Getting Started

This guide is for playing on the official TAKP server.

Creating Your Account

• NOTE: You must only create 1 forum account. You can create up to 10 game accounts under your forum account, but you must not create more than 1 forum account. If this is detected, the extra forum accounts will be deleted and access to any game accounts associated with them will be lost. Also, please name your forum and game accounts carefully as these cannot be changed or deleted after creation. Read the forum FAQ and Rules for more information here.

1. Create a forum account at The Al'Kabor Project Forums. Game accounts are linked to forum accounts, so a forum account is required. If you have issues logging in, please mention in the TAKP server's Discord staff_help channel.
2. Create your game accounts by clicking Game Accounts at the top of the page.
3. Click "Create Login Server Account" and create a game account. Your forum account may have up to 10 game accounts, but you are limited to having three game accounts +1 trader account simultaneously logged in. Also note, your forum and game accounts are not linked to your wiki login in any way. You don't need a wiki account to read or edit wiki pages, although it is preferred if you choose to edit pages.

• NOTE: Some GMAIL users have reported not receiving the email verification or password reset verification emails from the TAKP website. Please follow these steps as this might fix the issue.

1. Go to the Gmail client via browser
2. Go to SETTINGS on the upper right (small cogwheel)
3. Select CONFIGURE INBOX
4. Place a check beside all the tabs (Primary, Social, Promotions, Updates and Forums )
5. SAVE
6. Reload/Refresh the page and search for any variation of TAKP

• Read the Rules

Please read the rules outlined in this forum before creating characters: https://www.takproject.net/forums/index.php?forums/server-info.90/
Don't cry if you eat a ban for doing something not acceptable on the server. Of note is automation is not allowed except to raise casting skills, foraging (skillups only), and archery (and do so in unpopulated areas such as starting cities, not PoK, try not to annoy others).

• Consider your Trio's character names!

Please realize that if you want to name your trio something like MrBig, Mrbigger, Mrbiggest, it will be an absolute pain in the keister for targeting reasons. You would have to pretty much type out their full names to use the /target <character_name> command. This really comes into play later if and when you decide to raid etc... Just don't do it, make some unique names for each of your toons.

Obtaining and Running the Client

TAKP's client is from the December 2002 era. This is the actual client used in the era TAKP is emulating, and the oldest client in use for any emulated server. Please familiarize yourself with the differences (as there may be some deal breakers for you) on this page http://wiki.takp.info/index.php?title=Server_Comparison

This server has both a Windows and Macintosh client available. This is broken out onto different pages listed below for simplicity. Setup and a lot of troubleshooting would obviously be different on a PC than a Mac. The Linux setup is essentially just running the PC client on Wine, so most of the PC section would apply there.

Getting Started on Windows

Getting Started on Mac (Intel based)

Getting Started on Mac (PPC based) - Use at your own risk, has issues

Getting Started all Linux Versions

Setting up your Trader

For those not familiar, EQ of our era allows you to use a character or characters to act as merchants to sell your wares. This is possible only in the Bazaar zone. Purchase some trader satchels and any item you place in them can have a price set on it and sold while you're afk. You access the merchant window by typing /trader. You can search other's wares by typing /bazaar.

You can create a game account to use as a dedicated trader account. This account will only be usable as a trader, and once you create a character in the account, it will spawn in the Bazaar instead of its usual newbie area. You also cannot undo the trader account flag once there are characters on it. To set up the Trader:

1. Create an account in Game Accounts
2. Log into your account but do not create a character
3. Refresh the Game Accounts page (to load your login history)
4. In the summary at the top with your Forum name, click "Set Trader"
5. Read and understand the disclaimer!
   • You can't change trader accounts once set.
   • GMs will NOT change this for you if you change your mind.
   • All characters on selected account will NOT gain XP
   • Characters CAN NOT be moved in or out of selected account.
   • You have been warned.
6. Click OK
7. Under the "Set Trader" link a menu will show the accounts available to set as Trader
8. Click the account you want to set as Trader
9. The warning shows again
   • You can't change trader accounts once set.
   • GMs will NOT change this for you if you change your mind.
   • All characters on selected account will NOT gain XP
   • Characters CAN NOT be moved in or out of selected account.
   • You have been warned.
10. Click OK
11. The popup will show "Trader toggled for <accountname>"
12. Click OK
13. Log in and create your Trader character!

Item pricing is saved in your EQ folder in BZR_CharacterName_loginse.ini files. So keep this in mind if you ever need to transfer bazaar pricing to another computer, folder, or character.

Troubleshooting: Some have reported that they cannot switch an empty account to a trader account. A possible work around is to create a character on the account, log the character into the world, then log out. Delete the character and then try to toggle the trader switch again on that account.

Choosing a Character

The character you choose to play will dramatically effect the way you play the game of Everquest. Many people have picked a class for the wrong reasons, and after investing days of playing time into the character, realize that they would have rather chosen something else. 

Here are 5 tips to help you decide what role your character will play in the story of Everquest.

1. Read the class guides: There are many, many sites on the internet dedicated to explaining how different classes work. For the most part, they are adequate guides to the basics of each class. Unfortunately, many of these guides are outdated, and some contain misleading information on what a particular class actually does in the game. The short guides are designed so new players can understand exactly what the characters can do in the game. Worrying about how many points to put into Stamina can come later...
2. Focus on the reality of the class: Roleplaying is an exciting part of playing EQ. Playing a fantasy character and interacting with other people is why the game of Everquest has lasted as long as it has. That being said, don't pick your class based on what you imagine that class should be based on other fantasy worlds.¹
3. Read what people playing the class have to say about it: Every class has one or more web sites dedicated to the class. When you decided what class you want to play, its a good idea to see how other people are enjoying it.
4. Don't try to be the best, and don't be afraid to be the worst: A common question that many new players ask is "What class is the most powerful." This changes almost day to day, level to level. Different classes are powerful in different situations. If you pick your class solely because you believe that you can level it up the fastest or easiest... then why play the class in the first place? Pick your class because you think you'll enjoy playing it in the game, not because a website thinks that a certain class is the best.²
5. FINALLY, pick your race and statistics: Maybe you already have your race in mind. If so, that's the race that you should play. Some races do have some natural tradeoffs, however. Starting stats are not that important. While an Ogre Warrior may have an advantage over the Gnome Warrior, you'll quickly obtain equipment that makes this differences negligable. Every class page has a "quick and dirty" guide to assigning your stats, but you can feel confident that your character won't be harmed by any mistakes you make at the beginning.³

Notes:

1. Decide on the way you want to play the game, and base your character around it. If you decide you want to play a melee character, you can then decide whether or not to play the gruff Dwarven Warrior, the evil Ogre Shadow Knight, or the heroic Human Paladin. If you decide you want to help support and heal your comrades, you can take the role of a Cleric of Marr the Truthbringer, a solitary Druid, or an evil Iksar Shaman of Cazic-Thule, Lord of Fear.
2. A strong word of warning though, a great deal of the discussion is centered around problems or issues that present themselves at the highest levels of the game, and not every discussion is valid. For every Paladin that doesn't think their class is powerful enough, there are 100 who are having a great time playing theirs.
3. From the first day Everquest went online, there has always been a few vocal groups of people who claim their class is the worst. They claim that the class is not wanted in groups, or that the class is "useless" in certain situations. This has never been true. No matter what class you pick, in different situations you'll find yourself at a disadvantage compared to another class. Its part of the game. The next day, the same person you were jealous of may be wishing they were YOUR class.

Binding Rules

First of all, there are some basic rules as to who can be bound and where. All the caster classes eventually get the ability to Bind Affinity (or bind for short) themselves and other people. Melee classes never get this ability, nor are there any items that will allow you to do it. There was once an item, called the Locket of Escape, that had one charge of Bind Affinity, but this stopped dropping before AK went live, so it does not exist on TAKP. This ability is now purely within the caster's realm.

Exactly where a caster can bind themselves depends on what area of the game we're talking about. In the area of the original game (i.e. Antonica, Faydwer, and Odus) a caster can bind themself anywhere, inside or out. In Kunark, Velious, and Luclin however, they are only able to bind themselves in outdoor areas, and can not bind themselves in dungeons.

Melee classes can only be bound inside of "city" areas. In the original game, this is defined as only cities. In Kunark there are some areas that count as cities that are also dungeons to hunt in. Also, a person can be bound in several areas that are outside as well. Note that in Kunark, there are two areas to be bound in, one is safe for good races and the other safe for evil races. The iksar can also be bound inside Cabilis, which is safe for nobody else.

There are also now Soulbinders, which can be found in every starting city as well as in Firiona Vie outpost and in Iceclad Ocean on the docks that will bind you there for free. This is helpful for melee classes so that they don't have to wait to be bound by a caster. Their locations are noted on the individual town maps.

Binding others / melee Table
Continent	Zone	Bind Location (# on main map)
Antonica	The Arena	Anywhere in zone
	Freeport
	Grobb
	Halas
	High Keep
	Highpass Hold
	Neriak
	Northern Plains of Karana	Gypsy Camp (#6)
	Oggok	Anywhere in zone
	Qeynos
	Rivervale
	Surefall Glade
	Faydwer
	Ak'Anon
	Felwithe
	Greater Faydark
Odus	Erudin
	Paineel
Kunark	Cabilis (Iksar only*)
	City of Mist
	The Field of Bone	Ruins of Kaesora (#6)
	Firiona Vie (Good only*)	The Docks (#11)
	Frontier Mountains	Empty Ruins (#6)
	The Overthere (Evil only*)	Evil Outpost (#1-4, behind the walls)
	* Characters of other groups can bind in these areas with great difficulty.
Velious	Kael Drakkal	Only near entrances
	Iceclad Ocean	On dock (#1)
	Icewell Keep	Anywhere in zone
	Skyshrine
	Thurgadin
Luclin	The Bazaar
	Katta Castellum
	The Nexus
	Sanctus Seru
	Shadow Haven
	Shar Vahl

Most info referenced from: http://web.archive.org/web/20021211025952/http://www.eqatlas.com/bindguide.htm