Words, Wacky Stuff, and other W's

(Full credit of image to Daybreak Games and Game Jawn)

For those new to my ramblings, I am an unabashed MMO junkie. For normal folks, an MMO refers to a Massively Multiplayer Online game (think World of Warcraft, Destiny 1 and 2, and Lord of the Rings Online as examples).

This actually started for me when I was still a relatively new gamer, and my brother brought home this game that he said was going to change online gaming (mostly Counter Strike, online servers for Command and Conquer, and a few odd ends with Battle.net offerings at the time). It was 1999, and we were slightly late to the game, as it was summer.

The exploration, the character, the constant frustration of being a newb and dying because I bit off more than I could chew…it was a thing of beauty. It was the game that absolutely hooked me into online gaming, and I never looked back. Buckle up, because the next sentence might make you clutch your old gamer pearls if you’re like me.

That was all decades ago (I know, time is screwed up). I’ve been through so many MMOs, play so many actively today, and learned to love how different they all are. Whether it’s a game that focuses on combat, exploration, crafting, building into a landscape…I feel there is an MMO for everyone. It just so happens that there is a new old-kid on the block, like a child that moved away in the middle of the school year in fifth grade to come back in high school as a Junior.

EverQuest Legends takes THE old MMO concept and offers new twists, revitalizing the game and inviting a generation of MMO junkies to come back to the start of things. While the old land scape is largely the offering, there are new zones, massive loot changes, the conjoining of three classes into one character (which can all be interchanged later in the game), and privatization of instances!

Seeing all this, I had to buy it, and it just so happened that the pre-order, only $20, mind you, came with the ability to beta test until 7/21. Since 7/1, I have been exploring areas I couldn’t in the early days, being a terrible newb who was (and still is) bad at gaming. I am significantly more powerful than the days of yore with all the changes, and have a better overall mindset when it comes to MMOs and figuring things out.

Let me tell you about the fun I’ve been having with Aegression Punchfoot, my Halfing Druid/Monk/Bard:

Fair warning: I am mostly a solo player in almost all MMOs – unless a group finder is offered for random dungeon/raid runs or there are open-world activities where players work together. So, most of my time has been spent either getting to dungeons or running them (while getting my spells and such in between!).

While I am still very powerful, there is still that sense of danger as I am learning dungeons (sometimes not even using a map…just raw dogging it as I murder the mobs). The fun of pulling groups of 4-5 and mowing them down with AOEs and smacking the bejesus out of them while I keep my health topped off with HOTs created an almost natural rotation. Combine that with the 3 active songs from my Bard side of things, and the amount of mana and health I regenerate is insanity!

The gear system is taking some getting used to, but can really be boiled down to the following:
1) Kill stuff, get loot!
2) Combine that loot to level it up!
3) ??
4) Repeat!
5) Profit (and by profit, I mean you can continue to smack the hell out of everything even easier).

The community in (and out of) the game has been mostly joyful, answering questions, goofing off in chat, and sharing some awesome stuff in-game. But why does that matter in a game that you can pretty much get away with soloing everything? Simply put, an online game is only as good as its community. All the graphics, cool systems, and features will get you plenty of sales, but a toxic community can turn away players faster than rabbits can reproduce!

So far, the community seems focused on encouraging exploration and people sharing their victories and discoveries alike. I’m here for it, and I hope it continues!

What was an instant hit of nostalgia from a 27-year-old game (typing that hurt my back) has provided a completely fresh take on it, joining the old world and graphics, with new systems and ideas for how to tackle the content your way. This “newstalgia” (just roll with it) is being done much differently than prior TLP (time locked progression) servers that offer a restart to journey through the expansions.

How so?

Game Jawn will visit the Kunark expansion (from the sounds of it, at least…that is subject to change). From there, changes in direction, going to completely different places and at different times than the original EQ. So while you might think you know the path ahead, you can only see as far as one expansion before that path promises difference.

I, for one, will be in this for the long haul. It isn’t every day you get to rediscover a game that had such a big impact on you, like it’s the first time you’re playing it. And, sure, the graphics and everything may be very familiar, but the time, place, pace, offerings, and even people are all so very different now. I hope this “newstalgia” is just a sample of what game companies could very well do for the player base that wants the old, classic experience with new offerings.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk…I’m off to bash things and light them ablaze while singing about it. You can find me on Rivervale porting about as I look for the next place to destroy!