Forums » Community Sites

The importance of fan sites !!!

    • 643 posts
    May 5, 2016 6:46 AM PDT

    One of the amazing things about the original EQ experience was could do meaningful supporting stuff while out of the game.  For example, looking up tradeskill recipes, researching drops, finding maps, studying quest lines and strategies, etcetera.

    This made the game overlap a great deal with "real life".  

    Even things like EQIM, the original sanctioned forums and various guild forums contributed to this offline "effect". 

     

    I am so excited to see fan websites already starting to pop up.  I know the world is a bit different now and social media and online info is even more accessible than in 1999 but I hope VR can keep enough mystery around this so that the out-of-game social interactions are important too.

     

    What were some of your favorites and which type of fan sites are you looking forward to?

     

    My favorites were, of course, the original Allakhazam and EQtraders.  The Terminus Terminal and Pantheon Crafters sites look very promising as successors to those.

     

     

     

     

     

    • 53 posts
    May 5, 2016 6:54 AM PDT

    fazool those sites were great extensions of the game. When I was not busy at work I was always on one of those sites looking up gear and dungeons . The one site I remember was EQ Atlas it gave the zones and some of the mobs within the zone as well. Early EQ gave out so little information those sites were indespensible. There used to be a spell casters site as well but I can't remember the name.  

    • 95 posts
    May 5, 2016 12:04 PM PDT

    EQ Atlas to avoid getting eternally lost.

    Allakhazam for the more esoteric quests.

    Lucy to see what was coming down the pipeline. 

    • 781 posts
    July 11, 2016 9:40 AM PDT

    Crypton said:

    fazool those sites were great extensions of the game. When I was not busy at work I was always on one of those sites looking up gear and dungeons . The one site I remember was EQ Atlas it gave the zones and some of the mobs within the zone as well. Early EQ gave out so little information those sites were indespensible. There used to be a spell casters site as well but I can't remember the name.  

     

    yes, I agree.  These sites were beneficial in every way :) 

    • 1303 posts
    July 11, 2016 10:11 AM PDT

    Janthu said:

    EQ Atlas to avoid getting eternally lost.

    Allakhazam for the more esoteric quests.

    Lucy to see what was coming down the pipeline. 

    Don't forget EQTraders !

    • 595 posts
    July 11, 2016 10:47 AM PDT

    Crypton said:

    There used to be a spell casters site as well but I can't remember the name.  

    castersrealm.com?  I use the archived version for my p99 Shaman to this day ;)

    http://web.archive.org/web/20020220075405/http://eq.castersrealm.com/spells/spells.asp?Class=Shaman

    • 34 posts
    July 16, 2016 7:10 PM PDT

    ^^ Casters Realm got me through spell-buying in my early EQ days.

    A fan site done right takes an incredible amount of work, but it's very rewarding to be able to serve the player community as sort of a 'guiding light' and watch other players utilize it and engage in it. A salute and good luck to those of you who are going to give it a go.

    As to their importance -- They are very important! Not just for 'walkthrough' purposes, but for lore (it's not really possible to get it ALL in game, and it's quite enjoyable to be able to look back on it), media (who doesn't like poring over screenshots and such), news, interacting with other players, boosting the sense of community, and I'm sure a host of other benefits that aren't coming to mind at this time.

    • 763 posts
    August 26, 2016 1:37 PM PDT

    While I also use all those mentioned, point towards:

    Janthu said: EQ Atlas to avoid getting eternally lost.

    Remember... Pantheon has NO In-game maps!

    ... I used to print out my maps for EQ from EQ Atlas!

    Nikademis said: EQ.CastersRealm.Com

    ... Also used to print out my Spell lists and staple together ...

    ... so I knew which runes to collect for my Mage Spells!

     

    These kinds of things are likely to be very sought after I imagine.

    • 511 posts
    August 27, 2016 3:50 PM PDT

    Monkly Business was my hang out place :D

    • 31 posts
    August 30, 2016 9:12 AM PDT

    Feyshtey said:

    Janthu said:

    EQ Atlas to avoid getting eternally lost.

    Allakhazam for the more esoteric quests.

    Lucy to see what was coming down the pipeline. 

    Don't forget EQTraders !

     

    I also loved EQ Clerics and EQ Enchanters(the runes).  I used to spend almost as much time researching as I spent playing, I think.  I looked for information on maps, spells, quests and mobs. Whether we were looking for a new place to hunt or we were trying to figure out the dungeon strategy, I loved my time in those communities. At EQ Clerics and the Enchanter site I received advice on efficiency and playing my class in different roles.  My spells, what they did and how to use them...  I learned how to go from a casual grouping Cleric to a raid lead Cleric. 

     I love fansites. I think they create an extension of the game and allow more community engagement. 

     

    Alex

     

    • 86 posts
    September 1, 2016 10:30 AM PDT

    Fan site are extremely important. Think of the fan sites like the local library or book store before the internet was here. We all had a Rand McNally Altas in our cars. This was filled with travel maps and information gathered by the ones that came before us. Some fan sites work in the same manner. As we find thing out, we document it for the ones that come after us. Since we do not have the ability to create in game ducuments (a great idea BTW) to house this library of information, we put it on fan sites.

    • 67 posts
    September 1, 2016 4:24 PM PDT

    I remember printing all the zones out for Eq so I can have them when I needed them. Man I wish I still had that notebook lol


    This post was edited by Paradime at September 1, 2016 4:24 PM PDT
    • 86 posts
    September 1, 2016 6:50 PM PDT

    Paradime said:

    I remember printing all the zones out for Eq so I can have them when I needed them. Man I wish I still had that notebook lol

     

    It is sooo funny you say that...  I just moved 3 weeks ago and I have 2 boxes of old papers and unopened mail. After going through it all I had 42 pounds of paper with all my EQ1 notes. LIsts, maps, quest walkthroughs, and more.

    • 163 posts
    September 3, 2016 2:04 PM PDT

    All these sites were great resources they were a big help!

    • 188 posts
    November 9, 2016 4:27 PM PST

    I miss the good old days of EQii.com 

    • 2886 posts
    November 9, 2016 6:08 PM PST

    I'm pretty sure VR said that there will be no in-game map in hopes of encouraging raw exploration. I'm guessing that this will herald a revival of fan sites and player-made maps. This really excites me as someone who used to love printing out all the EQ1 maps from EQ Atlas and putting them in page protectors and 2" 3-ring binders. It was strangely fun and satisfing, not to mention useful. Having other binders for recipes and such was also helpful, although I wouldn't mind having more accessible in-game recipe books in Pantheon. I thought these things were a thing of the past, but maybe not :)

    • 137 posts
    November 11, 2016 8:13 AM PST

    EQ Atlas

    Allakhazam

    Castersrealm

     

    Its hilarious to hear how many did exactly what I was doing in EQ. At that time I was working a really crappy job and would use work printers to print out all the maps. They also had a bunch of plasitic covers and binders just going to waste, so mine were nicely organized =). The funny thing is that I loved exploring in EQ1 so after the first time I never needed them again. In games like WoW, even with all the in game tools, I still have no idea where a lot of things are beyond vanilla.

    Personally I would love to see player sites again, but I would also like to see some very basic in game tools similar to EQ1 when it comes to maps. I would really like the ability to add my own personal notes to a very basic map. 

     

    • 2886 posts
    November 11, 2016 9:51 AM PST

    I still enjoy occassionally going to EQ1's Allakhazam and just reading some of the comments that are still on there from 2001, 2002, etc. on the classic zones and mobs. Those were the days.

    • 80 posts
    March 23, 2017 2:33 PM PDT

    Bazgrim said:

    This really excites me as someone who used to love printing out all the EQ1 maps from EQ Atlas and putting them in page protectors and 2" 3-ring binders. It was strangely fun and satisfing, not to mention useful.

     

    It's equivelant to buying a physical book or a E-Book.

     

    I don't care how the game needs to progress. Please don't ever make the in-game easier for us!


    This post was edited by Makinelly at March 23, 2017 2:33 PM PDT
    • 2886 posts
    March 23, 2017 3:10 PM PDT

    Makinelly said:

    Bazgrim said:

    This really excites me as someone who used to love printing out all the EQ1 maps from EQ Atlas and putting them in page protectors and 2" 3-ring binders. It was strangely fun and satisfing, not to mention useful.

     

    It's equivelant to buying a physical book or a E-Book.

     

    I don't care how the game needs to progress. Please don't ever make the in-game easier for us!

    Now that I think of it, I also made a similar map/reference book for DDO. And I still have my Prima Strategy Guide from EQ1 Kunark era :)

    • 511 posts
    March 23, 2017 6:02 PM PDT

    Riply said:

    EQ Atlas

    Allakhazam

    Castersrealm

     

    Its hilarious to hear how many did exactly what I was doing in EQ. At that time I was working a really crappy job and would use work printers to print out all the maps. They also had a bunch of plasitic covers and binders just going to waste, so mine were nicely organized =). The funny thing is that I loved exploring in EQ1 so after the first time I never needed them again. In games like WoW, even with all the in game tools, I still have no idea where a lot of things are beyond vanilla.

    Personally I would love to see player sites again, but I would also like to see some very basic in game tools similar to EQ1 when it comes to maps. I would really like the ability to add my own personal notes to a very basic map. 

     

    I had maps, item stats, mob spawns and locations all in seperate binders. Loved that part of the game, when everythign was new and when information was a currency that could be traded. Sadly in this day and age that wont last to long even for brand new game.

    • 399 posts
    March 27, 2017 9:17 PM PDT

    All those and eqinterface. 

    • 12 posts
    March 28, 2017 9:18 AM PDT

    EQIM was fun, when it worked. I enjoyed being able to chat with friends and guildies in game while I was at school.