Game-breaking Hotkeys issue

[writnick]

This is half plea-for-help, half rage-quit. And I only started playing EQ yesterday...

So, the interface is more than a little clunky, but that's fine, it's an old game. I played through the kobold caves tutorial, running the game thru Steam, but the installer installed a desktop icon shortcut, and I foolishly launched the game from it today.

Don't ever do this - it wipes all the hotkeys in your hotkey bar, including the ones for melee and ranged combat. Since these cannot be restored (they are placed on the hotbar thru the tutorial, and not bound to a given function on your character sheet), the game is now unplayable. It would seem that the game cannot save game data after a logout, which is thoroughly pathetic.

I've looked online for work-arounds but have found nothing useful. The in-game help system relies on players lodging a ticket which relies on players validating their email address, which relies on the game company sending it out to them- and they don't. So lousy customer service, too. Let my futile 11 hours with this piece of trash serve as a warning to others.

[Myth]

nothing game breaking about this...you simply made a mistake.

btw...ui layouts can be fixed with a simple click of a button..and checking the proper checkboxes.

[writnick]

Well, no, actually, the UI layouts cannot be fixed with 'a simple click of a button', or I'd have fixed the issue already. The game-breaking issue is that the icons for said layout are gifted during the tutorial, and are not accessible through any other links. So when the UI dropped out, these icons were lost forever - these icons being the 'melee attack' and 'ranged attack' buttons. They aren't available to copy from any other menu, and they don't come back if you repeat the tutorial. I'd seek help from the game developers, but there isn't any - they don't send an email validation link, so you can't put in a petition ticket. Hence 'game-breaking'. Which is a pity, because under the hood of the overly complicated and inept UI layout, there's a decent game struggling to get out. The issue only appears when you first log out then log in again, which seems to reset your game profile and erase any memory of your UI layout.

[NemesisofdaCancelPigs]

there are UI files, user profile files, ini files. none of which have anything to do with the launcher files. We all been having to copy and paste our player ini files for years, so you're not tacklin a subject matter vets are not keenly familiar with, it just seems what you are reporting seems unattainable through the files we know they access.
the UI file with the buttons you describe sounds like the default file, you can attain them again just by accessing your combat and non-combat skill buttons. or the entire thing as is when you started by just deleting your players ini file which will result in a new fresh ini when you log in.

[NemesisofdaCancelPigs]

also hit alt-o in game for a more detalied options window, i dont recall the game ever showing folks this, as it is also where you can copy other player profiles you have made if you would rather do that instead of re-making one. same with UI, these are different things.

[Halcyform]

Look inside your game folder. Look for a notepad file with a gear on it that has your character's name on it. When you customize your settings in game, this file will have those settings. Make a copy and put it on your desktop or maybe even a usb stick where you keep other gaming files. In the event something happens, or you move to a new computer, you can copy and paste it to get your settings back.

Compared to many games, EQ game files are very easy to find and modify.

I can feel your pain, though. EQ has a ton of skills/spells/disciplines that you need to use to really get the most out of your character. However, most of your hot buttons can be boiled down to a core number that you use regularly versus other stuff that is very situational.

I recommend becoming familiar with the line command macro system to combine stuff. Look up the number codes for disciplines and alternate abilities. Don't make huge macros because you'll get yourself killed, but you can make some simple macros using "pauses" (/pause) and "casts" (/cast). You'll just need to tweak the timing on the pause to ensure you aren't skipping casts or making them too long. If I recall, /pause 10 is a one second pause. You'll match up the pause number with cast times and global cooldown. Keep in mind that the pause has to come before the cast in order for it to work properly.

Macros make the game a lot more user friendly, but don't rely on it too much for the more important casts at the beginning. You need your spell skills maxxed out and anti-fizzle AA's to get the most out of it.

Once you get some stuff figured out, it'll be easier to recreate these hot buttons even if you lose the file.

You can drag and drop your spell slots to hot button slots or you can cast spells from your spell slots via hot button macros using /cast 1, /cast 2, etc. For targeting, F1 is yourself and the next few F keys will target group members. There are also hot button commands you can use to cast/use things directly from your inventory.

Where the real pain sets in with regards to losing settings is chat window settings. EQ has amazing chat functionality. Once you have a good set up worked out, you definitely don't want to lose it. It takes awhile to get all that stuff sorted and filtered.

Consider it a lesson learned. Get your settings back and then make a back up of the .ini file. No more worries.