[eq1] Nostalgia hard

[Ellay]

Totally can't believe it but I've been playing this game for a week. My first foray into mmo's and with their Free to Play model along with the Test Server being the equivalent of a paid player, it just made sense to give it a try.

Actually really enjoying it, and not sure how long it will last but it does make me feel old as it is a game my kids will not be able to relate to me with. It is fun though, and for some reason grinding in EQ was the most enjoyable grind of them all.

With that said, no real information besides 6 boxing a group and getting to relive content from the past.

[Lyonheart]

I feel the same way when i go back to EQ. I used 3 toons+3 mercs ( J5 mercs ) and could do anything that can be done in a group. Have not played in awhile but I am sure i will be back to visit in the future.

[Ualaa]

I haven't played in a while either.
But the game has the nostalgia draw to it.

I basically was power leveling a set of lowbies, up to join my 60th level healer (Druid)... who wasn't much of a healer, back when the game was current... but which is a good healer (along with Shaman and Cleric) in what the game has evolved to.

They had their preview of the Instant-85 character (paid service), and allowed everyone to do that once for free.
I upped them to 85, one toon per account (six accounts).
But haven't played them since.

Pretty much going from location to location, doing things that I remember doing as a player who was leveling in the day.
Certain spots were a considerable time investment.
Which oddly translates into nostalgia.

There are still places to check out...
It will lure me back eventually.



Test server is nice.
It is free to play... but with all of the perks of being a 'Gold' paid player.
And you get every expansion for free.

You can copy your stuff over.
And then sell it.
And repeat the process.
Or just copy your gold (platinum, in EQ) over.
Just remember to transfer it into the shared bank, or to a character who is not going to be overwritten by your next 'Copy to Test'.
You can copy from a Live server to Test server, once every 8 hours.

[Ellay]

The latest expansion was not given for free on test, and there has been no mention if it will ever be given for free. I guess you can't expect the entire game to be completely free though :)
Either way still toggling around trying to decide which class combo I like the most. It's definitely interesting.

I guess an issue I didn't realize but multiboxing in EQ while touted as a boxer game, is definitely not as smooth as the newer counterparts. It feels a bit clunky overall.

[Ualaa]

The level cap was 65th, when I left the game.
The nostalgia draw will end, with existing (and free) content.

If the game draws me in, enough to want to continue with it... it's not unreasonable to spend a bit of money on the game.
With a completely free environment (Test Server), I was still spending on some optional things from the Station Store.

I don't mind supporting a company if the product is worthwhile.




Having played a more modern MMO (World of Warcraft), addons in particular have really spoiled me.

The older generation game, really does feel older.

[Ellay]

agreed. I hear wow is pretty nice with the new expansion :) I just got to lvl 58 and it's still somewhat interesting but it'll probably end soon enough hah. Ah well.

[Crayonbox]

ellay, you still playing EQ? Daybreak did the progression servers and its back to 1999 and I'm nostalgiaing really really hard lol

[Lyonheart]

ellay, you still playing EQ? Daybreak did the progression servers and its back to 1999 and I'm nostalgiaing really really hard lol

Hmmm....tempting! It says "a similar experience". I wonder what is not the same?

[Meeo]

race and class penalties are gone, leveling xp curve is been smoothed out, They had to keep the new freeport map due to instancing issues, they kept a lot of quality of life changes in the ui, including /melody for bards. /pickzone was added to allow you switch instances of lower level maps so you could actually camp stuff - This abilities is not available at higher level zones.

Those are the few things i've noticed so far.

[Starbuck_Jones]

It's been fun watching some of the Twitch streams. But apparently the guild Twisted Legacy simply rolled mages and killed all the dragons with zerg pets. There's still a lot of people playing but a good portion of people just threw their hands up and are already back to their normal streams. :(

[Crayonbox]

apparently theres a future expansion that super buffs mage pets. this buff was kept in.
this is the reason for the mage pet zergs.
Either way, I've been ignoring the progression and just playing for nostalgia sake. its been fun regardless and i continue to keep playing.

the true 1999 experience is in the p99 server, but they have a strict anti multiboxing rule and so thats whats turned me away from it. that and its low base population. due to the low populatin, its really difficult to really find gruops and thus boxing would be a great fit, but meh.

[Meeo]

I started on Ragefire with a mixed team SK/Clr/Shm/Wiz/Mage/Brd. I shelved this group becuase it wasnt that fun, and made a Druid/Enc/4xMage team. This group reminds me of WoW Pally w/ 4xShamans, except our totems (Water Pet) actually destroys everything. Only thing i really lack is a bard, which isnt that bad, ill use my druid to pl a tank/bard/1 x other class somewhere after kunark starts.

[Starbuck_Jones]

With 21 expansions to date, I find it a little strange that they have a two month timer AFTER progression bosses are killed before a new expansion is opened. Daybreak got a tremendous reception with Ragefire, but I think it is absolutely silly to expect people to hang around or even come back when Kunark is unlocked. And eight months for Velious after that.

It should be 2 to 4 weeks tops. They are delusional if they think they can get several years out of this.

[EaTCarbS]

With 21 expansions to date, I find it a little strange that they have a two month timer AFTER progression bosses are killed before a new expansion is opened. Daybreak got a tremendous reception with Ragefire, but I think it is absolutely silly to expect people to hang around or even come back when Kunark is unlocked. And eight months for Velious after that.

It should be 2 to 4 weeks tops. They are delusional if they think they can get several years out of this.

My guess is that its the people that would be playing EQ anyway.

[Starbuck_Jones]

I don't know... They already have progression servers that failed. This one is premium only so you have to pay the access fee to play on it. A TON of people subbed up to play, not playing eq anyway people. These are the people that will un-sub because there isn't anything to accomplish. Fewer will resub for Kunark and none will a year later for Velious.

They fired this up for the nostalgia and nailed a home run, but no one is going to nostalgia $15 a month for two or three years to unlock that progression list. In today's gaming and entertainment environment, spending several months and years to unlock content isn't going to work. When it originally launched, people spent months exploring and consuming the content. You can't do that again. The content has already been consumed, documented and analysed. Playing through the content is nostalgic. Waiting real life months and months for an expansion, because that's how long it took in 1999 for it to come out is not.

That's like going back and watching the star wars movies. You watch them in a day, few days, once a week and are done. You don't watch the first, wait three years to watch the second and three more years for the third because that's what you did in the 70's and 80's.

They had something golden here and are turning it into lead.

[Crayonbox]

Yea, i'm hoping they realize that the 6month time is way too long and they cut it down. once kunark comes out , maybe 4 months of content tops. but because people have done this already, asseen on ragefire, content gets cleared in a week.
hopefully they realize thisand up thetime table a bit, but not too much. im enjoying the pace although its a bit faster than i remember.
\
either way, just going to enjoy it while it alsts

[Lokked]

I'm fine with 6 months. As you speak about Nostalgia, understanding that this "classic" content is 15 years old, I don't have as much time as I did 15 years ago. My life's and my attention span has changed a lot in 15 years and the current progression seems fine to me. I actually enjoyed the leveling experience more than the endgame, due to having to meet raid times and the politics. Just like every decision ever made, it suits some and not others. Also, I resubbed to play (a few accounts) and its the first Sony sub I've had in years.

[Crayonbox]

I'm fine with 6 months. As you speak about Nostalgia, understanding that this "classic" content is 15 years old, I don't have as much time as I did 15 years ago. My life's and my attention span has changed a lot in 15 years and the current progression seems fine to me. I actually enjoyed the leveling experience more than the endgame, due to having to meet raid times and the politics. Just like every decision ever made, it suits some and not others. Also, I resubbed to play (a few accounts) and its the first Sony sub I've had in years.


Totally agree withy ou on the time required, but they did make quality of life much easier for the players because a lot of the hanges they made on the live servers carry over to these "progression" servers. i was surprised by how easily i leveled. when i first went in, i expected to take even longer than my original time to get to level cap. isntead i blazed through it over a weekend.
still 6 months does seem like a long time, but we'll see.

[Ellay]

Hey Crayonbox, I missed the replies to this thread a month ago >< I stopped EQ shortly before having my latest kiddo. In the past month or so slowly getting back into gaming as night time is now actual relaxation time.

The progression server is super tempting. I've been watching some of the streams and thinking about what class combo I would make. Seeing groups in PoHate and it actually being the top end content was the ultimate experience for me. With limited time though, 6x subs not sure if I'd be reaping the total value out of it.

Oh do I miss the days of no responsibility and gaming 14 hours... it sounds terrible but it was enjoyable :)

[Ellay]

As a follow up, I ended up making the plunge and doing the progression server and it is amazing.
Currently lvl 24, and many multiboxers are capped at 50, it's great seeing dungeons busy, trade going crazy, drama on contested spawns. It's as close to the original as you can get.
I wish I had more playing time, as I know this moment is fleeting - but appreciate it.

[Crayonbox]

hope youre on lockjaw :P

ive been playing a bit and doing a regular group combo, but mages are pretty stupid. i ended up filling my group with a few mages and its pretty solid. currently
Shadowknight
Enchanter
Cleric
4x mages
2x wizards

I'm running into a CPU bottle neck running 9 on my pc and thinking of just getting another computer... and then remembering i started this to be more of a casual project... haha.

[Meeo]

im on Lockjaw with similar box team. Taking a break from it right now to check out EQ2 vanilla since i never got to play it at all early on.

[Ellay]

On Ragefire with Void.

How do you manage going beyond 6? I just see it being more of a hassle, but perhaps it really isn't that bad.

My main team is SK/Dru/Ench/3x Mage, I really like the combo but it lacks Res.
I also really want to make a melee team and somehow put a bard into the mix, but I can't figure out if 3x Rogue or 3x Monk would be better.
I really should add a cleric but I love my ports and sow.

[Lyonheart]

My main team is SK/Dru/Ench/3x Mage, I really like the combo but it lacks Res..

druids can res! if you mean resurrection?

[Ellay]

On classic they can't :( I don't think they get the res spell until luclin. Have quite a few expansions to wait. It's amazing how specific classes were back in the day. They filled basically 1 role. Now in most mmo's the roles mesh better.