For some reason, I remember always being really upset that I couldn't keep the giant ruby that you got in the tutorial.
My perception of the relative power and value of stuff was very skewed when I first started, I'm not sure if it was because I was young and impressionable or just the newness of the game and genre. As a wide eyed Dwarf Warrior, I was exceedingly envious that the guards had full plate and my warrior had cloth and a rusty sword. This was very early in the game, before much of anybody had even heard of Unrest, let alone had plate of any kind. I would imagine what kind of stats their armor granted, wishing that one day I could be as strong as the guards. I had no idea if that was the strongest class of armor (plate), or if there was something even stronger waiting out there in the depths. I would look at the map that came with the game and just wonder what existed in the far reaches. Some untold treasures no doubt.
It was all a total mystery to me, but nobody that I had ever seen looked nearly as decked out as the guards, or even close. Occasional banded or ringmail was about the best you'd see. A few weeks after I had pondered about the guards, I had been in Crushbone, and Dvinn was bugged in the corner by the zone line, per usual. A Wood Elf warrior named Vardamin had arrived wearing quite nearly full bronze plate. He was around level 30 and was probably one of the highest level warrior on the Rathe at the time. He and his friend made quick work of Dvinn and Emperor crush, and actually gave me the Tunic as I looked on in awe. All I knew was that there was power to be had far beyond what I had achieved in my several weeks of playing, that plate was indeed achievable, and that, in my eyes, it turned you into a god amongst men.
Fast forward about 4-5 months and I was in the Plane of Fear at the invite of Vardamin's guild. I was one of a small handful of Warriors who were above 45 at the time and the invite came quite out of the blue. I was allowed to roll on a piece of Indicolite which had dropped off an Amygadalan warrior, won, and actually had the piece prior to Vardamin himself (in retrospect I should have deferred). Within a few months after that, I had obtained a Soul Leech from Cazic-Thule and had a full suit of planar armor. I was also fortunate enough to be my guild's main tank, and was awarded our first Cloak of Flames. When I walked by Kaladim, I looked as the guards did, but in a dark gold with a tall two handed sword. I still probably couldn't kill a guard at that time, but I could surely give it a run for it's money. I now felt like a god amongst men, just as I saw the guards to be when I had began playing several months prior. When I was in the East-Commons tunnel, I would be spam inspected the instant I arrived.
To me, that was the allure of the game in a nutshell. You started a peon in a very harsh world. If you were certain races, you could barely even see at night. You were given nothing and you had very few resources at your disposal. There were certainly things, or even people that were gods compared to you, and maybe one day, with enough luck and dedication, you could be one yourself.
