EQ2 Etiquette

Tips for keeping the new Norrath a fun
place to play!

Ok, so no one likes
being told what to do.  However, there are "rules" we conform to
everyday, paradigms for good behavior we hardly think about, to keep
ourselves and others safe and happy.  We stop at stop lights, we
don't touch hot stoves, we don't give
little children sharp objects.



Norrath is a society like any other. 
We're dependent on each other's goodwill and alertness at every turn,
whether you're fighting orange mobs waiting on a heal, crafting a
complex item for profit that requires reasonably-priced components from
other artisans, or just trying to find Hwal
Rucksiff to complete a backpack quest! And everyone
has a significant amount of time invested. Why ruin the experience for
someone else? The developers of EQ2 have worked very hard, and to my
mind - with a great deal of success, to limit the zero-sum nature ("I
win only because you lose") in EQ2 so prevalent in previous class="SpellE">MMORPGs.  For example, "kill-stealing"
(maliciously attacking a mob a non-groupmate
is attacking simply to steal the experience and loot) is a thing of the
past thanks to locked "encounters" in which no un-allied player can
engage your target.



However, there's only so much the devs can
do to reinforce good behavior.  Remember, you have a reputation
which people do remember (especially at the early and later
stages of the
game). More than once, a potential groupmate
of mine has been turned down by other group members because a negative
experience in the past.

Thanks to Jimbob,
Freup, Slidevec, Winstar, and Felklaw for their contributions to the
TTH EQ2 Etiquette forum, which I've gratefully reprinted in this
guide.  Please href="http://eq2.tentonhammer.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewforum&f=23">visit
the Etiquette forum and post your suggestions too!

Here's a few suggestions to beginning
players on how to keep your rep strong, both for you and those you're
fighting (and crafting) alongside:

Chatting while LFG, Solo, or About-Town:

Use /shout sparingly

Shout messages are
eye-catching for a reason, they're meant to provide urgent information
to everyone in the zone.  One example where /shout is appropriate
is if a high-level aggressive mob has spawned or been "pulled" into a
well-trafficed area.  If you use
/shout to announce that you're looking for a group (LFG), you're more
likely to get responses if you allow others a chance (a few minutes) to
respond to you before you /shout LFG again.  Others looking for a
group may need to finish a fight before they can respond to you. 
Abuse /shout or /ooc and you're likely to get some pointed comments
about spamming.

Try before you ask!

The most common
questions in the lower level adventuring zones can usually be solved by
reading the manual, flipping through EQ2 forums, hanging out at
websites like eq2.tentonhammer.com :) or just plain old trial and
error.  If you come up with something, great! If not, anyone you
ask (that might know) is more likely to share what they know if you
seem capable and receptive (and show a fundamental respect for their
time, it's likely that you're not the only person hanging from their
coattails, so to speak).

Take it to tells
(or guildchat)!

Most of the time,
you'll get a great answer if you 1) take the time to find someone who
might know and probably isn't overwhelmed at the moment (e.g. have a
fighter hallmark question and you want to become a brawler? Type /who
all brawler, then find someone in a non-adventure (city) zone) 2) be
polite, /tell and ask if they have a moment to answer a question, 3)
thank them even if they can't provide any information (sometimes they
know someone else who might know, but they likely won't check unless
you mind your manners).  Guildchat is
a faster option: presumably someone asked you into the guild which (in
a good guild) means you have tacit permission to tap the guild
(politely and without nagging) for information.

When harvesting, avoid node-stealing, and (in
city-adventure zones) fish to replenish nodes you've harvested.

While opinions differ
about the etiquette of harvesting from a node (a node is a special
object that you can harvest materials from, like roots, gardens, ore,
critter dens, etc.) while someone else is also harvesting from that
same node (thereby reducing the number of chances to harvest from that
node), at least know that other players can take serious umbrage if you
attempt the action.  Harvesting undoubtedly takes plenty of
patience, but nodes are fairly common, so why not let a fellow
harvester empty out the node he/she is working on?  Also, in the
smaller city-adventure zones, harvest from fishing nodes every now and
then to replenish other node types.  Each zone has a set amount of
nodes that are available at one time, and there's no ratio of one type
of node to another.  So if everyone in The Forest Ruins is chasing
down gathering, mining, and wood-gathering nodes, it’s easy to see how
before long the pond will be teeming with shoals of fish (and no other
nodes in sight).

Use CAPS (capital letters) sparingly

This is the text
equivalent of yelling, and should be reserved for situations where
politeness must yield to immediate action.  And while there might
be instances while grouping and raiding that this occurs, there's
really no place for it solo.

Just /ignore, don't catfight

Disagreements will
arise, and its better to walk away when a
healthy argument resorts to name-calling or any other kind of
nastiness.  If the /tells keep coming, /ignore the player in
question, and set out to redeem the time they've wasted.

Begging is THE fastest way to get  onto an ignore list

That, and it's really
lame.  Everyone has an opportunity to go out, kill mobs, sell
stuff, and make some money, so why would you think you deserve a little
something of someone else's hard-earned stash.  Be grateful when
someone offers you something, offer stuff you don't need to others, and
chances are you'll come out ahead! (Thanks
Jimbob of Oggok!)

The Marketplace (Buying and Selling):

Use /auction for selling items, not / class="SpellE">ooc or /shout

Use the auction
channel so that people not interested in buying or selling (or who are
broke like me and don't want to be tempted to sell the breastplate off
their back) can simply block it.

Don't attempt price-gouging.

Until the server
economy reaches an equilibrium, pricing
will fluctuate drastically simply because there's not much of a player
market for items yet.  The rule used to be market-forbearance (or
simply, charge what you can get), but due to many factors (exploits,
the ability to buy EQ2 money using real-world money, etc.) the model
really doesn't apply.  Much better to charge what
items are worth to a merchant, multiplied by a factor of 3 to 5 times
based upon their relative availability and the time you spent getting
it, and no more.  Otherwise you're keeping the common adventurer
and crafter out of the market. 

Grouping:

Never /invite to a group without a /tell
describing the group beforehand

To build a worthwhile
group, you should make your objectives clear to a potential class="SpellE">groupmate.  Information like the level and
class of players already in the group, where and what you'd like to
fight, and whether or not the group is intended to fulfill quest steps
that might not be available to everyone in the group (quite simply, is
it for xp or quest); this information is
entitled to a groupmate so they can make
an informed decision about whether or not to group with you. 
Remember, they're not just a tool to fulfill your purposes, you're
asking for their time, experience and abilities for the good of the
whole group.  Time is the one resource no one can get back, so
they (and you) deserve to be rewarded for it, with experience, loot, or
just warm fuzzies that come from helping
out a friend.  No one gets warm fuzzies
from helping out someone entirely self-concerned who
pulls a classic bait-and-switch tactic, though.

On a related point,
only get into a group when a) you can spend a decent amount of time
with the group, and b) you have the patience to complete other
groupmate's objectives too.  It's pretty ugly when someone joins
the group just to get their
level, or just to get their
objective.  They helped you get yours, so help them get theirs! ( style="font-style: italic;">Thanks Jimbob of Oggok for this insight!)

Know your role!

Nothing is more
frustrating than an off-tank that won't stop taunting, a mage that
nukes mezzed mobs, or two class="SpellE">groupmates pulling different mobs at once.
Actively learn your function within the group and save any risky,
aggressive tactics for when you only have your own debt to build!

Go AFK (away from keyboard) in a safe place,
and only after someone else acknowledges.

If the healer just
went on a bio-break, it’s a bad time to pull an orange con!  If
its at all possible, limit the AFK time, choosing periods during which
the entire group is resting,  and make
sure at least one other person knows you're going.

Don't wander off!

It's really important
to stick to your group like white on minute
rice.  In dangerous areas, nothing's more aggravating than lolling
along then seeing the HO icon pop, a squishy's health go from green to
dark red and purple, followed by a "HELP!" message much too late, only
to find that this particular groupmate went wandering off taking a
"quick look" around for a quest update mob.  Next, twenty minutes
is spent sans real progress fighting your way to the downed mate,
rezzing and healing him, and fighting your way back.  Stay
together! (Thanks Freup and Slidevec,
both of Oggok, for this hint!)

Avoid Named-Mob Kill-Stealing

If a group is
obviously camping a spawn area for a very rare mob, come back
later.  In EQ2, there are mobs that are on timers in excess of 10
hours (and probably a LOT longer too), and whatever your feelings on
camping... you wouldn't want some maverick tank to run through and grab
your NM right before you can engage it.  If you do gain NM mob
aggro at a camp by accident, do the right thing: /yell and run to break
the encounter! (Thanks Jimbob of
Oggok!)

Pull smart, and remember to rest sometimes.

If you're doing the
dirty work of pulling, keep the rest of your group in mind.  The
group should develop a tempo for pulling over time, and the key
ingredient is patience.  Difficult mobs cannot be efficiently
slain if mages and priests are constantly low on power at the start of
the fight.  A good rule of thumb is to wait till the main healer
has 4 blue bars of mana before going out to pull a difficult mob. Also,
if you need to rest, be sure to ask.  Use spells (slowing spells
if available) and archery to minimize the damage you take away from the
group, and avoid making the healer use large, mana-consumptive heals at
the start of the battle. Make sure you have a clear path back to the
group too; you don't want to bring along any strangers to the party.

A word of advice on
pulling: you will build more experience over time if you pull mobs that
can be killed and recovered from quickly than if you pull monster reds
that occasionally result in death, and always ends in a close
call.  Better in the main to find mobs that provide a comfortable
level of experience for everyone concerned, for its likely that aggro
mobs, pops, etc. will be enough to keep life interesting.  If for
example a named mob wanders by,  let the group decide together if
the risk justifies the potential rewards.

Let the MT gain aggro before using high damage
spells and abilities

The tank's job is to
keep him- or herself the object of the mob's
fury.  The tank should have the highest AC value, meaning he's
taking the least amount of damage per hit than anyone else in the
group, and in this manner the healers can concentrate their most
efficient heals on just one groupmate.  It works out all the way
around, unless some poor scout or mage tries to open up a can of
smackdown too soon.  In the early twenties, some mobs can dissect
a lightly armored groupmate in two or three hits, so its important to
let the tank gain the mobs' complete attention.  A good rule of
thumb: let the mobs' health bar turn yellow before digging into your
bag of tricks.

RUN when someone says run, or when you're
battle-rezz'd  in a hopeless fight

 

Death happens!

Things go wrong
sometimes when you're soloing, so it’s no surprise that things can go very
wrong when grouping with others.  The best thing you can do if
someone gets killed is to get them resurrected (or meet them in a safe
place if they must revive), determine if there's anything that can be
done to prevent history from repeating itself, and work together to pay
off the experience debt.  Please keep things positive, and
admit to it if you've made a mistake.  You'll feel better, for one
thing, and the group is more likely to truly forgive you if you prove
that you don't make the same mistakes twice.  I've watched
blame-fests and backbiting /tells to
"allies" break down quite a few decent groups, even among class="SpellE">guildmates.  Such actions break down
the teamwork you need to group effectively.

Also, if a rez isn't
possible, please don't attempt
to get your own shard alone unless it's in a style="font-style: italic;">very safe place.  You'll be in
a weakened state without your shard, and it might be best to meet up
with a tank and healer at the very least to get your shard out from
under an aggro mob.  If this isn't possible, develop a tactic for
pulling the mob far away so that the shard can be recovered.  ( style="font-style: italic;">Thanks Felklaw of Oggok for this
suggestion!)

You'll be remembered by how you leave

Disbanding in
frustration after a wipe (a wipe occurs when the entire group is
killed) may feel good short term, but you won't build much trust or
affection on the part of your groupmates,
who are forced to work their way back to their shards without
you.  On the flip-side, finding a suitable replacement for
yourself when you leave a long-duration group is the height of
class.  If the group makes a mutual break, wish everyone
well.  The groupmates you impress
today might be your guildmates and
long-term grouping companions starting tomorrow.

These are just a few suggestions on how to ensure a more pleasant
experience in Everquest 2.  Have
something that you'd like to see in this guide? Please post it in our href="http://eq2.tentonhammer.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewforum&f=23">EQ2
Etiquette Guide forum

Here's to a kinder, gentler Norrath this
time around!

_______________________

Ethec, Templar

Officer of the honorable guild Ten Ton Hammer

Oggok Server, Qeynos

Contact me!