Tag: EQ

I was never a big fan of the mines of Gloomingdeep tutorial when it was implemented. I felt like it took forever to complete, the gear was not very good, and it didn’t actually teach me anything I needed to know about Norrath. I would normally skip the tutorial and head to Crescent Reach, which had a lot of very nice quests for level 1+. From there I’d go to whatever the lowest level hotzone was at the time.

So it was nice to see that the tutorial has been revamped, again. I was feeling a bit lost on my level 90 characters still so I created a magician. I’ve never played one before but I hear they’re great for solo play (or for ‘moloing’ which is a new term I’ve picked up from the forums). There are achievements now for listening to the NPCs drone on about maps, communication, and achievements. You can hire a mercenary while in the zone, which is great because right away you can start talking to someone that won’t ever answer you back.

The gear has been given a make over as well, and I found it better than the defiant items that drop within the zone. The quests are more detailed, and the new map system works very well. I still wish there was more information on what to do later on in the game, if you happen to have left around level 90, but it’s really not that difficult for me to figure out. I’m just a bit lonely seeing as no one I know plays any more (I’m trying to work on that).

I even managed to get an augment in the tutorial, complete with an explanation on how they work. You don’t need to place augments in bird baths any more, you just put the item on your mouse pointer and drop it onto the augment slot on your gear. Much better (imo). Over all things have been streamlined, but they’re still quite difficult, it’s still a game that doesn’t give anything to you on a silver platter.

I spent last night in North Kaladim harvesting mushrooms and bits for Kaladim Constitutional. Out of 300 combines, I managed to get from 273 to 281. I’ve got a ways to go still until I reach 300 in brewing but I’m looking forward to it. I had grand ideas of one day having 300 in all of my crafts, but in order for that to happen I would have to actually settle down and stick with a game. I have been contemplating doing that exact thing, I get tired of wandering some times, but we’ll have to see.

Anyhow. It’s been really nice to be back so far. Guilds are still recruiting, and with the 19th expansion only months away there are players returning all of the time. Not to mention the game is F2P, so if you’ve wanted to peek in on your characters and see how Norrath is doing, there really is no better time.

As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

I’ve been spending a lot of time in EverQuest this week, satisfying my cravings for nostalgia and a game that doesn’t just hand me everything on a silver platter. At first I thought I would jump right back in with my level 90s because it wasn’t that long ago that I was playing regularly, but once I was actually in game (and after I had set my hotbars up, I had to re-install the game once I formatted my PC) I was at a complete loss on what to do.

Now, SOE actually addresses this issue for the majority of returning players. When you enter the game you receive a precious little book that belongs to a chain of quests that are a part of the ‘Hero’s Journey’. These quests will point you in the right direction from levels 1 to 85 – and there they stop. So it’s great for lower levels returning, or for making a new character, but for me at level 90 all it said was go play in House of Thule. I (thankfully) remembered where that was, but HoT is almost 2 expansions old now, and I was hoping to explore the latest expansion.

That didn’t mean there was absolutely nothing for me to do, there always is, in EverQuest. I took a look at my crafting skills and noticed that I was working on brewing previously. I’m 300/300 in Baking, Jewel crafting, and Tailoring, but only 250-270 in the other crafting disciplines. I headed to Abysmal Sea which is my crafting zone of choice, and set to work making a handful of drinks.

Crafting in EQ1 is just as annoying as it always has been. You lose materials whether you fail or succeed a combine and those skill ups are as rare as can be. With over 200 combines I managed to inch my crafting from 263 brewing to 272 and then I ran out of materials. I’ll have to head to Kaladim so I can gather more mushrooms before too long. The broker was in a sad state, but that also has to do with the fact that the game was down for 7 hours due to a patch. At this moment you’re still required to be online in order to perform sales, and a lot of people leave their characters up AFK while they’re at work. I suppose that’s one of the best changes coming in the 19th expansion due later this year.

Once I ran out of crafting materials I decided to take a peek at the new player experience. The Mines of Gloomingdeep have been remodeled, new players are given more explanation and story behind why they are trapped within. There are achievements for completing more than just the basics to the tutorial, and there are more NPC within the mines. You can hire a mercenary which is always a great idea especially since at those levels they are completely free of cost. I created a Vah Shir shaman, hired myself a tank, and was set. Forum posts indicate that any class combination is able to level up to around 60-65 with a tank mercenary, so I wanted to see if that theory was true.

I get tired of the comments that say you can never return to your ‘home’ MMO. Yes, games have changed and evolved over time, but so have we. Personally, EQ still scratches an itch that a lot of other games just don’t touch. I feel a sense of pride in leveling, in crafting, in pretty much everything. Some things are archaic, but I think there’s room for a game like that, perhaps even a niche demand.

If it’s any indication, EQ is still doing incredibly well for its age. There were over 400 people on my one server last night (and there are many servers still) and while it may not be the millions we see in some games, for a 13 year old MMO I’m just tickled that it’s still being developed, and not shutting down.

Cold weather is coming (slowly) and with it of course my usual fall Nostalgia. No matter what game I play, none compares to how much I loved EverQuest, and so I decided to dip back into game. It wasn’t that long ago that I was playing steadily, my enchanter and necromancer are both level 90, and while my houses have been repossessed, I still have my belongings in escrow.

SOE also announced the 19th EverQuest expansion, ‘Rain of Fear’ which I am looking forward to. This expansion will bring the level cap to 100 – wow. It also adds a whole bunch of other neat features, and also some features that have been a long time coming. I’ve highlighted some of the most exciting points for me personally.

• Level cap increase from 95 to 100 – Achieve a new max level of 100 and set a new standard of gameplay.
• Hunter System – Gain special rewards and titles for defeating large numbers of foes.
• Aggro Meter – A brand new tool to help better manage your aggro. You can now see your aggro level relative to your group.
• Collection System – Discover items throughout Norrath and collect sets for exciting rewards and titles.
• Improved Brokering System – Sell items in the Bazaar while being offline! More flexibility as a buyer to search and purchase from anywhere in the world.
• New Linear Item Progression – Stats on armor collected will increase as you move up from one tier to another.
• Customization with non-visible armor – All non-visible armor in Rain of Fear can be worn by all. You’ll be able to customize your stats for every encounter.
• Class-specific stat distribution – Collect items that are designed specifically for each classes’ abilities.
• More than 1800 New Spells (Ranks 1, 2 & 3) – Exponentially add to your spell arsenal.
• More than 550 AAs – Elevate your power and abilities like never before.
• More than 3500 New Items – Create your own identity with thousands of new items.
• More than 3000 New Tradeskill recipes – Increase your value across Norrath by creating items only available by your craftsmanship.
• More than 110 Quests – Challenge your skills and gather useful loot.
• 13 Raids – Collect valuable rewards from all new adventures.
• 9 Zones – Be the first to discover untouched lands of Norrath.
• 19 Missions – Experience intriguing lore and immersive Missions.
• Continued opportunity to kill off Halflings.
• Legends of Norrath™ – 5 Digital Booster Packs.

It was time. Ninga and I headed to steamfont where we waited for the blimp to arrive to take us to Argath. There’s a platform up on a hill not far from the Ak’Anon entrance and when the blimp is about to enter the zone you’ll see a zone wide message indicating it’s on the way. If you don’t want to travel there the ‘old fashioned’ way you can use a guild portal (if you happen to belong to a guild in any case) or you can see if you can hitch a ride from a druid or wizard who have unlocked their travel spells. For me the entire blimp ride was nostalgia of boat rides. We giggled as the blimp slowly came our way. It started off looking so small in the distance but when it finally docked and revealed its true size we were in awe.

Levitation doesn’t work in Argath, so if you zone with it on and expect to just drop off the side and calmly float to your destination, don’t do it. The view reminded me a LOT of the Moors of Ykesha in EQ2. You are confronted by alien type NPC on a long dock and meander your way further in to find the NPCs you’re looking for. Alt W (the ‘find’ command) lists all of the NPC you may be searching for in case you’re like me and unable to find your way.

Because the expansion is only two days old, the zone was absolutely packed. There were more than 150 people all trying to do the same small chain of progression which involves a language quest of the Argathians.

First time visitors to Alaris will want to speak with Atleris, the Council Pinnacle, inside the Council chambers.

Argath is the gateway into Alaris and is the site of a slatemated conflict between the Argathians and the invading forces of Erillion, the City of Bronze.

It can be divided into four sections. The top area (the “crown”) and passage downward (the “neck”) are both entirely safe. The neck leads down to the “arms” which is a fortified area overlooking the erupted forge (the “belly”).

The outer areas of the arms and the entirety of the belly are full of hostile creatures. Looters and thieves are found among the Argathians in the arms. And in the belly are the Erillion forces who will attack on sight, as well as the steel masses and floating blades who are enemies to both the Argathians and the Erillion forces.

We picked up the first quest required for language progression, one from Captain Walkath, that required us to fight a few of the Erillion invaders. The problem was that so many other players had the same frame of mind. We found ourselves a little niche and went to work on the small group of mobs before deciding that we would probably have an easier time of things if we waited a little while for the initial rush of players to pass through. The encounters were not especially difficult at this level, our group consisted of monk (Ninga), healer merc, enchanter (myself), and tank merc. Mobs can be partially slowed, but they haven’t been able to be fully slowed for a few expansions now.

We killed one of the 14 mobs we needed and then decided that our time would be better spent continuing our progression of the Underfoot expansion (two expansions old now) so we headed to Pellucid Grotto. I loved what I saw of Argath, it’s just a little too crowded for myself. We’ll be back before too long, I’m certain.

As always, happy gaming no matter where you find yourself!