Why EQ?

[Dagrik]

Hey all,

I am new, and am sure ths has come up previously, but why do you all play (or work on) eq instead of all the other mmo's? So my question: Why eq? What makes it better than the rest?

[Mirakk82]

Exploration and consequences. Also, kiting.

1. Exploration. Back in my day, you didn't have a map with a little cursor showing where you are at all times. You had to learn your way through the dark scary woods at night. There's also things hidden around the world that're fun to find. The ghost underwater in the courtyard of the estate of unrest? How cool is that? Finding out it's a ghost left over from when Garenel Rucksif murdered everyone in the manor before committing suicide? Intense.. Most MMOs don't have weather.. or day/night cycles. All of these things create a greater feeling of immersion. Especially coupled with...

2. Consequences. When you die, you actually suffer a real penalty. It sucks! EQ players know what it's like to actually be afraid to die in a game. Ever gotten sweaty palms when a pull didn't go quite as planned? Have you been nearly reduced to tears by that death at 2am on a school night? EQ players have. And we love that feeling. With real risk, comes a greater sense of reward.

3. Kiting. Seems like just about every MMO after EQ decided kiting was an exploit, and a dirty thing. They put all the monsters on a 10 foot chain and made it impossible to drag them around. The playstyle is largely gone, and many of us found it intensely enjoyable.


Just my 2cp

[Mirakk82]

Ohyeah, and mobs that require more than casual facerolling to defeat. Can't forget that.

[JPMorgan]

Ohyeah, and mobs that require more than casual facerolling to defeat. Can't forget that.

Modern day PvE is for pussies: WoW killed open world exploration with mounts and flight paths.

Open world PvP is a thing of the past: WAR gave it their all, but in the end BG's won out.

Mirakka82 summed up the risk factor pretty well. Other games have harder raid content in terms of scripting, but no game punishes your inability to evaluate risk or think ahead like EQ does.

Returning to EQ classic has really brought to light how complacent modern day MMOs has made players in general. Stupid, avoidable deaths are rampant. No one notices when another player is getting trounced by a mob right in front of them. Camps aren't respected. No one thinks twice about managing their own threat while in a group, etc.

P99 is everything right with what EQ was. Meanwhile, everything right with EQ was watered down and smashed into baby food by modern MMOs.

[Kazi]

Nostalgia and the social element missing in other MMOs.

[baloen]

Nostalgia and the social element missing in other MMOs.

[Lune]

Delayed gratification. Playing classic EQ is like edging for an entire year and a half, until eventually you finally get your epic and come so hard you have a stroke

[Clark]

Nostalgia and the social element missing in other MMOs.

[Barkingturtle]

The tunnel.

[Quineloe]

Actual grouping to fight non trivial content at all levels. World is best out of all worlds I've played on, too.

[JPMorgan]

Actual grouping to fight non trivial content at all levels. World is best out of all worlds I've played on, too.

[Tankdan]

Nostalgia mostly. I have 6 level 100s on Live, Ive 18boxed on other EQEmus, just get bored, we all get bored. This is where I am now.

[Mistwalker]

Nostalgia partly, but the social element mostly. Community has been bred out of the mmo genre. Even guilds in other mmo are usually filled with people that barely know each other other than the few cliques.

People don't understand that all that "tedium" of travel and having to depend on other people to get things does actually forces people to communicate and get to know other people they wouldn't otherwise.

[Frug]

Nostalgia and the social element missing in other MMOs.

This was it for me. EQ was my first graphical MMO, and it has burned some synapses in my brain that cause all other MMOs to be... fun, but rarely for long, and never have that same feel.

DAoC came really close and I still have very fond memories of playing it, but nothing was EQ for me but EQ.

[Rhambuk]

The social aspect for me, i would hop on wow use the dungeon finder do it and be back in my home town without so much as having to talk to people to advance and progress in the game. lvl 1-85 and didn't know anyone, you can say its my fault but there are no people doing dungeons they all use the dungeon finder which uses people from all servers and chances are you will never see them again.

here you see the same people leveling up in the same spots you get to know them. Ill hop on eq just to chat to see what people are doing, I used to hop on wow and just stand their because i didn't want to group with a bunch of randoms and standing around the AH i didn't recognize anyone, just a faceless game.

[myriverse]

It's had the best exploration, consequence, and social of any MMO I've played.

And oh yes... after UO, I was ready to give up MMOs due to PVP, and EQ was a grand oasis from that BS.

[Laledorie]

I play P99 for a few reasons... It gives me the warm and fuzzies because it was the first real video game that I ever played. Also, all the other MMO's (including EQ Live) have become SO easy! You can get to max level in a matter of weeks, where's the fun in that? Not to mention, the community has been pretty amazing. =)

[Quineloe]

Let's not forget that pretty much every game tries to force this 2+ faction RVR PVP bullshit on us.

[Dezante]

The former posts sum up much of the incentive for returning to EQ, a game now 15 years old.

I want to elaborate on the sense of accomplishment, especially with regards to loot. Those special pieces of loot were hard-earned, could take weeks to acquire and you really felt a great thrilling rush when you finally put your clammy (from all the intensity sweat) on that Flowing Black Silk Sash. Looting it put you in a state of near-panic - you were struck by paranoia about going LD, a power out at your house or some ugly, hither-to hidden bug in the game would jump out and prevent you from claiming your prize!

Simply put, loot mattered - it does in all games, but where newer games the emphasis is merely on having it, in EQ it's on getting it, because few things came easy or fast.

I began in 1999 like so many others, and my experience lasted until mid-Planes of Power. I returned last April to the public servers with their 19 expansions expecting an old school game far more rewarding than these new kiddy mumorpugers, and was dismayed by changes that really let me down:

- No corpse runs required

- Tiered world drop armour sets and weapons, all but removing the incentive for dangerous and exciting dungeon crawls

- Rather easy travelling with no need to have contact with other players

In short, Sony seems to have done all they could to make EQ be what the newer games are; catering to the instant gratification generation.

I cannot tell you how much I appreciate P1999 and their gift of classical EverQuest. They even state that Velious will be the last expansion included, and that is perfection for me - EQ began going down hill for me with Luclin.

A testament to EQ's impact on accomplishments mattering is that you can remember the names of almost all cool loot and where you got it. I played WoW for a good while, raided high-end - ask me about a piece of loot, I'll almost guarantee you I can't name it.

EQ makes me care about my character, other people and loot on a level no other game has done for me.

P.S.: I began on p1999 a couple of weeks ago, made a lvl 3 run from Freeport to Upper Guk - my heart was pumping harder than any game had done for me in years.

[Miser]

I can't believe everyone misses one of the HUGE reasons that this game is so good,.... Every class is like a game unto itself. I don't think any game made classes as good as most of the EQ ones.

Find something with the intricacies of EQ monk, bard, ench, etc. It just doesn't exist.

[Danth]

This game provides combat pacing which won't ruin my hands or wrists in 6 months. I'm too old to play the button-spammy video games anymore. Everquest also provides some degree of sensibility in its world environments (bad graphic quality notwithstanding)....places built by Humans are Human-size; places built by Ogres are Ogre-size, etc. One of my pet peeves with a great many modern role-playing games is how it seems as though every last building, even mud huts, have vaulted 20 foot high cathedral ceilings. Dungeons are often confusing and maze-like, as they should be. Linear "Dungeons" composed solely of a series of straight hallways with little to no deviation even possible rapidly bore me.

This game has its faults as well of course, but I'll take the bad with the good because the good is good enough to be worth it.

Danth

[Dezante]

Addendum

I totally neglected the sandbox element. This rail-road quest lining from beginning to end that seem to be the coerced primary source of XP and loot in most of the new games irritates and bores me to no end. EQ has some optional quests and some complex quest lines, which are great, but apart from those you can log in and then decide "hmm, where will my feet take me today?" without feeling like you're missing out on something you ought to do to keep up.

EQ doesn't force you to follow a story tailored to your race/class combo, rather it lets you write your own, thus allowing you immersion through self-wrought fantasy instead of a pre-written package. EQ isn't "you should", it's "you decide".

[Ahldagor]

just running around the zones is fun. that simple thing is a wonderful groundwork.

[Hamahakki]

I'll add, the combat is slow enough that you can actually talk to people while fighting.

[Aborath]

P99 is everything right with what EQ was. Meanwhile, everything right with EQ was watered down and smashed into baby food by modern MMOs.

This, exactly.

[Voland]

1) Communication.
EQ is the only game I've played where people actually talk
in groups. Without talking, I might as well play a single player RPG.

2) Camping/grinding.
When I first started EQ 10 years ago, I thought they should
have had more/friendlier quests.

After playing EQ2/WoW/etc I realized that:
1. Quests are not that interesting, for the most part.
2. Quests separate people: "Ok, I got my 10 wolf tails, see ya!"

Finding a good spot and spending few hours there with a good company
is just perfect for me... I do miss LDON though ;)

3) Need for teamwork.
Having to know what you are doing and depending on others (tank/healer/cc)
is great to keep you focused on the task and gives a sense of
belonging. In new games you can mostly zerg your way thru and still
get your rewards.

[Halius]

1) Communication.
EQ is the only game I've played where people actually talk
in groups. Without talking, I might as well play a single player RPG.

2) Camping/grinding.
When I first started EQ 10 years ago, I thought they should
have had more/friendlier quests.

After playing EQ2/WoW/etc I realized that:
1. Quests are not that interesting, for the most part.
2. Quests separate people: "Ok, I got my 10 wolf tails, see ya!"

Finding a good spot and spending few hours there with a good company
is just perfect for me... I do miss LDON though ;)

3) Need for teamwork.
Having to know what you are doing and depending on others (tank/healer/cc)
is great to keep you focused on the task and gives a sense of
belonging. In new games you can mostly zerg your way thru and still
get you rewards.

^^

The teamwork/social part mostly. WoW drew me in after I lost interest in EQ (around PoP time). Vanilla WoW and even TBC was cool because it wasn't complete easy mode and the scripted raids were fun (like Karazhan, loved that one). But after TBC I got so bored with the game, new levels meant more mindless quests, cross server groups meant I didn't know anybody, and raid finder was just complete crap.

Anyways EQ has always been amazing because each class has a specific role. You can't just change on a whim to something else, and you actually have to interact with everyone. It makes it important to have people to group with because groups really matter.

[nilzark]

The Tunnel. And <Forum Quest> mostly.

[Velerin]

I love the fact there's no boxing on this server. I really think boxing killed a lot of the player interaction on EQ. It was a vicious cycle, people say they need to box since they can't find a group, then those people no longer need to group and force others to box.
Also the first thing I loved when I logged on p99 for the first time was walking around old cities and there were actually people in them doing stuff. I quit after PoP and hated that everyone just sat in PoK, cities were bare.

[billpaleq]

My buddies and I started playing in early 2000. This was our first MMO(some of us played UO). We all played up to GOD then left to WoW,SWOTR, and a few others. Now we are all back here. These are the reasons why I love EQ:

1. Fear of death (no other game made you so pissed)
2. Community(early WoW had this during raids where our guild would shoot the shit during easy bosses)
3. Gear. UBER gear takes a lot of time. A single spell may be a quest that takes 6-8hours of game time to get.
4. Risk Vs Reward. EQ got this right. You want to lvl fast? kill higher level mobs or go to a dungeon. Push your luck and you just wasted 4 hours...
5. Nostalgia. My buddies and I still talk about or 35+hour camp in Lguk for us all to get a FBSS

[Leeyuuduu]

Nostalgia, delayed gratification, and the social element - EQ is as much a chat room as it is a game

Not to mention, most classes have very distinct roles and those that don't have distinct niches to fill. None of this "everyone can do everything" GW2-esque bullcrap

[Waedawen]

I'm really curious to hear some responses from some Friends that were brought to P99 by people who originally played EQ.

Personally, it's as simple as killing tuff mobs with my buds, loot and xp be damned. It's extremely fun and rare to actually crawl through a dungeon and see the finer aspects of it... the designers took a lot of care making these dungeons. There's a friggin' psychedelic mushroom shop in The Hole, for christ's sake. It only gets better with Velious, too, where they start really rewarding the crawl as opposed to the camp. Not that there's anything wrong with camping, but how many Clerics have actually had the opportunity to get up and look around deep in a dungeon? It's just more fun.

[khandman]

It was my first mmo back in the day of £300 average a month phone bills. And it was difficult.

[SpinFin]

Because Iksar.
And cool Velious era weapons.
And great adventure.

[Sarajo]

Cognitive Dissonance.

[LulzSect]

takes time to earn things

just like real life

[Fame]

High risk factor, same reason I only play on the PvP server now.

[Nekkojakk]

If any modern MMO had an enchanter like class for PvE I'd play it in a heartbeat. Sadly the CC/support characters died in current gen MMOs. Honestly, I think playing dps/heals/tank here is just as boring as it is in WoW. Hell probably more boring as the fight mechanics are so old/well known.

[Quineloe]

If any modern MMO had an enchanter like class for PvE I'd play it in a heartbeat. Sadly the CC/support characters died in current gen MMOs. Honestly, I think playing dps/heals/tank here is just as boring as it is in WoW. Hell probably more boring as the fight mechanics are so old/well known.

Modern MMORPGs also don't have wizards, mages or necromancers. All they have is some glorified guy in a robe who is auto attacking with fireballs that deal slightly more dps than a warrior.

[wdavid78]

It's a game that creates stories. Stories that stick with you. Your own stories, not those forced upon you by endless, mindless, soulless "content".

Is it my favorite MMO because it was my first? Maybe... there's something to be said about your first love. Other games have been good, but nothing ever quite as good.

[Edgetiq]

EQ is the biggest tank and spank game ever don't even kid yourself.

WoW up until the end of TBC was the best MMO in terms of PvP, PvE and gameplay. Not everyone had cleared the content, it was difficult to obtain the top PvP gear unless you were good at PvP and not just a BG hero.

It's a shame that subsequent expansions have been terrible. A bit like EQ after Velious.

The problem WoW had is the community is awful and whilst we have trolls here the ones there, were 15 year old sand in vagina kids, who when schooled just told you to 'die in a fire' whereas on EQ you get trained at zone in until you leave bitches!!

[Nekkojakk]

Modern MMORPGs also don't have wizards, mages or necromancers. All they have is some glorified guy in a robe who is auto attacking with fireballs that deal slightly more dps than a warrior.

Modern MMOs also don't limit dot stacking. They don't make mages/wizards blow all their mana in a dozen casts then have them sit/canni stick/get mana twitched for the next minute repeated unto infinity. Are classes water downed in new games? Certainly but they are also more engaging to play.

[Bazia]

I enjoy it because when I play the Red server I have an amount of control over my and others enviroments that you just can't find in other MMOs.

Now when it comes to blue I just quit around level 50, I don't find it particularly impressive.

[Quineloe]

Modern MMOs also don't limit dot stacking. They don't make mages/wizards blow all their mana in a dozen casts then have them sit/canni stick/get mana twitched for the next minute repeated unto infinity. Are classes water downed in new games? Certainly but they are also more engaging to play.

That's basically what I said. This is the "why EQ?" thread. If you're going to bring up the positives of modern MMOs, I wonder why you're here. I like to have a few, strong spells and downtime, that's why I am here.

[Nekkojakk]

That's basically what I said. This is the "why EQ?" thread. If you're going to bring up the positives of modern MMOs, I wonder why you're here. I like to have a few, strong spells and downtime, that's why I am here.

I'm here because of the enchanter class and play-style. I'd play live if they hadn't destroyed the class.

[marcjpb]

3 things
#1 Bring back very good memories of my time in the game
#2 Difficulty of the game itself. No company have enuff "balls" to make a game this hard anymore, mmo wise. Eve might be one but I never played and I feel it would be way too behind if I start now.
#3 waiting on EQNext lol

[innocent51]

- The social aspect is stronger than on every other games.
Most classes cannot solo, or solo very bad. The main way to xp is grouping and there is no auto-grouping system like on other games so you have to look for people, talk to people, get to know people. Social networking is a really important part of the game.

Trades and the same, if you want to buy or sell an item you have to go meet up the guy, talk money, talk trade, acutally play your character, not just face a standart Auction House interface.

- Its "hard'ish"
Death is a serious problem. Travels are long and risky. xp is long compared to modern mmos.
All in all its not forgiving, you can call is time consuming or hard, either way it requires more dedication than your standard click and loot mmo.

0ne of the main skill factor is geography knowledge.

- Its impressive
Zones are huge, dangerous and impressive. Its ugly as crap but still is the only game after 10 years that gives you the feeling you are so small and weak (Velious will enhance that aspect widely).

- Its special
It has a lot of the old features from pen and papers mmo many modern games gave up.
You need to eat and drink, there are no instances, some classes or races are stronger/weaker/xp modifiers. Class balancing is, for the least, strange and comes with extreme malus on xp.

Its not based on the tank/heal/dps tryptic but rather on the old teank/heal/dps/control like City of Heroes or Dark Age of Camelot were. It makes group set ups more complicated and more colorful.




If you ever need reason why not to play it:
- Its fugly
- Its slow, not just xp but combat is slow
- Its unforgiving, time consuming and frustrating
- For all this reasons people tend to take it too seriously and not find it any funny if you go Leeroy Jenkins in Sebilis

[Leeyuuduu]

If any modern MMO had an enchanter like class for PvE I'd play it in a heartbeat. Sadly the CC/support characters died in current gen MMOs. Honestly, I think playing dps/heals/tank here is just as boring as it is in WoW. Hell probably more boring as the fight mechanics are so old/well known.

I play an enchanter and feel the same

I think the only thing I liked more than the enchanter in EQ1 was the mentalist in VG (also a charm/CC class with other cool tricks) but we all know how VG is doing these days

[GlassMachine]

Memories, basically.

Camping sol a for fine steel with my boyfriend at the time to be able to afford platinum fire wedding rings. Getting killed by holly windstalker and never really learning my lesson about her. Having to figure out where the hell my body is for the first time. Getting lost in a new zone. Learning what "train to zone" means... the hard way.

I love this game and it's because of the memories I have first playing it and all of the people I met along the way. I'm sure that's why so many of us go back to EQ again and again.

[mwatt]

1. PVP does not gut the game.
2. Fear of Death (puts the triumphant into winning).
3. It's just the right amount of hard.
4. Fantastic, varied classes - they all have their strengths and weaknesses.
5. Outstanding itemization.