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How To Explain How Much You Enjoyed EQ 1 (Pre PoP or Pre Luclin)
Exciting. Thrilling. Interesting. Captivating.
It was something I looked forward to after school. It was something I stayed in at night, instead of going out with friends. IT was something in which I spent a lot of money on. A guild of people that were more than guildmates (pre zerg raiding daily). It was a community of wizards, dragon slayers, paladins, and wicked necros.
The only think that comes close to replicating that emotional, spiritual, and intellectual attachment is EQ 2. At least for me. Vanguard had touches of it, here and there. EQ 2 comes the closest. WoW certainly not. LotR certainly not. You get the point.
I think the Rise of Kunark expansion is a great thing for EQ 2, but I am afraid it might start to get zergy with Veeshan's Peak. Everquest is not so much a game as it was a ... world. A true fantasy world. High elves. Terrible ogres and trolls. The funny halflings and the adorable gnomes.
PS
EQ 2 is like EQ 1 Pre-Luclin. The Luclin moon is destroyed...
Comments
I only dabbled in EQ in those days. I only got to level 20 or so and then I had to quit because of a job. A couple years later I started playing after LDoN. And alot of people complain about raid and item changes, but I was such a newb in Pre-Luclin days that I was still wearing Cloth Chokers and the such when all that was changing.
I enjoyed EQ so much back in the day because it was the only game that flopped you into a dark town and just said, ok, go on. And I'm like, uhhhhhh? And the game basically slapped me and said, GO EXPLORE. It was a mixture of confusing amazement. For it was the first MMORPG I'd played for one but it was also the first GAME I'd ever played that didnt tell you what to do or where to go. And it was dark and I saw other players dashing by real quick before I could even ask them where I can go to level up or fight.
Also at the time the graphics were quite up to date. And the spell effects werent just really good at the time but they also had a great sense of magic to them. The music added a good effect to it. But like I said earlier, its the only game that just popped you into a town with nothing but a letter, a rusty dagger, and some food. No maps, no nothing.
But the sad thing is, is the time I finally get the time to make a decent character, I log on and so much is changed. You HAVE to have temperance and set in the dreaded PC for long hours to even get a decent amount of expierience, or have some level 65 PL you to 50. no more explorings. Its just the stupid Tutorial cave and the stupid PC and the stupid Netherbian Lair and so on and so forth. I mean, the PC and the Netherbian were cool when you had to walk there and fight a little just for the fun. Then theres the depressing feeling of walking through the once-populated home towns and seeing nobody at all. And seeing the re-vamped, EQ 2 wanna-be commanlands and the very sad re-vamp of Freeport. I mean, the towns are desserted, no ones ever there, but then they take the time to re-vamp them and make them even more desserted?
I think the EQ 2 commonlands are awesome. It is better than EQ 1's commonlands, although I miss some aspects about EQ 1. The EQ 2 commonlands is gigantic.
The dungeons in EQ 2 are very similar and in many ways better than EQ 1. There are more, for one. You also have solo dungeons, small group dungeons, and full group dungeons to boot. Raid content, but not like some of the EQ 1 zerg content.
I started with Kunark Expansion. The thing I miss about EQ was the simplicity and yet complexity of it all. Less is more really shined in EQ. For example, when you start a character you are naked, with the worst weapon possible. You don't instantly ding level 2 and suddenly have a full set of armor. You have to scrounge for what you can, get AC (armor class) anyway you can. And that rusty short sword you looted off that skelle REALLY made a huge difference in your survivability.
If you pulled a monster you didn't know what would happen. Would it's friends come and join it?
The thing I think I liked the most was the whole sandbox experience. No one was telling you HOW to play, simply go out there, explore and kill stuff. Everyone was so dependent upon each other you couldn't solo much. Those who did solo were considered "ubber". I guess multi-boxing came about because people simply wanted to solo but couldn't.
Since most of us playing EQ1 were new to MMORPG's I think we were less concerned about grinding. I mean I used to grind for hours and never get bored. I couldn't wait to buy a drink from the bar in the bottom of the goblin dungeon, how cool was that! Since traveling was so far and dangerous, my heart pounded and I went into unfamiliar zones, who knows if those hill giants I have been hearing about will be there.
Hearing about a place and living through the stories of other players, then actually going there and feeling such fear because you knew something horrible was awaiting you.
Death hurt like hell. Songs have been written about being low level, loosing your corps in the middle of west karana, sense heading is still level 5 and no maps. "Has anyone here seen my corps." It was harsh, it was cruel. But it was the best time of my gaming life!
First time I played a barbarian, I tried to get to blackburrow but didn't have a torch. I kept dying in the tunnel as gnolls in the pitch blackness would beat me down. The fact that it was PITCH BLACK at all is foreign to games now a days. Even EQ
In the low poly models you struggled to be different. And nothing said "ubber" then a particle effect on your weapon. Epic weapons were the sign you were unique and ubber. Going from the patched together rags of clothing to banded armor. Bards singing steel armor!
Everything was much simpler, and yet so much more engaging. Things like the 10th ring war in Velious. A huge war with massive armies fighting it out. It was so amazing! Having TWO factions living in the same dungeon (crystal caverns). Having slippery floors with traps and holes on narrow ramps in Velketors labrinth.
Oceans that if you fell in them were massive. None of this instanced crap. You litterally could swim for hours. Island chains with crazy cat people and cyclops. Sea dragons that if you were unlucky enough would find you and eat you whole.
Teleports to high level jungles were a mean dragon might be waiting for you. Wuoshi.
Trains, trains trains. Nothing like seeing a huge line of high level monsters including hags, ghouls, spiders and a giant hand chasing behind some poor guy running like mad to the zoneline. You never knew what you would find when you entered certain zones.
A giant hole that you can fall down, and IF you manage to live will have high level elemental monsters surrounding you.
Everquest was the best game ever back in the day! Simplicity done right!
I agree. It balanced, the classic game, simplicity and complexity well. It was accessible but still deep.
I think why many of us did not mind grinding for hours is for several reasons. The dungeons were fun. And there was an environment was that was not predictable in these dungeons. A named might spawn. You might get an awesome drop. You might suddenly die because you pulled too many. You sort of performed your role but always anticipated the unknown. I think people like to grind inside of fun dungeons sometimes instead of starting in one spot and just grinding through to the exit. I think people like both. Grind spots and dungeon crawls.
I like the Dragon too that would spawn suddenly. I wish they had cooperative quest system for that so everyone would be able to participate and receive an award for slaying the dragon. It would have made events more fun like that.
God I love these threads, makes me so happy to reread them haha. I share the same sentiment as the rest of you. Remembering being plopped in Qeynos, exploring the sewers at level 9 and dieing to the damn high level necro/sk guild deep within the depths of the sewers or being killed by the shark pits. I was so depressed when I fell in. A wonderful bard played his corpse song to come and drag it back for me...we ended up being friends for years..Sigh, I miss those old days. I for one also enjoyed when Luclin was released. there was nothing really bad about it that i disliked and I loved exploring the whole moon! was a blast running through paludal caverns and getting poisoned or fighting through the tunnels in netherbian Lair.
I don't know if anyone noticed but in the zone off of netherbian...that outside zone that was next to maris seru and w/e. the animals(wolves and what not) would aggro everyone except rangers and beastlords! how cool of a feature is that! Thats one of those little things that makes you love this game.
Oooh ahhh!
Hi! My name is paper. Nerf scissors, rock is fine.
MMORPG = Mostly Men Online Roleplaying Girls
http://www.MichaelLuckhardt.com
"Enjoyed" is not quite the word. Playing a Warrior was fun in the way like stabbing yourself in the eye with a fork feels great when you stop. Warrior was one piss poor developed class, and is in VSoH I hear, by Brad and company. No one at the company played one so the class was some kind of crappy thing thrown out there.
WoW got Warriors right, long live WoW and here is to WoW throwing a beat down on EQ1 and its badly designed classes, camping, and that crap called raiding. Lets not forget the broken PvP in EQ1, another Brad trademark and an achilles heel of EQ1.
If you have any questions please ask. I have moved on to WoW from eq and no longer have any desire to play a dead game. Thank you. (posted by another selling his account in EQ1)
I love, and will always love, EQ 1 pre PoP and somewhat Pre Luclin. The daily zerg raiding killed it. I like a lot about Luclin but too many encounters required a raid.
You are right, WoW DID get Warriors right. EQ 1 Warriors were shafted in everything. Gear Dependent. No dps. No teleportation. No heal. No ability to sprint, as warriors should have.
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WoW and fast food = commercial successes.
I neither play WoW nor eat fast food.
EQ1 is a different experience, i started playing the game in feb 1999... i loved the game untill scars of velious came out (i think the epansion name is right) but before that it was awesome .. the whole world was gooc .. the quests (although not many) were great .. i remember finishing my sword of fire quest .. it used to be soo unique at that time .. with full vallerium armor as a paladin my char used to kick ass !
was very hard to get in groups .. not many rules in the game .. you could KS you could PL you could alot of other things without ristriction, i thnk that made EQ1 so unique that people still remember it and will still remember it in the future .. i liked the graphics ..
one other thing ... alot of people dont like the cartoonish graphics .. but id say its better makes it look more like a fantasy world than the EQ2 or vanguard graphics .. so dull so gloomy !!! as if yuor living in a normal world day to day ... but with orcs around yuo ...etc,
i would rather play in a game which looksl ike im living in a fantasy world !!
the game was simply great .. i dont know why devs now adays dont bring a game which gives you the same feeling !!
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Which Final Fantasy Character Are You?
Final Fantasy 7
My most vivid memory of old EQ was early 2000, the first time I let my friend talk me into going to HighKeep as a level 19 Druid. I was literally and physically scared when I saw all those red goblins leering at me. I've never been affected by any other game that way.
Surprisingly I agree with you about the Warriors and the pvp- pvp was massively screwed up imo. It is ironic you say 'crap called raiding', now I'm not a fan of raiding either but are you forgetting there is a big part of raiding in WoW? As to the 8m(9m now) playing WoW, there are a multitude of reasons for that that could easily be written an essay about. Anyway really I see there being no contest between the two mmorpgs in my opinion. As I see them, they are two distinct games- despite WoW being heavily based on EQ.
In no way is this something original. Sure, EQ may have been the first true (3D) MMO but it was from the first fantasy world.
i loved oasis of marr zone ..
as i remember in 1999 my 1st character used to be a paladin !! i always wanted to kill those specters and never could coz of my level and once i hit 40 i came back and had my revenge .. also had my revenge againse those sand giants .. now the fun part !!
then my 2nd char was a necro .. i leveled him and of course in oasis of marr i got beatin by sand giants and specters .. so once i hit 40 i believe if not slightly less .. i went and charmed a specter and made it attack a sand giant .. was fun with all the low levels watching and cheering !! and of course when the charm breaks .. i feign death and the specter attacks the docks !! used tobe fun but cruel lol
but nice memories !
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Which Final Fantasy Character Are You?
Final Fantasy 7
If it was not for raiding...
I would most likely be busy grouping and advancing my character to even be on this website...unless I would be maxed and waiting for an expansion...but at any rate, I wouldn't be a regular visitor here.
But raiding ruins it all. Natural deselection at it worst.
- "If I understand you well, you are telling me until next time. " - Ren
Ok there's one stick in the mud in this thread, saying how wow > eq. Wow is successful for many reasons, and I'll list the two most important: (1) the hugely successful Blizzard brand name and (2) the game is easy and play more like a FPS than an RPG. And your' comment about EQ warriors is rediculous. If the class sux so bad then why were 9 out of 10 uber tanks warriors instead of Paladins and SKs? If anyone got shafted, it's Paladins
. The early ones like myself suffered through massive xp penalties so you warriors leveled tons faster than we did. And we weren't any better! In fact, we were inferior tanks. And for what? to get a few junk healing spells? Ahem...LAME!
Moving right along, I LOVE the posts here. Yes EQ1 was enchanting. I have a few heroes in EQ. First there was..what was his name...a level 8 Paladin who would duel anyone and also took on Madman. My level 5 Paladin was in awe. Then, when I hit level 8, my friend took me on a journey to Misty Thicket. I'd never been past west commonlands so that was a journey for me. When my friend went LD all day, I was stranded and then died. Taking hours to find my way back, I miraculously made it to Rivervale after many deaths. A level 9 druid was there and helped me recover my corpse near Runnyaye, taught me how to become a deputy, and led me on the long journey back to Freeport. The west commonands were full of HGs back then. At least 5 of them who pathed along the desert wall. I was in awe and fear. Whyye was the druids name, and he was an inspiration to me for the rest of my EQ life. I tried as best I could to be just like him. Honorable and brave, and generous.
Whyye if your'e still out there, I give you a hearty /salute.
Luckily, i don't need you to like me to enjoy video games. -nariusseldon.
In F2P I think it's more a case of the game's trying to play the player's. -laserit
Man your Naggy shots are great. I never ever got to play too much because my parents were so strict. Only 2 hours each weekend. So as you can imagine, I was never able to keep up with my friends or with the expansions.
I was in eigth grade when it came out (I'm graduating college soon) and on summer nights, when I think about eq, so many sentiments come sailing back.
The in game world was beautiful, it really made me feel at rest. I loved the late afternoons in game when the sunlight began to fade into that hot pink sunset; I always loved how it drizzled in Overthere.
I loved those times....back when i barely graduated high school, so that i could play my necro. Those were the days.......
I agree 100 percent. The entire reason I continued to play VG was because I felt some EQ spirit in it, and hoped by the end there would be more. Then they nerfed the entire game and made it easy mode because apparently that's what "next gen" means (see WoW). My entire problem with EQ2 though and pretty much the only reason I don't play it is because the run speed. You fly across a zone in no time and the mobs run ridiculously fast too. If they'd have made character movement more like EQ, I'd have loved it. As is though I seriously cannot force myself to play as much as I want to because it feels like I'm just playing a beta when it comes to that. So close to being great too.
Compared to the games available today, classic EQ1 pre Planes of Power was orgasmic.
PS. EQ2 is a disaster of a game, nothing like classic EQ1.
The mantle of Everquest's 1 greatness (many suggest Pre-PoP) has been passed to EQ II.
Many were anticipating (hoping) it would be Vanguard. Some still cling to this hope. Hope still lingers, particularly after reading today's patch notes on the Test Server.
All I can say is that EQ II is my favorite MMORPG to play.
This is a fun thread, so a lil bump won't hurt.
To the previous poster , above. I'm glad you enjoy EQ2. I believed all the current buzz and bought EoF (and a station pass). I was vastly dissapointed.
I know one EQ1 person (cute chic, in fact) who also loves EQ2. If SOE wants to attract more of the EQ1 crowd to EQ2, they need to better prepare us for how easy EQ2 is at first. It is rediculously easy. When my buddy told me he reached level ten in his first hour of play, I was immediately turned off. I have long and fond memories of EQ1 in 1999 in the level 1 to 10 range. So much happened, so many friendships were formed. I'm sure I died 100 times before I hit level 10. And to reduce this experience to an hour on a linear, newbie island where you barely get scratched, let alone die is blasphemy.
I can put up with the large, empty city with the cool facade of a stronghold in Qeynos. It's a facade because obviously it's just for show; you can't get into it. In the two hours I spent in EQ2 I saw perhaps 8 players total in Qeynos. Contrast that to EQ in the early days where you saw hundreds in that time. Or the early days of progression server, you saw several hundreds in you first few minutes.
But what I cannot put up with is a game that turns what were fond memories for me into a joke today. The low level game is meaningless in EQ2.
Tallor, 70th Cleric, Cazic Thulle (Brell Serilis)
Arclan, 70th Paladin, Cazic Thulle (Brell Serilis)
Add Arclan's EQ Progression Server Poll to your sig! --> http://66.242.136.195/EQprogressionpetition/
Luckily, i don't need you to like me to enjoy video games. -nariusseldon.
In F2P I think it's more a case of the game's trying to play the player's. -laserit
I loved EQ at first because it was my first MMO. Nothing ever captures the sense of wonder you feel when you take your first steps into a virtual world. For me I guess that means nothing else will ever capture the feel that I had the first time I fired it up, tried to talk to an NPC, hit him in the face and was slain (my proud first moments of EQ).
I don't want to write this, and you don't want to read it. But now it's too late for both of us.
Oh gods how I loved EQ before they started releasing an expansion every two weeks.
EQ was great in the old days. Tons of races, tons of classes, each unique and interesting. Group diversity was such that you didn't NEED a warrior if you had a pally, or a mage if you had an enchanter. Faction was 100% open. I could make myself loved or hated with nearly anyone, if I worked at it. The world was HUGE, and travel felt realistic. Even if missing the boat was annoying as heck. I can remember the first time I did a full run from Freeport to Qeynos...FUN!
And you could make booze. More games need brewing.
I wish everyone could have played classic EQ1 pre Planes of Power. So many gamers have truly missed out on a great experience.
Those early levels in classic EQ1 were hard and a hell of a lot of fun. You are absolutely correct when you say that friendships were formed early on because of the combat oriented experience system and difficulty level of the game. Dying was a real possibility all the time at any level. The newbie zones were still dangerous and therefore exhilarating.
Why can't a game developer make a challenging game nowadays instead of these stupid dummied down task driven games with floating icons and glows over the NPCs and minimaps with arrows pointing where to go and watered down death penalties? It's pathetic what game developers are offering today.
How can I explain how much I enjoyed EQ? I can't. It's just impossible to explain.
The game has given me memories that I'll remember for the rest of my life. It's incredible the amount I still think about this game. I can't get back into it though, after trying to and failing like 5 times now.
This game took a large portion of my youth away. For every friend I gained offline, I became distant with friends offline. EQ was too good, it was Evercrack. But this drug no longer exists, EQ is not the EQ as I remember it - whether that be the fault of the game or the fault of my perception - and I'm still suffering from withdrawal symptoms that can never be cured.
Seems strange. One game, having such a profound effect on me, and knowing it affected others just as much or if not more deeply than it did to me.
Stop tormenting me, Everquest.
Still waiting for your Holy Grail MMORPG? Interesting...
Best game ever created up untill luclin.
Now it's still the best mmorpg on the market. Why it's better than wow "i had 14 lvl 70's between me and wife and quit"
If you want to pvp play gears of war. Wow is a pvp game for kids not an adult fantasy game like eq still is.
Wow is prettier by todays standards" looks don't mean fun"
Wow has great combat that's it's strongest point.
EVERYONE looks the same in wow.
There are 9 classes in wow................................... lol everyone is the same!
In everquest you felt unique, and felt and still feels like your in another world.
Everquest is harder to learn , so Lazy or dumb people won't play it.
I took a 5 year break after luclin came out , i went back 2 weeks ago and i love the game sooo much.
Make a magician , give the pet a 2hander and a summoned belt from the bazaar. You can get lvl 40 in 2 weeks.
Very fun game and tradeskills actually have meaning in the game. People act more real in everquest 8/19/2007 than in wow by far. Everyone in wow watches their mouths but in eq you see the real personallities. Good and bad.
Nothing can compare to everquest and everquest ruins of kunark it is/was the greatest game ever created.
All you Wower's that are bored and over the age of 25 should play EQ.
there are 16 classes and 16 races with unique stats. Try an iksar monk or erudite mage like me : )
"besides the trees in warsilik woods that get in your camera view :P "
www.myspace.com/solidwhitetuna