I had done it. I had made the decision to return to Norrath – not a huge commitment because my account has station access until July to begin with, I just hadn’t been actively playing. I don’t mind, it’s just a way for me to show my support to developers but I’m glad I made the decision to try to actually make use of it instead of subscribing to yet another game (that I would lose interest in after a few months, as I always do). My adventure level main is only 96, and there’s two expansions worth of stuff I am behind on. For some reason the level cap on guilds is 115 when the level cap on characters is 100.. Edit: I have no idea what the cap is for guilds if there even is any. I saw guilds at 120+ last night… Odd.
No matter how confused I am when I return to a game, one thing that rarely ever changes is crafting. It’s an old friend that I can start questing with right away, and returning to EQ2 was no different. I promptly got a a message in game about where to go and what to do and who needed my help. Perfect. I was already level 100, having completed the Altar of Malice craft chain during my last brief visit, so I was able to dive into the latest expansion right away. Before long I was running through the halls of Maldura and flying through Thalumbra (over and over again) playing games of talk to X npc then talk to Y npc then craft X item and deliver it to XY npc. Sure, it’s not exciting, but the lore and story at each npc is quite entertaining, and I did get a really nice piece of gear. Two, in fact. One crafter piece and one adventure piece that I can’t wear yet. I’m calling that motivation.
Once I completed the main chain I decided to work on the weekly tasks which you can snag all at once if you want, or space them out. Learning my way around the areas was frustrating. There’s always that one quest icon that you just can’t seem to reach, and of course I died to a few things. Guards before I managed to get faction, a cliff I thought was passable, etc.
Now that those are done, it’s time to settle down and do a bit of leveling. My goal (har) is to be 97 by the time this post goes live on December 4th at 6am. Right now I’m 83% into level 96, so I’m pretty confident that I can do that. I know a lot of people like to just grind out experience in Skyshrine or another contested dungeon zone, but I imagine I will quest my way as far as I can so that I can get gear upgrades and hopefully progress some story lines.
It’s nice to be back, comfortable. I’m not quite “there” yet and I won’t feel like I am until I’m at least level 100 and know my way around things again, but it’s not completely out of my realm of possibility at least. I also took advantage of the free server transfers and moved two characters. I put an illusionist over on Maj’dul, and a ranger wandered over to Halls of Fate. If it turns out I don’t enjoy Antonia Bayle, or I want a break from things for a bit, or I want to visit friends, well, I have options. Options are always good.
As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself.