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

[Reiwa]

Is anyone playing the Dalaya relaunch? Sept 27

[Reiwa]

It's launch day for Dalaya.

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[Jimjam]

Do monks get snare kick or whatever?

[Ekco]

installing now

[Danth]

Lot of folks here who were little kids when EQ was new. That, itself, probably accounts for some of the "magic" folks talk about. There's more wonder in life in general when you're a child or adolescent, than as an adult. Also a lot of folks who were new to online gaming, which no doubt also plays a part. There's no love like your first love, after all.

Coming from the other side, I was an adult when EQ came out, already together with my wife, and EQ wasn't the first (or even second, or third) massively-multiplayer game I tried out. It wasn't a new concept or magical to me. The graphic quality did not impress, I wasn't big on the role-playing setting, and some of the mechanics seemed pretty bad. But it was better than Ultima, the wife could play it too (MMO-flightsims were hopeless for her), so EQ grew on us over time. Even then we floated around server-to-server and eventually drifted away.

P99 worked out a lot better for us. Some of what seemed bad about EQ as relatively young adults, like the slow combat pace and frequent downtime, proved a nonissue or even an advantage in middle age. It's still not magical or wonderous, but P99 proved very well-suited to our needs, so we stuck here a very long time, much longer than we played any other online game.

The big difference between 1999, and today, was the optimism for the future of the genre. EQ was just a step on that path--the sky seemed like the limit, and we only had to await for technology to mature. Then World of Warcraft comes along like the proverbial 800 pound gorilla, smashes everything else, and spawns a legion of expensive clones that almost all failed and helped scare off investment. Now the market's moved on and the promise and optimism of old is but a memory, with what little hope remains tied mostly to a handful of low-funded independent projects. No-one would've imagined that outcome, twenty-five years ago.

[Jimjam]

That was a really interesting read, Danth (and well written too!).

[Reiwa]

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

installing now

Does this still get installed from Steam?

[Evia]

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

The big difference between 1999, and today, was the optimism for the future of the genre. EQ was just a step on that path--the sky seemed like the limit, and we only had to await for technology to mature. Then World of Warcraft comes along like the proverbial 800 pound gorilla, smashes everything else, and spawns a legion of expensive clones that almost all failed and helped scare off investment. Now the market's moved on and the promise and optimism of old is but a memory, with what little hope remains tied mostly to a handful of low-funded independent projects. No-one would've imagined that outcome, twenty-five years ago.

seriously well said! loved your post (minus the part where you say that eq isnt magical) :P

[Evia]

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

It's launch day for Dalaya.

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i went to the website and didnt see anything posted about it?

[Reiwa]

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

i went to the website and didnt see anything posted about it?

https://forum.shardsofdalaya.com/thr...2/#post-319505

Their discord is way more active go there.