[Aborath]

Originally Posted by Cyrano [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

This guy gets it. Velious is huge and unforgiving, it's the final frontier of Norrath before we went to the moon. The fights are harder, everything is bigger, and the rewards are greater. The progression makes perfect sense and deservedly is considered the crown jewel of EQ.

Many people would say this expansion created modern MMOs more so than any single title or expansion in any game since. Yeah we had some raids before, but this created tiered raiding, incorporated massive, rewarding quests (which they got right with epics in Kunark) on a more inclusive level (ring war was usually an open invite with people from all over the place helping out, not just the main guild - it was a community event), and created the true hardcore raiding environment where world firsts mattered.

On top of that, if you really get into it, there is tons of lore incorporated into the three main factions and the part you play in their dalliances. Quests for champions and quests for traitors, and not just collect a few things in turn in like we got in classic, but long, multi leveled quests that require trade skills, single camps, groups, and raids. They basically made epic quests available to everyone instead of just individual classes. Did you know there were quests in SS with incredible rewards that weren't solved until almost 5 years after the release of Velious? That zone alone carries so much lore and history it's mind boggling.

We haven't even gotten into Growth, ToV, or Sleeper's Tomb. To say this expansion is lacking in lore is to show a lack of experience with this expansion. I would suggest that you guys who weren't fans of it get into a decent guild (not saying you aren't) and start doing stuff. There is so much to do in Velious starting around level 30 that we'll be a happy server for a long time. Even if you aren't in the top guilds, you'll find great things to do and with the community on P99 10th rings shouldn't be too hard to get. Hell I won't be surprised if BDA or another class R gets the first 10th ring.

Great post. Velious was an amazing experience, culminating in one of the most legendary video game happenings of all time: the waking and killing of the Sleeper. I can't wait to revisit it all.