Did you actually play on 99 [Archive]

Vonkaar

03-28-2011, 10:57 AM

No, I joined before Kunark's release. (it may have been 1999 but that is irrelevant now)

I think around the same timeframe...

same... it was slightly before Kunark. Oddly, I was in the exact same boat I'm in now. I was in my low 20s, with shit gear and no guild =p.

I honestly can't remember the exact time. I know that it was roughly when The Nameless was a few months old.

Hithrohir

03-28-2011, 11:28 AM

I first logged onto Everquest in 1999, but it was sporadic and extremely casual for a while. I didn't have my own account and would just dick around on a friend's computer half a dozen times or so until I actually bought the game some six months after release. I was like 14 at the time, though, so I don't remember the beginning very clearly. I have a better recollection of Kunark and, especially, Velious and Luclin. PoP was when I stopped taking the game seriously again, and though I did play all the way up to OoW, I was mostly just PvPing on Sullon Zek and doing nothing gameplay-wise by then. In the last couple of expansions before I quit in 2004, I didn't even see half of the zones that were introduced.

Badmartigan

03-28-2011, 11:55 AM

I started on Erollisi Marr and Rallos Zek for EQ on the day it launched.

Leveled a halfling warrior to 50 on Emarr "Obsessi Compulsi" and then also a Halfling Rog on RZ "Superling".

Rogean said he is 21-22 or something so he would have been 10 when EQ came out so it's possible he played ?

I am 28 now. Was 16 When EQ came out... It was the ONLY thing that could pry me away from starcraft/team fortress classic at the time

Rasah

03-28-2011, 01:10 PM

I started in Dec 2000. Right around the time that Velious came out. I missed a lot of the classic content because I was in Great Divide in my 30's.

Savok

03-28-2011, 01:14 PM

March 16, 1999 on Innoruuk Server - Day 1. After a few toons I settled on a bard on Apr 21 and just retired in Feb.

Chrushev

03-28-2011, 01:14 PM

I started during Velious, and played through GoD.

Cars

03-28-2011, 01:56 PM

I was there on Day 1

liquefiedvapor

03-28-2011, 02:02 PM

I was a late comer. Bought the original trilogy in Oct of 2001. Forever ago now, but late to the old schooler's. :)

Scroll

03-28-2011, 02:04 PM

I'll never forget my first time on. It was the summer of '99 and I made a Dark-Elf Wizard. I didn't have enough RAM and was stuck in a laggy Neriak.

falkun

03-28-2011, 02:31 PM

I think I previewed my cousin playing his troll warrior during classic, but I didn't pick up the game until Kunark (I know because I have the EQ+RoK disc(s) still). He gave my fledgling WE warrior a full suit of bronze and it was too heavy for the tiny WE to hold along with the banded she was already wearing. So I vendored the bronze!

I eventually gave up on the warrior to make the pally in the signature. He got to 60 some time during Luclin (I remember leveling up in Velious still) and raided a bit. I quit some time after GoD came out in like summer '04.

Kuriin

03-28-2011, 02:31 PM

Not on day 1, but, I was on about day 15 or so. Can't remember.

Striiker

03-28-2011, 03:10 PM

I started at launch. It was a fascinating world to explore. I was a big Dungeons & Dragons fan as a kid and loved playing AD&D computer games on my Commodore 64 and PC. I never got into Ultima Online but got totally hooked on Everquest.
I can remember seeing the user count for each server. It helped one avoid the over populated servers if you wanted. I started on Fennin Ro with a Paladin and gave him up once he got to about Lvl 16 or so and rolled a Wizard who I leveled up to 50 fairly quickly. Sigh, the good old days.

The chat server was also always packed, particularly when the servers crashed or were brought down for maintenance. The chat server would usually be the first to be available once the servers were nearing a ready status for being brought online.

I remember also that there was a tutorial "zone" where there was a skeleton you had to go kill. It taught you the very basics of the game. I'd love to see that again for nostalgia reasons. I don't know if this was actually online or if it was a standalone thing run on your computer. I suspect the latter.

Dantes

03-28-2011, 03:25 PM

Yup. Launch.

eqravenprince

03-28-2011, 03:30 PM

Yep, played in 99. Don't know if it was day one, but it was March or April and I had a cloth map. And got money refunded in the first couple months because they had such bad connection problems early on. But man was I hooked.

madhatta317

03-28-2011, 03:34 PM

I started in kunark era right before velious release, epics were out when i started. I played a druid all the way up until PoP release, got to level 38 or 39. And i played on torvinillous

Salty

03-28-2011, 03:35 PM

lawl vzfags in this thread

http://elitistjerks.com/blog_attachment.php?attachmentid=134&d=1298696775

Mady

03-28-2011, 03:54 PM

Coril

03-28-2011, 03:55 PM

Day 1.

We called in neverquest for the first week because of the issues staying and getting connected.

Vaken

03-28-2011, 05:06 PM

Friend was in the Beta for EQ and got me hooked then. Me and handful of childhood friends all bought at release and played up until lunclin, then I lost my interest.

"EVERCRACK"

quellren

03-28-2011, 05:52 PM

I started playing about 10 days after launch. My brother wouldn't shut up about it and one day I was like 'Ok, what the fuck is this thing you play?' Life. Me. Over.
Every day from 99 to Jan 02

tj218

03-28-2011, 06:19 PM

99. Read the reviews, thought it looked stupid. Played it after a friend kept insisting on it and was hooked. Played regularly until Fall 2000 when I went to college and getting drunk and laid was a bigger priority. Played during breaks until Fall 2001 then gave up entirely.

Rhambuk

03-28-2011, 07:06 PM

lawl vzfags in this thread

http://elitistjerks.com/blog_attachment.php?attachmentid=134&d=1298696775

/sigh i miss guild names being Next to names and not underneath them :(

Nataz

03-29-2011, 04:26 AM

I started in the EQ beta phase 4 on the Rathe beta server, then on release day I started a dwarf pally on Veeshan that I played until august -99 when Vallon Zek opened and I moved there for good. Quit VZ in 2004/2005. When Kunark came out in 2000 I played a troll shaman (on VZ) just below lvl 50. I now play a lvl 20 toon so it's fun to see Kunark from the lower level perspective. I miss the pvp tingling feeling tho.

Edit: I found out the other day that I have tons of screenshot saved from those days incase someone is interested, perhaps if you were a member of Chaos Overlords or Draconic Tribe on VZ. :)

Nataz

03-29-2011, 04:52 AM

Was playing meridan59 at the time and a friend told me he had heard about a beta test for an online game he thought that i would find enteresting. Got excepted to beta 3 just before it closed, played beta 4, then rolled a character on fenin at launch. Been playing ever since.

What server were you on? I played Meridian59 too, first on beta server 1 and then on server 102! :) M59 was so cool with all the fights over guild halls. Wish I had some screenshots left from this period, was back in -96 if I remember correct. (omg I'm old)

Hasbinbad

03-29-2011, 06:25 AM

I started the week of Kunark release on the Torvonnilous server, played till a couple weeks into shitho..Luclin.

mendarin

03-29-2011, 06:35 AM

Neraphis

03-29-2011, 06:49 AM

I started in '99.
I knew it was coming out in the months leading up to release in March from following the hype etc, but all I was able to play was that Soandso demo )

Being from Oceania I ordered my copy of Everquest to be delivered from the US to my house since in those days 'worldwide release' dates weren't the norm yet. Games were sometimes up to 2-3 months behind US release. It took about 3-4weeks to arrive, and turned out local retailers were starting to stock EQ just before my copy was delivered.

It didn't matter, I was stoked to finally install it - albeit about a month after US release. I'd pre-arranged to use my parents credit card and reimburse them - which in those days was a big deal, credit cards and internet conned dubious to alot of people still.

Despite all apparent hurdles I was as happy as a dog on the beach to be able to make my Half-Elf Ranger on Quellious, learning the ways of the Glade and burrow. I'd pre-picked my class as Ranger from the awesome character description in the Verant literature. Truly a do-it all sounding barrel of fun. It wasn't till later levels that people started seeing them as abit gimped, but by then I'd moved on to other characters, and servers.

Played classic, kunark and abit of velious, with various breaks in between. My friends tried to get me back into it for luclin and subsequent expansions but somehow the world just got too big and it wasn't the same, so we parted ways.

P1999 is a perfect fit for my taste, a grand huzzah back to the glory days of Norrath - before all the 'newbification' that occurred attempting to make EQ more accessible. Screw them - there's plenty of outlets for that hand-holding style. Gimme race/hybrid exp, naked corpse runs, begging for ports and boxy graphics.

WB 1999, I still have the original box :)

Nataz

03-29-2011, 08:25 AM

Started Dec 10th 1999 (EQ was a wedding gift)
Server= the 7th hammer
First char= high elf paladin, Kothar pheonixblade
second char= half elven Bard, Mendarin Dragonsinger (forged souls/savage arms)
Ended sept 2009

Wedding gift!?!

Personally I eventually broke up with a GF more or less because of the EQ-addiction I had back then. :eek: :D

Ozudin

03-29-2011, 09:03 AM

I started early enough to remember looking at my damn spell book to med. I'm not sure if that was 99 but it was before Kunark from what I remember.

falkun

03-29-2011, 09:49 AM

Started Dec 10th 1999 (EQ was a wedding gift)
Server= the 7th hammer
First char= high elf paladin, Kothar pheonixblade
second char= half elven Bard, Mendarin Dragonsinger (forged souls/savage arms)
Ended sept 2009

What ended Sept '09 -- the marriage or the game?

I started early enough to remember looking at my damn spell book to med. I'm not sure if that was 99 but it was before Kunark from what I remember.

That was well after Kunark release. I didn't start until after Kunark, and I remember tanking on my pally in OT in the 30s still lookin' at the book while the puller shouted out the INCs.

Polixenes

03-29-2011, 10:42 AM

I started in April 99 on Innoruuk playing a cleric. My guild was Lords of Aesir (later Lords of Edelo after a guild merger). I eventually dinged L50 in late December and got my full set of purple Hate armour around about the time of Kunark. I eventually retired at L56during Velious as I discovered the raiding grind was not for me. I burned out.

I came back with a new account after a few months and over the next few years made many alts, focusing on the grouping aspect of the game. I got a couple of epics (including 2 boxing my entire mage epic which perhaps is my proudest achievement - the PoA crown I soloed in the bazaar before anyone calls me on that!), my Velious prayer shawl, and two or three PoP flags but I never did come to enjoy raiding.

So I was always envious of the gear other people had and never got to set foot into a large number of zones, but I had plenty of fun.

I've been here less than a fortnight but I'm thoroughly enjoying P99. I'd love to play for hours on end like I used to but alas, I now have wife and babies, and they are NO DROP and high encumbrance :)

Humerox

03-29-2011, 10:42 AM

II remember also that there was a tutorial "zone" where there was a skeleton you had to go kill. It taught you the very basics of the game. I'd love to see that again for nostalgia reasons. I don't know if this was actually online or if it was a standalone thing run on your computer. I suspect the latter.

it was a standalone.

<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/F0ErchwGqR8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Rand

03-29-2011, 05:50 PM

I was in 4th or 5th grade and I was at my neighbours house.(only place I could play video games) and we use to play Tanaris an online tank game also made by Verent. My buddies dad was a hotshot at the game and he got to beta test from the beginning. I remember he made a half elf druid and I was making fun of how stupid the trees looked. Needless to say we finally started playing and I was HOOKED. All I could think about in class was ny barbarian warrior and what adventures I would get into in everfrost and the dreaded blackburrow in school. Well my friend went to live with his mom in the summers so I had to go every summer with no eq until I finally got my own computer. But I digress, yes I was a 99'r

Chanur

03-29-2011, 05:56 PM

Dwarf Paladin, I drowned in the fountain :(

Potus

03-29-2011, 06:04 PM

I beta tested the game. It was awesome.

vossiewulf

03-29-2011, 06:20 PM

We started on day 1 on Bristlebane server. Was a mess those first two weeks.

Potus

03-29-2011, 09:56 PM

Yeah the lag was atrocious.

Pudge

03-29-2011, 10:52 PM

i was in beta.

after determining it was awesome, i wrote a letter to GMs crying telling them that my parents were divorced and that the only way me and my brothers (who were with the other parent) could be a family again was to play games online together.

they sent 2 additional beta keys the next day. i forgot about that story till my brother reminded me of it haha (yes, i made it up.)

Vee

03-29-2011, 11:41 PM

I think it was in '99 when I started. My bro played since beta and introduced me to the game. I had my own account before the Kunark release, but I don't really remember if it was in '99 or not.

After LDoN released I'd had enough. The game had sucked so much time out of my life. I'm going to play it much more casually this time around. Just started P99 a few days ago.

gambetto

05-03-2011, 02:10 PM

I played from day 1 in 1999 until around 2006. I've played on and off since then.

Eldaran

05-03-2011, 02:14 PM

I couldn't get into Beta but waited months for EQ to release. I remember the first month being so terrible with connection issues. I spent a lot of time trying to connect to the game and watching my packet loss meter drop from Green to yellow to Red then black screen with white letters "You have been disconnected from the server".
I was on the Karana server and waiting for the loading screen took almost 1 and 1/2 times through the EQ theme. Probably why I still have that theme drilled into my brain, but I love it.

binibren

05-03-2011, 02:28 PM

February 1999, phase 4 beta. Woot! Here's the disc (along with my UO beta CD - also woot!):

http://i.imgur.com/4L3Ss.jpg

gambetto

05-03-2011, 03:05 PM

February 1999, phase 4 beta. Woot! Here's the disc (along with my UO beta CD - also woot!):

http://i.imgur.com/4L3Ss.jpg

Pure awesomeness!

I also played UO for many years along with EQ. I from time to time play UO on the private server also.

Reubin

05-03-2011, 03:09 PM

Started in April 2000 about 1 week before Kunark.

hedbonker

05-03-2011, 03:16 PM

necro

Ulivar

05-03-2011, 04:03 PM

Played during classic on rallos zek, ulivar DE necro, masson dwf clr

Ruinous

05-03-2011, 04:16 PM

eqravenprince

05-03-2011, 04:44 PM

I was in Best Buy the day it was released. I had no prior knowledge of the game, read no reviews, nothing. I just saw it in the ad, and looked at the box in the store and thought what the heck, I'll give it a try. Then I find out it required me to pay money to play, and I was annoyed by that, thinking I just wasted money and couldn't return it. Then the first month, there was horrible connection issues, and being annoyed that I was having to pay for something that was down over half the time. Luckily they gave me another month free.

Shannacore

05-03-2011, 04:52 PM

WILL A MOD PLEASE CHANGE THE TITLE OF THIS THREAD, IT IS DRIVING ME NUTS.

Eldaran

05-03-2011, 05:00 PM

WILL A MOD PLEASE CHANGE THE TITLE OF THIS THREAD, IT IS DRIVING ME NUTS.

Haha glad i'm not the only one.

malroth69

05-03-2011, 05:11 PM

I started just after kunark at some point, bought the triple pack(EQ, Velious, Kunark), the way the art work was on the box it always made me think that velious came before kunark, who knew ;)

stormlord

05-03-2011, 08:05 PM

Yep. It was between march 21-24 in 1999. I barely remember it. I remember the FPS being choppy. I remember tinking it was real cool that I existed in that other world. It was hard to see. I wasted a lot of time exploring. I knew nothing about the game back then. Considering how much people can enjoy the game today, despite knowing all about it, is testament to how successful it might be if it was completely redone.

Oh. I made my first character on Rallos Zek. He was a ranger. You can't imagine.

But if you think you can... just imagine MAYHEM in blackburrow. PvP.

I had 13-14 days /played and was level 13, almost 14. Virtually NO /afk time.

I knew a monk, just before I left the game. I last talked to him in the sewers. He was going somewhere else, on an adventure or something, far away from qeynos. I thought he was crazy to leave. I think an X was in his name. I've always wondered who he was. He /dueled a roleplayer in north karana. Me and him were in a group looking for things to kill over there. It was the most memorable thing I ever saw in a game. I was Hawkaya.

That was 12 years ago. I'm old.

My memories are still very fuzzy. I wish I could remember better.

I wonder how long I'll live and how successful I might be. I wonder what new memories I'll make.

Every moment is 1999. Every moment is a potential memory to remember years from now...

stormlord

05-03-2011, 08:09 PM

WILL A MOD PLEASE CHANGE THE TITLE OF THIS THREAD, IT IS DRIVING ME NUTS.Seconded.

Ennoia

05-03-2011, 08:20 PM

I'm totally $medly IRL, that's why I voted liek that!

Ennoia

05-03-2011, 08:23 PM

For reals though...high school in Conservation class (no clue what year...I think after Scars of Velious came out) this kid is reading a gaming magazine and CD is in a pouch on the front. I asked him WTF is was and he was like 'idk, I'm not gonna play it.' So, I paid him $5 for EverQuest.

Britalia

05-03-2011, 08:58 PM

Started in Sept of '99. Played my necro on EMarr way more than I probably should have until about fall of 2003.

Started a chanter on p99 about a month ago.

From what I can tell a lot of the douche baggery regarding hogging camps and people being lame in general seems to still be going on...guess some things never change.

Regardless, having fun tooling around in classic EQ with my newbie char...for now at least.

Zakaton

05-04-2011, 06:32 AM

Yep, played a gnome mage. I thought being able to summon my own food and water made me the best character ever! I remember having to play in the little viewbox and gamma not working unless you had a Voodoo card. I had a Triton something and couldn't see for crap without adjusting system gamma.

I remember someone telling me he'd just come in from East Commons, and I was all "Where's that?" He laughed and said "A long way away." That sounded so exciting and adventurous, lol.

nickyboy1981

05-04-2011, 12:57 PM

just, was christmas day 1999 i think, i was about 30ish when kunark came out

Reodd

05-04-2011, 01:39 PM

I played in late summer of '99 all the way through the end of LDoN (with some intermittance after PoP).

You don't hit multiple 65s with gobs of AA without playing a lot for a long time. Unfortunately, I do this in all MMOs, including WoW and EVE.

Lagaidh

05-04-2011, 02:24 PM

Lagaidh the 1st was born Jul 3 1999. Three great years, three more decent years.

So glad p99 exists.

Lagaidh

05-04-2011, 02:35 PM

Yeah the lag was atrocious.

I wasn't that bad. I mean yeah my base agi was 73 and cha was 61 due to not knowing what mattered. But I eventually fixed the agi with AAs!

I always had fun with my short name "Lag" and folks. My two favorites were:

(Upon entering a zone) "We are Lag. Lower your buffs and surrender your equipment. You will adapt your racial bonuses to service us. Resistance is futile."

(Upon someone shouting or oocing "Lag spike") "Sorry. I got excited."

Seering

05-04-2011, 03:09 PM

I was in for beta and played from day one .. for almost 10 full years before leaving EQ.
I think thats called an addict ;)

runlvlzero

07-18-2011, 12:26 PM

Wow cool to see all how far this thread has gone. I am sorry for the title.. I think I was half awake when I posted it.

I had a regular DnD group I us-to play with and half of them were in IT and had beta accounts to EQ, every time I went to dinner with them they said I had to play this game. So I think it was like a month or so after release I finally had the cash to spare on it. I think off and on this is the game I have played most, with maybe doom and quake coming in a distant 2cnd. Somehow I feel like I'll be in a nursing home sitting around a table with a bunch of other old guys on laptops running around on a museum replica server hosted by the EQ preservation society. Doing reenactments of the "first naggy raid". Lol

BelenosThePagan

07-18-2011, 12:42 PM

Started Dec 10th 1999 (EQ was a wedding gift)

lol. Wife's least favorite wedding present

Nytewind TP

07-18-2011, 01:31 PM

I joined about two weeks after Kunark was released.

RiffDaemon

07-18-2011, 04:36 PM

it was a standalone.

<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/F0ErchwGqR8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Holy crap, I forgot about that tutorial zone. I miss that old interface :(

I started in May of 2000, just before my junior year of high school. My brother came home one afternoon with the Kunark expansion and the Prima strategy guide for it. Good times.

Muerte

07-18-2011, 06:59 PM

Fourth quarter of 1999.

I was a paladin by the name of Lasarus. I had a friend who was a ranger. We drooled over bronze armor. Ahh memories.

deakolt

07-18-2011, 07:13 PM

it was a standalone.

<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/F0ErchwGqR8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

oh man this is bringing back memories,

played this tutorial for half a day before my parents paid for my gametime...

Nostalgia

to answer OP: started playing June or July 2000. Spent my first few months screwing around, begging, never getting past level 15 or so...

Then again I was 11 at the time so whateva wateva

runlvlzero

07-18-2011, 08:05 PM

Damn I was like 17 and running around begging and screwing around for my first year or so. That was another cool thing about classic EQ though for me, when I was that annoying twerp and no one irritated me because I was lost in my own little world in the game.

Brut

07-18-2011, 08:09 PM

Started early 2000, played until some PoP being rubbish and neglecting purchase-duties of all the expansions popping out every 2nd month, had hiatuses of varying lengths returning to mostly run around Velious in bazaar bought armors dying to dwagons.

Damn I was like 17 and running around begging and screwing around for my first year or so. That was another cool thing about classic EQ though for me, when I was that annoying twerp and no one irritated me because I was lost in my own little world in the game.
Lolplz, had a buddy who rolled a female wood elf called Sweetcheaks or whatever, begged around Rivervale for ages getting brown chitin breastplates and whatnot. So not classic that people see through the "hi there hun!!!! can i haz some gear??? =)))))"-tells here!

FatMagic

07-18-2011, 10:41 PM

EQ Beta 4 here. February 10th 1999. I still have the Beta 4 disc! Then got the game at/around launch and played for many years! But I was ultra casual. Never had a level capped toon.

Krait

07-18-2011, 11:23 PM

Not sure if I played in 1999 but it had to be close because I was playing already when Ruins of Kunark came out.

Zarniwooop

07-18-2011, 11:49 PM

Started in November 2001 (with a 4MB video card) because I had to take it easy for a week after some minor surgery. I was bored and popped in the EQ demo disc expecting nothing besides a good laugh. I played the first night for 32 straight hours. Keep in mind, prior to this, I had ridiculed anyone that would waste time playing an online game where you killed friggin rats.

That first 10 days on the trial server was the best gaming experience I will have in my life barring major changes in the PC gaming industry.

Finally retired totally burned out in early 2010.

Giopawa

07-19-2011, 01:15 AM

Started during the launch of Velious.

superapan

07-19-2011, 04:23 AM

I started playing a few months before Kunark. The game wasn't retailed in Sweden, so I had to order from the US. Took a few weeks and the package arrived torn to bits (thanks postal service). The CD was intact though.

I had decided on a barbarian shaman, cause the EQ website had this awesome character wearing a polar-bear cap. A RL friend of mine made an ogre, and we were gonna hook up in Innothule swamp. I pulled out the (somewhat torn) poster map included in the box and plotted a south-ish course from Halas...at level 5. I made it all the way to lake Rathe without SoW. The sheer size of the lake and the previous nerve-wrecking ordeals through Blackburrow and what-not made me /wristquit on the spot and never log that char back on again.

Haul

07-19-2011, 05:09 AM

2000-2007

Anger

07-19-2011, 05:54 AM

Joined in Velious

linus0809

07-19-2011, 09:00 AM

started in September 1999

Webwolf

07-19-2011, 10:09 AM

I started in April 2000 right after Kunark launch. I went to COMPUSA to buy a game and saw an entire shelf full with EQ boxes at the store, I figured it was a popular game so I decided to give it a try. I didn't know you had to pay a monthly fee to play the game and I remember being very disappointed when I got home because I didn't have a credit card yet. Took me 2 days to convince my dad to let me use his credit card, so I played that tutorial over and over for 2 days straight.

freakyuno

07-19-2011, 11:16 AM

Started in late 98 in the first closed beta, then played in the open beta. Honestly it was awful and nobody played seriously, because hardly anything worked. The first closed beta didn't even have char models. You were just a stick figure box running around the world.

Purchased the game 2 weeks after launch, and started as a Half-Elf ranger in Surefall glade. Talked about 900 of my friends into playing, and we had a guild on Rodcet Nife called Travellers Protectorate, it was short lived, and I moved over to RZ and joined a friends guild KAOS and played there till they all retired sometime in 2003 or 2004. Havent really played EQ seriously since then till the 99 server, and the half decent PvP servers that have come out in the last couple years.