Ever..."Quests"

[redhorse]

When I first started playing EQ, I came at it right after binging through Balder's Gate and Vampire the Masquerade. I had the mentality that every quest is not only worth doing, but somehow necessary to actually work towards "beating" the game. I actually completed stein of moggok on my own, and attempted dozens of others. I think I had a lvl 18 enchanter with like 30 days played.

When I finally joined a group in highpass, we got an orc train and the group said, "WTF are you doing? Mez them?" I had experiment with the spell but it didn't seem to hurt the mobs, it just made them stand there. And if I did anything to them they attacked. I responded with, "That spell sucks, it doesn't do anything. It just makes them stand there but you can't hurt them." They fled, zoned, and promptly booted me.

Later that week, playing magic the gathering at the local comic book store, I was talking to another player who I discovered also played EQ and had a "gasp" lvl 52 druid. He told me something I remember to this day, "Unless its your epic, don't do quests. Ever. Just go group and level." That obviously dynamically changed the way I approached the game. However all the little bits of lore spewed by random NPC's all over the game world was still completely enticing.

[DeadlyReza]

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

When I first started playing EQ, I came at it right after binging through Balder's Gate and Vampire the Masquerade. I had the mentality that every quest is not only worth doing, but somehow necessary to actually work towards "beating" the game. I actually completed stein of moggok on my own, and attempted dozens of others. I think I had a lvl 18 enchanter with like 30 days played.

When I finally joined a group in highpass, we got an orc train and the group said, "WTF are you doing? Mez them?" I had experiment with the spell but it didn't seem to hurt the mobs, it just made them stand there. And if I did anything to them they attacked. I responded with, "That spell sucks, it doesn't do anything. It just makes them stand there but you can't hurt them." They fled, zoned, and promptly booted me.

Later that week, playing magic the gathering at the local comic book store, I was talking to another player who I discovered also played EQ and had a "gasp" lvl 52 druid. He told me something I remember to this day, "Unless its your epic, don't do quests. Ever. Just go group and level." That obviously dynamically changed the way I approached the game. However all the little bits of lore spewed by random NPC's all over the game world was still completely enticing.

TLDR; His game changed from Every...Quest to Never...Ever...Quest

But seriously best post ive read all month, I love noob stories

[DeadlyReza]

I have a theory about this...

The easier the quest text to understand the harder the quest.

Ageis of life - go kill a guy in SK, you need his live and undead version, but tye trick is 3 hour respawn WITH A PH

well played SoE

[captnamazing]

Finding pieces for warrior epic at the bottom of lake rathe and the TD chessboard. I would have been looking for years I feel like

[Laugher]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fs6FgBec-nk

[skipdog]

I'll never believe that there were 'all these unfinished quests in classic EQ'. I just don't see how the devs could not spill the beans at some point, or even how they could resist completing some of the quests on their own time.

[DevGrousis]

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

In classic retail pre and post Kunark, numerous players were really hot to have their characters learn every language available. Mostly it was for RP, but for some folks it was a prestige thing too.

Enter the Werewolf specifically spawned in West Karana. You could chase the thing down and hail him, and in classic he would replay something unintelligible in Werewolf. So at first players thought this was a hidden language and spread rumors about getting that first skill point in Werewolf by spam hailing him. Soooo many people fell for it.

Not to thread hijack (because it mainly follows the same thing: What were some of the funniest rumors you heard back on live, pre Luclin?

[DevGrousis]

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

I agree the rewards on most quests suck compared to the time spent

hmm I dont necessarily agree on that. This game in particular is very different in hindsight.

I think Everquest's biggest problem was that when they developed it they didnt have an eye to the future, and how weapons and characters would advance, so every old world quest is a literal piece of shit now, only a year or so and 2 expansions later (live timeline)

So back in the day during vanilla it was worth going on an 8 hour quest to get a (just crap shooting stats here --> ) 6/31 +2str weapon because not only was it really hard and took longer than that amount of time to save up PP to get a better weapon, but also it was the "cool factor" of having some no drop weapon that you got from a quest. Re-call how inspect was treated much differently, and there was no item linking. So unique weapon names or item graphics/effects were all the rage. If you saw a sword you either never heard of, or knew about but never did the quest to get it, yourself, it was cool! even though the stats might not be badass.

They gave each expansion such a raise in item power that they made their previous works of art so obsolete. And how easy is it for humans to forget the FEELINGS they had in the past and just look at statistics and shake their head at some old school looking piece of shit short sword with weak stats

[iruinedyourday]

I cant imagine how anyone would be able to figure out that ghost shit for the Shaman Epic.. its like that quest is a huge troll on the very concept of a well designed quest.

[fastboy21]

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

hmm I dont necessarily agree on that. This game in particular is very different in hindsight.

I think Everquest's biggest problem was that when they developed it they didnt have an eye to the future, and how weapons and characters would advance, so every old world quest is a literal piece of shit now, only a year or so and 2 expansions later (live timeline)

So back in the day during vanilla it was worth going on an 8 hour quest to get a (just crap shooting stats here --> ) 6/31 +2str weapon because not only was it really hard and took longer than that amount of time to save up PP to get a better weapon, but also it was the "cool factor" of having some no drop weapon that you got from a quest. Re-call how inspect was treated much differently, and there was no item linking. So unique weapon names or item graphics/effects were all the rage. If you saw a sword you either never heard of, or knew about but never did the quest to get it, yourself, it was cool! even though the stats might not be badass.

They gave each expansion such a raise in item power that they made their previous works of art so obsolete. And how easy is it for humans to forget the FEELINGS they had in the past and just look at statistics and shake their head at some old school looking piece of shit short sword with weak stats

Itemization is a huge problem in MMOs...EQ is no different. Top tier raid items replace most/all of the previous expansion. This really started to become an emerging pattern with luclin and then PoP. As a player, I found it tough to keep motivated on upgrading items that I knew would be upgraded again...and again...and again...with each full expansion that came out.

One thing that is somewhat unusual about classic (original to velious) EQ is how much stuff is not upgraded. There are more items in EQ that you need to keep carrying with you for situation purposes that never get replaced by simply larger stat items. Many of them are even acquired in low lvl questing and stay with you through the life of your character.

There was no stigma on having an item acquired at low lvl play/questing in your bags at max lvl and in full top tier raid gear. In fact, many of the coolest items (at least imo) are exactly that sort of thing. Not many other MMOs maintain that type of itemization for very long.