Started Kunark, just before Velious launch. I can remember hearing about people being in places I couldn't go, and that puzzled me. Nevermind, they told me that was for people higher than level 30 anyway, and I didn't think I'd ever even make it there. Below is a copy/paste and the best job I've done of recollecting my EQ history.
A Beginning: Vallon Zek
On live I started up on Vallon but never made it much past 10, played a few random named chars and enjoyed the intensity of sitting at the freeport gates at lvl 6 while lvl 5-10 dark elves and ogres would hide/invis and jump you when you tried to leave, prompting freeport to respond leading to epic battles. Really, its the first time in a game where I seriously felt like I was *in* the game, fighting to stay alive. I recall sitting around Boomba the big and on the parapets above the gates with my fellow wizards, mages, warriors, and other hopefuls setting forth strategies to rid the town of the nuisance. But that didn't last long! For I began to grow curious of what other PvP realms existed..
A Transition: Rallos Zek
Thus began my time on Rallos Zek. A young monk named Prok. Naive, some might even say stupid. Looking back now, I would most certainly say stupid. Nonetheless I began my journey, playing EQ every other weekend nonstop. With such a schedule I didn't have the capacity to maintain friends, though I tried. Autumndazed Winterhazed, one of my first friends I met in LOIO advanced beyond me quickly, each weekend I'd log in to see him head and shoulders above where he was in our prior encounters. We didn't stay in touch.
Youth: The Scam
I worked my way up, level by level, weekend by weekend. Sharing the computer with my brother who spend the entirety of his time on Tallon Zek. I began to explore Dalnir in pursuit of the elusive Crescent Armor and the fabled Fighting Baton and had reached a semi-respectable level of 32 when I received an interesting tell. A player promising wealth. Yeah, I know. I won't go into the details but by the end of the day I had to go to my brother and tell him we lost it all. Probably 8 months of progress as we played 6 days a month. We were both distraught, you know what EQ does to young kids who are addicted.. I became obsessed. Explored, scoured, read, researched. Spent all my time on the school's library computers searching for a way to re-access my account, this was long before "forgot my password" was a common link on webpages. I fought through the barricade of blocked websites and found.. nothing. Then I recall it, as clear as if it happened yesterday. What combination of search terms? What phrase I entered? I cannot know. But the page, that page, I had found it!! I attained the information the page required, entered it, waited.. loading.. loading.. bam! Your password has been reset! I go to login and.. I'm on my monk again! Three levels higher! And with.. new armor! Ecstatic doesn't even scrape the surface of what I felt as I encountered the newly recovered self. Curious, I hadn't a surname. Being named Prok I just got called "pork" a lot, and yet now I had a surname? "Prok Epikak", what is epikak? I didn't know, never bothered to look it up until years later. Doesn't matter, I had my character back! I am the mighty Prok Epikak, monk of terrible!
Coming of Age
There isn't much of note after this, I spent my time leveling and eventually attained level 54. I was bad, really bad. I went on a few raids, I saw fantastic creatures in Kael and various other outdoor zones. I never really got to explore any other dungeons, and Kael was just that one time. An overweight monk, not fully understanding of the class's mechanics and not really caring. I just enjoyed the ride. I do recall a time when I went raiding, with what guild I cannot know. Ascending Dawn? Wudan? MIM? The Curse? (lol unlikely), I believe it was Wudan, anyway as a guest to this raid I think the raid leader must've inspected me and thought making me pull would be hilarious. I go up, fully raid buffed and attempt to body pull from the Arena main area, I remember agroing him, turning around to leave, and HOLY SHIT I'M UNCONSCIOUS, FD FD FD FD FD, omg I lived. Mend. Okay 25% hp. I report to the raid that these guys hit really hard. By this time I'm certain the raid leader is laughing at loud to himself and they're really enjoying this on Vent/TS or the like. I get back up after I've regenned to 75% or so, the mobs having pathed back by then and run toward the raid, mobs in tow, I knew I had no chance of splitting these having no throwing weapons and not knowing about sneak pulling but I got the mobs close enough to the raid that another player managed to split them. This event alone actually encouraged me to make my monk here, Useful Idiot, so that one day I can pull this mob the proper way, as an intelligent player. The name of my monk is a sort of homage to a player to the Velious glory days, to (by reputation) a douchebag, jerk, and eventually exiled monk named Stynkfyst. Nonetheless I always liked his name. It was generally comedic, and a tribute to Tool. My EQ login at the time was also a tribute to Tool, so here I am, Useful Idiot. Somewhat of a homage to Stynkfyst, Tool, and if all else fails an amusing name and representation of my personality
At this point, Sullon Zek had been launched a few months prior as a perma-death server. Once the perma-death feature was removed and it was level unlimited PvP. I decided to check it out.
Home: Sullon Zek
I started out as a dark elf mage, eventually to become 'Master Simulated Existence', which would become my first max-level character, 65! Rallos was a dangerous server, but neutered. In an age of no drop armor gearing, item loot was null, so this new experience of no level limit range pvp, and exp loss if the player was +(4 or 8) above you, or *anyone* below you made the fight for survival intense. A group of 20s taking down a 30 was a common sight. I spent my time hiding and siccing my pet on players, a mage isn't an ideal choice for PvP but I stuck with my decisions.
I did take part a bit in the Sullon Zek raiding scene with a guild lead by a troll shadowknight named Zafer, <Anguish>. Some of our members would leave to join <Hate> now and then but I never had any prospects for that, just wanted to come along on as many raids as I had time for and be part of a group of people who liked to have fun. Being a mage my primary role was to simply hide, sic my pet, or COTH. Easy enough for me as I wasn't the greatest player at the time anyway! Eventually after 50 some AAs and a bit of raiding I decided it would be a good idea to earn some cash. On Sullon Zek I got tranix's spawn time down to a science and farmed him exclusively for months. This was in the era of Luclin so good players had better things to do, things I knew little of.
The Twink
I earned a few million over time and eventually put together my ultimate machine, a dark elf shadow knight, 'Innovative Technology'. Don't scoff too hard at dark elf, during this era starting stats were no longer a concern and I simply wanted to defeat my opponents with the smallest stature character possible for extra humiliation. After all, up until this point I'd spend 3 years dying to everyone I'd met on almost every occasion. I was bad. No longer! This character was amazing, indestructable, so many clickie toys, such a weapon. I'd often defeat players red to me outside of my range! I learned to joust! I learned what PvP was all about! This was truly my finest time in Everquest. I fought epic battles, Tantor's Tusked sitting players in an explosion of damage, and in general combated the goods and newts the best I knew how. But as always, EQs expansions pounded on, LDoN, GoD.. it was happening too quickly, too many changes. PvP was so easy to avoid in this world. So, it faded away.
An Exit
This was a few years before WoW came out (I think), and anyway. I gave my account away, moved on, and eventually joined up WoW on launch on the Shadowmoon server.
EQEmu Projects
Not long after, the EQEmu projects emerged. S2K, VZTZ, god, so many other long dead servers popped up, and eventually.. P99. I'm sick of writing at the moment but I'll edit in my story here later.