Fan Mail

Earth Time - 4 / 17 / 00

I just wanted to let you know that the adevnture is not gone...it's just harder to find. I myself have been playing since last june. To keep me from getting bored, I have made many different characters (gotten each class to at least 10). I am currently in a guild, and we have events every week. Right now we are in the middle of a huge RP event that has spanned several weeks so far, and not NEAR done. It is great to see where this event leads us next. So the adventure is what WE make it.
I hope you find the adventure you are looking for :)

Kevin Powell


Earth Time - 3 / 31 / 00

Hiya Darkpact,

I just wanted to thank you for saying many things that are unspoken but often thought about by players. You are dead on the mark about role-playing. I once commented in OOC that I would love to roleplay but this game forces me not to. Most of the quests are given by npc statues who want very strange things from you and will give you a nickel in return. Reminds me of the Knights of Nih, who want a shrubery. The players have been sucked up into pure capitalist gain like Homer Simpson. "Must have.... drool....Giagantic Zweidlhander!....drool." The history of the game, which I have yet to find except in the silly cut-scene im forced to escape out of each time I log in, is sparse and quickly thought up. No Tolkein here.
Now on to loot, which seems to be what the whole game is centered around, that and power. Power is even more addictive than loot. However, Verant has made certain that you will gain power, and you will gain it painfully slowly. You might as well be watching the hour hand of a clock which moves faster than your level bar. As a result, the immediate gratifacation comes from getting that Ilyandr's hoop, or Langseax of the Wolves. With my Shaman Telor on Veeshan i did the langseax quest about 40 times trying for it even though I couldnt even weild it. You do get the one handed version each time though, and i found that it was giving me great experience for each step of the quest. side note: This is the best Barbarian quest i have done, its fun giving the shirt to Frostbite and then having him lead you to the criminal all the way across WK plains. Sadly, the game is mostly: use your highest character, camp for hours and days, drop stuff on ground for your other characters or sell it for high prices, repeat.
I think more no drop quests/items should be created. My shaman armor quests were fun because i had to do each part myself (well i did loot a griffon feather from someone elses kill). Then i had to turn them in myself and get the reward. It was close to roleplaying cause its just me the NPC and my items. Oddly enough however the shaman armor pieces are NOT no drop! I see them for sale all the time at very high prices. I honestly dont know what Verant is thinking sometimes.
What if everyone had their own stuff? I have a mage and he cant wear diddly on his chest. Its robes or nada. I'd like to see more of that, and more no drop stuff. This would keep someone, even myself, from camping an item they cant even use and thus removing the profit from doing so. Auctioning and trading are fun, but its gone way too far. When i go to the Freeport bank, its crazy what you can buy and even crazier the prices. If you have a high level character, you can just go to Freeport and buy everything you need for your new character. Strange but true. And I not sure its all that bad because of the rarity of money and items in the game, staring a new character is a long process. I guess Im of 2 minds about twinking.
I've been playing about a year now and to fight the boredom i create a new character. Like you I tend to not like the game as I gain in power. leveling becomes tedious, loot rare to impossible, and players turn into something worse than a day-trader on Wallstreet. The funny thing that most people dont realize is that having the best stuff doesnt raise your power all that much. A newbie will still get killed frequently even with that shiney blue stuff.
Have you heard of MiddleEarth? Its was supposed to be a Tolkein based ultima online like game, centered on role playing. I couldnt wait to play it till I read that they sacked their whole programming dept. and are starting over. Who knows when and if it will be out now. This game had permanant death and magic would be very rare in the game as in Lord of the Rings. Also you could play an Orc if you wanted and not too many elves would be allowed. I think the link is on EQvaults page if you are interested.

-Telor, and Sareb on Veeshan


Earth Time - 3 / 13 / 00

Hi,

I just read your post of march 6th. I'm really sorry for you. I sincerely hope things will become better soon.

You sound (from your writings) like a deep and thoughtful person. As such, you deserve all the best in the world.

I can kind of identify with you, since I am also a single guy. I'm 5 years younger than you but I've been single all my life (I made several attempts to find myself a girlfriend but never met any girl I really felt was worth pursuing) and at times I really miss the company, as you were doing when you walked home that day.

But... At least... I have my dream world. Which is often times a lot better than anything I could get in the real world... Most of the time EQ serves fine to satisfy me. I hope it does for you too... Though perhaps at level 50 it's more about boring camps than discovering a new world of mystery.

In conclusion, I just want to let you know that, just like you, I created a Cleric character (my main) to help others, to bring "good" to the world. To ease some pain. My father was in terminal phase of cancer when I started playing EQ. The thought of a person who can heal any disease was miraculous to me.

Unfortunately, such things don't exist in real life, and now since then my father has passed away, and I am still playing my virtual healer, healing virtual characters in a game... But I hope I can bring some joy to the real people who are playing them....

As I write this I have tears coming to my eyes and I am at work... Think it's time to go home....

So, good luck my friend. My thoughts are with you.

Antonin Cote
aka Alruna Moongazer on Veeshan

PS: Oh, and you are not a failure.


Earth Time - 3 / 12 / 00

Greetings dark brother =)

I have met up with you on many occasions and every occasion was a memorable one.

I first met you in ogguk at the bank area as my female shadow knight (DARK ELF) Sollarisa.

Hehe.. the funny thing was that you met me by whistling etc and throwing compliments at me =) and i was in awe of your appearance and lvl..

You were most gracious and kind and wanted to show me the power you possessed. You buffed me to 987 hp's and i cant remember how much ac? and i was lvl 10 at the time so i didn't have many hp's to begin with. I was in shock and totally amazed by the power you wielded and your willingness to help out a dark sister =) ..

After i met you that day i started a dark elf cleric of my own =) Adalia.. she has met you a few times and when i explained to you when we first met you actually remembered me =) (after awhile of refreshing your memory)

I recently met you again as my female wood elf druid tesa. You buffed me without me even seeing you there. =) thank you. I was soloing around the tunnel fighting asp's etc. and losing alot of health doing it =(

every time i have met you you have been so kind and generous. and the few times i have talked to you ( when you weren't in a rush) I really enjoyed your company and wisdom..

You gave me your web page when i first met you but i lost the addy, and you gave it to me again recently and i went to check it out =)

I must tell you that i think you have a real gift to story telling and soooo much wisdom to pass on..

I have made your page my home page, every time i boot up i get your page =) I have read everything and loved every word =) and learned a great deal

I kind of confused about the whole specializing thing?? what exactly is it and what does it do??? please if you would could you email me back and explain it to me? i would greatly appreciate it.

I have rambled on enough.. I just had to tell you that i love your work in the game and on your page.. I really look forward to meeting up with you again and talking to you.. hopefully you will remember me??

You faithful fan.
Karen.


Earth Time - 2 / 29 / 00