EQ Live - When You or Your Guild Became "Uber"

[Lagaidh]

I've been looking back on my real life lately. I'm 35. I've come an incredibly long way. I grew up with one parent in poverty and now I own my home. It occurred to me that there are small moments of reflection in life clue that you in that who you were is gone and you're who you are... And your former self would look at folks in certain positions of life and wonder how the hell to get there; "is that even possible for me?"

When this notion occurred to me, I realized it had happened in my virtual life too. In live I had certain goals that were in the "wouldn't that be awesome" category that I never realistically expected to achieve. I always wanted an Amulet of Necropotence. A skeleton pally? C'mon! I always wanted to raid the elemental planes, but I couldn't even get to max level efficiently.

Somewhere along the way, I nabbed that amulet. It's still on my live toon rotting on a server in San Diego (I believe). I was a member of a guild with very humble ambitions. It started out as a chat channel for friends. Then it became a grouping vehicle for a few friends. Other invites happened. Before long, we were all working on VT keys. Then later, I remember flagging in PoP. Before I could really think about what we were all doing, we had whittled our initial PoTime clear time of 11 hours down to 2. We were uber. We were one of the top five guilds on our server, and in the top three most of the time.

I felt uber spending my DKP on hard won PoFire and PoTime drops. But what I truly felt uber about was the fact that I'd been with these guys from just about their beginning. I happened into the guild following friends just prior to VT keying and the first organized raids. We worked through the insane PoP flagging in its initial version together. We leveled up to max together. We shared the spoils of that common experience. That felt uber. We'd been through the ringer, had our share of drama, and on the other side it was just pure uber =)

I suppose the first time I felt personally uber was when I acquired an AoN for a second time, having sold the first, simply because I wanted to use the original DWF male model while being able to use the Holy Steed AA. My riches fueled from being able to solo Veksar like a champion and selling the crap out of the goodies.

I sure as hell never saw that coming when I used Lay on Hands on a goblin while playing with my very first group ever in Butcherblock. I was even going around with the limited UI where you just had that center window to see the world. "Use Lay Hands Lag!" "What the hell is that?" "Look for the button!" "AH! Done!" "Aaah! Target one of us next ti- uhrg!" I for sure couldn't see it the first time I traveled from BB to Kelethin. I asked if I could follow another player with a lantern. I couldn't see well at night (I didn't know about gamma).

Did you ever feel uber? When's the first time you thought you might be pixel-hot-shit? I always knew there were others that could roflstomp me- hundreds on my server in fact, but I felt like I was doing fine by my standards for most of my EQ tenure.

Actually I remember the first time I felt like hot shit. Kunark was new... and my friend introduced me in a new group as "He's the one with the mith 2h". I was introduced by a piece of gear I owned. That was kinda neat =) I understand how it might be insulting, but I saved a long time for that mith 2h, so it felt like a nod.

/Odd.
//I just heard a skeleton's casting audio. I am not in game. I am at work.
///Oh shit. I'm getting obsessed again.

[Safon]

Your rags to riches story has given me hope for the future

[Lagaidh]

Hah. I didn't see it as rags to riches until you said it. I suppose it's that kind of story.

But I'd like to point out that this is not an absolute scale. Even being L39 with that mith 2h made me feel good about my toon. I may have still had bronze in many slots...

You don't need to be a toon that could generate a million plat. I remember taking a screenshot the first time I had over 1000 (and a screenshot of the Arbitor's Combine Greatsword it turned into).

Share stories!

[Ferok]

I also played a dwarf paladin. Funny, I wanted (but never got) an AoN for the same reason. The original dwarf models/animations are one of the things I love most about playing EQ again - specifically P99. The way I was forced from them due to wanting to use Holy Steed pained me.

I had alot of accomplishments on my server - server firsts of some kills/items and topping the magelo class hitpoint list for a while during Omens. Nothing really compared to completing my Fiery Defender.

I think that's when I felt the most 'uber'.

While my massive hitpoint pool later frustrating clerics trying to quick heal me in Bastion of Thunder PUGs gave me some glee; nothing really ever looked as uber as a full set of skyshrine and a pally epic, with old models and Velious textures. And the noobs in unrest always agreed.

[Droog007]

I felt pretty uber when my ranger was sporting a near-full suit of Thorny Vine armor, and wielding a Flux-Bladed Axe paired with a Sarnak Skullsplitter in the early days of Kunark. He still folded like a house of cards, but it was fun. I eventually achieved far more with my rogue, but I was always in a guild well behind the curve...

[falkun]

I felt uber the day my pally obtained the Sword of Ssraeshza (http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=11806). I had saved many months of DKP knowing our guild would be going for the Emporer. I had wanted the Nature's Defender (same graphic), but had trashed my PoG faction. So I saved. When we finally took on the Emporer, it dropped on the first kill. I had enough DKP that only about 3 people could outbid me, even among our MTs. One of our main MTs (one of the guys who could outbid me) sent me a /tell asking if I wanted that sword. My response was basically, "I'd be fine never getting raid loot again." No one bid against me, and I proudly carried that sword until I quit a year later.

Now we were raiding Ssra during PoP, and my guild folded before we finished the last two fights for EPs (got LMM, but no RZ or Sol Ro), so we weren't "top tier", but I enjoyed the content we did and was extremely proud of that sword.

[Picked]

It's the journey that you speak of that I enjoy more than anything. With the same guild. That is the fun part to me. I was in a guild that started about the time PoP came out. We started raiding Luclin because we were not prepared for PoP raiding. We all worked on our keys together, spent endless amounts of time helping each other. We are talking 4 and 5 hours on a weekend eve just to get one person a key piece. Eventually we started rising up the ranks in the raiding scene and were probably about the 3rd best raiding guild on the same server as Afterlife. There was occasionally one or two in between us.

And the relationships built through hours and hours of gaming together is what is most valuable. The people that are with you helping you nab those ever so important and elusive pixels. I stayed with that guild for 8 years. A lot of people came and a lot of people went over those years. But the new people that came in made it their home just as others before them did.

You don't get that with today's MMO's. They are built and designed for fast results and minimal grouping. That's part of the reason people think I'm crazy because I like to grind. Most people thought AA's were the downfall of EQ. To me it made it that much better. It gave me a reason to group on nights we did not have raids and spend more time with guild mates. There was essentially no reason to group and kill stuff if you were max level before that. Unless you wanted more phat lewts I suppose.

I guess if I had to put a certain stamp on when I felt I had grown all up from my EQ days it was the day I finally looted a book on a stick from VT. It was way cooler than the silly books we run around with today.

[Orruar]

Certainly there were many points when we felt uber, and the bar was always just raised after each of those points. But I'd say the pinnacle is when we were the only guild to beat Harfange and Grenwald in Frostcrypt before they were nerfed to allow others a chance to complete the expansion.

[azeth]

Guild became Uber - We dropped emp ssra on a half assed attempt after failing cursed multiple times and most of our A-listers logging off.

I felt Uber - in one night early into SoL i looted Khalshazar (http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=13250) & Lunar Fungus Covered Tunic (http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=12907)

[Kender]

logging on after work to 20 tells asking me to come pull 3 dragons in NTOV. Guild had been there for 8 hours tryig and failing to perform the split. It took me 30 mins to run there. in the process i was telling my deputies exactly what i needed them to do. I arrived in NTOV, and 5 minutes later we had a successful split... best feeling in EQ ever

second best was pulling statue past vindi who was still up, because there was another guild waiting for us to engage vindi so they could steal statue. at the time noone thought it was possible

[pasi]

Dain Ring and ToVK were always great symbols of how many hoots the guild gave about a player.

[Aelzrith]

When epics came out on live, I was playing my mage (my one and only character) and read the information as it was unfolding. I loved the story of the mage epic and started collecting the pieces - camp after camp. I completed the first half with a little help and then began the second half - the Staves of Mastery, camping a peg cloak, etc. So, I pulled together Phinny raids and we took him down the old-fashioned way with groups. I finally got my water staff which was thrilling. My guild wasn't able to kill gods or dragons at that time, but a mage friend told me about a guy that had an earth staff for 40k. 40k was an insurmountable sum of plat for me, i had all of 10k maybe at that time. My mage friend lent me the plat and I slowly paid him back - it was my reason for going out and leveling and looting. I finally paid him back after a long time...

So, I had been working on the quest for about a year (or thats what it seemed like to me) and just needed the crown which was selling for 100k on a good day, usually much much more than that. My server was a young server and didnt have tons in guild banks, and 100k was unfathomable to me. My guild had grown in this time and I had leveled up. We were doing hate and fear and even killed trak once or twice, but never went to PoA.

Finally, the guild leader planned a weekend-long raid. I believe we got to the 4th isle on the first day, and just made it up to the Bzzazzt isle on the second day. A necro friend and I camped there for a few weeks until the guild was ready to endure the torture of PoA again. So, that's when I made my little monk twink...

Anyways, after a few weeks or so the guild was refreshed and the Necro and I worked our magic and summoned up the whole guild to the Bee isle (Thank Veeshan I didn't go LD when I zoned out of sky, or back in!)

It took a whole day, but we finally mustered up the skillz to clear the isle and progress to 7, the plinth of the holy grail. I nearly peed myself on every kill, waiting for the loot report. After a half dozen mobs or so, a crown dropped. After hitting the bank for the other powers of the elements, i was ported up, turned in coveted peg cloak, and saw the master.

After a year of questing, i was given a scroll which I quickly scribed. Five minutes later I summoned a skittle stick which summoned an epic human. (At that time, the epic pet model was bugged and appeared as the default race, human).

I was rezzed back up to isle 7 to show off the fruits of my labor and proceed to clear the isle.

It was truly an epic quest.




That night I dinged 60 using my epic pet at frenzy in velks lab.

Aelzrith Neverest, Master of the Elements.

Succeeding where Magi`Kot failed.

Thanks, Ancient Crusade.

[Detoxx]

//I just heard a skeleton's casting audio. I am not in game. I am at work.

Wow i thought I was the only one....

[Yardcore]

Never been part of the UBER guild but I wish was ehhe.

I remembered there are 2 guilds in Errollisi Marr that are like Super bad asses.

Midnight Sojourn and Da Kor

I remembered looking at their guild members with all the cool gears and phatlewts that I never heard or see or know where they get them from.

[Sweetbaby Jesus]

First time I felt like my guild was uber came with the slaying of Sontalak. We had been doing Klandi and Zlandi for quite a while among other targets and finally felt we were ready to take him on. It was a rough battle but in the end we had finally taken him down and it wasn't long after that we were farming him with the rest. Thats one litle point in time that still remains in my head heh.

[Raavak]

One of my first times of feeling "uber" back on Live was when I finished Innoruuk's Curse. My guild basically raided CT several times with me in mind to get SL. Mostly because I attended everyone and their brother's epic raids up until that point.

Then that night when I got my epic, our main raid leader got wind of when Trakanon had previously been killed, and determined it was on the Asian cycle (the two uber guilds had a rotation) so we went down to Seb. A bunch of people kept juggs camped while most of us camped at the beach. My alarm went off and I logged in at 3 AM and he had just popped. Some more clearing, a bad pull, and Trak was at the dip in the path. Well, we engaged and, bam, my new Innoruuk's Curse got the killing blow! Our first Trak kill. A handful of people on P99 were there and will remember that ;-)

Oh and that time a guild group was camping the VT key part in Fungus Grove. After being there all day I had to go to my ma's for Sunday dinner. Talenos gave me so much shit and called me a momma's boy. You reading this, big boy? I still often go to my ma's for Sunday dinner :P

[falkun]

Picked, which guild on MM? In the PoP days I would have been in Starlight and Shadows, usually competing against Coalescence, Altered Vision, and Spheara for targets in Luclin during early PoP.

[Lagaidh]

Thanks for the stories =) My threads usually circle the drain in less than 6 hours. I'm usually trying to get this kind of Gemütlichkeit going on.

[Arclanz]

Great read, op. Enjoyed it. Times I felt uber include
1. Hunting dervs in west commons, dodging hill giants.
2. First time our group killed a sand giant.
3. Kedge keep raids
4. Plane raids when the were 12 hour affairs and numerous guilds would cooperate.
5. Killing Vox and Nagafen on the same day.

I for the most part retired in early kunark (before anyone was in sebillis, skyfire, etc.)

[azeth]

In what expansion were you "dropping emp ssra on a half assed attempt"?

Early into SoL actually. and half-assed attempt @ Emp early into SoL meant we had an alternate main tank, and didnt have our best geared clerics and highest HP DPS on.

Meaning, we went in intending to get some experience for an attempt the following day - and dropped him. Emp is actually an incredible pussy if you have solid off tank/CC situation going on for the snakes.

I specifically can remember our alternate main tank too - Wyatt. Dwarf warrior, was 50+ in real life and a racist.

[Nubben]

Picked, which guild on MM? In the PoP days I would have been in Starlight and Shadows, usually competing against Coalescence, Altered Vision, and Spheara for targets in Luclin during early PoP.

I was curious to know this too. My first guess was Sphaera, but I somehow forgot about Coal.

[pasi]

The most accomplished I felt was looting a Time's Antithesis. One of the few items you'll ever find in an MMO that are just revolutionize a class

This got me thinking on items that basically changed the class or gave huge power spikes. Here's my list. Borderline = close to game changing.

Leaving Primal out:

War: Could maybe argue Bloodfrenzy. I wouldn't include though.
Monk: Medic's Pouch (borderline), Abashi's (borderline), HEBs (before eye-aggro nerf)
Rog:
Bard: Epic, Songblade, Sirensong/NM (borderline)
Rang: Sky Cloak (solo)
Pal: DA hammer (defacto rampage tank)
SK: CoS, BE legs (borderline early on), HEBs (before eye-aggro nerf)
Nec: CoS, HEBs
Wiz: Concussion Pants, Epic + Manarobe (borderline), Rend/Velk Robes
Enc: Memory and Snake Staff
Mag:
Cle: Donal's BP early on, Epic (enabling combat rezzes w/o decimating mana)
Dru:
Shm: FD Ring and TA

Prob forgetting some.

[azeth]

Rog:


Prob forgetting some.

Rog: has to be Epic as boring as it sounds.