Blame it on Lady Vox

This is happening a little out of the normal order.  Since I wanted to devote a long post to Everquest Next Landmark for Steampowered Sunday, I decided against cluttering the bottom of the post with a factoid.  So today I am doing a second really quick post as a sort of addendum.  On the days when I have an already existing “thing” for that day, I might start doing this.  The Friday Forum Fodder felt a little odd to have a factoid glued to the bottom.  I still question if this feature is worth doing, or if folks are going to get bored of me talking about myself.

Blame it on Lady Vox

Since I posted a big long lovestory to Everquest Next for my Steampowered Sunday post, it feels only fitting to chain this factoid on the same day.  My first real MMO experience was Everquest, and like I said in the other post it will always hold a special place in my heart.  I love the setting of Norrath and its places, peoples and legends.  That said I would have likely never gotten into the game on my own.  I was one of those people that watched the game as it was being developed with great interest, only to get a bit soured at the thought of paying a monthly subscription.  On my Amiga I had flirted with playing Air Warrior and EGA Battletech a bit over the GEnie service, and had already felt the sting of paying an hourly rate to play games.  So the thought of doing that again really didn’t set well with me.

So it was very reluctantly that I accepted a request from a friend and co-worker of mine to come to his house one night after work and run his second account during a Everquest raid.  The guild he was in had been preparing to take on the great dragon Lady Vox in Everfrost, and that night after work they were going after her.  He normally dual boxed Everquest with his Iksar Monk and Halfling Druid, but since he would be pulling the mobs clearing up to Lady Vox he really needed to concentrate on doing that one thing.  So I got what ended up being a few minute explaination of how to control my character, how to memorize spells… and which spells to cast… and we were off clearing our way through the ice giants and goblins on the way to the dragons lair.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect.  I had never really played an MMO at this point, and very much never been on a raid of any kind, but I thought it was amazing how everyone in the party worked together towards a common goal of clearing the lair and finally battling the dragon.  I stood back and cast nukes, occasionally throwing a heal here or there when someone looked like they were getting low.  The battle was absolutely insane, with so many things going on at once that I had no clue what happened.  At some point things started to get really hectic when folks started dying left and right.  Sooner or later it was my turn, and my friend rather hurriedly explained where i needed to go to get back tot the fight.  Luckily a ranger died about the same time so I followed her back into the lair.

My friend told me to “mem a nuke” and it was a few minutes before it dawned on me what exactly he was saying.  I did just that and ran back in just in time to land the killing blow.  So on my first night playing any MMO…  I managed to slay an internet dragon.  On that night I also got to see my very first instance of loot drama…. as there was an argument that erupted over who got the “zero weight backpack”.  I have to say I was hooked, and the very next day I picked up a copy and rolled my very first character… Exeteroth the Dwarven Cleric.  Turning around upon exiting Kaladim and seeing the giant dwarven statue still is one of the most epic experiences I have had in a game.  Nowadays it looks so primitive, but at the time it was just staggering that something so big could exist in a video game.  While the forced grouping and frustrations that it caused ultimately lead me to quit the game after a few years, Everquest will always hold a special place in my heart, as will my very first dragon raid.