Help Us Celebrate 18 Years!

I wanna' hear the story. You might be one of the people I saved.

During the summer of 2001, my nephew described a fantasy game he was playing, I ran down to the computer store and went to the game section, but I forgotten the name of the game, so there I was checking out the titles. The game that attracted me was Everquest ( never-mind my nephew was talking about Diablo ). Installed the game and was simply blown away.

The UI was terrible, I was excited to finally reach level 5 so my corpse lasted more than 15 min. The next few years were a blast. A bad turn in health caused me to forgo EQ in 2004. After my health came back I tried many different games, they all ended the same way... 'well, it's not Everquest'....

Then I found out EQ was still going. I had to try for myself. I remembered in the old days you went to Freeport and found Lady Shae, hailed her and she informed you she was from the House of Dumas, then asked what house you were from....(me: "House of Pancakes",(Lady Shae: " I can tell, it looks like you ate a house of pancakes".

So when I was out in Blightfire Moors and encountered Ursala, the Green Witch, she turned me into a newt.
I got better.

Keep up the good work.

I did not start on EQ on day one, because back then games often took several weeks to show up in canada after the american launch, but I did start the first day I could! (mid April 99).

One memory I have that reminded me I was playing a bit to much was a time I was standing in line in EB Games waiting to buy the latest expansion pack (forget which) and the store had a EQ poster on the wall featuring some Dark Elves ...

...at that time my main was a dark elf and so were most of my alts....

Some fellow standing behind me said to his friend "Hey look at the Dark Elf!"

and the first thought that popped into my head was "How did they spot me!!"

I started up with RL friends in feb 2000, a lot of breaks, but we still main the same toons today. I remember that some asians would write ˋfofofofofofoˋ when chatting in /ooc (on a language I could not identify), until someone told me that it corresponded to hahaha, laughter. I was marveled by the different nations represented, all the different languages in the open chat channels, and we where all playing the same game, from around the globe. That was groundbreaking for me.

Some years later, we would meet every weekend at brunch, and talk EQ for hours, before going home and play EQ together. GFs where not amused. A term was around those days: EQ-widows...

The game was so incredibly unforgiving back then. Maps? We had no stinking maps. Transportation? We ran. Running to a zone to play could easily take 20 mins, it was insane. XP rez? What is rez? We would run 20 min again, loot our corpse, and play a few hours more to get the lost xp back, and perhaps be a bit more careful . We self identified as pioneers of what we would today perhaps call the digital age, and we where proud to be part of the change.

As we leveled up and expansions came out, we learned to play better, we joined a raiding guild (Heralds of Dawn, pretty OK guild that would attempt anything with quite low numbers compared to the other guilds, on the Rathe Big Killers rotation ). The guild is gone now...

What was missed back in those days was a social media that could tie people together also when they werent playing. We had forums, everything was forums, but they still did not transcend the game sphere and tied people together, like for example Facebook does.

Only a few of the original crew is left, but I have the rest on a FB channel, and I keep them updated once a month... I know a few more will come back, in time

God, seems like I have been playing this game all my life. I started waaaay back on Ayonae Ro (think I misspelled that and it doesn't matter any more it is long gone)- my brother got me addicted. My first and only character is a high elf cleric - Kialya. I remember having to sit and med with your spell book in your face and being scared that something would come kill me when I couldn't see. "Please watch my back! I'm medding!" Selling my hard won loot at the 2nd torch. Being SO envious that druids could run SO FAST! Keeping a second set of gear in the bank for corpse runs. Being super popular because I could HP buff everyone with one of the most sought after buffs in the game. Feeling so powerful when we first were able to MGB and having people throw peridots at me to buff them.

Then I had 2 boys and gave up the game for 7 years, then being sucked back in again. My joy at discovering my char name Kialya was still avail

So here I am still healing my butt off on Luclin with Inverse Logic Still loving the game.

- Got Rez?

Had a severe heart attack late 1999. The wife (Regnad in game) had discovered this "neat" game while I was still in recovery. Spent 6 weeks in the hospital. Shortly after getting home again I bought a 2nd computer , then rolled a DE cleric in January, 2000 on the Veeshan server. Not entirely sure the stress of trying to find my corpse near the newbie log in Nek Forest was so good for my health!

Was home on disability for over 6 months and we played constantly. Still playing Metanis as my raiding main. And my wife is still playing her DE enchanter Regnad in Inverse Logic on Luclin (which is the screwy name for Veeshan now.)

I started back in beta when my roommate got a cd mailed to him as part of some club thing he was a part of. The jerk started skipping our mtg nights, then our dnd nights, so after a long fight about what gives he showed me what he was spending all of his time on, some stupid video game. I mean he was standing me up and it was not even for a girl, WTH! Then reluctantly I tried it. Back then I thought most pc games were only so so, nothing like my big Nes, Snes, Genesis collection of games. I started as a barbarian shaman cause that sounded kinda cool. I got lost and killed my some stupid skeleton. I could never find my way around anywhere so I made a DE Necro and loved it.

Oh a couple years later I got revenge on said roommate. We played on RZ and he fell asleep at his keyboard again. So I snuck over lowered his volume on his pc and pked him and stole his manastone lol. He ranted for about a week when I told him it was me and that I had it in my bank. Never seen rage like that before and never laughed so hard in my life. I gave it back after he stopped threatening to kill me.

patch prize.

Not much for stories but I do have some awesome screenshots!

Twas just another day in everquest when I looked to the sky...

I started back in 2002. Made a paladin and by level 9 I decided she needed to die and rerolled as a cleric, Moia. I went exploring and found Freeport. As I was walking around outside of town, a troll ran straight for me. I hadn't bound yet, so I was freaking out and trying my best to get away. Then the thing talked to me!!!! Ha! My first experience with another player or a troll and all the poor guy wanted was a bind so he'd not have to keep running from Grobb when he died. Ended up getting me in my first guild, Stormdragons, on Fennin Ro. Here's to you Teeko!

This was almost my exact experience but i was a Druid instead of a bard/ loved it and still playing for sure. BTW along with DBG and Sony it started as Verant, which most people have forgot lol.

I am also still waiting on my...

It was circa 2000. My son was stationed in Germany, US Army. As a family,
we always played one form or another pc games. Be it sierra line of
kings quests, or police quests, or what have you. Anyhow, son calls and says, dad, you have to try this game.
And at that point he describes this huge virtual world, where you can interact with anyone, thus
game has unlimited outcomes. This was my intro to my first MMORPG, Everquest. Created a druid,
a human, named Helpr on the Tribunal. Tried to join a clan of Barbarians from Halas, but those racists
bastards would not allow a human in. Then there were "THE SHENKS" ? They were barbarian only players,
and they all wore same exact armor, so they all looked exactly the same. The game through the years brought
to me hundreds of hours (make that days) of fun, interesting interactions with other players. To get in with the
Barbarians, i finally created SHATTERSQUA, a barbarian female shaman. Thats how i got on first named basis with the vengeful
soloist,lyricist and composer. Making it through the tunnel to Qyenos Hills was a major project back then. Only the
bravest would make that trek. You had to have nerves of steel to make that trip as a lonely young teenager.
Wow, those corpse runs were something.... I forged some friendships with other players back then, and a few of us
are still in touch. Thank you, Everquest.

2001 my brother and I started playing with our stepfather shortly after our dad passing away. First character was an Oger Warrior on Tarew Marr named Debasher. Using Norrath's world to help escape for SEVERAL hours out of the day at ages 11+ after that helped while the memory of our dad passing was still fresh. And thus, 18 years later and SEVERAL attempts at other MMO's, trying to find that bit of Sony Eula Everquest era of 1999-2007 =). And let me tell you Nostalgia is more powerful than gravity my friends. Because here we all are =)

I was pretty young when EQ entered my life. My husband started playing it because his cousin was playing , his friends were playing , it seemed everyone in small town alaska , where we still live in was playing everquest. So ... he listens to his friends advice, and makes a rogue. This is 2003... pretty sure. Rallos Zek. I hear all about it, I get asked to ... you guess it , to play while he is at work, in the shower, in the bathroom.... and i suck at playing rogue. Big time. So i was granted a character slot on his account. Lucky me. Ranger ... but no, didn't make a woodelf, made a half elf.. and no she wasn't tunare she was karana diety. OOPS! Oh well. ... we played on Rallos Zek until the big server merger.No more Eq. tried a few other games, diablo..and elder scrolls ,and guild wars... and then i say I want to play eq again. REALLY want my ranger back, forget this cookie cutter game crap. 2012 we took over the Elven Guard. Nobody was left.... but we have picked up some old players who are now good friends, the guild is still going with some modifications ( we accept lesser races now). I made a new ranger .. to play on my own account so i could play when i wanted not when a computer was unattended. I have lots of stories, lol. The time i was pked in everfrost and lost my corpse... it was so bad. My corpse fell through the ice.... fell thru the bottom of the river, even the guy who killed me couldn't find it, i had to pay some gnome necro to summon it. Being called an "LDON " when lost dungeons came out because that was the only time i got experience... and the points. That frostbow from everfrost was awesome. Working like crazy to do Takish Hiz ldon's for a haste belt. But the stories get more entertaining now i guess. So the husband , playing an alt, and myself , playing an alt, neither of us was over level 25 in south karana.... killing elephants, running from those red gnolls... and this white pegasus pops. SERIOUSLY?! We killed it, and nearly killed ourselves. He dropped... nothing.We took screenshots for brag rights.
Long live the Elven Guard, of Zek! * Teaberry Wintergreen, guildleader

Hard to believe I started playing this game when I was just 7 years old in 2001. I first started with my mom, following her and her friends around when I was younger, at about 12 years old I was already an officer in a raiding guild. I grew up on this game, and learned to play pretty much by myself, with a few select friends I ran around with. In 2009, I met the love of my life on EverQuest. We met in 2013, and started dating in 2014. We already have a house together, and we fell instantly in love. If it wasn't for this game, I would not be where I am today <3 Thanks, EverQuest

To help EQ celebrate, Devs should finally fix all the dreadful server lag, so we can actually play and have a half decent chance at beating the pitiful number of super complex raids designed only for the top few guilds, before even more loyal players flee from this sinking ship!

Started playing when Kunark came out. Made an iksar monk. Took me maybe a month to get to lvl 20, dial up, learning the ropes, etc. Upon dinging the big 20, I decided I needed to see more of the world than Kunark. Banked all my gear before hand (cured silk and I think a drolvarg mantle as my prize piece). Ended up in the ocean, decided to just start swimming around. No maps or anything of course. So eventually I come across some wizard spire type things in the ocean. (Didn't even know what wizard spires were) Start to poke around them, oh hey wow theres a whole in the bottom of the ocean floor. Swim in there and I'm in this odd room with with some decorations, and stuff. I believe there was a book or a dagger or something on a table. Clicked it, next thing I know I'm zoning. Back then it didn't tell you where you were zoning to. Next thing I see is "welcome to Halas". I believe the port in is right next to the Warrior guild master. They didn't think too highly of my iksar-ness and killed me before I could blink. As I said I banked my gear, so I didn't think much of it. Well, I had been foraging the whole time so I had berries or whatever on my corpse, thereby making it last a long time. I wish I would have screen-cap'd the tells I got for about a week. "OMG how did you get all the way here!?" "Do you need help with your corpse?" "Did you hack to get in here?"

I'd love to be making new memories but .. the game is down.
Offer us an exp bonus and then take the game offline.

I'm sure this is just the start of it since the vendors were slow to load their wares again (last night) - similar to post EoK release issues.

You know what would be fair?
For every time you take the servers down during peak hours you add another day of bonus exp and extend the anniversary dates?