PDA

View Full Version : Guide Memorials in Sunset Home


Ephi
07-17-2013, 08:53 PM
Not sure if this has ever been shared on the P99 forums. Some might be interested if they've never seen it before.

As I mentioned in last nights interview, there were the notable NPCs in Sunset Home (the CSR staff home on live and p99). They are still present in CSHome on p99 today.

On live, there were a few NPCs which had stories. As an apprentice guide, you were encouraged to take time and talk to each of them, and ask them to "tell you their story." These are their stories.

[Wed Jul 17 17:37:23 2013] Asherah the Torch Bearer says, 'Greetings! Welcome to Sunset Home. Enjoy your stay, and the solace that our home provides. I am Asherah the Torch Bearer, guardian of this realm. If you ever need me or want to chat, I can be found patrolling the grounds. I stand watch over all who come to this place, and my [special friends] who live within this house.'
[Wed Jul 17 17:37:29 2013] You say, 'what special friends'
[Wed Jul 17 17:37:29 2013] Asherah the Torch Bearer says, 'There are a few people here in Sunset Home that must be respected at all times, failure to do so is perhaps the worst crime a servant of Norrath can commit. My special friends and I used to be Guides just like you, but due to an unfortunate turn of events we are no longer among you, we stand here as memorials to the people we were. Would you like to [know more]?'
[Wed Jul 17 17:37:44 2013] You say, 'know more'
[Wed Jul 17 17:37:44 2013] Asherah the Torch Bearer says, 'There are five Memorial NPCs in Sunset Home: Asherah the Torch Bearer, Llara the Mysterious, Patchious, Starzin the Sweet One, and Rachnor. Each of us were Guides just like you. We all have stories to tell if you ask us, perhaps we can turn this into a [Quest].'
[Wed Jul 17 17:37:59 2013] You say, 'quest'
[Wed Jul 17 17:38:00 2013] Asherah the Torch Bearer says, 'Seek out the five Memorial NPCs here in Sunset Home. If you ask, they will [tell you their stories]. Then, return to me once you have [honored their memories].'

Patchious

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/83872/p99/Screen%20Shot%202013-07-17%20at%205.42.24%20PM.png

Patchious was an honorable Guide on Druzzil Ro. He was always ready with a joke or a funny trick at just the right time, to raise your spirits. Any time you arrived on the server to work your shift and found Patchious online, you could be assured that no matter how bad the queue was, you would finish your shift feeling good about yourself. Patchious was also a bit of a 'ladies man'. Always most chivalrous, he never would be considered lecherous or be caught being rude to anyone.

He had been on a Leave of Absence to take care of family issues when a drunk driver took him from his family and the Guide Program. His brother sent the Guides of Ro the word, letting us know how much Patchious had loved Guiding. On the day that a Memorial Service was held in Patchious memory on Druzzil Ro, many of the players came to express their sorrow along with many of our fellow Guides and GMs from other servers. We later learned that during the service the players of Druzzil Ro, throughout the server, refrained from using the /OOC and /SHOUT channels. Even noisy Greater Faydark was silent.

Rachnor

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/83872/p99/Screen%20Shot%202013-07-17%20at%205.42.16%20PM.png

Rachnor began his service March 29, 2000 as an apprentice on the Quellious server; He left the program in December of that year only to return in March, 2003 as a servant of the Princess Firiona Vie. Rachnor was a special guide always ready to help, who took on the duties of Events Coordinator with zeal. He put a great deal of effort into conducting fun events for players and guides alike. In real life Rachnor was a proud father who shared his enjoyment of EverQuest with his son, their bond was such that his son also joined the guide program as Rachier. One night as Rachnor was going home, his car was hit by a drunk driver. Rachnor was taken to the hospital unconscious in critical condition, he passed away Sunday May 11th, 2003. Rachnor's passing was a great loss, and he touched everyone who knew him. Please take a moment of silence to remember Rachnor, his family, and his contributions.

Starzin the Sweet One

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/83872/p99/Screen%20Shot%202013-07-17%20at%205.42.55%20PM.png

Starzin was Pepper in real life, and as the name implies, she had quite a spicy personality and was a joy to know and interact with. She always had something crazy to say and you couldn't help but smile when you were around her, many times she had a number of us in hysterics with her wise cracks. She had Rex kitties that were her 'kids', as she so affectionately referred to them - they got the Thanksgiving turkey before she did - she spoke of them often and really enjoyed her pets. Her husband, Julio Enrique, was the love of her life and she spoke of him often as well. In real life, she had a medical condition that prevented her blood from clotting normally; although she rarely mentioned it. Around the 9th of January, her husband emailed and informed us of her passing from injuries she suffered from a car accident on her way to the doctor, ironically. Her blood condition prevented surgery that might have otherwise saved her. She has been missed a great deal and will always be in our thoughts.

Llara the Mysterious

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/83872/p99/Screen%20Shot%202013-07-17%20at%205.42.42%20PM.png

Llara was a Guide on Erollisi Marr server. She was there for 6 months and was also the training Co-Ordinator. David, her controller, was a private person but we did learn that he was married with a family and had a dry sense of humour that tickled us all. Llara was one of those Guides, who hardly ever missed a shift and if she did, she never missed posting it. She never complained, not about a petitioner, a peer or the weather. On one Sunday while waiting for new candidates for buffing Llara hadn't been in touch with us like she always was. The Guide Board was checked and it was noticed that she hadn't guided since Wednesday and for someone who was -always- around it seemed very strange. GM Valtron was called to ask when he might be in to buff the new apprentices and if he had heard anything from Llara. While talking to him, an email from Heather, David's daughter arrived. She explained that David had a heart attack on the Tuesday night and had sadly not survived.

Asherah the Torch Bearer

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/83872/p99/Screen%20Shot%202013-07-17%20at%205.42.32%20PM.png

Asherah had the unfortunate distinction of being the first memorial NPC, While she was Asherah in EverQuest, in real life she was known as Grace, though her friends just called her 'Gams'. She had earned her PhD from the University of Florida and worked as a research chemist. She hoped that this would assist her in finding a cure to a genetic metabolic disorder she had been born with. Unfortunately, it was not to be and on September 24th, 1999, at the age of 25, she lost her life to it.

Asherah was promoted to Guide in June of 1999 and was assigned to Rallos Zek. When Vallon Zek opened, she transferred to it, so as to help get it off to a great start. She spent almost 35 hours a week between Guiding and playing, and always loved to spend time with the people that make EverQuest run behind the scenes, the Guides She showed us that there is alot more to life, and why spend time self-absorbed when you can make other people happy, and in turn become truly happy yourself, even when all odds are against you. Asherah embodied what we all should strive for in ourselves... Dedication, Appreciation of Life and the satisfaction you can find in helping others.

Nirgon
07-17-2013, 09:05 PM
You should have NPCs added to your cshome here

With actual names or nick names they picked up

A certain one comes to mind

Just a thought

Bundie
07-17-2013, 09:06 PM
Thanks for sharing

SwordNboard
07-17-2013, 09:11 PM
Very cool, thank you!

driz
07-17-2013, 09:14 PM
wow very touching. Thanks for doing what you do to bring such an awesome game and experience to the community. Makes me appreciate it even more!

If only RL ports existed... could avoid tragic deaths... RIP

Rogean
07-17-2013, 09:32 PM
Several car accidents in there =x

Aaron
07-17-2013, 09:38 PM
Good stuff. Thanks for posting, Ephi.

zanderklocke
07-17-2013, 09:40 PM
What happens when you return to Asherah?

Nuggie
07-17-2013, 09:46 PM
Moral of some of those stories: Don't drink and drive.

hatelore
07-17-2013, 10:32 PM
That was good, I never knew about any of this. Thank you.

Lagaidh
07-17-2013, 10:36 PM
Very interesting. Never had heard about these memorial toons before now. Thanks.

Gadwen
07-17-2013, 10:40 PM
Interesting stuff, had heard about the zone and always wondered who was memorialized there and why.

Tecmos Deception
07-17-2013, 10:48 PM
Geez. A 25-year-old Phd intent on curing an illness she was born with, but she was still spending 35 hours a week in EQ. Evercrack!

The quote about Llara is quite odd, referring to the character/guide as a "her" but the "controller" as a dude.

captincrust
07-17-2013, 11:45 PM
Really touching. Thanks for this article. Sad to see drunk driving has taken so many people from this world.

Handull
07-18-2013, 12:00 AM
Geez. A 25-year-old Phd intent on curing an illness she was born with, but she was still spending 35 hours a week in EQ. Evercrack!

The quote about Llara is quite odd, referring to the character/guide as a "her" but the "controller" as a dude.

Depending on the nature of the work, there is often a factor out of your control that is limiting your research. I'm sure she also enjoyed the ability to take her mind off of something she literally spent her whole life working on. EQ was also a way to escape and not be defined by her illness 24/7. At least it makes sense to me.

Cool post Ephi, thanks for sharing.

Ephi
07-18-2013, 01:10 AM
What happens when you return to Asherah?

She gives you I believe a wand (or maybe the Staff of Guidance). Can't remember the exact item. I'll have to do it again and confirm.

SamwiseRed
07-18-2013, 01:16 AM
Geez. A 25-year-old Phd intent on curing an illness she was born with, but she was still spending 35 hours a week in EQ. Evercrack!

The quote about Llara is quite odd, referring to the character/guide as a "her" but the "controller" as a dude.

prob because your character is on a guide account. they give you account info, you make char, then they flag you. you also used to download some files, i think cshome as well as the petition system (this might have changed later when we didnt conduct csr). there was also this website you had access to and some optional reporting software (made reports alot easier since you had to make a reported each time you logged on) one cool thing about the guide website is you can see all the gm event/quests there are. there are some pretty lame one and some pretty good ones. sadly i didnt see most of them used.

Yardcore
07-18-2013, 02:33 AM
This is why EQ is one of the greatest MMO, its about community and passion, after it was sold to Sony...well you all know what happened..

Thank you, great post. R.I.P

DOPE
07-18-2013, 04:15 AM
you drink, you drive, you spill.

khanable
07-18-2013, 06:32 AM
Sirken or Ephi should give us a tour of cshome via stream

Was always interested in seeing what that place looked like..

Good post. Sad stories.

Meiva
07-18-2013, 09:18 AM
I couldn't imagine working in an office with this many people who had passed over such a short timeframe. Assuming they all worked from an office. I've worked in an office for years with, thankfully, zero team members passing. This is sad... :(

ahenfv
07-18-2013, 11:14 AM
GMs worked in an office, Guides generally were volunteers that logged in via a modded client. I was in the guide system for about a year (on Rathe). I swear like 90% of level 1 petitions required saying "sorry, there's nothing we can do in this type of situation". they were all.. "where can i get X item?" "i died and i don't know where my corpse is" "i'm lost, help!" and "i accidently vendored/destroyed/tradeskill combined X item (that there's no history of having in my item log!) can i get another one?!"

Kelven
07-18-2013, 11:26 AM
Thanks for sharing

Kruel
07-18-2013, 11:26 AM
very touching idea. Their memory will live on

Ephi
07-18-2013, 02:21 PM
GMs worked in an office, Guides generally were volunteers that logged in via a modded client. I was in the guide system for about a year (on Rathe). I swear like 90% of level 1 petitions required saying "sorry, there's nothing we can do in this type of situation". they were all.. "where can i get X item?" "i died and i don't know where my corpse is" "i'm lost, help!" and "i accidently vendored/destroyed/tradeskill combined X item (that there's no history of having in my item log!) can i get another one?!"

The tradition of stupid petitions we can't help with lives on, let me guarantee that.

LordSterben
07-18-2013, 02:35 PM
Kind of sad....but really cool that they worked those memorials in. Not sure if pointing out that the one woman's death was "ironic" was fitting for a memorial but hey....it's the thought that counts.

knix
07-18-2013, 04:44 PM
Moral of some of those stories: Don't drink and drive.


aye, but i know you are not implying those accidents are from the guides d/n/d.

But, also dont text and drive,
eat and drive
chastise kids and drive
put on make up and drive
have sexy time and drive (keeping it clean for non rnf)
argue and drive
check the map and drive
get angry and drive

Alorae
07-18-2013, 05:10 PM
Sirken or Ephi should give us a tour of cshome via stream


Awesome thread, and I think the above is a great idea. I've always wonder what that zone looked like. Tiggles should make this happen.

zanderklocke
07-18-2013, 06:29 PM
Sirken does a tour in his most recent stream he posted. I think he posted it yesterday or maybe this morning.

http://www.twitch.tv/sirkenp99/b/432138894

Queue video to about 1 hour 26 mins.

I really hope Sirken didn't do this whole video straight, it's like 17 hours and at one point I skipped to randomly he says he's sleepy, and that part is like 4 hours in of the 17 hours.

nilbog
09-10-2013, 04:08 PM
Came across a screenshot of Llara: :T

http://i43.tinypic.com/umxkg.jpg

Atmas
09-10-2013, 04:43 PM
Thanks for sharing, that is both tragic and awesome.

Very sad that traffic deaths which are almost always preventable still account for 30K+ deaths a year in the US.

Borador
09-10-2013, 04:52 PM
prob because your character is on a guide account. they give you account info, you make char, then they flag you. you also used to download some files, i think cshome as well as the petition system (this might have changed later when we didnt conduct csr). there was also this website you had access to and some optional reporting software (made reports alot easier since you had to make a reported each time you logged on) one cool thing about the guide website is you can see all the gm event/quests there are. there are some pretty lame one and some pretty good ones. sadly i didnt see most of them used.

When I was a guide we were in PoA, don't remember any website at the time, just the petition client. Was fun. Boats were always sinking.