Nostalgia the Guild

Depths of Darkhollow, EverQuest’s tenth expansion was set in the vast underground series of caverns of Underdark Darkhollow, a vast series of caverns beneath Norrath inhabited by the remains of the Illithid Illisin empire and the upstart, warring factions of the Wurine (werewolves). It continued the previous Dragons of Norrath expansion’s effort to reposition EverQuest back to its Norrath-centered fantasy roots after two large expansions, Gates of Discord and its follow-up, Omens of War, took players off Norrath and into the middle of an alien invasion. After all, where could you go when you’d just killed off all the gods of Norrath in Planes of Power? ...

I was trying to get a decent screen shot of my new Frostfell quest armor when Buddy brutally attacked! One of Dora’s final tasks when she betrayed to Freeport was to befriend Buddy, and then take evil delight in killing him. But Dora used her new necromantic powers to bring him back. Somehow she brought him back ‘wrong’ and he grew to enormous size. He’s now the guardian of the guild hall… ...

The Icy Keep is EQ2’s new addition to their winter wonderland of Frostfell fun, a nicely laid-out retooling of Permafrost that not only provides an hour’s group fun, but also moves the ongoing EQ2 plot ahead slightly. Long ago, the ice goblins of Permafrost were in thrall to the villainous Lady Vox, an ice dragon whose control over the northern reaches of Norrath was merciless and absolute. Her continual death at the hands of adventurers and, finally, at the claws of the prismatic dragon Kerafrym, left her a shadow of her former self, and set the goblins free. ...

Rejected post titles: “The Spear-it of Christmas”, “The Mob that Dis-speared”, “Spear-ritually yours”. Last week, we were saddened by the cruelty whose name is Doomfire, the Burning Lands, where none of the many nameds of “C1” bothered to show. Sure, we got levels and AA off their minions, but that wasn’t the point. We wouldn’t leave until Tarfu got his Spear of Fire, the paladin pet weapon that procs paladin epics. ...

Much thanks to Danshir for reminding me last night that EverQuest has changed its list of hot zones, places that give extra adventure and AA experience if you fight there. If leveling is your goal in EverQuest, you want to go to the hot zone best for your level and look for a group. Usually there will be plenty of other people there to group with. SOE usually adds a few new drops (often nice augments) to sweeten the deal, as well. ...

Last time we came to the Plane of Fire, we scurried back and forth in front of the zone, kiting mobs, a good portion of whom declined to be kited. We muddled through. Since then, we have been joined by an uber knight, Tarfu, Mantis morphed to his Tribunal enchanter, and, oh yes, mercenaries made themselves available for hire all over Norrath. No matter who should show, then, we could make a group and go do STUFF. ...

Not surprisingly, the weekend continued the EQ2 fun from the week. The Shadow Odyssey is the most “different” EQ2 expansion yet, but I can’t yet say HOW. But it is. Different. If y ou play in the TSO places, you are playing in a very different kind of game than if you play elsewhere. So kinda working backward here. Last night, after goofing around for awhile, I went LFG and got a group for the Evernight Abbey in Loping Plains. Never been here! And it seemed, neither had anyone else in the group, so we got to be the first. Most everyone was receiving lots of advice from their guildies on how it’s done… ...

Of the four elemental planes, the plane of earth is the most unusual and certainly the scariest. Strange, silent, deadly creatures lurk everywhere; some burrow underground, and pop up to attack you as you pass. The Rathe Council has abandoned the plane to meet and discuss things in their own sub-plane, leaving their larger plane alone to grow strange. All good news for us, though. The Plane of Earth was a reward, back in the old days. A gift to the serious raiding guilds. If you attended all the raids, a hundred times, in the right order, and the markings on your arm all glowed the same hue, and you had no lost memories, and your guild’s scouts had seen Rallos Zek the Warlord pop before any other guild, and your pullers had managed to get the two trigger mobs claimed and mezzed while the guild gathered, and after that, managed to do a raid that was not only timed but required almost inhuman teamwork and rarely-used abilities and outright sneakiness, well, then the planes of Earth, Air and Water would open for you, and the best experience in the game would be yours. ...

No, really, I’m sure there are millions of puns out there about “crafting” and “tradeskills”. No laws against them. They aren’t WEA-PUNS of LAUGHS INSTRUCTION, after all. So, yeah. Still shocked and awed by the coolness of the Shadow Odyssey crafting quests. No killing. NO FRIGGIN KILLING. I had a quest to rebuild a cannon for some quick ballistic travel between a couple of areas, and after gathering ore, it asked me for a wire from a sweeper bot. “Okay,” thought I, “finally some killing!” ...