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EQOA Refugee
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Well its time to see who did (or didn't) play this red headed step child of the SOE franchise. This was the first MMO I ever played. I was a console gamer at the time and received a beta disk in the mail around July of 2002.
I played it for about 15 minutes and said "This sucks!". But I went back before I tossed the disk and gave it a serious play through. Started as a human Enchanter in Qeynos. Leveled a bit and got my first suit of armor pet. He was weak but kept the mobs off me so I could kill them. I never ventured too far from the city out of fear. There was a compass but no in game map. I was afraid to get lost. Afraid to get owned by roaming high level mobs. Eventually, I made my way to the Qeynos prison area and grouped up with some random people after I realized the mobs were too tough for me to tackle alone. That's when the addiction set in and It was a wrap from that point on. This was different than any game I had played before.
A month had passed and I was now in an area far away from Qeynos trying to find my way to Highpass Keep. Random people would cast SOW on me and try to point me in the direction I needed to go. I died several times, but I was determined to find my way to Highpass. Finally, upon reaching Highpass, I beheld a sight that literally drove me to level my Enchanter to max. A developer spawned in the middle of the keep as a max level Enchanter with the ultimate pet obtainable, Grand Animation. He was this huge suit of armor with a huge SK looking sword, a badass cape and glowing red eyes. That's when I knew what I wanted to be. That motivated me to spend countless hours grinding. I finished the beta test sad that my progress was for nothing but that fire was still lit in me to play. When it released on the PS2, I rolled on Castle Lightwolf server and the rest is history.
Upon reflecting with my rose colored glasses a few things that EQOA did well for the time that some other MMOs still don't right.
1. Ability to place your stat points - This seems like a small thing, but it truly did lead to your character being unique. You could seriously gimp your character if you placed your points in the wrong stats. The stats you needed depended on your class and the class path you chose. I wish more games allowed for this in todays market.
2. Class Paths - At various levels (20, 30, 40 etc), you had to do class path quests. These led to different abilities being granted to your character. Again, the possibility to differentiate your character and build was possible.
3. Class Mastery - Similar to AA's of EQ, these were points you used to purchase abilities that enhanced your character, with a twist. At Level 55 (max was 60), you were able to choose what class your character would be. For Enchanters you could choose Spellbinder (master charmers) or Animators (master armor summoner). You could only choose one path and the points needed to get these abilities was an investment. You didn't just ding 55 and have them. You knew someone who had their master class and abilities put in some time for them.
4. Open World Map - WoW was not the first MMO with the wide open zoneless world. EQOA did it in 2002. There was no loading. You could run from one end of the world to the other. If you chose fast travel options like the horses, you could zone, but before you could use those horses you had to run to that particular stable and sign the ledger there. No instancing at all. EQ2 was a severe step back in that regard, IMO.
5. No map - This forced you to explore and pay attention to landmarks. Even after we had a zone map available to download, you still had to know the zone to navigate it. Where towns were in the zone, landmarks etc. I liked that they made you learn.
6. No mounts - Having to hoof it everywhere made you appreciate the classes that could SOW or bards with their run speed buffs. Wizards and Druids that could port. It really helped the community aspect of the game.
7. Reputation mattered - EQOA Enchanters didn't mez like their EQ brethren. We were mana batteries. We had to keep the group/raid full of mana without the luxury of a mana bar. Like healing blind you could say. It took some skill to do it well. And that skill earned you a rep as being a great player. Same of all classes really. No dps or threat meters. You just knew who sucked, who was average and who was great at their class. If you were a tool, the server knew your name and you had to reroll or quit. I miss that about MMOs.
EQOA vets feel free to share your memories, rep your guild/server or whatever!
I played it for about 15 minutes and said "This sucks!". But I went back before I tossed the disk and gave it a serious play through. Started as a human Enchanter in Qeynos. Leveled a bit and got my first suit of armor pet. He was weak but kept the mobs off me so I could kill them. I never ventured too far from the city out of fear. There was a compass but no in game map. I was afraid to get lost. Afraid to get owned by roaming high level mobs. Eventually, I made my way to the Qeynos prison area and grouped up with some random people after I realized the mobs were too tough for me to tackle alone. That's when the addiction set in and It was a wrap from that point on. This was different than any game I had played before.
A month had passed and I was now in an area far away from Qeynos trying to find my way to Highpass Keep. Random people would cast SOW on me and try to point me in the direction I needed to go. I died several times, but I was determined to find my way to Highpass. Finally, upon reaching Highpass, I beheld a sight that literally drove me to level my Enchanter to max. A developer spawned in the middle of the keep as a max level Enchanter with the ultimate pet obtainable, Grand Animation. He was this huge suit of armor with a huge SK looking sword, a badass cape and glowing red eyes. That's when I knew what I wanted to be. That motivated me to spend countless hours grinding. I finished the beta test sad that my progress was for nothing but that fire was still lit in me to play. When it released on the PS2, I rolled on Castle Lightwolf server and the rest is history.
Upon reflecting with my rose colored glasses a few things that EQOA did well for the time that some other MMOs still don't right.
1. Ability to place your stat points - This seems like a small thing, but it truly did lead to your character being unique. You could seriously gimp your character if you placed your points in the wrong stats. The stats you needed depended on your class and the class path you chose. I wish more games allowed for this in todays market.
2. Class Paths - At various levels (20, 30, 40 etc), you had to do class path quests. These led to different abilities being granted to your character. Again, the possibility to differentiate your character and build was possible.
3. Class Mastery - Similar to AA's of EQ, these were points you used to purchase abilities that enhanced your character, with a twist. At Level 55 (max was 60), you were able to choose what class your character would be. For Enchanters you could choose Spellbinder (master charmers) or Animators (master armor summoner). You could only choose one path and the points needed to get these abilities was an investment. You didn't just ding 55 and have them. You knew someone who had their master class and abilities put in some time for them.
4. Open World Map - WoW was not the first MMO with the wide open zoneless world. EQOA did it in 2002. There was no loading. You could run from one end of the world to the other. If you chose fast travel options like the horses, you could zone, but before you could use those horses you had to run to that particular stable and sign the ledger there. No instancing at all. EQ2 was a severe step back in that regard, IMO.
5. No map - This forced you to explore and pay attention to landmarks. Even after we had a zone map available to download, you still had to know the zone to navigate it. Where towns were in the zone, landmarks etc. I liked that they made you learn.
6. No mounts - Having to hoof it everywhere made you appreciate the classes that could SOW or bards with their run speed buffs. Wizards and Druids that could port. It really helped the community aspect of the game.
7. Reputation mattered - EQOA Enchanters didn't mez like their EQ brethren. We were mana batteries. We had to keep the group/raid full of mana without the luxury of a mana bar. Like healing blind you could say. It took some skill to do it well. And that skill earned you a rep as being a great player. Same of all classes really. No dps or threat meters. You just knew who sucked, who was average and who was great at their class. If you were a tool, the server knew your name and you had to reroll or quit. I miss that about MMOs.
EQOA vets feel free to share your memories, rep your guild/server or whatever!
