It has been over a year since I last had anything to do with the original EQ. Even today I have no interest in that game. As I sit here typing this I find myself wishing that I had not logged into it tonight.

Not simply because I don’t like the game itself, but because I now sit here slightly depressed. It’s odd because I can’t quite put my finger on the reason, but it was a genuinely depressing experience. Perhaps I would have slept better had I not messed with it.

If you know me - and to be honest only the few of you who I know will read this - then you know that I can be very curious. I was sitting at the computer tonight trying to think of something entertaining when it occurred to me that I haven’t looked at the original EQ in over a year.

After asking myself several times if I even wanted to bother with it I finally allowed my curiosity to get the best of me.

The areas that I ran around in were Nektulous forest, East / West Commonlands (which are now one zone), North Freeport, Plane of Knowledge, and the Bazaar.

The game itself has changed graphically, but not by a whole lot. The trees looks a bit better, the grass looks slightly better, and the dirt walls look a bit better. The spell effects are also different, though they’re not all that impressive. When it comes right down to it though it’s all still the same, and that’s especially true for the Foreign Quarter of Neriak. It is identical to how it was years ago.

It is also so empty. Every zone except for two was devoid of players. I was expecting someone to be at the druid port rings in the Commonlands, but no. There wasn’t a soul to be found.

Only “The Plane of Knowledge” and the Bazaar had other players. Even the mighty PoK had a mere 30 players, though the Bazaar managed to present a respectable 380-some character merchants. Yet even the Bazaar was devoid of OOC or other zone wide conversation.

The only conversations in the game took place in special chat channels that allow everyone on the server to join the same channel. Disconcertingly, conversation was still nearly - though not quite - nonexistent even on these server wide chat channels.

It was very similar to walking through a ghost town that used to be your childhood home. It’s haunting, strange, and there are ghosts of oh so many memories all around you in everything that you see. Yet there is no life.

Part of my experience is likely due to the time at which I logged into the server. Despite this, it’s easy to say that EQ is less than a shadow of its former self.

In all of this bleakness there was a moment of smiles. There is a certain person out there who I originally met in EQ, and she is still one of the most dear persons that I have ever known. We had some truly incredible times hanging out there; times that I’ll always be thankful for.

After all this time I still had some mementos. Gentle reminders of some wonderful times.

Thanks, Princess.

EQ itself was not worth poking my head into again. It was empty, it was depressing, and I mostly wish that I hadn’t bothered. Despite this, I did get a reminder of some of my happiest moments.

~Steph