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Have fond memories of your travels through Norrath? Long for a time of more classic, less hand-holding MMO's? Missed this gem back in the day and want a chance to experience for the first time? Come join Project 1999, a free emulation server, and experience EQ in its classic form, where the game is as it was from 1999-2001. Currently the server is set to the first expansion, Kunark, with Velious somewhere on the horizon, the developers have said it wont go past the Velious expansion.
For my own experiences I can say this nostalgia trip down memory lane has been everything I'd hoped it would be, when I started I worried that it couldn't live up to my memories of the game, thankfully that was absolutely not the case. From orc groups in EC and Crushbone, croc groups in Oasis, undead in Befallan and Unrest, giants in Kunark, dark elves in Mistmoore, and of coarse trading and hanging out in the EC tunnel, I've been having a blast. The server has a healthy population and regularly has 1200-1300 people logged on at peak times. There are groups to be found at all levels and people tend to be friendly and helpful (for the most part).
The purpose of this thread is twofold, one was to share the knowledge of its existence on here, while the other was to see if any other Pathfinders are currently playing, if so, feel free to share your experiences too.
Useful links:
Project 1999 wiki (this is great for all kinds of info, from details on races and classes, items, quests, etc, also has a helpful newbie guide)
Hope to see you in game.
Anyone? There has to be someone here with fond memories of playing EQ back in the day. :)
Damn I wish I had a half decent computer right now. I have the biggest nostalgia wish upon hearing all this. Really wanna roll as a lizard necromancer or my barbarian rogue
You don't need a decent computer - its all running old skool circa 1999...!
I played again for a while 'for the nostalgia', but only went so far.
I have to say, never got into the MMOs too much.
Everquest did come out with one game I played to the ground though...
Champions of Norrath and it's sequel were awesome!
I am on sporadically, if any of fellow Paizoians need a port or 10 plat of starting funds to get your spells and whatnot, you can shoot me a tell on my druid, name is Dantenius.
I am scared to try. Will it hurt?
My first MMO experience was WoW.
I was told that older MMOs all have horrible and hard to learn UIS...
There is definitely less hand-holding than modern MMO's. There are "quests", but not in the form that you know them (no exclamtion points over NPC's heads and whatnot), and the main form of getting XP comes from slaying monsters, not turning in quests (although there are some good repeatable XP quests, one example being collecting a bunch of gnoll fangs in Blackburrow and then turning them in back in the city of Qeynos).
Regarding UI's, its definitaly not as "pretty" as modern ones, but its not super hard to learn either.
But make no mistake about it, the world is dangerous and when you are out in the wilds you should constantly be on your guard. Death is nothing to sneeze at in this game, it should be avoided at all costs.
What kind of character do you usually play in MMO's? Tank, Healer, Melee DPS, Caster DPS, Utility?
Ok for Melee DPS there are two real options, rogue and monk.
Rogue: The king of DPS, though they are gear dependent and group dependent (i.e. cant solo well). They have "mundane invis" (sneak+hide), which can be quite handy for getting around the world.
Monk: Good DPS, less than a rogue, but a solid #2. Monks are also one of the best "pullers" in the game (meaning you go get the mob and bring it back to the tank). More solo friendly (they can level up their Intimidation skill to do what is called "fear kiting"). They are also less gear dependent than rogues (though still more gear dependent than casters/healers). And monks get one of the most useful abilities in the game, Feign Death, it doesnt always work, but it will save you from dying most of the time.
Rangers are a 3rd option, but are generally less effective than the above two, they have a lot of utility abilities, but they suffer from being a jack of all trades, master of none (which sucks, because I personally have always loved rangers, going back to AD&D). They are super awesome at in game tracking though. ;)
Oh, also for rogues, when you make your character ignore the "recommended" stats to use your point to increase at character creation, put 25 in Str and 5 in Stam. For monks, put it all in Str.
I'd love to but there's no way to get Everquest Titanium without downloading a piece of virusware called MPlayer X, so I'll have to pass.
The stickied thread is your friend.
Oh nostalgia, i love thee so. So many memories.
*Thread Resurrection!*
Man, I played EQ back when it launched. I've had fun trying to describe how much 'fun' corpse runs were. Or how there was no map, so your character literally had to learn Sense Heading. Or how you would often accidently attack merchants, who would one shot you. Or falling off the platforms in Kelethin and dying. And, my favorite: TRAIN TO ZONE!!! Especially at Crushbone and Befallen. My rogue made a lot of money dragging corpses out of those places. (and picking the locked door in Befallen. Good times!)
I played EQ2 for a long time as well, and felt it pretty much nailed the MMORPG just about perfectly. Quests actually were worth doing, felt like D&D, looked like D&D, had tons of game mechanics that are still pretty advanced. Kept me pretty happy.
I thought about playing the old EQ again, but knowing how brutal it is compared to today's games, and the ancient graphics...although, I would like to know if my rogue is still standing on that sand dune in Southern Ro shouting "lvl 19 DE rogue LFG for Orc Hwy"...
maybe I'll check this project out after all...
*Thread Resurrection!*
I thought about playing the old EQ again, but knowing how brutal it is compared to today's games, and the ancient graphics...although, I would like to know if my rogue is still standing on that sand dune in Southern Ro shouting "lvl 19 DE rogue LFG for Orc Hwy"...
maybe I'll check this project out after all...
EQ1 technically has kept releasing content, as well as having a graphics overhaul among other things. you COULD try to get back into it if you desired, but i hazard it will still feel dated. EQ2 has also kept releasing, with it's newest expansion giving the level 100 cap.
and hey, at least being a dark elf you were safe from Dorn B'Dynn. that bastard killed me so many times.