how much do I need to put into the game?

[Derex]

you can get some 6x heavy padded armor for around 150$ depending on armor type might vary a bit or be really hard to find. this is basically standard good armor not crazy fancy. armor usually what people suggest to upgrade first since it cant be lost through the disarm mechanic

for caster youll probably want a 6x/6x nerve staff $200-250+ depending on ensorcell

for a weapon user (not bow or uac) this varies based on society i would suggest planning to spend 75-100$ for a 7x perfect that you can add weighting/flares/ensorcelling
or get a good idea on market values befor buying a crazy weapon i see alot of people making bad choices on fancy weapons

bow will cost you 50-60$ for heavy sighted longbow + ensorcell cost

uac can find some decent stuff from 100-200$ (gloves and boots)

cappd characters vary by profession paladins/monks cheapest (300-400$) with rogue and warriors seeming to be in less demands than pures and semis but character prices are really all over the place depends on seller motivation and whos buying at any given time.

as for "top" gear which isnt needed to hunt and perform well. going to cost you closer to 5k but you could get some pretty decent stuff AND a cappd character for about 1k-1.5k

also really dont go trying to buy top gear cuz your going to just get ripped off until you know what you want and have better idea on what stuff costs unless your just trying to get everything now and are nigger rich

there you go no grammar needed

[Maerit]

Don't worry about getting gear as a new player. Fancy gear like the stuff Derex mentioned will trivialize the struggle of leveling and make the game more about maximizing your XP gains for the sake of power leveling, when the point of the game is to be immersed in the game world. Eventually, after you've decided what you like and don't like mechanically, and have chosen your favorite character(s) to play, then you can start to worry about equipment and costs.

F2P is fine for the first 20ish levels. I recommend starting as a free player, getting the feel for the game on different accounts using different professions, and learning what professions you like / enjoy the most. Upgrade the character you like best to a standard subscription, get some free hand-out equipment from other players, and start to use all the skills and abilities that come with being subscribed. The best part of the F2P experience is that when you decide you don't want to progress the character any further, they don't just disappear. You can still use them and have access to them for various reasons (a "mule" or "locker" character for found items you want to keep, some supplemental minor magic abilities, a scroll reading alt if your main doesn't read scrolls so you can determine if one you find is of any value... etc).

One thing you will want to know is you can reset your stats (5 times) and skills (unlimited) prior to level 20. Once you reach level 20, your stats are set and your skills will take extremely long times to "migrate", or you will have to pay lots of in-game currency or real cash to change them instantly. Get familiar with the stat and skill systems. Understand what your goals are (do you want to get to cap with perfect stats, or do you want to have an easier time leveling and pay for the stat change later in life?), and what are your favorite skills to master. Once you have that figured out, you can customize your character before proceeding past the level 20 threshold and start progressing into the more challenging parts of the game.

Like mentioned, a second account with a character that provides significant benefit (i.e. wizard, sorcerer, cleric) to other players can be more valuable than any of the $$ you could spend on gear. Getting a full cast of spells from a wizard is superior in value to anything your armor or weapons can provide on their own. If you are playing a wizard, having access to a full suite of spiritual spells, and the imbedding power that comes from a sorcerer or cleric, will pay in great dividends compared to any equipment you might purchase. Unfortunately, they have to be on a different account. Just adding a 2nd character slot to your existing account won't suffice, as you are not able to keep two characters of the same account logged in simultaneously.

Of course, you don't even have to pay for that either if you're friendly enough and can persuade others to help you without doing it yourself. It is a social game after all.

[gsivkitt]

Gemstone is a long haul game, and it's the people who make it different and worth committing the time to. It's very different from any other game out there, so your learning curve is going to be huge. There are lots of people on lnet on the ;help channel who'll help you out with answers to questions. I've heard of people going from 0-100 in just under a year. The fastest I've known anyone to do it was about 2 1/2 years of regular play (20-30 hours/week). You can buy a capped character, but quite honestly, you'll get a lot more out of the game if you play one up through the levels and experience all of the different parts of the game world. There isn't as much RP as there used to be, but you can still find it if you're willing to put the time into it. We don't have raids, but the GMs will frequently run storylines for the different cities. Sometimes they're done just for fun and can wrap up within a few weeks, sometimes they're part of a larger story arc that can take months to play out and can span across a large area of the world (stock up on deeds and expect to die a lot during these). As far as gear, I know people who have hit cap in basic 4x gear. The uber gear is nice, but it's not necessary to enjoy the game or be involved in everything.

[IorakeWarhammer]

Don't buy a thing. There's a magic to this game when you're on your own for a while.

Also, avoid a character named Methais. He may attempt butt stuff.

[Murrandii]

With my path to cap and IF you work from home and can spend 10-12 hours per day, 6 times a week, you can cap in around 10-12 months.

Of course, it's pretty boring as it's set to be as easy as possible.

It's also aimed to be the less dangerous possible, so sunfist biased.

I don't recommend capping asap as a goal when you start this game.

[Derex]

id roll a few professions to tinker with and maybe purchase some mid lvl guys based on what your liking

[Neveragain]

Gemstone is a long haul game, and it's the people who make it different and worth committing the time to. It's very different from any other game out there, so your learning curve is going to be huge. There are lots of people on lnet on the ;help channel who'll help you out with answers to questions. I've heard of people going from 0-100 in just under a year. The fastest I've known anyone to do it was about 2 1/2 years of regular play (20-30 hours/week). You can buy a capped character, but quite honestly, you'll get a lot more out of the game if you play one up through the levels and experience all of the different parts of the game world. There isn't as much RP as there used to be, but you can still find it if you're willing to put the time into it. We don't have raids, but the GMs will frequently run storylines for the different cities. Sometimes they're done just for fun and can wrap up within a few weeks, sometimes they're part of a larger story arc that can take months to play out and can span across a large area of the world (stock up on deeds and expect to die a lot during these). As far as gear, I know people who have hit cap in basic 4x gear. The uber gear is nice, but it's not necessary to enjoy the game or be involved in everything.

Hopefully you can see through this attempt at putting lipstick on a pig.

What Kitt is calling the "the long haul" is a gentle way of saying "There is at minimum a 3 year time sink before you reach cap.". Don't bother collecting treasure over that 3 years because the treasure system has been borked by the multiple new currencies introduced over the past couple years that can only be collected by spending more real $'s.

If you happen to make it through that time sink without being reported multiple times for stupid shit like name changes, not being a care bear, questioning a GM's decision making, talking to some psycho's man/woman. By this point you will have been stalked by the crazies and they will have made sure to paint a most horrid portrait of you for the community and their favorite GM they're cybering with. Don't worry though, the crazies will have at least 1 of their alts stationed at each node in the game to keep their eyes on your actions.

Now that you have made it to cap and you and your characters reputation remains unscathed by the horde of crazy people, you can now spend the rest of your GS career hunting the same overcrowded areas. Never mind the people who have spent 10's of thousands on "un-needed gear" to one shot everything in the hunting area, you just have to pay your dues to be able to do the same.

Let's not also forget that you will now be able to participate in the story lines, that have been focused on the same people for decades now. If you're lucky you too can bend the knee before the small group of elitists this game revolves around and if you're lucky you will have sucked dick enough for a pre-name title.

[Wrathbringer]

With my path to cap and IF you work from home and can spend 10-12 hours per day, 6 times a week, you can cap in around 10-12 months.

Of course, it's pretty boring as it's set to be as easy as possible.

It's also aimed to be the less dangerous possible, so sunfist biased.

I don't recommend capping asap as a goal when you start this game.

Translation: if you're willing to waste a year of your life you can cap in a year in a 40 year old text based game.

[Murrandii]

Neveragain is mostly right, I'm afraid.

If you're really into roleplaying, good luck, there's a tight community following CLOSELY any gm doing events.

If you're really into hunting and tactics, you need a tight plan to make sure your character remains on par.

If you're really into making cash out of this game (yeap, you can make a 200-300 $ per month if you're dedicated), good luck, SIMU is killing their own game with p2w events (… ok, they're killing the market for PLAYERS to make money with silvers, I'll be honest).

Seriously, GS is in decline. It's tough to join a game when it's going downhill, you'll see a lot of red flags here and there bro.

[C.Difficile]

OP is tripping my MacGuyver radar:

- strong attempt to establish RP chops in first post;
- expressing strong desires to dominate Gemstone as a new player with little understanding of the game, systems, and economy
- raising direct discussion in an early post about the cash/silver economy and its implications
- signaling to F2P character to enhance credibility