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Original Everquest to Planes of Power Server (Official Sony)
So, I went back to EQ and pretty much still liked the game, but decided that it was a diffrent game from the one I played in my time. I started looking around and noticed the Everquest had a Macintosh Edition. I was intrigued to find out that it was "Stuck" back in Planes of Power Era. I logged in, and absolutely remember why I started playing MMOs in the first place. So if you have OS X installed on your PC or have a mac, Goto official sony eq forums or www.eqmac.com and read about starting up an account. Its free now, and Sony hands out keys. You do have to make a telephone call, but who cares its free.
Al'Kabor server info:
1. No patches (Last patch was in 2005)
2. Great Community (I was tired from quite a few of the bad communitys that plague MMOs. This is the best i've ever seen.)
3. Its Hard. Its not these carebear MMOs you see today, it is HARD! I'm talking starting out, that moss snake can kill your hard. If you haven't played EQ back in the early 2000s, this isn't for you. No maps, no 3rd person views, no starter quests, etc...
4. Its EQ as it was on PC back in 2003. Some things to note: KEI hits at lvl 1, Levels 1 to 50 have no hells (51 to 65 is a pain), and the server has an overall 20% exp boost.
5. Typical server population is around 200 to 300 players on at a given time, the alliance channel has 30ish in the mornings 9 AM CST, and around 80 to 100 in primetime 8PM CST.
6. Top Guild on Server is raiding Elemental Planes atm. They have Downed Fire (2009) , Air (2010), and is currently working on the Rathe Council. Noone has entered into PoTime yet.
I just wanted to share my experience, because i've tried a ton of MMOs and have been disappointed with everyone of them since that time. If anyone else is in the same boat as me, come join me. My Name is Tums in game.
See you later.
Comments
Thanks for the info, was just looking into this today. I sorta feel a need to play EQ since its really the one that started everything. Plus none of the new ones really hold my attention. Gotta wait until Monday though so I can call em up.
Wow. Awesome, guys. Thanks for the link, Buzz.
You're welcome, enjoy!
The Old Timers Guild
Laid back, not so serious, no drama.
All about the fun!
www.oldtimersguild.com
An opinion should be the result of thought, not a substitute for it. - Jef Mallett
Yea, I've heard about project1999, but I didn't really LOVE eq until Velious era myself. Also, i'm always a little skeptical about playing on EMUs because they can get shut down. However, I don't Sony will bother with it, considering its more than 11 years old, and they aren't offering anything close to it.
Here is an updated break down of EQ Options
1. Project 1999 (EMU, Only Original EQ NO XPACS!) 1999 Code Origin
2. Eq for Mac (Official Sony, Xpacs include: Kunark, Velious, Luclin, PoP ONLY) 2003 Code Origin
3. EQ for PC (Official Sony, So many Xpacs I don't think MMORPG allows that many characters in a post!) Present Day
EQ always had third person view. When I started back in 1999 the very first thing I did was figure out how to switch to third person view and that's how I played the game for the five years stayed with it.
true this game is optimised for first person view if you don like this you might not enjoy eq but if you can pass that eq is a great game.it is avail for 3 person view but in my view it remove the immersive feel!
Planes of Power was what ruined the game for me. As far as I am concerned, that was the start of the downhill slide for EQ with the fast travel crap through Plane of Knowledge.
Now, if they still had a Pre-PoP server, I would be all over it.
Let me clarify that, No 3rd person view that is playable (for me).
You can always do the F9 and switch to view your Char or take screenshots, but you can't mouse scroll and have it follow behind your character.
Edit: I re-read your post, and I have to say i'm impressed if you played with old school 3rd person
I thought everyone played original EQ in 3rd person... @_@
How else can I see how pretty my character looks?
I take it you were a Wizard or Druid
I understand the complaint, and for some it was a deal breaker. I did love collecting all the "port tooths" from velious to porting to those destinations.
For me, Its a double edged sword. PoK gives me the ability to save all that time i'd normally spend traveling on game play, but takes away from the immersion.
Also, There is a guild on the server "Vintage" that refuses to play any content EXCEPT Original and Kunark... They raid the old content and only do those. I think they will eventually expand to Velious but stop there. They only use old school travel. I envy them for doing it (there is quite a few of them 100ish I think).
Personally, I just roll with it
Ah, I'm not 100% certain if I'm understanding you correctly but there was more than one third person camera view in EQ even way back in 1999 vanilla EQ. One of them, the one I used, was the over-the-shoulder view with the camera locked into position relative to your character. You could pan back or move the camera in closer but as you moved it would move with you and follow you.
At some point faily early on (I think during kunark but before velious but I don't remember exactly when) they made it even more adjustable. You could raise and lower the camera, tilt the angle up and down, and swing it around from side to side. But again, when you were done messing with it, it would stay locked in that position relative to your character unless you moved it again. You didn't adjust it with the mouse, however. You used buttons on the keyboard but it's been so long I don't remember exactly which buttons did what.
And yes I did play the game with that camera view the entire time I played. The only times I ever switched to 1st person were sometimes when I was in a very tight, cramped space (like going through buildings in Ak'Anon) and sometimes when I was running through very hilly terrain (like dagnors cauldron) because it was easier to change the angle on the fly in 1st person. But in hilly terrain I usually just moved the camera back and up further.
I don't know why some people think the third person view was so terrible in EQ but I suspect it's just because they never took the time to learn that the camera was adjustable. I actually really liked it except for that one thing that you couldn't easily adjust it when you were busy.
Edit: Oh yeah, one other thing about it. The game didn't remember how you adjusted the camera so every time you logged in you had to switch back to 3rd and readjust it. That annoyed me a little but it only took a minute so no big deal.
Nope. Never played either. Necromancer and Cleric.
I did however love to explore, and I like a challenge. I am one of those people who enjoyed the thrill of trying to manage the docks at Butcherblock as a Dark Elf, etc. Fond memories. I don't like or want "instant" anything in my games, thank you every much. I want to have to earn things, find things, and know my accomplishments mean something.
I know I am in the minority, but I like what I like. *Shrug*
A pre PoP server on MAC would be the death of EQMAC and any unpopulated Server that only had xpacs prior to PoP. Travel would be HORRIBLE. Sorry i like that you had to get a wizard or druid to travel but damn it was really annoying when you couldnt find one. and even worse when you had to make the run multiple times. And PoP really didnt add to much fast travel anyways. Still had to run from cities and cities werent really all to close to the planes (planes not in PoP).
Not me. I hated 3rd person. Probably because I played a huge fat ogre.
For me, Its a double edged sword. PoK gives me the ability to save all that time i'd normally spend traveling on game play, but takes away from the immersion.
Also, There is a guild on the server "Vintage" that refuses to play any content EXCEPT Original and Kunark... They raid the old content and only do those. I think they will eventually expand to Velious but stop there. They only use old school travel. I envy them for doing it (there is quite a few of them 100ish I think).
Personally, I just roll with it
What sever is Vintage on?
The Old Timers Guild
Laid back, not so serious, no drama.
All about the fun!
www.oldtimersguild.com
An opinion should be the result of thought, not a substitute for it. - Jef Mallett
Vintage is on Al'Kabor.
The reason they don't use an EMU like project 1999 is because it isn't stable enough and they've been around Al'Kabor for a couple years. Al'Kabor's population has actually increased in the past couple years and has lead to guild progressing in PoP. For instance the top guild on the server Temerity has actually progressed in the elemental planes in both 2009 and this year. Currently they are working on Rathe Council and then once they do PoWater they will be Time flagged. I would project them breaking into plane of time next year or maybe even late this year at this pace. I for one am very excited about all the guilds on Al'Kabor and have seen steady progress from each of them. I'm in Pathfinders of Al'Kabor and we have moved from NToV to killing Arch Lich, High Priest, XTC, and Cursed so far this year. We should down the Emperor in the next couple months and be raiding Vex Thal by years end.
I'm really excited that I found this wonderful server, and I just wanted to share it with you guys, because I know there is quite a few of you that are just like me. Miss the good old EQ, and can't stand EMUs.
In other words, the Mac Server.
The Old Timers Guild
Laid back, not so serious, no drama.
All about the fun!
www.oldtimersguild.com
An opinion should be the result of thought, not a substitute for it. - Jef Mallett
In one word... Hackintosh!