When was your first experience with Everquest?

[StormseekerV]

Started in summer of 2000. Joined the Innoruuk server and made a bard which I leveled to 60. I loved that character. Im glad I can relive it here.

I quit in early Luclin days ... didn't like the expansion.

[xXTRIGGXx]

Played from 1st launch, played for many years! lost many Gfriends! LOL :p :p :p

[nashgrim]

I remember taking the day off work and going to my local Babbages and seeing Everquest on the new releases shelf. I started thumbing through the hint book and got excited seeing all the cool stuff you could do. I bought it then and there the first week of release and played it on and off for the next 5 years until the expansions started killing the game by having so many zones that all of them were more or less empty and devoid of groups to join. I feel that the game started going downhill with the expansion after Velious. I can't remember if that was Plains of Power or Luclin, but after that, it just was not the same game.

[Banerine]

Such nostalgia reading all these posts!! :)

[AtlasMinor]

Midway through Velious is when i started playing worked really long hours so was only able to log 60hrs game time per week. Started off buying the original disk decided to play through each expansion separately. I remember mapping zones by hand, drawing out the zone using sense heading and getting lost a lot and having to /ooc my /loc constantly so someone that knew a area could come save me from my wall hugging days :D

I still have the original disk, (1) CD only half the space on it used. Came with the original map, which (imo) did no one any good it had funny continents drawn on it and the rest was up to the player to find a way through. After that i was hooked, with a 100% interactive environment i spent the next 6 years playing stopped playing after seeing LDoN release spending money on yet another expac and not feeling a sub was worth it anymore. Returned later to see the changes off and on but sorry to disappoint anyone when i say GoD was the official end for me until recently ;)

[Locust Abortion]

First experience with it was beta, I was gaming at a buddies house. I was so used to playing super Mario, it blew my mind.

[Snrub]

I bought the game about two weeks after it came out. Unfortunately, I found out my computer at the time couldn't run it (we're talking about 2-3 FPS). So it ended up sitting on my shelf for a few months and I ended up getting a new computer around October of 1999 and picked the game back up.

[typhonset]

I played in the beta in 98' on a friends machine... I made a dark-elf cleric and played for the next 7 years... ;)

[mccraw5]

April 2000. My brother showed me a picture of the fiery avenger for the paladin and told me at the time how to get it wasn't totally confirmed. The idea of an epic quest for an awesome item hooked me immediately. I bought a computer, bought the game and played a paladin for a few months. I tried a bard for the first time and played it for nearly 3 years before calling it quits upon the birth of my son. Those three years of 40- 50 hours a week every week is still some of the fondest memories of a hobby/addiction I have to this day. Just like any other addict, I'm here fooling myself saying I can control my addiction and play just a little at a time. :D.

[joedirt87]

I had a friend telling me about EQ back in 6th or 7th grade. I ended up trying it out right around the time the Everquest Trilogy set was released.

[Avanah]

Beta 1998. :)
I feel old now. lol

[Layne]

Right before Kunark release. Took a lot of convincing that EQ was better than ...what was the name of the MUD I was playing before I started EQ /shrug.

[KelticKope]

Hahaha same experience here as Snrub. Crappy pc/dial up could barely handle it But I was soo intent on playing. I remember when traveling I had look directly at the path to get better FPS, >.< lol

[Swish]

I got it around November 1999 from what I remember. The first copy I bought had an invalid CD key, so I took it back.... and again, and again.

4th try and it worked. I wonder how different life would have been if I just straight up got a refund the first time :p

Arguably it was a gateway to other online games and I've had my claws in something ever since.

[gildor]

November 1999, was a 16 year old nerd racing slot cars at the local track when a guy behind the counter was playing this beautiful graphic world. Snuck the parents credit card, went to walmart bought it, ordered up DSL setup the subscription...game on.

First character..a female troll (gender button was small and trolls you can barely tell the difference) shadowknight named Djlethal (Limp Bizkit was big at the time....)

ahh nostalgia

[Karbine]

I started at the beginning before it was full screen. Remember the first time I made it to the tunnels from Freeport. the feeling of adventure and unknown wonders was so great. it was my first experience in a mmorpg.

[86753o9]

Heard about eq from some mates I played Air Warrior with. The Birthdate of my main on live is november 1999.

[okamimode]

lol it say 2001 on, i started last year! haha

[Avaxiel]

You should join the Dragonlance Adventures Facebook group. It's a lot of fun.

[hatelore]

April 1999, was a paladin on Innoruuk named darkenrahl. I went red too lol. I had so many shiny brass shields looted off my corpses =/. I still remember takhisis, lexus, pychow, and a few other dark elf pk's that used to team up on me for being a human paladin. One of my favorite memories back then was the opening of Befallen for the first time, Mistmoore event with Mayong Mistmoore himself, and bringing FS weapons to karanas and selling them for a pretty penny to other players.

Good memories all around, I remember a troll warrior named Bgal was one of the first to be decked out from guk with fbss, silver legs, silver bracers, dual ykeshas and Ruby chest from Cazic thule. That guy was a hell of a warrior.

[c0lds0ul]

Sometime in 2002, I believe shortly after the PoP release. First time poster btw, greetings everyone :D

[Goldrock]

Back when i was in the navy and stationed in japan i was playing dragonrealms on base decided to go with a few guys to a internet cafe off base and seen all these people playing ultima,realm and eq that was 1999-2000ish.Thats when i got my first taste of eq played it everyday then 9/11 happened and thats about teh time i stopped because i got deployed then came back around a xpac after PoP and relized the game lost its appeal to me.Thank god i just found p99.Feels like i get to start back off where i left off.

[Gilder]

I watched my brother play Vanilla EQ for about a year until I begged and pleaded for a computer of my own to play it. He'd occasionally let me roll a newb character, but he was a real asshole about letting me play it for more than an hour or two before kicking me off.

By the time I had some autonomy, Kunark was already out.

[zajurai]

Played in my dad's account for a while when I was really, really young, like four or five. I didn't know how to do anything and totaled about an hour of playtime, but it was fun-ish. Hopefully I can turn and not get stuck in walls and not autoattack the Priest of Discord this time around.

[Feanol]

...then came back around a xpac after PoP and relized the game lost its appeal to me.Thank god i just found p99.Feels like i get to start back off where i left off.

+1

Same way I feel, like we were gifted the era we never got to properly enjoy.

Bumps for this thread, good stuff here.

[Larcen]

I started playing Kunark not long after it came out but stopped playing until after Velious came out; but still only had the Kunark client for a long time. My first character I believe was a human monk named Laloan; which I think was just a auto generated name. I didn't much care for the character so I rolled a Gnome wizard named Balonstine. I didnt care for him much either so I made a Dark Elf rogue named Larcen. I really liked playing him but it was hard to solo and I had trouble finding groups. I ended up making a Dark Elf Necromancer named Malistrom and played him until 51. I then used him to farm hill giants and made a good amount of money. I then twinked out my rogue and he was my main character from there on out. My necro to this day only managed to get to level 52 but I loved playing him as well. I played exclusively on the Druzzil Ro server and ended up quitting several times until I finally finished playing with any regularity after DON. I played casually, like once a week or so, when they opened up the free-to-play but never really liked the whole cap system for the free account.

[Larcen]

Thinking about it a little more, my first time seeing everquest was while I was at a friends house and I saw his step-dad playing everquest and running around doing a CR in one of the Karana's I think. This would have been pre-Kunark.

[katarjin]

..Does EQ 2 count?

[zajurai]

..Does EQ 2 count?
Well, it has EQ in it, so... I guess it does.

[malewizard]

Bought the game the first week it was released. I remember fondly those tremendous "trains' out of CRUSHBONE and BLACKBURROW,with some people laughing out loud and some being in a fit of rage! God that was some exciting gaming,that left you on the edge of your chair when you went inside a dungeon. Thanks p99 for all you have done!

[Thanatos7176]

Started playing pre-Kunark, I can't remember the exact day, but it was somewhere around Dec. 99 - Feb. '00. I remember this was the first time I played an MMO, so wanted to talk to other players. I had made a high elf, so ran out of the city to find people, next thing I know, I was dead, said killed by Orc Pawn. So I ran back out again...killed by Orc Pawn. Me being a noob, didn't realize this as a mob, and thought it was some wise-ass player who named himself Orc Pawn, so I started yelling through the zone "Damn you Orc Pawn, fight me like a man you noob!" And got thoroughly lol'ed at. Good times....

[mrwynd]

Pre-ordered EQ and bought a new computer for it (Dell with a Riva TNT card). Had the EQ disc installed before the servers were up.

There were a lot of server outages and downtime those first months. I settled on the Brell Serilis server since it was being called the "role playing preferred" server and made Quem and Quemn the day Brell opened.

[Court]

Tried to start in original, but couldn't find a local copy.
Had some friends who played and told me to wait abit, Kunark was right around the corner and started with that.

Kunark and Velious were by far my favourite times.

[kledar]

Played from launch for about a year and half ish, had a wood elf ranger, fell off the Kelethin platforms repeatedly the first day.

[Jezzabelle]

Beta :)

[byron2286]

Started pre-Kunark. When Kunark came out I rolled Iksar and never looked back. I quit playing during OOM. I tried to go back to live last year but quit due to the overflow of boxers.

[kozmik]

I started around Kunark - and never played any of Luclin.

[Thanatos7176]

Maybe someone can help me on dates when I started. I remember I ditched my high elf I made and started playing a wood elf druid, and ended up moving to Freeport when I was like lvl 5. It was then that one day I ran through East and West Commons, and entered Kithicor at night. Only it was safe, no one ever worried about it cause it was a noob zone for Rivervale. About a week later, there was this event that SOE or Verrant or whoever they were at the time did, and it later became known as the Battle of Kithicor. This was the day the Plane of Hate opened in Kithicor for the first time, and damn, my fun runs to Misty Thicket were over, at least at night. Anyone remember when the Battle of Kithicor took place in Live?

[David Johnson]

I was watching an episode of NYPD Blue and one of the perpetrators said he was online playing Everquest. I checked Everquest out and bought the disk from Best Buy. I think that was during the Kunark expansion late 2000 but Im not positive.

[dcennis]

1999, A friend I worked with kept talking about Everquest, and begged me to play, I didn't even own a computer, so I bought the game, ordered my computer from gateway and played for the next 6 years.


Previous toons
Beni
Qwirk
Skylyn

[Stjarna]

Played EQ about a month after it started with 2 of my nephews over a modem.

"Don't zone you will kill me....."

[Morfeis1963]

I first played EQ whe Varent owned it. And was in beta. Then Sony bought it in 1999.

[Morfeis1963]

I play EQ when Varent owned it and was in beta still. Then Sony bought it in 1998.

[durend]

I played EQ from launch until GoD. use to 6 box with my friend.

[calias2]

I have heard same story as mine to many people that join and I talk to: stopped playing after Luclin and AA's. Which is why this server is so awesome and appealing to lots of original members.

I did some beta helping before release, then started my main char, which is same as on here as was originally on Erollisi Marr:

Calias Darkstar

[Caducus]

I still have my Phase 4 Beta CD. Finding Queen Nasheeji on the last day of beta gave me something to look forward to when things went live, but I didn't ever see her again. I still want to kill her for those gloves again!

[Thurgrim]

EQ Beta (still have the install disk!) and quit right before Shadows of Lucilin.

Server: Mithaniel Marr
Guild: The Elders

[Seecrits]

I started playing eq in April 1999 on Solusek Ro server, which eventually became bristlebane. i still own my orignal account with daybreak games, But i want to play on a progression server and those all require subs.. im curretly downloading eq Titanium so i can play here..

[sacrilegium]

Yesterday was the 14 year anniversary of the day I got EQ. Understandably easy to remember.

[JDFriend99]

I bought EQ after installing it for my friend. Sometime around late 99. All i remember was it took me 3 months to hit 27 or 29 then. Not playing everyday, but still trying.

[JDFriend99]

I started playing eq in April 1999 on Solusek Ro server, which eventually became bristlebane. i still own my orignal account with daybreak games, But i want to play on a progression server and those all require subs.. im curretly downloading eq Titanium so i can play here..

Hey bro i tossed all my live accts, dont even bother i just left 4 accts on daybreak progression. They arent true, all the revamped grpahics and zones are in place. And even vendors and parcel works, and that shouldnt at all. Its easy mod and youll be bored in 30days. Remain where its challenging,.

[JDFriend99]

I'm Interested to see the demographic of veteran players vs. first-timers!

Rad to see 291 votes on first time ever, glad to see they are getting the old feel first!!

:cool:

[vermeee]

the age average of this server s what ? 35s 40s?

[jtlightner]

I was lucky enough to play in beta, but what I did in beta was limited as I had just started college and had some other things on my mind at that point.

[JDFriend99]

I'm 39 but I started late. Started when I had kids. I think overall this is what separates us from live. Most of the old players came here to avoid all the bs in the new live eq.

[Nukester]

Summer of '99 over a 28.8k modem

[bigT88]

Was around this time in 2000. Friend had bought kunark and realized you needed to pay for a subscription being as we were in middle school (13 yrs of age), he had no income. He then gave it to me as i had some money from a pt job and i was addicted for about 5 years. Found p99 and brings great memories back.

[creamypeanutbutter]

oh man I remember it like it was yesterday haha. my brother had just bought it and downloaded when I got home from school. I asked him to play and I made a human druid. hit my guildmaster and croaked XD

[derpcake]

dat xegony server

scum of norrath united ;)

[ElegantBastard]

I'm not sure to what extent I skew the demographic (or maybe I'm the norm?). My wife and I had not tried EQ before a month ago. We played EQ2 for a few months about 4 years ago with some guys from work and then stopped. Last month, some of the same guys got on p1999 and then got me interested. My wife and I play just about daily now.

I don't want to give the impression that we haven't played RPGs: We played Baldur's and Neverwinter back in '99, have played WoW and EQ2, EVE, PerfectWorld for a while, but lately we play more RTSs esp. DotA2 than anything else. For whatever reason, we didn't get around to EQ classic until now, which is great because it's all new for us now! I do tend to erroneously right-click on things a lot ;)

[Sypher1157]

I started Playing EQ in Late 2002 right after Planes of Power was released after my then supervisor told me about the game. I continued playing live thru 2012 until I finally got tired of the round robin fest. I'm glad that I'm able to go back and experience the game prior to PoP as I never had that chance before. Keep doing what your doing. I have been here for almost 6 months and absolutely love it.

[Bluemaze]

No category for me, I was an actual beta tester :-)

[Nizumzen]

I started in 2003 on Antonious Bayle. I've just now signed up to Project 1999 and am looking forward to playing again. Not sure I'll be able to play in the same hardcore way I used to play EQ back then though but I'll enjoy playing casually for the time being.

Now I just need to remember where everything is :).

[Kingkobra]

I was originally the 500 th player to the game. Me and my best friend in high school bought it and had to wait till after school. They had gone live b4 we got home.

[Llurendt]

I first played around the time Warcraft 3 released, but never had the chance to get into EQ... I also tried to start playing on a couple separate occasions, but the sheer volume of content and lack of people in the starting areas kind of felt like too big a hurdle previously. I'm determined to give EQ a fair go this time round and see what I can experience. :D

[Mynxx]

I was about 12 or 13 at the time and both my Mom/Dad agreed to buy the game from Wa-Mart after reading about all of the hype. They had no intentions of letting me play, but they would let me create characters for the first few weeks of its release.

I clogged up about 5 character select screens from different servers with nothing but random toons with names from Pokemon creatures. Shortly after its release, and after my parents understood the game a bit more, I was allowed to play. I made a HE Mage named "Ennie" and was immediately handed over some plat (not a lot) and a robe, along with a few other small ticket items (acquired from long time friends that my parents had met originally from the start of the game - they knew I was young, so they wanted to encourage an easy start I guess?).

This is pretty much what started my EC-tunnel dwelling, virtual-item-hoarding days, hustling Jewel-crafted pieces and pimping my Druid out for ports for the next 16 years (and counting).

[The Prez]

Played from 99-08! High end raiding from 02 to 08

[nathanking55]

my first time was in 99 I was 10 years old I remember going into the game store and seeing the huge box this game was in and it costed somewhere around 200$or more the must expensive game I'd ever seen the awww ing called me like the board game on the movie Jumanji once I finaly convinced my parents with countless begging and tears I was hooked within days I had to tell my dad to find out he'd get hooked to and I had to fight him to get on I showed my friends they got hooked they showed there dad and they got hooked my friends dad down the street bought 4 computers and made a eq room in his house it was bad worse than any drug haha hense the nick name"evercrack"it was like school no longer mattered food almost didn't matter for days months years we stared at the computer screen as we traveled far and wide nothing like the feeling in ur stomach when u get ur first cracked staff to find out u got an instant plat haha met many people traveled on many boats fought giants and dragons begged for coin at the banks of free port and qeynos I can't believe where time has gone and more so that this game isn't still around the way it is now other than p99 there is no words that can convey this experience this isn't like diablo wow swg Warhammer whatever there's a uniqueness to this there really is i promise you this isn't jus a guy defending his first mmorpg this game in its natural form is the real deal an I cant even explain what it means to me to be able to walk through it again sucks I am jus now finding out about it an figuring out how to dl on my pc and my dad's but man its all good we are playing day an night hardcore jus like we did over a decade ago you should see his face when we find things when he saw qeynos as its meant to look Freeport even ec tunnel even somthing as small as the boat that u ride from Freeport it's powerful for a video game to bring tears to your eyes but you jus don't know if your reading this and u have never played I beg u to try it out for a couple weeks there's nothing like it you actualy have to work hard to get places and do things and be afraid to die cause u could loose it all but it's so Fn awsome.well didn't mean to ramble but that's jus the scale of this game this isnt even close to a perfect summary but for now itll have to do its 6:11am and i am dead tired lol.love u all hope to see u in p99 take care.don't forget to get a sow! Haha ✌

[Glaani]

2002:I had just quit smoking and was looking for something to keep my hands busy-- never dreaming I was just trading one addiction for another :)after running down the ramp from Halas to Everfrost peaks, I was hooked, fell in love with the game, joined a guild:Thermopylae on Torv server---tried to become the best shamaness ever lol;p

[DMN]

I played in the early beta, I want to say 6 months, before they opened the live servers up.

Late 1998, then. Which isn't on the list.

There was something of an much larger beta population introduced(and a server wipe that proceeded it) about a month before release.

[Eangarra]

Feb 2000 I created my first character and one I still play on Live from time to time. He is now recreated in P99. Tharkis Vermanard. hfl dr00d.

[nieuco]

why don't they update this Project1999 page and why cant I post?

[Malk]

During beta, on a RL friend's account.

First character was a human ranger born in Qeynos, he couldn't see the broad side of a mammoth at 15ft at night. Memories...

[Charist]

September 1999.
Saw someone else play and got my own copy the next day.
Made a human and ran through kelethin to get to Rivervale. Oh my! :o
Got fed up of the night blindness really quickly and was woodelf forever after :)
'Til now, when for some crazy reason I made a Half Elf druid... guess I'm only older and not wiser...

[WolfRaiser]

Played from LoY up to slightly past DoN

Went back again around House of Thule but was vastly disappointed.

[Goodi]

I started playing with Kunark. I remember in the shop the guy said this game was taking him so much time i shouldn't buy it... He really got me crious here. I strted with a palladin dwarf that i named Esperatus. I was surprised by the time leveling would take. It felt like living an adventure out of our reality.. I was hooked!

[sworde]

Extreme new timer here! Loving every minute of the game though! Rolling a DWF Pal right now. Hoping to get pretty high level with this toon!

[Vandil]

I got started just after Velious came out. My experience is different from most P99ers, because I never really played on the Live servers. My circle of friends perferred to play on the Test Server. This was back when there was no /testcopy -- you actually rolled your toon there and played there.

Life on Test was a small town. Probably a population of 1000-1200 players at peak. The server went down every couple of days as Verant rolled out new patches and tested new things that sometimes never made it to Live.

When Test went down, my friends would roll toons on a Live server and play for a few hours until Test came back up. One time Test was down for 3 days and we wound up rolling Iksar versions of our characters on a Live server and had a ball.

I left EQ about a month after LDoN came out. My group of friends was splintering between EQ, Guild Wars, and Anarchy Online. I was pretty much left to 2-box if I wanted to do anything fun (no mercenaries then) and that's when I ended it.

P99 reminds me of the Velious era, although EC prices are pretty crazy. The low population reminds me of Test, which adds to my own nostalgia.

I first played Project 1999 5 years ago. Since 2-boxing isn't allowed, I pretty much rolled the two "main" toons I had on Test and played them to a point where I got bored and parked them.

This year, the nostalgia kicked back on and I logged on for a few months, leveling my Shadowknight to 30 and getting bored again, so I logged out.

I haven't logged on in 3 months, but it's nice to know my two toons are there should the nostalgia fire up again.

[Crazymic187]

I was a Kunark baby as I always would say...

Created an Erudite Mage... was lost as can be, then died within 15 mins to a Hammer Head Shark of all things.

I returned to seek my overdue revenge.

...turns out oddly enough my next door neighbor in high school had EQ and was playing it when i came over 1 day. I was like, I think i have this game but I've not started it yet. It looks so awesome! I later found out I had bought just the expansion and not the original game and that's why I had not been able to get it started.

I bought my game at a closing Kmart with a very crappy PC section... thank you Kmart, ty u so much.

[radda]

I think some people are fibbing

[Dunetraveller]

First experience of SoE was EQ2, where I played a necro because my friend was into the game and figured I could just do my own thing when not teaming up with him. Tried to get into EQ live, but never got far into it. Tried this out and THIS is what I like. I love the super slow advancement. Stopped playing WoW, EQ2, Live so I could devote more time to learning 99. My first char on 99 was a necro who bit it right away when I attacked my guildmaster because I didn't know the keyboard layout and hit autoattack. Other deaths: autoattacked PoD; fall of platform in Kelethin; death by kobold in N Qeynos two steps into newbie area; Piranha in halfling area; death by kobold scout two steps into Toxx forest; drowning in Oggok. Most before I could find one mob to kill. At least those days are behind me.

[Neustocks]

I started playing EQ in September of 2000, just a few months before Velious came out. Human magician, Tribunal server.

[Diulay]

Since Pre-Kunark, from Tunare server here. /wave

[A1rh3ad]

I voted never played because I only messed around with it a bit. My first experience with the MMORPG gameplay was with MUD servers. Later I got into diablo which was my addiction until wow came out. After wow started going even more pleb friendly I jumped from one mmo to another trying to find that sweetspot between reward and difficulty. Sadly I just really couldnt get over the primitive 3d graphics of classic EQ/luclin. I must have played prior to luclin because up until recently I had no idea they tried to upgrade the character models. It seems like my place is with p99. This server seems to have exactly what I wanted.

[Kaosfury]

I was lucky enough to go to the fan faire back in 2000 in san diego california. It was epjc dude. Got stoned to the bone with a few of the guides. Was co to see like minded individuals.... of course there were some folks who i feel lived the game. Took it to far....but most dressed up a little and had a good time with the RL quests they had. Running around the resort / hotel. Friends getting action from random girls dresed up.

Fyi the chick who was the official friona vie mascot was dressed to the gills in full costume. She was crazy hot. 1/2 through the day securiy had to hang out with her because all the nerds were trying to grope her when they were taking photos.. i think i was 20 at the time...maybe 21

Good times good times.

[A1rh3ad]

I was lucky enough to go to the fan faire back in 2000 in san diego california. It was epjc dude. Got stoned to the bone with a few of the guides. Was co to see like minded individuals.... of course there were some folks who i feel lived the game. Took it to far....but most dressed up a little and had a good time with the RL quests they had. Running around the resort / hotel. Friends getting action from random girls dresed up.

Fyi the chick who was the official friona vie mascot was dressed to the gills in full costume. She was crazy hot. 1/2 through the day securiy had to hang out with her because all the nerds were trying to grope her when they were taking photos.. i think i was 20 at the time...maybe 21

Good times good times.

When RP is concerned you can never take it too far. Life is short, why not live more than one :)

[Kaosfury]

Agreed. And this was many many years ago..... now a days she would have called the cops. The kid would have to register as a sex offender. And she would have sued SoE.

Lol, dont get me wrong....no one deserves to be groped by nerds, i guess.....unless your into that thing.

Lol

[SoekiWiz]

First experience was a Dark Elf of some sort... he was an int caster.

I ran into Nektulos forest, excited to begin my world conquest but having no idea what to do. I watched another player running in circles around the log directly outside of Neriak, so I figured that's what you're supposed to do.

I spent a good 10 minutes running in circles there, not realizing he was just pathing funny because he had gone LD.

From there, some trial and error, spending my first few weeks trying to level in Nektulos and EC, until I discovered that DRUIDS could KITE AAAAAND SoW themselves?!

Alas, young Tildadar was born. He was my first real main until Kunark was released, at which point I began boxing and PL'ing my new main, Denizzen Squirrelbeater, name inspired from my first real guild (who were wonderful people) - the <Denizens of Shez'Baernon>, the scourge of Cabilis who became the infamous "Mank" of Quellious.

Loved loved loved loved playing EQ. Life is much different now and I can't sit still for 12+ hours at a time to stay ahead of everyone else... but I still thoroughly enjoy p99.

I'd say the main thing I miss, is this one other Wood Elf Druid named Squal or Squall. He was from the "gan guild" and spoke little to no English, and was my Tildadar's arch nemesis. We leveled at the same time, camped the same drops, and literally always ran into each other. We trained each other into the ground, KS'ed each other left and right, competed against one another in EC Tunnel for flipping items for plat, etc. etc. etc. Never petitioned each other cuz we both had the "I AIN'T NO BITCH" mindset, and just enjoyed the competition. Good times...

/end rambling

[Orotiagito]

I started during the LDoN expansion. First character was a human paladin, and I roleplayed in kurns tower.

Edit: Took me like like 5 mins to zone. I had onboard graphics and 256 or 512 RAM.

[jackd104]

Started in beta, baby.

[Endymion]

January 2000 is when I started EQ

[Scailed]

Started on Rallos Zek server with a friend who introduced me the game just after Kunark had been released. Started as a druid and shortly after switched to a wizard and never looked back until he was best in slot. Been getting really involved with monks now and I love them =) . Even with this last patch nerfing our pulling, I don't mind that much at all because i know the admins will tweak it out and make it so its not overkill. It will just make it a little more difficult allowing the people who enjoy challenges learn more, have more fun, and truly shine =)

Have been playing around with it on the fp guards and am not to happy with what i see however. Haven't tested long enough to see if its possible to single or split them yet though. Hopefully this can be done solo by someone who has figured it out or does figure out the new system in entirety. From the post i read from someone testing it out in ToV earlier it looks like it could def use some tweaking in the monks favor no doubt. But who knows. I am excited to see where things go from here! PS. Started this server 2 months ago and absolutely love it. Population kicks ass. That old school EQ feel is back with all the nostalgia, and i for one could not be any happier. Spent my vacation creating a monk and hitting level 60 in about 2 months. That grind was real. This server is no joke =)

[Stormassault]

I still have my beta CD. It was 1998, baby!
Rallos Zek, gnome-elf wars, great fun.
I played a gnome mage, and the earth pets looked like blobs of... well... something bad...
A man dressed in patchwork in those days was akin to a minor deity, and you could loot an item as well as cash when you killed a player, even if he was killed by a mob. I recall being hunted across the server after finding a party wipe in L-Fay, stealing all I could carry and running for it!

[Muchyawn]

Came here from vanilla/TBC WoW private servers goin on 3 years ago now, having never seen or played any version of everquest classic or retail~

As someone who loves oldschool MMOs so much it hurts, classic eq (being the pioneer title in genera and thus also the oldest) has a level of detail, and love, put into its zones mechanics and race/classes that no other MMO to follow was able to deliver on.

Few games are able to attach a feeling of accomplishment, or atmospheric immersion like classic eq does.

Much love staff, and community alike <3

[nevilshute]

July 2000, smack in the middle of Kunark. Played until circa 2004

[Vandil]

Just weeks after the release of Velious. My friend got me into it. My mind was blown. My initial impression was that this IRC chat with a Tolkein-esque 3D world to play/interact in.

[Maxed]

Opening day , servers up , servers down etc. Still the coolest video game experience ever those first months.

[Jagerman]

I had never played a MMO before. Had a lady friend at work and her husband SWORE how great EQ was, so I was convinced to give it a try. Bought "Ruins of Kunark" & the strategy guide at the local Electronic Boutique. OMG! I was hooked! Went to several of "Fan Faires" (Dallas, Seattle, San Francisco & the best being the 5th Anniversary in Las Vegas). I was on the Innoruuk server and worked my half elf paladin up to lvl 54. I spent too much time exploring & chasing those female dark elves ;) By the time "Legacy of Ykesha" was released, I was getting buried by not being able to keep up. The ranks of EQ players were gradually being thinned by the releases of EQ2 and WoW. Real life responsibilities were taking more of my free time. I eventually dropped out. But, P99 has given me another chance again to be in a land of endless exploration (& maybe an occasional female DE).

[Maliris]

I was asked by a co-worker if I was into gaming in 1999. He got me a copy of EQ and set me up with a set of gear for a Barb warr. I played around a bit with a few toons until I found the Iksar SK, and never looked back.
I played from Velious through Secrets of Faydwer; roughly 10 years. I was in a casual-ish family style raid guild, and I was the only SK to survive through Anguish and Theatre of Blood. The others either switched toons or left. I became THE SK in the guild, and was the primary off-tank for boss fights in raids.
I quit in 2009 when I went back to college, and my best friend turned me onto P99 about 6 months ago; I've restarted the Iksar SK and I'm having a blast!

[EQcomposer]

Since I am the original Everquest Composer, I played the game starting in 1998, long before release. I wrote code for the game as well as music, so a lot of what I did had to be done as a super player.

I'm looking for feedback on how to market my Original EQ music as a remix to Everquest fans. Any suggestions? (jaybarbeau at gmail dot com)

[skwayb]

I played from Release until about June 1999. I started on Rallos Zek which wasn't the best in my opinion. Then a bunch of Coworkers were talking about it. They played on Brell so I started up again about mid release of Kunark and Played through POP until 2004. Playing it on a Blue server made more sense for me and I enjoyed the game. The disparaging difference between the High End Items and all other items made me quite the game. There was a period where I could raid a lot and had Vex Thall items but in Pop, 4k Hit points wasn't that much. Once I got into Plane of Earth, I stopped playing as everyone was jumping into LDon.

[alexnoshinku]

p99 is still my all time favorite <3

[georgie]

Sorry i don't read narcissistic italics

[Mackinaw]

It was my niece and nephew that introduced me to EQ. They had been playing since release and I used to give them a speech that went something like like; "In my day we didn't have computers. We used pencil, paper and dice and our imaginations." I did it mostly just to annoy them and it worked.

On my birthday I received a present from them which in my family is a novelty because we don't typically give presents to each other after the age of 18 outside of immediate family. We have parties and celebrations but presents are usually reserved for the kids. The present was EQ. I still remember the music once the game was installed and updated, (a really long update on dial-up), I made a rogue in Freeport, wandered around not knowing anything and died to the first rat I attacked. It was AWESOME!

The best part was that there all these other real people playing with me. I will never forget it. I have been playing EQ in one way or another ever since. I have tried nearly every other mmo out there but EQ is the only one that keeps me coming back time after time after time. 1999 is what is still keeping me playing. Thanks folks :)

[BritneySpears]

People were calling it Will We Everquest

[SydneyLime43]

First time. Friend is pre-Kunark, recommended Project 1999 to me.

[Subilac]

I started April of 2000 and didn't move from my computer until 2005.

[Duik]

Jan 2000 Haken Moonshine Woodelf Druid 57 Prexus. Various Alts.
Woodelf Druid took till lvl 14 to leave Faydwer. When I did wow 19 @ Oasis Crocs, madmen, orcs n skels.
Two things about this zone
< ooc> SG to docks
ME: what's an sg...
Found out why surname wasn't TheAnimalCharmer. Nuff said.
Weirdly, took up trade skills in the hopes of making something useful. By the time we had skills (212 smith) each piece needed a blue diamond OMFG.
Grouping as Stirgah in An Sli Amach forever memorable.
De'Lere going down for Yana then later wondering why all the Freeport guards where running at me as I fell from Sky. Must be a welcoming committee. Good times.

[wvredskinsfan]

Started September of 1999 and played for around 3 1/2 years. Loving P99.

[Balefire]

My first time was a little after the release of Velious. My mother was hunting spiders in Velk's with a group and had to get up and go to the bathroom while she was fighting. I had watched her play many times and after a brief rundown she left her squishy ranger in my tender 8 year old hands. Killed two more spiders while she was gone and after that let me make a character on her account. Been playing ever since.

[Shanarias]

I remember playing just before Kunark came out, and like some others, the fact that everyone else was a real person like me just blew my mind. I rolled a Human Cleric, but it was lower than it should have been on Wis, and it took a very long time to level up to 50, whereupon (as I recall) it got easier to obtain +Wis items to make me a better Cleric.

I eventually found myself in a Guild called Wolves of Xev (on Xev) and had some fantastic adventures with some really good players all the way up through PoP, where it started getting too weird for me, and I bailed out of EQ. Did not like EQ2 AT ALL, and considered it a waste of money.

The hardest I ever laughed in EQ was on Luclin in Paludal Caverns, and while sitting WAY up on a ledge, I saw some one with an incredibly enormous train behind them Yelling Train! Train! Train! over and over. Good times.