Longing for the Old Days of P1999, Yet Grateful for the Journey

[IzHaN80]

There’s a part of me that would love to go back to the days when P1999 was my drug of choice. Exploring the Desert of Ro, one of my favorite places, watching people level up there — veterans and newcomers alike. Wandering through Karana, returning to the roots, seeing the server alive and full of people everywhere… but it’s hard now.

Since Quarm, it’s been especially difficult, and I understand why. On Quarm I was able to experience grouping in dungeons I never thought could be filled with so many players, witnessing loot drop for the first time that I never even imagined existed in those places. Raiding, making friends, camping valuable items — so many things without having to invest three sleepless weeks of your life, glued to the chair, waiting for a single mob to spawn with the hope it would finally drop what you were looking for… and not losing your mind after 14+ hours when it didn’t. Because, let’s face it — we all have lives now.

Things that might seem small — like not seeing the damage of your DoTs, mobs not taking full damage unless they hit you first and remain static, the clunky camera, the XP rate, even having rings that immediately tell you a mob’s difficulty instead of spamming /con nonstop — these are just a few of the many details that wear you down.

I don’t care much about Luclin, I don’t care much about PoP. All I wish is that P99 could adapt, just a little, to today’s players. That it wouldn’t only cater to those who can spend unhealthy amounts of time in front of a PC 24/7 chasing items. I’m not asking to be hand-held, I’m not asking for free rewards. But most of us here are adults now, with responsibilities. At least those of us who have loved this game since 1999.

And yet, I have nothing but gratitude. Thank you, Project 1999. You brought me back to my childhood. You allowed me to enjoy EverQuest again. I leveled many characters to 60. I raided — not endlessly, but enough to have fun in Kael, in Plane of Fear, and other events.

P1999, I wish you could be what you once were: with that classic soul, but just a little more adapted to what players need today. Quarm is wonderful, I enjoy it — it removes absurd barriers and unnecessary tedium at the start, giving us a smoother path — but… it will never be my P1999.

Disclaimer: I have used GPT to help me out traduce my thoughts, since English isn't my first language, so excuse me if you find a bit of ChatGPT in my text.

[cd288]

Another post from Quarm people talking about how it's better than P99 and P99 needs to do what Quarm does?

No thanks.

The low population here currently isn't because of Quarm. It's because the servers are old and mudflated. If they merged tomorrow and launched a new server, the new server's pop would be a couple thousand people. People are just playing Quarm because there's no new P99 alternative right now.

[Goregasmic]

You can't long for p99 and then in the same breath wish for a custom ruleset. It is classic or it isn't, for better or for worse.

[Ekco]

People have this thing where they project their current experiences unto other people / reality as a whole.

not everyone is as bored of classic as you(s) currently are and for some people Quarm/THJ is this amazeballs new concept where they've never experienced/ even considered the fact you can play everquest in a different custom way or that expansions past Velious exist and have an urge to tell other people about it because they're having an insane amount of fun

check back in after a year or two and let me know if that sugar high still has some legs

as Motel 6 says, "We'll Leave the Light On For You" when you're ready to come back.

[Rygar]

Very little gear is "needed". Just group and have fun. A crazy pull that nearly wipes your group is exhilarating (doesn't matter if you are wearing rags), it will be remembered long after a piece of raid gear drops for you or the 5th alt.

[WarpathEQ]

The reason you're finding loot you didn't know existed in places on Quarm is because it never actually did exist there on EQ, Quarm is a non-EQ custom project that uses EQ as an interface. Playing on that server does not represent playing Everquest as it was created.

Scarcity creates value. Sure we could re-engineer the game so you can get a full BIS character in 90 days or less but then you essentially completed the game and have no reason to keep playing.

For me personally, and I think I capture the general sentiment of the player base, the massive investment that is required to unlock the full potential of your character is the entire draw to the game. As a form of entertainment this is the only game I've stuck with beyond ~90 days in the last 20 years. In fact the last time I encountered a game that had that kind of engagement is was the original EQ and nothing really accomplished that before.

[IzHaN80]

Originally Posted by cd288 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Another post from Quarm people talking about how it's better than P99 and P99 needs to do what Quarm does?

No thanks.

The low population here currently isn't because of Quarm. It's because the servers are old and mudflated. If they merged tomorrow and launched a new server, the new server's pop would be a couple thousand people. People are just playing Quarm because there's no new P99 alternative right now.

It does a lot of things better than P99, especially when it comes to quality-of-life improvements. The camera feels smoother, you can see your XP per hour, you can actually track your DoT damage — and the list could go on for a while. These are just quality-of-life changes that don’t lower the difficulty of the game, but they make the journey less painful and a bit more enjoyable.

But I never said it was better than P99 — it’s just different. And to be honest, I think the people defending this model as if it were the only way are actually the ones killing the servers.

I feel like you didn’t really pay attention to what I wrote before — or maybe ChatGPT didn’t capture my feelings properly when translating. What I meant is this: P99 needs a new server. A fresh start. No merging. Why would anyone want to merge servers? What’s the point? What’s needed is a new cycle. Bring people back, make them level together again, group up, and experience that old vanilla classic feeling all over.

Like I said earlier, Quarm is nice — but it will never be P1999. I grew up on this server, I love it deeply. But when I return and see it empty, when I see the same guild dominating the same raids, when there’s nothing fun or new left to do… yeah, I think it’s time for P1999 to do something about it.

[loramin]

Originally Posted by IzHaN80 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

What I meant is this: P99 needs a new server. A fresh start. No merging. Why would anyone want to merge servers? What’s the point?

The point of merging servers is to get a fresh server. The staff's plan, since before Green ever existed, has always been to merge Green into Blue, and then start a fresh ("Green 2.0") server.

[IzHaN80]

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

You can't long for p99 and then in the same breath wish for a custom ruleset. It is classic or it isn't, for better or for worse.

I just wish they would reset the server.

As for a custom ruleset — nothing that breaks the game’s difficulty. Some QoL changes could be included. Strictly sticking to “classic” doesn’t always mean better, or even more fun. A lot of things were broken back then, and they were only fixed when X patch eventually came in. That’s kind of BS, especially when they knowingly reintroduce bugs just because “that’s how it was in classic.”

Things like DoT damage not showing in the window, DoTs not dealing their full damage because of a bug that got intentionally reimplemented “for the sake of being classic,” nerfing loot that was supposedly not “classic” without solid proof (looking at you, Seafury Cyclops)… and honestly, the list could go on and on.

[IzHaN80]

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

The point of merging servers is to get a fresh server. The staff's plan, since before Green ever existed, has always been to merge Green into Blue, and then start a fresh ("Green 2.0") server.

I feel that if you merge servers, people will just stay on the merged server and won’t move to a new one. A lot of players (with all due respect) are “poopsockers” who simply can’t let go of their toons, like their entire life depends on them.

What we actually need is a way to force people to move away from their old toons. Merging only creates more problems: deleted characters, messy name conflicts, and a ton of extra work for the devs. Too many variables, and none of them really fix the issue.