Impressions: 2 weeks backFollow

I don't normally post autobiographical stuff like this, but seeing as how there are a lot of returning players these days, I figure it might help someone make the decision to give Everquest another try.

I played EQ from '99 to '04 and have been back now for 2 full weeks. Figuring out how to play EQ again was like picking up a brand new game, right down to not knowing how to move, sit, open windows... all of it. After finding the key remap inside of the options, I was doing much better. There is a learning curve for old players and it does take quite a while to get it all down again.

I played my SK from lvl 56 & 3AA to 58 & 24AA. I duoed with a friend mostly, but exploring solo yielded decent AA exp even when I wasn't trying. I played my druid from lvl 56 to 59 entirely solo. Getting to know my class and abilities was a non issue, it all came back instantly. I even rolled a lvl 51 mage (my first mage ever) on the Mayong server, liked it and started a real mage on Firiona Vie who I then leveled from 1 to 19 in about 9 hours played.

I also bought lots of pieces of defiant gear in the bazaar. This stuff is better than anything my wildest dreams could have imagined from the old days.

That's what I was able to accomplish in 2 weeks as a relative newb. Here are my impressions about the game from those 2 weeks:

Downtime is trivial now and that's good. I used to solo a sarnak in LoIO and then read a book until I had could have another go.

Gear is massively inflated with the defiant armors and that's not such a great thing to me. I realize that genuine new players and rerollers need an expedient way to get back into a game that is massively top-heavy, but it significantly cheapens everything that was created and done before its introduction. Personally I would rather have seen existing gear enhanced to a more defiant-like spec rather than have a bland set of gear just replace all of it. It's not a game breaker, and it certainly does lower the barrier for people coming back so for most people, this is a good thing too.

Mobs and combat are just exactly the same as I remember them - challenging and hard. Coming back after playing many other games, they are *almost* too hard, and I enjoy a challenge. But Everquest was not designed around a solo player taking down same level mobs and I just have to keep reminding myself that. I could get the SoD expansion and run with a merc, or I could make friends in game and group. I'll likely do both. In my opinion this is one of the truly great things about EQ - you can play solo and progress slowly or you can get help and conquer more content easier. It isn't easy mode / face rolling like many other games. Whether you finally accomplish something alone or with a group, you still feel like you actually did accomplish something and didn't just get spoon fed to move you on to the next quest.

Character progression & experience gain has been massively sped up from years ago. Back then I would take down a quad kite and barely see my experience bar move. At the current rate of gain, AAs literally fly by and even regular experience gain is jaw dropping. If anything, I think they may have even made it too fast, but I'm not going to complain too bitterly. At 24 AAs I'll be needing quite a few more and I'll be enjoying the satisfaction of actually seeing my character progress even if I only have an hour to play. Overall this is a very good change.

Graphics: The character graphics are still significantly sub-par in my opinion. I was never a fan of the awkward poses and movements of Luclin models and I am happily using old models even now. Sadly, I assume that most armors have no specific old texture support so everyone in game looks like they just fell off the Kelethin lift to me. Could be worse, at least it's nostalgic. If only they could take some of the newer models, e.g. the mermaid-like mercenary, and use those to revamp player models!

Mob models have dramatically improved as have the world zones! Grasses and trees, plants and wildlife all look great to me. Some of the mob designs are superb and I have only scratched the surface of some of the zones that are new to me (the wasps and wasp-chicks in Stone Hive really stand out as excellent examples). The only comment I can make against anything here is that some zones are still just as I remember them (nostalgic for sure, but clearly 10 year old graphics) and that overall the graphics engine EQ uses does leave one with an overall "flat" impression of the world. I don't mind though, the effort that went into zone redesign and the newer content shows and I am enjoying it, old engine or not.

Server populations: I can't say from my experience if they are down or not since I left. One reason is that the population is so top heavy towards level 85 that the only time I see someone is in the Guild Lobby or Bazaar. It's odd to me, as a fully out of control altoholic, why there aren't more people rolling new characters all the time but perhaps after 10 years and just 8 character slots they've all already done that and leveled them to 85. I hope to find more people at the lower levels, but failing that, I'll probably use a merc.

One of the primary reasons I left EQ in 2004 was because I found myself dual-boxing with my wife's account just to play and accomplish something. I figured if one customer playing one game on one computer wasn't enough to succeed, I'd find another game. I guess mercs handily solve that issue by making everyone a dual boxer without the extra account fee. It also dangles the option of full group play with just 3 real people, and with so few people around that's just one more good thing.


I'm glad I took the time to get past the initial learning curve once again. There's a shocking amount of content here for me and I'm looking forward to seeing all of the things I missed since I left.

Thanks for taking the time to make the post and welcome back to the game.