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What do/did you enjoy about EQ?
Another thread had me thinking asking whether the EQ experience could be replicated. On first instinct, I thought no but after thinking about it a bit more EQ wasn't perfect and all would be required would be to replicate some of the aspects that were enjoyed in EQ.
In particular, I'll state one of my enjoyments of EQ and they were dungeons. Not the only or main thing, but it is something I have yet to see surpassed or even equalled in any of the mmorpgs that have released since EQ.(admittedly not played Vanguard, my computer is a little bit dated) Dungeons like Blackburrow, the Warrens, Permafrost, Karnor's Castle, OS etc etc were all so good especially in terms of the confusion in navigating them or the segregated parts dedicated to mobs living quarters and that.
I could mention more but interested in other people's opinions on what they enjoyed about EQ.
Comments
Id have to say....
Dungeons, Community, difficulty. When I say difficulty I mean you can be fighting on one area safely, and around the corner you can run in to a Monster that will kick your butt. which leads me to the next aspect. Surprise. In most other MMOs you basically know what level range an area is, in EQ, anything can happen and I like that. I really dislike going into a game and one area you are safe kiling stuff, when those mobs are really easy you move on to the next area, understand?
Also, unlike many raids in other games you really need to come up with a good plan and tactics, otherwise your monster food.
it's actually not that hard to replicate - developers just need to have the guts to do it and stop producing one wow clone after another.
First thing that needs to happen after character creation is to NOT have a quest NPC in front of you when you first log in. OH MY GOD WE CAN'T POSSIBLE HAVE PLAYERS TRY TO FIGURE THINGS OUT FOR THEMSELVES! get a life people.
Second, the first mob you encounter in the game should have a half decent chance of actually killing you.
Third, don't have player housing, don't have player boats, don't have an over the top crafting system and by god don't have a magic the gathering card game included and call it diplomacy.
GET BACK TO THE BASICS!
A good MMO only takes decent graphics, good lore, and needs to challenge the player. Nothing since EQ1 has done that.
Yes, the quests... forgot to mention that. Try comparing the difficulty of EQ quests to other games... I hate to say it, compare it to WoW easy Questing. Even compare the newbie armor quests in EQ, which at the level are not that easy.
EDIT: I consider this to be a Pro. not a Con that the majority of new MMORPGers think.
EQ is as Real (If Not More Real) as Kansas For Many
The World in Everquest pre-Luclin (or Pre-Planes of Power, really) felt real and genuine. In my mind, the land of Everquest genuinely exists. It is as real to me in terms of being a place in my mind as Kansas (if not more real, having never visited Kansas).
What ruined EQ for me, although I still play? Zerg-raiding (although I still raid).
Great question!
I only play Everquest now, all of the new games do not feel authentic to me. I do not want harsh death penalties, teleport classes, forced-grouping, or zerg-raiding. It is time to think outside of the box for MMORPG, but I do want a world as authentic as Everquest was prior to the Planes of Power expansion.
I remember being level 9 and exploring the Sewers only to have my but handed to me by the scary Necromancer/Shadowknights down in Qeynos and I had to ask a necro to locate my corpse and drag it for me(was trying to fight timer before my body rotted so I was freaking out too.
More Scaryness...: Attacking animals in Qeynos hills was scary as hell because Holy windstalker could see you at any time and come defend her precious lil bears. Also, the hill giants and griffons would freak you out while hunting in West Karana....
damn, you guys are right...the Scary factor is what made that game fun and all new games just don't freaking have it..
Edit: Kithicor forest at night...shiver..when the zombies come out hehe. Not to mention have invis fade on you while running through Lguk...I could go on forever guys.
Hi! My name is paper. Nerf scissors, rock is fine.
MMORPG = Mostly Men Online Roleplaying Girls
http://www.MichaelLuckhardt.com
ROFL LMAO!
The Griffons still sink my heart as well as Kith Forest. ROFL.
Great post. The world felt authentically dangerous, as it should. It was in many ways as dangerous to the group as to a solo person, as I can see many games trying to encourage group travel.
""But Coyote, you could learn! You only prefer keyboard and mouse because that's all you've ever known!" You might say right before you hug a rainforest and walk in sandals to your drum circle where you're trying to raise group consciousness of ladybugs or whatever it is you dirty goddamn hippies do when you're not busy smoking pot and smelling bad."
Coyote's Howling: Death of the Computer
This is it for me! It's sort of a gut feeling thing-- I've been homesick for Norrath from time to time. In the less rational parts of my brain, it is somewhere I've been, not some game I've played. And if I think about it much, I start having fond feelings for time spent in various places. You'd think it would be difficult to feel that way with the unnatural zoning and relatively crude graphics of older zones.
I love Nektulos 3 because it is a lot like the original Nektulos with updated graphics. I hate the new Freeport because I always felt like Freeport was my "hometown", but now it is completely different. I feel like I deserve a piece of cheese every time I negotiate that maze and actually find what I am looking for.
I am still homesick for the old Freeport.
I don't think Kansas is real. Or Nebraska. Totally fictional places there.
I am not playing EQ at the moment, but I'll probably be back. I have been in and out a lot over the years.
...
This is where I draw the line: __________________.
I know exactly what you guys are saying...One of the things that someone earlier pointed out..was that, although most zones had a certain level range..all of them still had certain things you had to be wary of..Oasis had sand giants and specs and that one HUMONGOUS CROC, for example. That is what made it fun..knowing that although you are walking into a zone that was perfect for your level, you still had to be on your toes..that is one reason that most mmo's of today are huge yawn fests for me.
I loved knowing that if I wanted to level in a neat place like HighPass Hold / HighKeep, I'd either have to brave Kithicor Forest or get a port to Karana and run all the way around the mountain ledge. And let's not forget the drachnids in Firiona Vie to get to Ill Omen..unless you were an Iksar that is.
And although the feature had mixed feelings, NOTHING was scarrier than having to med while STARING at your spell book..hearing but not being able to see what was walking around you.
Basically, the game just had a certain character to it, that no other game can still touch. I loved that nothing lead your around from one quest to another..hell..you didn't even know where the quests were until you talked to an NPC..no exclamation point over the head, nothing. You just had to find out on your own..that was the fun factor for me. Being able to remember certain parts of a zone by going there over and over without having a map to go on gave me a sense of pride. Especially when a new player would get on wondering where something was located.
Fun times, Fun times.
great replies, brought back a few memories, and a few thoughts. Like, I wonder if EQ being seamless like these newer mmorpgs would it be as appealling? Actually thinking about it, thats a nobrainer it would be considerably more appealling.
And thats when i stared at the monitor for "no exateration" about 5 min. I was lost. so many menus, buttons, I WAS SCARED TO SAY THE LEAST! so i walk around, seeing people running all over the place, i felt like a foreigner. and i was. didnt know how to make a living, how to make money, i didnt know anything! all i had was a rusty sword and a ration and some letter.
Thank God for the community.
Everquest has the best community because everyone that plays it is mature, they dont play it to get to level 70 and own all the noobs. no, infact, they play it for the adventure. And if there was someone "like me" that just entered the game and needed help, you would find it. I remember the first person i came up to gave me quite a bit of money to get me started off with, showed me where to start, and gave me the basics.
You dont see that in games like WoW, no, because WOW is filled with little kids that spam on the General Chat badmouthing eachother. if you ask for help you will never get it. Theres no adventure in that game, its all about leveling up to 70 as fast as possible, and raiding.
-Metty
Ya know it's so funny, the issue isn't that games today aren't as good as the first gen mmo's, nor that they are dumbed down or too easy. It's just they've done away with the harsh learning curve in alot of cases. But we all grew up with our first MMO experiences being so brutal, learning the genre and growing up with it. We're kinda set in our preconceptions of what a new mmo experience should be. Just like people who grew up listening to the radio vs television will express how radio made one use their mind and imagination while the tv dumbs us and makes us stupid.
Mostly I think it's immursion, it was all new and fresh to us, but now we're jaded and looking for the sense of wonder. Having the games systems displayed in shiney score-boards and menu's dosn't help either. I'm a big fan of immursion and EQ's stark interface helped with that. No chat windows or quest journals, you kinda felt like you were in the world because there wasn't any UI, no guild screen, no LFG screen, nothing beyond your inventory and spellbook.
What would do it for me is if an MMO tried to hide the game mechanics through NPC AI and made inventory UO style backpacks (well maybe a bit better but more a feeling of putting an item in a bag than an icon on a grid) and minimize the UI. I wanna feel immursed in a world like I did in Norrath back in the day, and the more UI elements are on the screen, health bars, dps numbers, skill icons bars, quest windows, the more I feel like I'm playing a video game. Most of that would help bring back the experience for me personaly.
Arioc Murkwood
Environment Artist
Sad but true.
What I enjoyed about EQ?
Fear -- you could die, and it hurt. The world was dangerous. Travelling was exciting and risky. Cities were true safe havens and the only comfortable places to be if you had to step away from your chair for a few minutes.
The Unknown -- other than the vaguely broadly drawn maps, you never really knew what was out there in the world. Made travel sort of exciting.
Challenge -- You worked to earn your levels and items. They meant something.
Social atmoshphere -- the world was so dangerous you needed to group and you needed others.
Experience grinding -- a reason to hang out and chat and adventure with others. Grinding experience in a group was always more fun than solo grinding a linear path of quests like in other games.
Zone system and chat -- made the areas and zones feel alive.
Could impact other players -- someone else's bad pull could be your problem. This made the world feel real and exciting.
Hehe... This thread is making me a little nostalgic for the days when we had a big three-ring binder with all the EQ Atlas maps in it. And for when the game looked like this:
This screenshot was from the Luclin era, about the time that the new interface was introduced, when the old one was still an option. This is the inventory screen. (We were supposed to be killing Rumblecrush or Doomshade... but I was just tagging along, and obviously wasn't paying too much attention. LOL.)
...
This is where I draw the line: __________________.
In Vanguard, I could be killing lvl 10-15 mobs in an area, and be ambushed by a lvl 45 6dot giant at the same place, or I could be walking around lvl 20 snakes, and see a lvl 40 turtle just waiting to snap at me. VG has done that pretty well, and it keeps you on your toes.
___________________________________
Inquisition
website.http://inqguild.net/
forum.http://inq.cbhx.com/index.php
Current Game FFXIV (Cactuar)
Looking for 1 healer for 8 mans.
I have played almost ALL of the current MMORPGs...
Here is what i love about EQ1:
memorizing spells: Limitation on what you can cast at one time makes you deciede before you fight what you want/need.
The sheer Number of spells! OMG there are so many! My necro has 11 pages of spells... about 60 of them right now, and i'm only level 30. True there are some Line spells (upgraded versions of same spell) but there are tons of random spells too... Ultravision, Bind vision, Breathing underwater, bind, gate, buffs, dots, lifetaps, mez, pet, etc.... SOO many different things to cast that are USEFUL! not just lame fluff spells.
The way Norrath feels like a REAL world! Try to imagine a type of enviroment and i think* it exists in eq. There are deserts, plains, mountains, seas, oceans, tundras... Tons of different places to make you feel like you aren't in kansas anymore.
When the old world was populated i loved the /OOC chat and the expected /shout chat... was always fun.
THe quests! They are vague, difficult and require you to FIND THEM! No lame ass person with an ! over their heads, and a person with a colored ? over there head to tell you where to finish quest. Wheni quest in EQ i know i'm doiing something FOR someone or for a specific tangible reward.
The sheer amount of LOOT! Everything is useable and there are so many different things that drop... who cares if it makes sense...
How money has weight, and some serious weight.. Forces you to socialize / visit a bank. Can players become bankers of a sort? Exchanging coppers for Plats would be easier in the field... hmmm.
The fact that humans can't see in the dark. WOnderful. Makes it feel even more real.
It is a difficult game. You can't play on auto pilot unless you are being PL'd!
ugh... there are more, but here are just a few of why I love! EQ1
"WTS lightstones" in the ECL tunnel
"mage looking for a group for orc camp 2"
"oh jeeze look at the size of that spider"
"RUUUUNNN ITS A GRIFFON"
"Train to zone"
i played the game well before any expansion then resubbed after the different plains were introduced, a VERY long time ago now lol
North Karana btw.
Hi! My name is paper. Nerf scissors, rock is fine.
MMORPG = Mostly Men Online Roleplaying Girls
http://www.MichaelLuckhardt.com
love the spell icons back then