Have you ever had a friend's character die and they ask you to find the corpse and you agree, only then to be told two(2) approx numbers that you aren't quite sure whether your buddy was watchin EQ or the science channel when he died?
Well, I'm here to fix that little problem and help you become one with the layout of EverQuest and it's ease of use system that makes satelites obsolete.
Example :
/loc
You are at -2034.32, 374.92, 130.27
/lost
What they mean :
* The first number you receive is -2034.32. This is your North/South position. If the number is positive, You are in the northern area of the zone, if it's negative, you are in the southern area. Here you are 2034 units due south of the home point.
* The second number you receive is 374.92. This is your Weast/East position. If the number is positive, You are in the western area of the zone, if it's negative, you are in the eastern area. Here you are 375 units west of the home point.
* The third number you receive is 130.27. This is your altitude. A positive number means you are on higher ground than the home point, a negative you are below the home point. Here you find yourself 134 units above it, so you are likely on a plateau/hill.
NOTE : the 3rd number is of little use unless you travel in multi-leveled zones, which are more than likely dungeons. Once and awhile you will find caves or such where this comes in handy. I'm just stating that this location is not used much due to the lack of need
NOTE : due to the near uselessness of the decimal points and numbers given in the hundreths of a unit, we won't be concerned with them and will only be working with integers (ie : 203 instead of 203.34)
Ok, now you can see how the zones can be broken up into 4 different areas, marked with a 1, 2, 3, & 4 on the map. Notice the numbers in the corner of each of these. They will give you an idea of where you are in a zone.
Also, i advise you to have a notepad handy and mark distinct /loc's for different zones, like the druid ring in West Commons, or the undead pillar in North Karana.
2 : Odsward and you are exploring Kunark. You finally got your RoK CD and now can't wait to check out some new areas. You hear tell of how a haste item drops in Trakanon's Teeth and want to go chance your day to a rare spawn.
As you and Odsward are looking around, you get seperated. Well, you're both level 50 and don't think much of it. Suddenly Odsward's health bar begins to drop and you see he dies. You ask him what happened and he says he got jumped while not paying attention, and is wondering if you could find his body for him. Being a smart one on the tank side, he hit /loc (which he has hotkeyed) when he knew he was goin under.
Odsward gives you the loc of -1800 x - 3800. You are currently by the zone to Emerald Jungle at 4000 x 1500. You see you must travel south 5800 units, and east 5300. You get out sense heading and while heading south looking for his body, you encounter a wall at -200 x 1500. This is where you think "doh!", but remember you need to pass this wall, so you turn east, while looking for ways you can further pursue the southern point, when you come to an arch at -1600 x -2000.
You notice that hey, the arch is to the east, so you pass under it and head for direct east, checking for -3800. When you get there, you notice you are only 200 units north of Osward's body, But as you look south you see a small set of ruined buildings. You cautiously enter the broken houses, only to see more archways, but you notice you are 100 units closer to your destination. So you continue south and look around the corner to see... Osward's body.
In the 2 examples above you are given 2 very different situations where /loc is of great aid. The first example shows you the easiest and most direct way without fear of getting lost. The second shows you what can happen when you are not out in a clearing and have objects in your path. Both are very to the point yet I believe give enough detail and overview to warrant both cases. The only thing I want to stress when showing people these methods is to BE VERY CAREFUL. One of the safest ways of travelling is along the zone walls, but even then in certain zones you must be wary of guards or other NPC's that wish to do you harm. The very same goes for EVERY part of a zone.
Thelion Trueheart, Cavalier of Erollisi Marr, Bristlebane Server.