Frustrated For The First Time – Again

I am not posting much because all I am playing is Project 1999. In this sea of amazing games and Steam backlogs I can’t stop logging in. Because I am playing p1999 I am not blogging much – because really, who cares? I know I am not going to get non-nostalgic non-EQ players to even think about starting, because the things I share about the game is the exact anti-thesis of the games people play these days. Heck, it’s why World of Warcraft now exists in it’s current form. Again, the game is so damn old and an Emulated one at that, that my screenshot program refuses to take pictures of it. (I don’t blame it).

I am level 30. I was level 31, but well, you know, the ‘training wheels are off’ design base of Everquest reminded me how I am my own worst enemy. The story is a simple, fun one.

In EQ, casters have a spell call “bind affinity”. You can basically “bind” your spawn point to anywhere, outside of some exclusions. Non-casters can only bind (And be bound) in cities. This is a nice perk to have as a caster. You can make your home – to spawn after death OR using the “Gate” spell to return.

I had stuck to the common, comfortable path on my Enchanter. Crushbone -> Unrest -> Mistmoore. I decided to go to Sol A for fun. Got to level 31 there. Then I needed a change of scenery. I did some readings, and remembered how much I had fun in Crystal Caverns back in the day. I went there, a long travel. It is a dungeon and to enter the dungeon you click on an orb in an Orc fort in the middle of nowhere. I can invis, I can levitate, so getting there was no issue. I got there, clicked, and went into the Caverns to explore a bit.

Turns out, you can’t bind in Crystal Caverns. Why, I don’t know, but it is very odd. So I went back outside to the clicky portal, Hung out. Very safe here. I bound myself. Went adventuring with a Monk friend of mine. Had grand adventures!

Died.

When I spawned, I was staring at a very big, very red con Orc. He killed me. I respawned. He killed me. I respawned. I ran around tried to get to the clicky portal. Killed me. Rinse repeat until I finally got in.

I lost a full level that way. I am guessing my time to level the way I was at that point was around four hours. That’s life with Everquest and was a fun reminder of how little I knew.

I am now camping a rare spawn point that has the rare chance to spawn a rare mob that drops an Ultra Rare ring I want for my Enchanter. I have spent 15-20 hours there. I see one of the rare mobs 1-2 times per hour. No drop yet. I do not get XP from killing there, and if I am not careful I can be killed there. But I’m not bored. I chat with friends between spawns (30 seconds) and since it is a non XP camp I just let my charmed pet do all the killing. I don’t even understand why this is fun, but the ring would be a game changer in my charm killing cycle, and it sells for up to 7500 plat on the server (which, at 20 plat a day right now, would take some time).

I am having fun. It’s not normal, I think, but there is a zen-like enjoyment to a game that is hard and challenges you, and punishes you if you fail. And I am ok with that.

2 comments / Add your comment below

  1. I remember those days. EQ was essentially a screen saver for ICQ until the spawn popped. And as a caster, I needed to set my watch to the spawn rate, since I was stuck staring at a book waiting for mana to regenerate.

    There were multiple times where I camped for days/weeks for a spawn. I can understand people’s nostalgia for the social aspects of MMOs back then. Didn’t really have a choice… what else was going to fill up the 90% of the time logged in?

    1. Hell yeah.

      I vividly remember camping named mobs in Everquest II. For some reason the nameds in the Ruins of Varsoon seemed to be the most elusive. One in particular, called Weavemaster Esh’Rax, I had to camp multiple times for hours on end. I think six hours was my record. And that sudden outburst of activity when he finally spawned, because there were other groups too, and everyone tried to get the first hit in…

      I remember those time very fondly, but to be honest I’d never ever want to go back.

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