EQ

Almost Happy Birthday EverQuest #EQ

stargrace February 20, 2013 No Comments

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!

Joining a Guild and Other Goodies #EQ #EverQuest

stargrace October 25, 2012 1 Comment

My apologies for the lack luster screen shot this morning, but I actually forgot to take a better one, so this was all I had in my folder, hehe.

I have been playing EverQuest off and on for some time now, and last night I decided to make some pretty big changes. Well, big for me in any case. The first thing I did was – apply to a guild. That’s right, even though I’ve been in a personal guild for years now I decided that if I really wanted to get back into EverQuest good and proper, the first thing I should do is find others to play with, or at least others to talk to. I checked out the guild lobby and noticed a few family guilds recruiting, and I also submitted an application to the boards. It wasn’t long before I found myself speaking to a member from Pak’Cafan, and before I knew it I had applied.

Once that step was taken care of, I headed out to a group in a zone I had never been in before. It was fun, but the experience was lack luster because we barely killed anything and spent more time debating how to pull a named than anything else. This may annoy some people, but I was quite happy. It reminded me of how EverQuest is played. You spend a lot of time talking and getting to know your group mates. When you are LFG again you tend to remember who you were with previously because of this. People are not just randoms who have joined your group for a few minutes, but folks that you’ve had discussions with, and shared many wipes with. Well, hopefully not too many wipes.

Anyhow, the group was fun and I had a good time getting back into the swing of things. I spent the remainder of my evening in Halas, harvesting mushrooms so that I can continue working up my brewing (286 and counting). There was one time during the evening where I was discouraged because my enchanter was having a very difficult time in Veil of Alaris trying to charm solo. My charm only works up to level 89, even though I am level 90. Most of the encounters in the beginner zones are also higher than 90. In the end I decided to stay determined. There’s a LOT to do in EverQuest and just because I’m not quite ready to run out and start soloing the current expansion (until Rain of Fear goes live next month) doesn’t mean that it’s impossible for me to do anything. House of Thule is still a great expansion to play in, and even the expansion before that. There are shrouds that I can use to do older content and SOE added a ‘heroes journey’ which grants achievements for completing zones like Crescent Reach and other 1-85 zones. I haven’t done any of that yet, especially not on my ancient enchanter (CR came out well after I created my enchanter) so there’s a lot to explore.

As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself! If you happen to pop back into EverQuest you can find me as Kameeko on the Drinal server. Be sure to say hello!

The Mines of Gloomingdeep (Revamped) #EverQuest

stargrace September 22, 2012 1 Comment

I was never a big fan of the mines of Gloomingdeep tutorial when it was implemented. I felt like it took forever to complete, the gear was not very good, and it didn’t actually teach me anything I needed to know about Norrath. I would normally skip the tutorial and head to Crescent Reach, which had a lot of very nice quests for level 1+. From there I’d go to whatever the lowest level hotzone was at the time.

So it was nice to see that the tutorial has been revamped, again. I was feeling a bit lost on my level 90 characters still so I created a magician. I’ve never played one before but I hear they’re great for solo play (or for ‘moloing’ which is a new term I’ve picked up from the forums). There are achievements now for listening to the NPCs drone on about maps, communication, and achievements. You can hire a mercenary while in the zone, which is great because right away you can start talking to someone that won’t ever answer you back.

The gear has been given a make over as well, and I found it better than the defiant items that drop within the zone. The quests are more detailed, and the new map system works very well. I still wish there was more information on what to do later on in the game, if you happen to have left around level 90, but it’s really not that difficult for me to figure out. I’m just a bit lonely seeing as no one I know plays any more (I’m trying to work on that).

I even managed to get an augment in the tutorial, complete with an explanation on how they work. You don’t need to place augments in bird baths any more, you just put the item on your mouse pointer and drop it onto the augment slot on your gear. Much better (imo). Over all things have been streamlined, but they’re still quite difficult, it’s still a game that doesn’t give anything to you on a silver platter.

I spent last night in North Kaladim harvesting mushrooms and bits for Kaladim Constitutional. Out of 300 combines, I managed to get from 273 to 281. I’ve got a ways to go still until I reach 300 in brewing but I’m looking forward to it. I had grand ideas of one day having 300 in all of my crafts, but in order for that to happen I would have to actually settle down and stick with a game. I have been contemplating doing that exact thing, I get tired of wandering some times, but we’ll have to see.

Anyhow. It’s been really nice to be back so far. Guilds are still recruiting, and with the 19th expansion only months away there are players returning all of the time. Not to mention the game is F2P, so if you’ve wanted to peek in on your characters and see how Norrath is doing, there really is no better time.

As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Stop Telling Me I Can’t Go Home #EverQuest #EQ

stargrace September 20, 2012 1 Comment

I’ve been spending a lot of time in EverQuest this week, satisfying my cravings for nostalgia and a game that doesn’t just hand me everything on a silver platter. At first I thought I would jump right back in with my level 90s because it wasn’t that long ago that I was playing regularly, but once I was actually in game (and after I had set my hotbars up, I had to re-install the game once I formatted my PC) I was at a complete loss on what to do.

Now, SOE actually addresses this issue for the majority of returning players. When you enter the game you receive a precious little book that belongs to a chain of quests that are a part of the ‘Hero’s Journey’. These quests will point you in the right direction from levels 1 to 85 – and there they stop. So it’s great for lower levels returning, or for making a new character, but for me at level 90 all it said was go play in House of Thule. I (thankfully) remembered where that was, but HoT is almost 2 expansions old now, and I was hoping to explore the latest expansion.

That didn’t mean there was absolutely nothing for me to do, there always is, in EverQuest. I took a look at my crafting skills and noticed that I was working on brewing previously. I’m 300/300 in Baking, Jewel crafting, and Tailoring, but only 250-270 in the other crafting disciplines. I headed to Abysmal Sea which is my crafting zone of choice, and set to work making a handful of drinks.

Crafting in EQ1 is just as annoying as it always has been. You lose materials whether you fail or succeed a combine and those skill ups are as rare as can be. With over 200 combines I managed to inch my crafting from 263 brewing to 272 and then I ran out of materials. I’ll have to head to Kaladim so I can gather more mushrooms before too long. The broker was in a sad state, but that also has to do with the fact that the game was down for 7 hours due to a patch. At this moment you’re still required to be online in order to perform sales, and a lot of people leave their characters up AFK while they’re at work. I suppose that’s one of the best changes coming in the 19th expansion due later this year.

Once I ran out of crafting materials I decided to take a peek at the new player experience. The Mines of Gloomingdeep have been remodeled, new players are given more explanation and story behind why they are trapped within. There are achievements for completing more than just the basics to the tutorial, and there are more NPC within the mines. You can hire a mercenary which is always a great idea especially since at those levels they are completely free of cost. I created a Vah Shir shaman, hired myself a tank, and was set. Forum posts indicate that any class combination is able to level up to around 60-65 with a tank mercenary, so I wanted to see if that theory was true.

I get tired of the comments that say you can never return to your ‘home’ MMO. Yes, games have changed and evolved over time, but so have we. Personally, EQ still scratches an itch that a lot of other games just don’t touch. I feel a sense of pride in leveling, in crafting, in pretty much everything. Some things are archaic, but I think there’s room for a game like that, perhaps even a niche demand.

If it’s any indication, EQ is still doing incredibly well for its age. There were over 400 people on my one server last night (and there are many servers still) and while it may not be the millions we see in some games, for a 13 year old MMO I’m just tickled that it’s still being developed, and not shutting down.