Quests
How do quests work in EverQuest?
Basically you will Hail an NPC (using a button on the User Interface) and respond to some text that results from the Hail. When you receive a quest you will normally note down what you have to do (which is most often collect a load of items), then come back and give the NPC the items they want for the reward specified.
What kind of rewards do you get?
Rewards are normally (and not a lot of) experience points, items, increase in your standing with certain factions and on occasion, lore (parts of or an entire story, tale or other information).
Can I do the same quest twice?
To a certain extent you can but some quests will flag you (set something on your character telling the game "this character has completed the Orc Bane quest") and some will give you items that you can only have one of.
Is it worth doing the same quest twice?
Quests in EverQuest tend to be very time consuming and the reward in experience points is often far less than it would be if you spent the same time hunting monsters. This means unless the reward (other than experience points) for completing the quest is worth your time it probably isn't worth doing it again.
What is an Epic?
An Epic refers to the quest each class must complete for their 'epic' weapon. This weapon use to be considered the ultimate weapon for each class but has since been surpassed by other items released in expansions and in additions to the game (including updates to the epics themselves). Each of these weapons has an (in theory) unique special effect in both appearance (you may have seen leaves floating around near a Druids scimitar or song notes coming from a Bards sword) and in use (such as a mana free resurrection spell for the cleric epic 1.0: "Water Sprinkler of Nem Ankh").
The epic quest lines have been updated in expansions since the original epic "1.0" and there are now epic 1.5 and epic 2.0 quest lines. Though they are powerful for the level you can obtain them epic quests usually require other players to help you complete them and a significant time investment, this can mean they are unobtainable for many players who prefer to play alone or in small groups or are simply not worth the investment for the eventual reward.
Are there multiple paths to complete quests such as epics?
Unfortunately not, you must complete the same quest as every one else and they do not have multiple paths, though certain steps may be completed out of order and there are a few specific exceptions; these include quests added that streamline difficult tasks (such as obtaining keys) and that allow you to progress without having completed prior steps (such as a special pre-quest for epic 1.5 when you don't possess epic 1.0) but in general quest lines remain linear.