Eq as been a milestone much of us played when still new on mmporg games it was an unrepeatable experience, every game that came out after was a sort of clone with minor exceptions.

Sure enough looking at it today even with all the improvement in the UI and some new graphics the game is old.. I mean the combat system is really basic click and wait.. also the mobs have always been way way overpowered , last year i reopened for a bit my account just to seem my lv 50+ SK unable to kill any solo light blue mob without ending almost dead and with these huge downtime every fight..

yes EQ was nice but it had a lot of stupid thing which they still have not fixed it is basically impossible to play it if you are solo and not in a guild.

I personally liked EQ for its difficulty.

Back before EQ, I played UO. Before they incorporated non-PvP areas and the whole ridiculous Felucca/Trammel idea, it was somewhat intense. You'd leave town afraid that you might get killed and lose everything. People didn't carry more than they absolutely had to, and you were quick to make friends so you'd have someone to help you if you were in a bind. UO had both strong community AND a strong player-based economy.

EQ was similar. It was hard, it forced you to THINK. Doing quests required you to use your brain and deduce where to go, preferably with a knowledge of the land. By comparison, games like WoW just give you a waypoint "go here, then here, then here" system and simplify everything. EQ just dropped you at your starting town with a newbie weapon and a note that equated to "Go find your guildmaster on your own. Good Luck!"

Games today are too easy and meant for people with short attention spans. Yes, you had to grind for months to get anywhere in classic EQ, but the game wasn't about grinding, or leveling up to get "uber" for most players. I played for two years and only made it to level 37 on my ranger, and I LOVED the game. I wasn't obsessed with leveling, just with finding new places and meeting new people to group with.

Classic EQ was great, despite the characteristics that some might call "flaws".

You forgot to add how everything you did in that game was so open based as far as their spell system went. Using root spell to crowd control. Having to actually type out words or phrases to npcs to get the next line of dialog

Where is freeport?
Freeport is where?
What about freeport?
When is freeport?
Who is freeport?
Random npc: "freeport is not a person but a city"

Not to mention random guards in highhold who just picked up your things, or being able tgo give your pets items to use.

Simply put oldskool eq was like driving a manual car

Most mmo's today are like driving automatic

eq was more like a rusty bicycle which kept loosing random parts every 5 minutes with no spares ever to be found :grin:

i prefer a manual transmission. puts you more "in control" of the car =D

eq classic
 

I started my ranger i think on march 23 1999. I played until july i think, not sure. I had accrued a total playtime of about 14 days and my character was level 14.

I find it strange how everyone acts like old eq was somehow boring or horribly mean. Why? I never once thought there was anything wrong with it. I never felt pressured or beat down. I enjoyed myself. Yes, I died sometimes. Most of the time I spent just exploring the area in and around qeynos. There was a lot to see back then!! I spent a lot of time in pickup groups and making friends. The corpse runs and slow experience never crossed my mind!!! So that's why I don't understand why people think it matters - it never mattered to me.

I quit because I wanted to play UO. But I came back in 2000 and have played everquest off and on ever since that time. I've not liked what everquest has become. It's not that things are easier, it's that things don't feel conssitent anymore. I feel lost in the vast array of zones and lore, it almost seems disconnected to me. I think of when I first started playing and everytying was so much simpler back then. Why did everquest have to become so top heavy, why did it have to become so spread out.

Hi GPG/ Ryoz !
 

Hola gang, it's Malicious/Soothe.

Just thought I'd say hey and attempt forums. GPG seems to be great for what I want. I like faster leveling and greater chance of gear dropping, But I have to agree with the previous post. When I played live I was care free. I think I got a Barbarian Warrior to about 52 before I quit live, sadly I switched too SWG, which also died out for me. Then EQ2/WoW/and back too EQEmu. Sadly I'm having more fun the ever on the EQEmu, being able to two box is the greatest. I can actually do something when nobody is online!

Anyways... thanks for puttin up with my crap and letting me play along. :D

eq1 was everything i wanted and still want. sony just messed it up.

Yea I played EQ for about 5 years and I do remember starting right when velious came out and I remember one day leveling my 19 cleric in oasis of marr and then luclin came out and I went to paludal and the xp was like super turbo mode.

Anyway, I just really hate how newer MMOs (WoW and WAR, maybe LOTR) are all about these chores; constantly right clicking on glowing things and going back to people with flashy things above their head then getting another task to go kill these many of this or what not. Just give me a zone and a few bandit camps ok.

Honestly, I wonder what company will develop an MMO that steps away from this chore system - it's stupid pathetic boring.\

Anyways. Installing Titanium now I can't wait to play EQ again, dream come true!

I played EverQuest from shortly after the release of Kunark up to the release that introduced the Berserker (I believe it was Gates of Discord). At the time I was under the age of 16, legally couldn't get a part time job, and had no source of income. I couldn't afford to buy all the expansions so I was always really far behind. I only ever had: Classic, Kunark, Velious, Luclin and Planes of Power. Ruins of Kunark is my favorite game of all time. That continent was just so perfect to me. Ya it was an EXP Grind in oldschool EQ but it always felt rewarding to play EverQuest and to get levels in EverQuest. If I was able to kill something I felt I shouldn't have any chance of killing, it felt like a reward.

I later went and played Guild Wars after I quit EverQuest and I have to say that I completely agree with your assessment. In EverQuest you could stumble onto a quest, or look it up online, either way it still turned out to be epic. You would be travelling across two or three continents to get all the pieces (even for mid-level) quests. To me that made it so exciting. In Guild Wars NPC that gave out quests have gigantic floating exclamation marks above their heads. You are then given direct way points that will lead you directly to where you have to go and you have the ability to travel just by clicking buttons on your map. Quests were terrible in Guild Wars and there was no reward to them.

The opinions on the state of MMOs always seem to be straight down the middle it seems. Some say grinding is terrible and a waste of time, others say grinding is part of the experience and they need something to keep them interested. To me the entire problem with the current state of MMOs is due to instancing. That was the worst decision ever. Some of my favorite moments in EQ were rushing to get camp position in a zone when you were racing another group. You start to set up a raid and another guild comes to set up a raid as well. Even dealing with people trying to steal your named spawns, was fun. It was all interaction, got you fired up and made it INTERESTING. Instancing took away that interaction with opposing groups which is sad in my opinion.

I like the way that EQ2 handles most of it's instancing. It tends to have the main dungeon being shared, with an instanced area way down deep where you can fight the big boss of the dungeon, get your loot, and be locked out for a day or so.