Back in my day...

[Romiz]

OP the good old days when a MMO was a challenge and more fun. Sad wow came along and destroyed them.

[Shaz]

I already posted in this thread about my playing days in EQ1, but I wasn't only a player. I also used to be an EQ1 Guide. Back in the very early days. Like... the Verant days.

 

I have so many awesome memories of this. Yes, I liked answering petitions. I liked answering player questions. I liked helping people get their corpses out of walls and from under the ground. I enjoyed being able to help. Knowing I'd saved someone frustration, and made their gaming time more fun, was sheer joy for me.

 

I would spend some of my nights as a player killing dragons and raiding the Planes, and then I would spend some of my days as a Guide.

 

(After the transition to Sony, and the eventual neutering of the Guide system, I quit. When I couldn't help any more, it was no longer fun for me.)

 

But ... when we had more Guides on than petitions coming in, or there were no petitions in the queue... I recall:

 

Invising into Guk, and sticking myself in one of the cages there. Then appearing, and lamenting out loud about being trapped.

 

Players would come, and 'save' me. I would roleplay with them, do little things. Have fun. I had no awesome loot to give, I couldn't even grant them xp. They knew that... and they didn't care.

 

They loved it. I was constantly being asked about it.

 

And I loved doing that, and other things. From Befallen to the Plane of Hate, from Lavastorm to Everfrost, I would appear when there weren't any petitions in the queue, and just... do something to interact with the playerbase.

 

It was fantastic.

 

I could have happily spent the rest of my life doing something like that. I really miss it.

Edited February 8, 2012 by Shaz

[CactusBrawler]

There is a reason that even on the niche PC gaming market, MMO's used to be a niche genre.

 

Mainly that they catered to those people who could afford to spend a full day doing one task

 

Then along came WoW, and despite the best efforts of a particular dev, noticed that they could get more people playing and thus more money, if they stopped catering exclusivly to basement dwellers.

 

Since then a few MMO's have popped up and tried to be like the old days of EQ, but unfortunatly have bombed.

 

Personally I'm glad the genre has moved on, and I played FFXI (till the point it nearly killed me).

[Sakushi]

Well, hopefully these kids are smart enough not to roll "consular" tanks.

 

lol.. Consular Tanks are just fine.. unlike some people that MAY had bad experiences. *points to you*

Edited February 8, 2012 by Sakushi

[Toweleeeie]

100+ people in a raid in this game would 1/4 the Republic players on my server lol

[Folgrin]

Remember back in the day when the highest dps in the group got credit for the kill, getting access to the loot first and getting more xp then everyone else in the party? And the downtime between fights. God EQ had that bad. I must have spent half of my play time just waiting for my health to regenerate lol. Man forgot how spoiled we are now lol.

 

Edited February 8, 2012 by Folgrin

[Gulthaw]

It also sounds like Legend of Mir to me.

 

If you died, some random item you had will drop there, so you would corpse run like hell to get all your items.

 

I knew that bastard from my guild stole some bracelets it took me two weeks to get, but I couldn't prove it

 

Was fun? No, but some of us don't play only because is "fun" (aka easy those days) but because of the adrenaline rush.

Also that taught you to improve your skill playing your character.

[Gaktar]

All of you people remembering the old days are OLD! Kids are laughing at you old people playing computer games now

 

Granted, I'm just as old if not older. I've got fond memories of Legend of the Red Dragon, Tradewars, Fidonet and other BBS stuff where you had to listen to busy tones and modem beeps and squeals for hours just to get connected... DISCONNECTED... "Who picked up the phone!?!?!"

[Uruare]

Back in my day, you got together with real people around a real table (or on couches with clipboards) and you rolled dice to determine lots of stuff.

 

You also had character sheets that you wrote on with pencils (write lightly and erase carefully).

 

If you didn't like something, you changed it. Or you flogged the GM/DM/Storyteller until they changed it. Or you didn't chip in for pizza until they changed something.

 

The graphics were all but non-existent, but the scope and expansivity have no rival to this day, at least in potentum. A good group with a skilled GM still embarasses anything and everything ever coded on a computer by magnitudes so hilarious as to be nigh inconceivable.

 

A bad group and/or a crap GM frequently led to drama and lousy game nights. This quality has not only been retained, but amplified, in modern MMO experiences.

 

You still occasionally had to put up with toerags you couldn't stand on a personal level, but at least they were far fewer in number and you could punch them upside the head if they were genuinely deserving of it.

Edited February 8, 2012 by Uruare

[DragonAgeOrgins]

I have a question if I'm using a hard drive that has 150 GB on it. Will I see a drop in performance.

[Alianar]

Reminds me of Anarchy online, Linage II.

 

Damn it was a pain, and it hate up my childhood. But yeah they were good times indeed.

 

Now i have a wife and i have to go to work. So in a way, i am not unhappy that ToR is more mainstream and casual friendly.

[Talcyndl]

1 -- If you died you had to run and loot your corpse

 

 

The main reason I ended up quitting AC1.

 

I don't mind death penalties (liked the DDO system of lost XP/Levels), but naked corpse recovery runs got annoying quick.

[Tatumsa]

I have a question if I'm using a hard drive that has 150 GB on it. Will I see a drop in performance.

 

LOL, I still have an old 400MB hard drive knocking around somewhere

[Chessack]

You young'uns.

 

Back in MY DAY...

 

-We had to use pencils, erasers, and graph paper to play RPGs.

 

-When we triggered a trap, it was "save or die." And death was permanent.

 

-We had 200-page volumes of rules printed in 8 point font that we had to basically commit to memory (or else take hours looking things up) before we could play the game.

 

-You think getting an online raid together is hard? Try getting 6 or 7 people physically together in the same room on the same night every week, when none of them are old enough to drive themselves (so they have to get mom or dad or big brother to drive 'em). Yeah good luck with that.

 

-We had to roll for our stats with 6-sided dice, and by the original rules, we had to keep whatever we rolled. You want a fighter but roll a 7 Strength on 3D6? Good luck with that -2 to hit and damage, buddy.

 

-We had to make pretty much all of our own content. You think it's hard going into a dungeon fighting stuff? Try MAKING UP your own dungeon, again using only books, pencils, and paper.

 

-Our characters' appearance consisted of either a written description or, if we wanted it visual, we had to HAND DRAW it. And you people whine about how gear "looks" on you in game.

 

-We couldn't look up anything on the internet, because their WAS no internet (well, it existed, but hardly anyone had a way to connect to it and most of us didn't know about it).

 

-Even if we could have looked stuff up, it wouldn't have helped, because our DM could make up stuff off the top of his head, if he wanted.

 

-You think dealing with dev teams that have superiors, chains of command, etc, can be difficult? Try having a vindictive DM who is the sole arbiter of EVERYTHING, and who literally holds the lives and deaths of your characters in his hands. And he thinks killing your character off for no reason is fun.

 

-We had to walk 30, 40 minutes to each other's houses (uphill, both ways, in 5 feet of snow) to get together to play. When's the last time you had to trudge through a snowstorm to play an MMO?

 

-Our gaming consisted of telling actual stories, that we made up, together, off the top of our heads. You think clicking "OK" or choosing some multiple choice convo options is how you "do a quest?" Try having a DM who awards xp based on how long, interesting, and creative your RP statements are.

 

All you "back in my day" MMO people are wusses. You'd never have survived it in MY day.

 

Wimps.

[ceciltaru]

You young'uns.

 

Back in MY DAY...

 

-We had to use pencils, erasers, and graph paper to play RPGs.

 

-When we triggered a trap, it was "save or die." And death was permanent.

 

-We had 200-page volumes of rules printed in 8 point font that we had to basically commit to memory (or else take hours looking things up) before we could play the game.

 

-You think getting an online raid together is hard? Try getting 6 or 7 people physically together in the same room on the same night every week, when none of them are old enough to drive themselves (so they have to get mom or dad or big brother to drive 'em). Yeah good luck with that.

 

-We had to roll for our stats with 6-sided dice, and by the original rules, we had to keep whatever we rolled. You want a fighter but roll a 7 Strength on 3D6? Good luck with that -2 to hit and damage, buddy.

 

-We had to make pretty much all of our own content. You think it's hard going into a dungeon fighting stuff? Try MAKING UP your own dungeon, again using only books, pencils, and paper.

 

-Our characters' appearance consisted of either a written description or, if we wanted it visual, we had to HAND DRAW it. And you people whine about how gear "looks" on you in game.

 

-We couldn't look up anything on the internet, because their WAS no internet (well, it existed, but hardly anyone had a way to connect to it and most of us didn't know about it).

 

-Even if we could have looked stuff up, it wouldn't have helped, because our DM could make up stuff off the top of his head, if he wanted.

 

-You think dealing with dev teams that have superiors, chains of command, etc, can be difficult? Try having a vindictive DM who is the sole arbiter of EVERYTHING, and who literally holds the lives and deaths of your characters in his hands. And he thinks killing your character off for no reason is fun.

 

-We had to walk 30, 40 minutes to each other's houses (uphill, both ways, in 5 feet of snow) to get together to play. When's the last time you had to trudge through a snowstorm to play an MMO?

 

-Our gaming consisted of telling actual stories, that we made up, together, off the top of our heads. You think clicking "OK" or choosing some multiple choice convo options is how you "do a quest?" Try having a DM who awards xp based on how long, interesting, and creative your RP statements are.

 

All you "back in my day" MMO people are wusses. You'd never have survived it in MY day.

 

Wimps.

 

Now those were the days

 

When easy-mode was a DM who would let you re-roll attributes

 

When a TPK early in the night would mean arguing or watching Star Wars for the next 2 hours.

[sevenex]

Sand giants in oasis! EC tunnel trading grounds! Lockjaw! (still have my tunic in a bank somewhere)

 

Veksar is probably my favorite zone from any game ever!

 

MGB virtue inc at bank in 30 seconds!

 

Unrest!

 

Just a few memories that this thread sparked up.

[Kryptorchid]

Back in my day...

 

1. There were no groups! You just courteously didn't attack the other players you wanted to play with. If you used an AOE, you, your buddies, and anyone else around would get damaged by it if they were in the area.

 

2. If you died in PvE, the MOB would loot your corpse. You would also have to "ghost run" to find a healer/shrine to resurrect at, and then "corpse run" back to your body, naked, to get what hadn't been looted by MOBs or other players.

 

3. PvPing was about survival! You either won and got to go about your business, or you die and lose everything you have on your body (possibly even your house).

 

4. MMORPGs were about creating a living alter-world where there were different gameplay paths to go down.

 

5. There was no "end-game progression" beyond becoming richer, amassing a larger house, or running a successful shop. Once you maxed your character's skills out, you just did whatever the hell you wanted in the game.

[Midichlorien]

Sand giants in oasis! EC tunnel trading grounds! Lockjaw! (still have my tunic in a bank somewhere)

 

Veksar is probably my favorite zone from any game ever!

 

MGB virtue inc at bank in 30 seconds!

 

Unrest!

 

Just a few memories that this thread sparked up.

 

This.

 

I am glad that I am able to say:"I was there at that time"

 

I remember hardcore guilds raiding Plane of Fear and having been pretty surprised by the zonewide aggro -> wipe, no chance for a corpse run, corpse decayed, whole equipment lost. Once more pls.

 

I loved Veksar, I remember 3 days and nights camping for a mob dropping a haste item there. Getting a shower and something to eat to the keyboard in the meanwhile was a difficult thing.

 

I really liked Planes of Power too. The plot was just amazing, killing god after god for progression.

Edited February 8, 2012 by Midichlorien

[Chessack]

When easy-mode was a DM who would let you re-roll attributes

 

Your DM let you re-roll???

[grueber]

Back in my day...

 

 

- We didnt have raid groups. We rangled 100+ people and made groups of 6 to try and kill one world boss. None of this 8-man easy mode content. You had to actually have a sizeable group to get things done.

 

 

- Raid buffs took 30 minutes and you liked it. There was no massive raid group. Everyone just made their small groups and took orders.

 

 

- We didnt have these instances...if you wanted to kill something you had to camp its spawn and RACE against everyone else to get it. If you didnt get it you had to wait another 7 days just to get a chance to take it down.

 

 

- If you had a weapon that had a "The" in it, it was legitmately epic. There was MAYBE two or three on the server and it was drooled over.

 

 

- Purple loot was actually epic. None of these quest turn ins, full epic gear by soloing content bull*****. Being decked head to toe in purple actually meant something.

 

 

- Orange loot was MAYBE one or two per server.

 

 

 

- You couldn't solo your way 1-50. You HAD to group because mobs were too mean to kill by yourself. It built a genuine connection across the server and people really got to know eachother.

 

 

- Getting access to an endgame zone took WORK. Months and months of work to even get INSIDE.

 

 

 

 

 

THATS THE WAY IT WAS AND WE LOVED IT

 

 

(Feel free to add your own)

 

Sounds like you need to be playing EQ1.

 

As a former 60 wiz with an epic pre-luciden, yeah I got alot of drooling. Ditto as a healer with benediction in WoW pre Blackwing Lair.

[Xeres-]

...there was real world PvP. Anything goes. You could kill a player and loot everything s/he had on them. Maybe they had a key to their house on their corpse. Well, recall there and wait till they got home and killed them again. Of course it wasn't fair. Tough. Sometimes you gank - sometimes you got ganked. That's the way it was. You didn't like it? Unsub and go play another MMO. Oh wait, there weren't any.

 

...there were real consequences for dying in PvE. If you didn't loot your corpse within 5 minutes everything you had on you was gone. Soulbound? No. No teleporting either - you had to run to find a healer, run to get gear out of your bank, run back to where you died, tried to loot your corpse and somehow get out of the place you just died while carrying too much weight and not able to move more than 2 steps. Or you had friends or a guild who responded to the SoS calls.

 

...killing a raid boss was an accomplishment you could take real pride in. It was an achievement. Now achievement is just a number.

[Midichlorien]

Your DM let you re-roll???

 

What a weakling...

 

I would say play your damned paladin with STR 9 CON 9 CH 7 and shut up this mimimi :-)

 

As a sidenote: I would thank BW for the fact, that it is actually really possible to die while leveling and doing solo quests. Some fights, mob types and/or groups are pretty deadly without the right companion or just pulling them brainafk.

Edited February 8, 2012 by Midichlorien

[Blotter]

You young'uns.

 

Back in MY DAY...

 

-We had to use pencils, erasers, and graph paper to play RPGs.

 

-When we triggered a trap, it was "save or die." And death was permanent.

 

-We had 200-page volumes of rules printed in 8 point font that we had to basically commit to memory (or else take hours looking things up) before we could play the game.

 

-You think getting an online raid together is hard? Try getting 6 or 7 people physically together in the same room on the same night every week, when none of them are old enough to drive themselves (so they have to get mom or dad or big brother to drive 'em). Yeah good luck with that.

 

-We had to roll for our stats with 6-sided dice, and by the original rules, we had to keep whatever we rolled. You want a fighter but roll a 7 Strength on 3D6? Good luck with that -2 to hit and damage, buddy.

 

-We had to make pretty much all of our own content. You think it's hard going into a dungeon fighting stuff? Try MAKING UP your own dungeon, again using only books, pencils, and paper.

 

-Our characters' appearance consisted of either a written description or, if we wanted it visual, we had to HAND DRAW it. And you people whine about how gear "looks" on you in game.

 

-We couldn't look up anything on the internet, because their WAS no internet (well, it existed, but hardly anyone had a way to connect to it and most of us didn't know about it).

 

-Even if we could have looked stuff up, it wouldn't have helped, because our DM could make up stuff off the top of his head, if he wanted.

 

-You think dealing with dev teams that have superiors, chains of command, etc, can be difficult? Try having a vindictive DM who is the sole arbiter of EVERYTHING, and who literally holds the lives and deaths of your characters in his hands. And he thinks killing your character off for no reason is fun.

 

-We had to walk 30, 40 minutes to each other's houses (uphill, both ways, in 5 feet of snow) to get together to play. When's the last time you had to trudge through a snowstorm to play an MMO?

 

-Our gaming consisted of telling actual stories, that we made up, together, off the top of our heads. You think clicking "OK" or choosing some multiple choice convo options is how you "do a quest?" Try having a DM who awards xp based on how long, interesting, and creative your RP statements are.

 

All you "back in my day" MMO people are wusses. You'd never have survived it in MY day.

 

Wimps.

 

 

Haha. This ^. Man, I remember those all-nighters and being jealous of the dude whose parents bought him all the dice and manuals....sitting around a table and inventing our own dungeons and drooling over the maps that came in the modules. Sigh...to be a kid again....

[Jezzah]

back in my day i played skilled fps games like good old ut 99 which i played for 9 years (clanned) en we won the EC Cup @ clanbase

 

Just good old 5 v 5 CTF games

 

Those were the days! UT 99 FTW!

[mangarrage]

Well I will add mine

 

Just because you have the materials didnt mean you could make the item

 

Top end items took stuff from other crafters unless you maxed every craft

 

Spending 3 or 4 hours crafting sub components and then trying the final recipe and failing

But failing is a part of everything

 

Todays games I have never tailored anything in my life but at level 10 I can make shoes first time no problem. Its just silly

 

Tiered end game as well you must kill this mob to get to another and many strings to get to the true end. Planes of Power the expansion that made or broke guilds

 

--Luclin Server