Observations After Less Than 3 Weeks Back in EQ

[Nervaaz]

I literally stumbled upon a p99 video on YouTube, and here I am. Took me a while to get the game up and running, but a tutorial video on YT helped there as well. So after less than 3 weeks back, how am I enjoying the game? Some observations.

-- The feelings of nostalgia and being thrown back 20 into a LIFE that I led for 4 years is simply amazing. The first thing I did with my first character was run him from Surefall Glade to Qeynos Main Gate, just to hear that Qeynos theme as I approached. This time I didn't make the mistake I made that first day of EQ, and run up to the guard and hail him, and get insta-killed the moment my finger descended on the "A" key. I was literally choked up for the first 2 or 3 hours back in the game.

-- I astonished myself with what I still remembered, or at least knew from muscle memory. That first run from Qeynos gate, though to the zone into SQ and then on to the bank, went flawlessly with no wrong turns. How spooky is that! I've played dozens of MMOs and hundreds of computer games since I left the original EQ, but nothing ever touched it for sheer immersive gameplay.

-- The player base on P99 is much, much, much more friendly than in the original EQ. I have had so much help and assistance these past few weeks that I am simply astonished. Sure, I've come across a couple of dicks, but for the most part, everyone is friendly and super helpful. I think a big cause of this is that everyone is an experienced EQ player, and nobody is a really true newbie, and so you have far fewer of the really ignorant players that don't have a clue what they are doing, train zones every 5 minutes, blatantly kill steal, spam the zones with /shout complaints, etc ... in other words, a player base like we used to have back in the first years of EQ after launch.

-- Final observation. I really wish that I had heard about p99 earlier. I do understand from what I have read that this it is a small project largely run by volunteers, but I do wish that there was a better way to get the word out, as I am sure that there are far more old time EQ players who would love to come back and give this game a second go around. As I said earlier, the only reason I am here is because a p99 video popped up on YouTube completely by accident, likely related to some other video I had watched, or search I had done. Had I not stumbled across that video, I'd still be completely unaware that this great server was even in existence. I am glad I am now back playing again, however. These past 3 weeks have been a blast, and i'm looking forward to many months/years to come.

[YendorLootmonkey]

Welcome back to Norrath :)

[drackgon]

Welcome back man glad to have you!

[Skarne]

Welcome back! Don’t raid!

[Danth]

-- The player base on P99 is much, much, much more friendly than in the original EQ.

Like Skarne said: Don't raid. The raid scene on P1999 attracts the large majority of the troublemakers. Folks get sucked into it then end up hating the game and quit. Make a conscious effort to stay out of that part of the game and you'll be better off for it. Beyond that piece of advice, welcome and enjoy your time here.

Danth

[starkind]

its not really friendly it's more like 'let me indoctrinate u 2 my side' 'fresh meat' 'stockholmy'

if u are genuine in ur personality and actions on this server u will eventually make implacable enemies, but ppl are sooo thirsty for pixels they hide themselves behind a facade of 'ohhh let me buff u with sow so u don't petitionquest me maybe'.

honestly a server with only dark elves in truest LARP form would be more genuine and more honest

[cd288]

its not really friendly it's more like 'let me indoctrinate u 2 my side' 'fresh meat' 'stockholmy'

if u are genuine in ur personality and actions on this server u will eventually make implacable enemies, but ppl are sooo thirsty for pixels they hide themselves behind a facade of 'ohhh let me buff u with sow so u don't petitionquest me maybe'.

honestly a server with only dark elves in truest LARP form would be more genuine and more honest

You know, the longer I’ve played here I’ve found that the people who talk about how toxic other players are etc. tend to actually be very toxic in game themselves.

[Baler]

The player base on P99 is much, much, much more friendly than in the original EQ.

I'm sorry to focus down on such a great post but this part is really, really true. P99 in game is so much more friendly and open to others. I've heard this from every brand new player I came across. Double so for those I helped get exp. P99 is a great place in game no question. I strongly encourage others to convince their friends and family to try p99. Once in game, it's all about socializing and making friends.

[Anxarcule]

Welcome back! I too find the vast majority of players are decent folk - I think because most of us are a bit older and mature than the population on live it's a lot more enjoyable.

[Arvan]

I literally stumbled upon a p99 video on YouTube, and here I am. Took me a while to get the game up and running, but a tutorial video on YT helped there as well. So after less than 3 weeks back, how am I enjoying the game? Some observations.

-- The feelings of nostalgia and being thrown back 20 into a LIFE that I led for 4 years is simply amazing. The first thing I did with my first character was run him from Surefall Glade to Qeynos Main Gate, just to hear that Qeynos theme as I approached. This time I didn't make the mistake I made that first day of EQ, and run up to the guard and hail him, and get insta-killed the moment my finger descended on the "A" key. I was literally choked up for the first 2 or 3 hours back in the game.

-- I astonished myself with what I still remembered, or at least knew from muscle memory. That first run from Qeynos gate, though to the zone into SQ and then on to the bank, went flawlessly with no wrong turns. How spooky is that! I've played dozens of MMOs and hundreds of computer games since I left the original EQ, but nothing ever touched it for sheer immersive gameplay.

-- The player base on P99 is much, much, much more friendly than in the original EQ. I have had so much help and assistance these past few weeks that I am simply astonished. Sure, I've come across a couple of dicks, but for the most part, everyone is friendly and super helpful. I think a big cause of this is that everyone is an experienced EQ player, and nobody is a really true newbie, and so you have far fewer of the really ignorant players that don't have a clue what they are doing, train zones every 5 minutes, blatantly kill steal, spam the zones with /shout complaints, etc ... in other words, a player base like we used to have back in the first years of EQ after launch.

-- Final observation. I really wish that I had heard about p99 earlier. I do understand from what I have read that this it is a small project largely run by volunteers, but I do wish that there was a better way to get the word out, as I am sure that there are far more old time EQ players who would love to come back and give this game a second go around. As I said earlier, the only reason I am here is because a p99 video popped up on YouTube completely by accident, likely related to some other video I had watched, or search I had done. Had I not stumbled across that video, I'd still be completely unaware that this great server was even in existence. I am glad I am now back playing again, however. These past 3 weeks have been a blast, and i'm looking forward to many months/years to come.

Nice man, welcome home!

[Bardp1999]

https://i.imgur.com/yc3sIg6.gif

[unsunghero]

I do wish that there was a better way to get the word out, as I am sure that there are far more old time EQ players who would love to come back and give this game a second go around

Get a little higher level, and you'll soon discover how crowded Green can be. Good if you are looking for a group, bad if you are looking for a popular pp or exp spot

If they make more servers, then sure, the more people the merrier

[DeathsSilkyMist]

The raid scene isn't as bad as most people claim. If you want raid pixels, go after them and have fun. You can avoid most drama with a little common sense, unless you want to become a raid leader or other high officer who has to deal with it.

[Penish]

Give it a few more weeks, nothing left but degenerate sicko's, religious zealots, and liberal fascists.

Fuck I love EQ :D

[cd288]

Get a little higher level, and you'll soon discover how crowded Green can be. Good if you are looking for a group, bad if you are looking for a popular pp or exp spot

If they make more servers, then sure, the more people the merrier

Sure if you’re only trying to go to the most popular plat farming or exp camps (I.e. min maxing your exp and not going anywhere else), but if you’re willing to actually just enjoy the game it’s awesome

[Cen]

I think I've only met like 3 toxic people in blue and green combined hehe

One was a wizard who kept following me for a whole day to nuke any mob I tried to engage and followed me across the world the others were camp disputes from hell

[Tunabros]

Welcome back! Don’t raid!

raiding is so fun on this server

its harmful to your health

but so addicting and fun

every time you get a new item, a surge of dopamine rushes into your brain

and gratz on BIS!

[starkind]

Give it a few more weeks, nothing left but degenerate sicko's, religious zealots, and liberal fascists.

Fuck I love EQ :D

[jolanar]

Someone else said this first but it still rings true:

At this point I am more nostalgic for when I first started playing P99 than I am for when I first started playing EQ.

Enjoy those first few months they are the best.

[drackgon]

Don't listen to toxic players like starking (can't even read his post bc hes on ignore) but I am 100%sure don't listen to him. Or anyone hating on green raiding/farming at higher lvls.

First enjoy the adventure, to many of toxic players try to make EQ a modern day MMO and midmax. EQ isn't about that. Enjoy just exploring, listening to the music, meeting amazing community friendly playerbase. Yeah your going to run into people like Starkind who will be like blackburrow is mine for the day for my alts scalps, or some crap. Just move on to the other 40 zones your lvl range.

When ur 46+ and ready to dip into raiding. Raiding can be fun, but just know at the very top theres always drama like any MMO with open world raid bosses. A few guilds for your playstyle.
Hardcore- Seal team
Semi Hardcore- Venerate/or Black lotus
Casual with raiding- Castle/Gathered Might/Savage(PST guild)

[rewinder47]

In my opinion, the P99 subreddit is a lot more positive than these forums, and maybe more active too. For whatever reason, these forums attract some... interesting people with interesting problems. There are exceptions of course.

[Zarakk]

I really like the opening post of this thread.

I played EQ1 from 2000-2004 and then stopped. I only arrived on P1999 three months ago, also after accidently stumbling across its existence.

Like you, I have found most people either friendly or at least civil. I do like the fact that most folks seem to respect others, and in particular, most people are quite respectful of camps - XP groups and soloers alike - at least as far as I have seen so far.

Yes, I have had a couple of negative experiences. One was quite recent, with some mage who thought it was the right thing to do to try steal a camp and purposefully attack every mob that he saw me running to engage, and when I complained, he started sending me abusive tells. But there are jerks in every walk of life, their existence is inevitable.

But whilst I have not joined a guild (and I am not sure I want to, since I don't have time in my real life for raiding), the experience of the server has been pretty positive to date. Of course, I cannot say about the top ten levels of the game yet, as I have not yet experienced them on the server.

Nice opening post. :)

~

[Twochain]

Welcome home!

People complain too much about raiding on this server. You'll find a lot more toxicity, in say, Serious WoW classic raiding guilds than you will here.

There is a lot of great people in this community. Practically unmatched when it comes to helpfulness from random strangers.

:)

[Gustoo]

-- Final observation. I really wish that I had heard about p99 earlier.

I know, when I first heard about EQ EMU I was like "WHATS?!?!?!" I dropped everything and ran to find what was going on. I missed the original guildwars eq pvp server but was able to play p99 and shards of dalaya (another EQ EMU project) in glorious early days.

Good stuff.

[Jungleberry]

Stay away from RnF. That's a shithole that will just make you hate P99.

[Ataria]

Just like your first time playing EQ 20 years ago, this will be your first time all over again, take your time, and enjoy it!! I remember when I first discovered p99 - and it was almost like that first time back in 1999- that first time experience in 99 was so fun, as is the first time experience discovering p99. Welcome back!!

[Pyrocat]

Welcome! There's a ton of knowledge on the wiki, including guides for pretty much every class. We even have our own "magelo". Don't hesitate to check it out!

[Byue]

welcome home!

[NPC]

I literally stumbled upon a p99 video on YouTube, and here I am. Took me a while to get the game up and running, but a tutorial video on YT helped there as well. So after less than 3 weeks back, how am I enjoying the game? Some observations.

-- The feelings of nostalgia and being thrown back 20 into a LIFE that I led for 4 years is simply amazing. The first thing I did with my first character was run him from Surefall Glade to Qeynos Main Gate, just to hear that Qeynos theme as I approached. This time I didn't make the mistake I made that first day of EQ, and run up to the guard and hail him, and get insta-killed the moment my finger descended on the "A" key. I was literally choked up for the first 2 or 3 hours back in the game.

-- I astonished myself with what I still remembered, or at least knew from muscle memory. That first run from Qeynos gate, though to the zone into SQ and then on to the bank, went flawlessly with no wrong turns. How spooky is that! I've played dozens of MMOs and hundreds of computer games since I left the original EQ, but nothing ever touched it for sheer immersive gameplay.

-- The player base on P99 is much, much, much more friendly than in the original EQ. I have had so much help and assistance these past few weeks that I am simply astonished. Sure, I've come across a couple of dicks, but for the most part, everyone is friendly and super helpful. I think a big cause of this is that everyone is an experienced EQ player, and nobody is a really true newbie, and so you have far fewer of the really ignorant players that don't have a clue what they are doing, train zones every 5 minutes, blatantly kill steal, spam the zones with /shout complaints, etc ... in other words, a player base like we used to have back in the first years of EQ after launch.

-- Final observation. I really wish that I had heard about p99 earlier. I do understand from what I have read that this it is a small project largely run by volunteers, but I do wish that there was a better way to get the word out, as I am sure that there are far more old time EQ players who would love to come back and give this game a second go around. As I said earlier, the only reason I am here is because a p99 video popped up on YouTube completely by accident, likely related to some other video I had watched, or search I had done. Had I not stumbled across that video, I'd still be completely unaware that this great server was even in existence. I am glad I am now back playing again, however. These past 3 weeks have been a blast, and i'm looking forward to many months/years to come.


FYI- Eventually this server is supposed to get merged with the Blue, then they will start a new fresh green all over again. So you missed the initial Green launch, another one should be coming up in a year or so I believe.

[Nervaaz]

Thanks for all the awesome responses! It was a pleasure reading all of them, even those warning me about the perils of raiding. In the original game, I was at most a very casual raider, and will likely be the same in this game, so I am not at all worried. So you all remember when we called the best gear "uber"? Well, I have never been drawn to "uber" gear that has to be camped for untold hours, or gained only through innumerable raids. Fun for some people, but never has been for me. I am more of the adventuring kind, enjoying checking out various dungeons, playing different alts, joining groups when I can and doing a lot of soloing as well. None of that could ever be considered "hardcore"! lol I've played MMOs where min/maxing was god, but always ignored it. The last MMO I played had an add-on that showed your damage output in NASA-like graphs, and after looking over the online info on the add-on, I made a point of never loading it.

I have had a couple of negative experiences. Twice, while in group, I have had what I assume are veteran players telling me how I should be playing my character. In one group we suffered a wipe, and a member of the group poured over the fight logs to inform me, some 10 minutes later, that the wipe was all my fault because I did such-and-such wrong. Often in groups I do feel like the total newbie playing with a group of seasoned veterans, but I'm very upfront about the fact that I have just returned to the game after a 20 year absence, and very rusty on technique. All in all, though, most of my experiences whether in groups or soloing have been a lot of fun.

My biggest struggles have been with the UI! OMG, how lazy I have become after playing all the new MMOs where everything is laid out perfectly. I once made my group window disappear, and finally had to appeal to a high level player to find out how to get it back ... (alt-p) ... and once accidently changed my point of view midfight, and was struggling to find out how to do it, while also trying not to die in the process! I was successful, but wow, that got confusing for a sec!

The wiki has been a complete godsend! I play windowed, and keep the wiki open all the time. Right now I've got 3 classes up to 20-22, as I don't really want to focus on a main just yet. Those first 20 levels are easy and fun, and I do remember what the game is like when you get to the "hell levels". I'm really enjoying just learning to play different classes, in different areas of the game, even though I know that I will have to eventually decide to make one class my main.

Highlight experiences to date? Recreating a run through Highkeep Pass at level 12, keeping my fingers crossed that my invis won't give out halfway through ... it didn't! Taking the boat through to Firiona Vie for the first time. Loads of memories!! Doing the Stein quest with my enchanter at level 12! That was sooo familiar! Being told by a high level player that if I ran from EC tunnel to Grobb, that he would sell me a Robe of the Advisor for just 75p!! So helpful and just plain kind!

I'm still learning, and still have a ton of questions, but overall it has been a really enjoyable experience.

[Danth]

In one group we suffered a wipe, and a member of the group poured over the fight logs to inform me, some 10 minutes later, that the wipe was all my fault because I did such-and-such wrong.

Right now I've got 3 classes up to 20-22

Apparently groups in unrest/oasis/etc are serious business? I'm curious as to the specifics. Most the time if someone screws up badly enough to single-handedly cause a wipe it should be obvious enough you don't need logs to see it. The majority of group wipes are caused either by overpulls/trains--either the group's own or someone else's--by obvious errors, or by a cascade of smaller errors piling up.

Danth

[dcortez]

The majority of group wipes are caused either by overpulls/trains--either the group's own or someone else's--by obvious errors, or by a cascade of smaller errors piling up.

Danth

Mana?

Cleric: oom
Enc: 10m
Monk:
Inc Target repeat message for multiples
Inc Target repeat message for multiples
Inc Target repeat message for multiples
Inc Target repeat message for multiples
Inc Target repeat message for multiples
Inc Target repeat message for multiples

[Nervaaz]

Apparently groups in unrest/oasis/etc are serious business? I'm curious as to the specifics. Most the time if someone screws up badly enough to single-handedly cause a wipe it should be obvious enough you don't need logs to see it. The majority of group wipes are caused either by overpulls/trains--either the group's own or someone else's--by obvious errors, or by a cascade of smaller errors piling up.

Danth

I was playing my enchanter. I had a 60 enchanter main back in the day, and spent hours doing CC in places KC etc, however, after 20 years away, things can get a bit rusty. The problem was that the group put a lot of pressure on me to charm a pet, which is something that we seldom did ... never in a bad pathing location like KC ... so I was hesitant, not the least of which I had very little exp controlling a pet. However, I made one just to keep everyone happy, and things went well until my pet disappeared. We were in the FP room, and my pet reappeared from upstairs with a train of baddies. Of course, I was the first to die quite quickly, and all but one other made it to the zl safely. I figured that the problem was my pet, but not being experienced enough with Unrest, or with controlling a pet, I was then and am still now not sure why he went upstairs. But I figured you live and learn, sucked up the death, and was ready to move on. We had to wait a bit for the other death to run back to the zone from GF, and in that 10 minutes, I guess the rogue decided to comb through the logs. So before we got going again, he made it a point to state it was my fault, and that I had to control my pet better. Sort of killed the enjoyment of the night for me, but what can you do. I'm sure it was my fault, but what exactly went wrong nobody really bothered to explain. I've done some reading up on charming pets on the wiki, but still don't really see exactly what I am supposed to do differently.

[Danth]

We were in the FP room, and my pet reappeared from upstairs with a train of baddies.....I've done some reading up on charming pets on the wiki, but still don't really see exactly what I am supposed to do differently.

Unrest has been fairly notorious for the past several years for having a glitchy Z-axis where monsters sometimes warp up or down between floors. Not much you can do about it other than keep Spirit of Wolf on and immediately flee if you expect it to bring a train you can't control.

Danth

[TripSin]

Unrest has been fairly notorious for the past several years for having a glitchy Z-axis where monsters sometimes warp up or down between floors. Not much you can do about it other than keep Spirit of Wolf on and immediately flee if you expect it to bring a train you can't control.

Danth


Yeah, and if a pet goes MIA in any dungeon it's not a bad idea to just have everyone camp out to be safe.

[alkalinesky]

Mana?

Cleric: oom
Enc: 10m
Monk:
Inc Target repeat message for multiples
Inc Target repeat message for multiples
Inc Target repeat message for multiples
Inc Target repeat message for multiples
Inc Target repeat message for multiples
Inc Target repeat message for multiples

Accurate af.