Launch Day / Year 1 stories

[m004yu]

Hey all, I was never around for Classic EQ but as a fan of old games I've really been enjoying the EQ experience. I've managed to spot some really interesting memory recollections in YT comments and throughout forums, so much so that I went back to usenet archives to look at the newsgroup on launch day. https://usenetarchives.com/threads.p...&y=0&r=0&p=188

To those that played Year 1, or have any interesting classic stories, share! I'd love to hear them.

What was launch day like?
How many players per server on launch? Throughout year 1?
How crowded were various zones?
How did people play the game then when nothing was known?
What was trading like before everyone agreed on EC Tunnel?
What was leveling like before people found all the 'best' spots like unrest?

Any stories, memories, or screenshots I'd love to hear about and see.

[magnetaress]

there where level 12 enchanters handing out ac buffs at newbie log in nektulous

ppl ran out to EK and lake rathe for groups

we had groups around the little camps around the lake for like lvl 12-18's ppl

the aviak chicks where a hot commodity even the one or two camps. i remember sitting out on an aviak spawn with 2 of the little guys with 3 ppl and we killed them [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] we just sat around chillin

I even duo'd the hermit out there

banded was like big boi armor

enchanters sucked so bad they grouped

[Allishia]

I remember playing my necro but I was on dial up. Everytime I got a good pet someone would call and kick me off the internet/nod

Same thing happened to my mage, I quit mage at lvl 16 cause was too dependant on pet lol.

[Encroaching Death]

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

I remember playing my necro but I was on dial up

I HATED this. Especially as the little brother in the family.

"You've had enough, let your sister call her boyfriend!"

They would of course be on the phone all night.

Fuck dial up.

[Danth]

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

Fuck dial up.

If it makes you feel any better, I had cable internet (it came available in my area early in '99) and it disconnected from EQ fairly often as well. Not as often as dial-up, admittedly, but it wasn't rock steady like we take for granted on P99, either. Quite a bit of the connectivity issues EQ had, especially in crowded zones, were in part cased by the game's compatible-with-dualup low rate data output. Doesn't matter how fast my fancy new cable ISP can receive if the host is only transmitting at a limited rate.

[Encroaching Death]

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

ppl ran out to EK and lake rathe for groups

we had groups around the little camps around the lake for like lvl 12-18's ppl

the aviak chicks where a hot commodity even the one or two camps. i remember sitting out on an aviak spawn with 2 of the little guys with 3 ppl and we killed them [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] we just sat around chillin

I envy this.

I wish Lake Rathe was more popular [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I do remember grouping at KFC back in the day. I remember because I got banned there.

[WokeCat]

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

banded was like big boi armor

Bronze Breastplate sold for over 100p on my server, and 100p was a big deal back in the day because most of us didn't really know how to make $$$ really fast. We had one drop in Unrest and two kids on my school bus got into a huge fight over it.

[WokeCat]

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

Bronze Breastplate sold for over 100p on my server, and 100p was a big deal back in the day because most of us didn't really know how to make $$$ really fast. We had one drop in Unrest and two kids on my school bus got into a huge fight over it.

It may have been 300p actually, no exaggeration. This was before crafted armor. I also remember someone raging at me for having a langseax (6/23 1 hand slashing with no stats, warrior only) on my level 10 halfling warrior. he said twinks like me were ruining the game.

[magnetaress]

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

It may have been 300p actually, no exaggeration. This was before crafted armor. I also remember someone raging at me for having a langseax (6/23 1 hand slashing with no stats, warrior only) on my level 10 halfling warrior. he said twinks like me were ruining the game.

Langseax is ez to cheese at low lvls. Especially with sneak and a throw away alt.

[Swish]

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

twinks like me were ruining the game.

There was definitely that vibe. Some serial server jumpers (when new servers went up every few months) would try and escape the highly "twinked"/"old" servers [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]