MMO Nostalgia: Everquest

I was reading over at Multiplaying and saw this great Questionnaire by Dickie at Rainbow MMO. I just had to do it also! Why? Because you just want to know so much about me maybe?! Well honestly because this was a special time in a game that will never be trumped by any game ever again.

Nostalgia, Your first MMO:

What was your first MMO?
Everquest! Your in our world now! Oh what a world indeed!

When did you start playing that game?
I started in August of 2000.

What drew you to that game?
I knew people who played and it was something that looked fun. At first I was hesitant but after watching others play, I was drawn in. All the people playing together in a fantasy world was just so interesting! If you want to know something ironic I use to make fun of people who played at work, I worked at a local ISP in tech support so a lot of people played. I asked if they were going to cast a spell on me with a magic wand. I was such a meanie.

What class did you play and why?
Necromancer, the idea of commanding a pet!! Wow to have my own skeleton to do my bidding which turned into a specter higher up. Why would you play anything else?! I moved onto Cleric next.

What level did you get your "main" up to?
My Necromancer Belladahna (She was deleted, not going to get into that messy sad story of her demise) to 60. Then I realized why you would play other classes and made alts. I still have a Necro, she is 66 I think.

Did you play solo, have a steady group, or did you have a guild/team/linkshell/whatever-it-was-called in that game?
I had a lot of friends I played with. Sometimes I often did a Necro duo, then on to Warrior Cleric duo for starters. I grouped with guildies and many pugs.. though that word wasn't around then heh. To this day the husband and I have many combos across three accounts we play together.

What was your first "holy wow" moment?
Oh geez.. I cannot remember because there were SO many! I was such a newbie.. I will just mention a few that have stuck with me over the years. My first Plane of Hate run. Seeing Dreadlands, that was wicked and a dragon roamed the place *Gorenaire. My first raid on Najena... lol. When I got promoted to officer in my guild Heralds of Destiny on Lanys T'Vyl which I ended up becoming Guild Leader for a time. I was in awe.

When did it sink in that you were playing a game with hundreds/thousands of other players?

I suppose when I saw so many people in every zone I was in,  oh and the EC Tunnel.. (Which was my first blog name ECTunnel.. it was a great place where so many people met up, so many memories). I remember when we didn't have special raid channels. People raided in /ooc and /shout. /shout -= PULLING A %t ASSIST ME!=- I saw just how much was going on in the game.

What about that game hooked you into the genre?
The community was a big thing. The people were the greatest part. Aside from that it was a fantastic place, nothing like any other game I had ever played.

Do you still actively play that game, or have you moved on to another title, and why?
Actually I do. I go in spurts. I am not currently playing although I am playing EQ2 (Old habits die hard). The husband and I reactivated out accounts earlier this year and played for several months. I think he would probably still be playing if it wasn't for me dragging him off to so many games. I am a gaming explorer sometimes heh. I played for five straight years then moved onto another new game but I have always came back. I currently have a  76 Beastlord, 73 Enchanter and 81 Mage as mains and a slew of alts in the 50-60+ range. After playing a game so long you need variation.

What lessons did you learn from that first game that you've carried into others?

Everyone is a newb once. Help someone out, you just might make a new friend. The community makes a game great.

What was your biggest noob moment in your first MMO?

Um.. which moment would you like me to list heh. I think back and this was by far the one I laugh the hardest over. I was a big grouper in the Dreadlands I often put together groups. I was there so often everyone use to say "Hi Bella!",  in /ooc heh. Anyhow.. If you could heal in my groups you did. Often Clerics were hard to find or in a group so I had Rangers and Paladins healing the groups. It was messy but we had fun. I was the biggest newb for so long. But ya' know what, we had fun and it worked for us. If there was a way, we made it work. I even remember healing groups as a necro with life transfers, even on raids.. those were the days.

What aspects or mechanics of that game do you wish other games would implement?
More groups out and about the world. Set up camp and xp for awhile. That is a big reason I like going back. The guide program. That is a fantastic aspect within this game. It involves the players, draws the community together. I participated in this program for a short time, it was very rewarding.

What was the worst part of that game?
Corpse runs, getting lost, xp loss. No mounts! However we learned a lot and you didn't have so many people doing things with no consequence.

What is your fondest memory from your first MMO?
My friends. I miss them all. I miss running through Neriak, I miss sergeant slate, selling bags of gear, the sense of people being everywhere. I have lots of fond memories doing LDoN runs. The newbie log in Nektulos Forest.

Do you have nostalgic moments you miss? I know we all have those found memories of places we will always remember, it's nice to revisit them sometime. Safe adventures all!
-kaozz