Why Am I Playing on Ragefire?

I’ve been playing on EverQuest progression servers for a number of years now, but I typically end up going back to my ‘regular’ server sooner or later where I’ve already established a character (or two, or three). The problem with established servers is that EverQuest is still very much a group orientated game even for their later expansions, so unless you’re bringing friends with you it can get a bit lonely. Especially if your main characters include a level 97 bard and a level 100 enchanter. They’re not exactly the optimal classes for boxing with, mercenary tanks are alright but they’re not nearly as good as actual players with thousands of aa. I love EverQuest, and I tend to return a few times a year in order to get my ‘fix’ – especially since I can’t seem to get that fix in EverQuest2 any more, which used to be my go-to comfort game. What I love about it is the fact that my characters actually take a lot of work in order to be any good, and it takes time to get things done. I’ll probably always have a soft spot in my heart for EverQuest, and judging by the swarms of people playing on Lockjaw and Ragefire, I’m not alone.

The druid and magician are each level 13 now. I settled in for a nice evening of camping orcs in Commonlands. I was doing bandits for a bit, but the respawns are incredibly fast, and I didn’t have a stable amount of crowd control in order to feel confident taking care of things quickly. It was just safer if I went to an orc camp and pulled the whole camp of dark blues all at once, rather than trying to break a white / yellow camp with fast respawns. Still, it gave me a chance to collect some belts and turn those in to Freeport for some experience, coin, and faction.

I noticed at the log-in screen that Vox was the latest ‘new’ non progression server, and that server was released three years ago but is still categorized as ‘new’. I almost wish they would release another new non-progression server, for people who may want to start fresh with others but who don’t have the time / patience / desire to start with classic EverQuest. Of course that means people would be level 105 within a week I’m sure, but it’s also a chance for the community to move through the game together, and make friends / new guilds until everyone (once again) gets bored and leaves. I wonder what the population is like on most EverQuest servers. On Drinal (my main server) the general channel has 198 people in it, but talk is pretty light and that includes players from other servers who join the drinal general chat (I see a few ragefire folks on there).

When I got bored of orcs I headed back to Freeport to relax with a little fishing, and to work on my forage skill. Skills seem to crawl by, especially when you’re eager to raise them so it’s a good time to sit back with Netflix or Hulu. I’m saving up the fish I catch to work on baking, fish fillets will get me pretty far. I made my first 100 plat, and I’m sure every bit of it will go towards tradeskills aside from spell purchases. Research doesn’t use the classic method, but uses vendor sold items along with hides that drop from mobs. It’s a lengthy and expensive hobby, but right now it’s making money as people want their spells. I know we have quite a wait before an ‘official’ bazaar opens, and in the meantime there’s the EC tunnel, but I’m looking forward to that one feature.

One thing that has surprised me is the number of people playing who have never played before, or who just don’t remember anything about the game. I’ve heard so many people asking about mailboxes and other features that classic EverQuest just doesn’t have. It also looks like the pressure has lessened on Ragefire a bit now that Lockjaw has opened. No queues this afternoon – the real test will be to see how things are over the weekend.

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!