Life better in EQ in 1999 or in p1999?

[fuji]

1999 - 16 years of age and could grind all night. Homework was easy or didnt care to do it. Could fly on an airplane without being cavity searched before a flight. EQ was new and fresh, awesome DX6 graphics on my voodoo3 card.

p1999 - wife, kids, job, mortgage, dog, bills, out of shape. No monthly subscription. Know how to level faster, smarter, same awesome DX6 graphics.

Has its pros and cons, but I still cant decide.

[Retan]

The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there. ~Lesley P. Hartley, The Go-Between, 1953
I prefer now.

[oldhead]

Then...

having the time and freedom to waste away day after day in EQ was great.

I cant even join a raid guild atm cus of my life needs so im missing out on that whole aspect of the game =(

[RKromwell]

My daughter was less than a year old when I started in 99. If she started screaming, I had to take care of it. Now I just tell her brother to leave her alone.

[Lucrio40]

Then without question. Even if it was somehow possible to get the original client, mechanics, database, ect. P1999 can never recreate that same sense of wonder from playing EQ the first time.

[Taluvill]

you cant recreate not knowing. Thats the biggest issue and the largest draw for a new mmo

[Cyph]

Then. It was all new, the world, the MMO experience, the graphics, it was bleeding edge. And I had more time.

Now, I've been there, there are others, the graphics have aged and it's nothing new. And I have less time. It's still fun though.

[Fawqueue]

Then hands down. Back in '99, on my first toon (ranger) I was able to: put all my starting points into wisdom, die and lose my corpse for good, waste countless hours running from Freeport to Qeynos Hills and then turning around when I discovered Pzjin wasn't up and headed back to Freeport, and a dozen other totally stupid, noobish things. And all the while, I had a blast doing it. Even the boat rides were fun!

Now, I get pissed off if I camp a rare drop and don't see it in an days effort. I'm too power-game now, all that first-timer wonder is gone.

[Omnimorph]

Then of course, but replaying eq here beats any experience I had on other mmo's I've tried since 1999. So still good!!

[Puyen]

Then of course, but replaying eq here beats any experience I had on other mmo's I've tried since 1999. So still good!!

Agreed!

[Aetherial]

Then of course, but replaying eq here beats any experience I had on other mmo's I've tried since 1999. So still good!!

That sums it up.

It is absolutely pathetic that EQ 11 years later is still better than anything since.

I wonder if it is because we are familiar with it.

Would we feel the same if we were devotees of another game of that era like AC or DAoC and there was a classic experience available in those games?

[falkun]

I'd have to say now is better.

Ya, I have less time to play P99, but I am much more social than I was back when I started EQ (my room didn't get the nickname "Cave" for nothing). I'd say I'm a more well-rounded person now.

I will concede that the awe of EQ isn't there the way it was when I started, but the enjoyment definitely still is. Its also refreshing how much harder it is, especially going EQ (Kunark - PoP) to WoW (BC - WOTLK) back to classic only.

[Rael]

Would we feel the same if we were devotees of another game of that era like AC or DAoC and there was a classic experience available in those games?

DAoC has a pretty popular classic server (Uthgard) and even WoW does (Feenix)... I guess everyone longs for the old days once their MMO jumps the shark.

[knottyb0y]

I would say now,

Back in the day was great. I played starting the original EQ but i putzed around and just had fun being a lowbie and re-rolling almost every time i got to level 25-30ish until around the middle of the Velious (I <3 Velious best expansion IMO) stage where I finally found my character (Gagresh) and pushed to max level and found a whole new game awaiting me.

I say now because 10 years later I have different schedule (not in high school, have a more rigid schedule with kids but still get a couple hours a day). But mostly because my girlfriend plays with me. Its really fun to experience eq again when the person next to you is seeing it all for the first time and I get to play the grizzled vet (she actually listens to me when I tell her stuff bout eq!). Also I'm playing the one class (bard) that I had the least experience in so for me i'm seeing parts of EQ i never saw before. Not to mention my first computer back then sucked, my computers now run eq like a dream.

... I remember everything being so much darker and only seeing things by the glow of my infravision... crappy voodoo 2 video card i guess, thank god i upgraded around velious originally.

[Lagaidh]

I'd probably say then, just for the newness. There's nothing wrong with now though. L14 and traded my way to a ghoulbane :)

Knowing has it's privileges.

[Braveguard]

Then... it was mostly the state of my life. I was in my early 30s. My firstborn son was toddling around happy and healthy. I was happily married and on the top of my game at work. This all seeped into my leisure time. Everything was better.

Now's not so bad either though.

[beeshma_nameless]

Now - from the few hours I played.

While nothing can bring back the first-time experience and awe, this has come closest.

The one thing I miss is the world being dark at night, and I remember that being a human I would sit out the in-game nights at guard tower etc alongwith other equally blind humans heh.

[Prefader]

This is a really tough question to answer. I miss the newness. I remember the first time I saw the spires in GFay, I was in total awe. My character was new, and felt so small and insignificant at that moment. I had no idea just how far I could get with him, and didn't really care, so long as the game kept providing moments like that.

Now, most of those moments are gone, because I've seen most of these things. However, there is nothing available to play right now that recreates the feel of classic Everquest. Your character's advancement is earned, not served up. There's no icons over NPCs heads telling you who will do what for you, no instances letting you know "THIS WAY TO UBER LEWTS!!!111!1!" . . . you have to participate in the illusion that this is a real place in order to play, talk to everyone, run to the next city, wait for a boat. Roleplay.

So, maybe Everquest is better now, if only for the fact that the other games have helped me to see what it is that I appreciate about this game.

[beeshma_nameless]

oh the boats work in this one? Wow, off to wisp island en route to erudin once my mage gets to level 10 or so!

[Prefader]

Oh, don't take my word for it!

They might not work, I haven't actually checked yet.

[Aadill]

Oh, don't take my word for it!

They might not work, I haven't actually checked yet.

They do! Most of the time :o

[guineapig]

Oh, don't take my word for it!

They might not work, I haven't actually checked yet.

There is currently one one boat making round trips via OoT and another single boat going between Erudin and Qeynos, so your wait time can be up to a half an hour if you just missed the boat.

Also the boat model being used in OoT is not the same model that was used back in the day. All that being said the boat does work!

[falkun]

They do! Most of the time :o

I've studied it, you know. 60% of the time, the boat works everytime! :D

[Prefader]

so your wait time can be up to a half an hour if you just missed the boat.

As strange as it may seem, this is exactly the sort of thing that makes me like this game.

[beeshma_nameless]

yup - who has not rushed to the docks after hearing "BOAT" in shout / ooc at least once every day in classic heh, hoping to make it, or worse get on boat, gone AFK and mistimed it and come back to the PC to find that you are on the boat on it's return journey:-P

[Nazran]

Then for sure. Walking out of EFP during day and then have the sun set and realizing... I can't see jack! Accidentally dropping a lightstone in EC and looking for it on the ground inch by inch all the while dodging griffons....

Now... it is fun but not original EQ fun.

[HippoNipple]

Back then because of PvP, now because I actually value how great this game actually is after playing others.

Back then wins because of PvP.

[Lagaidh]

So, maybe Everquest is better now, if only for the fact that the other games have helped me to see what it is that I appreciate about this game.

If I were the type of forum trollop that takes others' quotes for my signature... I would use this.

So very true.

After reading many comments... maybe I'd say both times are equally good for different reasons. Live was full of learning and moments of awe. p99 is full of thankfulness engendered by having the "correct" EverQuest brought back to life.

I can't tell you how giddy I was to get back my ghoulbane last week. I woke my wife up to tell her and you would have thought I'd told her I landed a promotion from her reaction.

Even though it won't proc until L20... a GB at L14 is some sweet dps for a mono-wielder. Ooooh how great it feels! Yay p99!

[hedbonker]

Going from the skiff to the boat in Erudin - make sure you make a running jump up onto the deck of the boat. If you go straight at the boat from the skiff you will fall through the geometry and end up in the water. Not a big deal to swim back to the docks but there are generally 2 level 15-18 sharks waiting for you and another 30 minute wait...

[beeshma_nameless]

Recently (in the last year or three?) a developer confirmed / posted on one of the threads in the sony boards about South Ro AC Spawn table, and essentially how to make it spawn. I wonder if that would work here in P99 heh - and I wish I actually remember it too!

[Bigcountry23]

Then: Living in Japan and paying $300+/Month for dial-up (the only option).

Now: Living in the US and connected to a 10/10 fiber network for $29/month.

Now wins.

[toddfx]

The experience was better then, but my characters are much better off today. I remember still having leather armor at level 30, but these days my characters had much, much better at level 10. Is that a good thing or bad thing? Not sure.

If I had to choose one? I'd say then. It was my life.

[Lazortag]

Dial-up made EQ way worse back then. Now I can actually enjoy the game as opposed to just being addicted/frustrated and going LD all the fucking time.