Observations After Less Than 3 Weeks Back in EQ

[Nervaaz]

I literally stumbled upon a p99 video on YouTube, and here I am. Took me a while to get the game up and running, but a tutorial video on YT helped there as well. So after less than 3 weeks back, how am I enjoying the game? Some observations.

-- The feelings of nostalgia and being thrown back 20 into a LIFE that I led for 4 years is simply amazing. The first thing I did with my first character was run him from Surefall Glade to Qeynos Main Gate, just to hear that Qeynos theme as I approached. This time I didn't make the mistake I made that first day of EQ, and run up to the guard and hail him, and get insta-killed the moment my finger descended on the "A" key. I was literally choked up for the first 2 or 3 hours back in the game.

-- I astonished myself with what I still remembered, or at least knew from muscle memory. That first run from Qeynos gate, though to the zone into SQ and then on to the bank, went flawlessly with no wrong turns. How spooky is that! I've played dozens of MMOs and hundreds of computer games since I left the original EQ, but nothing ever touched it for sheer immersive gameplay.

-- The player base on P99 is much, much, much more friendly than in the original EQ. I have had so much help and assistance these past few weeks that I am simply astonished. Sure, I've come across a couple of dicks, but for the most part, everyone is friendly and super helpful. I think a big cause of this is that everyone is an experienced EQ player, and nobody is a really true newbie, and so you have far fewer of the really ignorant players that don't have a clue what they are doing, train zones every 5 minutes, blatantly kill steal, spam the zones with /shout complaints, etc ... in other words, a player base like we used to have back in the first years of EQ after launch.

-- Final observation. I really wish that I had heard about p99 earlier. I do understand from what I have read that this it is a small project largely run by volunteers, but I do wish that there was a better way to get the word out, as I am sure that there are far more old time EQ players who would love to come back and give this game a second go around. As I said earlier, the only reason I am here is because a p99 video popped up on YouTube completely by accident, likely related to some other video I had watched, or search I had done. Had I not stumbled across that video, I'd still be completely unaware that this great server was even in existence. I am glad I am now back playing again, however. These past 3 weeks have been a blast, and i'm looking forward to many months/years to come.