Adventuring in Old School EverQuest

EC Tunnel P99

I love when I’m actually playing games.  I feel like I can truly blog about what’s going on with my characters instead of struggling to find something to comment on.  EverQuest Project 1999 has been my focus this past week.  A few members of the KGC Guild decided we wanted to venture back to the lands of Norrath and see how far we could progress before a new game comes out and sweeps us away.

We made a nice group: Paladin tank (me), Enchanter, Cleric, Necro, and Druid.  We’re still missing one, but it’s not hard to pick up a DPS class.  Our little group began by adventuring in Crushbone.  We slaughtered orcs for days, camping everything from Centurions at the entrance to the Trainer on the plateau.  We even pulled Legionnaires when a high level Druid was nice enough to buff us.

Dorph the PaladinWhen we reached level 20 we went to Unrest. Oh the memories I have of that wretched mansion.  Many were rekindled as we pulled mobs and were barked at for taking a mob close to a room another group was camping.  That sparked a pulling war to see who would hog the most mobs in the mansion.

Now we’re in East Commonlands buying  things to raise our gear to a point where we can devote our entire play sessions toward finding camps out in the middle of nowhere and gaining fast levels.  We’re contemplating Aviaks in the Karanas, or something in High Hold Keep. Oh to have options!

Pulling is a mechanic I have missed most.  I love sitting in a location and setting up a camp.  I like hunkering down and killing monsters instead of constantly being on the move always running, always ‘progressing’ down a linear path.  I forgot how good it feels to just take in a zone for all it has to offer and to become so familiar that when the time comes to move on you almost … miss the zone in a weird way like you’re leaving your home.

More adventures hopefully await our little band of adventurers.  I’d love to get into the higher level dungeons that I remember from Kunark, camp for items to make our characters better, and dare I say it even enter the Planes and do Velious content when they release that expansion.

  • Man, I kind of hate when you blog about these older games. Always makes me want to play them. I assume Project 1999 is another one of those emulated servers?

    Curious if you guys still play UO too. I’m messing around in SWGEmu waiting for it to leave beta, and was going to start UO to play with everyone. If people are moving onto EQ maybe I’ll consider giving that a go instead.

    I’ve missed the K&G Community and want to start getting active again.

  • @TheRedComet: Spent 3 hours in UO today. Actually didn’t play EQ because 2 of the guys I group with weren’t on. There are only 5 of us playing EQ.

    UO is still active, and hopefully picking up with even more activity. SWGEmu is played nightly by at least 4 people. I listen in on their adventures. They’re getting used to the game for the first time so that they are ready. You should hop on vent and ask to join them.

    We’re always here when you want to join us! 🙂

  • But how do you know what zones to go to? Is there a beacon of light and a dot on your minimap?

    For my money, there’s no MMO better than EQ for PVE. I think I might have more fun reading about it than I do playing other MMOs.

  • Any MMO can be fun with your own group of 5 buddies which is why you didn’t play when they weren’t on. I did EQ and constantly played with strangers my entire time. It was fun at the time but the sitting in one spot pulling for hours is way past it’s prime and thr graphics are beyond terrible.

  • I also miss pulling. Well actually I hated pulling itself, but I liked standing around in one spot waiting for the monk to bring mobs back for us to kill. It also seriously ups the social options too when 5 out of 6 of you are just standing around waiting. Lots of time to emote and just get silly.

    Since EQ is free now, and I also loved EQ back in 1999, I decided to download it recently but I just couldn’t get past how bad the graphics are compared to today’s games. It’s still an amazing game, but even the mob names floating over their heads is just godawful to look at.

  • Pulling and finding awesome EXP camps in zones is one of the things I really miss about FFXI as well.

  • Expect a message from a few characters already in P1999, a shaman and monk around level 16.

    Any tips on the best time to contact you in game?

  • @Goom: Actually I didn’t play when my friends weren’t on because I didn’t want to pass them. 🙂

    @Darial: I’m on at various times. Usually in the evenings.

    @Sanz: The graphics were, to me, surprisingly good for its age. There’s a certain charm to the blockyness! 😉

  • I’m thinking of giving Project 1999 a try after finding out there is a Bard class. Wish more games featured bards. Maybe if I get around your guys levels I can join up.

  • @TheRedComet: Absolutely, if you get to our level we have a perfect spot open for a Bard.

    Have you played EQ before? It’s … let me just say it’s not the easiest game for someone to jump into for the first time.

  • Sadly, no I’m well aware it might be a bit of a shock since I haven’t, but I’m really craving something different and sadly there are not any new MMOs coming soon.

    I am a bit worried about being a bard since they tend to be a bit more complicated in most games. But I always loved them in FFXI and I’m sure if I look up helpful guides online I can get the hang of it.

  • Keen, just curious, you seem to do these retro-MMOs pretty regularly, any reason why you never go back to DAoC?

  • I pretty much only play games with friends these days. I’d have to convince them to go back to DAoC. Also, the only DAoC server I would consider playing on is a classic one, and the only one I know about is Uthgard (which has been out for so long). If an official classic server came out, I would definitely play on it.