I haven’t even been back in game a week yet, and my shadowknight and enchanter have each gotten two whole levels – that’s a huge feat for me. I’ve tried to return a few times in the past, but it never worked out because EverQuest is a game that likes to challenge people.
Or at least it used to – things are MUCH easier these days, and I have to admit, I was PLEASANTLY surprised. One of the biggest changes is something I mentioned in my last post that I wanted to expand on a bit. ‘Auto-Grant’ Enable. This feature is for premium accounts (let’s not start a debate as to whether or not developers deserve to get paid for their work, I’ve got no issues paying for subscriptions) and what it means is that every time you level, you’ll be given the AA from that level / expansion / tier. It stops at (I believe) level 110 – the cap is 115, so it’s not as though you’re handed everything – but this catch up mechanic is essential for players who have been away who haven’t managed to grind up thousands of AA. It lets new players as well as returning players feel like they are not completely useless.
Without this feature I wouldn’t be able to do anything in game that I’ve been doing. I started by running heroic adventures which are a pretty OK source of experience. My heroic boosted shaman (came with the latest expansion pack that I purchased) gained two levels, moving from 85 to 87. My 102 characters have over 20,000 aa points – and when I came back they had around 4000. Features like this allow players like me the option of returning in a way that was never possible before, and I REALLY wish I had of known that this change was made a few years back, because I probably would have returned then.
I’ve also spent some time thinking about WHY I am enjoying myself so much and what it really comes down to is that WoW absolutely obliterated multiboxing – and that was the one thing that I REALLY enjoyed doing in game. Multitasking on multiple accounts is something I find a LOT of fun. When Blizzard decided that 3rd party software and broadcasting and other tools were no longer acceptable, it really put an enormous hole in my gaming style.
In EverQuest, at least for now (who knows if this will change) multiboxing is still allowed. Let me stress that I am NOT looking to disrupt others game play, and I am all for grouping with real people, the best experiences happen that way. That being said, multiboxing IS a way I enjoy playing. Not even to work the economy but just because the plain simple truth of it is I love multi tasking.
Anyway, we’ll see how this adventure goes. For now I have subscribed all three accounts, and I went and bought them all the base copy of the latest expansion. I’m hoping to reach level 115 – current end game. I’ve actually never been at the level cap in EverQuest before when it was the cap. After 22 years, there’s still things I haven’t done, and I love that.
Don’t miss out on the Overseer system! It takes a bit of time to build up momentum because before you really see the benefits you need to concentrate on the quests that give you agents and on converting the extra agents into better ones, but once you get rolling you can make good experience just from five minutes a day in the Guild Lobby or wherever you hang out. You can also make very good money selling the mats if you choose to take those as a reward instead of xp. Also, it’s fun!
I’ve never heard of this overseer system!!! Now I have to look it up. Thank you so much for the heads up!