Feldon 
Today marked the launch of EverQuest’s newest time-locked Progression server, Ragefire. This server adopts many if not all of the designs and rules of the game as it existed at launch in 1999. According to reports on twitter, things have not all gone according to plan as players quickly reached high levels and other glitches. Regardless, the idea of progression servers reinforces the idea that nostalgia doesn’t fade away when brought into the light. In celebration of the Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night kickstarter, I re-played Castlevania: Symphony of the Night through to 200.6% completion for the third time in my life. Keep in mind that Castlevania: SotN was released in 1995!
We’ve been told on several occasions that a Progression server would be neigh impossible in the world of EverQuest II as so many code changes have been made in the last 11 years and not all of that older code has been retained. Still, players are quick to wax nostalgic for the “old days”. Many players who were there from the very beginning have been quick to include Desert of Flames in their top expansions of all time. Players who lived through Live Update 13 saw a near rewrite of class balance, tradeskills, and combat. I personally didn’t start playing EQ2 until January 1st, 2007, so obviously I’ve missed some of the more sweeping changes to the game. The Isle of Refuge had already been stripped of its introductory battle on a boat and archetype and class selection. Not long after I started, overland zones such as Antonica were stripped of all challenge with the removal of heroic mobs. As far as crafting, subcombines and the interdependency they brought had already fallen by the wayside.
If you could go back and play EverQuest II at any point in the past, what would it be? This could simply be a time, or an expansion, or a specific update. What was your favorite time in EQ2 history? There’s no need to bash past or current content.
Day one of EQII was the best MMO ever created. It has been a long slow decline to obliviion since then.
Ya launch was pretty amazing. I also really enjoyed the RoK expansion, epic weapons were brutal to get, but so rewarding.
I have to degree on a number of fronts, Jim.
Itemization and stat balance was broken all to hell (it was silly easy to reach MIT and avoidance cap, trivializing some endgame content).
Some classes had pitiful level 50 abilities that were outright broke until LU13, and some were outright broken and were fixed only by LU13 (summoners had tank pet, and two other pets that were not useful).
Tradeskilling was AWFUL. Ask any alchemist what they thought about early tradeskilling.
What people miss about pre-DoF was the sense of scale and difficulty that eq2 offered. People are also quick to ignore how broken it was as an MMO.
Item scaling and CA scaling was a neat idea, but few understood it. It didn’t help that some previous spells continued to scale well after receiving new ones. In some cases level 10ish Master 2 choices were better than level 50 Master 1s (its rare to see that nowadays, back then it was common).
The class system was also a neat idea, but it didn’t work well for a few classes (remember when all level 1-9 fighters wore only leather, and summoners didn’t receive their first pet until level 10?). Another great idea that worked on paper but had issues with execution.
I do miss the intro dungeon, The Far Journey, and the original Isle of Refuge. I also miss the epicness that was the original betrayal quest. Back then, the quest had magnitude. I understand why both were changed though, and the game is better for it, but still.
I disagree that an EQ2 progression server is infeasible. Sure, some content has been rebalanced to new level ranges (Lavastorm in particular), but there’s nothing to say they couldn’t turn off certain systems that didn’t exist back then (AAs, races, classes reforging, Halas and Darklight Woods, etc). Certain things could not be reverted though, nor should they really be. Would iit be a lot of work? You betcha, and perhaps the team lacks resources to do it now. But its far from infeasible.
Tacitly agreed among many who comment in the chats.. most of us are 95 – 100. waiting for The End. But, wait… some of us don’t play the game that way. My Main has found great enjoyment for the past 3 years locked 76 – 77, discovering how amazing Kunark is, and this year how long and detailed the Desert is. Those two expansions stand out as the two that our Game Company put their heart and soul into. I’ve nearly quested out both of them,, but want to do both all over again with a different alt, just to help me understand how the story was crafted. Because of this activity in Norrath in the here and now, I am not interested in creating new characters in a nostalgic game, or the next game
EoF, first expansion that covered tons of themes and tons of levels. Everything from EoF was fun and epic.
All before LU13, i miss the old zones and the time i had as i started to play E2II in 2005.
I would like to have an Kunark or TSO PvP/PvE Server 😉 No BG!
As a later starter (2009) I never got to try these old zones when they were a challenge. As someone more interested in role playing and story I would love to work though the old zones and storylines with appropriate mechanics. I sometimes wish there was a option to just make mobs in older content tougher and some rewards for completing all the quests in old zones. If I could start all over again I would probably get into healers rather than dps
Yeah I originally played EQ2 from launch (well, when it launched in the UK) and basically gave up because of the level-locking and class-locking. I thought that was stupid.
I came back to the game in 2006 and was much happier. That was the game I thought it should have been at launch.
My favourite expansion is Echoes of Faydwer. I had so many fantastic gaming sessions solo and duo with a friend in that expansion.
I completely forgot about the level locking, and forced access quests for overland zones. Getting a group for that content was a pain in the butt.
It’s probably not my favorite, but I’d love to go back to the game pre-LU13 just to re-experience what that was like. That was when crafting something like a belt meant making Thylakoid Oil and Resin first, and a Buckle, and a Strip of Leather, etc.
I’d love to re-live my first grouping experience in Antonica, when a nice level 10 fighter taught 4 noobs (myself included) what “pulling” meant–back when grouping in an overland zone made sense because there were tons of heroic gnolls out there. It’d just be a big nostalgia-fest, but it’d also remind me how much better certain aspects of the game (like class balance) got as the years progressed.
I’d also create an alt, level-lock him at 3, and just hang out on the original Isle of Refuge.
My heyday was Shadow Odyssey–the first expansion where I had a cap level character–but honestly, Kunark. An entire continent to roam. I lived out of Crypt of Agony leveling my warlock (whose name I post under here). Epic weapons. Leviathan (seven attempts before I got the update!)
And the friends and guildies. I seem to have lost far too many of those of late.
Honestly…maybe it’s not the game I miss…
I miss the days when overland zones had heroic & epic mobs roaming around. It made navigating those zones a challenge & added a level of caution to exploring. Now running through any older overland zone (even at level in most cases) is easymode.
RoK was my favorite xpac followed by KoS (minus the cloud flying).
A progression server during the KoS/EoF days? Sure! During the 04/05 days? Hell no.
Mine was RoK with all the overland content, heroic zones and the myth weapons, plus Gorowyn. Veeshan’s Peak content lasted past RoK.
I do remember accidentally running into Doomsquall on a little toon and laughing after he stomped me.
I think the only real way we could experience EQ2 the way it was launch day would be if Daybreak found a old copy of the server software from back then, and we all dust off our copies of the pre-order game. Then again we may also have to deal with it being 32bit, and not running on a modern machine. I know the starter pack disk I have with the independent character creator tool wont work anymore at least.
There is no question that the immersion, sense of adventure and accomplishment was FAR greater in the early days and I definitely miss those days where the world felt huge and dangerous. I do find the outcry for an EQ2 progression server odd though because despite what some may think, ALOT (not all) of what EQ2 currently is is a direct result of player complaints/ requests that invariably made the game more inclusive, more linear, less time consuming and some might say “easier”. I would definitely sign up for a progression server if they could accurately replicate EQ2 launch but honestly i would probably find quickly that i didn’t have the time anymore to really enjoy it.
I’d have to say RoK, it’s the only expansion that truly felt like an entire continent to explore, with so many quests to complete, and raid zones that truly felt EPIC!
Before Live Update 13.
I just miss the days of staying out as fighter, scout or mage instead of people jumping straight to 90. It took me weeks to level an ogre enough to betray and end up as a paladin (after tine as a generic crusader)
Good times
RoK, TSO and SF, brings back good memories. Great raids and progression to be had in heroics. Anashti Sul, Roehn Teer, great stuff 🙂
I never was cap for any expansion, I really just loitered 🙂
But when RoK came out, I was so absolutely excited for Gorowyn and Sarnak and the home of my favorite race, the iksar. I didn’t fully explore it until later, and I’m still not done. But by doinking around elsewhere, I never got to RoK in its prime. It still holds a special place in my heart though, with memories of long-gone friends in Gorowyn.
I started playing at launch and continued through SF with some breaks here and there; also returning for a little DoV and ToV.
I would absolutely resubscribe to play on a server rolled back to the game launch.
Despite some bugs/issues, the content that was there has more depth than most of the new “expansions” they’ve been releasing.
The original island quests, citizenship quests, and then your class quests really gave you a feeling of purpose in the game. And that boat ride with the dragon attacking is still one of my favorite intros I’ve seen in an MMO.
I really enjoyed things like spirit shard runs, group experience debt, overland heroics, sub-combines, racial hovels, items having weight, access quest requirements, etc. Things that brought depth to Norrath and tried to instill the need for teamwork and foresight.
I have only played EQ2. I look back and miss the days it launched. How hard I worked to get to EL. I was days in Forest Ruins. because leveling was extremely slow. Sounds awful.. but it was fun!!
I am wondering though if EQ has it.. why are we all in EQ2? The difference between the games is ? graphics?
Actually for me it is graphics. If they upgraded eq1 to current level graphics and gave it a nicer UI and then relaunched it on a progression server i would play that thing in a heartbeat.
The only thing that would pull me back into EQ2 is a progression server. Except, I don’t what that archaic class structure to return or those stupid crystals you’d have to collect when you died.
Remember when we had starter Islands, remember when we had suburbs like stonestair byway. Remember when we had places like neapolita cateria crafting basement ins stoonestair. Remember before the great caster nerf I think update 13 that sent so many casters pack. Yes those times were Good. I would love to go back then and before freeport and quenos had been reworked to be a couple of zones. I like by burb housing, I guess I loved all those old quest that had been removed. So much has been removed it is not funny.
Remember when all the servers were down for 2+weeks in 2004? Remember when Frogloks weren’t part of launch with no specific reason? Remember the horrendous lag since SoE was using old EQ1 servers to host EQ2 for the first few months. Remember the lack of optimization for the software? Remember broken useless classes, mobs, and quests? Remember having to sit around to form a group just to complete an access for almost every single zone including overland zones, something of which that was frowned upon in EQ1 with GoD yet SoE slapped it onto EQ2 anyways?
Pepperidge Farm remembers.
EQ2 at release was to unbalanced and had too many bugs to make a progression server which would be fun to play.
If they released a progression server I’d resubscribe in a second. In fact, I’d pay more than a regular subscription if needed.
How to do it? Simple… Make it a time locked hard mode server.
1) Time locked. 4 months per expansion
2) Allow Halas starts
3) Run a full adjustment on that server that adds a difficulty bias at lower levels. 2x creature health, 2x creature dmg, gear stats at 50% effectiveness. Each expansion unlock would lessen the gear penalty, but the creature health and dmg bonuses remain.
4) Disable AA until the expansion that they are released.
5) Disable EXP / AA slider entirely.
A lot was broken, but there were enough people to make things work.
When you couldn’t find the right people, there were all those book quests to burn time.
There were probably less people concerned with a “right” group makeup then too though, PUGs were often just a mixture of whoever was there. Somehow they often worked, even when it was just fighters and assassins swapping aggro around.
RoK/TSO was the game at its peak, IMO.
AAs felt like they gave you options and brought new abilities. Current prestige and dragons feel like “here is some minmaxing stuff”.
The content was interesting and varied. We had huge shared dungeons to run around, fighting off other groups for mobs was fun and there was progression.
The raids felt truly epic. Stepping into Veeshans Peak was like oh my god we made it, and Munzok’s has some of the best raid fights in my opinion.
I agree, and all classes seemed the most balanced in all of its time. if you wanted pvp gear you had to get like 100 tokens per piece and you had to kill 6-8 (I cant remember) to receive one token. it was fair and fun
The first time i played which you still started on the isle of refuge, then the open plains of the commonlands and then the ominous feeling you got when questing in nek forest. It all just felt like you actually had to try, which was great! I remember planning to try my best to level a whole 10 levels in 2 weeks; I didn’t manage to achieve that goal!!
as buggy as it was give me day one EQ2 over any game current or past i’d be happy as larry a wonderful game that the more theyve meeded with the less it became.
Pvp was by far the most fun thing about this game, and they destroyed it.
Check transactions on Daybreak page for your subscription. My wife and me are being double charged !
my best time ever in EQ2 was 2004-2007 so many fond memory’s
Running around on my Warden being to nosey in stormhold and falling down the well and having to get a max lvl 50 player to help me get my corpse back lol,or the 16 hour respawn timers for HQ quests bosses, I camped Rama for 4 RL days for the lightbringer HQ and one funny moment in thundering steps group of players been camping one of the giant HQ bosses for hours and just as it pops along comes a new player and attacks it thinking it’s a normal boss,boy did that player get flamed..
I stuck with EQ2 for 10 years but it was time to move on,though I do pop in now and then to give my characters a poke.
fond times and fond moments
I had the most fun during RoK / TSO for sure. I could understand EoF as well, but to me it felt like there was a real lack of end game content during T7, so I dunno.
I would like to go back to launch and play all the way to TSO. I would stop there. If that is not possible, I would personally like to go back to TSO. It was tough, but balanced. It took forever to get PVP gear and it encouraged world PVP. If not launch, We must go back to TSO.
TSO/SF for the raid content.
Or KoS/EoF for the class mechanics and the itemization that didn’t actually make much difference (except for tanks) but still somehow felt rewarding. I guess DoF was prolly similar in this regard, but I took a break while it was current.
I remember the 30 minute Munzok fight we had back then because the lag was so bad on AB. Good times
Yup, I was hitting the group cure button 5 seconds before the AE was due…lol.
Hard to believe that was six years ago!
Launch EQ2 was one of my favorite times in an MMO, so yes I would play. I’ve repeatedly asked for an EQ2 Progression server over the years. It apparently cannot be done, if the devs are to be believed. A lot of people don’t think it would be popular either, which I disagree with. It may not be as popular as EQ1 progression servers, but I bet quite a few would jump in.
I’m waxing nostalgic for times before voice chat; when all members of families could play together without being flamed, bullied, ridiculed, etc. Also remembering when it was server wide to explore and help each other, before whichever site posted the ‘fastest way to end game’ sort of contest and all the hard cores took that as mandatory play style.
However, the world was in a different place back then never to return.
You have a very white washed nostalgia then. Flaming, ‘bullying’, and ridicule was there all the damn time back in EQ1 and the EQ2 launch days. Even more so in EQ1 where death threats over simple mistakes or accidental train to zones were not uncommon.
Seriously, the internet nor online gaming hasn’t changed. Also Voice chat has been around even prior to EQ2 in third party clients…
Neither the Internet nor gaming has changed in 15 years. Interesting. Must say I do not agree with you.
This has nothing to do with versions of the game but I liked that opening video sequence with human getting trapped by the orcs and the kerran scout saving his butt. It was effective way to build the mystic of playing the game.
I honestly think that F2p on it own server was win..
I’d love a progression server — giving the Everquest one some very serious consideration atm — never really got to play the original EQ much — EQ2 came along and I left ( for 8 yrs ) not even playing EQ2 now — but bring back my fond memories and I just might — why not ? I loved going out for spirit shard runs — I loved having to work for access to the zones —
yea it was hard, but a great time ! Crafting was a bit of a bear, but hey– it’s a progression server, those things will change over time — yea I’d love to go back ……