It’s coming up on EverQuest’s 14th birthday, this March (16th, to be exact). I always like to delve back in around this time of year to see what new things are going on as far as birthday events, and this year is no different. Well, it’s slightly different. I managed to convince a friend to also return to the game with me this round, and so we decided to start on a completely new server, from scratch.
I looked at the SOE status page to figure out where we should play, home server is Drinal. After a bit of debate we decided to go with Firiona Vie, the roleplay server. This server is a bit different than regular ones. Number one, characters are created knowing their ‘home’ languages, and no others. That means in order to communicate in group you need to learn other languages first. So the first few moments in game were spent making macros so our characters could talk to one another. There are some other differences on the server, like items not carrying the ‘no trade’ flag, and the ability to place those items for sale on the broker.
The general channel was bustling with over 400 people which was really great to see. A quick decision NOT to complete the Mines of Gloomingdeep (again) meant that we were off to Crescent Reach at level 2 (I wanted to stick around the tutorial long enough to pick up the skull charm that characters can get).
While we are starting on a new server without an influx of older characters to provide us with bags, gear, and coin, we do have the knowledge that we’ve acquired over the years. As well as veteran rewards. This really came into play tonight. We turned on our lesson of the devoted which is a boost in XP and hired two mercenary (one each). A dps and a healer. It wasn’t long before we were level 8 – and I purchased my first beastlord pet. Oger is playing a shadowknight.
Despite our knowledge of the game, and veteran rewards, things were still tricky. Oger died once due to an over excited bear, and I decided that I’d summon a miniature Bristlebane who promptly gave me wine and bread – and like a fool I took a bite of each. This poisoned me with a dot which normally wouldn’t be that big of a deal, but I had switched out my healer mercenary for a tank one, and I was unable to switch back unless I could be in the “resting” position in game. You can’t properly rest with a dot on you. I couldn’t cure it with my low level cure disease, so I slowly bled away until I died.
Still, it was a great adventure getting to level 8, and I’m excited to see where this takes us. EQ holds a very special place in my heart, and I’m constantly trying to get others to come back and play with me. Who knows, maybe this time it will stick.
As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!