Help Us Celebrate 18 Years!

I remember playing as a gnome in the early years and having such trouble finding my corpses due to the low height of their point of view. Made so many good friends, and smiled so much. 18 years of fun.

It was 1999 when i signed up for Beta testing .. played Ultima Online for a while when EQ popped up...
well this was a new world opening up and wow the graphics were amazing for that time... played a Ogre named Zoggagar and remembered that I and my brother who also played a Ogre get stuck in the small hallways of Guk while trains of Frogloks chasing us and others ppl running to the exit while everyone shouting get out of the way ...Train !!! duh started a Dark elf soon after that. Remember also the GM's who were dressed in green armor and talking to ppl in game about bugs and glitches, and rescued your bodies out of the deepest dungeons ... man that was fun these days.... Congrats EQ

P.S. : In these 18 years I never played a Gnome ...lol

Feb. of 1999, I was a cop and got injured in a bad car wreck. I was looking at a long rehab, so I went to a store with a buddy who knew computers and I bought one. I purchased a Madden Football game to go with it and I noticed the EQ advertisement on the way out. Thought it looked interesting, so I picked the game up on release and rolled a monk on E'ci (I did not know much about wizards and stuff like that, but I recognized the martial arts character).
I really got into the game, it helped me through rough times and kept my mind busy. As the monk class evolved, I pulled raids for several guilds, as well as the public, and made a lot of friends. I moved on to EQ2 when it released, but I still always find my way back here to have some fun once in awhile.

Not only was EverQuest the spark that drove me to where I am in the industry now, it also gave me some of my favorite gaming memories to this day.

My first time into the Warrens, my guild group got separated by accident in the hallways. My wood elf warrior and the barbarian shaman got trapped in a room that someone had apparently cleared out before we got there. As we were going to the other side of it to continue down the tunnel, the kobolds started re-spawning on top of us. We managed to stay alive long enough for the bard and shadow knight to find us. We backed into a corner, forming a half circle around the shaman.

For what seemed like an eternity, we continually swapped targets, hitting, swinging, and a lot of cursing, while all the while the shaman was resting/cannibalizing and healing as fast as he could. After an amazingly long battle, we stood tall and looked upon the swarm of kobolds, all dead at our feet. After some cheering and patting ourselves on the back, we turned around to head out… just to look at a full hallway of kobolds.

We fought our way out that night, clawing through those tunnels by what seemed like inch by inch, but in the end, we made it… all without a single death. It was one of the most intense video game battles I’ve ever had and definitely one of the greatest moments in my personal gaming history.

That night hooked me on EverQuest for years to come and I've been thrilled about where it's led me ever since.

-Dalmarus

just gonna leave this here

EverQuest taught me what RAM was. Back when the new graphics engine was coming on the scene with The Shadows of Luclin expansion, I was in a total panic about whatever RAM was and not having enough on my parent's computer. I did so much research, before Google was a thing mind you, and learned all about the motherboard, and RAM, and what was needed. I had my parents take me to every electronics store in our town to see if they had the RAM we needed and to try to find the best price.

Turns out I couldn't afford it on my teenager job, but I ended up getting the RAM for Christmas. It was like being a little kid again. I took apart a computer case for the very first time in my life and installed the new RAM and gazed in awe at the expansion.

I work as an IT Professional now so that lesson Sony taught me stuck.

A month after release, with three terrified little trolls hunting skeletons in the Feerott. (I was Sharky, BTW)

I'll never forget the first time I logged into the game. It was the day after my birthday, in august of '99. My first character was a High Elf Wizard named Cuelaen. Back then, there was nothing like EQ out there-the graphics and game play put UO to shame. The immersion was intense. Walking through the Faydark at night, in the dark, with the forest sounds all around you, and the buzzing sounds of the wasps....and only your apprentice robes and cloth armor(sr apprentice robes if you had money, or gossamer if you were really rich, lol) was an experience I will never forget. Felwithe was beautiful, I could really imagine being in a marble city, filled with merchants, other players, and magic. The one thing I LOVED most about this game though, is the community. Even to this day, you log in, and ask a question about a quest, or trade skill, and people are always willing to help. The EQ franchise has the BEST community in the entire gaming industry, without a doubt. Some of the guilds I have been in over the years were like second families to me-and I still keep in touch with some of them to this day. I wish i had saved screenshots from back then, but alas, that was like 10 pc's ago, I have since moved on to EQ2, but occasionally, i come back if even only to sit and fish in Felwithe, and relax after a stressful day, or run the hot zone quests on my monk. These past 18 years of my life haven't been easy, however I have much to be thankful for, and one of the things i most grateful for, is that at the end of the day, there's this whole amazing world that i can escape to, even if only for a short time, Thank you to the team at Daybreak for making sure we get to keep enjoying this incredible game, and also to the folks at SOE for having kept it going all those years. Thank you to all the players who I have met through the years, who enriched my gaming, and my life with their friendship. Thank you to the people who always help out in general chat, who stop to buff newbies as they run by, and who use their precious free time to help others. Thank you to all the amazing web sites dedicated to the game, which have been invaluable to all of our enjoyment of the game: eqtraders, mapfiend, alla's, monkly business to name a few. While I now play mainly in EQ2, every adventure always has a beginning, and Everquest will always be home, where my journey began. Heres to another 18 years, and many more adventures!

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=enter button

I remember my 1st day, well....

Late 2002, and I'd just bought a new PC that I realized could handle EQ...I'd watched people play it at an internet cafe(remember those?), and now, I could experience it for myself!!

I bought the newly released Planes of Power collection...had a gold-colored box and everything...I STILL have the cloth map that it came with....

Very early on with my 1st character, a Half-Elf Ranger, I learned the all-important lesson of keeping away from the A button near allied NPCs.

Soon afterwards, and still under lv 10, I met 2 very nice players...I think they were in their mid-20s levels...; they gave me a few items, including a nice one-handed axe, imparted some sage advice, showed me how to access the Planes of Power areas(a 'central hub' of sorts, I learned), and then left, after having me promise that I would 'pay it forward' in the future...; I kept that promise to the best of my ability, happily handing out free food items I'd made to anyone who asked, so long as they could provide me with the mats for the higher level stuff....

I never saw those 2 players again, but I wonder if they're still out there, somewhere....

<I was a woodelf and fell out of Kelethin so many times it's not funny. I remember not being able to find my corpse without shouting and getting some help from someone who would send me location coordinates to my corpse.> lol great times!

I poked around in the game off and on in 1999 and early 2000 but things in life were in a mess due to divorce so that fell apart but one thing stuck, this was different, real potential. Classic and Kunark was a bit of a mess for my chosen class of Bard, god the bugs, did not help.
THen things settled out and I saw a new EQ xpak on the shelves SoV and grabbed the special. Lost the original acount but that was no issue but the improvements were incredible in particular for kiting classes so the Bard was reborn. What a great expansion, even the faction work was fun because I was playing for just the the shear joy of it. Since my guild had enough bards (didnt need more than one back then) I began a monk for solo ability and pulling finding another home in the class. First couple of times pulling ToV still rank at the top of my MMO memories. Ah well all things must end.
Post PoP things just didnt work for the monk (thanks Furor) stopped playing for a while but returned and played the bard until they began killing off kiting then just left for better pastures. Played a LOT of MMOs over the years but still missed the long gone EQ as it was. Continued to poke a nose into the game at times but never seemed the same and the TLPs while originally exciting just seemed like cash grabs eventually.

Anyway may come back some day if they get a TLP that makes sense and I dont feel like I am being fleeced. May not, world is getting crazy.

I started mmo gaming when mmo gaming started. Played and loved Ultima Online, that's the one the really hooked me. Switched over to Asheron's Call when it came out. Then here comes a 3d mmo in Everquest. HAD TO TRY IT. My brother and I started together, and made many memories, pulling in several RL friends over the years. The game was surreal. It was the perfect game. The play so real, so full of joy and agitation.

Corpse runs were HORRID, but man it was hardcore. I remember at the beginning, I'd just made it to Lavastorm, and was dying in there solo. Up ran this druid and monk, who saved my young hide, and gave me some super buffs. I was the king of lavastorm for awhile. They ran back through and saw I was still there, and invited me to their guild Elusive Path. Made some great friends, and great memories over the years. Cheers Gareth and Zephia.

What I loved most about EQ, and the most nostalgic thing that keeps pulling me back is that this game in its infancy and for many years, people were awesome. Everywhere you went people were helpful, friendly, and wanted to group. Everquest put the MMO into mmo. It was a massive multiplayer that actually felt multiplayer. So many of them feel empty, grouping is hard to find. Not EQ, the only way you'd have a hard time getting a group is because all the camp spots were taken, and you'd wait for a spot in a group already going.

What I miss most about EQ, is that friendship/comraderie is still there, but much harder to find (definately not all players anymore like it used to be), and with the numbers dwindled, and friends gone, it's hard to find where to go to get started again. But rest assured, Tamier/Greko/Talimat/Golag will be back again. Enjoyed a stint on Phinigel, and really enjoyed it with our 4 person team, until 2 of them left on us. Thinking of returning to a regular server.

To this day (and tons of mmo's later), EQ was and is the best MMO i've ever played. I remember back when you earned reputation, and I'd earned some with Greko my human monk. Man I had pulling down to an art, and i'd come in a zone and have people shout out for me to join them. That earned "reputation" was one of the most amazing things ever about this game.

Thank you Verant, Sony, and DBG's for keeping the good times rolling 18 years later!

Glad someone else remembered Verant in there. ;-) (Even if we did cuss them a LOT! LoL)

Its kind of funny to go back to kelethin now - it doesnt even look like its that far up anymore.

When you have 1.4k hp as a cloth wearer @ level 30 the drop certainly doesn't feel like its as big now, yeah.

Gnome and Halfling tanks tended to have leaping competitions on Emarr though, to see who took the most falling damage. First place tended to be the dead one that forgot he was a necro, not an SK

Is Daybreak done trying to rekindle the MMO RPG with Next? I don't want to spark that discussion (let Next lie in peace) but I'm curious where EQ is headed from here? It seems like a retirement community with many passing, most members have been there for ages and enjoy the quiet neighborhood they inhabit. But there's warriors in there and old adventurers, I remember them. I know that they're hiding from the modern hunk of MMOs focused on speed runs and cosmetic appearance. It's a rotting mass of people who are disgruntled and don't seem to know what they're looking for, they just want "more" and developers are wasting time trying to satiate something with quantity when it just might be quality that holds the tide.
I guess what I'm wondering (I'm beginning a dev career, if I have to I'll dig in and do it my self but it may take years) is if Daybreak will be the one. Timelocked servers (from what I've seen) have gotten positive feedback, I adore them myself. Sadly, they still don't really attract those who have no tie to the universe, to be frank, EQ is very much dated. The graphics engine is unimpressive and for the hardware power and design being pumped out to the masses it just won't due and it'll always be a wall for the more recent adds to the online world. We've seen Daybreak's potential with your recent fallen projects. We know EverQuest once had the real RPG qualities, where character planning was an ordeal, more than just a basic class trifecta is required and that the adventure was the best part of playing, not sitting end game and grinding for what the forums declare as the "must have" or "best in slot" because you were an individual. The world was yours, you were unique, the stats were unique, your skills were unique and your friendships were... yes, unique. The time of an individual in MMOs seems to be gone.
I love EQ, I have fond memories and stories dating off and on since I was 14 (just a year away from thirty, I guess that means over half my life). I can't really say that about anything I see these days. I'll always hold this game fondly and I hope to see it revived as something so valuable shouldn't be left to dust in the corner. Long live EQ. Give me some years, I know there are those out there that won't let you go either. You hold the best community and easily the best world. Here's to the future.

As always with great respect and gratitude,
- A lifelong fan

I started in beta many many moons ago. I remember our guild's first "raid" in Fear. I don't remember how many players were involved but it was a lot. The lag was so bad we could hardly move. We had corpses stacked so high, there were 3 clerics doing nothing but rezzing so that we could keep fighting the last mob. It took us almost an hour to kill it - but kill it we did! It was a blast.

I once was a warrior named Gwarn. A nice little dwarf warrior and completely naive to the world.

I leaned about boats and rode one from Butcherblock to FV, to where I had a kind soul make me invisible and lead me to paradise, Lake of Ill Omen where I encountered lions, sarnaks, Iksar and many other creatures.

Unbeknownst to me, the place was inhabited with goblins to which I was met with an untimely death when the goblin standing at the door by his lonesome had a whole raiding party just inside.

I learned about binds then as I found myself back in Kaladim. I logged and did not return for a few weeks as school started. When I returned to the place of my death, my possessions were gone along with my corpse.

Norrath was an unforgiving place back then, fraught with danger.

Forsaking my warrior, I started anew as a dwarf cleric, Smallboots. Never again would I lose a corpse for lacking access to a resurrection or means to recover it.

In all my iterations, I have been a Dwarf Cleric be it Smallboots, Bewts, or Bifa.

I would really like to complete my 12th Anniversary event However, for some reason it was left out of the events that went live today. I remember the big mech guardian behind the tower where wizards can port to. I remember all the mobs that would spawn and drop different items for 2 quests. These were Parts for Parts and Maximum Capacity. I remember camping here day in and day out trying to finish this quest for the rarest of rare pieces would never drop for me. The very rare steam capacitor still eludes me however, the event isn't even active. So I sit waiting for that day when once again I can pursue one of the oldest quests I have on my task board.