Are fungus tunics classic?

[Wakanda]

(I ask all the weird questions here because I feel like it's the most active subforum and probably the least likely to get in trouble).

I remember Fungus Tunics back in the day being fairly cheap on my server, and something that people referred to as a great twink item, but otherwise not that useful. Like it was super common to see Monks on my server wearing Phase Spider Carapaces, or their Kael/SS equivalent. Meanwhile on P99 it feels like everyone wears a Fungus tunic even at max level?

Like were they always super good, and we just didn't know better, or like? It kind of confuses me. 20+ years ago I remember getting a Hierophant cloak in Seb group one time and someone offering me a Fungus Tunic for it. I was like hell no ! Why would I want some twink item?? Like I couldn't fathom taking my Shadow chestguard off and putting on an ugly fungus tunic with terrible stats.

[Trexller]

I think most players, myself included have a better BP in the bag and just keep the fungi on out of laziness or forgetfulness

gonna need that regen sooner then later

[shovelquest]

Cloth graphic? Pass.

[CrazyPro]

Cloth graphic? Pass.

It's a chain graphic

[Reiwa]

Cloth graphic? Pass.

One guy scammed for a cloth shirt on one of the PvP servers.

[shovelquest]

It's a chain graphic

Im so deep I'm immersed in inventory fashion.

https://i.imgur.com/9CfaAWN.png

[Elizondo]

I love my Ogre Shaman in his fungi

The Ultimate Medicine Man!

[shovelquest]

Yeah now it's chic, but back then I was so bad at EQ I would have passed on it thinking it was a caster item.

[loramin]

I remember Fungus Tunics back in the day being fairly cheap on my server, and something that people referred to as a great twink item, but otherwise not that useful. Like it was super common to see Monks on my server wearing Phase Spider Carapaces, or their Kael/SS equivalent.

I think part of it is that the Fungi made little difference with Complete Heal. Classic players were addicted to the standard (cleric, enchanter, and main tank) 6-man group, but the Fungi really shines when soloing/duoing/etc.

That being said, even back in '01 it was far from just a twink item. I played a Shaman on live, and I can assure you, even back then we all wanted one.

[Snaggles]

They were always good and into Luclin/PoP great for situational use.

Every minute is 150hps. Hard to beat that unless you have a lot CH’s pointed at you. If you never do, it’s pretty much BiS.

[Gustoo]

People were more interested in fashion and stats on live. A cool look was a big deal for dress up elf SIM players.

Were all a bit more practical now.

[Duik]

I too valued perceived stats and colour coordination more than something silly as a 20AC chest piece...

What a newb.

[NopeNopeNopeNope]

I love my Ogre Shaman in his fungi

The Ultimate Medicine Man!

Doesn’t it look like a fishnet top? Like you’re on your way to an underground German BDSM sex party?

[Jimjam]

Doesn’t it look like a fishnet top? Like you’re on your way to an underground German BDSM sex party?

Ya! Das is gut magic! Untzuntz!

[loramin]

Every minute is 150hps. Hard to beat that unless you have a lot CH’s pointed at you. If you never do, it’s pretty much BiS.

You're forgetting what Live was like.

Zones had many six-man groups, often at least twice as dense as here (eg. Seb's "CE" was two camps, "C" and "E"). That meant groups killing only a mob a minute wasn't at all unusual. Your Cleric almost always had Clarity (you usually had an Enchanter, or if not one was probably nearby), and because Enchanters focused on mezzing (not charming), the Cleric usually only had to heal one mob's damage at a time.

Also, breaks were frequent: normal ones, spontaneous AFKs, and link deaths. Because of the Live 6-man group obsession there was a 6x chance of such breaks ... and if someone didn't come back, pulling would often slow (or stop) until the replacement arrived.

In short, it was rarely chain killing for hours on end: it was far more often kill a few, take a break, repeat. While the Fungi might let your cleric go from CHing every (say) 65 seconds to every 75 seconds ... if your Cleric isn't going OOM without the Fungi, that extra ten seconds won't matter.

Now of course, not all groups were 6-man (with Enchanters/Clerics), some zones were less-packed, and people did want the Fungi for Shaman and twinks: I'm not trying to say Fungis sucked on live :)

I'm just saying that given the environment, I think most Live folks' response was perfectly rational.

[Trexller]

on my server seb CE was one camp called "bugs"

[Trexller]

err no that's the upper section before locked door, they just called it crypt from locked door down to emp

[Ennewi]

Doesn’t it look like a fishnet top? Like you’re on your way to an underground German BDSM sex party?

That's what a group of ogres should be called, an orgy.

[Snaggles]

You're forgetting what Live was like.

Zones had many six-man groups, often at least twice as dense as here (eg. Seb's "CE" was two camps, "C" and "E"). That meant groups killing only a mob a minute wasn't at all unusual. Your Cleric almost always had Clarity (you usually had an Enchanter, or if not one was probably nearby), and because Enchanters focused on mezzing (not charming), the Cleric usually only had to heal one mob's damage at a time.

Also, breaks were frequent: normal ones, spontaneous AFKs, and link deaths. Because of the Live 6-man group obsession there was a 6x chance of such breaks ... and if someone didn't come back, pulling would often slow (or stop) until the replacement arrived.

In short, it was rarely chain killing for hours on end: it was far more often kill a few, take a break, repeat. While the Fungi might let your cleric go from CHing every (say) 65 seconds to every 75 seconds ... if your Cleric isn't going OOM without the Fungi, that extra ten seconds won't matter.

Now of course, not all groups were 6-man (with Enchanters/Clerics), some zones were less-packed, and people did want the Fungi for Shaman and twinks: I'm not trying to say Fungis sucked on live :)

I'm just saying that given the environment, I think most Live folks' response was perfectly rational.

I responded to the OP.

I’m not sure what you responded to.

[loramin]

I responded to the OP.

I’m not sure what you responded to.

I thought it was clear that I was responding to you (I quoted you) and the OP/topic in general, specifically the last part:

Like were they always super good, and we just didn't know better, or like? It kind of confuses me. 20+ years ago I remember getting a Hierophant cloak in Seb group one time and someone offering me a Fungus Tunic for it. I was like hell no ! Why would I want some twink item?? Like I couldn't fathom taking my Shadow chestguard off and putting on an ugly fungus tunic with terrible stats.

[Ciderpress]

Reiterating that it's whatever the vanilla chain worn graphic is for your race, although the item icon is cloth. They were never consistent with that shit

[shovelquest]

Clolth shirt icons are for literal level 1's

[Snaggles]

I thought it was clear that I was responding to you (I quoted you) and the OP/topic in general, specifically the last part:

OP asks if Fungi tunics were considered good on live.
I respond and say it’s 150hp/minute, ie it’s really good circa Kunark/Velious
You say it won’t make any difference in a full group with clarity

It was never necessary, still isn’t. Anything with a worn effect of 15pt regen is insane. CH is more effective than basically regrowth. People still sometimes don’t wear them if they have them. I do remember 1999-2002 distinctly. These can all be true.

[Wakanda]

You're forgetting what Live was like.

Zones had many six-man groups, often at least twice as dense as here

This is something I try to explain to a few of my younger friends who never played EQ before P99. The first time I went into Lower Guk to try and get the dark elf mask, I wasn't really that scared because there was so many groups in the zone. There was almost no mobs up, and if you got in trouble you could just run for a second before being rescued by a random group of players.

If I recall Sol B was the same way. A lot of low level players would go there to get the free Carnal Pauldrons / Painbringers etc. since they were no drop.

[putrid_plum]

Everyone is soloing or duoing here thats why they all wear it

[Zuranthium]

This is something I try to explain to a few of my younger friends who never played EQ before P99. The first time I went into Lower Guk to try and get the dark elf mask, I wasn't really that scared because there was so many groups in the zone. There was almost no mobs up, and if you got in trouble you could just run for a second before being rescued by a random group of players.

LGuk at peak population hours was ultra camped during 2000 era, but other times it could be a death box, with people constantly trying to run back to the entrance from the depths and creating trains. Was easy to get lost in there too.

[shovelquest]

This is something I try to explain to a few of my younger friends who never played EQ before P99. The first time I went into Lower Guk to try and get the dark elf mask, I wasn't really that scared because there was so many groups in the zone. There was almost no mobs up, and if you got in trouble you could just run for a second before being rescued by a random group of players.

If I recall Sol B was the same way. A lot of low level players would go there to get the free Carnal Pauldrons / Painbringers etc. since they were no drop.

My first time in Lguk (pre kunark) was mind blowing.

It was an entire city of of high level players, every mob was down, millions of people just walking around selling, talking, ooc, shout, WTS, etc. It was a functioning city.

And up above, barefoot ogres and trolls kill froglok tads with clubs, dumb ass teeth sticking out of their swampy faces, mud squish'n their toes.

Was a great time to be alive.

[Wakanda]

on my server seb CE was one camp called "bugs"

same btw :p the zone in to sebilis always had dozens of people at it, and a lot of us hung out at bugs while LFG. I remember helping them DPS their mobs hoping they would invite me next, lol. I never felt super in danger.

On modern P99 I remember a see invis frog seeing through my invis and not being able to make it from the entrance to the exit alive. Died so dang fast. Another thing that prob way less likely to have happened in Sebilis "back in the day."

I do wish Sebilis was as popular on P99 as it was on OQ EQ. KC still had it's place obviously, but not like it does now ! Especially for players over level 52 !

[Jimjam]

Perhaps the issue isn't the Fungi* but the other options available not being classic?

For example, there is a growing body of evidence that there is currently some kind of cap on worn AC. This cap on p99 is suggested to be far lower than what is suggested by accounts contemporary to early everquest.

If this is true, then one would expect the Fungi to be disproportionately powerful - when you already have 180 worn AC and there is no benefit to exceeding 200 worn AC there is no difference between a 20 AC top and a 50 AC top (except one gives a big boost to regen)!

Speaking of regen and caps, there seems to have been all sorts of hidden 'antitwink' code in classic EQ - worn AC caps which scaled with level, pitiful returns from stats in early levels, and diminished returns on stats after a certain point (e.g. 75 Agi, 200 Int, etc). Even haste % gets capped by level! What is to say there wasn't also a by level regen cap? If this is the case, the Fungi would have been a much less attractive proposition at lower level. Even if players weren't aware of the cap, they would have noticed the impacts.

Finally, it is worth remembering we have been festering in classic everquest for like 20 years now. Back in y2k, people may have had 1 main and a handful of alts. The main was likely mid 50s at very best. The alts would be whimisical sub 30s. With only a year or two to level up, get in to seb, find a fungi (or amass the wealth to buy one from someone else who did all that) there simply wouldn't have been the proliferation of fungis accumulated that this server benefits from.

I also feel it was far less common to pass twink items between toons. If you had a fungi on your main, you'd be less inclined to pass it over to your twinked out alt. And even if you did, you'd still not get that alt levelled up and raid geared anywhere near as quickly as you can on p99.

So in conclusion, the differences in how mechanics are implemented between live and p99, as well as the impacts of how players use the game has resulted in a proliferation of fungi compared to what we may have seen two and a half decades back.

[Rygar]

In response to everyone recalling how Lguk was perma camped with all mobs down...

I love reading the kedge keep guide write up. Guy was sick of Lguk being full. Hell even those 4 gargs were a camp.

So he went to kedge and learned the zone, got insane solo exp and never looked back.

I'm regards to fungis, I was a warrior on live, always had a cleric in my group and never did alts. Felt my money was better spent on weapons and velious armor or busy trying to raid. I actually didn't have a haste item until late velious / SoL when an RBG dropped and my pug group let me claim 'need before greed' so got for free.

Was a different time back then when camaraderie was a driving force in us all.

[Jimjam]

In response to everyone recalling how Lguk was perma camped with all mobs down...

I love reading the kedge keep guide write up. Guy was sick of Lguk being full. Hell even those 4 gargs were a camp.

So he went to kedge and learned the zone, got insane solo exp and never looked back.

I'm regards to fungis, I was a warrior on live, always had a cleric in my group and never did alts. Felt my money was better spent on weapons and velious armor or busy trying to raid. I actually didn't have a haste item until late velious / SoL when an RBG dropped and my pug group let me claim 'need before greed' so got for free.

Was a different time back then when camaraderie was a driving force in us all.

RBG NBG! That is crazy! Well deserved though.

I remember when I was fairly new on p99. I got my first toon into Seb, Jimjam - an untwinked warrior main. I was stoked when a Truncheon of Doom dropped. Of course I lost the lottery and it went to a barbarian shaman. I remember recognising their character’s name matching a prolific forum poster’s name, but through the sands of time am not sure exactly who it was anymore. Either way I hope their warrior alt enjoyed it as they claimed it would /salt.

[loramin]

Of course I lost the lottery and it went to a barbarian shaman. I remember recognising their character’s name matching a prolific forum poster’s name, but through the sands of time am not sure exactly who it was anymore.

It wasn't me! I don't have a warrior alt (and if I won some warrior loot in a roll, I wouldn't have lied about an alt ... I'd just say "tough shit, I won the roll and I need Topor" ;)).

[cd288]

same btw :p the zone in to sebilis always had dozens of people at it, and a lot of us hung out at bugs while LFG. I remember helping them DPS their mobs hoping they would invite me next, lol. I never felt super in danger.

On modern P99 I remember a see invis frog seeing through my invis and not being able to make it from the entrance to the exit alive. Died so dang fast. Another thing that prob way less likely to have happened in Sebilis "back in the day."

I do wish Sebilis was as popular on P99 as it was on OQ EQ. KC still had it's place obviously, but not like it does now ! Especially for players over level 52 !

I feel like for awhile Seb was very popular for groups back when the servers had more population so people had to spread out at least a little bit.

[loramin]

I feel like for awhile Seb was very popular for groups back when the servers had more population so people had to spread out at least a little bit.

Also back before "people soloing Heiro cloaks" was a thing (which made the 2nd-most popular camp in the zone far less popular), and before Fungi was regularly trio-ed (which made the most popular camp far less popular).

Man, I miss those times.

[cd288]

Also back before "people soloing Heiro cloaks" was a thing (which made the 2nd-most popular camp in the zone far less popular), and before Fungi was regularly trio-ed (which made the most popular camp far less popular).

Man, I miss those times.

Not sure on Heiro cloak but I do remember it still being popular while fungi has been regularly trio-ed. But again that was like maybe 2 years ago I want to say? Both servers had decently higher pops back then

[loramin]

Both servers had decently higher pops back then

To be clear, I didn't mean to imply that the staff changes to the meta were 100% responsible; things like population matter too of course.

I just think that when PUGs lost the two best camps in the zone to soloers/trioers, it was a major factor in Seb changing from a popular PUG dungeon to a BYOG dungeon.

[DeathsSilkyMist]

People were more interested in fashion and stats on live. A cool look was a big deal for dress up elf SIM players.

Were all a bit more practical now.

Very true. I was offered a Cloak of Flames for my Wurmslayer when Kunark was first released because it looked so cool compared to the generic weapon graphics. Sadly my 56k modem decided to drop me before the trade was made, and they weren't online afterwards.

[shovelquest]

Haha I wore charred guardian armor, and stuff so I could be an EVIL paladin.

I was such a trash tank.

[shovelquest]

I wore Black Chitten legs on a pal for the look XD

[Wakanda]

Very true. I was offered a Cloak of Flames for my Wurmslayer when Kunark was first released because it looked so cool compared to the generic weapon graphics. Sadly my 56k modem decided to drop me before the trade was made, and they weren't online afterwards.

People think I'm meme'ing when I tell them this, but I remember when Manastones weren't considered a good or valuable item. I had a next door neighbor who was obsessed with trading, that's all he did on EQ, and I remember someone offering him a Manastone for a Runed Mithril Bracer and him getting offended. And then the patch hit shortly after this and he was kicking himself for rejecting the deal :eek: I don't think a lot of us really saw the potential for that item at the time, but obviously others did.

[Snaggles]

In response to everyone recalling how Lguk was perma camped with all mobs down...

I love reading the kedge keep guide write up. Guy was sick of Lguk being full. Hell even those 4 gargs were a camp.

So he went to kedge and learned the zone, got insane solo exp and never looked back.

I'm regards to fungis, I was a warrior on live, always had a cleric in my group and never did alts. Felt my money was better spent on weapons and velious armor or busy trying to raid. I actually didn't have a haste item until late velious / SoL when an RBG dropped and my pug group let me claim 'need before greed' so got for free.

Was a different time back then when camaraderie was a driving force in us all.

The problem with this post and most regarding nostalgia is this game has been going on for 20 years; ie: when were these memories from? Even at peak, there were half a million subs and server to server things were different. Even pods of buddies and guilds had different mindsets on all sorts of things.

Manastones stopped dropping shortly after classic launched. Guises too. These were exclusive AF, period.

Fungis were treasured and used by duelers and soloers on Rodcet, just like on p99.

Not saying your experience or recollection isn’t valid. It just needs context. Just like mine isn’t for everyone as we all lived different nerdy lives.

Part of the p99 issue is shoehorning “classic” into one shoe. We also never did sweaty FTE races or half the crap that happens on p99. This is a different box, that’s great. To think it’s an emulator of exactly 1999 for every EQ fan outside trying to emulate content? That’s crazy.

[Snaggles]

Sorry Rygar. I was responding to this.

People think I'm meme'ing when I tell them this, but I remember when Manastones weren't considered a good or valuable item. I had a next door neighbor who was obsessed with trading, that's all he did on EQ, and I remember someone offering him a Manastone for a Runed Mithril Bracer and him getting offended. And then the patch hit shortly after this and he was kicking himself for rejecting the deal :eek: I don't think a lot of us really saw the potential for that item at the time, but obviously others did.

[Snaggles]

Actually ignore all this, I was drinking and posting. No offense intended :)
Nostalgia is weird and personal. Plenty of memories out there and it seems most with this game were good.

[Sadre Spinegnawer]

During the first few years it was unobtanium because it was a genuine edge at the HP numbers of the first expansions. Margins were tighter 25 years ago. We all know the many reasons why, but a Fungi seemed godlike at the time. "Why are you healed already?"

Back during the clear area-med before repop era, it's hard to overstate how cool it was.

But on that note, a LOT of shit was cool!

During the first couple of years, playing an enchanter was fun because being able to cc was viewed as cool. People would get immersed, no joke. "Mob is just staring at me, break mez?" "Yup."

[Wakanda]

The problem with this post and most regarding nostalgia is this game has been going on for 20 years; ie: when were these memories from? Even at peak, there were half a million subs and server to server things were different. Even pods of buddies and guilds had different mindsets on all sorts of things.

Manastones stopped dropping shortly after classic launched. Guises too. These were exclusive AF, period.

Fungis were treasured and used by duelers and soloers on Rodcet, just like on p99.

Not saying your experience or recollection isn’t valid. It just needs context. Just like mine isn’t for everyone as we all lived different nerdy lives.

Part of the p99 issue is shoehorning “classic” into one shoe. We also never did sweaty FTE races or half the crap that happens on p99. This is a different box, that’s great. To think it’s an emulator of exactly 1999 for every EQ fan outside trying to emulate content? That’s crazy.It's a true story. Was there any reason why a Manastone would be more rare than an Evil-Eye bag is today? That's a serious question. I played early EQ, but I don't know the nuances like that since I mostly had a variety of low level noobs scattered throughout Norrath at that time. But I genuinely remember Manastones not being seen as a super rare or as a particularly valuable item on my server until AFTER they were nerfed. A lot of lower level noobs like my friend and I couldn't even comprehend why they could possibly be good.

Also looking up patch notes for OG EQ out of genuine curiosity is wild. As a kid 6 months into EQ felt like 5 years, no exaggeration. It felt like it took a life time for Kunark to come out, and that Kunark lasted forever. In actuality it was like a year :D

[Wakanda]

Other weird things too, I can remember executioner's axes being seen as like the best weapon in the game (looked so insane AND had haste??). Langseax that was 6/23 as being a super good item. Bronze breastplate selling for 300 PP etc. I legit only learned on P99 that Banded Armor is superior to Bronze Armor ;) they had me convinced Bronze armor was super lit because of how sought after it was on my server.

Also remember black iron boots being a huge deal because they could kick wisps!

[Wakanda]

Last one before I stop; I remember BBC (bone-bladed claymore or something like that?) being an insanely good item that people would spend their entire life trying to get (later discovered Langseax of the Wolves).

But in hindsight, when I say it felt like you would spend your entire life trying to get these items, it was legit prob like 3 weeks, but it felt like 10 years a kid playing the game. Time so different when you are young ;)

[HarmoniumGuard]

They didn't hand them out because you weren't supposed to have one if you weren't guilded and titled by the Sleeper's Tomb quest. It made Warriors and Monks soloplayable.

[Goregasmic]

Everyone is soloing or duoing here thats why they all wear it

This and loramin's point about zones not being filled to the brim with players pretty much makes a lot of people solo by default due to lack of grouping opportunities. This is sort of a negative feedback loop.

I've also noticed players are a lot more risk averse or maybe not just all that adventurous. I've seen a lot of entrance groups in velks content with just staying there while frenzy was open. The most daring puller will go up to broodling but they'll never move to CE/safehall. Won't complain being a chanter but that boggles my mind. I can understand people not wanting to deal with the absolute fuckery that is charasis but there is no reason for sebilis early camps being empty. Much less spending your entire 50s in LCY, that's just straight up dumb.

Jimjam's take on the lower AC caps also rings true but even if you have 1400ac and all of that would be effective, 10-30ac feels like a drop in the sea while regen is generally more helpful compared to the tiny mitigation you'd lose.

[Wakanda]

Perhaps the issue isn't the Fungi* but the other options available not being classic?

For example, there is a growing body of evidence that there is currently some kind of cap on worn AC. This cap on p99 is suggested to be far lower than what is suggested by accounts contemporary to early everquest.

If this is true, then one would expect the Fungi to be disproportionately powerful - when you already have 180 worn AC and there is no benefit to exceeding 200 worn AC there is no difference between a 20 AC top and a 50 AC top (except one gives a big boost to regen)!

Speaking of regen and caps, there seems to have been all sorts of hidden 'antitwink' code in classic EQ - worn AC caps which scaled with level, pitiful returns from stats in early levels, and diminished returns on stats after a certain point (e.g. 75 Agi, 200 Int, etc).

IDK how I missed this post before (I mostly only look at forums while inebriated tbf). But this has to be true. AC is king was way more valid on original EQ. I remember being genuinely confused when I played on P99 for the first time and saw all kinds of melees wearing low ac stuff by choice :D like it was the meta to wear the woven shadow that had terrible stats on it because of the high AC and kunark armor (ie. Mrylokar’s) was considered an upgrade from planar gear because it had more AC. You would feel the difference when you equipped it.

The part about thinks not being OP is also true. I made the mistake of giving someone I thought was a friend my account because at the time I didn’t think I would play it again. They deleveled my roughe as far down as you could, but I still had all of the no drop stuff when I got my account back (a GM may have helped me get this stuff back, I honestly can’t remember). But even with Ragebringer (and yes I could equip at very low level unlike on P99), and full skyshrine, I struggled to solo orc legionnaires in crushbone. I remember actually being mad. Meanwhile I could twink a rogue with a satnav backstabber and some cheap gear and easily solo the, on p99 :)

[Wakanda]

I've also noticed players are a lot more risk averse or maybe not just all that adventurous.

Think a lot of this is obviously a high risk vs low reward situation. When I first discovered p99 it was still a fairly new server (green that is) and I remember being so stoked to go to lower guk and farm and try to get a group to farm items. Even got to roll on an SMR, actually solo looted a few TBBs, and got to split an FBSS ! Amazing times but in the grand scheme of things this was wildly inefficient. Once I realized I could just afk farm halfling guards and make 10k a night going into these dungeons for a chance at getting a group for a chance at getting a camp for a chance at winning a random… that I would much rather just do the most profit yielding afk/solo friendly content.

Main reason why I think a random loot (similar to mischief) version of p99 or Quarm would be a lot more exciting :o because I would be way more likely to join a random camp in permafrost or sol A if I thought I could have a decent chance at seeing something neat drop 😹 and like even tho I know it’s classic, maybe nerfing the heck outta ez mode plat farms :D and also removing MQs from the game completely

[Goregasmic]

Yeah I actually wanted a TBB and a FBSS for my alts but TBB is like 5% drop rate and FBSS 10% drop rate on a 10% mob. Figured it would take forever on a 28mins respawn while I could probably buy both after a night in droga... 25 years later there aren't many secrets left and people figured most of the efficiencies. But yeah, green also has been up for like 6 years so most gear is now super cheap, making buying often faster than farming. This probably wasn't the case in the original timeline but not much you can do about it now.

On the other hand there's nothing worth anything in COM PUGs and nothing amazing in KC either unless you luck out on a tstaff and people flock there anyway. While you could get better loot in seb and it is empty so I don't think reward is the prime objective for most people. Those who want big rewards will make a strong class and solo/duo/trio the money camps.

[cd288]

I've also noticed players are a lot more risk averse or maybe not just all that adventurous. I've seen a lot of entrance groups in velks content with just staying there while frenzy was open. The most daring puller will go up to broodling but they'll never move to CE/safehall. Won't complain being a chanter but that boggles my mind. I can understand people not wanting to deal with the absolute fuckery that is charasis but there is no reason for sebilis early camps being empty. Much less spending your entire 50s in LCY, that's just straight up dumb.

It makes sense if you think about where we are in the server's life. The majority of players are leveling up their 5th alt or whatever. They have gear, they have plat. They'd much rather sit semi AFK in a group while one person does all the work chain pulling mobs for them. They don't need to go anywhere else, they don't need to advocate for grouping at camps for certain drops. They can buy whatever they need, or they otherwise don't really need anything other than BIS raid gear at this point.

So for them, doing anything that adds additional risk to the EXP flow that they need has no value.

Separately, to address all the comments about "this item was big on classic" etc., we also have to remember that someone's experience in Classic is going to vary depending on what server and guild they were in. While info had started flowing online a bit, you were still going to see differences based on server/player knowledge back in the day.

[aaezil]

If you think the best chest item in the game is bad, then you are probably not the greatest EQ player

[Wakanda]

If you think the best chest item in the game is bad, then you are probably not the greatest EQ player

I mean I probably am bad, but I just remember everyone pining over the monks, rogues, warriors etc. who had full skyshrine "back in the day."

I don't remember anyone pining for a fungus tunic. Fungus tunic was actually hella cheap on my server, and very attainable comparatively. Pretty sure you can pull up old auctions from 20+ years ago of people selling fungus tunics cheap AF compared to today. Also remember the camp almost always being camped even back then. A lot of times it was hard to find an open camp in Seb even if you had a group etc.

[Wakanda]

I mean I probably am bad, but I just remember everyone pining over the monks, rogues, warriors etc. who had full skyshrine "back in the day."

I don't remember anyone pining for a fungus tunic. Fungus tunic was actually hella cheap on my server, and very attainable comparatively. Pretty sure you can pull up old auctions from 20+ years ago of people selling fungus tunics cheap AF compared to today. Also remember the camp almost always being camped even back then. A lot of times it was hard to find an open camp in Seb even if you had a group etc.

by hella cheap I mean compared to today's standards. 10-20K. wasn't a huge purchase like has been for most of my experience on P99.

[Wakanda]

Also random memory. I had full skyshrine on original EQ and got made fun of for not having full Kael instead :p everyone said it was better? But then on P99 SS is considered better a lot of the times. I personally preferred the look of Kael Armor though (purple for rogues !).

[cd288]

by hella cheap I mean compared to today's standards. 10-20K. wasn't a huge purchase like has been for most of my experience on P99.

You're not taking into account mudflation and what the value of platinum was at that time.

Fungi tunics cost more because we're on a mudflated server. On an original classic era server, every person on the server didn't know all the best cash camps, have an alt specifically dedicated to farming, etc. 10k - 20k platinum was worth a lot more in the classic era back in the day than it is on P99...shit look at Green as an example, it didn't take long for prices to go way up there because of how much plat there was in the economy.

[WarpathEQ]

Fungis went for identical prices on my classic live server as they do on P99 green for this era, never been on a server where they went for under 40k like they do on blue.

[Goregasmic]

It makes sense if you think about where we are in the server's life. The majority of players are leveling up their 5th alt or whatever. They have gear, they have plat. They'd much rather sit semi AFK in a group while one person does all the work chain pulling mobs for them. They don't need to go anywhere else, they don't need to advocate for grouping at camps for certain drops. They can buy whatever they need, or they otherwise don't really need anything other than BIS raid gear at this point.

I can understand not wanting loot but who wants to go through 59 on level 40-44 mobs in a 6 player group? That sounds miserable, especially when a couple zones have 47+ mobs that can be handled by just about any group. I mean if that's your idea of fun then more power to you but if you want to be the slightest bit efficient it is definitely not the way to go.

[cd288]

These are the people who are doing their Nth alt to 60 to neckbeard raid. Or they are people who literally don't care about leveling speed because they just want to chill. None of them necessarily care about efficiency, just that there is EXP flow while they sit there basically semi-AFK doing other things. If you're doing that, you don't care about efficiency as much because you're not even really focused on playing the game, you're essentially just trying to leech EXP.

[Jimjam]

I can understand not wanting loot but who wants to go through 59 on level 40-44 mobs in a 6 player group? That sounds miserable, especially when a couple zones have 47+ mobs that can be handled by just about any group. I mean if that's your idea of fun then more power to you but if you want to be the slightest bit efficient it is definitely not the way to go.

I mean there are a tonne of lvl 50+ mobs in KC if the pull isn't focusing on lvl 40 stuff... besides, whats the rush to 60? All it means is I'll just have to roll another warrior again.

[Goregasmic]

I mean there are a tonne of lvl 50+ mobs in KC if the pull isn't focusing on lvl 40 stuff... besides, whats the rush to 60? All it means is I'll just have to roll another warrior again.

Yeah you can do hand/warlords or basement. I spent a couple days there and have only seen RCY/LCY groups though, where most mobs range between 40-45. I felt the exp was terrible at 53 so I left, couldn't see myself doing 54 there.

I left for HS which has about the same ZEM but no competition which made it much faster, even if it is absolutely the most boring zone. To each their own i guess but the 50s are so slow I try not to make it even longer than it needs to be.

[WarpathEQ]

Been soloing verix/basement area and its a pretty good exp camp at lvl 60 solo. Only acceptable exp I've ever seen in KC. That place is shit otherwise.

[Goregasmic]

Been soloing verix/basement area and its a pretty good exp camp at lvl 60 solo. Only acceptable exp I've ever seen in KC. That place is shit otherwise.

It is about the same ZEM as HS and HS is considered top tier XP. The problem with KC is there are like 3 groups splitting like 40 spawns unless you got a great puller.

[WarpathEQ]

It is about the same ZEM as HS and HS is considered top tier XP. The problem with KC is there are like 3 groups splitting like 40 spawns unless you got a great puller.

In my experience chardok, sebilis, and wakening lands all yielded way better exp than KC. Never really spent time in HS so can't speak to that.

[Snaggles]

In my experience chardok, sebilis, and wakening lands all yielded way better exp than KC. Never really spent time in HS so can't speak to that.

On live the only reason to spend time in KC was prior to getting a Seb key. Everyone I know bounced after that.

[Rygar]

OS (seb to you losers) was top group spot on my server for sure. I remember exping in kedge with guildies hoping for a phinny pop and it was good until someone drowned.

CoM was legit, and I recall us making icewell groups regularly bute not wanting to ruin faction, folks claimed good exp