Plane of Fear

[Icecometus]

Just want to say I think this thread is awesome [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Widan]

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

My question along these lines is why is it on this server that hell levels are 29/34/etc rather than 30/35/etc?

I thought hell levels were 34,39 etc on classic too? Maybe the code added it to the last level in the range (34 in 30-34, 39 in 35-39 etc) instead of the first level.

[Bubbles]

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

Why do you think they are delusional about it? You think all these posts are made just why exactly?

I have a question for you bubbles. Why did verant put in hell levels in the first place? Why is it that as you level, you become increasingly less powerful than a mob of equal level to yourself?

So, from the sound of your post you go back a long way. Plane of fear opening and all that.

But do you ever think about the big picture and why things worked the way they did?

The best way to explain it is this:

Our server population here on 1999 is umm... whats the best way to put this..

about 30% nostalgiac, selfless, congenial people basking in the thrillride of Norrath v2.0. The other 70% of the server is made up of your typical EMU dregs: griefers, sociopaths, and ppl who got lost on the way to EZ server or TZ/VZ. This is where the majority of the animosity that leaks onto these boards, into /ooc, and wherever the heck else comes from.

Either way, the majority of the population didn't sniff EQ until (and I say this erring on the side of caution) Kunark-era and beyond.

Example A: people actually logged in on day one and created rogues. In Classic there were no poisons (and I'm not talking 2-400DD poisons, I mean *any* poisons in game), sneak/hide/evade didn't work properly (especially the evade aspect), none of the roguely skills worked properly, if at all (sense traps, lockpicking, etc.. Hell, you could write stories on what pickpocketting did and didn't do after every freaking patch). Warriors couldn't taunt. Paladins flash of light wasn't an uber taunt. SK's were few and far between (but their aggro-generating spells always were the most realiable form of tanking back then)... Life as a rogue was *hell*. It's too bad the Safehouse doesn't archive back that far, you could get a pretty incredible sense of how unbearable playing melee was back in the days, especially a class as broken as rogue.

Now, for the majority, who started Kunark on.. Rogues had poisons.. Evade worked! sneak/hide gave them carte blanche to meander nearly anywhere untouched, there was incredible weapons available to max out their BS damage and dps that didnt require killing dragons and gods. The ragebringer was about the most breathtaking DPS epic you could ever hope for. People with positive rogue experiences came late to the game, and started in full rubi + ebon razors, crys spears, etc..

That's just one small example in the grand scheme of things. This is how you need to look at things. Melee wasn't "a bit behind pet casters". Melee was worlds behind pet casters. Melee sucked. But everyone grouped up with warriors and rangers and monks and druids and clerics and whatever and grouped in the classic atomic-family sense anyways. Keeping mobs of healers was hell, but we got good enough at it to grind our way forward.

The game was a *struggle*. That's the "big picture". Most of EQ from Verant's viewpoint was reactionary, not following up on intended progression. The hell levels were a coding mistake. They flung content out there like Fear and Hate and Sky and VP, waited for us to beta it, watched us, adjusted it, and wrapped it up in a pretty bow for the rest of the populace. All EQ ever really was, was a ripoff of Brad McQuaids favorite online MUD, given 3d graphics and adapted on a grand scale.. Through the blood sweat and tears of an incredible team at Verant, the game evolved into something above and beyond what anyone thought possible in a online RPG. It's quite a game. There's a reason there are hundreds upon hundreds of us sitting here playing it on this server 10 years after the fact, drawn here by mere word-of-mouth.

/shrug. I guess the better analogy would be like giving someone an Apple IIc computer and then listening to them complain about how it's not running Super Mario Brothers correctly. That's a good idea of just how far off on the timeline a lot of these hilarious thread-starters are in regards to Classic-Launch April 1999 Everquest. In regards to melees, raid encounters, quests, etc. But i can't wag a finger at them too harshly, so much content on the server alread is "holy cow this barely made it in pre-kunark" stuff.. And even so, a "best of both worlds" approach to content allocation is just fine with me.

Besides, it's a ton easier to poke and prod and discover which 1% of the content is wrong than it is to painstakingly get 99% of the content right. There has been an incredible amount of time and effort put into this server just for quests and faction alone. hats off to the bosses.

[Deanob]

Good read Bubbles, TY

[Ocaevia]

Great read indeed.