With the opening of the new Lockjaw progression server, life on Ragefire settled down enough for me to log in at prime time, and even find, eventually, all the moss snakes (who no longer seem to kick much, darn it) and black wolves I could want to destroy. After an hour of grinding, and thanks to a buff cast on me by a passing cleric, I made it a little bit into level 2. Couldn't afford any upgrades… couldn't afford to craft, either.
I don't know why grinding didn't bother me as much back in 1999… but of course, I only did the grind once. Once my first "real" character, Etha the druid, got going, every character since started off with the best gear I could find or craft. I'd have all my new characters in at least Sol Ro quest armor or Sol B stuff (I spent lots of time in Sol B).
Soooo… instead of working on a rogue (I explained earlier, she was my sixth character in the original, classic EQ), I should be working on an effective solo class, like a druid or a ranger. Recap what I did before I fell into my first guild, United Norrath Coalition, somewhere around level 20, and actually had other people to group with on a regular basis.
But then… well… haven't I done all this before? I spent eight years in EverQuest. What exactly is doing it all over going to accomplish? I dunno.
It’s not about accomplishing anything. It’s about pure fun. I can’t see any other reason to be playing on Ragefire right now.
As for money, I can’t speak for Misty Thicket but if you run to Freeport and start hunting in the trees and the edge of the sand of North Ro you’ll find level 2 aardvarks. No-one hunts aardvarks. You probably remember like I do when aardvarks were one of the few mobs that had no loot table at all. Nothing. No drops.
Well that changed a long time ago. Now aardvarks have two, maybe three, stackable drops that sell for 1g9s to the weird Noble vendor nearby who is Ally faction to, I think, everyone. Hunt those aardvarks for an hour and you’ll have enough money to buy your spells for many levels ahead.
That is some great advice about ‘dillos. I used to hunt those occasionally because a super rare named armadillo would sometimes appear. I can’t remember what it dropped. Something which wouldn’t be useful these days, I’m sure. Gonna head there now 🙂