Seeking the lost soul of MMORPGs
 

Hey, everyone — I'm new to EverQuest. Glad to be here!

I'm an MMORPG veteran who, as the title implies, has become saddened by the current state of the genre. Roleplaying elements are considered inconvenient and iterated away, character progression is too swift, needing to form social bonds is unheard of, excessive usage of instances has made worlds feel empty, and let's not even talk about microtransactions. My search for modern MMORPGs that break this curse continues to be unsuccessful, thus I've found myself here. Archaic as the game may be, I've already found much to like over the past few days.

I've rolled a character on Green: Rukhshi, the Iksar Shaman. I'm clawing my way up from nothing and playing as blindly as possible, trying to use the wiki only to check spell details and the value of drops. I'd love to chat, play together, and maybe even join a guild willing to take in a passionate player — just be warned that my play time will be sporadic.

Thanks for reading!

As an iksar shaman you can progress linear through kunark only in a super immersive big ass kunark world it’s really something.

I started in traditional norrath so I don’t know what will set you up better for loving the game but all the starting areas are amazing really and just grinding the game as it comes to you level 1to 60 is the most enjoyable way to play by far. The less you know the more fun

Welcome to the world of Norrath. The majority of us here have reached similar conclusions about the genre. That said, there are at least a few MMOs currently in development that are worth keeping tabs on (Monsters & Memories, War of Dragnorox, Pantheon). Old though it is, and filled with imperfections, EQ really does serve as one generation's example of how games can be an uncompromising form of art. There's so much to get lost in and, even after years of playing, only begin to scratch the surface of. Without saying too much, you definitely picked one of the more popular and envied classes to learn EQ through. And yes, the fun really does lie in firsthand discoveries, knowledge gained through trial and error, so hats off to you for the blind playthrough.

Nothing so far has beat my very first steps in Everquest as a high elf enchanter in Greater Faydark then a while after making the epic journey all the way to Erudin (a grand quest for a Stein of Mogguk). This boat I heard I could take in Butcherblock promised an exciting adventure. I arrived in Freeport and there was an all new community of players I've never seen before, talking about places I only heard mentioned in the elven wood like Befallen. It all looked strange there across the sea. The beauty and nature of the deep, dark elven wood was replaced with sand and walls, humans and bright sky. I had spent weeks only in the Faydark, occasionally venturing to Kaladim for some quest turn-ins but not spending much time in Butcherblock. It was mostly Crushbone for me after work, so Freeport was so different.

Then after a perilous journey I finally arrived in Qeynos where there was a whole other community. They talked about a place I never heard of called Blackburrow. See where I come from we have Crushbone so this Blackburrow was mysterious. It was a place as normal for their community as Crushbone was for mine, and I loved that.

Remember this was early Everquest in 1999. Back then servers were quite crowded and no Kunark yet so Faydark, Freeport and Qeynos were crowded 24/7 with new players.

You can never beat those early classic Everquest experiences.

"Big-ass Kunark world", indeed. After /who-ing a few times, I realised just how wide the level range is in the starting area. Wild! /ooc is often alive thanks to that.

It is as you both say: slowly building up self-discovered knowledge is awesome. I try to do it with every game I play, even at highly-competitive levels. The subtle pain of MMORPGs is that the combination of exploration and partying-up encourages demystification: group play naturally applies a level of peer pressure to keep up, and people's wisdom is bound to be shared. Still, I would rather struggle with this balancing act than not have the option to do so at all.

I found Pantheon in my searches, but not the other two — thanks! War of Dragnorox stands out, but two of its design tenets really worry me — huge gear-based power gaps after hitting max level, and some items being potentially single-copy across the entire game. I fear this is excessive and will disrupt both non-max level balance and end-game gear hunts. Can't hurt to wait and see how it turns out, of course.

The journey you describe is reminiscent of the less-drastic, casualty-filled, transcontinental trip from Teldrassil to Stormwind City back in the classic WoW days. Journeying through zones 10-20 levels above me was perilous, but only losing gear durability upon death made it a simple matter of time and money. Can't say WoW managed to build such different cultures in each starting zone, though. That's amazing!

WoW was not quite the same though. There's a certain atmosphere to Everquest zones that no other MMORPG has quite captured yet. Starting for the first time ever in Greater Faydark is a much different experience than starting in Qeynos or Grobb.

Kunark is even more of a difference. Big city, bit confusing to traverse, four newbie zones, and it has a totally different feel than classic Everquest.

You'll have to make an elf in Kelethin or Felwithe to know what I mean. I don't think you can have a true newbie Everquest experience without falling off Kelethin lol.

get to lv 60 asap and be a warm body

norrath beckons!

Welcome and have fun, vile Iksar! If you've never played Dark Age of Camelot and can find an active throw-back server, give it a try. Best PvP I've ever seen.

Ahhh, elevator/height bosses: gotta love 'em!

Can't say anything about ASAP, but I'll make it there and be the ultimate buff bot. Just you wait!

I'm really enjoying my time here already. And, wow, how did you know that I LOVE PvP in MMORPGs?! I especially love massive wars with a point-control focus a la WoW's Alterax Valley. I've heard DAoC mentioned many times, so, if I do find such a server, I'll make sure to try it out someday.

Thanks for all the interaction, everyone!

Elder Scrolls Online has some great massive PvP like DAOC, in fact I think some of the DAOC devs worked on ESO.

Not sure how it is lately as it's been a while since I played it but I remember massive fights full of siege engines and whatnot.