[Hannar]

Ask any long time MMORPG player about what makes the genre so compelling and you are likely to get an answer that references some experience they had interacting with another player or group of friends online. One chance encounter could lead to a new friendship, or time spent with a great guild might just build a lasting legacy. This week at Silky Venom, we want to hear more about the most influential player or group that you spent time with in your previous MMORPGS, and how that experience has changed the way you look at the genre.

As I quickly referenced in our article on class balance, there was a particular bard that I met one night during a lengthy play session of EverQuest that completely blew me away with his skill in playing the class. Turning back the clock, let me take you to a time before the handful (or two) of expansions made the Old World of EverQuest obsolete; when dungeons like Solusek’s Eye were some of the most intricate and entertaining spots that any MMORPG’er had been privy to. In what was seemingly a recipe for disaster, a pickup group of five players in their early to mid 20’s (a necromancer, a paladin, a ranger, the bard, and myself, a druid) ventured into the dungeon and crawled our way to the Bar Room to set up camp… sans a true healer. Needless to say, I was more than a little concerned for our safety given my own proclivities for being a below average healer.

We set up camp after breaking the room’s spawn in a raucous battle that was, for my part, more a mix of snaring and praying than anything else. Once the initial skirmish was finished and the room under control, we settled in for several hours of consistently heart-pumping battles that were never easy, but always well managed. Our bard twisted four songs throughout the night without fail, assisting me with songs for regeneration and our fighters with several stat buffs. He changed weapons and instruments to add damage when needed or to boost a particular song’s effectiveness. In short, he made the bard class seem at once to be the most complex available yet effortless to play. It certainly did not spoil his mystique to also be wearing what was at the time a fairly striking set of Lambent armor that he had managed to collect far earlier than most bards would be able to. The “blueberry” jokes aside, at that time in EverQuest there were few suits of armor that were as immediately recognizable.

As the night wore on, the bard clearly established himself as the group leader, directing us from room to room during slow periods, altering our strategy as needed, and dishing out knowledge about the dungeon in general for those who were slaughtering the goblins for the first time. By the end of the night I had gained more than my fair share of experience and a nice new Drakescale Belt. More importantly, however, I had also gained a lot of confidence in my abilities as a healer in an adequate group, despite my class’s general inferiority to the cleric class. Playing with a competent player that could empower an entire group taught me a very important lesson: players make the class, not the other way around.

It’s the opportunity to have that personal influence on my character that drives me in these games. My class may be a ranger or a druid or a paladin, but my competitive nature and my personality dictate who I am in game. The players with real personality have the opportunity to shine, and I think it’s important to keep in mind when interacting with players in a new game like Vanguard; one never knows when they are about to stumble upon a new player making their first voyage into the MMORPG world (well, unless you see a pile of their corpses lying in front of a guard).

On my first day in the world of Norrath, I was fortunate enough to venture upon a truly powerful Barbarian craftsman (level 7!) on the outskirts of Halas who freely gave me a full suit of handcrafted leather armor… quite a gift for someone new to the game. I quickly wrote that name down (overlooking the friends list, of course) for future reference just in case I found myself in over my head. A short five minutes later, my crumpled corpse lay a scant five feet away from the first Ice Giant I had the displeasure of stumbling upon. I sent a quick /tell out to my newfound friend just to determine if she knew exactly where that Ice Giant fort might have been… the fog and snow were not kind to my “newbie” sense heading skills. To my great surprise, she willingly made her way out from Halas to my location and led me directly to the corpse. Unfortunately, that same Ice Giant was busy admiring that leather armor she had crafted for me, and the only way to drag the corpse out would be to get within agro range first. Again, without hesitation, she hopped right into the fray and managed to make it back to the entrance of the fortress just as the giant landed his final blow. In the grand scheme of things, the fifteen minutes she spent helping me and the small penalty for death that was paid meant very little, but the example it set for me as a new player was one that won’t soon be forgotten.

So now that I’ve laid the groundwork, let us all know about who made a difference for you in your favorite MMORPG. Was it a great guild leader that planned raids with precision and motivated players to achieve what few thought possible? Or could it be a great roleplayer who spent a few minutes chatting you up while waiting on a boat ride? Tell us about the one player you would most like to meet in game just one more time.

[Faelor]

Great read, great stories! Brings back a lot of memeories. I hope to have such experiences once again in Vanguard myself

[Windir]

I used to not be a big fan of MMO's untill i catually played one hehe. i had finally saved enough money to get a new comp and at the same time EQ2 had just been released so i though what the heck ill try it out. I started off in Freeport cuz im more into the evil stuff hehe. made my Ogre SK named Spellbound and was having fun with the game. little confusing at first but figured it out pretty quick. there was a grp forming to take out Blacksheild in Commonlands so i joined up with em. there was a female erudite shamman that started talking to me cuz she knew i was a noob. basically every question i had she answerred. the MT pulled Blacksheild and it was gettin crazy cuz we got adds and we almost wiped. this was the second grp i had been in and was so much fun. i was first yo die and the shamman felt soooo bad cuz she couldnt keep me up. i revived myself and came back. she gave me 5g!!!! the most id seen at that point was about 25 sp lol. just that little thing she did for me was the coolest thing ever at that point. after that we grped almost everyday and still do when i am on. since then if there is a noob needing help i think of what that shamman did that day and help em out. Even the smallest thing like that i think is what makes this genre of games so flippin sweet .

[Malidarn]

Well there were numerous people who helped me when i first started playing, a little after the kunark expandtion. A paladin who i forgot the name of helped my RL friend and I to know the land around butcherblock and helped introduce us to many tradeskills, then one day he decided it was time for us to go to the "other continents" mystified we waited for the boat to the great beyond.He spent countless hours talking with both my friend and i about different classes and such as well as places to hunt items to gain and even these unknown gatherings of many players to defeat large enemies of such great power that they could still destroy large groups of players. All in all he set the bar for me, showed me how to be a useful member of a MMO society, and then in the end had to retire, only to come back later when I had become the more knowledgable and i gladly repaid him for his help ten fold.

[Eadric]

Hi everyone, this is my first post here. Great site!

My most influential grouping experience dates back to early 2000, during my time as a half-elf ranger on Everquest. I had only been playing a few weeks, and was really overwhelmed by the complexity and size of the Everquest world. Although it may be small and simple by today's standards, it was like nothing I had ever seen before.

This particular day I was level 16 and hoping to get 17, and was lucky enough to get a group in the Commander room of Blackburrow. The group consisted of myself, a human bardess, a gnome enchanter, and a dark elf shadowknight, and a human druid. We played through a good portion of the evening, chatting and enjoying the good exp and loot - until I went linkdead, which was frustrating but very common back in those days. I came back to find myself naked and outside the gates of... Freeport! I got a tell from the bard asking what the heck I was doing in Freeport? Well, I was a true noobie and had forgotten to rebind after making the long trek from Freeport to Qeynos. The bard was so kind as to run all the way to Freeport to escort me all the way back to Qeynos. Even with bard selo speed, it was a long and dangerous journey, and I doubt I would have made it naked. We became friends, and the whole group ended up forming a guild which became my first real guild.

[Fozzik]

One of my fondest memories in any MMORPG was really the first...

When I started playing Everquest, I was completely sure that I wasn't interested in the genre at all. I had never much liked single-player computer role-playing games, and much preferred table top pen-and-paper style. On the computer, I mostly played space flight simms and first-person shooters.

I played Everquest for about a week, stumbling around without really having any idea of what to do or where to go. I gained a few levels, and found my way from Qeynos to Blackburrow. I was trained several times at the Blackburrow entrance (which of course was completely normal) and had just become frustrated with the game overall. I was ready to log out for good...I hadn't really had much fun the whole week and was thinking of a lot of better ways to spend my time.

Then a wolf came running up, and saved me from several knolls. I honestly thought the wolf was an NPC (being completely clueless, as I said), and was very surprised when the wolf started talking to me.

Her name was Ashre, and she spent quite a bit of time that day...and even more time in the days that followed...carefully explaining the game to me and showing me around. She not only led me to a ton of cool places, and into a bunch of memorable experiences, but she also became a dear friend. I held onto her tail for quite a long time, and she dragged me happily into loving the game.



I went on to play EQ for the better part of three years, and I can say without hesitation that all the fun I had and all the great memories were because Ashre happened to be in Blackburrow that day. /hugs to my furry friend, wherever she is now.

[Hannar]

Some great stories.... thanks for sharing.

[Praxis]

I've had 2 good experiences that really helped shape my views on MMO's and online play. One was about 10-12 years ago. I was playing Dragonrealms on AOL.. a text based MUD that had about 500-1000 people on. This was my first my first beta too. I couldn't do anything. The game was all text and had about a million commands / verbs and no listing of what they were. I was getting killed on average about 5 times a day.. which is a lot, specially since all I was fighting was rats. Well, two weeks into it and I was about to call it quits. A stranger took me under her wing. Jamella taught me to fight, how to survive.. how to avoid pickpocketing teeves. And whenever i fell, she would always come to help me out. I ended up playing for a almost 2 more years. At that time I didn't realize, but that person shaped how I would play MMO's. Before I left I had helped countless noobs the same way I had been helped. It was a good time actually RP'ing a Paladin.
Next most shaping experience had to be in SWG. I joined a pre-release PA, BHSS. I think it was the mission statement got me to join up. Hardcore, mature and structured. I could go on and on about our acomplishments, but I wont ('cept helping create the first PA in SWG). The important thing is is that I got a taste of what a PA could achieve when it had the right leaders and members. Most of the elite recognized the short comings of the game and left within 6 months. We never did hit that high again.. but I will always remember those brothers with a great fondness. One of the most memorable moments, out hunting with a small group.. my leader and several officers and myself. We stumble in on a imperial outpost and attacked. AT-ST spawns and attacks us. Me being slicker than sh*t, manage to avoid aggro, but the AT-ST eventually takes out the whole team. As he moves in for the death blows I charge. I remember thinking, not on my watch. I use the trees so he can't get a good shot off on me. Once I am close enough I burst out of the cover flame him. I run beind a near base to avoid the blasts that will icap with 1 hit. Now he's after me, so I check my map, and sprint through a pack of storm troopers a few meters north, which aggro and follow. I drag the whole camp away from my incapped friends. Several minutes go by with me sprinting, trying to keep objects in between me and my pursuers.. eventually the chase dies off, theres no more blaster fire and i'm still alive. For the first time I look down into my /gu chat. My leader and officers are chering in /gu , AT-ST down! My flame DOT killed him off before he could get back and DB. I was promoted a month later

[bugubmx]

My most influential experience happened in SWG. Basically it was the almost nightly wars that took place between anchorhead and bestine. One of the most memorable experiences is when I took my atst over to anchorhead. At this time noone had seen a player controlled one yet. I made sure i was far up on the hill beside the city and for at least 30 min i watched an epic battle between the city of anchorhead and my ATST. After a while someone noticed me and because commandos were bugged to death, I ran. They finally caught up and killed me but my ATST was still fighting. It put up a good fight judging by all the corpses on the ground when i returned but it had died also. After that i spoke to the one who had killed it, a man by the name of stern. I congradulated him on his victory and we continued to talk. We became good friends even though we were on opposite factions and would still kill each other at any chance. We helped each other alot. Would give each other stuff for the holidays and everything. After I quit and came back after the CU I switched over to the rebel side and joined His guild.
Another aspect to the game that I liked was the strategies I had to use as a disabled commando. Since the flame throwers were dead i would spend a considerable amount of credits on rocket launchers. I would have a group of friends round the imps up into a tight area without them knowing they were doing so and fire a rocket right into the middle guy and incap up to 7 or 8 rebs at once. These experiences made me love pvp and got me hooked on MMORPG's.