Luclin was classic, PoP was not.

[Vormotus]

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

I think we also have to remember that most players in classic were age 10-25, where most players on p99 are 25-40. Maybe we don't find the same things fun, even within the same game, that we play for nostalgia. We can recreate a game from 1999, but we can't go back to 1999 folks.

I am a bit older and what you say is true. Nothing will bring back the same feeling, but hey! We try haha [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

EQ has been like this force of mental calm for me.

I have been going on and off to Live every few years, but I always get bored due to the way Live is now.

I tried one TLP and it was fun, but progression is what kills it for me, and a lot of others, as you see pop decline the more xpacs that are unlocked.

If they leave the server as it is for 10 more years I will be happy [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[xCry0x]

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

I am a bit older and what you say is true. Nothing will bring back the same feeling, but hey! We try haha [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

It was pretty spot on for me -- except that I played live on Tunare and we were one of the weird Gfey instead of EC servers. So that was different here =)

The major difference is that I was 12 when I played EQ originally. Playing it as an adult was fun because I could play with a bit more intelligence.

[Vormotus]

Originally Posted by xCry0x [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

It was pretty spot on for me -- except that I played live on Tunare and we were one of the weird Gfey instead of EC servers. So that was different here =)

The major difference is that I was 12 when I played EQ originally. Playing it as an adult was fun because I could play with a bit more intelligence.

Tell me about it! [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I played when I was young, and even today , despite being in a WILDLY different setting and real life environment (Much Older, Exiled and living in a foreign country) EQ still gives me this amazing sense of calm I enjoy so much.

I would not be lying when I tell you that I some days log to be semi afk with the constant background environment noise of the game.

Currently semi afk in the Karanas listening to the rain and night sounds as I write this and do other things around the house.

I too can play differently now, chat here and there, meet new people, met a nice friendly druid last night from the US, talked about this and that, then moved to Qeynos to buff newbies at the gate with sow, just relax.

EQ is many things to many people, and the end spectrum being top heavy and hardcore raid focused is the least of my worries, heck If I make it to 60 with my self made studded leather armor pieces and the occasional nice treasure on a slot here or there I would be happy still.

And with your previous posts, yeah instancing .... Dont know man, instancing I am divided on that topic.

But your post was good, love reading other peoples experiences hehe.

Many many hugs to you man, from the Isthmus with Love [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[kaluppo]

Originally Posted by Robbyrob0627 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

You can select to have them turned off.

I did just that when Luclin first launched. I liked what I was used to so I turned off the new models so all the character models would still look the same to me.

[Sonderbeast]

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

its really to bad that theres no fantaastc servers with the most superior and livelike code of any emu serv and cute girl devs and cute girls playing well-supported warriors named Tsiuri with a sane boxing policy that makes the game casual friendly and a warm blanket global chat channel containing largely warmhearted noncutthroat sweetheart individuals which value your company & support you ingame rather than desiring to drive you off their overpopulous box which are about to enter luclin for a year or 3, thereby becoming the first playable EQ since mac. I really miss luclin.

Squeaky clean

[kaev]

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

Nexus ports are a 15min cooldown to 5 locations.

North Karana, Toxxulia, Greater Faydark, Dreadlands, and Great Divide.

So if you want to travel from North Karana to Dreadlands you have to wait 0-15 minutes to port to the nexus, let's assume a 7.5 min average. Then once in the Nexus you must wait another 15 min for the ports to recycle and send people down.

Total trip time from North Karana to Dreadlands, 22.5 minute average. Most people on this server get frustrated if they can't find a port within 5 minutes.

Nexus travel is really a non-issue. It's just another form of boats. Long wait time to minimal destinations.

Daldaen is exactly correct here. Nexus was cool because it was like boats and the TD firepot room (minus the retarded "you can bind in the firepot room because casters aren't yet overpowered enough, but only for the first couple days of the expansion" bit.) Boiats + firepots (+ nexus) mean you can get around on your own, but if you've got a wizard or druid friend you can get around 10x faster.

(The best part of PoP launch was all the crying about not getting the 10-15pp porters expected back then. PoK and the books was incredibly stupid, but that had nothing to with anybody's sense of entitlement over port fees and everything to do with reducing the value of port classes in groups.)

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

This is also why the OT hammers need the MQ nerfed. It's the primary reason you don't see wiz and druids in dungeons cuz melee can easily hammer out.

Except for agreeing with another poster whining about the nexus, this is 100% correct. I would gladly wave goodbye to all 6 of my OT hammers if they were removed from p99 entirely.

[Vormotus]

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

I don't even get the PoK books hate. You can travel to home cities but still need rides to places like Cobalt Scar, EJ, Dreadlands, Karanas, Surefall, etc.

I know and I understand your point, but I think it boils down to some of the aspects of the mechanics that go beyond sheer mechanics and utility see?

Hope I can make myself clear [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

It is not hate, because that is too strong an emotion, for me anyway. What I mean is something a bit deeper.

See, not everybody is equal, much less when gaming, and even more so within a game as complex and so loaded with emotional baggage (for some, myself included) as Everquest.

I do not hate, nor hated the expansions per se, (again , hate is too strong a word for me) but I saw sharply the way social mechanics suddenly went off the drain when the game began to grow and grow and grow and the social norm of the day went bust.

I am no expert, and I could be totally off the hook here, but what I remember vividly from those days was how expectations (and I include here your very solid viewpoint on mechanics and self-reliance and not pigeonholing classes into these crude niches you describe, which is a good point) suddenly changed in the social sphere of the game.

Back then I was in Povar, I raided little, never been my main interest here, but mostly exploring and enjoying the virtual landscape and the fun social interactions, this to tell you that my focus on gaming was to walk around, be a bit social and then stroll randomly as I chatted here or there with this or that person, persons I knew were real (in so far as a virtual representation of them could be "real") and to this day, and here I candidly confess it, have never had friends like those I got in EQ, a feat beyond my means in any other mmo I have been through the ages.

I spent about two years in the Test Server when I grew disillusioned with the way EQ was going and remained there due to the small community, despite Test having even more mechanic changes and earlier access to xpacs, community was super tight, I even ended up on the Botsquad with Sinbot and his dreaded drama ladden Raid Alliance haha, but I loved the small sense of community.

This guy was bad, this one was fun, this is a scammer, this other is weird, etc, etc.

Now I am digressing, back to my point,

Having explained this, again, I saw how on Live the shift from Velious to Luclin changed, specially due to the Bazaar and the Nexus Spires began to shrink distances, both physical and mental by giving utility, but for me at least, began to widen the gap between players.

It is a purely social construct for me, that goes beyond mechanics and roles, and here I hope I explain myself, english is not my first language haha.

So yes, that is what happened in my experience, and have seen it over the years in many other mmos, last one being Eve Online and how the game changed mimicking closely my prior experience in EQ.

It seems, that when everything is constrained, community is small and you get to know people, there is a thriving social aspect that I totally love, not because I am super social, honestly I am a bit of a loner, nothing special there, but I thoroughly enjoy seeing "real" people around, killing this or that, leveling, joking, being human in virtuality, enjoying, despite wildly different backgrounds, sticking pixels, killing them and feeling great or good or focused about it. Kinda weird but you know what I mean [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

To be honest again with everyone, mmos have been the only constant things in my ultra chaotic life, so there is that.

Certain expansions just injected so much chaos , new social norms and hierarchy structures that ended up shattering what little stability I enjoyed in these games at first.

Though growth is inevitable, fixed settings, like I am now discovering P99 is, are just marvels to me[You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Again, sorry for the long post, if you read all of this I thank you, if you skipped here to the end, thanks too haha.

Love to you man and love to the game! [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

hugs!