Monday, November 6, 2017

Guide event forshadowing Ring Of Scale?




A guide event from November 2017. A guide sits down a group of players in PoK and tells a story.




'Well let us begin my friends!'

'After Veeshan had brought life to Norrath, she settled into the Plane of Sky and
 drew a Veil across the chasm separating the dragon plane from us.'
'Then she fell into a long and peaceful slumber. So too, did the dragons still left
 on Norrath, as their strength was derived from the Plane, and the Veil kept them from
 exercising their magical powers.'
'Ya see, lads, the Ring of Scale dinna take kindly to mortals meddling in their affairs,
 and the Veil did well to prevent that.'
'Aye, but the dragons slept, and the Veil fell into neglect, until mortals began to find
 cracks and once more made inroads into the Plane of Sky.'
'On Norrath, the dragon Zavo`Zatanov and her accomplices were determined to remove the
 Veil and restore the power of the Ring of Scale.'
'Not your normal group of travelers were these. Though they called themselves brother
 and sister, they were clearly not so: Zavo, a High Elven woman of exquisite beauty;
 Rals`Zezonis, strongly human; Sarethsin`Kaz, a typically snobbish Erud'
'and rounding out this already peculiar group, a troll named Soreg`Sslisn.'
'Great reward and dangerous adventure they promised, fortune and glory to all that
 would hear, and not an ear in the land missed their call.'

Staarrx ponders whether some enchantment might have lain behind the irresistable call
to arms..

'And what could possibly be the goal of such a motley group, forcing them to enlist the
 aid of total strangers? Like a knife, the next two words sliced through the cold night
 air, silencing all within hearing.'
'Lady Vox.'
'Lady Vox holds that which we seek.'

Staarrx draws a quick breath as if he him self had been present..

'Through Blackburrow did they venture, the gnolls rejoicing that they did not stay their
 journey. Thence through Everfrost, which some say melted a little under the presence of
 such a horde.'
'On to Permafrost they went, to the lair of the Lady Vox.'
'They paused, casters with their noses buried deep within their books, murmuring arcane
 phrases, warriors unsheathing their blades, donning helms, while some of the smaller
 folk faded in and out of view.'
'That's when they first heard:'
'"Vile children of Scale, your efforts are wasted this day! You were fools to think that
 you could stand against the fury of Mistmoore!"'
'The sound echoed off the canyon walls. Out of the shadows sprung the horror,
 three Teir`Dal soldiers, agents of the dreaded Vampire Lord.'
'Lord Galendor, nightmare of Castle Mistmoore and chief enforcer of Mayong Mistmoore himself,
 led the charge, leveling a furious attack at the High Elven woman, Zavo, before any had time
 to react.'
'Khasra Vei`Ras was not far behind, and a Teir`Dal priestess lent support from the shadows . .
 D`shar was her name.'

Staarrx slows, seeming to drift away to another time and place as it speaks..

'Now, fighting a Teir`Dal agent of the Vampire Lord might not seem to be such a difficult task,
 until you turn to your comrade and see his very life draining away, dripping down his tunic
 and staining the ground.'
'This unholy union of rage and wit, chaos and order . . . it sticks with you.'

Staarrx seems to be speaking as someone with more than a passing acquaintance with the issue.

'Zavo and her companions defended themselves well, but they never could have lasted on their own.'
'Luckily, they had prepared themselves, enlisting the aid of some of the greatest that Norrath
offered.'
'The battle was bloody, and before they even had time to organize themselves into some
 semblance of order, forty had become twenty.'
'The tide finally began to turn for the heroes when one of the young half-elf warriors
 discovered the Teir`dal cleric D`shar hiding in a corner and quickly dispatched her.'
'Without a healing force, the Teir`dal had no hope for victory. Galendor fell almost
 immediately, and Khasra, badly wounded, stumbled backwards, uttering a few cryptic words.'
'What followed sent a chill through the bones of all who were there to witness,
 and these were battle-hardened veterans of the worst that Norrath had to offer.'
'Ya see, the shadows crept out from the very stones beneath her feet, reaching up
 from the ground to envelop the Teir`dal woman, swallowing her into darkness.
 Little did they know that while this was taking place,'
'a dwarf rogue by the name of Kivgor Illbria had snuck into Vox`s lair and purloined
 the Shard. Loud and foul were the cries of anguish rumbling through the bowels of
 Permafrost when Vox discovered the Shard missing.'
'Just as loud were the cries of glee from Kivgor, taunting Vox for letting down her
 guard. His luck failed him, though. As he was about to make good his escape through
 the gates of the cavern, Kivgor ran headlong into Zavo`s group.'
'Proud of his accomplishment, Kivgor waved the Shard before them, but his pride
 quickly turned to anguish when he discovered that this was the very Shard that they
 were hunting.'
'He attempted to flee, but they caught him and challenged him for rightful ownership
 of the Shard. Badly outnumbered, Kivgor stood nay chance at all, but he still fought
 for the Shard. His dying words echoed through the chamber.'
''Fie on you, accursed Mistmoore! I fall in your favor, but now you be without your
 precious trinket!''

Staarrx looks puzzled.

'Mistmoore, mentioned twice now? What role could Mistmoore possibly play in this drama?'

Staarrx knows that the party was soon to discover the answer to that question..

'Ya see, Mayong Mistmoore was the bitter enemy of the Ring of Scale, and he wanted
 nothing more than to possess the Shard and thereby control access to the Plane
 of Sky.'
'With all due haste, Zavo`s group journeyed to the Rathe Moutains, where the final
 partitioning of the Veil was to take place. Surrounded by their mortal supporters,
 Zavo and her friends shed their illusions,'
'and stepped forward to reveal their true dragon nature. However, before Zavo could
 reveal herself, the sky was suddenly filled wi` shadows, while faint laughter swirled
 through the rising wind.'
'A harsh voice, filled wi` hatred and disgust, echoed through the mountainsides,
 `Children of Scale! You shall not succeed this night, I shall make sure of it.'
'`For centuries, you have evaded me. Now this shall end. Everything you possess
 . . . is but a waste.''
'challenging them for possession of the Shard.'
'Quickly the mortals sprang to the defense of the Scale, but it was too late for
 the doomed party. One by one, Mistmoore's cold touch enveloped them in misty
 vapor, draining their life and strengthening his.'
'Fighting valiantly, the humans appeared to be on the verge of sure victory,
 when suddenly Mayong faded from view, eluding their attacks.'
'The shadows quickly retreated back to the corners and stones from which they
 had issued, their tendrils rising in the air and the sound of a thousand
 shrieks echoing across the Mountains of Rathe.'
'As the shadows slithered from view, a voice was heard, faintly hissing
 these words of defeat, `You have won this day, Children of Scale, but
 it shall not be the last battle that you will face.'
'`Rend your veil and harness your power, it shall do nothing for you, as in
 the end, you all shall perish, dragon and mortal alike. Your corpses
 shall rot at my feet; this I can assure you.'
'Until that night comes, I bid thee a good morrow, and sleep well.
 The voice trailed off into sadistic laughter that hung within the
 air for what seemed like an eternity before fading into the wind.'
'Alas, Zavo mourned the loss of her beloved companions, cursing the name of Mistmoore.'

Staarrx lowers his head to conceal the tears in his eyes..

'Determined to complete the quest which she had started,
 Zavo called for the human who had most distinguished himself
 in the battle to step forward.'
 the final task, to die by the Shard, spilling his blood on
 the earth of Norrath so that the Veil would be sundered forever.
 He paused not a moment before nodding in agreement.'
'After performing the sacrifice and resurrecting the hero, Zavo
 presented him wi` the Shard, which became known thereafter as
the Crystalline Claw of Veeshan, a mighty and powerful weapon.'
'Forevermore in the realms of the Scale was his act of bravery sung.
 Thus did the Veil of Veeshan become torn, and the realms of mortals
 and Scale did mingle.'
'And so the dragons of Norrath were once more restored to power and
 glory, a fitting position for the Ring of Scale.'

Staarrx wonders what Mistmoore did next..

'Of the outcome of the battle between Mistmoore and the Ring of Scale,
 we can only guess, for I am certain that the final pages of that
 Act have not yet been written.'
'Thank you all for listening to my tale. I do hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.'


Sunday, November 5, 2017

That day in Lavastorm....

When first starting the game back in the early 2000s I spent a lot of time just wandering around various zones. The world was new, the idea of  MMOs was complex, and I was unsure if continuing was a good idea.

The game seemed too difficult! On top of that if the first couple months had taught me anything it was that I was not very good at this. Struggling is an understatement. I needed something, anything, to convince me continuing on would be a good idea.

 As fate would have it an incident in Lavastorm would change the direction of my EQ future.

Lavastorm Mountains
 


So I was wandering around Lavastorm exploring when all of a sudden my invis disappeared! Invis at that level was incredibly unreliable and had dropped in the middle of a pack of goblins. The goblins were bashing my hitpoint bar down fast and I had no reliable options. I could try to run for it but the zoneline was very far from where I was located. It could have well been a thousand miles from me considering the circumstances.


Ominous hills overlook Lavastorm



I needed to act fast. My first and only option was to gate. It was a foolish idea really, gate had a huge casting time and would be interrupted by all the punches I was taking for sure. But I had to try. First cast was unsuccessful. Second cast was working but slowly. The cast bar was struggling to complete. Each punch from a goblin could make my gate stop and it would be the end of me. My heart was pounding and my hitpoints were dropping. At the very last second gate worked! I was back at my bindpoint with less then 5 hit points remaining.

I was safe. The experience convinced me this was a great game. I decided to stay. The rest is history.




Fcseven (11/2017)

Saturday, June 24, 2017

Back to EQ

I know threads like this have been done before, but I was looking into coming back to EQ for the first time in like 13 years due to the Agnarr server, and it got me thinking about old EverQuest memories. Anyone want to share theirs? here are some of mine:
Not having any maps and there weren't any online resources for quite a bit (at least that i was aware of) so it made the world feel absolutely massive and real. I remember finding out about leveling locations and directions on how to get there via word of mouth from other players rather than being able to just google everything. I've just never felt such a sense of immersion from a game since then; sometimes I think it was because I was in my mid-teens when I first started playing, so I was younger, but older players say they experienced the same thing...so EQ really must have been that great.
Similar to the first one, running all the way from Qeynos to Crushbone because I heard it was a great place to level. Again, without maps and at such a low level, it was difficult and dangerous. Once I made it there I felt like I had accomplished some legendary feat.
Guiding on the A Ro server for awhile, helping people out (even sometimes when you weren't supposed to). part of what I loved about EQ was just exploring the world, probably why it took me so long to level. So as a Guide whenever the petition queue was slow I'd just roam all over Norrath just taking in the sheer size and scale of the world.
Hanging out in the EC tunnel (before Luclin ruined it) and just talking to people. I could spend hours just sitting in there socializing and not even trying to level.
Joining a raid against the FP guards on my human warrior because I felt like it was something a follower of Marr should do. As a result, being KoS in most of FP and having to have someone show me the secret route through the sewers. Felt like I was James Bond sneaking in there.
Begging for ports and/or SoW because back in the day it actually took a long time to travel somewhere even if you didn't die along the way. But it made the journey feel so much more valuable and impressive.
How every fight felt critical because if you died you were going to have to go on a naked CR and lose precious exp. And how there was no just running a certain distance until a mob stopped chasing you like there is in modern day MMOs. Back then you better hope you're not far from the zone or you were screwed.
Similarly, "TRAIN TO ZONE" shouts. Spectres and SGs being pulled to the docks in Oasis of Marr and everyone scattering. Grinding and having fun with groups on the Orc highway there too.
Being terrified at lower levels while trying to traverse Kithicor at night.
The chessboard in BB where I had a lot of fun times camping out.
And just generally all the infuriating things such as kill stealing, camp stealing, training, hell levels and slow grinding of exp, forgetting to bind near your new location and dying and respawning half a world away (lol) that all seemed so rage inducing at the time but now ironically just give me a sense of nostalgia.


PurpleDrank88 (From Reddit 6/2017)

Thursday, June 8, 2017

The Spellsheen Prism

One day back in 2005 while grouping in Muramite Proving Grounds our group had a zonewide random drop. Although there are multiple zonewides that can drop this one in particular fit my class well. It was the legendary Spellsheen Prism!

The hit points and mana were amazing compared to the item I was wearing and to top it all off what made this an extraordinary item was the +4 hp regen. To a Necro the +4 HP regen put it over the top.


Muramite Proving Grounds
 





This is were the story gets weird, zone wide randoms happen everyday and although rare, they are fairly (sort of) common in EQ. The group I was in had one other caster rolling against me and the scary thing is he expressed excitement at the prospect of looting this gem himself. This filled me with a sense of dread. Because even though I was only rolling against one person, I still had a 50% chance of not winning it. So, he rolled first and surprisingly, came out with a low number. I rolled myself and to my satisfaction won the roll!

In real life (as all of this was going on) there was a severe thunderstorm happening. As soon as I won the roll a flash of lightning crashed outside my window and the power as well as my computer went out. I could not believe it! After what seemed like forever the power finally came back on. My inner feelings of anger were echoed by the loud clashes of thunder outside. My cable internet finally flashed to life and I was able to go back online.



MPG mobs






By this time, multiple minutes had passed and I thought for sure the group would have let the other person loot my prism. I reconnected to the game and quickly looked around me. The group had all but disbanded but thankfully the mob that held my prism was still on the ground. I quickly targeted him and saw that there was 2-3 minutes left until rot.

The person who I rolled against was standing next to the mob. I quickly looted the item and he sent me a tell saying that he thought he would be a "nice guy" and wait for the last possible moment to loot it. He confessed really wanting the item for himself but holding back.

This was the closest I had ever come to both winning and losing an item.

Years later, and I'm talking 7-8 years later, I'm standing in the guild lobby when out of the blue a stranger sends me a tell. He asked me "Do you remember me?" I replied "No unfortunately I don't." He replies "I was the one who rolled against you for the prism in MPG 10 years ago." we both had a good laugh and he said he had never been so tempted to loot an item and log out. But he didn't.

An amazing EQ experience.


Fcseven (updated June 8 2017)

Thursday, June 1, 2017

Everquest memories-Best memories

Best memories: Playing eq with my bros. Best experiences: the atmospeheres of the planes of power. Thats about when i quit. What brought me back: Everquest has a thereuputic element that relaxes me in my chaos real world lolz







Forcer Deathmagi (EQ forums)

Sunday, May 28, 2017

Everquest memories- Determination,Teamwork, and Diligence.

This memory was an easy one for me. Thinking back to that day in 2007 when I witnessed the most amazing feat of raid leadership in (my raiding) history. Even though my raiding days are long gone this was what I feel is the pinnacle of what 6 day a week raiding was about. Strong leadership in the face of impossible odds.













The ability of some people to lead others while at the same time analyze and develop a strategy is mind boggling. Where does this talent come from? I wish I could have even a fraction of that ability.






Fcseven (updated 3/30/23)

Monday, May 22, 2017

Everquest memories-What brought me back.

I have been back for several years now. I played pretty hard from 99-04 until I started college and worked 2 jobs so EQ had to go on the back burner. I actually kept paying my account until I was issued a new bank card and the numbers did not match for renewal. I returned to EQ when I got out of school in 2009 but only very casual as I was working 60-80 hours a week to get caught up in RL. I started playing again on a regular basis around 2011 once RL settled down a bit.

So what brought me back to the game when there are so many other options? EQ has that feeling unlike any other game I have ever experienced. It reminds me of when I was a child playing super Mario bros on an arcade machine at the corner gas station before NES was released. I would save all my quarters and spend hours playing a game I needed a stool to even reach the controls to play. Once NES was released there was this amazing game called The Legend of Zelda that was released and that started my real addiction for video games especially fantasy style games. Everquest took the elements of every game I had ever enjoyed with added things I had never encountered in a video game and created something that was not just a game but an actual experience. You did not just play EQ you lived it. You assumed the identity of your character and escaped from the real world. Having a stressful job in RL EQ has been my escape and mostly a therapeutic experience for me which has kept me loyal to the game and keeps me coming back day after day.




Aurastrider (From the Everquest forums May 2017)

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

Everquest memories-Camping the Manor.


Earliest, fondest memory: Camping the manor in unrest (this was way before the revamp of the zone) and argoing the floors above and below you. Usually not a problem because Unrest was crowded with people in those days...but in the dead in the morning (3-4am) no ones around but you (ma-ha-haa!)
Unrest


Jaw dropping, WOW, memory: The very first time I saw the Dwarf/Giant war in Velious.


Frost Giant in Great Divide


Reason coming back -
Went to a gaming convention and saw someone playing EQ. After talking, found out EQ was going to be opening up a 'classic' server and figured I could see if I can bring back some of the good memories.


Kyllvyn (from the EQ forums may 2017) 

Everquest memories- First time in Plane of Fear

Way back when I decided to lead my first raid into Fear. Totally cold. I'd never even zoned in before!

There were probably some where around forty of us in raid and I had no clue about invising on zone in or moving to a corner spot so we just sent a group in to see what would happen. This was the early days of EQ so when you die it could be a few minutes before you came back around. Needless to say the entire group went down in moments!









 Plan B; rush the entire raid in! They were ready for us.

Plan C; med and buff for thirty minutes naked on a full raid corpse run and try the bum-rush again, tanks first. Why I thought this would work better without any gear I'll never know!

Plan D, beg the server's top raiding guild to help us get all of our corpses back. That was the best decision I made all night!


Plane of Fear


What brought me back? I haven't left yet!



Tachyon (from the EQforums May 2017)

Everquest memories-So long ago.

Learning to group in Blackburrow (and finiding the music scary!) - I actually miss corpse runs and the occasional muppet who would lean over the pit, aggro a mob at the bottom and listen to the /ooc wails as the whole zone pulled to the entrance.


Blackburrow gnolls

Memorizing the kithicor woods tunnel because I made a human ranger and they couldn't see a thing in a tunnel or at night - I spent every EQ night fishing. WK bandits. The bard on the Freeport - Butcherblock boat who had a whole 1500 word story on macros. JBoots quest. EC Tunnel before the Bazaar. Running a guild, grouping in HHK for the goblins ('I still remember a useless melee cleric and a group member screaming "DALTE, HEAL FOR F*&£$ SAKE" - must have been 2001)

Why is it everything I loved about this game was so bloody long ago



Kyzvs (From the EQ forums May 2017)

Sunday, May 14, 2017

Everquest memories- The Great Pet Pulling Nerf .

It is impossible to talk about the biggest nerfs in EQ history without mentioning pet pulling. A pulling tactic widely used well into the first decade of the millennium.. I like to think of it as something easy to learn but hard to master. Summoning a low level pet that you could send into a pack of angry red conning mobs and pull one out safely was its main function. It could mean the difference between a group winning or a group losing. It could elevate a lowly insignificant pawn into a superstar. Once the knowledge about it got out and more people started to use it, it's days were significantly shortened.









One of the best things about playing a pet class during the early years was learning and applying this tactic in the group as well as solo game. It was incredibly simple in concept but hard to pull off in practice.  Summon a low level pet send him in and get a single mob in return. Sounds easy enough. The problem was the pet getting destroyed in one hit. If that happened the mob and his friends would agro you. It was risky but rewarding.

The tactic at the time I learned of it was not considered an exploit. It was surrounded by shades of gray at worst. I thought it was simply part of the necromancer arsenal. Those who look back and just see exploit is not thinking of the time period. It was the early 2000s. Most of us were still completely new to the game and still learning the ropes. I honestly didn't know a approved of tactic from a game breaking exploit. Only as time went on did it become apparent the magnitude of it all. When guilds started to use it to circumvent raid mechanics the writing was on the wall.


In late 2006 the nerf hammer was brought down. The end of one of the greatest tactics in a pet classes history came to an end. I miss it.




Fcseven (updated 3/30/23)

Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Everquest memories- Random memories and hell levels.

(Forgot lake of ill omen trains at the Sarnak castle). Pick up raids to fear with the 7-9 hour corpse runs. Pick up raids to North TOV, Pick up raids in Kael Drakkel, AoW corpse runs. Pick up raids in Velks Lab. Prayer shawl questing, (horrible horrible trade skill maxing).
Hell levels. (Remember those).

Sarnak Castle in Lake of Ill Omen






rainemaker (from reddit)

Everquest memories- Bugs

I want to tell a story but hope no one gets mad.
I once was able to exploit a crazy bug that came over my game back in the day.
Every few times I zoned, my game would crash. I also figured out that if it was a clicky zone, instead of crashing, nothing would happen.

At some point I remember trying to trade with someone, but upon clicking "trade" I crashed. When I logged on I saw the items still in my inventory. Asked the guy I was trading with if he still wanted the items... to which he told me that I already gave them to him. BINGO!

I ended up clicking in and out of PoK until I couldn't zone (bug activated), and would hand a bag of goodies to a buddy upon which I would crash. Log back in and we would both have that bag.

I was on dial up at the time with a slow computer, so only did this two or three times. I was also super new and broke, so the bags were full of junk like spider silk, wis rings, and velious resist rings. So don't assume that I enriched myself in some crazy way (lol, simply because I couldn't).

Anyone else find any fun exploits?

P.S. - also remember that for a little bit after a particular patch, pet classes were able to summon multiple pets.




removedcomment (from reddit)

Everquest memories-Late night raiding.

Every night raiding late night till 3:00am on Inny with 70+ people in The Defiant guild wiping over and over, and then finally overcoming the mob.

Now I can solo most of those mobs with barely a scratch.


jdblaich (from reddit)

Everquest memories- Random memories.

Some random memories of old EQ in no particular order. Sitting in PoK on my gnome necromancer in service to bertoxxulous the palguebringer. A few RL christians come in and start proseletyizing for players to turn from the false gods of norrath and come to christ. I am not making this up. I then roleplayed the necros response to the followers of this upstart carpenter coming in to denounce his god. I might have said something about an inept ameture taking 3 whole days to raise the dead. The zone started keeping score. I was ahead when the GM showed up.

Another from that gnome, I was over on odus farming bone chips. Had this erudite /ooc "gnome go home, this is Paineel, the city of high men!". My immediate reply: /ooc You have improved your skill at Reading City Signs! (2)

Paineel
 


My wood elf ranger fletched his own trueshot back when that actually meant something. It did not mean much to the warrior in our group hunting bandits over in ro. He insisted on telling me my bow was for pulling only, and refused to hear anything to the contrary. The very next pull I landed 4 crit arrows in a single round. The bandit was under 20% life before it reached the tank :)
Also on that ranger, fishing off qeynos docks and being called a filthy hybrid by a spinning lantern, and wondering if it was some kind of GM event (I was new then...)

Teaming up with another wood elf ranger (it was my first toon) to take down wolves in gfay for pelts to make patchwork armor which was actually upgrades. This was long before the game turned into a monty haul campaign.

Riding the Maidens Voyage for the first time when Kunark launched. I remember the wings unfolding and thinking man, with this kind of sendoff this expansion is gonna be epic. Also remembering the epic pain of those !@#$%^ spiders in firiona...



Spiders in FV


Man I miss what the game used to be.


Kikinaak (from Reddit)

Sunday, May 7, 2017

Everquest memories- EC IRL









What is reality? When I was attending philosophy classes at the UW we were taught to think of reality using our senses. Is it possible to be in one place and have it be as real as another even though it is artificial. What is an artificial environment compared to reality?

Back in the 1990s I would frequently visit a state park that was close to where I lived. I was in my early 20s, life was new, my friends and family had not yet moved on to the pages of history. I would walk for hours in this park. The portable cd player or cassette tape blasting my favorite music or audio book. I must have visited this park at least once a day.

The park had the feel of being magical. The strange layout, the strange hills, the place felt like it was straight out of the Terry Brooks audio books I was listing to. The feeling was especially special in fall. Around September or early October the weather was unreal. To this day nothing beats the feeling of sitting on one of the hills in the park, closing my eyes, and letting the crisp autumn air blow across my face. The feeling was spiritually magical. The entire park was a magical field embedded in my imagination.



Aztalan State park
 
Fast forward to 2001. The 90's were becoming a distant memory. Life had changed. I was way too busy with various responsibilities to visit the park everyday. The feeling of magic I had felt a decade earlier had been replaced by the responsibilities of life. Until that day I was gifted with a game called Everquest.

Taking my first steps into the EQ world was much like walking in my park. A zone called East Commonlands almost looked like it. A replica. Better then that, the feeling of magic was back and surrounding me. Now I was not only a spectator in the amazing stories of magic and adventure like in the Terry Brooks audio books, I was a participant.


East Commonlands







Fcseven (updated 3/30/23)**removed dead link to Youtube. 


Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Everquest memories-Cruel jokes.

My friends and I would play cruel jokes on each other. We would log on each others' accounts at odd hours of the night, bank their armor, and load them up with enough copper that would prevent them from walking faster than a snail's pace. We'd then slowly work our way to the Oasis and camp them out underwater, and wait for them to log in and drown.







AS_99 (from Reddit)

Everquest memories-Surrounded by kindness

I started playing Everquest when I was eight years old and essentially grew up on it off and on. When I was fifteen, I got computer privileges back after being grounded, and made a character on a new server because I decided to actually play. Before this, my max level was eighteen because this was back when death was very punishing and I was literally terrified to leave Gfay/crushbone.


Anyway, the story starts with me going to guide event and meeting these two people who were role playing alongside--I was fifteen, gawky, headgear, long tangled hair and maybe seventy pounds and TALL. And I loved writing. I instantly wanted to know all about their guild. As soon as I could I was writing a backstory for the application process and became a member of the Sigils, one of the oldest still active role playing guilds on live--it's still going on the Emarr server (originally inno).
And I loved the Sigils so much that I started telling everyone about it. I recruited something like twenty people to the guild, including cross server, because I briefly revived the server wide roleplay channel from the live forums. While I played I grew up, I met a boy, and that boy was abusive. Things sucked so much in my normal life, in high school. I was desperate to stay as thin as I was as a kid and my boyfriend would alternately scream abusive insults and cry in my arms, before escalating to punching walls and sometimes my arms. When I logged in that shit didn't matter. I was a powerful shadow knight with these intricate and cool storylines. I was made an officer in the guild. The Sigils weren't just a role playing guild, we did high tier grouping content--when Underfoot launched I got a few server firsts.


I'll always remember my absolute best moment in Everquest. We got a huge force together to raid the demi plane of blood for the chance at an epic 2.5 drop. We brought the allied guilds I'd negotiated as ambassador. And some more that loved the Sigils from years ago. It was my first ever raid, and I loved every second of it. At the end, a melee 2.5 aug dropped--I couldn't believe it. All the melee present rolled and--I didn't get the high roll. The people who rolled above me were the raid leader, who'd played ten years straight and cared so much about his paladin, the person who recruited me who knew an insane amount about numbers and had been talking about getting this aug for months, and a longtime ally who was a top tier raider and made a lot of our ambitious adventures possible with his support.
And they all passed to me.




Demi



I remember my guild leader, who was like a second mom to me, calling me while I was crying at the computer and saying, you deserve it, kiddo!

They passed it to me not because they thought I had the shitties life, that I had done the most for the guild, but because every single person there got a genuine kick out of being kind and generous. That's what Everquest was to me. A place I could go when things were really tough to be surrounded by kindness. It was more than an escape--it was a vacation.

I quit playing in college and only really log in to say hi to my guildies now. But I wouldn't have survived high school and become the confident, self-assured and happy grown woman I am today without the kindness of a bunch of people to an awkward teenager back then. Thanks, EQ.








calowyn (From Reddit)

Everquest memories-Fallen in Kurn's Tower

My first toon was a female Iksar monk named Milstermangoons. I didn't realize my monk was female until I met a fellow Iksar monk named Pidiot in the field of bone. We automatically connected and started to venture into dangerous areas like Kurn's tower. We ventured deep inside the tower and took on more than we could handle.
 
 
I ended up falling down this huge hole in the tower and died. I was terrified, all my hard earned gear gone and no way for me to gather my corpse... all hope was lost. Until, my friend Pidiot told me to hold tight, a few moments later I get a group invite from this level 53 Halfing Druid. It was Pidiot to my rescue.
 
 
 
He cast Levitate on himself, dropped down to my corpse and dragged it all the way to the zone in for me. I've just made my 1st MMO Best friend and I miss Pidiot to this day, we hung together until our real life's took over but I wish I remained in contact with him. MY MMO BFF forever, luv ya Pidiot, thank god for your Druid!       
 
 
 
 
 
Kurn's Tower





Novell Erfane (from YouTube)

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Everquest memories-Thinking back.

My favorite moments were playing in Unrest and Castle Mistmoore back in 1999. They were fun and challenging zones with lots of adds, and they required people to be on their toes. A lot of players learned to play their classes in those zones.




Castle Mistmoore



Unfortunately, after Kunark was released, everyone just wanted to grind in the Overthere and Dreadlands. It became extremely difficult to get people into the dungeons thereafter. Everyone wanted to play it safe.


Another favorite zone of mine was Najena. It was fun, it was different, and if you were a magician you spent a good amount of time there to gather components for the early pet focuses.
Also, want to throw this out there. By far, the most difficult quest/mission I've been a part of was Tipt. Mind you, this is while being level 70 to boot. I can't imagine how painful that hurdle was for level 65s when Gates of Discord first came out.







sewergolem (From Reddit)

Everquest memories- The Friendly Ranger

I was a halfling rogue, it was 1999 and I had just made level 10 and some friends suggested I go to crush bone. Being a new game and a new player, I knew very little and started my run. I Made it through kithicor forest, cross the common lands and on to the boat in Fremont. The boat stopped on Sisters Island and I thought, huh, an island and got off the boat to explore. As soon as I stepped off the boat I was immediately killed by an inhabitant and back in Misty Thicket naked, no money and no idea how to get my body back.


It took about 10 hours to get my corpse back because none of my friends and my naked self could kill the sister on the dock. A level 30 ranger joined us and killed the mob so I could get my gear back. I've been real life friends with that ranger since, 18 years.



Misty Thicket







RangorP (From Reddit)

Everquest memories-Rune Totem Staff

When I started in '99 there were not a lot of shamans. I remember running down to South Karana at level 23 or so, with a bag full of spells to buff folks at the ramp for donations while ibwaited on a group to get to 24! And that first Rune Totem Staff from the lake!









By FingerIsMySafety (from Reddit)

Everquest memories-Yar'Lir

Raiding with Republic of the Dragon on Stromm from 2006 to 2009 or so is still the most fun I have ever had gaming. One stand out evening was in January of 2008 when we finally defeated Yar'Lir in the DoN expansion.


 The details are fuzzy now but I know many attempts were made before we finally pulled it off. We were one of the more casual raiding guilds, only going out for maybe 2 hours, 3 nights a week, and we usually only had 5 to 6 groups.

I believe we cleared all three in the video that night, but the first run at Yar'Lir was a wipe. The footage from the video was on the second run when we finally nailed it. We were tired, cranky, frustrated that a dumb mistake had wiped us the first time, and if we had wiped the second time, we were throwing in the towel. Fortunately, that did not happen.










By dtwork (from Reddit)

Everquest memories-Befallen Run.

Classic Everquest doing a Befallen run.
I was a lvl 18 Paladin and our little PUG of 5 managed to make it all the way to the Troll spawn at the end. As you know EQ, this is no small feat. Any death means everyone dies. At our level, we're going to have to beg someone to help us with the corpse run which would likely be 1-2 hours.

We were all on edge and the Troll actually spawned and had the Bone Bladed Claymore! We took him down and the group GAVE the weapon to me.

I offered to pay everyone to compensate them and every single group member refused. That meant so much to young me. It was sheer camaraderie at the end of a long hard dungeon. I'll remember that feeling for my entire life.

Befallen







Legion_009 (from reddit)

Everquest memories-Project M

First thing that comes to mind is the ill-thought-out, short-lived but brilliant "Be a Mob" feature. Project M

One little button on character select, I think only on PvP servers, that had you spawn in as a random NPC in a random zone.

You could see what you'd drop if killed, you had whatever abilities that mob normally has and you couldn't chat. However you could kill other NPCs and level up or if you were lucky enough to spawn as a fairly tough mob further into a zone you could run out to the front and smash nub skulls.

Looking back nothing even slightly similar would make it past testing these days let alone actually going live to a real server. People obviously abused the shit out of it but those first few days of pure innocent fun were just incredible.

The concept of being a mob other players could kill for XP in the MMO I loved just completely blew my young gamer mind and I couldn't get enough of it.






 Orsenfelt (from reddit)

Everquest memories- An Epic request for Enchanters.

As I think back to last week (and the video I was preparing for my YouTube channel) I have to chuckle. It was a difficult one form start to finish.
Krog Losaf adds to my frustration
 
Not that the task was overly difficult. It was a multitude of other things that included a crazy quest with a lot of running around. Think small rooms in a carnival maze.

Which way do I go again?



The write-up I was using was completely wrong. The video capture software was cutting in and out. To top it off I uploaded what I thought was a finished product to YouTube and for some reason the video was warped! It was up a full day and out to all my subscribers unwatchable. Ugh.




Well it is complete and in the end things worked out. The finished product is below.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Fcseven (updated 5/10/17)
 
 

Sunday, April 23, 2017

Everquest memories- My adventures with a Kunark forgotten quest. February 2017.

It started with a patch note.

February 15, 2017
_____________________


*** Highlights ***

- Rumors abound that brave adventurers are needed in Kunark! Long-forgotten heroes in Cabilis, Overthere, and Firiona Vie are offering long-forgotten quests.




I was ready. Kunark was an expansion I had missed. Having started during the Luclin era in 2001 I still felt like a new player even 16 years later. I was ready to be one of the first on my server to finish a forgotten quest and finally spiritually shake that nagging feeling. A title was granted on completion of the quest so I could visually remember my accomplishment! Amazing. As soon as the server went up I was ready to start.

The first problem was the lack of information given by the development team. Just saying that forgotten quests were out there with no additional information is tough. The only clue I had to work with was the three zones listed. There was Cabilis, Overthere, and FV. I decided to try my hand at the FV quest.


The Feb 15 post
 



I decided to attempt this quest on my druid and not my original character. The reason was simply an ability called tracking. If I was to compete against others to finish this quest and get a server first title I needed every advantage I could get. I logged in my druid and was ready to tackle the quest. Off I went to FV. I found the quest giver after a lengthy search.

                                           
 



After finding the npc I needed and going through the dialog I was ready to go out and finish the quest. This particular quest was called Adalora's Items. It had me going to multiple locations around Kunark such as Trakanon's Teeth, Emerald Jungle, Howling Stones, and Skyfire Mountains. It was slow going but eventually I felt confident enough that I would indeed finish this quest and claim my server first title.




 Looking for quest mobs in The Emerald Jungle.
                                                  





Eventually I made so much progress the quest was nearly complete. All I needed was an item from the Ruins of Old Paineel. The Thin Strands of Golden Silk. This is where the problem started. The item was not dropping. Upon searching the Everquest official forums, a developer confirmed my worst fear the item was not dropping at all. After nearly completing the quest I was stopped by a technical issue. All around me people were getting their server first titles but not me. The developer in question had said the item would drop the next day. Well the next day came and no item dropped. After asking about the item again the developer said that because it was Presidents' Day weekend the item would not drop until the following Tuesday. I was stunned! But I decided to carry on.




Camping the Ruins February 2017

                                                    


.



After the weekend was over and I had spent multiple hours camping the item I needed to finish the quest, I was exhausted! Eventually, the item dropped and I as able to complete the quest and get my server title. In retrospect, it was the most fun I've had in Everquest in a long time.

I finally feel that I have earned my place in the preluclin world after starting so late.






The Kunark Archeologist title
 
                                                               


Fcseven. (updated 5/10/17)

Thursday, April 20, 2017

Everquest memories- The Great Vendor Disaster of 2006

 
------------------------------
Everquest Patch Notes (January 18, 2006):
------------------------------

This morning we had an error with the update that resulted in merchants, and subsequent items, in
the Plane of Knowledge that should not have been appearing in the world. In order to address this
we will be performing selective and aggressive rollbacks of certain characters throughout the day.
There will be multiple phases and some characters may be subject to multiple adjustments. If you
believe that you have been involved in any way (even indirectly) then please consider holding off
your playtime until tomorrow. We apologize for the inconvenience and we are resolving this in the
most complete way possible while minimizing the impact on the majority of the customers.



The Great vendor disaster of 2006 (as I like to call it) dwells in my memory for a number of reasons. It's the first time I realized a million dollar company could make such a huge mistake. The first time I had seen so many people angry in the game. The first time the game world came to a standstill.

I was there that morning. I saw the vendors. I did not give into the temptation of getting items for free. I knew there would be rollbacks. At least I can say I was there.


Fcseven. (updated 5/10/17)

Everquest memories- Tears on the keyboard

This memory is one of the more personal I've ever shared.  I was debating even sharing it to be honest. But after lots of thought decided to go ahead and do it. I believe it's time those of us who have had multiple years even (nearing) decades invested in an mmo start telling real stories. The story of a paralyzed veterans wife playing EQ while taking care of him is as real as it gets.










Thinking about this memory creates many different emotions. The idea a wife would take care of her wounded husband after a terrible life changing injury was almost unimaginable at the time. Especially after just coming out of an unpleasant divorce a year or two prior. The strength shown is something that helped restored my faith in people.





Fcseven (updated 5/10/17)

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Everquest memories- Dueling over Fabled Jboots March 2004.

A highly congested camp. A very tired EQ player. A wizard with an attitude? That's what I had to deal with back in March 2004. Full story here.






After completing this video there is not too much more to add. Every year when Fabled Mobs come around I think about this memory. The incredible amount of time invested and only a couple years later the boots became almost obsolete overnight. Ugh.

The development team added a few new run speed AAs a year or two later and my fabled boots became a distant memory. This still stands out as my longest camp of all time. So many hours...


The Fabled Drelzna
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Fcseven (updated 5/10/17)
 

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Everquest memories- Everquest Shaman Epic 1.5 thoughts..

Recently I completed a quest that underscores just how amazing Everquest was in it's prime. A time before cash shops, heroic toons, and double experience every other month. Completing the Shaman epic 1.5 quest reminded me of when real recourses were put into the game. A time when it seemed like there was an incredibly bright future ahead.





a sun revenant during the Shaman 1.5 quest


All these years later the magic that made me so attached to the game is still there.  It is my hope to complete all of the classes epic quests before the day EQ is sunsetted.








I plan to document this continued quest in the months or years ahead on my blog and YouTube channel. Feel free to join.

Fcseven

Monday, April 3, 2017

Everquest Memories

When I started this blog back in 2010 I had no idea I would be blogging in 2017! I have a bunch of new ideas and decided to start over. The old blogs are now history and a new one starts now.

Stay tuned.


😃