Thanks for the awesome throwback post, Krixus. When I talk to fellow gamers about the 4 years I spent in EQ, there's definitely some grandpa-ish "back in my day" type banter, even though I was 16 at the time. They didn't understand camping the Raster of Guk or finding the dozens of shards for a VT key. Gamers today don't even understand helping another person out. I remember I playing on an old e-machines computer with 4mb video ram. I had to memorize zones using the zone wall and landmarks that were only viewable about 10 feet from my characters face. Cranking up the view rez resulted in my computer crapping itself or lag that made the game unplayable.
I remember finding the Erudite hermit for the cleric epic quest out in the middle of some crazy island somewhere, where you had to swim around the base of this mountain-island-thing UNDERWATER in order to even find the passage to this guy's cool private beachfront. I said to myself "who the hell even found this guy? who swims around the base of this mountain in the middle of the ocean?" If I remember correctly, the NPC dialogue didn't exactly tell you anything close to how to find this guy. The fact that someone did find him not only testifies to the sense of adventure that EQ inspired, but also the dissemination of information people shared about rumors and suppositions surrounding epic quests. I kinda hated Allakhazam and the internet in general when it stripped the mystery of the game away.
You've done a hell of job reminiscing so I won't jump into more of my own stories, but I think we all can appreciate the throwback. I'm REALLY hoping PROTF will resurrect what's long been dead in the online gaming world. Cheers!
Awesome stuff Krixus, and lots of great replies. Very encouraging -- it IS about the magic -- and it IS about re-creating that magic -- and then taking the game even further. We're in this for the long haul. Do to a variety of reasons I'm not going to go into here, I've not yet been able to take an MMO even near to acheiving the grand vision. And as proud as I am of EQ/VG, and as much as I agree about the magic and how eloquently you described it, there's soooo much more to come. Pantheon's launch is like birth -- it's a wonderful, beautiful thing... but then it has it's entire life ahead of it :)
Aradune said:Awesome stuff Krixus, and lots of great replies. Very encouraging -- it IS about the magic -- and it IS about re-creating that magic -- and then taking the game even further. We're in this for the long haul. Do to a variety of reasons I'm not going to go into here, I've not yet been able to take an MMO even near to acheiving the grand vision. And as proud as I am of EQ/VG, and as much as I agree about the magic and how eloquently you described it, there's soooo much more to come. Pantheon's launch is like birth -- it's a wonderful, beautiful thing... but then it has it's entire life ahead of it :)
As long as you don't promise the moon at launch and only give us a meteor to play with :P. In particular I am thinking of flying in VG that took almost 2 years after launch to get in...
Dreconic said:Aradune said:Awesome stuff Krixus, and lots of great replies. Very encouraging -- it IS about the magic -- and it IS about re-creating that magic -- and then taking the game even further. We're in this for the long haul. Do to a variety of reasons I'm not going to go into here, I've not yet been able to take an MMO even near to acheiving the grand vision. And as proud as I am of EQ/VG, and as much as I agree about the magic and how eloquently you described it, there's soooo much more to come. Pantheon's launch is like birth -- it's a wonderful, beautiful thing... but then it has it's entire life ahead of it :)
As long as you don't promise the moon at launch and only give us a meteor to play with :P. In particular I am thinking of flying in VG that took almost 2 years after launch to get in...
Im okay with a meteor to start with instead of a big bang :) as for VG depends on your machine whether you enjoyed launch or not . so long as it happens we are golden :):):)
Thank you for an awesome post. This post and the great pre-alpha demo of the game just convinced me to pledge for the Adviser's Pledge, something that I've never done before, for any game or cause. But I just like many other like-minded people here seem to be longing for the EQ experience again. I played EQ for 6-7 years, that's a long time and I even revisited the game a few times after that. The MMO's of today usually don't keep me hooked for more than 1-6 months before I get bored, mostly because there's no achievement or sense of accomplishment in the games, the social experience isn't there either. Everything is just "rush rush", and heaven forbid if the group die in a dungeon, well then people rage quit...
I remember times when I didn't have enough time to participate in a raid in EQ, but I still logged on just to chat with friends and the guild. The pace of the game allowed people to be social even during raids! Sure this was during a time when things like teamspeak and mumble didn't exist which forced you to type things on your keyboard, but the game allowed you to do that and this really helped growing the social bonds with people. Even today I'm in contact with people from my old guild in EQ, this is almost 2 decades later! I think that says something about the impact a game can have on you.
I do hope Pantheon will be my next home and that I may experience the excitement, joy, sadness, fear of the unknown, sense of achievement and the immersion again.
Aside from the (very good) points mentioned, I also miss the sense of fear crossing zones with my fat ogre warrior. I'd be chugging along and all of the sudden hear the combat music kick in. It was try and fight whatever it is (or however many it is that is aggro) or run like hell (and hope not to aggro more doing so).
Crossing zones in so many games these days seem to have lost that sense of adventure, fear, etc. When it meant your body would make a corpse with your gear left on it, the combination of both things really added excitement to even something as simply as crossing a zone.
Most games anymore it seems when you aggro stuff just keep running and they'll shortly leash/reset. I recently went back to EQ 1 (had played it on and off some years back) and was reminded how long it took for mobs to leash (in a good way). Fortunately I remembered the zone well enough and knew an escape path without getting more stuff piled onto me.
This was also before there were mini-maps of any sort meaning you actually had to learn the zone and landmarks. Some zones were a bit foggy or at night it added another layer of danger.
Even when you could see the mobs before you aggrod them, there could be things like guards on a path that could aggro you based on faction. You had to be always aware of your surroundings and of your faction alignments.
I absolutely miss the adventure of even just moving from point A to point B. First time I finally made the run myself to Sebilis after keying was awesome, it felt like I knew the zone well enough which tree almost to literally turn at. So much spoonfeeding and handholding in "modern" games and the feeling of adventure/risk I haven't had in a long while.
I miss dungeons that were so big that you could have different groups at different camps. Everything just feels so small these days or group-instanced. Having those giant dungeons always made me wonder whats down that hallway I've never been to, or what this camp is people are asking about, etc. I remember one time falling down some well or hole in Karnors thinking, where am I and now what. There were consequences to not paying attention, leaping down strange holes, pulling weird levers/pushing weird buttons, etc.
Dungeon crawling actually had a sense of exploration and adventure. The risks were high, but so were the rewards.
Aradune said:Awesome stuff Krixus, and lots of great replies. Very encouraging -- it IS about the magic -- and it IS about re-creating that magic -- and then taking the game even further. We're in this for the long haul. Do to a variety of reasons I'm not going to go into here, I've not yet been able to take an MMO even near to acheiving the grand vision. And as proud as I am of EQ/VG, and as much as I agree about the magic and how eloquently you described it, there's soooo much more to come. Pantheon's launch is like birth -- it's a wonderful, beautiful thing... but then it has it's entire life ahead of it :)
Now you're just making me super excited to see and hear what will be in Pantheon :). So much potential for new and innovative things that just were not possible when EQ and even Vanguard were released.
The magic for me started with being scared of my surroundings and starting with next to nothing. You learned quick the safe ways to get through an area and when to not cross that forrest (at night). I want to not feel safe all the time and have my hand held....all the other mmo's do that.
The sense of accomplishment and the desire to get better was a magical thing. The feeling you had when your guild finally took down the boss that kept killing you, or your first time successfully breaking into Plane of Fear after multiple corpse runs. The feeling you got after completing your hard earned epic quest, and using every camera angle to see how cool it looked. Likewise, seeing other players with their epics lead us to want to suceed and work toward ours when we were low level.
The other thing that made EQ magic was the racial stats (pros and cons). When I made my first character, a barbarian warrior, I chose him due to the races high strength and stamina. Not being able to see at night was part of the deal. I accepted it as a trade off and it lead to great immersion. Racial stats make your character unique. If done right (with a negative attached as in vision etc) it is not over powering. Should a halfling have the power of an orge? Oh course not. But the halfling should have have more agility than the big ogre and probably be smarter. I don't want all the races the same. What's the point in that, and the immersion to your character won't be as strong.
I loved how some races were hated practically everywhere. This lead to great in game immersion having to be extra careful and pack extra food and water on your adventures. I remember as a new player seeing a iksar for the first time near qeynos and think how in the world did he get all the way out here. Faction leads to immersion. I don't want to be liked and welcomed everywhere.
Kilsin said:Reviving this topic...
Thanks Kilsin - I hadn't seen this post and I had to read it, walk away and come back to read it again.
This was a powerful post. Thank you Krixus for eloquently saying everything I wished I could find the words for.
I played EQ, on and off, since before Kunark (1999) and for five years, I played full time. By "full time" I mean 20+ hours per week, usually closer to 30. For five solid years. I *LIVED* in Norrath.
I have longed for, and craved, and ached for that again. Krixus' words were everything I've been longing for, again. In my words, I will say that it was all about the immersion and truly living (and caring) as your character. There were (unfair) immutable laws and they didn't soften - that was the world you lived in. Just *BEING* in that world was what it was about and not some uber-phat-lewtz short-attention-span, instant-gratification thumb-twitch-fest (as Krizus already stated).
Everything that was dumbed-down in EQ was done to make the game "easier" and to soften the game. Most of these things were tragically bad decisions to try and cater to the WoW crowd. They were deliberately done to change EQ to be like WoW. WoW was incredibly guilty of this instant-gratification model and SOE saw dollar signs and tried to follow suit, thinking "that's what the world wants". VR's vision for targeting the original EQ mindset-player and NOT catering to that WOW-mindset market segment is like a lifeline to a drowning man......one that's been drowning for years....
When you do these things, you remove the player from the immersiveness of the world and instead of a virtual experience, it becomes a "game". There is a huge difference between a "game" and a "virtual world". When things interact with the world through your character, you have to *BE* your character in that world. When you interact as a PLAYER, you break immersion and you are just playing a game. People who play a game, simply do not understand the difference and no amount of explaining it will help. The only way is to let them experience it on their own. Sadly, they are typically looking for the "game" experience and get frustrated by the "virtual world" experience and complain. Then game companies (and the whole industry) dumbs down their title to make it a "game" not a "world".
Some of the things that "dumbed-down" EQ and other games (and which were done to appease players wanting an easier arcade game experience):
None of these were in EQ when it was totally magical, but they were all added to appease players who wanted to play an arcade game, like WoW. And appeasing those players is what "ruined" it by changing it from a virtual world into just another game.
Embracing this concept makes all the difference.
What UO and EQ envisioned for the genre MMORPG was virtual worlds. Not just a mere video game but an actual world where players could retreat or escape to. A place where they could live in. And what some people fail to realize is that one of the major ways to make people feel like they are inside a virtual world is by giving them responsibility. Life is full of consequences and responsibility and the more circumstances of this a developer can create for players to experience the better.
But what a good amount of people want nowadays are all these safeguards in place so that the game itself protects them. So things like having their mob killed and stolen from them can never happen. They want the game to have all these special features so it can decide for yous who rightfully killed the mob and who receives the loot. They don't realize that this is actually hurting them, that this is drawing them out of that virtual world. EQ didn't do this. EQ put stuff like this into the player's hands and let them and the community resolve the situation. It was real, living, and breathing. In real life you can be hunting and somebody can come up and kill the deer you had your sights on. It happens. But you don't need the game to handle it for you, you handle it yourself and move on. THAT is exising in a 'world' whether it be real or virtual.
Some players want the game to assist with their play time, which is so little nowadays, and make sure it isn't spent on trivial actions like traveling from one side of the land to the other, or on things like forming a random group together, or having to sell their items in person. What they fail to understand is how this responsibility immerses them into a world that behaves just like our real world. Not permitting fast travel creates an environment where you either have to spend time walking a few zones to get to your destination just like you would in the real world or it makes you depend on others for them to assist you in teleporting creating a social environment. These are all smaller pieces of the puzzle but together as a whole creates the complete picture. Another thing about traveling in EQ was running through the dangerous zones. With death and its repercussions as it was, running through these zones made you feel alive simply by making you not want to die. It may seem simple but it was effective. It made you aware of your surroundings, it made you feel 'something', and it was another piece of the puzzle.
Using a group finder saves time and it may seem trivial of not having one but we have many things in our daily lives that are mundane that we do every day. And though using a group finder tool is one of the least offenders on the list it's once it starts doing things like connecting random players from other servers and instantly teleporting them to a far away zone that becomes a problem. But even without this, just putting together a group by hand is another one of those daily tasks that can be compared to the daily tasks of our lives. And ultimately adding another piece of the puzzle.
EQ and MMOs like WoW were both worlds where before you even logged into their worlds they were already alive. Unlike a game of Halo where the game doesn't start until you do, these MMOs were similar in which they both had worlds that existed. The difference was how EQ made mundane things matter. Where the community was forced to confront these insignificant tasks rather than have the game hold their hand and bypass it for them. And ironically this is where the MOST magic happened. The trading done in the EC tunnel. Camps formed by groups of players who formed their group by hand and decided to find some random spot with a good supply of mobs to combat. Players posting up to teleport others for money/donations and buffing them as well. These things were created organically due to the lack of handholding the game did. THIS is the magic that was EQ.
It's all of these little things that help add up to that feeling of existing in their virtual world.
WoW and MMOs alike try to trim off the 'fat' and they do this to try and be ALL fun with no boring stuff. In the end, WoW listened and accomodated for everyone and turned their virtual world into just another video game. But what they wound up creating was a game with all filler and none of that sticky goodness that EQ and even VG created.
I couldnt agree more with the OP and the majority of posts here reinforcing the main ideas.
I wanted to share something with the people here and the staff. I am currently playing Rust, a survival fps game, why do I mention this? it is the ONLY game out there I found that has actual consequences, it feels like it hurts when you get killed, there is time invested that can be lost and the fear factor exists, its probably one of the most hardcore games out there, and my point? it has ALOT of players playing it, roleplayers, fps fans, mmo fans, casual players, everything... its crouded and it was on the top 10 most sold games of 2015.
What is my point you ask again? I believe that out there is a substantial amount of gamers that are looking for what EQ1 used to be and for what Pantheon looks like will deliver, I hope they deliver because I have been waiting for a game like this for more than a decade.
Cheers OP, excellent post, and many others.
Your post captured just about everything that was special about EQ for me. I tried for so many years and so many different MMOs to recreate that feeling, to experience that adventure but everything was just a sore disappointment by comparison to EQ. My wife played Anaisnin the Enchanter on Morrell-Thule and we played together every day and night and formed some awesome friendships through those adventures. Since we stopped playing EQ I haven't been able to get her to even consider playing another MMO, she was done with the genre, ... that is until I showed her Pantheon... She's ready to break her enchanter out to explore this new world and story and to begin a grand new adventure., and I am excited as well. :)
Jexx/Halai from MT
(edit-spelling fix)
I will be my usual brand of honest and state right out that i am incapable of sharing your optimism. Too early, too open to change (ie from what was originally imagined or from what was wished for, but eventually may not be), too lacking in facts. And while on the surface the OP is indeed spot on, there are issues at how one goes about RE-implementing all that 20years later. And on whether, based precisely on the formulation, the theory behind this (re)attempt is one that has taken former lessons to heart; or not. Never mind the how.
Now you may say, your posts, whatever their criticism, allowed for a different understanding of your person. So to explain before you get an apoplexy :P
I am excited to know people still care for things i do. I am excited to know there can be hope (in that oh so general and intangible manner). I am excited to be in a position where i can support what i wish for. I cannot be excited for something i cannot dissect yet, something i have not even an understanding of, barring some general guidelines anyway.
I am however hopeful. Less and less when i see posts of praise because Pantheon is mentioned in some site no one reads.., or posts about how great EQ was.. (which apart from the fact that we all know anyway, let's be honest, it's something we've come to read about over, and over, and over again); even less when i see the same responses to such posts. None of these allow for optimism. Might be just me, but i expect my fellow players to have allowed for the wisdom of twenty years 'down the road' to be evident in their posts. In their questions. In their analysing what they're given. In their expecting replies to the enquiries they've made.
So much praise and enthusiasm, based on so little, sets a stage where even the bare minimum poses as sufficient. That can be problematic. For us, the customers. And that is troubling. If you do not grasp the implications of this last phrase, do read it once more.
I remain hopeful, because i chose to. Optimistic, that entails having facts to assertain from data readily available. Two different things. Now, yes, i know this will 'wash by' most of you, i do. Just consider if maybe it shouldn't.
Support Pantheon financially. Or be happy knowing you already have. Have hope. But curb or manage your optimism. Reaching jubilant levels prior to even a pre-Alpha is not a good sign. Just me, a random nobody's, word of advice. Which of course, you are more than free to discard :)
Aenra said:I will be my usual brand of honest and state right out that i am incapable of sharing your optimism. Too early, too open to change (ie from what was originally imagined or from what was wished for, but eventually may not be), too lacking in facts. And while on the surface the OP is indeed spot on, there are issues at how one goes about RE-implementing all that 20years later. And on whether, based precisely on the formulation, the theory behind this (re)attempt is one that has taken former lessons to heart; or not. Never mind the how.
Now you may say, your posts, whatever their criticism, allowed for a different understanding of your person. So to explain before you get an apoplexy :P
I am excited to know people still care for things i do. I am excited to know there can be hope (in that oh so general and intangible manner). I am excited to be in a position where i can support what i wish for. I cannot be excited for something i cannot dissect yet, something i have not even an understanding of, barring some general guidelines anyway.
I am however hopeful. Less and less when i see posts of praise because Pantheon is mentioned in some site no one reads.., or posts about how great EQ was.. (which apart from the fact that we all know anyway, let's be honest, it's something we've come to read about over, and over, and over again); even less when i see the same responses to such posts. None of these allow for optimism. Might be just me, but i expect my fellow players to have allowed for the wisdom of twenty years 'down the road' to be evident in their posts. In their questions. In their analysing what they're given. In their expecting replies to the enquiries they've made.
So much praise and enthusiasm, based on so little, sets a stage where even the bare minimum poses as sufficient. That can be problematic. For us, the customers. And that is troubling. If you do not grasp the implications of this last phrase, do read it once more.
I remain hopeful, because i chose to. Optimistic, that entails having facts to assertain from data readily available. Two different things. Now, yes, i know this will 'wash by' most of you, i do. Just consider if maybe it shouldn't.
Support Pantheon financially. Or be happy knowing you already have. Have hope. But curb or manage your optimism. Reaching jubilant levels prior to even a pre-Alpha is not a good sign. Just me, a random nobody's, word of advice. Which of course, you are more than free to discard :)
Who are you talking to, yourself? Otherwise I think you're blowing the optimism way out of proportion. People are full of hope and grateful to have something to look forward to again. It is metered by a large amount of anxiety and trepidation. And if you're trying to make a point, condescending to people usually isn't the best method. Trust me on that one.
Aenra said:I will be my usual brand of honest and state right out that i am incapable of sharing your optimism. Too early, too open to change (ie from what was originally imagined or from what was wished for, but eventually may not be), too lacking in facts. And while on the surface the OP is indeed spot on, there are issues at how one goes about RE-implementing all that 20years later. And on whether, based precisely on the formulation, the theory behind this (re)attempt is one that has taken former lessons to heart; or not. Never mind the how.
Now you may say, your posts, whatever their criticism, allowed for a different understanding of your person. So to explain before you get an apoplexy :P
I am excited to know people still care for things i do. I am excited to know there can be hope (in that oh so general and intangible manner). I am excited to be in a position where i can support what i wish for. I cannot be excited for something i cannot dissect yet, something i have not even an understanding of, barring some general guidelines anyway.
I am however hopeful. Less and less when i see posts of praise because Pantheon is mentioned in some site no one reads.., or posts about how great EQ was.. (which apart from the fact that we all know anyway, let's be honest, it's something we've come to read about over, and over, and over again); even less when i see the same responses to such posts. None of these allow for optimism. Might be just me, but i expect my fellow players to have allowed for the wisdom of twenty years 'down the road' to be evident in their posts. In their questions. In their analysing what they're given. In their expecting replies to the enquiries they've made.
So much praise and enthusiasm, based on so little, sets a stage where even the bare minimum poses as sufficient. That can be problematic. For us, the customers. And that is troubling. If you do not grasp the implications of this last phrase, do read it once more.
I remain hopeful, because i chose to. Optimistic, that entails having facts to assertain from data readily available. Two different things. Now, yes, i know this will 'wash by' most of you, i do. Just consider if maybe it shouldn't.
Support Pantheon financially. Or be happy knowing you already have. Have hope. But curb or manage your optimism. Reaching jubilant levels prior to even a pre-Alpha is not a good sign. Just me, a random nobody's, word of advice. Which of course, you are more than free to discard :)
I understand what you are saying, and I'm sure there are others that feel the way you do. It's also not a bad thing and sceptisim has its place.
I choose to support them finacially (I even upgraded my pledge) and I also support them by being optimistic. My encouragement shows the community and the development team that I feel this project is heading in the right direction.
Aenra said:I will be my usual brand of honest and state right out that i am incapable of sharing your optimism. Too early, too open to change (ie from what was originally imagined or from what was wished for, but eventually may not be), too lacking in facts. And while on the surface the OP is indeed spot on, there are issues at how one goes about RE-implementing all that 20years later. And on whether, based precisely on the formulation, the theory behind this (re)attempt is one that has taken former lessons to heart; or not. Never mind the how.
Now you may say, your posts, whatever their criticism, allowed for a different understanding of your person. So to explain before you get an apoplexy :P
I am excited to know people still care for things i do. I am excited to know there can be hope (in that oh so general and intangible manner). I am excited to be in a position where i can support what i wish for. I cannot be excited for something i cannot dissect yet, something i have not even an understanding of, barring some general guidelines anyway.
I am however hopeful. Less and less when i see posts of praise because Pantheon is mentioned in some site no one reads.., or posts about how great EQ was.. (which apart from the fact that we all know anyway, let's be honest, it's something we've come to read about over, and over, and over again); even less when i see the same responses to such posts. None of these allow for optimism. Might be just me, but i expect my fellow players to have allowed for the wisdom of twenty years 'down the road' to be evident in their posts. In their questions. In their analysing what they're given. In their expecting replies to the enquiries they've made.
So much praise and enthusiasm, based on so little, sets a stage where even the bare minimum poses as sufficient. That can be problematic. For us, the customers. And that is troubling. If you do not grasp the implications of this last phrase, do read it once more.
I remain hopeful, because i chose to. Optimistic, that entails having facts to assertain from data readily available. Two different things. Now, yes, i know this will 'wash by' most of you, i do. Just consider if maybe it shouldn't.
Support Pantheon financially. Or be happy knowing you already have. Have hope. But curb or manage your optimism. Reaching jubilant levels prior to even a pre-Alpha is not a good sign. Just me, a random nobody's, word of advice. Which of course, you are more than free to discard :)
Oh I feel you, and I am with you 100% and I have been sceptic of every other game in the past 10 years but...
I needed this, alot of people need this, I was close to stepping out from the gaming industry honestly and I just play less and less and end up watching more and more Netflix wich honestly doesnt make me happy, I needed a game like this to look up for and revive those old days, so I am taking the risk one last time.
One last time.
Aenra said:So much praise and enthusiasm, based on so little, sets a stage where even the bare minimum poses as sufficient. That can be problematic. For us, the customers. And that is troubling. If you do not grasp the implications of this last phrase, do read it once more.
Krixus,
First of all, I wanted to say thanks for the post... you can tell you put a lot of thought into it the way you pieced it out. Thanks for the reflection.
I wanted to express something that I thought of while reading these posts... I contribute a LOT of the magic of EQ, to the enormous amount of variation you had in the dungeons around the world. If I think back on all of the dungeons out there for a moment, NOT one seems to remind me of any other! They each had their own character, design, and unique qualities about them. Due to mob density or aggro, each had their difficulties as well.
The fact that I remember them so clearly to this day, says a LOT about the game. I have played a lot of games since then, and to be honest, I cannot remember their dungeons to the detail I can in EQ. The overworlds were unique too, and have a special place also, but dang did they do dungeons well!
Can't wait for community, challenge..being aware of your surroundings...not wiping your group with an accidental train ( Stand and die, you can be rezzed!!) No question marks over npc heads...Consequences...be a thinking gamer! :) That's my view of what Pantheon will be. EQ 3D started this whole thing off...and from therein ..each game produced outside of Sony..seemed to water things down, pay to win, big shoulders on gear made you "manly"...etc. hehe I have a hunch we'll get what we're looking for, if we stick by this team. Go Go Good Team...VR! :) And thanks Krixus..for that big post. Couldn't have said it better..for sure. :)
Great post and I agree with most. Your passion is a marvellous thing to behold (ooer!)
The Pants people are going to have *such* a hard time deciding what was essential to the magic and what was not. Nostalgia is a funny thing and those rose tinted glasses are dangerous, but I too want too get that EQ feeling back. So much of it was just wonderful.
We've clashed heads a little elsewhere in the forum, but we are largely in agreement, fella.
Good luck Pants People and look forward to seeing you in game, Krixus.
disposalist said:Great post and I agree with most. Your passion is a marvellous thing to behold (ooer!)
The Pants people are going to have *such* a hard time deciding what was essential to the magic and what was not. Nostalgia is a funny thing and those rose tinted glasses are dangerous, but I too want too get that EQ feeling back. So much of it was just wonderful.
We've clashed heads a little elsewhere in the forum, but we are largely in agreement, fella.
Good luck Pants People and look forward to seeing you in game, Krixus.
Thanks, and I agree that we agree and I also look forward to seeing you and please forgive my zeal.
Obliquity said:Great post : )
Another thing you dont see anymore is first person view, everyone is scrolled out.
Eq dungeons to navigate you had to be in first person view most of the time.
This isn't true I haven't had to use first person view unless i'm climbing up the ladders. I used first person for 50+ levels and only ever started using third after I started raiding. I like the ability to scroll in and out of views but wouldn't want this game to force me into one view or the other.
Aye and thats why I play Project 1999, to relive those hardships and memories. People depend on you more then than now in newer MMO's. As a cleric, I was happy to run across Norrath or get a teleport from a wizard or druid just to rez a guildmate or friend. Maybe make a little coin if a stranger needed a "pickmeup" or buff some lower level characters on my travels out of kindness to make their struggle a bit easier. I disliked sitting around waiting for a group, but I was able to make more friendships with the downtime and find other productive ways to pass the time that would pay off in the longrun. Sitting in East Commons tunnel to sell my wares I've always met intersting people.
Games today, why even bother grouping? Sure there are reasons but you don't need to group to level up. Some force you to do a dungeon every now and then for progression of the main storyline but other than that... its all solo. You can now have every spell/action available to you in most games, EQ made you pick and choose for the right situation. Simple spells but not cast so simply. Then there was fizzles and skills that effected how well you hit and how easy it was to cast. Only thing I did not like about EQ classic was finding who offered quests.
I do think the quest bubbles should be kept in but thats it. It was so frustrating trying to locate any quest starter without learning from someone else. Realistically if someone wanted you to do a task they would call you over anyways or send you a letter requesting your presence. I don't need my hand held doing the quest, just finding out who's offering them. I can read the text or otherwise to find out what I need to do and who to report to once done. Those epic (not nessarily for epic items) you may have to just hear about from word of mouth but standard quests, least give a player some kinda clue without having to run to every npc and hailing them.
Also a skill that allows you to create a map as you travel, but without GPS. Logically even in fantasy, maps existed... and one could even sell these maps of areas. Better your skill the more detailed the map is with points of interest such as "That there is Twin Fang Mountain!" Then you look around your location to see if you can locate the mountain and situate yourself. "So here I am.. so if I go southwest a ways, I'll hit Giant's Tears Lake." Then pull out your compass or throw down a rusty sword to find out which way is north (just kidding on sword thing).
I love the kindred spirits here, except for the few "Make it like World of Warcraft" individuals.