The former posts sum up much of the incentive for returning to EQ, a game now 15 years old.
I want to elaborate on the sense of accomplishment, especially with regards to loot. Those special pieces of loot were hard-earned, could take weeks to acquire and you really felt a great thrilling rush when you finally put your clammy (from all the intensity sweat) on that Flowing Black Silk Sash. Looting it put you in a state of near-panic - you were struck by paranoia about going LD, a power out at your house or some ugly, hither-to hidden bug in the game would jump out and prevent you from claiming your prize!
Simply put, loot mattered - it does in all games, but where newer games the emphasis is merely on having it, in EQ it's on getting it, because few things came easy or fast.
I began in 1999 like so many others, and my experience lasted until mid-Planes of Power. I returned last April to the public servers with their 19 expansions expecting an old school game far more rewarding than these new kiddy mumorpugers, and was dismayed by changes that really let me down:
- No corpse runs required
- Tiered world drop armour sets and weapons, all but removing the incentive for dangerous and exciting dungeon crawls
- Rather easy travelling with no need to have contact with other players
In short, Sony seems to have done all they could to make EQ be what the newer games are; catering to the instant gratification generation.
I cannot tell you how much I appreciate P1999 and their gift of classical EverQuest. They even state that Velious will be the last expansion included, and that is perfection for me - EQ began going down hill for me with Luclin.
A testament to EQ's impact on accomplishments mattering is that you can remember the names of almost all cool loot and where you got it. I played WoW for a good while, raided high-end - ask me about a piece of loot, I'll almost guarantee you I can't name it.
EQ makes me care about my character, other people and loot on a level no other game has done for me.
P.S.: I began on p1999 a couple of weeks ago, made a lvl 3 run from Freeport to Upper Guk - my heart was pumping harder than any game had done for me in years.
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