How did EQ survive this long.Follow

hehe after absence of 8 yrs and 8 yrs ago i revisited 4 one day, can understand the frustration, but i left just after 5th anniversary, and am enjoying bringing up my sk, which i started 8 yrs ago and got to end tutorial and then left game till 2 days ago. Lot of the things are still here that made me leave, I suppose with time, its made me feel nostalgia for early part of game, part reason i am here, but am on f2p I cannot imagine wanting to pay for frustration and camps, I actually remember the epic 1.00 , and having a real long camp time, same with earring of solstice, sow boots, fishbone earring, but, now I here camp times are minmal for same reason, there are few newcomers to game, its mostly people been here a long time. I will bide my time, and get a main toon to cap along way, on which i find fastest lvler:-) nn all enjoy have fun

I'm a newbie here, but not to EQ. I started my first character maybe 10 years ago. I can't remember exactly. I know Vox was top of the list and the foreman's tunic was uber gear for druids. I started as a warrior, but because I played and hour or two here and there, switched to a druid. Since then, I've leveled an enchanter and warrior up to level caps at the time. I think one was 60 and the other 65. I currently have an 83 druid and the wife plays an 83 warrior. We're pretty much at the point where I was with the other characters, where the fun is fading and the grind is increasing. What that means is we'll probably drop off for a while, and given the server populations, maybe forever if EQ goes away.

From my perspective, there are really two distinct and separate EQ worlds. For me, the first 55-60 levels are an absolute blast. You can log on and play for an hour and accomplish something. Your gear doesn't have to carry raid level designations and conquering a mob, even what might be an ordinary mob, can generate a lot of fun. I spent about a year in a raiding guild years ago. My last raid, I decided then, I'd never do that again. It just wasn't fun for me.

I think that's where the development has failed. Casual players really have no end-game. We just play until the grind turns it into something akin to pulling teeth with a pair of pliers after you bust them apart. Then we move on or start over. Eventually, we just move on and like now, come back for an occasional romp through the fun levels and fun zones.

Which are most dead. I may have seen a dozen players in 50 levels. 99 percent of the time, I'm the only person in a zone. It seems such a monstrous waste. And it really seems like a monstrous waste to keep going the way they're going and leaving half or better of the content empty. I don't know how to fix it but server populations are pitiful compared to what they used to be.

There's always something to do.

My EQ day goes something like this:
1. Log in to (offline) trader. Drop cash and refill the bags
2. Log in to toon camping the Iksar Berzerker's Club in Kurn's Tower. High value baz item and great gift for n00bz (see below)
3. Log into cleric (Taterkuk on every server but Stromm). Buff n00bz, give away some gifts and answer questions/give advice. This is some of the most fun I have while playing, BTW.
4. Log in my Rogue. I've played on and off (mostly on) since Ykesha and this is my 1st Rogue. To have some focus, I've decided he's going to do the entire Hero's Journey. He hit lvl 50 the other day and is doing the 1st line of the Mesa section. I'll go back and kill that mean ol' Bixie Queen in a few levels.
5. Repeat 2/3/4 until I'm done and then reset the Offline trader.

Occasionally I'll port folk or help with an assassination as needed/requested. And there's always the exciting world of tradeskilling!!


I don't get bored with EQ because there's always something to do. You can always do your epics!



EDIT: Ykesha, not Ysheka.

Edited, Mar 2nd 2015 2:05am by Bijou

What server are you on, gbaji?

I want to annoy you..chat and stuff.

hehe, fond memories. When I started on EQ, my first couple months, every camp I chose to do was a total nightmare (some my fault, some others' fault, some just nasty RNG, etc).

Then I decided to camp the IBC. Told them in guild chat, see you in a week, most likely. Got to the spawn spot, re-cast invis, sat down, and BAM! He popped on top of me, in less than 2 seconds camp time!

I still have a screen shot of me screaming in guild chat "I'm the luckiest EQ player there is!" :)

Tat

Everquest is a good game, was a FANTASTIC game back in the day, when people hung out at the newbie log in Nek forest, I have come and gone through the years, Unfortunately I see the game continues to get more stupid, waaaaaay to easy to play, I loved the extreme challenge back then. Thats what made EQ Unique, it was tough. These new expansions have no good content and just more grind zones. I do give all you vets two thumbs up for still playing. I personally am enjoying Project1999 more. I still have my old screenshots from so many years ago, that plus my memories are what put a smile on my face when I think about this game. I do however see this game eventually coming to an end. Sony is dumping a lot of money into EQ next and landmark. With that being said, hacking and Macroquest continue to be on the rise which ruins the game =/ I hope one day a game developer will see how awesome EQ was and may be make a decent version for today instead of making sorry WoW clones.

I started playing EQ in 99ish (a couple weeks before Kunark came out, EQ's first expac as we know). I played for a few years on an almost daily basis since I was a jobless teen back then. The game was fantastic to me because it was the first game I had ever played that had no ending! The appeal of building my character further and further, grouping with my real life friends as well as in-game friends, and my love for swords and magic and all things fantasy was what kept me playing.

I quit against my will in 05 when the game became too much for my old computer to handle, and I didn't have the money to buy a new one. 5 years, another mmo, and a college degree later, I came back to EQ at Christmas of 2010. Why? Because after a year of playing another mmo, I realized that I was always comparing it to EQ, and it donned on me that I should just go back to EQ since I always think about it...

Once I came back, I was disappointed to find that all my years of hard work to get the gear I had meant nothing. My gear was old and it was stuff that people could barely even give away. I had a lot of catching up to do! Within a few weeks I had relearned all the fun little basics of playing the game, and had caught up with my new guildmates thanks to some advice, and lots of solo work because I don't like handouts, I'd rather earn my stuff and I still do.

I've even passed on my knowledge of my class via the building of my own warrior based website known as The Warrior's Handbook. EQ has tons of loyal and hardcore players that actually enjoy playing the game as it was intended. I'm one of them... I don't like taking shortcuts, I don't like cheating, and I love to experience as much of the game as I can. I help others when I can, but I prefer to do things on my own as much as possible because that's how you truly get good and learn. I like to see how powerful I can become without help and how much I can accomplish (not in an antisocial kind of way though).

I've thought to myself many times, how is this game still around? The graphics are outdated and I know many people who won't play it because of the graphics despite the amount of content it has. But I came to the conclusion that it's the challenge of the game, the time involved to complete things properly, the amount of content, and most importantly the unmatched appeal that only EQ can provide. No other game will ever come close to that aspect of fun that only the real EQ players will ever understand.

I've seen many people say there's no challenge to this game, complain about how boring some things are, and many other things that all make me laugh. They'll never get it, the boringness of some quests ARE the challenge. Doing the quests as intended without taking shortcuts IS the challenge. Getting the best gear for your class and level without buying it from the bazaar IS the challenge. Taking your time to experience everything the game has to offer when you start at level 1 instead of trying to get to 105 in a week IS the challenge. There's so much more!

Here's a challenge for those who say the game isn't challenging. Make a level 1 character, do not go buying plat from websites or other players, do not twink your character, do not transfer stuff to that character from your alts or mains. Just take your rusty sword and your cloth tunic and start killing! Do all the quests you can find as you level up. Equip gear as it drops from mobs if it's an upgrade and do not accept handouts from other players who feel sorry for you because you're starting from scratch and think you're a true noobie. See where I'm going with this? Play the game as it was intended! Therein lies your challenge! And THAT my friends is why I still play EQ and how it has survived this long...

When I started, we didn't have mercs, we didn't have acheesements, we didn't have all those noobie quests that are easily found in your quest log these days and give good exp when you complete them, and we had to search for our quest mobs not knowing where they were and all that. We didn't have pathing to show us where to go and all that stuff they added to make the game easier for the not so hardcore players that want things handed to them instead of challenging themselves.

If you play the game the new school way, it's easy. But if you play it the old school way, I give you my 100% guarantee that you will get challenged, get angry, get bored, and want to give up. But you will also appreciate the true essence of EQ and the work you had to do to build your character the right way.

That is all... :D

Snailish, you're a bit of a m*sochist, eh, and I say that with all due respect!

You don't mention grouping, maybe because it's hard to find other players willing to group at low levels, and even harder if you restrict yourself as you suggest, unless you get into a guild designed for this purpose. That turns the game basically into a solo FPS game, which is definitely NOT what the original developers intended. Not much to do around that, short of finding an emu or progression server designed as close to your requirements as possible, where other players can be found who share your antideluvian sentiments.

Don't get me wrong, I share your liking for this kind of play, altho it's more fun---and more "classic"---with friends. Aye, there's the rub.

(It's beyond me why the bad word filter originally asterisked out the entire word in my first line. That's a clinical term! LOL)



Edited, Mar 19th 2015 7:05am by Sippin