<p>Hey all, new player to EQ2, old school EQ1 player checking things out.  So far so good. </p><p> I do have one question.  Before I left EQ1, boxing was getting more common than single people playing 1 toon.  This was a bit of a turn off for me because I only played one toon, and felt like I had less to offer.  Also grouping with boxed chars was no fun, less personalities, time for chat, and not to mention the chars obviously werent being played to their full potential.</p><p> From what I have seen so far just at the low level, I can expect the combat to be a lot more intensive than being able to get away with putting auto attack on and switching screens.  My question is, is boxing as popular in EQ2 as it was in EQ1?  I certainly dont mind people who want to invest that much in their game to aid in doing solo quests and camps, but the extent it was used / abused in EQ1 became a major turn off.  </p>

There is a lot of boxing in EQ2 however here it seems most solo box and don't deal with other players. I've seen a few boxers in groups but they have invited me from lfg and not joined. My personal issue with boxers is that they need to tell people in their group that they are boxing. Because no matter how good you are the toons will not be at 100% although they may be much better than some of the horrid players we got I still want to know people are boxing as actions taken by boxers can be a bit diff than 2 single players. I don't think you will have any real issues in EQ2. Just have fun.

<p>There is much much more active button mashing in EQ2 than there was in EQ1. I used to 3-box in EQ1 without any problems, but it is much more difficult to do this in EQ2.</p><p>In EQ2, 95% of heroic encounters can be two boxed easily with the right pair of toons. If you want to 3-box, you'll find that the third toon will mostly be used as a buff bot. There are just too many buttons to mash for an effective 3-box. If you set up everything right, most encounters will be trivial, but if anything deviates from the norm, you will have a hard time recovering.</p>

<p>Thank you both for your input.  Since I first posted, Im at level 10 now, and already have 8 different melee attacks on different timers.  A bit hectic, staring more at the refresh than I am the combat screen.  Had similar issues with LOTRO.  </p><p> Boxing seems more stressful than rewarding with this combat scheme : )</p>

<p>Over time you will find your ability to see you buttons without fully looking at them will improve.  A kind of self training to see if something changes in your field of view.</p><p>The when you set up your hot keys, you will always try to use that same pattern.  Your muscle memory actively comes into play in EQ2.  It allows you to react to events and activations without having to actually watch all the buttons all the time.</p><p>The real choice will come on whether you click with mouse or use keyboard.  I tend to be a mouse user.  Was never able to twist as a bard very well in EQLive.</p><p>2 boxers in Everquest 2 just do not operate at full ability in the long term. </p>

<cite>eamofox wrote:</cite><blockquote><p> Boxing seems more stressful than rewarding with this combat scheme : )</p></blockquote>It is actually what makes it fun.. It is much harder to figure out how to make a setup to get the most you can out of the group (I 3 box). With the right hardware/software it is not hard to multibox this game, but it does present a level of challenge you don't get just playing 1 character. But when I am grouped with others, I am always only playing 1 character (unless we are waiting around, then I will harvest on another account or something).

<cite>Jesdyr@Unrest wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>eamofox wrote:</cite><blockquote><p> Boxing seems more stressful than rewarding with this combat scheme : )</p></blockquote>It is actually what makes it fun.. It is much harder to figure out how to make a setup to get the most you can out of the group (I 3 box). With the right hardware/software it is not hard to multibox this game, but it does present a level of challenge you don't get just playing 1 character. But when I am grouped with others, I am always only playing 1 character (unless we are waiting around, then I will harvest on another account or something). </blockquote><p>Hats off to you Jesdyr.  I dont mean hardware taxing as much as I mean taxing on your mind.  I play to relax, so I dont think its for me.</p><p> Thank you everyone for your input.</p>

<cite>eamofox wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite></cite> I play to relax, so I dont think its for me.</blockquote>It is taxing .. I think the hardest thing to do is actually run around on 2 characters at once. For some reason I cannot move them both without getting things crossed. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

IT can be taxing but so can PUGS that go south after an half hour. what i do is if i get burned out from playing 2 (my wife and mine) i will log the other off and do crafting/harvesting or venture into that PUG that never works out.