Berserker
03-13-2013, 02:52 PM
So as you may know, this classic MMO that many of us were addicted to back in the day has actually been free-to-play now for about a year. Unfortunately it had some pretty boneheaded limitations though - only four playable races (out of 16), four playable classes (out of 16), and the classes were ones like warrior, wizard, cleric, rogue, that most people would probably not want to play in the current game when there are things like mercs (hireable NPCs you can group up with that perform as basic tanks, casting/melee DPS, and healers) now available.
There were also other less-glaring-but-still-annoying limitations, like 6 bag slots instead of 10, a limit on how much money your character could have depending on level, and no shared bank between characters.
With the last few updates however, they've started to remove a lot of these limitations. A previous update that introduced subscription time as a tradeable in-game item removed the money limit, and the update that just went live today is pretty significant - free players now have ALL races unlocked, ALL classes unlocked, 10 bag slots, and a shared bank. What was once a great example of how NOT to do free-to-play has gradually changed into something I can feel comfortable recommending to others like me who might have played years ago, but no longer have the time (or in my case, the gaming attention span) to warrant a monthly sub.
The game itself still looks much the same as it did post-Shadows of Luclin (you can still switch back to the classic character models, btw), but amazingly SOE has been actively developing it this whole time, and they've added a lot. Innumerable expansions (all but the most recent ones you get for free), the level cap is now 100, the mercs already mentioned compensate for the lower playerbase, as grouping is not something that happens very often through the lower levels now. Despite my previous addiction to it, I never actually got terribly high in level in the classic game, so I've had a lot of fun going back through the old content and seeing things I'd previously only heard about or saw in screenshots.
So if any of this sounds appealing, I highly recommend signing up (https://www.everquest.com/) an account, or reactivating your old one if you can still remember the info. Your old characters should still be there, but they're probably going to be on a different server as they've done a few merges throughout the years. There will also be some nice rewards you'll be able to claim on the legacy accounts, so be sure to check for that as well. See you in Norrath!
There were also other less-glaring-but-still-annoying limitations, like 6 bag slots instead of 10, a limit on how much money your character could have depending on level, and no shared bank between characters.
With the last few updates however, they've started to remove a lot of these limitations. A previous update that introduced subscription time as a tradeable in-game item removed the money limit, and the update that just went live today is pretty significant - free players now have ALL races unlocked, ALL classes unlocked, 10 bag slots, and a shared bank. What was once a great example of how NOT to do free-to-play has gradually changed into something I can feel comfortable recommending to others like me who might have played years ago, but no longer have the time (or in my case, the gaming attention span) to warrant a monthly sub.
The game itself still looks much the same as it did post-Shadows of Luclin (you can still switch back to the classic character models, btw), but amazingly SOE has been actively developing it this whole time, and they've added a lot. Innumerable expansions (all but the most recent ones you get for free), the level cap is now 100, the mercs already mentioned compensate for the lower playerbase, as grouping is not something that happens very often through the lower levels now. Despite my previous addiction to it, I never actually got terribly high in level in the classic game, so I've had a lot of fun going back through the old content and seeing things I'd previously only heard about or saw in screenshots.
So if any of this sounds appealing, I highly recommend signing up (https://www.everquest.com/) an account, or reactivating your old one if you can still remember the info. Your old characters should still be there, but they're probably going to be on a different server as they've done a few merges throughout the years. There will also be some nice rewards you'll be able to claim on the legacy accounts, so be sure to check for that as well. See you in Norrath!