Guild Hall, a special zone with amenities suited to guild-related activities.  Many guilds have websites with discussion forums and schedules of group outings in the game.

3.23    Q: What is being in a player guild like?

A:  It's like being a member of any other self-directed voluntary association: as good as the people in it.  The best way to find a guild is to chat with players you've grouped with repeatedly in the game and enjoyed playing with, and at some point mention that you've thought about joining a guild.  If they're enjoying playing with you, you may receive an invitation.  Guilds that run around randomly inviting players they haven't even met tend to end up about as cohesive and enjoyable as any other group of complete strangers thrown together.

Player guilds fall into about three categories at the moment, these being completely unofficial but widely recognized.  First, each server has some high-end "raiding guilds", which can include hundreds of players, focus on lengthy well-planned raids of high-end zones, and have increasingly stiff prerequisites for membership (you must have reached a certain level in the game).  In some expansions the top zones are "instanced", so each raid gets its own version of the target; for non-instanced content, the raiding guilds sometimes agree on unofficial schedules to make sure everyone gets a shot at targets that may take hours or even days to reappear.

Next, there are newer/smaller guilds that aspire to become raiding guilds; at any given moment most servers have several of these.  Such a guild might have anywhere from 30 to 60 active members, and be recruiting players who either have reached the top levels or appear serious about getting there quickly.  Since serious raiding requires playing for many hours at a stretch, such guilds tend to include mostly people who are single, not raising kids, don't have jobs that require a lot of travel, etc.  These guilds are trying to build up their strength (numbers of top-level seriously-equipped players of enough classes) so they can join the top-end raiding rotation of their server; some make it and some don't.

Finally, there are "family guilds".  This phrase isn't literal; it refers to guilds of more casual players who aren't strongly aspiring to the high-end raiding.  In practice this often means players who are married with children, etc.  These guilds tend to have fewer than 50 active members (maybe a lot fewer), though they can be much larger.  They may do some raiding of older high-end content; two family guilds may band together for the occasional joint raid.  Mostly these guilds do regular "experience grouping", single-group missions in LDON, DoN, and later expansions, and usually some small raids for each other's "epic" quests.  Some family guilds were started by longtime EQ players who had been in raiding guilds but burned out on that or found that it wasn't actually how they most enjoyed the game.

All guilds, even the raiding guilds, act as a ready source of friends to help each other out in various ways:  finding people to fill out a group, casting buffs or resurrection spells, doing high-level trade skill combinations, etc.

3.24    Q: What is autosplit and why is it unfair?

A:  This question is the source of much angst, and isn't as simple as it might seem on the surface.  Autosplit is something each person turns on or off (using the /autosplit command, or /au for short).  If the person looting a corpse has it turned on, any cash found is split evenly among all players in the group (even those who have it turned off).  (This doesn't apply when a player loots their own body, of course.)  Sounds fair, doesn't it? 

The catch is, it's implemented in a logical way in a roleplaying environment, which is to say it splits the COINS you get, instead of splitting the CASH VALUE of those coins.  It doesn't make change.  And it does this separately for each type of coin.  If, as is often the case, the coins can't be divided evenly, the game gives any left over coins to the looter.  So suppose a mob drops 5pp.  In a two-player group, the looter gets 3pp and the other player gets 2pp.  In a three-player group, the looter still gets 3pp and the others each get 1pp.  In a six-player group, none of the 5pp can be divided evenly, so the looter keeps all of it!  Even when there are some coins given out to the rest of the group by this method, the looter is more often than not getting twice or three times as many coins as the rest.

The innocent (such as yourself) will loot freely, thinking they are being fair.  They will also happily allow others to loot, thinking that they are getting a fair share.  The unscrupulous will arrange to do most of the looting while allowing the uninitiated (such as yourself) to think they are getting a fair share.  And of course, if someone in your group is looting with autosplit on, you can't know if they're innocent or unscrupulous, which can lead to some bad feelings.  What's worse, if you try to work around the problem by looting with autosplit OFF, planning to split the money later (preferably after selling off any vendor trash items as well), the innocent may get upset because they think you're planning to abscond with all the money (which has, alas, been known to happen also).

The best compromise seems to be to have the group choose one person to be "main looter" (ML), and that person is responsible for selling the items and splitting all the cash when the group is ready to break up.  This still gets awkward if some people leave the group early and/or other people join partway through, but it's still a lot more fair.  Another approach that is sometimes used is "open looting" (also called FFA, or free-for-all), where everybody is free to loot (usually with autosplit ON), which works well if the group is killing lots of mobs so everyone gets lots of opportunities to loot some.

3.25    Q: What is "stat food" and how do I use it?

A:  Stat food is food that adds to your character's stats, such as HP, MANA, or STR.  There's also stat drink.  Most stat food/drink items are crafted by players using the Baking and Brewing skills.  If you don't feel like making your own, you can usually find stat food for sale in the Bazaar.

The trick to using stat food is that you don't actually want to eat it.  You get the benefits of the food if it is the first food in your inventory, and thus is the food that will get eaten if the game decides you're hungry enough to need to eat something.  You can see if it's in the correct place as soon as you put it in, by seeing if your stat(s) change.

Since stat food can be expensive, some players are careful to munch ordinary food and drink often enough that the game never has them "automatically" eat or drink the stat items.  (Note that explicitly eating/drinking means the items consumed stave off hunger and thirst for only half as long as they normally would.)

3.26    Q: What are the different languages used for in the game, and how do I learn them?

A:  EverQuest includes at least 25 different "in game" languages, ranging from player race tongues (Halfling, Iksar, Troll, etc.) to monster languages (Gnoll, Dragon, etc.) and languages used in ancient writings or other specialty tongues (Dark Speech, Thieves Cant).  You can learn to speak (and presumably read) any of these, but doing so has almost no effect within the game, except on the role-playing server, Firiona Vie.  It appears there used to be quests that required learning languages, e.g. to translate bits of writing, but those writings can now be read by anyone.

Unless you are playing on Firiona Vie, you normally speak Common; a language everyone in the world can speak and understand perfectly.  If you want to speak another language, the command is something like "/lang 4", after which everything you /say, /groupsay, /tell, /guildsay, /ooc, or /shout will all be in that language.  If you don't speak that language very well, it will be garbled so nobody will ever read it perfectly (but depending on your actual skill and their ability to puzzle things out, they might be able to work out what you mean).  Similarly, if they don't speak that language well, they might not understand you even if you are flawless at it.  Maximum skill in any language is 100; until you reach 25 in a language it will be described as "an unknown tongue" when someone speaks it to you.

To see which languages you know (even one point of skill will do), type "/lang help".  This will list all the languages you know, and tell you their numbers so you can use the /lang # command to switch to them.  Common is always /lang 1 for everyone, so using that to switch back to the universal tongue always works.  Alternatively, you can right-click on the title bar or type-in area of a chat window, and near the bottom of the pop-up menu is a "Language" item with a submenu of choices.

Note that, if you have multiple chat windows, the /lang # command affects only the window you type it in.  You can click on a chat window to make typed commands (such as /lang, /say etc.) go to that window.  Each window can have a different language selected.  Commands that speak text as part of a hotkey will use the language of your "Main Chat" window.  This can be tricky to keep track of, because you always see your own speech ungarbled, with no indication what language it's in.  (Just as your speech always looks clear even if you're intoxicated, or if you use a term that gets garbled by the "bad word" filter.)  You can type just "/lang" by itself in a window to see which language you've currently selected for it.  Be warned, however, that the response telling you what language that window is using, may itself show up in a different window!  What matters is which chat window you are typing into, not where the response appears.

Few people bother to learn other languages, and they are of little practical use in most situations, although it can be amusing to chatter away, say gnome to gnome in a party of big people for instance.  There are still some reasons to learn languages; for instance, the Tainted Heartstone is a charm that gives rather nice stat boosts if you master several uncommon languages.

On Firiona Vie, there is no "Common", and you'll have trouble communicating with anyone outside your own race at first.  Few people ever learn the more obscure languages like Gnome, so you'll need to learn Elvish at a minimum, and Dark Elvish will also help a lot.  Oddly, Human is rarely spoken.  Even there, on a "role-playing" server with no official common language, few bother learning more than the minimum; you'll see everyone from Trolls to Iksar to Vah Shir all speaking blithely in Elvish . . . because if they don't, half the people in their group, guild, or zone (depending on which sort of chat they are using) won't be able to understand them.

You can learn languages from your NPC trainers (guildmasters), but that's an inefficient use of training points (and plat), plus the trainers won't even offer to teach you certain languages until your character has reached a high enough level.  So most language training is done with other players.

To learn a language from another player, you must be in the same group.  If someone in your group talks to the group in that language (which means they must have at least one skill point in it so it shows up in their /lang list), your skill will gradually improve, even if you start with zero skill in that language.  High INT (and possibly WIS) seems to help you learn faster.  Even if your skill is higher than theirs, your skill can go up (to the max of 100) from listening to them!  If you're in different zones, though, then only the speaker's skill can improve (and it seems like the speaker's skill must be at least 2 to get any skillups from cross-zone group chat).  So you can train up your language skills by grouping with friends who are AFK in the Bazaar!

3.27    Q: What is "Fabled" all about?

EverQuest originally launched in March 1999.  On its five-year anniversary, Sony held a month-long celebration during which, among other things, certain named mobs from the original game were beefed up as Fabled versions.  For example, in Najena, where Drelzna used to drop JBoots, the Fabled Drelzna would occasionally appear in place of regular Drelzna, and dropped Fabled JBoots.  Fabled mobs are usually far tougher than the non-Fabled versions, and the drops are correspondingly better.  The term "Fabled" is often used by itself to mean "Fabled mob(s)".

As EverQuest has celebrated its 6th and later anniversaries, Sony has added Fabled versions of mobs from whichever expansion is turning 5 years old; thus Kunark mobs in 2006, Velious in 2007, etc.  Many Fabled from earlier anniversaries have reappeared in later years.  Fabled exist over a wide range of levels, from Fabled Fippy Darkpaw to what were once end-game raid mobs (and, with the Fabled beefing up, are again).

The Fabled mobs are only in the game during each anniversary month, which runs from mid-March to mid-April.

3.28    Q: The game keeps crashing! How can I fix it?

If your EverQuest window keeps crashing -- going away completely -- chances are some of your files have gotten corrupted somehow, e.g. if something went wrong the last time the game was trying to update them.  Sometimes you can fix the problem by telling the launcher to do a "full file check", which means it checks more thoroughly for errors in those files that are normally left unchanged once downloaded.  Often, though, the problem is with a file that does get modified as you play the game, and a full file check doesn't cover those.

If you crash only when logging into a particular character, try renaming the UI files for that character (charactername_servername.ini and UI_charactername_servername.ini) and see if that fixes it.  You'll lose your hotkeys, window layout, and other settings for the character, but you can then try copying back parts of the files to see where the problem was.

If that doesn't fix it, or if the problem happens for multiple characters, the problem could be with the zone those characters are in.  Pull the map files for that zone out of your EverQuest\Maps folder, do a full file check to restore the default map files, and see if that does the trick.  Again, if it works, you can then examine the map files to try to locate the part that was confusing the game client.

Finally, if you are using any custom UI elements, try switching to the default UI (by removing the mention of your custom UI folder in your characters' UI_charactername_servername.ini files).  Sometimes when new UI elements are added, custom UIs need to be modified.

4.     User Interface (UI)

4.1    Q: How can I increase my frame rate to make the picture move more smoothly?

A:  Add this to the file EQCLIENT.INI in your EverQuest folder, under the [Default] section:

UseTnL=False
VideoModeBitsPerPixel=16

Note:  This may not help all systems.  Use at your own discretion.

Other things you can try:  In the game under Options (Alt-O pop-up window), choose lower settings for spell and environment particles, and/or lower the setting for the far clip plane (how far away you can see).  The less the game has to draw, the better it can keep up.  Paradoxically, it may even help to LOWER the frame rate Options setting, because the game may keep up better if it's not trying to generate as many frames.

You may also want to turn off Luclin character models (more detailed appearances for player character races, added in the Luclin expansion).  To do that, turn off "AutoPlay" in the Patcher window when you're starting the game.  When it finishes downloading any updates and offers you a big "PLAY" button, click further down on "Game Options".  It will fire up an application to edit various options, including which races to use the "detailed" models for; turn some off.  Some of the other options may be worth tinkering with also, such as turning off "Social Animations".

Even if your machine keeps up most of the time, you may find you need to turn down some settings during raids, where there are lots of characters present.  (Disabling the detailed character models may be particularly useful in such situations, but is awkward since you can't change it from within the game.  Plan ahead!)  See section 8.1 for more tips on improving system performance for raids.

As Sony adds more complex graphics to the EQ world, older machines may have trouble keeping up.  Sometimes there are new options in the Display tab of the Options window (or the "Advanced" subwindow off the Display options) that let you reduce or turn off the new graphics.  If you're seeing a lot of "lag" in areas that used to be okay for you, try turning off some of these:  Sky Type Complex, Use Advanced Lighting, Radial Flora, Shadows.

Also, the /shownames command has several different levels to hide/show parts of names such as titles, last names, and guild names.  Showing less of each name helps frame rate in crowded situations.  Some people like /shownames 1, which shows just the first names of characters.  Type /shownames alone to get a list of the levels, and then try /shownames 1, /shownames 2, etc. to see what each level does.

Finally, if you're having trouble in a crowded area such as the Bazaar or Guild Lobby, it may help to change your camera angle so you're not trying to see as much.  Use "Page Down" to angle the camera slightly toward the ground, or use F9 to find an overhead view.

4.2    Q: How do I change the colors of the text?

A:  While in the game, bring up the Options pop-up (Alt-O) and go to the Colors tab.  Click on the category of text whose color you want to change, then click the button at the bottom and adjust the color to your liking.  (You may have to scroll a bit to see all the text categories.)

4.3    Q: How can I see where I'm going when my map window fills so much of my screen?

A:  The map window, and in fact any window, can be made transparent by right-clicking on its title bar to open its menu, then hovering the cursor above the first option, "Window".  This will show another drop down menu.  Move the cursor over "Alpha" and left-click on "Faded Level".  (This is for making the window transparent a few seconds after the mouse moves out of the window.  To make it transparent always, select "Normal Level".)  You'll get a box in which to enter a value from 0 to 100.  0 will make the window frame and control elements, but not the contents, completely transparent, 100 will make it completely opaque, and 50 will make it semi-transparent.  Note that you cannot generally click on or target things through a transparent window.  You can also obtain smaller map windows from the eqinterface site, http://www.eqinterface.com/.

4.4    Q: What's the key that opens the such-and-such window?  Or whatever?  And can I change it?

A:  To start with the last part, yes, if there's a key to do something, you can almost certainly change which key it is.  To find out what key does something, or to change it, you start by opening the Options window, either via the EQ button or by typing alt-O.  One of the top-level tabs in that window is "Keys", under which you select a category of keys.  For example, in the UI category you'll find that "Alt U" toggles (opens and closes) the Tribute Window.  Each action can be invoked by up to two different keys, and keys can be "modified" by any combination of Shift, Ctrl, and Alt.

To change the key(s) that invoke any given game function, find the entry you want in the Options/Keys list and left-click in that row under the Keypress or Alternate column.  The next key you press, together with Shift/Ctrl/Alt keys that you hold down while pressing it, will become one of the two ways to do that function.  (To avoid making any change, type the Esc key, which thus cannot itself be assigned as the key to invoke anything else.)  Some actions do not have any keys assigned by default, but you can set up keys for them in the Options window in the same way.

If the Options window shows a key in red, it means the same key (including any Shift/Ctrl/Alt shown) is also being used to perform some other function.  This can work; tying the left arrow key to both "turn left" and a hotkey is a traditional way to improve one's skill in tracking, foraging, etc., by making you invoke the skill every time you turn left.  But if it shows in red and you don't know why, look through the other key settings.  (The other use of the key will be easy to spot since it, of course, also shows as red, though you may need to check other Keys categories or go to Keys-->All.)

It is a good idea to periodically take a few minutes and just browse through the key assignments to see what's available.  Not only does it change from time to time, but you may find something that seemed useless in the past, but that you now find important enough to assign a key to it.  You might also want to remove some key assignments, to make it harder to accidentally turn off essential UI elements.

One last caution: Changes made in the Options Keys tab, like many other Options tabs, affect all characters played on that computer, even using multiple accounts.  And if you go to a different computer, your key settings won't be there.

4.5    Q: What else can I change about the User Interface, and how?

A:  Quite a bit, depending on how much you're willing to fiddle with.  Note:  All of the things listed in this section and the next are changes that get stored on your computer, so if you go to a friend's house and log onto your EQ account from there, your changes won't be there.

Within the game, you can rearrange the size and locations of the windows, and can set their "alpha" levels to make them become more transparent.  (But be aware that you generally cannot click to target things that are covered by a transparent window.)  You can split up your chat messages across multiple windows (per question 5.7) so the important stuff is easier to notice and doesn't get pushed off the top of the window too quickly.  The Options window (accessed via Alt-O) has many settings you can adjust; the Keys options in particular let you change which keys invoke various functions.  Browsing the rather long list of available functions may give you some ideas of ways to make the game play more smoothly for you, e.g. by making shift-F9 and control-F9 switch directly to certain camera angles rather than having to hit F9 repeatedly to cycle through all the cameras.  (Note:  Changing which keys do each function will affect ALL characters played on that computer.)

If you're a bit braver, you can edit various files in your EverQuest folder.  This can be an easier way to fine-tune window locations, alpha settings, etc., or to copy your favorite socials from one character to another.  Be careful to save a copy of the file before changing it, in case you screw up and need to change it back.  Also, changes might not take effect until the character involved changes zones.  The files most likely to be worth looking at are:
eqclient.ini
stuff that affects all characters played on that computer, including key mappings and text colors, as well as pre-login stuff such as whether to use more detailed character models and whether it's time to bug you again about buying the latest expansion
charactername_servername.ini
hot buttons and socials, action/skill/combat buttons, and the text people see when they "inspect" you; friends/ignore lists used to be stored here and you may still find out-of-date versions in these files, but the real lists are stored by the server now
UI_charactername_servername.ini
everything else specific to the character, including window positions and alpha levels, chat filters and autojoin list (and lots more, but those are the main things you might fiddle with)
If you want to make more sweeping changes to the UI, see question 4.6.

4.6    Q: I've heard I can use a different User Interface (UI) from the one that comes with EverQuest.  How do I do that?

A:  The UI that comes with EverQuest has evolved over the years to reflect in-game changes.  Thousands of players use the default user interface, or make small changes using the Options window, but many have chosen either to write their own or to use the clever UIs written by other people.

The largest collection of UIs for EverQuest is at http://www.eqinterface.com/. You will have to register to get the new UIs but doing so is free.

Once on the site you will see that there are a number of complete UIs that change all of the parts of your EverQuest world to a specific theme.  Other areas give you the ability to load smaller map windows, tailored items for specific classes, maps for zones and even the ability to view recipes and spell lists in your storyline window (via alt-N).

4.7    Q: How do I get the UI I have downloaded to work in EverQuest?

A:  In your EverQuest folder (which can be seen in Windows Explorer) there are a number of sub-folders.  If you are changing your complete UI, go to the "uifiles" folder.  You will see one folder there called "default".  This contains the stock standard interface you see on the screen if you have no other UI loaded.  LEAVE THIS FOLDER ALONE AND MAKE NO CHANGES TO IT.  In the "uifiles" folder create a new folder named "me".  (It can be called anything, but simple is good in this case.  If you're going to use different UIs for each of your characters, name each folder after the character.)  Unload your downloaded new UI files into the "me" folder.  In the game you will start out with the stock standard UI provided by SOE.  In your chat window, type "/loadskin me" and hit Enter.  For a few seconds your screen will stop, then it will reappear with your new UI loaded.  You will have to rearrange the screen to suit your style of play.

Some UI elements such as spell lists or maps (which can be downloaded from http://www.mapfiend.net/) require their own folders or can be downloaded straight into existing folders.  For example, the maps mentioned above are downloaded straight into your "maps" folder inside the "EverQuest" folder.  Spells and trade skill notes normally appear under the storyline button in game and (you guessed it) will be under the "storyline" folder in your "EverQuest" main folder.

Each of the UIs normally carries instructions for its use, either on the web site or in "readme" files.

4.8    Q: I play a warrior and do not need a caster or mana bar with my character.  How can I change this?

A:  Most of the complete UI sets include modifications for specific classes.  Warriors can reclaim the space taken up by their blank mana bar, druids and rangers can find new tracking interfaces, and so on.  If you are happy with the general theme you are using, make another folder in the "uifiles" folder, call it "warrior" or something else appropriate, and copy all the files from your "me" folder into the "warrior" folder.  Then copy any additional class-specific files from the http://www.eqinterface.com/ site.  In game, playing your warrior, at the chat window type "/loadskin warrior" and your new UI should appear without the mana and casting bars.  You can have as many UI folders as you need to outfit the different classes you play; just ensure that they have all the base files in them first, and then add/replace the class-specific files.

4.9    Q: My UI does not work after the last patch.  What happened?

A:  Sometimes SOE changes the files for the way their own interface operates.  Sites such as eqinterface will normally have files to add to your custom UI after a patch.  Download the new file(s) and overwrite the versions in each of your custom UI folders.

4.10    Q: I want to design and code my own UI.  How do I go about it?

A:  Sites such as http://www.eqinterface.com/ give you the necessary tools to do so.  Their forum area is also very good for picking up hints on where to go.

4.11    Q: Sony changed the default UI and I liked the old one better. Can I change it back?

A:  As mentioned above, SOE sometimes changes parts of the default interface.  Sometimes (though far less often) they make sweeping changes to the whole UI.  In the latter case, the old UI generally remains available for a while, so you can copy some or all of it into a custom UI folder if you liked the old UI better.  SOE does not maintain the old UI, however, so over time as new features get added to the game, the old UI will fall out of date and not support those features.  Still, if you're selective about which parts you copy, you can probably keep using parts of an old UI for quite a while.

In early 2006, SOE introduced another overhaul to the UI, and many people disliked some of the new features, particularly the new spell gem and buff window icons.  When the PoR expansion came out soon afterward, the new features caused more of the old UI elements (e.g., the bank window) to stop working, so it became harder (though not impossible) to continue to use the old UI as is.  If you're using the new default UI but want to continue to use the old spell icons, you should copy the following files from your uifiles\default_old folder to a custom UI folder: gemicons01.tga through gemicons03.tga, spells01.tga through spells07.tga, and window_pieces02.tga (so the gem icons fit better in the spell bar).  Note that if SOE adds new spells with totally new icons, those icons are unlikely to be added to the old UI.

Another part of the same UI change was that hotbutton windows are now 1-by-10 (or 10-by-1) instead of 2-by-5.  If the longer, skinnier hotbars don't suit your playing style, you can keep the old ones by copying EQUI_HotButtonWnd.xml from the uifiles\default_old folder to your custom UI.

4.12    Q: What are audio triggers and how do I use them?

A:  Audio triggers were added as part of the UI introduced in Fall 2005.  They let you set up sounds to alert you when certain events appear in your chat windows.  For example, you might want to be warned when mobs enrage, or cast Gate, or when you lose auto-follow, or . . . .  For many more ideas on how audio triggers can be useful, try http://www.icynic.com/~don/EQ/triggers/.  That page includes a link to a tutorial covering the basics of how to set up audio triggers, including adding your own custom sounds.

5.     Chat Channels

5.1    Q: What are chat channels?

A:  Chat channels are like chat rooms that everyone on your server can access.  Unlike /shout and /ooc, which can be read only by people in the same zone with you, chat channels can be read by everyone on the server, if they choose.  (Some channels require a password, but you can think of the password as being just part of the channel name, since you need to know the name to be able to join it, too.)  There are also established chat channels that can be joined by everyone on EVERY EverQuest server, if they so desire.

5.2    Q: How do I join/start a chat channel?

A:  Type /join channelname.  For example, if you wanted to join the market channel on your server, you would type /join market.  (Most servers do have a market channel of some sort, though they might be named something else like auction, bazaar, or whatever.  If you want to find out, ask around or experiment.)  If you want to join a channel that has a password, type /join channel:password.  For example, to join a market channel with the password of shop, you would type /join market:shop.  To create a new channel, type /join followed by the name of the channel you want to create, and a password if you think it should have one. 

To join a channel on another server, type /join servername.channel:password.  For example, if you wanted to join the market on the Drinal server, you would type /join drinal.market.  There are also channels that are not associated with any one server; these are named serverwide.channelname.  For instance, the channel for alt.games.everquest readers is serverwide.age:age.

In all cases, when you join you'll see a message in which the number to the right of the channel name tells you how many people are in that channel at the time you joined.  The number to the left of the channel name is what you use to talk in that channel:  use /1 to talk to channel 1, etc.

In mid-2005, several special chat channels were added, and all players are automatically joined to some of them.  Characters level 20 and under are put in the NewPlayer channel, while levels 21 and up are placed in the General channel as well as in class-specific and continent-specific channels.  These channels can be a great source of information, but can also be distracting.  If you decide you don't want to be in those channels, there's a button in the Options window to disable them; however, as with most Options settings, your choice affects all characters played on that machine.  If you want some of your characters to join one or more of the special channels, you can have those characters "autojoin" those channels, as described below.

5.3    Q: How do I leave a channel I have joined?

A:  Type /leave Channel#.  For example, if you have only joined the drinal market channel, it will be channel 1.  To leave it, you would type /leave 1 .  In general, the channel number is the number shown to the left of the channel name when you joined.

5.4    Q: Can I automatically join a channel every time I log in?

A:  Yes; this is called "autojoining".  If you know that you want to participate in a certain chat channel every time you are online, type /autojoin channelname (or /autojoin channelname:password if there's a password).  If you want to autojoin more than one channel, then type it like this: /autojoin channelname:password, nextchannel:nextpassword, and so on.  For example, to autojoin both the NewPlayer channel and the serverwide alt.games.everquest chat, type "/autojoin NewPlayer, serverwide.age:age".  Note: autojoining channels sets them to be joined the next time you log in, not for the session you are in.  If you want to be in the channels you have set in your autojoin list that session, you must join the channels manually by using the /join command.

5.5    Q: How do I stop automatically joining a channel?

A:  You have to type the /autojoin command again, leaving out the channels you no longer want to include (but listing all the ones you want to keep).  (Some people claim you can just type /autojoin for a channel that's already on your list, and it'll un-autojoin you, but experiments show this not to be the case.  In fact, that will un-autojoin all the OTHER channels and leave you autojoining only the one you were trying to remove!)  If you don't want to be in any channels, you can either type "/autojoin  ,  " (slash, autojoin, space, comma, enter) or go into the file UI_charactername_servername.ini in your EverQuest folder and edit down the autojoin list as it is shown there.

5.6    Q: What are some current serverwide channels?

A:  Here are a few.  Others will be added as they are discovered. 5.7    Q: I've joined too many channels and now the text is flying by too fast!  What should I do?  Can I have separate chat windows?

A:  Chat windows allow a player to use separate windows for specific chat tasks.  For example, if you are on a guild raid you can have all your say and guild text in one window, and your raid and battle spam in another.  You can create as many windows as you like, but most players opt for at most two or three, as the screen gets too busy.

Right click on the black title bar of your main chat window where it says "Main Chat".  The second option down on the list is "New Chat Window".  Left click on that to bring up your new chat window.  The new window will appear over the top of the main chat window, and can then be dragged to another location and re-sized if you wish.

In the new chat window, right click on the title bar and choose "Filters".  Another menu opens which allows you to choose which types of messages go into the new window.  You can continue customizing these windows with the filters to split the different types of chat among the windows.

5.8    Q: How do I find out how many people are in a channel and who?

A:  Type /list #, where # is the number of the channel.  For example, if you are in serverwide.age:age and it's the only channel you joined, type /list 1.  Typing /list with no number lists all the channels you're in.

5.9    Q: Can I send text to a channel without knowing the channel number?

A:  Yes. This can be useful for hotkeys. E.g., suppose your guild uses channel "uberraid" for communicating during a raid.  (There's also /rsay, of course, but often a raid wants to have one channel for essential orders, and another for chat, or healing messages, etc.)  The channel number will vary depending on how many other channels you had open when you joined the raid.  If you have a hotkey that includes sending a message to the channel, you'd rather not have to modify the channel number each time you raid.  To send to the channel by name, regardless of number, use "/chat #uberraid blahblah".  That's a real number sign (#) before the name.  You must have joined the channel for this to work.

Similarly, you can make a channel be the default place for text typed into a chat window (the place a message goes if you type ENTER, blahblah, ENTER).  The command for changing the destination for messages typed in that manner is /channel; direct it to a chat channel using, e.g., "/channel chat uberraid" or "/channel chat serverwide.age".  (You can also set the default channel for a window using the chat window's menu, under "Channel".)

6.     Posting in alt.games.everquest

6.1    Q: I posted one innocent little question, and got flamed.  Why?

A:  alt.games.everquest has an established community, and several long-time residents have strong personalities.  We also have a steady influx of new readers here, many of whom make no effort to do any research at all before they ask questions.  This combination seems to bring out the flame-throwers on a regular basis.  We also have several here who enjoy long, repetitious, self-imploding discussions laced with personal attacks and expletives.  If you do find yourself getting flamed, probably the best reaction would be just to shrug it off, and not reply in kind.  It is very useful to have a thick skin in AGE, and a little common sense and perspective aren't a bad idea, either.

6.2    Q: So does that mean that I can't ask any questions here at all?

A:  Not at all.  There are many people here who are very knowledgeable about EQ and are happy to share what they know.  It would be helpful if you were to do some basic research before you ask questions that may have been asked many times before.  The fact that you're reading this FAQ is a good sign, but the FAQ can't cover every recurring question.  One thing you might try is going to http://groups.google.com/groups?q=alt.games.everquest and checking the "Search only in alt.games.everquest" radio button, then typing in some key words from your question.  But if that doesn't help, by all means fire away.  If you get flamed for it, refer to question 6.1.

6.3    Q: What is top posting, and why is it so hated here?

A:  Top posting is the act of posting your reply on top of quoted material, that is, ahead of the text to which you are responding, rather than placing your response either at the bottom of quoted material or interspersed throughout it.  AGE is a newsgroup that on the whole feels strongly about top posting, and the feelings are not warm and fuzzy.  The discussions in AGE are often complex and wandering, and having to scroll to the bottom of a post to see what the heck a person is replying to is awkward and annoying, and breaks the flow of the post.  You might prefer top posting and that is your prerogative, but if you insist on using it here you can expect to be flamed and to land on a lot of folks' Kill Files.  And please don't try to skirt the issue by just not quoting anything at all, either.  People are not going to go back through the thread playing detective to try to figure out what the heck you're responding to.  Similarly, if you're responding to a long post, don't quote the whole post; try to quote just the part relevant to your response, or the first part if you're making an overall response to the entire post.  In other words, when someone reads your post from top to bottom, they should first see enough of the older post to remind them what the context is, and then see your response.

6.4    Q: I've noticed a lot of unfriendly posts coming from the same people.  This newsgroup sure has its share of jerks, eh?

A:  It would be hard to find an active newsgroup that doesn't.  However, many of the more virulent posters we have are basically right in what they say, once you look past the rudeness of manner of their presentation.  They may be enthusiastic in going after people who post facts or opinions that they dispute.  But if you can get past that, you might find that they can teach a lot about EQ.  If you can't get past it, no worries.  Just ignore them or place them in your Kill File.  Endless arguing with them will not generally make anyone think you are especially clever, or put them in their place, or do whatever it is you are hoping to do.  Also, if you make some clever misspelling of a regular's posting name in an effort to win an argument, you automatically lose that argument.  /nod

6.5    Q: Will everyone hate me if I make an off topic comment or post?

A:  No, not everyone.  Almost every active newsgroup out there experiences some degree of topic drift; you have about as good a chance of stopping it as you do of stopping continental drift.  AGE is a fairly active group, and the drift is quite noticeable at times.  If this annoys you then it is best just to start ignoring a thread when it goes from talking about the best offhand weapon for a halfling ranger to the best way to make nachos.  If you are starting a new thread that is clearly not related to EQ, it is a good idea to give it a subject starting with the letters OT (off topic) so that those who want to avoid such threads can do so from the start.

6.6    Q: I posted something I heard was true, and then some guy jumped all over me for being wrong!  Why did he make such a big deal over it?

A:  Because that's something that is important to several posters here.  In this place, a.g.e., we do check facts.  We will google while we post, and we will google and research other people's assertions if we feel they are in error.  And we do ask for and expect cited sources.  This might be viewed as both good and bad.  Bad, because we can come across as niggling, harsh, and overly intolerant to dubious statements.  But also good, because if you read a fact here about some aspect of EQ, you can be fairly certain that if it isn't correct at the start, it will almost certainly be corrected quickly.  Of course, in many instances the "facts" aren't really available, and it might even be questionable whether anyone at SOE knows the answer.  Then you will get a long, drawn out discussion, usually with flaming, where people will discuss their opinions on the matter at hand.  Once you get used to the place, and learn the standards to which we hold ourselves and others, you might find that it is well worth the effort.

6.7    Q: What else should I know about newsgroup etiquette?

The following are a couple web sites regarding common etiquette techniques for newsgroups.  (Note that, in case it's not obvious, the "emily" page is written tongue-in-cheek, giving exaggerated examples of what NOT to do.)

Quoting Style in Newsgroup Postings:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~wijnands/nnq/nquote.html

General Net Etiquette:
http://www.templetons.com/brad/emily.html

Here is a brief, generic Netiquette guide.  You can take most of this to almost any newsgroup you go to.

7.     EverQuest II

7.1    Q: What is this EverQuest II game that I hear about?

A:  EverQuest II is another MMORPG by SOE, released in November 2004.  It is set in the world of Norrath, several hundred years in the future, after the planet has suffered some major cataclysm that destroys much of the known world.  The two games have some superficial similarities (some shared geography, races, etc.) but quite different rules and user interfaces.

7.2    Q: Does this mean that the EverQuest I am playing is ending?

A:  EverQuest II is not meant to be a replacement for EverQuest Live.  The two games have different development teams (the Dragons of Norrath and later expansions for EQ Live came out after EQ II launched), and SOE steadily maintains that it means to maintain both games for as long as there is enough of a demand to keep them both going.  EverQuest is currently a very popular title, and it has managed to remain so despite challenges from other MMORPG's that people were certain would mean its decline.  That said, few things in life are guaranteed, and if EQ drops in popularity for whatever reason to the point that is no longer profitable, it is unrealistic to expect that SOE will continue it.  Still, the day when they do pull the plug on EverQuest Live seems to be remote at this time.

7.3    Q: Can I post about EQ II on alt.games.everquest?

A:  If the post pertains only to EQ II, it would be better to post it on alt.games.everquest2, or on Sony's EQ2 forums.  Posts comparing EQ II to EQ Live are fair game, just like comparisons to any other MMORPG.  If you do post here about EQ II, it's considered polite to include EQ2 somewhere in the subject to make sure people know which game you're talking about.  If you don't, you should accept your inevitable chastisement.  For a while, some folks marked posts about EverQuest Live (the "original" EverQuest) with "EQ1", but this practice dropped off once most EQ2 traffic moved elsewhere.

Note:  If you do put "EQ2" (or "EQ1") in your subject, don't immediately follow it with a colon (as in, Subject: EQ2: Newbie questions).  It seems some news-reading tools (e.g., Outlook) assume anything in front of the colon must be the equivalent of "Re:" in some foreign language, so the EQ2 part might get discarded from the subject when people reply to your post.

7.4    Q: How can I find out more about EverQuest II?

A:  This FAQ does not include anything about how to play EverQuest II.  There is a section in the links portion at the bottom of this document that will lead you to EQII websites.

8.     Miscellaneous Tips

8.1    Performance / Raid settings

Here are some tips for helping your computer keep up during a raid or in other situations where there's lots of stuff going on on the screen.  See also section 4.1. 8.2    Spellcasting

If you're casting a spell and need to interrupt it (for instance, to cast a different spell), you can duck (type the "d" key) rather than trying to run or jump.  Ducking interrupts casting immediately instead of waiting until the casting time finishes.  Another way is to type shift-S, which does a /stopcast command.

Neither ducking nor /stopcast works if you're riding a mount.  If you use a mount, you might want to make a "social" (see Q3.10) that does a /dismount command followed by /stopcast.  Alas, if you try to make that social into a hotkey it won't help, because you cannot invoke any hotkey while casting.  However, you CAN click on the social button directly in the Socials window (ctrl-O); it's not a perfect solution, but it's the best anyone's suggested so far for a fast way to interrupt casting while mounted.

"/target xxx" targets the closest thing (within 50 feet) whose name starts with "xxx".  This works on both players and mobs.  So suppose there are two players named Fred and Fredrick on the raid, neither of them in your group, and Fredrick needs healing.  Type "/tar Fredr" and if Fredrick is within 50 feet of you (forwards or backwards, doesn't matter) she will get selected to be your current target.  If you type "/tar Fred" you'll target whichever of Fred or Fredrick is closest, if within 50 of you.

"/tgb on" lets you cast group spells on another group without having to be invited.

"/rt" targets the last person that sent you a /tell, provided they are within range (very handy when someone asks you to cast a spell on them).  By default, typing control-T also sets up a /rt command.

Pressing a number key while holding Alt (Alt-1, Alt-2, etc.) casts the spell in the corresponding numbered gem.

The left/right arrow keys flip through the pages of your spellbook if you have it open.

"/book #" opens your spellbook to the given page #.

Right-click on a empty spell gem will bring up your spell list menu.

Right-click on the "open spell book" image at the bottom of the gems window lets you manage "saved spell sets".  "/memspellset blah" changes your gems to contain the spell set named "blah".  You can have up to ten saved spell sets (so you might even devote one set of ten hotkeys to them, if you have many saved sets).  If you save a spell set that includes some empty gems, those gems won't change when you /memspellset that set.

As of late 2008, your spell gems stay set up when you come back from dying. You are still stripped of all spell effects, though, so you'll need to get new buffs before dashing back into battle.  Spell sets can provide a quick way to do this.

If you need to cast after running, tap a short turn before casting to avoid having an interrupted spell.  (This forces the server to update your location so it doesn't think you're still running.)

If you are any type of caster, go somewhere peaceful every few levels and practice your spells until you max out your casting skills for that level.  That will reduce the chance of "fizzling" as you try to cast tougher spells.  Get a mana regen buff if you can, load up your cheapest, fastest casting spells for the skills you wish to raise, and cast them on yourself.  Note that de-buffs and damage spells cannot be cast in non-combat zones such as PoK or the Guild Lobby, not even on yourself (nor on your pet).

Cure disease will cure Slow.  Cure poison will cure Tash.

If the cleric has Divine Aura on, or the bard is playing their Divine Aura song, they will not teleport with you nor will they succor.

8.3    Corpses and other Targets

Make an /assist key (a hotkeyed social that does "/assist").  This is very important in groups.  The /assist key will place your target's target in your target window.  For example, you target me, Teapray.  I have a nearby wolf targeted.  You hit your /assist key.  Now you have that very same wolf targeted.  This is useful in many contexts, such as when there is more than one mob attacking the party, and it's important to get all or most of the party on a single target to make it die faster; you all target the "Main Assist" (the person whose job it is to pick the target) and then use /assist to target the selected mob.  The /assist key can also be used to /consider mobs if you can't get close enough to target them; I target the mob, you target me and assist, then /con to check the level and attitude of the mob).  You can even /assist a mob to see which party member it's beating on (e.g., so you can heal that person).

If you know who the "Main Assist" is, you can make a hotkey that immediately targets that person's target, instead of needing to target the "MA" first.  Just use "/assist Teapray" to select Teapray's target, for example.

If autoattack turns on when you type /assist, and you'd rather it didn't, either type "/assist off" or go into your EQClient.ini file and change AttackOnAssist=TRUE to read FALSE.  (Note that, by either method, the same choice will affect all of your characters.)

Pressing F1-F6 targets the respective person in your group, F1 always being yourself and the others in the order listed in the party window.  Pressing the same key again targets the individual's pet, if they have one.

F7 targets the closest player in view.  F8 targets the closest NPC in view.  (The game's idea of what is "in view" may not match yours, so always check the name in your target window or look for the target ring or flashing name to make sure you've got the target you wanted.)  If you look in the Keys tab in the Options window, you can set up keys that will cycle through all the PCs or NPCs in your view.

If you target a corpse (yours or a mob's) you can type /loot to loot it.  This is especially useful in conjunction with /target, especially if a mob leaves its corpse inside a wall (or atop a player corpse) where it's hard to click on it.  E.g., since many mobs have names starting with "a" or "an", you can make hotkeys that do "/target a_" or "/target an_" plus "/loot".  (Note the underline, which is treated as a space by the /target command.  This keeps you from trying to target players or NPCs whose names start with "A".)  For pet classes, your pet will always have its last target's corpse targeted if you haven't cleared its target or given it a new attack order.  So if a mob dies inside a wall, assist your pet, go next to the wall, and type /loot.  Mercenaries also work like pets for this purpose.

If you /con a corpse you can find out how much time is left before it rots.  Usually this is used to check how urgent it is to get someone to loot the corpse, but it can also be used on a fresh corpse to see if it has any loot at all.  If a corpse has no loot or coins it will vanish in 30 seconds; otherwise it stays for 8 minutes (or sometimes 30 minutes).

Combining the above, here's a handy trick if you're the "Main Looter" in an area where many corpses have no loot, if you or anyone in your group has a pet.  When a mob dies, hit the appropriate F# key twice to target the pet, then press your /assist hotkey to target the corpse, then "c" to see if the corpse is decaying in under 30 seconds.  If it is, you know it has no loot, so you can ignore it and go back to medding until the next pull.

Another handy trick that makes it easy to target a fresh corpse is, sometime during the fight when you have the mob targetted, type TAB to target yourself, then TAB again to switch back to the mob.  After the mob dies, you can type TAB to target yourself, then TAB again will target the corpse.

When you are looting, right-click on an item to /autoinventory it.

To find a corpse that is missing, make a hotkey with "/target playername" and run around hitting the hotkey.  (If it's your own corpse, make it /target playername' (including the apostrophe, short for "playername's_corpse"), or you'll just target yourself!)  When you are in range of the corpse, you will see the name appear in your target window.  Then type /corpse to summon it.

If you're in a group when you die, and you're soulbound in another zone, the rest of the group can find your corpse using the "X" on the map if they have the "Group" button turned on (see general tip, below), as long as they don't zone out and you don't zone back in until they've found it.

A feature added in 2004 is the ability to drag up to two corpses without having to repeatedly type /corpse to keep summoning them.  To begin dragging a corpse, target the corpse and type /corpsedrag.  To stop dragging, target the corpse again and type /corpsedrop.  (Or hit Esc to clear your target, then either /corpsedrag or /corpsedrop drops all corpses.)  You do not have to keep hitting /corpse or any other hotkey, the corpse(s) automatically follow at your feet, stopping wherever you stop.

It used to be that your items remained on your corpse when you died, and you had to find (or summon) the body to get your gear back.  And if you looted all the items, the corpse would vanish and you could no longer resurrect it to get back the experience lost when you died.  That is no longer the case; the corpse sticks around until rezzed, and you keep all your gear so the only thing the corpse is needed for is the resurrection for experience.

You only get one resurrection per corpse; you can't get a 96% rez and then ater use the veteran reward 100% rez on the same corpse to get back the last 4%.

The /hidecorpses command lets you avoid seeing bodies that you can't or don't want to loot.  You can still target them with /target if you need to, or you can make them visible again with "/hidecorpses none".

The /consent command lets you give permission to another character to drag (but not to loot) your corpse.  You can even give consent to a character who isn't logged in at the time, even to another of your own characters!  Also, instead of naming a character, you can use the commands "/consent raid", "/consent group", or "/consent guild", even before you die, to let anyone in your raid/group/guild drag your body should tragedy strike.  Use "/deny raid", etc., to remove the consent.  There are also buttons in the Options window that, if set in advance, will activate /consent raid/group/guild automatically for any new corpses you drop.

Since items no longer remain on players' corpses, you can no longer use the trick of leaving "Temporary" items (formerly called "No rent") on a corpse to keep the items from vanishing after you log out.

8.4    Socials and Speaking

"/ttell", or "/tt", sends a tell to your current target.  It can send a tell to the owner of a corpse.  It works for the living, too.  Ever had trouble typing someone's name in order to talk to them?  Target them and use /tt.

/rsay or /rs talks to the raid channel.  /g talks to your group.  /gu talks to your guild.

Pressing a digit (1, 2, ..., 0) on the main keyboard initiates the corresponding hotkey.  See section 3.11 for more about hotkeys.

You can invoke skills and combat abilities in socials (hotkeys) using "/doability #", or "/do #" for short.  Abilities 1-6 are general abilities (the second tab in the Actions window, displayed by ctrl-A) and 7-10 are combat abilities (the third Actions tab, displayed by ctrl-C).

If some lines of your hotkeyed social aren't taking effect, try adding a small pause to each line using the "/pause #" command.  (The # is in tenths of a second.)  Note that, even though the /pause is added at the front, the pause takes place AFTER the other command on that line.  (Go figure.)  For instance, to get multiple lines of /auction to appear:

/pause 3, /auction Look what I've got for sale today:
/pause 3, /auction This
/pause 3, /auction That
/pause 3, /auction and the other Thing!

When writing hotkeys, you can use some special notations to fill in parts of the command based on your current target.  You can use either upper- or lower-case letters.
Thus the puller might press a social that says
/g Incoming, %t!  Kill %o and take %p stuff!
and call out, "Incoming, a giant rat!  Kill it and take its stuff!"

' (apostrophe) is a shortcut for /say
: (colon) is a shortcut for /emote

You can shorten any command to just the letters required to make it unique. Some common commands also have explicit shortcuts.  Examples of shortest unique commands are /shown (/shownames), /tt (/ttell), and /tar (/target).  Examples of explicit shortcuts are /t (/tell) and /g (/gsay).

After you hit the "r" to reply to the last person who sent you a tell, you can then hit the "tab" key to cycle through all the people that have sent you tells (up to 10, I think).  Useful if you are talking to several people at once.  If you overshoot, shift-tab goes through the list backwards.  The "tab" key also works to cycle through the choices if you use control-T to do a /rtarget (targetting people who've sent you tells).  Also, if you camp one character and log in another, the "r" key will still reply to whoever last sent a tell to the previous character (until someone sends you a new tell).

If someone's bothering you with tells, shouts, etc., use "/ignore Soandso".  You will see nothing from that person from then on.  This can be very useful when people get abusive and you just don't want to deal with it.

If you need to submit a /petition and the text in one of your chat windows is relevant (e.g., you fell for 20000 damage due to a bug in the game, or you want to complain about someone harassing you), you will need to use the /report command to send an official record of the chat window text.  Scroll back if necessary to make the relevant text visible in the window, then type "/report yourcharactername".  If you have multiple chat windows, click first in the one with the important text, so that the /report command will capture the text from that window.

8.5    General

Hold shift down and hit pageup or pagedown and you will scroll your current chat window (whichever you last clicked in) up or down 1 page at a time.

Hold shift and the up/down arrows will cycle through the commands you have typed.  You can press Enter to do the currently shown command again, or you can modify it first.  This comes in handy when someone has missed your tell or reply, or when you're doing a quest multiple times and need to repeat something to an NPC.

If you're typing a long message or other command and change your mind about sending it, shift+delete will erase the entire line.  This also works with other kinds of type-in, such as the /bazaar search window.  Shift+home moves the cursor to the start of the line; shift+end moves it to the end, and shift+leftarrow/rightarrow move the cursor within the line.

Ducking significantly reduces falling damage when running on hilly terrain.  (Actually, anything that makes you move more slowly will reduce damage, because you won't move as far between falls and thus the ground won't have dropped as far.  Just don't think that because you've ducked it's safe to jump off a cliff!)

Though everyone now starts out with maxed skill in Sense Heading (this was not always the case), it may still be useful to know that: To stop moving quickly while on a mount, just click off the mount icon.

Sitting (except on a mount) causes Agro with mobs.  This can work to your advantage if the mob doesn't summon.  If you need to keep a mob off the tank for a moment, sit; as it comes towards you, stand back up.  This is known as ping-ponging the mob.  The mob will go back and forth between you and the tank.

The minus key on the numberpad is the default key for taking a Screen shot.  Screen shots are stored in the screenshots folder in your EverQuest folder.

Control-click picks up a single item from a stack (or a single coin from your inventory or bank).  Shift-click picks up an entire stack of items or coins.  This also works when you are purchasing/selling items.  To buy only one of a stackable item, hold the CTRL key and click BUY.  To buy a stack, hold the SHIFT key and click BUY.  Do the same thing with the SELL button for selling single units or whole stacks.  This also works when clicking on the Donate button at the Tribute Master.

/autoinventory will take whatever is on your cursor and put it in your inventory.  This used to be very useful for tradeskills, but the new UI for tradeskill containers has its own Autoinventory button.  The command is still useful in hotkeys, e.g. to stash whatever your fishing or foraging hotkey has turned up.  Even for tradeskills, a hotkey (invoked via the keyboard, not the mouse!) may be faster than moving the mouse back and forth, especially if the recipe yields more than one thing on your cursor (the hotkey can do /autoinventory several times).

The "u" key performs the command "use center screen".  (You can change which key does this in your Options window, under Keys -> Commands.)  If you play with your camera view pulled back this will mostly just select yourself, but if you play in a first-person view it will do many useful things depending on what's in the center of your screen, including: The last feature in particular can save you from accidentally dropping the item on the ground.  And if you're giving many stacks of something to an NPC one item at a time (such as for a "faction" quest) you may find it faster to control-click on a stack, u, control-click, u, etc., instead of moving your mouse back and forth between your inventory and the NPC or the Give window.  Better yet, set up control-U as an alternative key for "use center screen"; then you can hold down the Control key while doing click, u, click, u, etc.

Other single-key commands include "c" to /consider a mob, "r" to /reply to a tell, and "h" to hail the selected NPC or PC.

In mid-2006 a "Group" button was added to the map window.  Turn it on!  Now!  It puts X's on the map showing the rest of your group in the current zone.  You'll be amazed at how useful that is.  (And if you move the mouse over an X, it'll show you that person's name.)  When you're running across a zone with others autofollowing, the X's show you if they're falling behind.  If you get separated you can see where the rest of the group went, and they can see your location and perhaps give you directions.  Among the unexpected uses: locating corpses, because the X continues to mark the corpse on the map for the surviving party members until they zone out or the dead character zones back in.  (You have to have been in the zone and in the group at the time of death, though.)

The X's are currently green, but if you turned them on when the feature was first added they might be black.  In either case, if you'd rather they be some other color, edit the UI_character_server.ini file in your EQ folder, and modify the values for GroupColor.red, .blue, and .green in the section for [MapViewWnd].  (Do this when EQ is not running.)

To put a comment in your profile that others see when they inspect you, go to a non first person view (using F9), target and inspect yourself, and type in the box.

/guildstatus when targeting a person will tell you what guild that person is in, even if they are "anonymous".  It will also tell you if they are an officer or the guild leader.

If you need help raising your offense and melee weapon skills, go duel a pet class friend who has gotten the "pet hold" AA.  Don't use an arena, where others might interfere.  Just go to any zone other than PoK and duel.  This works for defense as well, as long as the person controlling the pet backs the pet off instead of killing you!

If someone in your group has a green bar under their red HP bar (in the group window) it means they have a pet (and shows the pet's HP).  This is one way you can check whether an enchanter or bard in your group has charmed a mob, especially if you're wondering why you're not allowed to attack that mob.  If you want to verify which mob is the pet, type the F2-F6 key that targets the group member, then type it again to target their pet.

For tanks, if you expect a mob to start running in its last 20% of health, turn it around so you face the way you want it to run to.  Half-dead mobs tend to turn 180 degrees and run away from you.  (This isn't always true, though, so don't rely on it.)  Even before the mob runs, you should turn it (by moving around so it turns to face you) so its back is to the group, especially when you have pets in the group.  This is because the mob can't parry, block, or riposte attacks that come from behind it.  Make sure you tell your group you will do this before pulling, though.

When firing arrows, make sure there are no other NPCs between you and whomever you're shooting.  You will hit them and end up fighting more than you planned, possibly even an otherwise friendly guard.

Invulnerability spells such as Divine Aura and Divine Barrier cause you to lose aggro almost instantly if the mob has another on its hate list.  DA and DB also protect you from environmental damage.  This is great for reaching places that would kill you to walk to.  DA and drop into the chasm near Howling Stones; DA and jump off the Highpass ramp in East Karana; jump into the Hole from Paineel and DA the instant you zone, to resurrect a raid into the bottom of The Hole.

For another way into The Hole, go down to the bottom where the pond is in Paineel.  When you are in the water, in the upper right portion of the rocks, there is a hole you can squeeze through.  Wolf form helps in doing this (as does Enduring Breath, of course).  Keep trying and eventually you'll make it through.  (You can also buy a key in Paineel, or a lock-picking class can make the rock swing out of the way.)

8.6    Lost Dungeons of Norrath

8.6.1    How do I earn/spend points in the LDoN camps?

A:  You have ONE pool of Adventure Points that can be spent at ANY adventure merchant.  There is no such thing as MM points, or EC points, etc.; all points earned at any dungeon contribute to a common pool of points.  If you hit alt-V and click on the "View Stats" button you'll see one entry called "Adventure Points Available", which shows you your unspent total.

When you want to buy something from one particular camp, you are limited in what you can SEE (and therefore what you can purchase) by how many Adventure Points you have EVER EARNED at that particular dungeon.  The more points earned at a particular dungeon, the higher up in the list you can see (and therefore buy) at that camp.  However, the points you spend to BUY something come from that common pool and thus could have been earned at any camp.

For example, suppose you've earned 350ap at MM, 300ap at Tak, 300ap at Ruj, 100ap at Guk, and 500ap at EF, and let's say you haven't spent any of those points ever.  So you have a combined total now of 1550ap.  This is the number that shows up as "Adventure Points Available" when you do Alt-V and "View Stats".  You read somewhere that "Incorporeal Chain of the Spectre" sells for 1492ap at EF.  Woohoo!  You've got 1550ap, so you run over to EF eager to buy it.  Unfortunately, because you've earned only 500 of those at EF, when you go to the EF merchant you're not even shown the chain; you're limited to seeing only those items that are 500ap, or just slightly above that.  (So you can see items selling for around 650 or 710, for example, so you'll know what will become available if you earn a few more points there.)  You'll notice that anything above 500ap is greyed out, and items 500ap and below appear white and selectable.  The UI is telling you you have enough AP earned at that location to buy a 500ap item, but nothing higher.

Despite what many people may erroneously tell you, there is NO WAY for you to consolidate your points and spend them all at EF to get that chain.  You will never be able to see, let alone buy, items substantially above what you've earned at a particular dungeon.  In order to do that you just have to buckle down and go out and earn the points at that dungeon.  However, what you CAN do is use points earned at another dungeon to PAY FOR things that you are allowed to buy. Let's say you go out and earn another 1000ap at EF.  Now you have a combined total of 2550ap, 1500 of them earned at EF.  When you go visit the adventure merchant at EF you find that you can see everything on his list (because the prices all top out at 1492).  You can now buy that chain.  Select it, hit Purchase, confirm, and you now own the Chain and still have 1058ap in your pool.  Notice that you can STILL see everything on the list at EF, including the other 1492ap items, even though you only have 1058 to spend and only 8 of those were earned at EF.  Once you've exposed items for sale at any merchant and can see them, you will ALWAYS be able to see them, and you can pay for them using points earned at ANY camp.  You can go out and earn 80 million ap in Guk and spend it all on items offered at EF.  Once you've reached the top of the list and can see everything for sale at a particular merchant, you are said to have "unlocked" that dungeon. 

To summarize:  To buy something of cost X at a particular camp, you must satisfy two conditions.  First, you must have a total of X or more unspent Adventure Points across all camps combined.  Second, you must have earned at least X points at the particular camp.  It doesn't matter if you previously spent X or even more than X points at that camp.  If you earn 1000ap at MM and 100ap at EF, you can't buy any single item for more than 100ap at EF, but you can still spend all 1100 points at EF as long as no single item costs more than 100ap.

On Firiona Vie, where almost nothing is No Trade, there's a trick you can use to get stuff from a camp you haven't unlocked yet.  Go to any merchant and spend your Adventure Points buying a bunch of 100ap NON-LORE augmentations.  Give them to a friend who has unlocked the camp you're interested in.  Your friend can then go to the Gnome at the SRo wayfarer's camp and just give each aug to the gnome.  The gnome will say something like "Ok, you didn't like that, go buy something else" and will "refund" 100ap to your friend for each aug turned in like this.  When your friend is done turning in the augs, he can go to the merchant you were interested in, buy the item, and give it to you.  This works on FV, but not on normal rules servers.

8.6.2    What is the Adventurers Stone for and how do I get it to improve?

A:  You must get your Adventurers Stone (by following the instructions that you get when you hit level 15) before you can go on any LDoN missions, but you don't need to carry the Stone with you.  The Adventurer's Stone is also an augmentation for the Charm slot, which means you can attach it to an item worn in that slot.  If you don't own a charm, purchase a cheap one from one of the wayfarer's camps.  (If you're starting a new character, go through the Tutorial far enough to get and fully activate the Kobold Skull Charm; as of Fall 2005 it now has an augmentation slot as well.)  Use the "birdbath" to combine the charm and the stone.  The stats you earn upgrading your Adventurer's Stone work everywhere, even if you put it on a charm that only works in LDoN dungeons.

If you combine your Stone onto a charm and later get a better charm, you can destroy your old Stone and get a new one by talking to the NPC in the LDoN camp just like when you got the first.  The new Stone will reflect the stats you'd accumulated onto the old one.  [You might have to talk to those NPCs as well? I'm not sure; does anyone know?]

To update the stats on the Stone, hail the appropriate NPC after completing some number of successful missions in each camp.  The NPCs, and the number of wins needed before you can further improve your stone, are claimed to be as follows, though other claims state that you get "a new piece of information" every 2 wins and the stone improves after every 5 pieces of information (hence, every 10 wins).  In any event, these appear to be the NPCs involved:

Takish-Hiz: Deepest Guk: Mistmoore Catacombs: The Rujarkian Hills: Miragul's Menagerie: When you've reached the maximum level shown in each camp, the stone will grant +10 AC, +10 to all stats and resists, and +100 hp and +100 mana.

8.6.3    What are some general LDoN tips?

Be careful nobody stumbles into the dungeon zone-in before the group is ready to start (finished buffing, medding back to full mana, etc.).  It's not always obvious where the zone-in is, especially if it's someone's first time at a particular dungeon entrance.  Once anybody enters the dungeon, the timer starts counting down on the mission.

If someone has the Eye of Zomm spell, have them use it to scout ahead so the mobs can be lulled before the pull.  If no one in the party has Zomm then the puller can go to 3rd person view and slowly back up to the doorway.  Then they can see around the corners for adds to be lulled.

Make a hotkey for looting.  See question 8.3 for how to do this.  The looter should also be careful to have confirmations turned on for No Trade items (/lootnodrop always, which means always ask, not always loot!).  Though this means needing to confirm looting each goal item in a "collect" mission, it may save you from accidentally looting an Augmentation item that should have been awarded to someone else.  (Why the goal items themselves are No Trade is a mystery.)  Oh, and note that the command for setting confirmations is still /lootnodrop even though the term No Drop changed to No Trade.

The chests you find in a dungeon may have good treasure or fire off a useful magical effect, but they can also set off area effect poisons that affect nearly the entire dungeon.  Many groups don't feel it's worth the risk to try for the rare reward; some people would rather not try even if someone in the group has the appropriate skill or spell to disarm the trap.  You should at least discuss the matter before trying to disarm or open a chest.

9.     Glossary

9.1    Q: What abbreviations and jargon show up in the game?

There's a lot of terms and abbreviations you'll run into, too many to cover them all here, but I'll try to describe the ones that get asked about most often (since this is, after all, an FAQ).  Certainly if you see any jargon used in the FAQ itself and the term isn't explained here, let me know!  The terms here are grouped into categories rather than listed alphabetically.

Generic chat shorthand

Many of these terms are not specific to EverQuest, but show up in chat rooms, IM, and other places where people type messages to each other.  The terms are often used in lower-case but are shown here in upper-case for clarity.
AFK
away from keyboard (EQ even has an /afk command)
BRB
be right back ("afk for a soda, brb!")
BTW
by the way
JK
just kidding
NM
never mind
NP
no problem
THX, TNX, TY
thanks, or thank you
YW
you're welcome
MP
my pleasure
WTF
what the ...?
LOL
laughing out loud
ROFL
rolling on the floor laughing
LMAO
laughing my ass off (also, ROFLMAO = ROFL + LMAO)
FTW
for the win; usually preceded either by a key strategic element ("pet hold ftw!") or something accidental that happened to work ("proximity aggro ftw lol!")
K
short for OK (no, really!); also seen as "kk", this shorthand may have arisen because messages between players sometimes arrive with the last letter cut off, so "kk" may appear as "k" whereas "ok" could appear as "o"
GTG
good to go, i.e. ready; sometimes confusing because the same shorthand in a chat room or IM often means "got to go"
ATM
at the moment
OMW
on my way
WB
welcome back
PST
Please Send Tell, used when someone uses /ooc or /auction to ask for or offer something and wants responses via /tell rather than having the whole zone have to listen to the answers

Money and Economics

plat, pp
platinum pieces, the largest unit of EQ currency
WTB, WTS, WTT
want to buy / sell / trade

Monsters and Combat

These terms come up in lots of different contexts.  Several terms (e.g., mob, PvP) are used by players in other MMORPGs as well.
PC
player character
NPC
non-player character, especially one you might imagine talking to
mob
any monster or NPC (short for "mobile object")
PH, place holder
a mob that, if killed, sometimes reappears as a rarer mob
con, also /con
short for /consider (which by default is tied to the "C" key), refers to the "color rating" of the mob and how much it hates or likes you:  "What does that con to you?"  "Yellow and scowling."
faction
most mobs belong to one faction, and your standing with that faction can affect how the mobs react when you /con them
KOS
kill on sight, a /con of "scowling" or "threatening", such that the mob will attack you even if you don't attack it:  "I'm KOS to the guards at Cabilis"
gray, green, blue, LB, DB, white, yellow, red
the color portion of a /con, i.e. the mob's level relative to yours; the colors for many of the ranges changed in late 2006, so older web posts (and players) may still use "green" to refer to what is now gray, or LB (light blue) for what is now green, etc.
camp
as a verb, this can mean "to exit the game", but as a noun it refers to an area where a certain set of static mobs spawns, such that a group (or solo) can wait nearby and kill the same mobs over and over as they reappear (see discussion in Grouping 101 document); hence also a verb "to camp" a set of mobs, or to camp a rare mob by killing its "placeholder mobs" hoping the replacement will be the rare one
breaking a camp
killing all the mobs in a camp but spacing out the kills over time, so eventually the mobs respawn one at a time for easy killing
camp check
also "CC" (though less often since that also means crowd control), this means someone is asking which camps are claimed so they don't waste their time going somewhere that other people are hunting
pop
a mob suddenly appearing as the game world creates it; can be used to call attention to an anticipated respawning (often then called a "repop"), or to warn of a mob appearing amidst the group
aggro (also agro)
a mob becoming aggressive; this term is used in lots of ways: "aggro radius" is how close you can get before a mob notices you, "social aggro" is when a mob attacks because another similar mob nearby is attacking, "aggroing" a mob means to make it mad at you, "taking aggro" means getting a mob to smack you instead of someone else, etc.
rampage
a special extra attack some high level mobs get that attacks someone other than their current target (sometimes an AE vs multiple targets)
flurry
two extra attacks on a mob's current target, an ability of some mobs
riposte
an ability that (when it works) stops a melee attack from hitting and bestows an extra return strike against the attacker; the extra strike may still miss or be blocked (but not riposted)
enraged
a mob that is enraged automatically ripostes ALL melee attacks except those coming from behind it
train
lots of mobs chasing a player (who is usually running for the zone line); it's considered good form to shout a warning (or even to stop and let yourself be killed) if you think your train might run over other players
zone!
used as an exclamation, this is a warning that you should run across the boundary to the adjacent zone to avoid being killed (e.g., if your group is fighting near a zone line and too many mobs appear)
wipe
when your entire group dies, or a significant fraction of a raid
KS
kill-steal, killing a mob after someone else has aggroed it and they haven't asked for help, such that you get the experience and loot; doing this deliberately can cost you your EQ account
PvP
player-vs-player (see question 2.8.3)
hp
hit points
xp
experience points: "these DBs give good xp"

Spells in General

buff
a long-lasting beneficial spell, or the action of casting one (see the list of shorthands for oft-requested spells, below)
MGB
Mass Group Buff, a way of casting a buff on all players within a certain radius of the caster, often done by good samaritans in PoK
DD
direct damage, something that applies damage once and is done
DOT
damage over time, doing partial damage every 6 seconds
tick
6 seconds (1/10 of a minute), the unit of time for recurring effects such as DOTs and mana regeneration (i.e., mana regen +3 gives you an extra 3 mana recovery per tick, or 30 per minute)
DS
damage shield, a buff that does damage to anything that hits you
nuke
a big DD spell
AE, AOE
area effect (centered on a target, usually affecting at most 4)
PBAE
point blank area effect (all mobs near the caster)
HOT
heal over time
mez
mesmerize, the enchanter's specialty, and really annoying when a mob does it to you
mem
memorize one or more spells
FOM, LOM, OOM
full of mana, low on mana, out of mana
med / medding
meditating, when a caster sits to regain mana faster
wmp
when mana permits (a fighter who says "Need DS wmp" is being patient and polite, and is not calling the caster a wimp!)
group hug
the act of -- or a request for -- everyone in the group moving close to the caster or group leader, so that an incoming group buff, heal, or transport spell will include everyone (or the speaker could just be overly friendly); some players use the term "huddle" instead

Miscellany

[Ed:  If anyone can suggest ways to organise some of these into new or existing categories, please do!]
bubble
one-fifth of a mana bar, hp bar, or experience bar
ding
gained a level, as in "I just dinged 13!" (the proper response, no matter how trivial the level, is "Congratulations!" or something of the sort); this usually means a character level, but sometimes is used to refer to other skills:  "Ding! Tailoring 250!"  "Grats!"
ping
sometimes used to refer to gaining an Alternate Ability point
trumpet
used by some players to refer to any event where the game plays the trumpet fanfare (pinging an AA, completing a quest, etc.)
lag
lowered responsiveness of the game, caused by a combination of network speed, machine power, and how much stuff the game is trying to draw:  "Turn off all spell effects on a raid, it'll reduce lag"
LD
linkdead, lost the connection to the game server; this is what the game tells everyone else in your group when you're looking at a "You have been disconnected" screen
CR
corpse run (or corpse recovery), the act of finding your corpse so you can resurrect it (and, in olden days, recover your gear from it)
nerf
what SOE is said to do when they take a useful (though perhaps overpowered) feature of the game and make it useless:  "They nerfed that shark that was dropping a million plat"
twink
a character with equipment far above what is accessible to its level; it either got a lot of plat and bought gear in the Bazaar (a "bazaar twink") or a higher-level character, usually belonging to the same player, has supplied hand-me-downs ("twinked" it)
main
the highest level character a player has, or the one he plays most often (frequently these are the same thing, of course)
alt
other characters of the same player (i.e., other than the "main")
toon
character (short for "cartoon"); some people dislike the term
griefer
a player who deliberately causes trouble for other players, e.g. by leading trains of mobs to attack them, or tricking them into giving away hard-to-replace items, etc.; most forms of griefing can get the griefer's account banned, but only if a GM catches them in the act
cyber
to engage in "cybersex", which is role-playing a sexual encounter via private tells and emotes
FFA
free-for-all, usually referring to looting corpses, i.e., agreeing that anyone in the group can loot anything they want (often used if the group is mainly seeking XP or killing "trash mobs" en route to a larger target)
ninja looting
a form of griefing in which a player slips in without permission and loots a corpse killed by another group (once the timer has ticked down enough that the game allows it), or if a group member loots an item that was awarded to another member; some players also consider it ninja looting if one player is deliberately hogging all the loot in a FFA looting arrangement
loc?
"what's your location?" (type /loc and report the numbers)
mistell
Sending a message to the wrong person, e.g. by mixing up /gu and /g or misdirecting a /tell; telling someone "mistell" says your previous message wasn't intended for them; also seen as "MT" (which can also be Main Tank but context usually makes the meaning clear)
DPS
damage per second, i.e. how fast is a mob being smacked down
LDON
the Lost Dungeons of Norrath expansion, often used to refer to going on an "adventure" into one of the dungeons in that expansion
DON
the Dragons of Norrath expansion, often used to refer to a mission in that expansion (e.g., "Looking for a tank for a DON")
MM
a Monster Mission from the Depths of Darkhollow expansion
PoK
Place of Knowledge, a popular gathering spot because it is easy to reach from so many places; many other zones also have common abbreviations, but they're too plentiful to list here
disc
short for discipline, one of several spell-like abilities available to melee classes
lull / pacify
a spell or skill that prevents one or more mobs from aggroing on you while you drag off one of their friends
FD, feign
feign death, a skill/spell used by monks/necromancers/shadowknights
GM
either an NPC guildmaster, or a character run by a SOE representative
inc / incoming
the puller's report of what's being brought; a puller should have a hotkey for "/g incoming %T", or something more colorful but to the same point:  "/g %T followed me home, can I keep %o?"
RL, IRL
real life, in real life
kite
to get a mob to run after you, either for crowd control (keeping it busy while the group kills something else) or so something or someone else can kill it while it chases you; sometimes refers to getting the mob to flee from you (fear-kiting)
farming
repetitively collecting some form of resource at little or no risk; it could be as low level as a player farming spiderlings for silk, or as high level as a guild farming the Elemental Planes for gear
epic
the reward at the end of a particularly long quest; each class has available a different set of epic quests unique to that class
No Trade
an object that cannot be dropped, traded or sold; if you place a No Trade item inside a container, the container becomes No Trade until the item is removed (a frequent source of confusion)
Temporary
an item that will go away 30 minutes after the bearer logs out (if it's a container, it used to be that everything inside also went away, but early in 2005 this was changed so the container instead becomes a very heavy non-magical bag, so you don't lose the contents)
No Drop, No Rent
same as No Trade and Temporary; the latter terms were introduced in April 2005, but many old web sites, forums, and players still use the older terms, as do most in-game messages (e.g. if you try to put such an item into your shared bank, or try to loot a No Trade item with /lootnodrop [sic] set to "always confirm")
Lore
an item that no character can have more than one of (but if it's droppable -- i.e., not No Trade -- there can be one in your shared bank as well)
Attuneable
an item that will become No Trade the first time any character puts it on (you're asked to confirm doing so); attuneable augments, however, become No Trade when inserted into an item, even if you don't equip the item; you're asked to confirm inserting it but that confirmation doesn't warn you about the augment becoming attuned, so be careful!
Infusible
an item that gains (or loses) stats according to the item (if any) in your "power source" inventory slot; if you wear more than one infusible item the stats are modified for each, so the difference can be significant (but drains the power source faster)
Purity
an attribute of an infusible item that indicates what percentage of the modifiers the item inherits from your power source
PL
power level, usually by having a high level character provide buffs, healing and other aid to accelerate a low level's progress
runner
a mob that's trying to run away from you, especially if there's a risk it'll attract attention from other mobs
warp
sudden change of location, particularly referring to a mob that gets stuck trying to chase you and suddenly appears in your face
LFG
looking for a group
LFA
looking for an LDON adventure
LFE
looking for an OOW expedition
LFM
looking for a DON mission; can also mean "looking for more" when a partial group needs more members for whatever it's aiming to do

Commonly requested spells

In crowded places (especially PoK) you'll often hear people asking for and/or offering buffs and other spells.  Here are some of the most common ones:
KEI
Koadic's Endless Intellect: adds INT, WIS, and mana regen, but the target has to be level 45 or higher
Clarity
adds mana regen, not as much as KEI but it can be cast on characters of any level (and can be learned at lower levels, too)
C1, C2, etc.
C1 is Clarity; C2 is Clarity II, which gives a bit more mana regen but only works on characters level 41 or higher; C3 is another name for KEI, and C4 etc. refer to still higher-level spells
SOW
Spirit of the Wolf, increases your running speed
Temp
Temperance, adds a lot of HP and AC
V
Virtue, adds even more HP/AC, but works only on levels 46 and up
HOV
Hand of Virtue, group version of Virtue for levels 47 and up
Kitty Crack
Spiritual Light, a beastlord spell that gives HP and mana regen to an entire group
Port
Transport: druids and wizards can transport other characters to many locations, so you may see someone asking for a "port to Iceclad" or other similar requests (often using abbreviated destination names)
rez
resurrection, a spell that restores you to wherever your corpse is and (at higher levels of the spell) returns some fraction of the experience lost when you died
Here are some other spells that come up often in discussions, especially of raid tactics:
CH
Complete Heal (which heals 7500 hp but takes 10 seconds to cast)
COTH
Call of the Hero: a magician spell that transports a groupmate to the mage from anywhere else in the same zone
Evac
A group port, which might be to certain zones that don't have normal group ports, or might be to the zone line; under calm circumstances, this is simply a transportation mode, though even with a "group hug" the spell line has a chance of leaving some people behind, and you'll definitely get left if you are running Divine Aura or Harmshield
EVAC!
as an exclamation, this refers to the use of an evac, almost always to the current zone's "succor point", to escape impending disaster; used by the porter, it is a call for a group hug, and to go to all lengths to keep aggro off the caster so the spell can go off; used by others, it is a call for the porter to cast her evac spell; used in a group with no porter, it is a call to make out your will (see "rez")

Roles in a group

These terms are described in more detail in the discussion on grouping, at http://www.icynic.com/~don/EQ/grouping101.htm.
Puller
The person who goes out and gets mobs (hopefully in manageable numbers) to follow him back to the group to be killed
MA
Main Assist, the person that tells everyone else what to kill
MT
Main Tank, the person whom you try and get a mob to hit (sometimes also used as shorthand for "mistell")
ST
Secondary Tank, backup for MT if stuff happens
SA
Secondary Assist, backup for MA if MA goes down or MA misses something
CC
Crowd Control, keeping extra mobs busy (rooted, mezzed, chasing someone around, whatever) while the group focuses on the MA's target
OT
Off Tank, person who is tanking a mob that the main force is not trying to kill at the moment; off-tanking is a form of crowd control
DPS
someone whose role it is to do lots of DPS (see above)
ML
Main Looter, the person who loots all cash and droppable items for later division (see question 3.24)
9.2    Q: What other abbreviations and jargon show up in the newsgroup?

Though some of these terms sometimes come up in game, they tend to be seen more often in the newsgroup.
AC
Asheron's Call, another online fantasy role-playing game
AGE
alt.games.everquest
CIHYS
Can I Have Your Stuff; made in response to an "I quit EQ" post
CoH
City of Heroes, a super hero comic online role-playing game
EQ
EverQuest (also called EQ Live or EQL, esp. to contrast with EQ II)
EQII, EQ2
EverQuest II
LOTRO
Lord of the Rings Online, a MMORPG set within Tolkien's books
MMORPG
Massively Multi-player Online Role-Playing Game
NG
News Group
OP
original poster (the person who began the discussion topic)
OT
Off Topic
PLONK
Please Leave Our Newsgroup - Killfiled; a claim that your posts will be ignored from now on
PvE
Player vs. Environment combat; i.e., you vs. the game
PvP
Player vs. Player combat
RPG
Role Playing Game
SOE
Sony Online Entertainment, the people that bring us EQ
SWG
Star Wars Galaxies, another MMORPG
UO
Ultima Online, another MMORPG
Vanguard, VSoH
Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, another MMORPG
WoW
World of Warcraft, another MMORPG

10.    Useful Links

Official EQ home page:
    http://www.everquest.com
Official EQ information site (news, status, forums, etc.):
    http://eqlive.station.sony.com/library/faqs/faq_index.jsp

For information on a wide range of topics including character creation, quests, zones, maps, classes and equipment, check out: Maps: About maps:  If you have the Legacy of Ykesha expansion it is a real good idea to get all the maps from mapfiend and load them in your EverQuest maps folder.  EverQuest is a HUGE game with over 200 zones; in game maps help you to get around.  Here are a couple map tips: EverQuest Terms Glossary (from year 2000 but still has some use):
    http://web.archive.org/web/20030604092025/http://amtgard.pinkpig.com/everquest/eqglossary.htm

Tradeskills:
    http://www.eqtraders.com (general)
    http://plurpage.com/everquest/aug.php (OOW Augmentation Generator)

Factions:
    http://eqbeastiary.allakhazam.com/factionlist.html
    http://tinyurl.com/3mgkl (Anezka's guide for Iksar)

Odds and Ends:
    http://home.stny.rr.com/jazzmanian/wedding.html (the Wedding FAQ)
    http://tinyurl.com/269yf (a grouping FAQ by John M. Clancy)
    http://cloud.prohosting.com/~talone/HasteData.htm (Compendium of Haste)
    http://www.cardplace.com/eq/ldon/list.cgi (LDoN Merchant Sorting Script)
    http://www.phantomraiders.org/members/data/ldonvendor.htm (LDoN items)
    http://plurpage.com/everquest/original/don.php (DoN merchant search)

For specific class information, check the forums and other material at these sites (last verified as of mid-2007):

Bard:
    http://www.eqdiva.com/
Beastlord:
    http://www.beastlords.org/
Berserker:
    http://www.goberserker.com/
Cleric:
    http://www.eqcleric.com/
    http://www.eqclerics.org/forums/index.php
    http://membres.lycos.fr/niphreedil/aa.htm (Cleric Alternate Abilities)
Druid:
    http://www.thedruidsgrove.org/eq/
Enchanter:
    http://www.therunes.net
Magician:
    http://eq1.eqsummoners.com/
Monk:
    http://www.monkly-business.net/
Necromancer:
    http://www.necrotalk.com/
Paladin:
    http://crucible.samanna.net/
Ranger:
    http://www.eqoutrider.com/
    http://forums.interealms.com/ranger/
Rogue:
    http://www.thesafehouse.org/
Shadowknight:
    http://www.evilgamer.net/
Shaman:
    http://crucible.samanna.net/
Warrior:
    http://www.thesteelwarrior.org/
Wizard:
    http://www.graffe.com/

For where to hunt at a particular level/class/race (see section 3.13):
    http://www.eqatlas.com/huntguidelevel.html
    http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/zlvlchart.html

Server Community Forums

There used to be official per-server community Forums as part of the Sony forums, but those seem to be gone. Many servers have unofficial forums; here are links to several.  (These have not been verified recently.)  Note that the Zek forums are still named for the individual server communities that got merged to form the current Zek.  Likewise, many of these links are for servers that were merged during April/May 2005, but the forums for the individual original servers may well still be active.
Antonius Bayle
http://www.antonius-bayle.org/forum/
Ayonae Ro
http://forums.ayonae.ro
Bertoxxulous
http://www.berthall.com/forums/
Brell Serilis
http://www.brellrants.net/brell/
Bristlebane
http://www.bristlebane.com/forum/
Cazic Thule
http://cazic-thule.net/forums/index.php
Drinal
http://pub40.ezboard.com/bdrinal28133
Druzzil Ro (need registration to see)
http://www.druzzilro.com/board/vbindex.php
E'ci
http://eci.ofasoft.com/
Erollisi Marr
http://www.erollisimarr.com/forum/
Fennin Ro
http://pub247.ezboard.com/ffenninrochroniclesfrm8
Firiona Vie
http://pub94.ezboard.com/bfirionavie
Innoruuk
http://pub142.ezboard.com/binnoruukserver
Kane Bayle
http://pub34.ezboard.com/bkanebayleforums
Karana
http://pub76.ezboard.com/bkarana89215
Lanys T'vyl
http://pub130.ezboard.com/beqasylum
Luclin
http://pub106.ezboard.com/bluclin71335
Mithaniel Marr
http://www.mmdn.org/HOME/modules.php?op=modload&name=PNphpBB2&file=index
Morrell Thule
http://pub169.ezboard.com/bmtboards
Morden Rasp
http://pub119.ezboard.com/bmordenrasp80173
Povar
http://pub23.ezboard.com/bpovarservermessageboard
Prexus
http://pub140.ezboard.com/bprexus81531
Quellious
http://pub54.ezboard.com/bquelliousquaterstherebirth
Rallos Zek
http://www.ralloszek.net/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?Cat=0
Rodcet Nife:
http://vnboards.ign.com/board.asp?brd=5024
Saryrn
http://pub40.ezboard.com/bthesaryrntavern
Solusek Ro (must register to access)
http://www.solusekro.com/eq/news.asp
Stormhammer (Legends)
http://www.stormhammer.org/forums/
Tallon Zek
http://tallonzektimes.org/bb/index.php
Terris Thule
http://pub19.ezboard.com/bterristhuleserverboard
Test Server
http://www.l33tgeek.com/testserver/index.php
The Nameless
http://www.namelesstavern.org/phpBB2/index.php
The Rathe
http://www.rathetravelagency.com/phpbb
The Seventh Hammer
http://pub148.ezboard.com/b7thhammer
The Tribunal
http://pub101.ezboard.com/bthetribunaldotorg
Tholuxe Paells
http://pub222.ezboard.com/bsacredomen
Torvonnilous
http://pub173.ezboard.com/btorvboard
Tunare
http://pub13.ezboard.com/btunare
Vallon Zek (must register)
http://pwned.inf7.net
Vazaelle
http://pub41.ezboard.com/bvazaellecommunitycenter
Veeshan
http://veeshanvault.org/forums/
Venril Sathir
http://www.venrilsathir.com
Xev:
http://pub228.ezboard.com/bxevserverboards
Zebuxoruk
http://www.zebuxoruk.com/phpbb/
EverQuest II Links:
    http://everquest2.station.sony.com/ (Official Website)
    http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2 (Official Forums)
    http://www.eqii.com/phpbb/index.php (esp. check out the Moorgard index)

11.    Comical Links and More

EverQuest Comics:
    http://www.wtfcomics.com/index.html (WTF Comics)
    http://www.gucomics.com/ (Woody's GU Comics)
    http://www.ne.jp/asahi/robin/zander/translationmainframe.htm (Under the Sky of Norrath)

    http://www.foxeye-art.com/ (AGE member art site with some EQ-related art)
EverQuest Parody Video:
    http://home.att.ne.jp/surf/mirage/agent_sinzan_2.html (Celestial Healing chain)

Sayonara Norrath (a long-time player's farewell video):
    http://home.att.ne.jp/surf/mirage/sayonara_norrath3.html

Funny EverQuest Stories & Stuff:
    http://ancarett.com/eqhumour.html (well worth the trip)
    http://www.geocities.com/zinphandelchianti/burnedwoods.txt (more on the Burned Woods story)
    http://www.notacult.com/fansythefamous.htm (Fansy the Famous Bard)
    http://pub148.ezboard.com/f7thhammerfrm24.showMessage?topicID=6.topic (Linvarwen, 7th Hammer's Favorite Son)
    http://web.archive.org/web/20051231092415/http://www.somethingawful.com/eq/newbieguide/ (Funny Guide for Newbies, now available only via archive site)

Stories from the Top:
    http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Nebula/8828/monual/ (The Fantastic Adventures of Monual)