I have a ton of friends who never played EQ and I know a lot of other new players will have never played it or games like it. I played EQ for about 7 years and have a decent understanding of each role and how they work if they are going to be ruffly the same. What classes would you guys reccomend for a new player? I know we haven't gotten to play test all the classes yet. Bearing in mind the main roles of a group, being healer, tank, and CC, I would suggest picking one of those roles. I feel like those roles will have an easier time getting a group as they will be the most needed, making them more newbie friendly. Not knocking DPS but when i played EQ i recall LFG always of dps and groups looking for one specific role to fill out a group. so thoughts on what might be a good newbie friendly class?
In terms of in game money would you recommend new players sell all items they loot? Or perhaps save crafting mats for later us or to sell in bulk, and just sell the rest of your loot? Buy every spell that the vendor offfers? Or buy what looks like the most important spells or gear so you can save up money?
What other advice might you EQ vets give to new players? Those who are coming from WoW or clones of it and might be a little lost with the lack of hand holding.
You are likely to be spot on about DPS being the most common role, and therefore picking one of the other roles would make your friends more wanted by groups. At least in mid to end game. In the early levels, the need for a full group with all roles is not likely to be near as important as it will become later on. I expect to see many duos and trios at the start. If your friends haven't found a favorite Class before Release, I'd suggest they try out a bunch of them before settling on one. They all have much potential.
Also, the flip side of choosing non-DPS roles is that they are more critical to the success & survival of the group. PUGs especially may be less patient or tolerant of newb mistakes by Tanks, Healers & CC. Particularly if those mistakes cause a group wipe. Someone in a thread I was on commented that they were going to play DPS at Release specifically because there would be less pressure on them. That way, they could learn something of the game and watch other players make those newb mistakes as Tank, Healer or DPS. So if your friends are really not familiar with playing those roles, they may find playing a DPS to be easier and more rewarding in the beginning. If they DO have experience, then they'll likely be fine with any Class.
There's very little hard date on the economics of the game at this point. I don't believe it has been fully sorted out yet by the Devs, plus those who may have seen some of it in testing are under NDA. VR has a specific Crafting/Harvesting Developer, and the systems are looking pretty good so far. At this time we know that every player will be able to Harvest every type of resource, but only learn one school of Crafting. So Harvesting to sell the resources to Crafters has some good potential. Leveling a Crafter to sell weapons, armor, potions, etc. could be lucrative early on as well.
At later levels, Druid and Wizard will be able to summon portals so that is expected to be lucrative. But we don't know what level will be required before they summon.
General advice is to make a group of friends, no matter if they are all together in a guild or not. Friends will help in many different ways.
To further what Counterfleche said above. I know it is all the rage these days to try and find the best class and approach games in the "optimal" manner. However, I would encourage your friends to approach Pantheon differently. Pantheon is meant to be a living, breathing world to find a home in. Have them read up on the classes and races and find which combo intrigues them and try it out, find which they enjoy playing the most. That goes with approach to money as well. We don't know much about how crafting and the economy will pan out. Instead of approaching things with a pre-determined mind set, explore the world and see where it leads you, engagie with it in the manner that is most satisfying to you, whether that be pure adventurer, selling everything you find, or harvester gathering things and selling them to others, or crafter, and every combo in between. Encourage them not to approach Pantheon as a game to be beaten but a world to be explored and intrigued by.