Sincere Question-Will Project 1999 be worth someone's time who has no nostalgic ties?

[Nukinator]

( NOTE : This is my reddit thread. But it is very strongly associated with Project 1999. I'm posting this in various forums in order to get feedback so that I can make an educated decision. )

I've been into MMOs for a somewhat decent time now. About 5-6 years. Note, that I have never, ever reached end-game in any MMORPG. There are various reasons for that, but most common of all is the fact that I simply get burned out before I even reach the end game. The repetition is too much for me. The lack of a strong community or social behavior turns me off. It feels like I'm grinding a character just so I can look at him and be happy. I can do that in Single player RPGs. That's what SP RPGs are for. That's what something like Dark Souls is for, or Skyrim.


I've recently ( about last year or so ) tried EQ. I couldn't get very far into it, mainly because I could not understand the combat. I couldn't understand the UI. I WISH I'd been born in the infancy of the MMORPG era, because I read these stories, stories of how AMAZING people's experiences were and I just, I feel very sad. Because I know I could never again experience it. I've played action MMORPGs like TERA, I've played instanced / solo Online RPGs like Path of Exile and the recent OBT Skyforge, but even these 'action' MMOs last about a week or so at BEST. I can't sink hours and hours of my life into them. Why ? Because there's no social interaction! The most time I've spent in an MMORPG was from 2009 to 2014, though, it isn't technically an MMORPG- it felt like one for me.


San Andreas Multiplayer, with its countless RP servers. Mostly text-based RP, but there were scripts with specific character progression, a pseudo MMORPG if you will. Interaction was a MUST. Meanwhile in these new themepark MMOs, all I have to do is run around, kill a bunch of dudes, accept a group invite or two and again kill a bunch of flowers or something and I'm done! That's my "FUN" element! Yes, yes, dungeons are extremely fun too. I had my dungeoneering fun with Guild Wars 2, Lord of the Rings Online. But again, that's a fraction of the time you spend playing MMOs! What about the levelling up ? You can solo it all if you want, but I don't want that! I don't want to solo everything, neither do I want to group up without ANY interaction at all. > send an invite, group up, and leggo have fun by killing the same things over and over again.


No. I want to be FORCED to socially interact with others. With the 'send invite and it's a group' mentality it feels more like an AI companion is along with you rather than an actual player. I've tried my best to love older games like EverQuest, but I can't. I feel like I've missed it all. I've recently installed Project 1999, and you know what ? For the first time in ever, I actually enjoyed the extremely short time I spent with it. I wasn't aware of what I had to do, I kept dying to monsters, but these players were around me- they helped me out. We interacted. We spoke. It was absolutely blissful. I want more of that. But unfortunately, it's a humongous pain in the ass to set up Project 1999. I can't play on fullscreen, tabbing out keeps messing the game up, and I don't have the strong 'nostalgia' factor to push me along and motivate me to actually fix the game and re-learn ( in my case, learn ) everything about the game. I don't know what to do. I'm not sure if P99 is worth the time or not. I'm not sure if there are any other MMORPGs like P99 or not.


I'm just tired of trying out new MMOs and being disappointed time and again. So I'm gonna post this on various forums, reddit included. I ask you for help. What should I do ? Is Project 1999 worth the time ? I'm looking for a rather detailed reply, and I would really, really appreciate any help I get. Thank you.



I would write an entirely different post / thread for these forums but I'm exhausted right now. I couldn't play EQ1999 because basically, I was very. Very young back then x). And in my country, games were barely getting any exposure- let alone MMORPGs. Oh also, I'd like some technical help as I mentioned earlier. I can't play on fullscreen and alt-tab at the same time. The game keeps flashing weirdly if I do try to alt tab and I have to completely relaunch it. Please give me your honest opinion about P99, the good and the bad. Thank you once again.

[Naxy]

There probably isn't anything else like P99. Is it worth it for you? There really is no way anyone else can tell. You said it yourself: "It was absolutely blissful."

Enough said really. If that isn't enough for you to be motivated to play the game, I don't know what is.

I don't know about your technical issues, I play on a Mac. Play in windowed mode maybe, it us good enough immersion for me.

I do not think you will find the same experience anywhere else. The grit and dedication it takes to play P99 shapes the community in a way no other game does. Good luck and see you around.

[Bboboo]

I'm just answering off your thread title because I'm not reading all of that.

I've been playing on this server for little over a year. I would say the first month I was caught up in the nostalgia. Now I play because of the challenge/community. They just don't make MMOs like this anymore.

[Jimjam]

You need to set your eq window to take up your whole screen before you go full screen otherwise you end up clicking through to what ever else is on your desk top.

Or just play in a window that fills youelr desktop.

As to what you 'have' to do in eq? Nothing really. It is not like path of exile where there is a story. Don't worry about getting to end game, there isn't any as such. Some content just gets more difficult. Very little of the game is locked behing required keys or levels.

You can experience most of the game at any level (particularly if you have plenty of powerful friends). The only caveat is you won't earn xp if some one is above 1.5x your level.

Have fun collecting tradeskill components, quest items, exploring, killing monster and making items, levels,plat and friends!

Oh and don't be tempted to trade real life resources for in game aids!

[Charlievox]

I can't answer weather P1999 is worth your time so I will not try. All I know is that I find it so.
But perhaps we can help you with your display problem if you can give us more information. Exactly why can't you play in full screen mode?
Do you know about the "Display" tab on the Options Window (Alt-O)?

[Kowalski]

You'll get out what you put into it. The secret is, There is no secret ingredient.

[Getsmurfed]

I've never played Everquest before P99. This server (and to a lesser degree EQ) have changed the way I play MMOs. I absolutely love playing on this server, modern MMOs like WoW (a game I grew up playing) have no ties on me any more. I can't really peg what it is about P99 that holds my attention but there's no quitting. I always feel buddies and pals drawing me back.

[am0n]

EQ (especially p99) is much cruder and less forgiving than modern MMOs. It also requires a lot more from you (not just play skill, but in figuring out why you want to play, as there are limited quests, no dungeon finder and many of the classes are quite simple in play). If you don't have any nostalgic ties, playing the game won't be impossible, but you may have less inclination to keep going after dieing, dieing again trying to get back to your corpse, losing your level, and then dieing a third time before finally recovering your stuff (and each of those required 20-30 minute runs just to get back to where you were and costing you another 1-2 hours worth of exp).

If you can deal with that and can find your reason for playing, it does have a lot to offer. The game has real danger (especially at lower levels where high level stuff is regularly intermingled in every zone) and since a lot of the game necessitates grouping (unless you roll a solo-friendly class), the community can be much stronger than modern MMOs. The simplicity of the game also makes things feel like more of an achievement, since equipment is harder to come by and levels take longer to earn.

Personally, if I didn't have the nostalgia, I'd probably already have moved on. But the force in strong in that one.

[Thulack]

If you never played EQ back in the day and you get burnt out from playing games i really wouldnt recommend P99 for you. It will be the same issues.

[Sorn]

P99 helps me manage my depression somewhat with the way there's almost always something to do and good people to talk to so the evil little chemicals in my brain can't start churning to convince me the world would be better off if I had never been born. That makes it worthwhile to me, personally.

With EQ the rules obscure enough that you can pick and choose what you find valuable and no one will try to tell you differently. It's like a big puzzlebox when you first get into it, but one without any directions or clues, and you get to make your own solutions to things rather than doing what the game developers clearly expect you to do. It's like the untamed wilderness compared to the polished interior of an Apple store with its nice layouts and dozens of helpers there to tell you what to do to get something.

I dunno. I like the wilderness and not having to do what people tell me to do all the time.

[webrunner5]

This server, game, is what You put into it. :p If you want to just goof off, well goof off, if you want to be the best, say damned Monk on here, then go for it. :cool:

The rewards are up to you, not given to you, by the game like a Lot of MMO's are out there. That is the draw on this server, you get what you want to put into it. Nothing is given on here, other than maybe someone might give you gear, and advice.

So I think you will like it a lot, because if you want to go for the "brass ring", you can get on here if you put in the effort, and learn your class well. :)

[Tiewon Shu]

If you like super difficult game-play and now with forced super-blocky crappy minecraft graphics, you'll love it!

[Hauser]

I forced my buddy to have a 6 hour session because he had never played and thought it was lame. He got hooked and stuck with it long enought to get some end game loots. He had never played an mmo before and loved the game.

I think a good ui would really help. Pm if u want me to send u one.

[Hauser]

Be very careful of getting banned. If u break any rules they will catch u and ban u. If u dont break any rules they might catch u (in their minds) and ban u. Seriously dont play with these gm's. Run or log off if they in same zone as u. 1 time i got banned sitting in ec. It was lifted 2 weeks later cause i petitioned and they said they dont have any record of it and didnt know why it happened.

[Zulzephur - Tarew Marr]

Honestly, EQ1 is still to this day my most favorite game; period. I spent one too many hours on it growing up as a young teenager. I obviously had no nostalgic ties back then to it, and I had played UO; so it wasn't my first MMO, but still stands to be my favorite.

Even when EQ2 came out, we flocked back to EQ1 unfortunately. The experiences I recall then, as far as socializing and the kindness of others; is here as well. There is no shortage of people, and this is ultimately the closest experience you will have to the original EQ.


If wouldn't ever want to erase my EQ1 memories, but I've played every game on the market in hopes of finding something close to them, but I haven't; hence I am back to EQ, and I much prefer pre-Luclin EQ than the Live servers.

[JurisDictum]

I think most gamers don't even want to give p1999 a chance because it seems so old and funky in some ways. But once you get over some UI inconveniences, there are things this game offers that modern games don't. Community, an actual sense of accomplishment when you level/get items, and an immersive environment.

One thing you have to be aware of, is EQ is slow. To enjoy this server, you have to play it for the long hall IMO. If you can't get over the fact you might not be leveling fast or upgrading gear constantly, you are probably signing up for a bad time. It also isn't always as interactive as --for example -- WoW. If you level for 4 hours, there will be plenty of time to get up and stretch, read the wiki and forums, and do all kinds of other undemanding tasks. I personally like listening to radio and books on tape when camping things solo. However, if you like that constant action of modern games, EQ could seem boring in contrast. In EQ, knowledge of the game will take you much further than twitch skill.

In short, if you are impatient because modern games aren't interactive enough, stay away. But if you are impatient of everyone acting like a self-absorbed teenager, the server might be for you.

[Ranndom]

I didnt start playing EQ until 2008. Now, i wont even touch live and stick to p99.
When it comes down to it, Nostalgia is only one thing, but its not the thing that made EQ.
The early years of EQ are just, badass. However, Nostalgia is what brings in most p99 players (50-60% at least) because they actually know how to get or have a copy of titanium aswell as simply knowing what EQ is.

[xarkazek]

It depends on what you are looking for. I played EQ1 back when kunark first came out, I was in middle school at the time. I still remember my older brother coming home and explaining the concept to me: a game where you can do ANYTHING. You start out with NOTHING but a little butterknife of a dagger/shortsword and no guidance except a little note in your inventory telling you to go talk to some guy. Everything from there is up to you. Yea the graphics suck. Yea dying sucks worse than anything I have ever experienced in any other game. The very first character I created was a iksar necromancer. My brother twinked me out and gave me a bunch of higher level gear to get me started. I promptly ran into the sewers beneath cabalis, died to a level 2 scorpian, and lost everything. My brother was so pissed at me he never gave me anything again until i was like level 30. But the brutal consequences of failure are exactly what make success so rewarding. This game does not hold your hand. Like life itself, everything is out to get you, and the only things you can depend on are yourself and your friends.

In most modern MMO's there is practically no consequence to dying, getting lost, or making any other of a whole host of stupid decisions. You have a minimap which automatically displays objectives. You are literally led by the nose from one point to the next. As a result of nothing being difficult, nothing is rewarding either. Every victory is hollow because it was handed to you. You will never feel like that with p99. Some people love it. Some people can't handle it. Some just aren't patient enough to even try.

[kroissant]

I think you already answered your question. If you're having this much difficulty to know if you want to try more of it then you're probably going to quit sooner than later. P99 ran like shit for me when I first set it up but I instantly search up DUXA, UI improvements, and other tweaks to make it better. It seems like you don't even want to go through that trouble. To be honest, MMORPG might just not be for you from the sounds of it. Its a very basic formula.

[Zeonick]

EQ, specially P99, is the best mmo, hands down. Close second would be Dark Age Of Camelot, but P99 is the best. I've played them all: tera, rift, aion, daoc, eq live, runescape(lol) and many more. I did play eq in classic, but I was probably 10 years old and never did much beyond grouping and making lots of characters. The thing that is so great about eq is that making achievements are very rewarding and satisfying. The quests can be long and arduous, but the rewards are generally great, even if it is just one piece of gear. Nothing will be handed to you here, it all has to be earned, and that is what makes it so rewarding. Furthermore, you choose the path/rewards you want to go after. Want to spend a week camping quest mobs just to get one item like boots that you can click to gain runspeed? Go do it. Want to spend that week grinding exp non-stop and get a level or two? Do it. Either option will have great rewards for your character. The more you learn about thw game the more options there will be for rewarding things to go do.

All in all the game is deep and complex. There is endless amounts of rewarding gameplay to be had. The social aspect is extremely important. Finding a good friend to group with and to help you with things will go a long way, and they will ask you for help as well which makes you feel important. The game will take plenty of patience at first, but overcoming those odds and eventually having a powerful character is awesome. Dying to rats helps your experience because one day you will be soloing giants and the contrast there really does make your character feel powerful/important.

As others have said, you can fix your fullscreen issues. You shouldnt have any issues there. Also, you can download custom UIs that are very nice to look at and are more helpful. Explore the options menu, alt+o and tweak things to your liking. Msg me in game any time if you need help.

Sorry about the formatting, on my phone.

[curtischoy]

I came for the nostalgia, I stayed for the pixels.

[lland]

As a result of nothing being difficult, nothing is rewarding either.

So true in EQ and in life in general.

[borgy95]

but you may have less inclination to keep going after dieing, dieing again trying to get back to your corpse, losing your level, and then dieing a third time before finally recovering your stuff (and each of those required 20-30 minute runs just to get back to where you were and costing you another 1-2 hours worth of exp).



This is why the game is worth playing. In my view games that actively screw you over, (you mentioned dark souls) are the bees knees. Stick it out for the first 20levels, i rmbr not having a clue and just asking randoms in games what the hell i should do, after a while it clicked, you will understand and get used to the slower pace. and every 1% of exp you get will become sweet sweet nectar.

[Charlievox]

I like that in EQ its up to you how you get that next level instead of being told by some quest giver, " go to X and kill Zmob until you have collected 7 A's and 5 B's and bring them back to me and I will give you XP and this nice piece of gear, then go talk to W for your next quest!" Rinse, repeat. And everybody follows the same path.
In EQ you can decide to do all the quests or do no quests and just go kill what you need to get materials for your tradeskills. Your path is of your own choosing the game is whatever you decide it will be for you not a planned journey from point to point to point...

[Voland]

If interaction is what you crave, then p99 is absolutely the place to be. It's worth the effort to get things running smoothly and figure the game out.

[b_rob242]

I had a brief (like 2-week) trial with WoW several years ago, and it sucked. That was the extent of my MMO experience prior to a friend turning me on to P99. He helped me get around and power-leveled my original character for a bit. I made an alt and ran around soloing only to find folks out there willing to dote upon a new player with no ties otherwise than that of "paying it forward".
I am nowhere near end-game or on any specific track for such things. I just enjoy being in-game, seeing the characters, trying not to die and helping folks when I can. I usually hang out around West Freeport and bind any folks traveling that way who need it.
I have been playing this since March casually and truly enjoy the community and the game play. I don't need my character to look like he/she is a real living entity, and I never wanted a game to hold my hand and guide me through a quest (like in other modern games - I did try EQ2 after being in P99 for a bit - mistake). I will say, dying after level 10 is heart-wrenching, but the glory of hearing that DING, especially when new abilities/spells become available, is so worth the grind.

In the end, you must choose if it is worth it for you. Neither I nor anyone else can make that decision for you.

My name is Ssessth. I am an Iksar Necro, and I haunt the outskirts of West Freeport.