Any EverQuest players here?

[ritditditdidoo]

It was my 'first love' MMO and I've tried every MMO ever since but none of them live up to this! A few have come close but I always end up going back to EQ. I have to play on emulator servers though, not because they are free but because they run versions of the game back when it was great, before too many expansions changed it into something.... not as good.

I've played several emu's, Shards of Dalaya, P99, PEQ The Grand Creation, Kildrukaun's Prophecy, etc. They all have pros and cons and ultimately I end up moving on to another, although some of them I played for several years!

There is a new one called Legacy of FrostStone which is locked at Velious. It is made by some really good people I've played with before, and their goal is to make a solo server, so strictly no multiboxing, and it is accurate to classic EQ, accurate rules, accurate content, and no NPC buff bots or whatever else. Seems good although I am only interested in servers I can multibox.

For me the perfect server is TAKP - The Al'Kabor Project. If you haven't heard of it, it is a remake of the EQ Mac server which was an official Sony server until it was recently shut down. It was the only server that was able to be played on my Mac users, but it used some old hacked up client and code which meant that it was locked in time at the PoP era. Sony stopped supporting it and trolls showed up to exploit stuff so they ended up closing the server. But it has now been remade as an emulator by some good people. It is early days, they have only made as far as Kunark so far, but they are talented people and they have the help of the PEQ guy who is a wizard with this stuff and his server is the most advanced out of all of them.

Anyway if anyone is interested in any of this or wants to know what it is about, post here or PM me.

 

[clok1966]

I have migrated back a few times, no doubt the current official stuff is pretty bad, its watered down so much. I play many of the "new" ones and chuckle when people mention the skill it takes to raid. All my trips back end quite quickly as EQ was always about the players more then the game, and the old crew has all moved on. Some of the new ones could learn from it, guilds are like companies, spam for new recruits so you can pad your guild stats etc.. EVERY guild i was in in EQ took getting to know the people before they would let you in, and before you even decided to join. People... I have no illusions I am looking at EQ with rose colored glasses, but eh, it was great when it was new. I was an addict for 7 years, and new and shiney took my thoughts over (eq2 and wow both released) and both where fun as the old gang tried both.. but we lasted 5+ years in EQ, nothing lasted for more then a year or two in wow/eq2.

Good luck recruiting, who knows, i grabbed a torrent of EQ that most emu servers want a year or so ago, winter comes.. maybe, just maybe.

 

[MongGrel]

I beta tested phase 2, 3 and 4.

And played a long time, feels like ancient history.

Actually, it is where I picked up my user name.

A long story I won't go into.

*Throws M&M's at Fippy*

If you were there, you know what I mean.

 

[Craig234]

EQ was incredible. I still play the same char on WoW, Rift, and others. The server forum has people who haven't played in 10 years - it had community.

 

[MongGrel]

I think I had the most fun on DAOC.

I've done things over time, even was a real Jedi character on SWG before SONY ruined that game, and made it a gimme to everyone.

And used to do things on WOW, was in some pretty Epic raids and PVP there, have used many names over time I guess.

Used to play Rift a bit and had a good character there, well a pretty damned great one I just don't game much these days.

 

[MongGrel]

I could even probably run off 20 others over time, even people and guilds I've gotten back with in the past.

Just something I don't even do a lot these days I guess.

Hell, even meeting people over Compuserve and getting in a chatroom to talk to each others to check pings and batchall in the Mech II Grand Council ladder over Kali was a thing in the day.

That was Pre EQ, you'd have to fake a LAN connection just to have a decent 2 vs 2 PVP fight.

Used to be as pretty high ranking Black Widow clan officer before EQ ever existed.

Was even before UO, Zeus left us at that time once he found that, was weird hearing that he was paying to actually play a game with a subscription at the time.

We wondered where he went for a week without speaking to anyone.

 

[MongGrel]

I'm rattling on.

I have enough gaming stories I could write a large book.

Sorry.

 

[Craig234]

Nothing to apologize for.

 

[MongGrel]

I once finished off a Dragon with a 3 point DOT in WOW.

That was a pretty funny day, the whole guild were going LOL after we rezzed some peeps.

I just had to put that i there, it was pretty damned funny.

Have to stack everything you can when you're playing a magic user

Just one for the road.

 

[JeffMD]

Long time eq player here... 7 years was it? Started on day 1.. was one of the elite few erudite clerics on the server. I raided end game until getting out of Pop, lifestyle change and I didn't really like the stuff coming out after pop. WoW got me but it took a year after wow came out.

Still nothing could really bring me back. It is a pretty bad system, lacking many what I consider required class abilities and UI elements. Also boss tactics are just to simple compared to todays MMOs. Thats why emulators can work. If you look at WoW emulated servers, boss AI is gutted.

Playing ff14 now, although I put some time in Rift and if you are looking for something free to play and prefer a talent system like Burning crusade, check it out.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Ahh I miss getting the Priest of Discord(?) to fight the guards in epic 90 minute battles.

 

[ritditditdidoo]

Wow a lot of former players here! I played on a DAOC emulator recently too, it was really good. I probably would still be playing if I was more familiar with that game but there was a lot of new stuff to learn and in the end I just went back to EQ yet again.

I had a lot of fun with Rift but only earlier on but I didn't like the way it went later on. I tried it again after the expansion and found it too easy and the item inflation was crazy. My gear was nothing special and yet I could see a mob that was the same level as me, and I could engage from distance and kill it before it had even reached me... So I could kill quest mobs without taking a single hp of damage. For me that ruins it :/

Also tried Elder Scrolls Online, I had the exact same issue. I spammed 1234 and blew up a same level mob before it even reached me. Nothing kills my motivation to grind more than having no challenge. I even tried a dungeon with a group and I found it really boring too. Everything was tank n spank except the last boss which was a messy fight but still not very interesting. And there was zero interaction with the group, I don't think they said a word the entire time we were there.

Really hope an MMO will eventually come along to change the formula. Maybe Star Citizen will shake things up a bit.

 

[JeffMD]

Rit, yea that also is one big thing that turned me off doing alts in WoW. Each expansion made the mobs easier and easier to kill. Even dungeons were a face roll, didnt even need a tank.

FF14 is a little bit tougher, but maybe not better. tank/healer classes do have dps modes but they are intended for normal class use and thus are still no where near that of a dps role. So these classes are forced into an uphill grind due to less damage. At least early on you get some mechanics like telegraphed attacks to dodge. Still, as a black mage and bard I never really ran into the "dead mob before it gets to me" syndrome. Although bards do dps on the run so technically you could not get hit. ^^

 

[xantub]

I played for some 3 years from beta to about when DAoC came out. Interestingly, I loved the game until the point it gave too much emphasis on raids. I didn't mind doing a raid once or twice a week to help someone get their epic or for some Plane class specific armor, but once I got Vellious, it was pretty evident that the future of the game was going to be daily raiding. I stopped playing there.

To me the fun in the game was to join your friends (or even random people), form a group and fight some battles and chat in the downtime. When raids became so important that you had to follow battle scripts, the game stopped being fun for me.

 

[ritditditdidoo]

^ Me too! I quit when PoP came out, I was just never a big fan of raiding. I have had a bit of fun with raiding, but for me the most fun was getting in a random group and taking a tough room in a dungeon. It was a great game for doing that.

 

[Craig234]

was one of the elite few erudite clerics on the server.

Man, your starting zone. What a place to get lost in dark areas. Erudites left it fast. BOAT!

 

[Craig234]

"but for me the most fun was getting in a random group and taking a tough room in a dungeon. It was a great game for doing that. "

I still think it had the most intense dungeons I've ever seen, referring especially to GuK, but even starting with Befallen - and the 'start your character over' well.

 

[asteldian]

I played EQ1 a lot, and then Vanguard. Have jumped around lots of MMOs since but none really can be called my gaming home.
I couldn't go back to EQ1, but I am looking towards Indie developers creating niche games which take the essence of the older games. Right now, Pantheon and Saga of Lucimia are the two games I am keepiing an eye on.

 

[clok1966]

You can see the love, i know EQ was "the game" that hooked me like no other, probably because it was the first of its kind (oh i know all about meridian etc...). it didn't hand hold you, and it took effort to do anything worth while. Today that effort is looked down on, and even I think it was excessive, some of the last expansions in EQ less then 25% of the player base saw due to the difficulty and AA /gear requirements. New games have made it so anybody can do it, there should be a middle ground, some stuff only the best can do, but it shouldn't be the majority of the expansions. its got to be hard for the game makers, end user long time players need a challange, but if they make an EXP dedicated to them (eq problem) it alienates alot of average players. But then how do you keep the hardcore.. Wow had done it with a million time sinks (factions, pets, mounts, achievements, etc.. ) but in the end content is king, not mini games.

oh well EQ will always be the one I remember as the best.

 

[JeffMD]

Man, your starting zone. What a place to get lost in dark areas. Erudites left it fast. BOAT!

I think I went to qeynos with some friends I made at lvl 12. I wasn't nearly the explorer back then. When I made my first trip to freeport with friends it hit night time when we got to butcherblock mountains. As of this date, no mmorpg I have played gave me the fright and worry as making my way through that maze in complete darkness. I was following the wall but there was a %50 chance a corner would light up using lightstones so half the time I wasn't seeing anything. So afaik I had taken a wrong turn, was seperated, Oh yea...and I agroed something half way through. All that said, I lived and made it to the cave. No maps, no idea where I was going, first time there.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

EQ1 was real fun for its time. I'd like to see an MMO with:

Challenging leveling not EQ tough bit not gaining multiple levels every night
Unique classes and every class isn't equal or capable of doing everything
Longer heal/rest times without the right support classes
Long travel time but not 40 minutes waiting for a boat plus a 10-30 minute trip
Big world, real big
PVE focused with some areas for PVP
lots of skills & spells and you can't have them all
Fun crafting, mini games & quests
Money sinks to make it so currency has value
Mini map but no explanation points above heads
Not F2P but not $15 per month
Some kind of death penalty but no EQ harsh. Maybe an hour or two of playtime to recover but not so painless you'll run into any fight

 

[Indus]

I played EQ on the Rathe server from release till 2007.

After that I tried Silkroad Online, Aion, Everquest 2 but none were as good as the original. I too look for a mmorpg like the original EQ but I haven't been able to find one.

 

[Craig234]

I think I went to qeynos with some friends I made at lvl 12. I wasn't nearly the explorer back then. When I made my first trip to freeport with friends it hit night time when we got to butcherblock mountains. As of this date, no mmorpg I have played gave me the fright and worry as making my way through that maze in complete darkness. I was following the wall but there was a %50 chance a corner would light up using lightstones so half the time I wasn't seeing anything. So afaik I had taken a wrong turn, was seperated, Oh yea...and I agroed something half way through. All that said, I lived and made it to the cave. No maps, no idea where I was going, first time there.

The first time trip between Freeport and Qeynos is one of the most epic MMO experiences.

 

[Craig234]

I played EQ on the Rathe server from release till 2007.

After that I tried Silkroad Online, Aion, Everquest 2 but none were as good as the original. I too look for a mmorpg like the original EQ but I haven't been able to find one.

Sometimes I'm concerned that I'd like to see more people support the original EQ that's still going, especially now that a venture capital company bought it.

 

[MongGrel]

Just getting a FBE or the Dwarve boots were a real PITA at one time.

I actually camped the FBE guy like 4 days once I figured out where he popped and got up before work to take him out finally, there was some guy ebaying the things I had to finally out damage just to get one when i got the jump on him on the NPC.

I never did get the EQ dwarf speed boots, that was a real PITA.

I had a few friends thought I was pretty crazy, called myself a battle wizard i there, I never hit 70 either, but I think I was like 68 at the time just running amok doing things like soloing Ice Giants.

I'd run into guys who thought I was funny as hell.