Everquest (oldschool)

[Newbian]

I don't think the modern MMO player could handle a corpse run into Lower Guk or Mistmoor .

Traaaaaaiiiiiinnnnnn!

Training monsters to get others killed easily kept me in the game for the last month or two that I played it.

Either using a spell on a orc in crushbone to train about the entire zone to the entrance or running in the oasis with 4-5 specters or a sand giant when I had gotten a sow was easily the best moments of my life and the bane of everyone else in those zones.

 

[glen]

When I played EQ it took about a year to get to lvl 50. that can be done in a few weeks now. I am not sure there is anyway to go back and make it as difficult again, which was the reason it was so much fun.

 

[Gibsons]

When I played EQ it took about a year to get to lvl 50. that can be done in a few weeks now. I am not sure there is anyway to go back and make it as difficult again, which was the reason it was so much fun.

Apparently what the serious powergamers are doing is rolling up a mage, leveling ultrafast to the 40s or so, then twinking up their 'real' char - rogue/monk/cleric/warrior/chanter.

Mage pets now are better than they were at launch, so you just chain pets at a mob or two and hit them with the level one dd to get the exp.

 

[akugami]

I remember going for bosses in NToV and nobody knowing what was really in store because nobody on our server had done them, and it wasn't as if you could load 'everquestmovies' and watch other guilds killing the dragons in HD to know exactly what to do.

I really hate watching those movie guides at times. Takes some of the fun out of learning an experience and encounter.

I remember getting trained at aviak (sp?) in one of the Karanas, and all this zonewide drama, especially when people started training to zone-in in Sebillis. Or monks trying to KS my wyverns in cobalt scar, and I'd end up rooting them on top of the poor monk for that little 'get up and get back down' feign death to actual death animation. Hilarious.

One of my favorite camp points in Sebilis was zone-out where a lot of the trains ran through. Of course my main was an enchanter so that partially explains things. It really honed my crowd control skills and handling trains of 5 which would wipe other groups with shitty enchanters got to be routine. I'd be in a pickup group (PUG) and we would have 2 or 3 mobs in camp and a train comes by and people who knew me would not panic and continued to fight whereas they would normally try to zone out if they were without an enchanter or without any skilled enchanter.

I remember having a /corpse key that I'd mash until I found my corpse and looted.

Heh, the old corpse macro button with /corpse and /loc assigned to it. That way you knew the exact location of your corpse to find it later.

Well, The Magic?
When it first came out it was so completely different from any other gaming experience - it really was like a drug experience for me. The game was absolutely intoxicating. I have never played a game before or since where 20 hours seems like 45 mins.

There was a certain bit of magic to EQ because it was so different and advanced compared to anything out at the time. Nostalgia certainly plays a bit into how many remember EQ. I don't deny that I myself view it with rose tinted glasses. Hoever, it did so many things right that it really is the father of modern MMO's.

When I first played the game, I could go exploring for hours and not do any fighting or levelling and still feel like I progressed. I think that is a huge thing that is missing in today's MMO's. The sense of adventure. I'm not sure that can ever be captured again because 3D MMO's are no longer fresh and new.

As successful as WoW is, it copies many of the elements from EQ. The thing I hated about WoW is the "easy button" that made things so simple but has contributed to WoW's success with the more casual crowd. I just didn't really enjoy WoW. This is part of my complaint about Rift as well. It's just no challenge to get to level 50 and to a degree, everything before level 50 is just a journey to see how fast you can get to level 50.

Sadly, this is why we'll never see a game as deep/difficult/insanely & ridiculously time consuming as the original EQ ever again. People are too accustomed with instant gratification. I'm playing RIFT right now and while the game is really polished, it's just very easy. Companies are making their games easy for exactly the reasons you're saying IMO.

I think any new MMO needs a system in place where we can get as much enjoyment out of staying for weeks at level 30 as we would speed leveling to 50. That would make a slower journey bearable. I mean, playing Rift now and I don't even twitch an eye at a single death. The consequences just aren't enough.

In EQ1 before they had corpse summons, dying meant you were screwed. There were actual far reaching and negative consequences to dying. We had groups venture into dungeons with their banked backup gear to retrieve their corpses. On the flip side, there were actual rewards for actually venturing into dungeons in the form of vendor loot as well as gear for killing named mobs.

Put real consequences to dying. Make mobs more difficult. Make the player population fight for certain elite spawns or bosses. Give them their instances for leveling and for gear but the cream of the crop for gear drops should be on contested rarish mobs. I know it makes for a lot of drama but half of the more memorable moments were spent squabbling over a rare zone boss or named mob. I feel silly at times because even in an expert dungeon in Rift all we would do is pull and AE them down, it was just a time consuming pain to get to the bosses. In EQ1, clearing a regular room was something of an achievement in a new dungeon and still a task that you can't slack off on if you were experienced in that dungeon.

Developers, please make an "easy" server and make a "hardcore" server. I'd be on the hardcore server without doubt.

 

[s1njin]

Why not play Everquest 2? Granted it's pretty different from Everquest, but it's a lot more similar than WoW or any other MMO. There are pvp servers and of course the graphics are way better than original Everquest or even WoW.

I was watching some youTube videos for EQ2 - I just didn't see the better graphics. Maybe it was a older video? I don't know ... I do like me some eye candy (which Rift does provide, all its other faults ignored for the meantime).

If I ended up on EQ2, I would look HEAVILY into:

A. Game cards instead of CC
B. Dedicated email address for the account
C. Dedicated username/password for the account

Sony is just such a mess right now ...

 

[Gibsons]

If I ended up on EQ2, I would look HEAVILY into:

A. Game cards instead of CC
B. Dedicated email address for the account
C. Dedicated username/password for the account

Sony is just such a mess right now ...

And why would you say that?

Oh, maybe this?

Dear Valued Sony Online Entertainment Customer:
Our ongoing investigation of illegal intrusions into Sony Online Entertainment systems has discovered that hackers may have obtained personal customer information from SOE systems. We are today advising you that the personal information you provided us in connection with your SOE account may have been stolen in a cyber-attack. Stolen information includes, to the extent you provided it to us, the following: name, address (city, state, zip, country), email address, gender, birthdate, phone number, login name and hashed password.
Customers outside the United States should be advised that we further discovered evidence that information from an outdated database from 2007 containing approximately 12,700 non-US customer credit or debit card numbers and expiration dates (but not credit card security codes) and about 10,700 direct debit records listing bank account numbers of certain customers in Germany, Austria, Netherlands and Spain may have also been obtained and we will be notifying each of those customers promptly.
There is no evidence that our main credit card database was compromised. It is in a completely separate and secured environment.
We had previously believed that SOE customer data had not been obtained in the cyber-attacks on the company, but on May 1st we concluded that SOE account information may have been stolen and we are notifying you as soon as possible.
We apologize for the inconvenience caused by the attack and as a result, we have:
1. Temporarily turned off all SOE game services;
2. Engaged an outside, recognized security firm to conduct a full and complete investigation into what happened; and
3. Quickly taken steps to enhance security and strengthen our network infrastructure to provide you with greater protection of your personal information.
We greatly appreciate your patience, understanding and goodwill as we do whatever it takes to resolve these issues as quickly and efficiently as practicable.
For your security, we encourage you to be especially aware of email, telephone, and postal mail scams that ask for personal or sensitive information. Sony will not contact you in any way, including by email, asking for your credit card number, social security number or other personally identifiable information. If you are asked for this information, you can be confident Sony is not the entity asking. When SOE™'s services are fully restored, we strongly recommend that you log on and change your password. Additionally, if you use your Station or SOE game account name or password for other unrelated services or accounts, we strongly recommend that you change them, as well.
To protect against possible identity theft or other financial loss, we encourage you to remain vigilant, to review your account statements and to monitor your credit reports. We are providing the following information for those who wish to consider it:
U.S. residents are entitled under U.S. law to one free credit report annually from each of the three major credit bureaus. To order your free credit report, visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call toll-free (877) 322-8228.

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