I haven’t written about it much (well, I haven’t written about anything much this summer to be honest) but I am still playing on the EverQuest progression server, Ragefire. My magician is now level 17, along with my druid. I’ve been camping Dervish out in South Ro along with Kasul playing his shaman. The place is dangerous. There’s a mixture of dark blue mobs mixed with some white, a handful of yellow, and then the reds (usually Orc Warriors, and the odd Sand Giant that wanders by). The zones are still really packed with players, and I use the /pick function as often as I can to swap to quieter instances. There’s a large number of players who are now at the level cap, but I’m not in any rush.
We did have a poll option to see if we’d like Kunark to come out earlier than normal, which I did vote in favour of. I think it offers players a larger range of zones to explore and will help spread the population out even further. Of course one day I’d like to see myself in a raid but because of the population issue I’m not expecting to be able to help out for quite some time. I’ve been contemplating creating (yet another) alt in the meantime, but I suppose I should at least reach 50 on one pair of characters first. I know there are better (ie: faster) camps out there, but I”m content to sit and wait on three spawns in a relatively safe location.
There has been a lot of chatter in all of the channels I join when I log in, but not a lot of that chatter is centered around groups or camp checks. This is one of the biggest differences I’ve seen between playing back when I first started, and playing now. Now it’s only to easy for people to box multiple accounts, or to have already established groups. I suppose it was a bit foolish to think that things would be exactly as they were 10 years ago, but a part of me had hoped.
Between leveling I’m working up my tradeskills. Earning skill points is a slow process, but one I find incredibly valuable. I haven’t been selling anything I’ve created yet, but I do enjoy having a fine selection of foods and drinks to choose from. I did also create myself a set of gear, and while it offers nothing in terms of actual stats, it does offer AC, which is very important.
Playing a magician is quite easy. There’s so many of them around. The only time I really have any concerns is when a roaming mob (or two, or three) has wandered into my camp, and then I get flustered and forgot to watch the health of my pet and before I know it I’ve been taken out by a named I wasn’t even aware of. It’s exciting times, and I’m glad to be a part of it.
Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!