A few things:
1st - We all remember the cross-Antonica run; for me it was Freeport to Qeynos - I don't remember what level, but couldn't have been more than level 5. What I have always very specifically remembered was running along the shore in West Karanas and realizing that my heart was literally pounding. Later on, I can remember telling someone, after some thought, that the only penalty the game can exert on a player is... time. And then realizing as the game 'progressed', that they were doing everything they could to remove that penalty, and thus removing all the excitement involved with all the things you could do that could end up costing you a lot of time if you screwed up.
2nd - Being a poor young newbie in East Commonlands - opening a vendor to sell whatever I had looted and having the vendor say, "Greetings Xenephex, you look like you could use a High Quality Bear Skin." I was rich!
3rd - In Crushbone, tanking a group outside the castle when someone called a train from the castle, but called it too late. Most of my group got out but one person got aggro and I ran over and pulled aggro off them so they could run for the zone. I was never a role-player, but I did have very specific beliefs about tanks, which was that they would stand and fight rather than run. Very shortly I had a pile of mobs on me, almost all of which were yellow or red to me. I knew I was going to die, but then realized that someone was healing me. Turned out there was a higher level druid in the zone; she sent me a tell and said - "stick with it - I'll heal you." So I did. I have no idea how long it went on. It seemed like ages. I was on the last mob when she told me, "oom", and I killed it with my own health at about 15 percent. It felt epic. It was only much later that it dawned on me that she could have killed or even tanked some or most of those mobs herself, but she chose to let me fight and just healed me, as if she sensed the drama of the moment. It was great.
4th - the first time I got in a really GOOD group; in High Pass early one Saturday morning. It went on for 3 hours or so; very little talking - just everyone doing their jobs efficiently. It was the first time I had an inkling of how wonderful the game could be with a group of strangers who all knew what they were doing.
Those are the things I remember.
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