It all started in December 2000 when I purchased Everquest, the game. I have been a gamer since the early 1980s but had never played an MMO before.
In the next few weeks, 
More recently I installed the Everquest client again on my PC. It's free to play now but a far cry from the heyday of the early noughties when adventurers banded together for quests and glory.
Many zones are now deserted as players have long since left the game for other ones with superior graphics, and easier gameplay.
This is the story replayed today as my level 66 Barbarian Shaman who can now freely roam through low and mid-level zones without fear of being killed.
If you are not a gamer and have never played an MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online Game) then you may not be able to relate to this at all.
Everquest was named ‘Evercrack' due to its addictive nature and for good reason.
Other article's in this series:
The Everquest Chronicles : Halas and Everfrost
The Everquest Chronicles: The Entrance to Blackburrow
The Everquest Chronicles: Blackburrow and the Ice Giants
The Everquest Chronicles: The Bandits of Western Karana
The Everquest Chronicles: Northern and Eastern Karana
The Everquest Chronicles: HighHold Pass
The Everquest Chronicles: Kithicor and Beyond
The Everquest Chronicles: Freeport and The Ro's
Entering the Innothule Swamp was like switching the lights off. The doom and gloom coupled with the never-ending drizzle and fog dampened my spirits within moments.
Travelling past the entrance of Guk, I now knew why I had avoided the zone in my younger days.
Many an adventurer had died within its labyrinths and though I could kick these frogs' arses now without thinking, it was not a place for a Barbarian who loved the ice and snow of the tundra.
Further south I found myself at the gates to Grobb, the city of the Trolls. As a good race, I would be killed on sight entering this evil city but I was here for a little guard bashing.
At level 50 and conning 'Green', the Grobb guards would even give me a little experience. After pulling Basher Trak, the other guard followed (but... that's not supposed to happen with Greens!).
I found the guards hard going and after my beloved pet died with a whimper there was nothing for it but to run for my life to The Feerot, another swamp-infested horrible zone which is next to the Ogre home of Oggok.
Damn, they must have beefed up those guards to some kind of super-beings, I swear I used to be able to kick their arses.
Not to be thwarted, I hugged the south wall of The Feerot to avoid the wandering Ogre guards who I was now wary of despite them being 16 levels my junior.
I passed close to the zone to The Lost Temple of Cazic Thule and wondered what it was like inside after all these years.
It used to be a high-level zone with a bunch of wimpy lizards guarding the entrance. Sure enough, they were still there at their temples and begging to be killed.
I remembered had a Mercenary at this point and resurrected him. Mercenaries fight alongside you but take a slice of experience with every kill. They don't take your loot but you have to pay them every 15 minutes some of your precious platinum pieces.
My Mercenary is a tank but a little squashy, as he's the cheap version. As a Shaman, I can heal him, buff him, regenerate him and make him swing those blades faster.
Entering Cazic Thule I noticed the lizard guards who are much tougher than those outside were conning 'Light Blue'. Experience could be gained by murdering these reptiles!
It had to be done. I pulled one with a 75% Slow debuff and then added it to the second one who came at the same time.
It took some time to kill these buggers but they went down and for the first time in years my experience bar moved.
Entranced with living the old days, I ventured deeper into Cazic Thule and more than once had to run for my life when 5 or 6 of these scaly beasts ganged up on me.
It was just like the old times but without my comrades. I tearfully reminisced about my brothers and sisters who I knew would never return.
They had gone to better games with fantastic graphics.., like that World of Warcraft thing.
Leaving Cazic Thule with a full half-level and wondering, 'what the fuck am I doing', I headed west to The Plane of Fear, or should I say… the entrance.
Entering this goddam forsaken place would surely be instant death. This was a raid zone and I remembered with little fondness, wasting a full Sunday while in a PUG seeing wipe after wipe, while trying to ‘break Fear’.
Specters guard the entrance, but they are no big deal now although they look large and frightening with their scythes and resemblance to ‘Death’
The Plane of Fear is through that red portal. Once in, you can't get out unless you are a caster class and use the 'Gate' spell.
Monsters roam the zone-in area, and will instantly target you. At Level 50 or so with massive hit points, it is not a place to solo, even with my wisdom and experience.
I shuddered to look at that evil place and the many riches it contained for the brave.
...'All Images are screen captures, processed manually by ME!'...
- Earn FREE EOS from Coinbase by taking partaking in a simple quiz here
- Earn currency while you play brewing virtual beer with CryptoBrewMaster
- Earn currency while you play and become a global Rock Star with Rising Star
If you found this article so invigorating that you are now a positively googly-eyed, drooling lunatic with dripping saliva or even if you liked it just a bit, then please upvote, comment, rehive, engage me or all of these things.