Everquest (No Expansions)

[mokfarg]

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

EQ without expansions is also my absolute favorite but that is probably because of the passing of time paired with the game being cracked open like a coconut. Kunark and Velious, as great and genuinely classic as they are, have trace elements of the lopsided top heaviness that would end up defining MMOs as they are today. Vanilla EQ very much feels like some nerds tricked investors into giving them money so they could make digital DnD for their friends. This feeling, while present in Kunark/Velious, is vastly overshadowed by the looming promise of the mountain top, especially so with the game being aged and figured out so thoroughly.

I love it. I couldn't put it into words but this is it! I bet though we are the minority, there will never be a Everquest classic server that stops before expansions.

[Swish]

If this server was made, would you want the Paineel/Hole update or not?

[Rader]

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

If this server was made, would you want the Paineel/Hole update or not?

Everything up to but not including Kunark

[cd288]

I would take Kunark, I think there are some cool zones there and the Iksar lore is really interesting.

Agree you could probably skip Velious even though it has a couple of my favorite zones...mostly a raid focused expansion.

[Swish]

Classic only raiding would get stale fairly quick, I think Kunark with epics and other shit to chase made the game's peak.

[Evia]

I love classic, kunark and velious. I agree classic felt the most authentic fantasy world...but kunark and velious didn't go too far off the original mark for me. Luclin totally did...and pop would have been good if it weren't for the pok books.

[Namsaknoi]

Interesting idea, would be nice to test such server that caps somewhere pre-Kunark (listed below update points), I joined during Kunark so I'm not too familiar with pre-Kunark but from seeing patch notes, below seem to be some key updates:

- Plane of Fear launch Jul 26, 1999, so CT loots and one more raid content, Russet and Cryosilk set
- Temple of Solusek Ro launch Oct 13, 1999, and update on Kedge Keep a couple weeks after, it seems this is the time where Manastone and Rubicite armor along with many other items became no longer dropping or questable, while introducing the mid-level class armors to replace the Rubicite and mid level quests (Temple of Sol Ro related or not, like Buring Rapier with pre-buff stats and Paw of Opolla)
- Plane of Hate launch Nov 3, 1999
- Plane of Sky launch Jan 20, 2000, even with pre-buff items, the quested items are really Kunark level gear stat-wise so probably less desirable for such server point
- Paineel launch Feb 17, 2000
- Kunark launch Apr 24, 2000
- The Hole launch Jun 22, 2000 (thus not really pre-Kunark)
Many items that exist and quest in classic zones that are too good for their difficulty should be post-Kunark only, like Dragoon Dirk (updated from something crappier), Ivandyr's Hoop, Fanged Skull Stiletto (GM event, turning Stano's Head to Hanns)

[Rygar]

Kunark and velious but scale back the melee weapons and items.

No fungi (maybe make +6 regen), items like t-staff would be 15/29 ratio, etc. They tried doing this with velious raid gear in ToV but everyone was already spoiled from kunark, so they buffed them.


No one handed melee weapons should exceed 11/24, should be God drops for that

[Old_PVP]

Sequels are rarely better than the originals. Obviously, if sequels / expansions are being made, it is because the original was damn good.

[Rygar]

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

Sequels are rarely better than the originals. Obviously, if sequels / expansions are being made, it is because the original was damn good.

This is true, very hard to do in MMOs specifically. Can alter existing world so content refreshes and you don't have too large of a world that becomes dead. Add more classes or races, new spells, new gods, bring in cursed weapons, etc. Maintaining balance is key. Instead of adding 30 new zones maybe only 1 or 2.

I really dislike any game where expansions make previous content irrelevant.