Saturday, November 8, 2014

Nothing Is Forever. Not Even Goodbye.

It seems like every week there's another news story on Massively where some long-gone MMO comes back from the dead. One company's dead duck becomes another's dish of the day. Even the curators and legislators are beginning to wake from their long torpor to face their responsibilities.

Of course for every recovery there's a relapse. Not all that long ago I waxed hysterical about the return of Argo Online, an old favorite of mine that I never actually bothered to play much while it was around. I didn't bother to play it much after it came back either and now it appears I may have missed my chance second time around because every time I try to log in all I get is a "Server Maintenance" message.

There are a lot of MMOs I'd love to see make a comeback. Lost loves that I miss like Rubies of Eventide and missed opportunities I never tried like EQOA. Maybe one day.

It's not only whole MMOs that rise from the grave. Sometimes lost limbs float up to the surface too. (Lovely image...) I logged into EQ2 this week and spotted this tantalizing offer:

The Isle of Refuge, long-lost and much lamented home of Milo, returns as the 11th Anniversary Veterans Award (11th Anniversary for a 10 year old MMO - it's magic!) and I'll be entitled to one for free - next year. We foolishly unsubscribed for six months around the time we played WoW (something Blizzard denies I ever did according to the reply to the ticket I just opened when my  "come back for a free week" email led nowhere, but I digress...).

Poor Milo shouldn't have to wait that long just because of my poor judgment and parsimony and since I have over 18k Station Cash doing absolutely nothing right now he doesn't have to. I bought him an early Frostfell present. Best 1350 SC I ever spent - even better with the 10% subscriber discount. I even grabbed a pack of five goblins so Milo would have some company other than his mercenary. Company you have to pay doesn't really feel the same.


Milo only had time for a quick lope around the old place on his fearsome white wolf before I had to log. No mounts on the island back in the day of course - now he'll even be able to fly there when he's a little bigger. When I get time I hope to pick up a few more of the old faces from the Store. Say what you like about SOE and their cash shop ways but they do at least come up with the occasional thing I really want to buy. Not many MMOs can make that claim.

So there it is: another decorating project I probably won't find time to finish. Very nice to have the option all the same. And talking of refurbishment projects, there's another one that's coming on very well indeed, thanks for asking. It's kind of hush hush (although not so hush hush as it was - we have NPC audio now!) so I'll just say it in pictures. All taken this week.

I think I prefer it without mobs.
Happy fox dance!

We have vendors! Now all we need is stock.


Hello old friend. What are they feeding you?

Now that's what I call a sunset.

9 comments:

  1. I thought they said at one point that they were just going to give up on trying to track who was subscribed when and just count from the date that you made your EQII account for the purpose of veteran rewards. Of course, this is SOE, so your mileage may vary. We are just days away from the 10 year mark for me... I rolled up when they put the Crushbone server online... plus i bought the four expansions that were supposed to give you a 90 boost on your vet status, but I am only eligible for the 9 year reward at this point.

    Not that I am playing, but I tell myself that I will go back some day.

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    1. You are absolutely correct as I found out in-game last night. There's an awesome event running right now, which I'll do a post on whenever I get a moment and some better screenshots, where a traveling theater company summons patchwork versions of some of Norrath's big names from the past. These work almost identically to the TSW open-world holiday event boss fights - all pile on, no groups needed, all levels can try (although you do need to be able to register damage to get the rewards).

      Anyway, I'll save the details for the post but the upshot is it's one of those times when loads of people stand around waiting for something to happen and everyone chats to pass the time. There was a discussion at some length about Veteran rewards and eligibility and I asked some questions, the answers to which mostly turned out to be things I knew once but had forgotten.

      My original account is in fact 8 days shy of the 11th Anniversary so I'll get a free Isle of Refuge next week. That's very good because the one I bought for Milo is on Oasis, the server I used to play on before I played on Test, which in turn was before I played on Freeport, where I play now. So I can have one for my Isle of Refuge character and one for all my regular play-characters.

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    2. Actually, now that I have complained about SOE, I think I may have claimed the 10 year vet reward already. After all these years it is just easier to assume a screw up at SOE than the idea that I might have forgotten something. I will have to see if I get the 11 year reward in a few days. Since the expansion boosts were only 90 days, I might need to get to my anniversary (this week) and five days past in order to get my Isle of Refuge.

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    3. One last update, because I know you're on the edge of your chair as to how things are going for me in EQII! I patched up last night, logged in, and there was a system message in chat telling me I was eligible for the 11 year veterans reward... on Veteran's Day in the US.

      Now I have to figure out which character should claim it, as it looks like that is a "one per account" goodie.

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  2. The Isle is awesome, was thinking of grabbing it, so many memories. And those last pics... Omg.... Runs off to Google!

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    1. The work the emu team are doing is amazing. If they're left to get on with it (and given the history of other Emus and the emotional freight behind Vanguard I imagine they will be) the end result could easily surpass the original. Right now is also a great time to explore all those parts of Telon you never got to see - no aggressive mobs - go wherever you like!

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  3. I love it when devs add something that just makes you smile like a loon. I've not really experienced much EQ2, I'm hoping to pick it up some time at least for a little while for my new Youtube project.

    Also, thanks for blogrolling my new blog. <3

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  4. An aside - always thought your profile pic (from other blogs) was a Lurikeen from DAOC. I see now it's an EQ2 gnome? Anyways DAOC - "I'm not dead yet!"

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    1. Yep it's a gnome. He's kind of the owner of the cat that appears in the blog's logo, although not exactly, because that cat is from beta and the gnome is the post-launch recreation of the gnome he belonged to.

      I kind of wish I'd picked either a ratonga or a raki for the profile pic but I'll stick with the gnome now I've got him.

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