Ellowyn on Teek

[ellowynonteek]

Having decided to completely sit-out LDoN and wait for the next expansion to launch, I had time to reflect. When I started on Teek, it had been my intention to see as much of the game as possible, and to ride the server all the way to Live. During the nine months since, I had indeed been able to see far more of Norrath than ever before, but still, only a small fraction of it really. And the time, effort, and cost of that modest achievement was not insignificant.

Largely left out of my tale up to this point were the many times I had tried to find groups, but ran out of play time before I could, and so had to give up. Or the occasions I had negotiated with my family to carve out enough time to raid, only to get benched. Or the many, many times I had stayed up far later than I should have, leading to exhaustion and poor performance at work the next day. Or the annoyance all of the above caused my family, along with the accompanying guilt thus caused to me.

As I looked further down the road of Teek, I was forced to reckon with a number of hard truths. While I could likely still carve out enough time to just barely keep up with the playerbase through grouping, it seemed highly unlikely that I’d be able to raid again. And without being able to raid, many of the zones of future expansions would remain locked to me. And the required time cost and family aggro for this middling success, again, would be significant.

And so, with a heavy heart, I decided the time had come to bid farewell to Norrath for a second time. I will always love EverQuest, and it will always hold a special place in my heart, but it is clearly not a game designed with players like me (time-limited, and uninterested in boxing or paying for power-leveling services) in mind.

For anyone who might stumble across this record in the future, know that I absolutely loved my time on Teek, and don’t regret a second of it! Returning to a world I had last walked 20 years earlier was a magical experience, and I will carry my memories of Teek as warmly as I do those from Firiona Vie and Xegony from two decades before. And so, I bid you all farewell, and hope you have memorable adventures in whatever worlds you journey!

[ellowynonteek]

3/2/2025: While I didn’t plan on grouping again during LDoN, I was still interested in experiencing one of the expansion’s raids, and so showed up for one of my guild’s first LDoN raid nights. As expansions progress on TLPs, guild member attrition is inevitable, with the end of Planes of Power invariably bringing an especially large drop. For some guilds, this attrition can be so severe that they have no choice but to disband completely, with any remaining players being forced to find other guilds to join.

This was the fate of Chill Mode, many of whose former members happily decided to join Chefs Kiss. And so, as we assembled in the desert of North Ro ahead of the raid, I was pleased to see a very large crowd. As the raid leaders discussed the situation, though, I realized the size of the group might pose a problem.

Prior to LDoN, raids are capped at 72 characters. From LDoN on, however, that cap drops to 54. As a non-raider in the guild, I was only able to join raids on a space-available basis. Even with the 72-character limit, there had been a number of occasions when I had been “benched” in favor of regular raiders, and thus unable to participate. I always took this in stride, and felt grateful to be allowed to join when I could, but with the new character cap, I suspected my days of being a raid tourist were probably at an end.

As I had feared, the raid leader regretfully informed me and a number of other infrequent raiders that we would be benched. Disappointed, but understanding there was nothing to be done for it, I bid my guildmates a successful raid. As I turned to leave, I was surprised to see yet another YouTube personality: none other than Lagar, an Iksar Monk who had documented his early adventures on Teek to great dramatic, and comedic, effect!

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A place to talk about MMORPGs and RPGs in general, especially the classic titles from the 90s and 2000s.

[ellowynonteek]

I had no trouble at all finding a group delving into my favorite LDoN dungeon: Takish-Hiz. Takish-Hiz was an ancient elven city, swallowed suddenly beneath the sands of the magically-created Desert of Ro. The elven residents, facing slow deaths of starvation and suffocation, worked dreadful magics to preserve their existences, turning themselves into creatures made of earth and sand. Aside from the wonderful lore and aesthetic of Takish-Hiz, I also loved its music (perhaps my favorite piece in the entire EverQuest soundtrack).

Back in the day, I remember LDoN adventures being challenging and dangerous, as groups fought to accomplish specific mission objectives before time ran out. On this occasion, with the entire group being max level and mostly interested in just completing the adventures as efficiently as possible, our leader decided to take us through a series of normal difficulty missions. As predicted, even without a tank, we practically flew through the dungeons, melting hordes of enemies with area-of-effect (AoE) abilities. Once the mission objective was completed, we would exit the dungeon, start another, and do it again. We tore through four dungeons back-to-back this way before the group called it a night.

While we were inarguably successful, and gained a large number of adventure points, I found myself feeling disappointed with the experience. The aspects of grouping in EverQuest that I enjoy the most are the planning, communication, and coordination required to defeat dangerous enemies, none of which were required for our LDoN runs. We were blazing through the dungeons so quickly, I didn’t even have time to enjoy the scenery. Understanding now why the modern playerbase considered LDoN a slog to be endured, rather than an experience to be enjoyed, I decided to forego further adventures, and instead to wait for the next expansion before I grouped again.

Kudos to Bigboi, Potatocakes, Sarva, Shakyjake, Sixstrings, and Tomatojuice!

[ellowynonteek]

The Lost Dungeons of Norrath (LDoN) expansion launched on Teek on Thursday, February 27, 2025. LDoN is largely not well-regarded by the modern playerbase, seen more as a chore to slog through while awaiting the following expansion. Back in the day, though, LDoN was novel and innovative, serving as a proof-of-concept for systems that have since become mainstays of the MMO genre, such as instanced zones and rewards purchased through earned currencies. While I originally played EverQuest through LDoN and the two following expansions, LDoN was the last expansion whose content I actually engaged with, and so have fond memories of delving into its beautifully atmospheric dungeons. Thus, I was looking forward to LDoN with greater optimism than many of my guildmates, who by-and-large seemed only interested in acquiring the handful of worthwhile rewards the expansion offered, then being done with it.

Like previous expansion launches, LDoN saw an influx of returning players, though notably smaller than previous launches. Regardless, the handful of Wayfarers’ Brotherhood camps that served as hubs for the expansion were packed on that first day.

[ellowynonteek]

2/21/2025: I was next invited to pull at the carpets camp in the Plane of Fire. As this had been the location of one of my first groups in the zone, it felt fitting that it turned out to be my last there as well (and indeed my last group in the planes entirely). With only days before the launch of the next expansion, it was very challenging to find group members, and my group had been unable to find a tank at all. Fortunately, we had an Enchanter with a charmed monster to serve as a tank, similar to an arrangement that had worked for a previous group of mine back in Velious, so I thought we had a fair shot at being successful.

Unfortunately, our healer was a level 60 Druid, who struggled to keep everyone standing. More problematically, the Enchanter somehow kept drawing aggro away from our improvised tank, resulting in his dying twice. Each time, I was able to keep the Enchanter’s now-uncontrolled pet mezzed, preventing further deaths, but the delay while he made his way back to us and regained control of his pet was considerable.

After grouping for less than half-an-hour, I was forced to recognize that our rate of xp gain was slower than soloing, and so I regretfully found a replacement puller, offered my apologies, and resolved to wait until the next expansion to group again.

[ellowynonteek]

2/16/2025: My next group was back at my favorite camp, C2 in the Plane of Fire. Thanks to our Enchanter charming a local monster to fight for us and some out-of-group (OOG) box characters, we dominated our foes, and it was a challenge keeping the group supplied with mobs to kill. Kudos to Dilley, Dread, Haarl, Kazma, Manamomma, Nethul, Rezinu, Sweetz, Wanksta, and Whatsamatter!

[ellowynonteek]

2/15/2025: I was fortunate enough to be invited to pull for another group at the C2 camp in the Plane of Fire. I reached 200 AAs. Kudos to Aereentka, Calaveritas, Icewalker, Jugok, Mirox, Pseudonymous, and Spiritofrat!

[ellowynonteek]

2/9/2025: As I’d learned was common in the latter days of an expansion, it had become difficult to find or make groups by this point. One evening, after fruitlessly searching for a group for some time and on the verge of giving up, I happily accepted an invitation to pull at the Jopal camp in the Plane of Fire. Jopals are fiery, imp-like creatures (mephits, specifically) who live in a primitive village on an island in a lava lake on the north side of the F1 field. The camp is fairly low level, and so was almost never used–this would actually be my first and only time there.

As it turned out, there were quite a few lower-level characters in the group, and the Jopals proved to be challenging. Clustered tightly together in their stone huts, it was quite difficult to pull only one, and I had to frequently mezz adds to prevent us from being overwhelmed. For me, the xp was quite slow, but I was happy to have a group at all, and I enjoyed exploring the new area.

While we had some close calls, through our caution and planning the group managed to avoid major disaster. Until, that is, our Shaman inexplicably ran directly into one of the Jopal huts, riling up a whole pack of them. The group sprung into action immediately to try to save him, but to no avail. Before the Jopals were defeated, two more group members had fallen. Quite apologetic, the Shaman explained that he had accidentally dropped his wallet onto his keyboard, activating autorun on his character, and thus propelling him to his doom (perhaps he was also indirectly boasting about the heft of his wallet?). Happily, the group took it all in stride, and continued to slay mephits well into the evening. Kudos to Lifestorm, Nyria, Shakraz, Thorren, Travok, and Vadagrim!

[ellowynonteek]

2/4/2025: My next group was at the tables camp in the Bastion of Thunder. Already a slower xp spot for max-level characters, the group’s DPS started off on the low side, making the xp gain slower still. However, once an Enchanter joined the group, they were able to charm an earth elemental to help speed things up. A Magician joined us soon after, who was able to charm a second earth elemental, at which point we began to tear through the giants like tissue paper. Kudos to Angelrose, Bigdaddypharts, Mihk, Renatta, Soulside, Tomatojuice, and Tooshort!

[ellowynonteek]

2/3/2025: I was next invited to pull for a group at the C1 camp in the Plane of Fire. Kudos to Beignet, Bensen, Gzak, Scotchy, and Wonslaeh!

[ellowynonteek]

1/31/2025: I was very happy to join another group at the fantastic C2 camp in the Plane of Fire. The group was very powerful, and our Enchanter had charmed a local monster to add even more DPS. Despite the large number of mobs in the castle, the repops barely kept up with our kill speed. I earned 18 AAs while with the group, and reached 175 AAs total. Kudos to Balmy, Herokiller, Khalbratha, Perry, Sadd, Skunkhaze, and Wuddle!

[ellowynonteek]

1/27/2025: I was next invited to pull for a group at the undead camp in the Crypt of Decay. While I enjoyed this camp (its lore and aesthetic are quite creepy), there were just too few mobs for our group, and we found ourselves frequently waiting for respawns. Deciding to try our luck elsewhere, we moved to the Bastion of Thunder.

Unfortunately, we found all of the camps taken. Not wanting to waste more time by moving again, though, the group instead decided to head to the far southern end of the sandstorm/earth wing and carve out a space for itself. Although normally considered part of the “tables” camp territory, the tables group didn’t seem to be pulling any of the mobs from this part of the wing, and so for a time we managed to not cross each others’ paths. Eventually, though, once the mobs were depleted, the other group began voicing their (understandable) irritation. Happily, after some discussion, the two groups agreed on a plan to split the mobs in the area, which worked fairly well.

Once the tables group left, my group happily moved to their former spot, and enjoyed free reign over the giants in the area. Kudos to Comaslow, Comatoses, Gaiea, Micck, Shlimazel, Wildkard, and Xogon!

[ellowynonteek]

1/26/2025: My next group was at the bees camp in the Bastion of Thunder. This camp was really a little too low-level for me to gain much xp, but there were many level-ups among my groupmates! Kudos to Apocolys, Austriana, Kellthazaman, Raynebow, Snargg, Tapout, Tuskarr, and Zinditily!

[ellowynonteek]

Later that day, I was invited to pull for a group at the C2 camp in the Plane of Fire. Owing to multiple out-of-group (OOG) characters, it was all I could do to keep mobs in camp, and the xp rate was phenomenal. Kudos to Abednego, Adnohra, Gawyn, Gnerpy, Hairychest, Jugok, and Lephty!

[ellowynonteek]

1/25/2025: The next item I needed for my epic was an onyx drake gut. Obtained from Blackwing, a relatively low-level drake in the Rathe Mountains, I quickly found the hapless creature and claimed his gut with little trouble. At this point, I needed just one final item for my epic: a chromodrac gut. To be strictly accurate, once I had all three guts, I would turn them in to an NPC in South Karana, who in return would give me a sheet of music–that sheet was technically the final item I needed.

Because of Teek’s random loot ruleset, I knew there were a few mobs that might drop the gut in question, and so decided to ask the Bards in my guild if they had any tips. To my delight and surprise, one mentioned having a spare chromodrac gut in his bank which he offered to let me have! Strictly speaking, of course, the gut could not be traded to me… but it could be “multi-quested” (MQ’d).

A curious artifact of early quest design in EverQuest is that quest NPCs don’t keep track of who has handed them which quest items–only whether or not they have received all the items they want. So, when multiple player characters have multiple quest items shared between them, if they work together and turn the items in one after the other, the player who turns in the final item will receive the quest reward (hence, “multi-questing”). This is what my guildmate was offering, and which I gratefully accepted. To my delight, the plan worked, and I obtained the sheet of music I needed for the final epic turn-in! Thank you Besrudio!

Heading to the Dreadlands of Kunark, I trekked my way up the glacier to the hidden outpost of the lost Combine Empire. Seeking out the renowned Bard Baldric Slezaf, I provided him all the items I had painstakingly acquired over the previous months, and was rewarded with my first ever epic weapon: the Singing Short Sword!

[ellowynonteek]

1/24/2025: By this point, being max level again with many key AAs, a very solid set of gear (largely purchased in the bazaar), and all of the Planes of Power zones that I could easily unlock unlocked, I decided to finally buckle down and finish off my epic weapon quest. Even though by this point the weapon itself was less powerful than the planar weapons I had purchased, the epic was still a memento I had long hoped to acquire.

The three remaining quest pieces I needed were, inconveniently, not able to be traded between players, meaning I could not just purchase them outright, but had to loot them directly from the creatures they dropped from. I decided to tackle the hardest of these first: a red wurm gut from the great Nezekezena in the Burning Woods of Kunark.

Given my level and the power of my gear, I felt that I could likely defeat the great wurm in combat, even without a group (which would certainly not have been the case when Kunark was the current expansion). What made Nezekezena difficult was actually *finding* him in the first place.

Rare mobs in EverQuest (as one might deduce by their being “rare”) are not always present in the world, and often have a normal “placeholder” mob that has to be killed to allow the rare mob a chance to spawn. Rare mobs and their associated placeholders often spawn in specific spots, so those wishing to hunt them typically camp out in those locations and kill placeholders over and over until the rare mob appears. This was my basic plan for Nezekezena, but what made him a more challenging target than other rare mobs was that he, and his placeholders, roamed across nearly the entirety of the zone, and there was no obvious way to distinguish his placeholder from any of the other dozens of mobs wandering around.

Researching strategies from decades-old forum posts, though, I had a plan in mind. First, I brought a low-level character I had on a second account (that I mainly used to trade in the Bazaar) up to Nezekezena’s spawn point in the Burning Woods, and had it feign death, so that wandering monsters wouldn’t slaughter it. Then, I had my Bard run this way and that across the zone, assaulting every creature I came across with a unique song: the Song of Highsun. This very unusual song teleports its target back to its spawn point. While ostensibly intended as a tool to split mobs while pulling, in this case it would allow me to identify Nezekezena’s placeholder by allowing my second character to see when the placeholder mob got teleported to his spawn point. Once identified, I could then run to the spot and kill it, and any subsequent placeholder spawns, until Nezekezena himself showed up.

Though it was laborious and I considered giving up many times, eventually my plan worked, and Nezekezena appeared! The battle was fierce, but the wurm was no match for my abilities and powerful gear, and so I claimed the red wurm gut!

[ellowynonteek]

1/21/2025: I was very happy to be invited to pull for a C2 castle group in the Plane of Fire, but shortly after joining, the leader had to leave, and promoted me to leader. Much as on previous such occasions, I found trying to pull, swap instruments at the right time, and manage the loot window all a bit too much. Though my performance was inarguably sloppy, my group was kind enough not to complain (not that they’d have much room to, since none of them wanted to be leader 😉). I reached 150 AAs. Kudos to Cagney, Cern, Griffith, Kosma, Maliketh, Saeka, Stormtrooper, and Xazu!