[falkun]

A Noob and an Ocean:
I started playing the game in 2000, after Kunark release but prior to Velious. I eventually decided on a wood elf warrior, and was making my way through the teens in Crushbone. As Throne Room groups died down, I had heard from other players that the place to go was Antonica, to High Pass Hold in the mountains.

My first big obstacle in this adventure would be the Ocean of Tears. After asking a kind druid for a SoW, I made my way through the Faydark, then the Butcherblock Mountains (following the path mind you, I did not know how to navigate the valleys of Butcherblock). Upon finally arriving at the docks, having passed the mighty entrance to Kaladim, I waited for the Boat.

And I waited, and then when I was tired of waiting I waited some more. Finally, after an arduous run, the Boat arrived and I booked passage to Freeport. Upon arriving in the Ocean of Tears, I set to exploring the ship and the view from her bow. Well, my warrior slipped and fell into the Ocean.

"How do I get on the boat if I've fallen off?" A kind gnome quickly responded, "Swim to the back and get on the rudder." Phew, I could still make it! Except, I had no swimming skill. So my nearly overburdened wood elf warrior futilely attempted to swim to the rear of the Boat, when it took off towards the horizon, leaving me stranded in the middle of the Ocean, with no idea of which direction to head and the obvious conclusion that whichever direction it was, it was going to take me a long time to get there without knowing how to swim.

"I missed the Boat, where do I go now?" The same gnome told me to head East towards Sister Island. Ok!...but..."Which way is East?" Then the kind gnome explained how I could practice my Sense Heading. This whole time, I'm swimming, slowly, in some random direction.

I finally, after many futile attempts, determine I'm heading Southeast. A quick adjustment to my course and I'm heading East. Great! But now my little yellow bar is depleting! I'm running out of stamina to swim! I cannot continue to swim without stamina! What will I do? So I begin taking breaks swimming. I swim while I have stamina, then stop (and slowly drown) while the bar replenishes a bit. I quickly determine I'm not going to make it. The bar is refilling much slower than I'm depleting it by swimming! You cannot swim without stamina, and I do not have any! So, in my naivety, I let myself drown. I watch agonizing on the other side of the screen as my warrior sinks to the bottom of the Ocean.

Upon respawning, back in Greater Faydark, I humbly ask for a SoW for a CR. I repeat the same arduous journey I had just made, still not knowing how to cut through the Butcherblock Mountains or the quick route through the Faydark, finally arriving back in the Ocean of Tears on the Boat. This time, I've learned my lesson, my warrior never moves on the Boat, waiting at the spawn spot in the middle of the Boat. Finally, at a dock, I disembark, knowing I'm in the zone of my body and that the Boat will have to stop by here again eventually.

"I died in the water, can anyone help me find my body?" The gnome informs me to ask a GM for his services via /petition. So I dutifully explain in a petition that I died because I ran out of stamina trying to swim in the Ocean of Tears because I fell off the boat.

A short while later (probably an agonizing hour or more at the time it happened), a GM shows up to take pity on this novice to Norrath. He summons my body and provides a GM rez and then explains that stamina is not important for swimming. I then wait for the boat, again a long time, before finally catching it and ultimately ending up in Freeport for the first time.

After about 5 hours, I have made it 4 zones and not earned an ounce of EXP (thankfully I didn't lose exp nor my body though!). But I did learn many valuable EQ noobie lessons in 1 night:
1) Max Sense Heading ASAP (and how to bind it).
2) Max swimming ASAP.
3) Stay on the Boat.
4) How to petition.
5) Stamina doesn't matter for swimming, only jumping and combat.

Lessons learned the next time I logged on and continued my trek to High Pass:
1) Rebind...
2) Gryphons.
3) Kithicor.