Do you feel like the early days of EQ are forever lost to time?

[Wakanda]

I started playing in 1999. I was just a kid though, and made a new character every two hours. By the time I got serious about leveling all of the neat items like SSoY, SMR, FBSS etc we’re commonly seen in the auction channel.

(Bronze breastplates sold for 300p on my server, two real life friends stopped talking to each other over this after they got in a fight over one in Unrest).

I also remember when items like exe axe, and exe hood, and even FBR and oracle robes were considered some of the most coveted items in the game. People desperately wanted the oracle robe because it looked ~sO GoOD~

But I’m actually more curious about the first high level players. That part of history. The first people who went into Lower Guk or Sol B without any map and learned the entire zone (think of how huge these zones are). I really wish twitch streaming or YouTube had been a thing back then because I imagine that would have been crazy to witness.

I feel like people leveled really slow back then, but maybe with an initial rush you had a bunch of people basically raiding these zones? Or was it tiny groups? There’s also the fact that they had to add level requirements to the planes, and the fact that many low level players had planar gear, some of which was removed from the game for being deemed too powerful. I just wish we had a more clear idea of what was actually happening during these time periods. I was playing the game, but seldom making it beyond level 15.

My idea of a high level player was a level 20 because they had a last name ! Also does anyone remember freaking out over Short Sword of Morin? Or a plain 6/23 langseax?

[Duik]

Shirt answer: Yes.

Long answer: Yes.

[Jimjam]

it was more RP than G.

[Reiwa]

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

Shirt answer: Yes.

Long answer: Yes.

LOTR answer: You can't go back to the Shire.

[Ekco]

"Do you feel like the early days of EQ are forever lost to time?"

Everyone comes here for difference reasons but most eventually reach the same conclusion.

I came because I wasn't in the cool kid's club on Fennin because i was retarded 13-year-old at the time, standing in EC tunnel here with a PD Robe when TMO still had that shit on lockdown wearing the guild tag I idolized as a kid didn't make me feel better, i felt nothing.

[Swish]

The best way to enjoy around 2000-2001 was to server hop.

People actually used to hate seeing twinks around. That level 8 dark elf mage in the SMR may have looked nice but it was a sign to move on for some of us. That fresh server feel and race to 50 was great. I'm sure the TLP crowd still enjoy that the most.

My route was Prexus (because it was short and easy to remember vs some of the other names), Lanys, Luclin, Tholuxe, Antonius Bayle... then I jumped ship to the EU servers managed by Ubisoft (lmao) and settled on Venril Sathir before quitting during LDON to try EQ2 for no longer than the free trial [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Wakanda]

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

People actually used to hate seeing twinks around.

I’m glad someone else remembers this [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] my irl friends made me move to their server, and to try and be nice they gave me bronze armor, langseax etc. and I remember getting raged at severely by multiple players at an orc camp in the common lands (can’t remember if EC or WC).

They kept calling me a twink and how they can’t stand players like me and don’t want to play with us. I never heard that word in my entire life, so after I logged off I searched the meaning of the word and was super confused because i got the lgbt definition of the word [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

The funniest part is that bronze armor and a langseax wouldn’t even be considered a twink in 2024 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]. I find my self getting annoyed by twinks sometimes in 2024. Like earlier tonight this one ultra twink with his level 60 Druid friend were trying to claim Pit, GY and CE in Mistmoore simultaneously, meanwhile we have a full group [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] hecka narcissistic to think you as one player deserve three camps when an entire group would be happy with just one of them !

[Jimjam]

Conflict is driven by competition. If the twink and you were competing for the same mobs, there is one explanation for antipathy right there.

Likewise, social comparison mindsets can lead to poorer mental health outcomes if you compare yourself to someone you perceive as better to you. So even if that twink is in your group, helping you clear content, you may still experience unpleasant feelings in response to them.

Another explanation could be in/outgroup psychology - their access to superior equipment may make you ‘other’ them, making it more difficult to empathise or establish feelings of connectedness.

This popular psychology shit post was sent from my toilet [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Duik]

Twinking is always relative. When i started bronze was (in my clueless opinion) twinky for a lowbie. In jan 2000 as a druid I was happy with a fs scimitar and some tailored leather given by an irl friend who started late 1999. I was amazed when crafted clad newbies grouped with me.
Jimjam is right, but i was happy my small mana pool (rubbish gear) was challenged less because good armor mitigates damage. Coming from AD&D with great dms helped to ease me into feeling like earning (in my opinion) is better than twinking. To each their own.
Low expectations helped to not be "jealous" of twinks i suppose.

I will never be amazed by seeing the butcher block chess board for the first time again. More's the pity.
Mega buffs helped more for the non twinks i felt.

[Ciderpress]

Yeah the magic of early EQ was largely in how unknown everything was. I remember full groups of naked barbs teaming up to take down wooly mammoths in everfrost, which would be unheard of today cause it's an insanely inefficient way to get loot or xp, but we just didn't know better and it was fun as hell. I remember everyone being horny for minotaur axes, which are horrrrrible weapons lol. It was a magic time though.

I know what you mean about a lvl 20 seeming like a high level player. It probably took me a month on my barb warrior to get 20, and I thought long and hard about what I wanted my surname to be cause it was a BIG deal.

I remember forming a pickup group in EC, and we were deciding where to go, and somebody was like "I heard there's some lizard temple a few zones away" (CT), so we ran all the way there as a group and it was packed to the gills with players. Sigh... I miss those days.

It's sad too because even somebody who's never played EQ before can't get that experience really, because they'll be playing in a world where everyone else knows every single thing about the game. There's not gonna be any wooly mammoth assassination squads for them to join. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

When I think about it though I was really just insanely lucky to be the age I was (15) when the game launched and to have played it through planes of power. Not some TLP, it was the real shit. I kinda feel bad for people who can never experience how fun that was.