Why are you doing this?
Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2014 9:31 pm
No, really. Why ARE you doing this? Yes, SOE is taking down the game, but there are lots of games. Why are YOU here, helping - or waiting - for VGOEmulator?
I'll tell you why I am here. Primarily, because I can help make a world from nothing. Building an emulator from the ground up is a challenge, and I like challenges. I usually surround myself with extremely talented people and together, we make it happen. Unless you've done it, that might not make sense, how thrilling it was the first time I stepped (a virtual) foot inside New Telon. My pride soared through the roof; these guys kick ass, and so does everyone here who is lending a hand.
So why else am I here? I haven't played VG:SOH since late 2008. At first, I thought it was just the above; a challenge, to see if we can do it. Then SOE made their announcement, and it became a bloodlust to ensure it happened. Now that I KNOW it's going to happen, I can sit back and remember some of the most fascinating game moments in my 10-years of MMO experiences.
As my bio says, I started out playing Everquest in 2000 with a friend. To this day, that was "the" game for me; almost 6 years of my life, not hard-core, just a casual RPer who dreamed of Raiding but never did. In 2007, a co-worker of mine (aka Jordaan Quickblayde) told me about Brad's next "EQ" - called Vanguard. He said he was "getting the band back together" for it, which meant Triune was taking another run at a new MMO. These guys were hard-core. One of the top 5 raiding guilds on Morell-Thule. I always wanted to raid, but was too gimpy.
Jordaan and I made toons around Feb 2007 or so, and I remember how clunky and laggy and awful the experience was. But we struggled forward. With about 20 old-school Triunee's in game, we started the guild and began the grind. Picking up new members was a snap, and before you know it our guild was 60+ strong... and we were level 10
The point:
I am standing right now, in our EMULATED Vanguard World, in the spot where my most vivid memories of Triune, of Mok and Moline, Jordaan and Pesk, Matsunaga, Eveningsong, Queenya, Ajrarn (RIP), Velathir, Cyfo and a dozen others from EQ/Triune; our groups in Southwatch where we must have spent a month.
Just Before that it was Renton Keep and Three Rivers, and I just visited all the places we used to hang out. The lakefront property run by those bandits at the end of the trail - you know the one. I bashed their skulls in many a night until we were able to move on. Leveling was slowwwww... I guess "pain" was part of the Original EQ experience.
From Southwatch, my band of would-be Raiders made our way to Flordiel where we spent months farming stuff for our Itchy gear or whatever... Somewhere around the time we all hit the mid 40's, APW arrived. The guild leader whipped us daily to get that gear and levels so we could start farming APW. The Ancient Port Warehouse was utter chaos. Between the CTD's and lag, and the Encounters that seemed unbeatable, that is where we lived our last year until late 2008 or so when everyone started losing hope.
We whacked some Overland bosses too, just to keep the faith. But APW.... I know there are "strats", but these were seasoned raiders and that dungeon wiped the floor with us almost every night. Finally, after about 3-4 mos, we found the magic sauce and were able to start kicking the crap out APW - but by this time, the lack of content, crashes, and dumbing down of the game took it's toll... and some of my favorite people were gone. I had gotten super busy with EQ2Emulator around that time, so it was all good for me; my days of Gaming were officially over.
So that is why I am here. For the challenge... and that was it, up until tonight, running the same paths I ran with some of the best gamers I've ever known and remembering how awesome my last MMO experience was.
The point of my story is to hear YOUR story... Why are you doing this? Why are you here? What is so amazing about VG:SOH that you want it to live on forever in emulation? I'd love to hear what brings you here.
Edit: Oh, let's not forget my other reason for loving Emulators... throwing myself off high places:
Always wanted to do that
I'll tell you why I am here. Primarily, because I can help make a world from nothing. Building an emulator from the ground up is a challenge, and I like challenges. I usually surround myself with extremely talented people and together, we make it happen. Unless you've done it, that might not make sense, how thrilling it was the first time I stepped (a virtual) foot inside New Telon. My pride soared through the roof; these guys kick ass, and so does everyone here who is lending a hand.
So why else am I here? I haven't played VG:SOH since late 2008. At first, I thought it was just the above; a challenge, to see if we can do it. Then SOE made their announcement, and it became a bloodlust to ensure it happened. Now that I KNOW it's going to happen, I can sit back and remember some of the most fascinating game moments in my 10-years of MMO experiences.
As my bio says, I started out playing Everquest in 2000 with a friend. To this day, that was "the" game for me; almost 6 years of my life, not hard-core, just a casual RPer who dreamed of Raiding but never did. In 2007, a co-worker of mine (aka Jordaan Quickblayde) told me about Brad's next "EQ" - called Vanguard. He said he was "getting the band back together" for it, which meant Triune was taking another run at a new MMO. These guys were hard-core. One of the top 5 raiding guilds on Morell-Thule. I always wanted to raid, but was too gimpy.
Jordaan and I made toons around Feb 2007 or so, and I remember how clunky and laggy and awful the experience was. But we struggled forward. With about 20 old-school Triunee's in game, we started the guild and began the grind. Picking up new members was a snap, and before you know it our guild was 60+ strong... and we were level 10
The point:
I am standing right now, in our EMULATED Vanguard World, in the spot where my most vivid memories of Triune, of Mok and Moline, Jordaan and Pesk, Matsunaga, Eveningsong, Queenya, Ajrarn (RIP), Velathir, Cyfo and a dozen others from EQ/Triune; our groups in Southwatch where we must have spent a month.
Just Before that it was Renton Keep and Three Rivers, and I just visited all the places we used to hang out. The lakefront property run by those bandits at the end of the trail - you know the one. I bashed their skulls in many a night until we were able to move on. Leveling was slowwwww... I guess "pain" was part of the Original EQ experience.
From Southwatch, my band of would-be Raiders made our way to Flordiel where we spent months farming stuff for our Itchy gear or whatever... Somewhere around the time we all hit the mid 40's, APW arrived. The guild leader whipped us daily to get that gear and levels so we could start farming APW. The Ancient Port Warehouse was utter chaos. Between the CTD's and lag, and the Encounters that seemed unbeatable, that is where we lived our last year until late 2008 or so when everyone started losing hope.
We whacked some Overland bosses too, just to keep the faith. But APW.... I know there are "strats", but these were seasoned raiders and that dungeon wiped the floor with us almost every night. Finally, after about 3-4 mos, we found the magic sauce and were able to start kicking the crap out APW - but by this time, the lack of content, crashes, and dumbing down of the game took it's toll... and some of my favorite people were gone. I had gotten super busy with EQ2Emulator around that time, so it was all good for me; my days of Gaming were officially over.
So that is why I am here. For the challenge... and that was it, up until tonight, running the same paths I ran with some of the best gamers I've ever known and remembering how awesome my last MMO experience was.
The point of my story is to hear YOUR story... Why are you doing this? Why are you here? What is so amazing about VG:SOH that you want it to live on forever in emulation? I'd love to hear what brings you here.
Edit: Oh, let's not forget my other reason for loving Emulators... throwing myself off high places: