Everquest
Genre Defining Ancient Fantasy MMORPG from Sony Online Entertainment
Fascinating bit here:
AFK Gamer: Legends
Foton coves all the bases there, so I won't requote extensively, but it is interesting.
I was a very passionate Everquest player back in 2002 and I remember the aformentioned 'Legends' server causing a bit of a fuss, becoming a kind of proto-RMT flame-beacon of it's time. The whole concept of there being 'one server for the rich kids, and second class servers for everyone else' got everyone, myself included, into a bit of a strop, and the boards erupted with all manner of socio-political hyperbole; mostly comparisons to Russian revolutions if I recall. It seemed...
Seven hours camping for a rare drop component for a class-specific robe in Everquest: 4% of level xp
Two deaths: -2% of level xp
Net progress after seven hours: 0
Logging into Planetside, equipping the Anti-Air Flak-Cannon Powerarmor and beating the seven shades of shit out of Air Cavalry infantry farmers: Priceless...
So having had a good old run about with the Newbie Alt Army, I eventually found the guts to haul out the big guns; my long abandoned 29 Magician. The Magician is a fragile easily smacked-down caster-type who essentially lives or dies on the success of his pet, one of four elementals. As detailed elsewhere, it's a solo class - a tank and healer rolled into one, and was chosen for independent viability, rather than any romantic notions of mystical forces and arcane knowledge.
Interestingly, the character creation screens now include help text that explains a bit about the class and...
So where were we? Leaving the Tutorial! Well, once out of the mines, I found myself in a barely recognisable Qeynos, a pokey low-polygon box-based affair spreading only two zones, instead of the twelve-zone-plus lavish Disney fairytale city of Everquest II. From an objective point of view, yes, Everquest 1's cities are look pants, but I'm quite fond of them, partly through the memories, but mostly because there is so many of them.
Each player race gets one, some get two, and all are distinctive and unique, if rather low-res. I miss that from EQ2, which has two cities: The Good...
First new thing I spotted was a whole new tutorial that wasn't there before - 'The Mines of Gloomingdark'. I can't quite work out if it was there before Everquest II and it's 'Isle of Refuge' tutorial levels, but it's a good idea none the less. One of the things that struck me, all those years ago, was just how complicated everything was. It's hard to see, now I'm a battle-scarred veteran, but clearly a tutorial is a necessary thing for something that complex if you want genuinely new players; a distinct, closed off environment where you can fumble about...
So the first job was getting installed and patched. I gave up on Everquest quite some time ago after a drawn out battle between addiction and frustration. It culumnated in me signing up with Anarchy Online instead, which probably wasn't the healthiest way out, but from that point, I became a very jaded migratory gamer, and no single game has ever captivated me quite so utterly.
At any rate, it turns out I have only three of NINE expansions! God only knows what groovy new features I'm missing, so I suspect the general usefulness of this mini-review could be better, but...
Deja Vu! Only this time, it's the grand old dame of MMORPG, Everquest:
"EQLive": Another Cull
Given that back in the day, when I used to play, they stated that their ideal server population was intended to be about 1600 players, 18 whole servers effectively being closed is pretty severe. And this isn't the first time either; 'Rallos Zek', the free-for-all PvP server, where I endured a good two years of self-inflicted mental cruelty, has long gone, along with 'Kane Bayle', the second of the two 'European' servers where I spent a gentler few months. At one point, there were at least...