The Pinnacle of Everquest (In your opinion)

[eqravenprince]

Pre expansions was when EQ was the best for me. Take away most of the raid content except for a 2-3 raid bosses for Kunark and Velious, then they would also be just as good as the original game.

[solias]

IMO it was Kunark - Velious and PoP added cool stuff for sure, but for me Everquest was all about the dungeons and small group stuff - raiding was sorta fun in it's own way but also a huge mess in many many ways. The best part of Everquest was going to a dungeon with some buddies and just crawling through trashing the place, pulling several rooms at once just for the extra challenge, maybe getting some loot maybe not but just having fun playing the game. You didn't need to farm a ton of sweet gear to do anything, gear definitely made stuff easier and made you feel good, but in that time I never felt like I NEEDED to get a piece of gear just to do things. With Velious and beyond it was so much more raid oriented, sure there was some dungeons and group stuff but it seemed so much more raid-focused, then of course Planes of Power was almost all raid stuff and even the stuff that was group oriented was just not fun at all... Luclin was somewhere in there and it was alright, but I didn't like the new models at ALL or the new graphical style they were going for, which was a big factor pushing me towards WoW instead of EQ2 or Vanguard (ignoring any other discussion on the merits of those games).

ANYWAY. That's a lot of words to say I really liked the Kunark zones the best, even as a Erudite Enchanter I bone chipped my faction in Cabalis up to be friendly to everything, even the necro guild which took a lot of extra time because I spent so much time there. And frankly, everybody knows the froglok dungeons are the best, guk + sebilis for life. I certainly had fun in Velious and Luclin also, just not as much as with Kunark. Then PoP sucked the last enjoyment out and EQ lost it's magic for me.

[Danth]

Here's a chart which approximates how I feel. I feel the game peaked in early 2000, in the period around Kunark launch, and remained pretty good through until Luclin launched.

[Spriggen]

I voted POP just because I believe it was harder. Needing keys to get into certain zones was awesome, and weeded out those that couldn't cut it.

[Pookieson]

Thats why druids and wizards exist! I think the timed spires in nexus were a good move, though. Sparse auto-teleporting, and not to necessarily central areas. A PoK book was just too convenient. Killed the adventure aspect i think. Its not always just about the destination, its about the journey, and in the case of EverQuest, how long and/or treacherous it can be. Look at poor iksars. Getting out of Cabilis is a fucking mission if you want to do it at low level. Not with a pok book though [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[heartbrand]

Did you guys all start playing EQ in 2001 that the PoK books traumatized you so much? I spent the vast majority of my time in Plane of Tranquility and the PoP zones. I don't think I went to somewhere like Cabilis even once. They put the books in because no one was using the three year old content and it was a hinderence to game play. Obviously had the books been in the game in 1999 it would've been a different story.

[Pookieson]

i mean, i agree that PoT and PoK were awesome hub zones, and that the planes probably brought more good than bad. i spent hours in PoJ, PoI, and grinding in Fire(still one of my favorite zones). i just didnt like the simplification of travel to such an extreme. maybe less books would have been better.

[webrunner5]

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

i mean, i agree that PoT and PoK were awesome hub zones, and that the planes probably brought more good than bad. i spent hours in PoJ, PoI, and grinding in Fire(still one of my favorite zones). i just didnt like the simplification of travel to such an extreme. maybe less books would have been better.

I would agree with you about less books. PoT was really too easy to get to other planes.

[Daldaen]

PoT was fantastic because it allowed a hub for all group-making and raid-prep.

I really hate group-making in this era of the game. You can /ooc LFG in KC or Seb... or you can put up LFG. But getting a tell for a Seb group when youre in KC and aren't a porter, is lame. Sure... I would love a Sebilis group, but that actually means I have to spend like 30 minutes running from KC -> DL -> FV -> SoNH -> FoB -> EJ -> TT -> Seb. By the time I'm arrived maybe the group has broken up or lost a crucial member, or wiped. Then I am stuck in Seb for awhile.

Whereas during PoP, I would say LFG in PoTranq if nothing, would check the zones applicable to my level. At 50ish, I'd check PoJ, PoN, PoI, and PoD. Each zone contained atleast a group. At high 50-low 60s PoV had a few groups and PoS usually had a group doing giants or frogs.

I can't say enough good stuff about PoP. I really can't think about any of its failures other than the alpha-flagging system without the level-barrier of entry for higher planes. Once they added that, it was damn near perfect. Raiding, Grouping, Soloing... the spell system, the AAs added, the tradeskills, the quests added in PoK and PoT.

The central hub of PoK and PoT really increased player interaction rather than decreased it. You were all pushed together into those zones depending on level, and would interact and group far more with randoms.

[Zuranthium]

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

The central hub of PoK and PoT really increased player interaction rather than decreased it.

Increased as compared to the shit state the game was in during Luclin, maybe. You might as well be playing Starcraft, sitting in the virtual chat lounge before entering a match. There's no more true fantasy immersion or adventure game left at that point; everyone in the world beaming up to some "plane" that feels like you're all floating around in a weird box up in the sky where a bunch of random vendors have taken up residence and everyone can just beam down almost anywhere at will.

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

I really hate group-making in this era of the game. You can /ooc LFG in KC or Seb... or you can put up LFG. But getting a tell for a Seb group when youre in KC and aren't a porter, is lame.

There's other places to go. City of Mist. Burning Woods. Chardok. Skyfire. Howling Stones. Do a /who all, ask people in the zones, and/or put your own group together. Granted that's less options for the Seb area but plenty for the other side.

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

PoT was fantastic because it allowed a hub for all group-making and raid-prep.

That's not how raids are supposed to operate, though. They should be epic, not something routine.