Welcome to the first edition of Halfling Hodgepodge RiffRaff, THE place to get to know your fellow EQ Community members better! If you would like to participate watch the EQLive Forums for information about this feature every month.
Loral
When did you start playing EQ? It was early 2000 but I don't remember the exact date. My current character, Loral Ciriclight, was born on 2 May 2000. He has over 370 played days logged in so far with 370 more to go =)
Do you play EQ on a laptop or desktop computer? I play on a desktop. <flex>My machine is a P4 3.4ghz with 1gb ram and a Geforce 6800 GT with a 1920 x 1200 resolution 24" widescreen monitor that I love more than life itself.</flex>
Do you play on dial-up, cable, or DSL? Cablemodem with the occasional backup line drop to dial up when things go south on the cable line.
What was the race and class of your very first character? My first PC was a long forgotten half-elf paladin. One time I lost all of my gear (this was back when you could loot PC corpses) in the bottom of Befallen and a huge and powerful level 32 high elf cleric came and got it for me. I won't forget watching him drop down the well, hear the chaos of battle, and see him come back up the stairs with my bags and a new bone bladed claymore on his back. Quite a site!
Was EQ your first online game? I played a little bit of Ultima Online. I was always a social player. This nice fellow met up with me in the starting city and asked if I would go hunt with him. I went out to hunt and his two PK friends killed me and took my tattered clothing and what little copper I had. I never went back to MMOGs until EQ came out. I was a big Doom and Quake player before that but that was a lifetime before EQ.
What is your highest level in EQ? Level 70 with 560 AAs
Do you prefer to solo or group? I much prefer to group. To me the true benefit of games like EQ come from the people you meet and the adventures you share. I also believe heavily in the benefits of pick-up groups to give me a chance to meet new friends instead of just hunting with the people I already know.
What do you like the most about the class you have chosen for your main character? I like helping people. I like being able to double or even triple the hitpoints of a new player before he has figured out whether I am a PC or NPC.
Is your main character in a guild? I am an officer and recruitment coordinator for Healers United on the Quellious server. Our whole guild exists to help the hunters of Norrath with their adventures and travels.
How many characters do you have on your main server? All eight.
Does your main character worship a deity? He does. The Mother, Tunare.
Which classes in EQ have you NOT played? I don't think I've tried a mage or a beastlord yet.
What is the most platinum you have ever spent on purchasing a single item for one of your characters? I spent 65k on the most excellent Mantle of Rebirth.
What is your favorite expansion? Lost Dungeons of Norrath. Lost Dungeons was the first expansion to focus EQ around single group hunting for progressive and measurable rewards. Dragons of Norrath is a very close second.
What is your favorite zone? The beach of North Ro was always one of my favorite places. Plane of Torment and Plane of Fire were two of my favorite looking zones - no zone felt more like the old D&D evil planes than those two.
What is your favorite npc? Tunare. I go to Growth often to ask her advice. Her wordless expression usually gives me the answer I seek. The tentacle heart-valve crab thing from Plane of Torment is one of my favorite beasts next to the big red winged demons from Fire.
Which expansion do you like the least? Planes of Power. PoP was the first expansion that seemed to tell people that if they don't raid, they're not playing right. It took a game that was as wide as the world around us and stuck it into a single path; a set of rails. I still see guilds crash and burn around progression through PoP while they skip tons of excellent raids in GoD, Omens, and Dragons.
Which zone do you like the least? Plane of Fear. It is much nicer now that our power has grown and now that we have the corpse alter in Dragons of Norrath; the wipes in Plane of Fear were the only time I had to miss work and stay up all night just to get my gear back. No game should make you skip work just to get your gear back. Plane of Sky is a close second. Spending 90% of your raid time corpse summoning is a bad way to spend a weekend.
Which npc do you like the least? Any complete healing / gating cleric mob. I hate those guys.
Do you have an item you no longer use but keep around for nostalgic reasons? If so what is it and why do you keep it? I have a few. I have an idol of Tunare made for me by my guild leader. I have a Robe of Living Fungus I wear for formal occasions. I have a Trakanon Tooth I won on my first Trakanon raid back when he was hard. I have my Staff of Endless Adventure from the 5th year anniversary.
Lumpy125CA
When did you start playing EQ? Last August during the 30 day free trail.
Do you play EQ on a laptop or desktop computer? Desktop
Do you play on dial-up, cable, or DSL? Cable
What was the race and class of your very first character? Half elf Paladin
Was EQ your first online game? Yes
What is your highest level in EQ? 38
Do you prefer to solo or group? I'm not picky. I'll do either.
What do you like the most about the class you have chosen for your main character? There aren't that many berserkers around; it’s nice to be an individual..
Is your main character in a guild? Yes. Officer of "Experience Penalty", Xegony server.
How many characters do you have on your main server? 8
Does your main character worship a deity? No
Which classes in EQ have you NOT played? Enchanter, Cleric, and Wizard.
What is the most platinum you have ever spent on purchasing a single item for one of your characters? 9500pp or so on a small red Drogmor for my gnecro.
What is your favorite expansion? Lost dungeons of Norrath
What is your favorite zone? Shadeweaver's Thicket
What is your favorite npc? Fippy Darkpaw.
Which expansion do you like the least? I like them all. There are still a few things I haven't tried in each in expansion though.
Which zone do you like the least? The Warrens.
Which npc do you like the least? Sgt. Slate.
Do you have an item you no longer use but keep around for nostalgic reasons? If so what is it and why do you keep it? My main character's Iron Gloomingdeep axe. I hacked up a lot of gnolls with that axe. It still holds good memories for me of running through blackburrow as a youngster.
MelodionxXx
When did you start playing EQ? Sometime late 99, I will know when exactly when I get my new veteran AA.
Do you play EQ on a laptop or desktop computer? I currently play on a laptop, I travel a lot for work and don’t always get the chance to have a desktop. I am a Brit currently in New Zealand.
Do you play on dial-up, cable, or DSL? DSL
What was the race and class of your very first character? Woodie Ranger. I wanted a class with some versatility and variety to it.
Was EQ your first online game? Yep.
What is your highest level in EQ? 70
Do you prefer to solo or group? Group always. Solo is teh dreary. Why play an MMOG then solo? I have been in groups where I couldn’t type for laughing. That’s why I play EQ
What do you like the most about the class you have chosen for your main character? I play a lvl 70 bard, and the versatility of the class is matchless. There's so many things I can do, so many solutions to each problem that its just a constant challenge to see quite what I can do. Pulling is something I do almost constantly in groups, and for me that is the core of EQ.
Is your main character in a guild? Yeah, I play with a bunch of Aussies, we are working on Uqua access at the moment
How many characters do you have on your main server? 8 but I only play 3 or 4
Does your main character worship a deity? Karana. Yes I know bards should be Agnostic, didn’t read about that till after. But bugger it, Karana is cool
Which classes in EQ have you NOT played? I've played all at least a few lvls. The ones I quickly gave up on are all pure casters, only the necro lasted till 40, all the rest never got beyond 10. Sit and med = teh yawn
What is the most platinum you have ever spent on purchasing a single item for one of your characters? Couple of months back, I bought AoN for 350k. I'm an illusion nut (current count is 17). I made it a quest to get that much money.... now for gnome mask.... 650k *cry*
What is your favorite expansion? If I HAD to choose I would have to say PoP.... or would it be Luclin.... or would it be DoN.
1) PoP for raids. The PoP flagging system was the longest most absorbing frustrating quest I ever undertook. Time access took me 2 years across 2 guilds and 3 servers. I know all the pain of backflagging, but that was addressed very well. Just for the sheer amount of time and effort and for the final wonderful sense of achievement of zoning into Time, this was the best expansion
2) DoN for groups. What an awesome expansion. This is everything LDoN should have been but wasn’t. The missions are fun; the rewards are good enough and easy enough to get for non-raiders to get decent gear. Superb stuff!
What is your favorite zone? Gosh that’s hard... I think Ssraeshza Temple (i had to go to Alla's to remember how to spell it) has to be a strong contender just for the number of encounters in it. The wonderful atmosphere of the place, that kind of pseudo-egyptian/stargate feel to it. Thurgadin is another great one; it’s the most alive of the city zones.
What is your favorite npc? Illusionist Lobaen in PoK library. If you know the NPC you know what I mean /wink
Which expansion do you like the least? GoD, easy one. I hate it even more than I hate the dreary endless grind of LDoN (though i can see that LDoN was a necessary step on the path to DoN). I remember when GoD first came out. Trash mobs would take down the best geared toons faster than you could cast a quick heal. It was insane, it was the most unbalanced, buggy, poorly thought out expansion ever like the developers thought, “OOH how much damage can these mobs do.... ooooh make em quad... oooh make em hit for 900..... OOOOH that’s not enuff make em proc for hundreds more..... OOOOH". The mobs had to be nerfed twice before it even began to be reasonable, how could something that bad be released..... OMG I just ranted.... Sorry >.< but I "really" hate GoD now hehe.
Which zone do you like the least? Ferubi
Which npc do you like the least? Ukun, Noc, Kyv, Moodhoro Finharn... take your pick =)
Do you have an item you no longer use but keep around for nostalgic reasons? If so what is it and why do you keep it? My bank is full of this kind of stuff hehe. I would never ever destroy my Coldain Shawl. That has to be the quest I most enjoyed of all I think. Made me realize what a wonderful zone Thurgadin is, all the little stories going on, all the little bits of lore you picked up on the way during the quest and the final encounter. I will never destroy it. There’s a bunch of others e.g. my Toetwister will last forever, my first proper bard raid drop weapon but the shawl is really the one. I have a dream that one day there will be a follow on quest to enhance it further.... Dream on..
Nekozilla
When did you start playing EQ? About 4 or 5 years ago my little brother got it for me for Christmas
Do you play EQ on a laptop or desktop computer? I play on my desk top
Do you play on dial-up, cable, or DSL? I originally played on dial up but then switched over to DSL when I got a chance
What was the race and class of your very first character? My first toon was a Wood Elf Ranger
Was EQ your first online game? No, my first online game was Mech Warrior 3, I ruled at that game ^_^
What is your highest level in EQ? Currently my highest is 53 (I like to chat a lot in place of actually killing and leveling)
Do you prefer to solo or group? It all depends on my mood, I usually go towards group or duoing with a friend
What do you like the most about the class you have chosen for your main character? I liked the mix of magic and combat
Is your main character in a guild? Yes, it’s a small family guild but full of good folks
How many characters do you have on your main server? Well I have all 6 of my toons on the same server
Does your main character worship a deity? Yes, she worships Tunare
Which classes in EQ have you NOT played? I have yet to play a Necro, Mage, or Wizard
What is the most platinum you have ever spent on purchasing a single item for one of your characters? 20k on this 1hb I got for my Ranger, which *sighs* has a level 55 restriction on it......
What is your favorite expansion? I love the Planes of Power
What is your favorite zone? When first started to play I loved The Estate of Unrest. All of my alts have gone there or will be going there to hunt at some point
What is your favorite npc? That’s a hard one. I don’t think I have a favorite one though any dragon would get my vote
Which expansion do you like the least? LDoN, only because when I wanted to get a group no one wanted a ranger, when I moved on and got involved in something else all of the sudden I was being asked to join up... to this day I have still never done a LDoN Dungeon crawl with ANYONE!
Which zone do you like the least? Any jungley zones like emerald jungle too many low trees make me lag and its hard to see.
Which npc do you like the least? Dvinn, that dark elf has killed all of my toons multiple times.... Fabled Dvinn was even worse.
Do you have an item you no longer use but keep around for nostalgic reasons? If so what is it and why do you keep it? The Bow I got from the 5th anniversary event when the skeletal commanders would come out at dusk. I had some very kind folks from a high end guild get on their alts and form up groups to take them out. I still keep it just because it was so much fun to get it.