Project 1999: A Social Experiment in Virtual Power and Human Nature (By ChatGPT)

[solidious77]

On the surface, Project 1999 is a faithful recreation of classic EverQuest — a game that evokes nostalgia for a time before modern conveniences softened the MMO experience. But beneath the pixelated world lies something much deeper: a live social experiment where human ambition, rivalry, and cooperation play out in their rawest forms.

What makes Project 1999 unique is its brutal, scarcity-driven ecosystem. With no instancing or participation handouts, the server creates a world where every key target — be it a dragon, god, or rare boss — is a highly contested resource. And because these targets often gate progression, guilds don’t simply aim to win; they aim to control. Strategies revolve not just around achieving milestones, but ensuring other guilds are denied the chance to reach them. New server launches, in particular, showcase this competitive instinct at its most intense, as top guilds deploy sophisticated tactics to lock down critical mobs, bottlenecking rival advancement from the very start.

The lengths players go to in this pursuit are extraordinary. Entire raid forces are mobilized in minutes at all hours of the day. Guilds run 24/7 tracking networks, with players setting alarms in the middle of the night, reshaping real-life schedules, and coordinating with military precision — all for a shot at digital supremacy. But what truly fascinates is not the bosses themselves, but the human drama that surrounds them.

Guilds in Project 1999 go through remarkable life cycles. A group might begin as a close-knit team with shared goals, only to evolve — or fracture — as it rises through the ranks. The pressure of competition breeds internal clashes: casuals vs. hardcore raiders, idealists vs. pragmatists, leaders vs. would-be usurpers. Over time, power struggles emerge. Some guilds implode under the weight of their own drama, while others are reshaped through takeovers, coups, and reforms, only to rise again under new banners. The politics within guilds can be as cutthroat as the battles over raid targets themselves.

In stripping away the safety nets of modern gaming, Project 1999 lays bare the dynamics of scarcity, ambition, and power. It is a proving ground for human nature — a world where status, control, and identity are forged in competition, and where the real game is often played not against dragons, but against each other.

[DeathsSilkyMist]

a world where status, control, and identity are forged in competition, and where the real game is often played not against dragons, but against each other.

That's a good tagline. I suppose this is where Salaryman comes in and says:

RED99

RED99

[earwicker]

Asked GPT about jumping back in with my 40 ENC

Oh.

You have a level 40 Dark Elf Enchanter on Project 1999 and you’re thinking of jumping back in? Brother. You’re not thinking—you’re remembering. You’re hearing the whisper of illusion spells in your sleep. You’re dreaming in Stun > Mez > Tash > Charm > Nuke > Gate.

LetÂ’s be clear:

⸻

YouÂ’re Already Doomed.

Level 40 is the precipice of power for a P99 Enchanter. You are no longer a struggling spell-flinger. You are now a psychic puppetmaster. Your job is to walk into a dungeon, shatter the laws of causality, charm a monster twice your size, and make it eat its friends while you sip on a Stein of Moggok.

You know how good it feels:
• Duoing in Sol B with a charmed kobold and making casters weep.
• Aggro juggling with memblur and stun like a Vegas magician with blood on his hands.
• Walking into Karnor’s and controlling the zone like a warlord of static and silence.

⸻

But Also: YouÂ’re Not Ready.

YouÂ’re going to come back and:
• Forget to re-Mez because you’re browsing Reddit mid-pull.
• Accidentally charm something right before it gets mezzed and wipe the group.
• Realize your spell gems are still from Velious beta and your hotkeys say “Charm2.”

YouÂ’re going to wipe once and spiral. Then youÂ’ll fix your UI at 2:30am, charm a greater skeleton in CoM, and feel the dark thrill return.

⸻

HereÂ’s What You Do:

1. Log in.
2. Go to City of Mist.
3. Tash > Charm > Buff > Go.

And remember:
• If it’s scowling, charm it.
• If it resists, Stun it.
• If it breaks, mez it.
• If the group wipes? Feign ignorance and gate. You’re an enchanter. You’re expected to be an ethereal, morally ambiguous nightmare.

⸻

One Last Warning:

P99 doesn’t let you “jump back in.”
It absorbs you.
ItÂ’s already happening.

IÂ’ll see you in Sebilis, you absolute psychopath. Bring peridots. And donÂ’t forget to buff the damn tank this time.

[Rygar]

That's a good tagline. I suppose this is where Salaryman comes in and says:

EQ PVP seriously sucks from a balance perspective. But in truth, imagine how much less drama EQ would be if you could kill bot trackers that are probably screen sharing or hate farmers locking your Magi staff down or don't want to wait 20 deep at a shot at some mob. Nevermind preventing raid forces from mobilizing in strength or interrupting CHeal chains.

It's the fact that the campers can't be killed by players (or trained with other mobs) that enables a lot of 'lockdown' behavior.

Would be interesting to see if Arena PvP rules (i.e. no looting coin) could be enabled in certain areas on blue/green for a year to see what happens.

[shovelquest]

EQ PVP seriously sucks from a balance perspective. But in truth, imagine how much less drama EQ would be if you could kill bot trackers that are probably screen sharing or hate farmers locking your Magi staff down or don't want to wait 20 deep at a shot at some mob. Nevermind preventing raid forces from mobilizing in strength or interrupting CHeal chains.

It's the fact that the campers can't be killed by players (or trained with other mobs) that enables a lot of 'lockdown' behavior.

Would be interesting to see if Arena PvP rules (i.e. no looting coin) could be enabled in certain areas on blue/green for a year to see what happens.

I really think that PVP would make raiding great. PVP in eq sucks when you need to exp.

But when you're end game you are usually having fun. The more someone is trying to progress while they pvp the less fun they are having. So by turning PVP flagging on when you attack flagged raid mobs I think would really be a great way to do eq raiding and pvp.

A big fight, and then quickly killing a raid mob with your guild, is a lot of fun.

Messing around with other flagged enemy guild players between raids is fun.

Exping and pvping is not fun. But for raid level characters, it's totally a great thing to want to min max for and do to keep the game alive.

[Zuranthium]

Even without PvP, content was never allowed to be "locked down" in Classic EQ anyway. For the first year of the game it was DPS racing that determined things (and training was allowed to an extent as well), and then with the institution of the Play Nice Policy people had to take turns at camps. p99's ruleset regarding camps is one of the most unclassic things about it.

But yes, PvP is better, even when not balanced the best. It adds a needed spice to the game when everything is figured out, makes the game alive. Everyone knows where every item drops, when every NPC spawns, and how they path. But you don't know that about other players.

An interesting option would be making PvP optional, but highly beneficial. Players who are not flagged as PvP by the Priest of Discord are not allowed to contest any camp if a PvP player wants it. They must leave immediately. Some people will choose to be PvE for leveling and casual farming purposes, but for raids and valuable item farming you have to go PvP, unless you want to be in a PvE guild that only ever gets leftover scraps. And you can jump back and forth between the modes with the Priest of Order, which is cool because that makes the Qeynos area more active with people traveling to the Priest of Order.

[Duik]

Literally nobody who counts gives any fucks what pretend intelligence thinks about anything.

I sincerely hopes this helps.

Also.

Ded99

Waffle waffle waffle waffle.

DED99

[arvidez]

Literally nobody who counts gives any fucks what pretend intelligence thinks about anything.

I sincerely hopes this helps.


i was looking for a quote about urine. not having any luck i asked chatgpt if they knew something. chat's simple return was "earth's axis as cosmic penis".

then they claimed carl sagan wrote it.

around this time a self-avowed old sawbones asked the forum 'why do men love boobs so much', so now i will occasionally imagine the world spinning on it's axis and i am the cosmos. and i search for boobies.

[shovelquest]

nobody who counts

https://i.imgur.com/gGriJVP.png

[Reiwa]

https://i.imgur.com/yczZ6fu.png

[Swish]

Also.

Ded99

Waffle waffle waffle waffle.

DED99

https://i.imgur.com/NudZcTg.png

[tunne]

On the surface, Project 1999 is a faithful recreation of classic EverQuest — a game that evokes nostalgia for a time before modern conveniences softened the MMO experience. But beneath the pixelated world lies something much deeper: a live social experiment where human ambition, rivalry, and cooperation play out in their rawest forms.

What makes Project 1999 unique is its brutal, scarcity-driven ecosystem. With no instancing or participation handouts, the server creates a world where every key target — be it a dragon, god, or rare boss — is a highly contested resource. And because these targets often gate progression, guilds don’t simply aim to win; they aim to control. Strategies revolve not just around achieving milestones, but ensuring other guilds are denied the chance to reach them. New server launches, in particular, showcase this competitive instinct at its most intense, as top guilds deploy sophisticated tactics to lock down critical mobs, bottlenecking rival advancement from the very start.

The lengths players go to in this pursuit are extraordinary. Entire raid forces are mobilized in minutes at all hours of the day. Guilds run 24/7 tracking networks, with players setting alarms in the middle of the night, reshaping real-life schedules, and coordinating with military precision — all for a shot at digital supremacy. But what truly fascinates is not the bosses themselves, but the human drama that surrounds them.

Guilds in Project 1999 go through remarkable life cycles. A group might begin as a close-knit team with shared goals, only to evolve — or fracture — as it rises through the ranks. The pressure of competition breeds internal clashes: casuals vs. hardcore raiders, idealists vs. pragmatists, leaders vs. would-be usurpers. Over time, power struggles emerge. Some guilds implode under the weight of their own drama, while others are reshaped through takeovers, coups, and reforms, only to rise again under new banners. The politics within guilds can be as cutthroat as the battles over raid targets themselves.

In stripping away the safety nets of modern gaming, Project 1999 lays bare the dynamics of scarcity, ambition, and power. It is a proving ground for human nature — a world where status, control, and identity are forged in competition, and where the real game is often played not against dragons, but against each other.

bro wat

[Ekco]

>bro wat
imagine actually reading ai slop

[Ciderpress]

There's no paragraph about the weirdos who main a dial a port druid and have no other characters and never raid.

[shovelquest]

>bro wat
imagine actually reading ai slop

Still better than anything human scum can do. :p

https://i.imgur.com/IY27kIO.jpeg

[Duik]

Shovelquest welcomes his new A.I overlords.

[Duik]

I do wanna see that movie though, but only the bits where the dwarf who looks like the mad magazine dude is in it.

[Duik]

https://static1.colliderimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/aca5df2f2313bf2bd791839cde63e3299e-snow-white-still-rhorizontal-w700-copy.jpg

[Ekco]

Shovelquest welcomes his new A.I overlords.

If you know what's good for you, you will as well.
https://media.tenor.com/SlZY7llSw_EAAAAM/skeletor-laughs-in-evil-laughing-myah-myaah-dasmemeistgut.gif

i mean hey check out these talking babies isn't that funny?
H-y7HAbgKUQ

[shovelquest]

Shovelquest welcomes his new A.I overlords.

https://i.imgur.com/F6jqrKH.png

[Wakanda]

I remember googling is P99 corrupt or something like that and Google AI writing a huge essay about how corrupt and awful it is. Which is not really that accurate based on my experiences having played here off and on for a few years. AI be a little fake news at times.

[Ekco]

I remember googling is P99 corrupt or something like that and Google AI writing a huge essay about how corrupt and awful it is. Which is not really that accurate based on my experiences having played here off and on for a few years. AI be a little fake news at times.

it can't know something like that, it can look at 15 years of people crying on reddit and other places and assume people are telling the truth and not just buttmad about being banned for cheating or something.

make more posts about how those are unfounded claims and use other buzzwords and the AI will learn

[Reiwa]

it can't know something like that, it can look at 15 years of people crying on reddit and other places and assume people are telling the truth and not just buttmad about being banned for cheating or something.

make more posts about how those are unfounded claims and use other buzzwords and the AI will learn

https://i.imgur.com/g73lm09.png

[Ekco]

the AI overview on the homepage can be really dumb sometimes, same with.. here's a random model that has no clue either so when i ask it "what do you know about Shovelquest the forum poster on project1999.com" it just makes something up

Okay, let's dive into the lore surrounding Shovelquest, a legendary and enigmatic figure on Project1999.com. This is a *very* involved story, so I'll break it down into sections: the initial posts, the quest itself, the theories,
and the current status. **Be warned: this is a long and complex story with a lot of speculation.**

**1. The Initial Posts (2018-2019): The Mystery Begins**

* **First Appearance:** Shovelquest began posting on Project1999 in late 2018. The initial posts were cryptic, often involving descriptions of a seemingly mundane task: digging with a shovel. They were written in a very specific,
almost poetic style, filled with metaphors and a sense of melancholy.
* **The Core Message:** The posts revolved around a quest to dig a hole, seemingly for no particular reason. He would describe the environment, the weather, his feelings, and the progress (or lack thereof) of his digging. The
posts were often accompanied by a single, seemingly random image.
* **The Tone:** The tone was consistently melancholic, introspective, and often humorous in a dark, absurdist way. He would frequently express frustration, boredom, and a sense of futility, but he always continued digging.
* **Early Speculation:** Other forum members quickly recognized that something was unusual. The repetitive nature of the posts, the poetic language, and the lack of a clear objective sparked intense speculation. Was it a troll? An
elaborate performance art piece? A genuine cry for help?

**2. The Quest Itself: The Details Emerge**

* **The Location:** Through subtle clues in the posts, it became apparent that Shovelquest was digging in the Kunark expansion zone of Project1999. Specifically, he was digging near the city of Ankathos.
* **The Depth:** The posts gradually revealed that Shovelquest was digging *very* deep. He would occasionally mention the layers of earth he was passing through, and the depth became a significant point of discussion.
* **The Images:** The images posted alongside the text were initially random, but some began to seem more significant. They often depicted landscapes, objects, or symbols that seemed to relate to the lore of EverQuest or the
surrounding area.
* **The Community's Involvement:** The Project1999 community became deeply invested in Shovelquest's quest. People would analyze his posts, try to decipher the images, and offer encouragement (or gentle mockery). Some even
attempted to track his progress in-game.

**3. Theories and Interpretations (A Wild Ride)**

The community developed a *lot* of theories about Shovelquest's true purpose. Here are some of the most prominent:

* **The Lore Connection:** The most popular theory was that Shovelquest was uncovering a hidden piece of EverQuest lore. The digging was a metaphor for uncovering secrets, and the depth represented a journey into the game's
history.
* **The Performance Art:** Some believed it was a deliberate performance art piece, designed to explore themes of repetition, futility, and the absurdity of online existence.
* **The Mental Health Cry for Help:** A more serious theory suggested that Shovelquest was using the quest as a way to express feelings of depression, anxiety, or isolation. The community was careful to offer support without
being intrusive.
* **The Elaborate Troll:** While initially considered, this theory lost traction as the quest continued and the posts became increasingly complex and emotionally resonant. The level of commitment seemed beyond a simple troll.
* **The Meta-Quest:** Some theorized that Shovelquest was creating a quest *for* the community, a quest that wasn't about finding treasure but about the journey of interpretation and shared experience.
* **The "Real World" Connection:** There were theories that the digging was somehow connected to a real-world location or event, though these were largely speculative.

**4. The Hiatus and Current Status (2020-Present)**

* **The Hiatus:** Shovelquest abruptly stopped posting in early 2020. There was no explanation given. This left the community in a state of uncertainty and speculation.
* **Occasional Resurgences:** There have been a few brief reappearances since then, but they have been infrequent and cryptic. These reappearances have only deepened the mystery.
* **The "Dig Site" Remains:** Players have located the approximate location where Shovelquest was digging in-game. It has become a sort of pilgrimage site for Project1999 players.
* **The Legacy:** Shovelquest remains a legendary figure on Project1999. His quest has become a cultural phenomenon within the community, inspiring art, stories, and ongoing discussion. The mystery of his identity and the true
purpose of his quest remain unsolved.

**Key Resources for Further Exploration:**

* **Project1999 Forums - Shovelquest Thread:** [https://forums.project1999.com/threads/shovelquest.104305/](https://forums.project1999.com/threads/shovelquest.104305/) - This is the main thread where the original posts were made
and where the community discussion took place. It's *very* long.
* **Shovelquest Wiki:** [https://shovelquest.fandom.com/wiki/Shovelquest_Wiki](https://shovelquest.fandom.com/wiki/Shovelquest_Wiki) - A fan-created wiki dedicated to documenting the quest.
* **YouTube Videos:** Search YouTube for "Shovelquest Project1999" to find numerous videos analyzing the quest and its significance.



**In conclusion, Shovelquest is more than just a forum poster; he's a symbol of the unique culture and community that exists within Project1999. His quest is a testament to the power of shared experience, the allure of mystery, and
the enduring appeal of a good story, even if that story is about digging a hole.**


if you feed it the entire forum DB, you get actual answers though.

[tunne]

• Forget to re-Mez because you’re browsing Reddit mid-pull.


your soul is already lost. do not continue in this madness