EQ Memories

[Defo]

Originally Posted by BrineWarden [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Hello everybody!

I've been playing on P99 for about 10-12 years now (ignore the lifetime of this account; I created a new one and decided to start fresh). If there's anything I've learned about playing on a server filled primarily with classic EverQuest veterans, it's that we all have stories from our veteran days, as well as stories from this server days, that stuck with us. Heroic moments, moments of victory, of defeat, of memorable players met along the way, guild drama, friendships, rivalries, times spent with loved ones, some of whom may no longer be with us in life.

There are many stories like these, that I think many of us remember, but fail to share. I want to hear those stories. For me, I know many of my core EQ memories have started slipping away. Online, we've preserved some, buried in forum threads that are never to be read again. We've preserved maps, guides, zone information, spawn points, loot drops, raid boss tactics, racial stats, class descriptions, spell lists, but not stories. The heart of EQ lies in the stories; not the game data.

To that end, I'd like to work on creating an EQ Chronicle, of stories preserved from the memory of players. It doesn't matter if you've been playing since classic EQ beta, or you've been in P99 for a week. If you're interested in submitting your best memories of the game, you can reply here, message my inbox, or send a message to my character in-game if you see me online (Benevicta). I want to collect stories as many as possible to preserve. Granted, I won't be able to put every single story in, depending on volume and quality, but I'd like to create something that can be published and shared, so it can be recalled again someday down the road.

You can submit stories of yourself, stories you remember of others, or stories passed down to you. This is essentially an oral tradition preserved. Narrative is preferable to game mechanics and numbers, and there may be some revision to preserve the narrative arc, moving away as much as possible from numbers and stats. However, the core essence of your story will be preserved with as much relevant detail as possible. If you're interested, here's the information I need:

1) Name of Main Character, Race, Class, and Level as far as you can remember
2) Estimated year and expansion era
3) The story, to the greatest detail you remember
4) Server the event happened on (if known)
5) What made this event memorable to you? Why is it important?
6) Your character name you'd like credited in the notes, and main server
7) Any extra context notes you feel worth sharing.

I understand many of these stories will have taken place beyond perfect recall. Try to remember what you can, and I'll try to fill in narrative gaps to the best of my ability, if necessary. I'll only accept stories from the live servers, or servers such as P99 which attempt to remain closely faithful to the original game, not servers which have fundamentally altered EQ far away from the original.

Remember, this is a hobby project. It won't be an instant publishing, and I'm only one guy working on it in the midst of normal life. But still, I think it would be good to preserve what really made EQ so meaningful to us. I'll be using AI for formatting and allocation, but not for narrative revision.

My most memorable experience has to be back on the E`ci server about 26 years ago...

This was Mhantanza, my level 21 Dwarf Warrior. My buddy started playing EQ in the classic era in late 1999. He showed it to me, but I was unimpressed. I was still playing Diablo and saw no reason to switch games. But then the following year he showed up at my house with the box for Ruins of Kunark. He said something along the lines of "dude you gotta play now... you can play as a lizard person."

The box art for Kunark and seeing his excitement about this expansion sold me. I bought EverQuest instead of Diablo 2 that summer.

While the idea of playing Iksars was fantastical to me: the reality sunk in quickly. I was told by others how Iksars were on Kunark all by themselves, with no safe travel options to the main continents. Iksar players were in for a more isolated experience. I didn't really want an isolated experience, so I switched to Dwarf Warrior, named Mhantanza.

Mhantanza (who would later become Mhantanza Manzamatazan at level 20) was my first "main" character in EQ. I spent hours upon hours in the newbie zones of Butcherblock and Greater Faydark. I even completed the Small Scarab Armor quests for a sweet pair of Green Boots, a Green Helm and a Green Breastplate with a whopping +10 HP. Then one day, someone came along and gifted me a Short Sword of the Ykesha.

If I wasn't hooked already: I was fully hooked now. My friend and I continued to stomp through Crushbone and I continued to gain levels. I felt unstoppable. But the experience was drying up in Crushbone. After choosing a surname, I let my friend convince me to take a boat trip to Kunark and hunt in the Lake of Ill Omen.

We hopped on the boat in Butcherblock and set off to board the Maiden's Voyage to Firiona Vie.

Except there was one issue...

I was playing on a 56k baud modem at the time. (We didn't upgrade to Cable until 2001.)

When the boat zoned into Timorous Deep, I lost connection. I couldn't get back in the game for a few hours. When I finally returned: I was back at the PoD lift in Greater Faydark, sans my gear.

I ran back to Butcherblock and jumped back on the ferry. When we zoned into Timorous Deep in the middle of the ocean, I knew I was screwed. I jumped on the Maiden's Voyage, but couldn't find my corpse. The rest of the night, I stayed in Timorous Deep asking if anyone had seen my corpse. No luck. I didn't know I could petition to recover a lost corpse... so I just logged off and stayed out for a few weeks while I went out and bought Diablo 2.

After multiple hours in Diablo 2, I got tired of the repetitive loop. I was hooked on EverQuest. I sold my copy of Diablo 2 to a friend, and booted back up EverQuest. I logged into Mhantanza Manzamatazan, level 21 Dwarf Warrior... and I started over, finding new gear and weapons.

I'd never experienced loss of progress like that before in a video game. It felt like I lost real-life personal belongings. But, it taught me a lesson about EQ... Never log off before finding your corpse.

Marshall Mhantanza Manzamatazan retired in April of 2004, having tanked Temple of Veeshan, Ssra Temple, and Plane of Time. I never lost a corpse in this game again.