I remember some time ago when Tipa was writing about a new challenge of hers that she was making – sticking with a video game (MMO) for a year – and I envied that mind set. It’s one that I have not been able to adhere to for a VERY long time, and one I envy because I feel that in a year you’re able to really set down some roots, make friends, and get somewhere in an MMO. Jumping around from game to game isn’t fun on my wallet or my game play, if I have to be honest.
Then I went and looked back to the games I was playing in 2013 when raptr game tracking was still a thing. The games at the top of that list 8 years ago were STILL the top games I play today. They included WoW, EQ, EQ2, Sims 3 (now it’s Sims 4, but that’s close enough), Wurm, and then a few stragglers like EVE. Almost nothing has changed in which games I play. I still bounce around from game to game, and I rarely ever stick with any of the new ones.
Now I find myself back playing EverQuest, talking to the ‘locals’ and getting to know the names I see in chat. Almost all of them are older, with families like myself. Most have been playing for 15+ years. It’s comfortable. Once again I think to myself ‘is this a game I could stick with for a year?’ – and just like always, I don’t really have an answer. It’s still something I would like to do, if for no other reason than I’ve never been able to complete it before.
This outdoor zone was released with Veil of Alaris, and is around level 95 – perfect for my little team. I set the guild portal to Shard’s Landing and made my way there, and picked up two lowbies who were LFG to join my team (which consists of playing a Shadowknight, Enchanter, and Shaman). We made our way to the center of the city, in this odd record keeping type room that had a ton of mobs to pull, and settled in for a few hours of killing. I used my lesson of the devoted skill to boost the experience, and my shaman managed to get a few levels – even my level 102 guys gained a significant amount of experience which was just delightful.
One named spawned in the area, dropping a ring and I think an item that lets you get some rk2 spells. I haven’t upgraded any spells in a long time, so that will be next on my list very soon. I also need to see where I can get gear upgrades these days. The bazaar is a strange collection of high level end game items that I don’t really understand – combined with a whole lot of ornamental gear, which is appearance stuff.
Overall I think everyone had a good time, and it was nice to go back to some old school grinding. Chat was lively, and the pulls were pretty simple. I had the enchanter AOE mez any time we got any extra, and we just plowed through everything else.
I can’t seem to make a decision about where to play. On one hand, I like the idea of FV – there’s few no-trade items, making it easy to gear up. They have a huge population, and I hear there’s some roleplay still going on some days. That being said, I’m well established on Drinal, and being able to play my old characters is something that I’d definitely like to do. Decisions decisions!
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.
There are a handful of games that I usually always return to. World of Warcraft, EVE Online, Guild Wars II, and Final Fantasy XIV – just to name a few. In 2016 or so, I stopped playing both EverQuest II and EverQuest, feeling that I had gotten all that I could from those games, and that I had changed too much as a gamer to properly enjoy them the way I had in the past (ie: lack of time). I continued to view the games with rose coloured glasses, and I would pop in but become immediately frustrated at xyz thing, and I never really ‘played’ again.
For the past few weeks I’ve been bouncing around games trying to figure out what I want to do. I was just not feeling WoW, FFXIV is fantastic but again I was restless. Part of that is simply due to my nomadic gamer inclinations – and part was something more. I have some of my fondest gaming memories from EverQuest, and while I know you can never go back, and those memories are best left undisturbed – I couldn’t help it. I found myself logging in.
Not only did I find myself logging in on my main account, but I also logged in on my second account and started multiboxing. Then, I added my husbands account. Along with mercenary, we have what is technically a full group. I know a group of people is far better, but I still believe everyone should play how they enjoy if it’s possible.
Anyway, I started out creating new characters on the FV server, thinking it might be fun and it does have a large player base. The inflation of that server, however, was enormous and it turned me off immediately. Then I had a thought.
I learned about the ‘auto grant aa’ feature that premium accounts can access. This is basically a ‘catch up’ mechanic where the game will grant you a number of AA that would have unlocked at your level previously. This feature I believe ends at level 110 (the current cap is 115). I decided to test it out. My level 100 enchanter had 3,000 aa that I had worked meticulously at obtaining. Turning on the auto grant feature boosted me to another 16,000.
I did the same with my husband’s shadowknight that I was now playing (also level 100), and a 97 bard on my second account. The shadowknight is easily over 20,000 aa now. This mechanic is gold and allows people returning to the game to feel that they are not going to instantly die in one hit.
I decided to test things out. I created a group with the shadowknight, enchanter, and a 97 bard from my second account. Grabbed two melee DPS mercenary and a healer mercenary. Then I headed to PoK to figure out the ‘heroic adventure’ feature that had been added some time ago. I picked one up, and I was actually able to complete the thing! I’m sure it’s slower than what people are running it as these days, but I was slowly figuring things out. I would pull a group of three dark blue / white con mobs, AOE mesmerize them, break one with the shadowknight, and DPS it down. No one died. The mercenary cleric was able to keep up. I felt on-par for my tier and while it took some adjusting and getting used to – it was glorious. It was what I was missing in gaming and I know that it’s directly related to the fact that Blizzard recently banned many of the multibox platforms that I used to use with my team of 5 there.
Whether you’re against multiboxing or not, it is how I enjoy playing. I typically just play for me, I’m not looking to ruin markets or mess things up for other people. I managed to ding my 100 shadowknight and enchanter to 101, earning about 20% of their level in the process through the heroic adventure. Hopefully my next runs go even faster, I had an absolute blast, and I can’t wait to continue to get back into things.
stargrace 
