When was your first experience with Everquest?

[Ratbone]

i started in September of 2000, just before velious and was instantly hooked,i herd about it through a friend, i remember saying to myself "this game has been out for a year and a half already where the hell have i been! this is awesome!" i played for a couple years straight then started losing interest after luclin came out,then PoP, then barly played LoY then LDON killed it for me. thank you for this server, though i don't play much, when i do, i have my old EQ back, thank you.

[masjaun]

I started in May 99, a friend and I in the 82nd Airborne stayed on post during the four day weekend. We went the PX and purchased this game on a thursday night. I think we played all weekend, slept a few hours, until tuesday morning when we had to do our physical training at 6am.

We both came from Ultima Online and hated getting ganked in pvp, the Everquest rules stated that you couldn't attack another player. Well, we both made characters in a server with (pvp), all of the names looked foriegn to us and we could remember the one with (pvp). Needless to say, we quickly figured out what pvp ment. We spent all summer on Rodect Nife, I think getting up to the mid 30's but then at around Christmas time a new server Lanys Tyvl opened. Some of my new EQ friends hopped servers and started out as "vets".

It was awesome! I felt like a seasoned pro! I made a Erudite Paladin, hoped the boat to Qeynos and began to farm everything that I could to make pp. I remember my first trip accross the world. My friend had a dwarf warrior named Steelhands and we wanted to play together. We spent all night doing research on the internet for maps and tips on how to cross Norath. I got an epic Bard with selo's to take me accross a few zones. What a trip! When I first laid eyes on that dwarven statue at Kaladim....omg...EPIC! When Plane of Fear opened the whole server was lined up out side of the portal. I think there was an un-official raid level of 35 to do the raid. There was no level restriction when it opened. The zone crashed, my phone line sucked, my comp blue screened a few times...what a night.

We all role played somewhat. A bard would be at Freeport Gates reading stories, Druids wouldn't kill animals, all Orgers spoke like Orgers (I thought that's how they all talked, like when you're drunk)...you get the idea....Guides were given quests and promoted in /broadcast. Massive arena duels were the win.

I am 36 now, I guess I was 25 at the time and a Staff Sergeant in the Army, I'm now a First Sergeant and still in the Army. And still playing EQ.

To the staff, thank you for making an awesome, while not perfect or exact, it's still an awesome expierience!

[MATPHAT]

Started April 1999. Rolled a Troll Shaman. Got lost in the swamp for about 12 hours.
Played till just after PoP came out.
Suddenly all my friends started raiding all the time and left me in the dust.
I'm a LAN style player and not having my crew with me got me burnt out quick.

[eqravenprince]

I purchased Everquest March 20th, 1999. It was a Sunday, I went to my front porch, grabbed the paper and as usual I went straight to the Best Buy ad. I saw this game call Everquest and it came with a free cloth map. So I went to Best Buy and examined the box and decided what the heck, I was bored with the games I was playing at the time and bought it. Little did I know what I was getting myself into. I was hooked from the start.

[Ploppy]

I started playing about 4 months before Kunark was released. I was 22-23at the time. I've said it before, but thank you guys for all your work. I love Project1999

[Cymeon]

I remember one christmas my brother in law bought me a copy of baldurs gate 2. I was so excited. I had never played video games all that much. We were both big into DnD and when baldurs gate was released (it may have even been bg1) it was the sickest game supposedly. Well I digress, with the copy of baldur's gate was included a printout of a receipt for EQ pre-order. I had no idea what EQ was at the time. He began telling me of the different combination of classes and races and how there was no storyline driven events, such as it was in DND or other games. There was no mod. It was just a whole new experience. I couldn't grasp the concept of a world that was never offline. Even when I was not playing, other people were. It amazed me.

That was my breakthrough into MMOs. I have yet to find the same experience with any MMO that I've played. I remember rolling my first char. A monk in freeport, using 2 rusty warhammers and cloth armor, with 400 copper thinking I was rich. I love you p99.

[xaisk]

My first char was a pally. I remember I thought it was a big feat to kill an orc pawn because my parents talked about dieing by them. I killed one then ran around the forest happy and exploring. Until I found an Orc Centurion and I got destroyed. Then my parents came home and I ran up to them screaming... I found a new orc type! it destroyed me in one hit!

[E-Boog]

I started not long after Luclin came out. I suppose I was 23 or 24. I sort of "officially" quit back around the end of GoD, though I come back to live to check it out now and then after a new expansion.

[Trademaster]

I purchased one of the very few Everquest/Kunark combination releases, and the last expansion I purchased was LDoN.

[khazim]

I played on a friend's account right after EQ went live. I bought my own account once the EQ/Kunark box set came out