EverQuest 2: Committing to a New Character on Origins

Yesterday, I embarked on a new adventure in EverQuest II by creating a brand-new character on the Origins server.

Origins offers a very different way of experiencing EverQuest II. Rather than stepping into the modern game with its twenty years of expansions, systems and progression, Origins takes the game back towards its beginnings.

For someone who has played EverQuest II for many years, that makes it a particularly interesting experience. I already know the modern game, but Origins gives me the opportunity to explore a different form of EverQuest II — one much closer to the game as it was originally conceived.

My goal is to explore that experience from the Qeynos perspective, something I had not previously done in this way.

After carefully considering the races, classes and tradeskill classes I had yet to play, I decided to create a Monk.

Choosing a race required a little research. Monks have little need for intelligence as a primary statistic, but I wanted to consider the racial options available to a Qeynos character. The Dark Elf offered the highest intelligence, but could not start in Qeynos. My second choice was the High Elf, which seemed a fitting match.

And so, Andarin was born.

Setting Out from the Isle of Refuge

After creating Andarin, I set sail on the introductory voyage and arrived at Queen's Colony on the Isle of Refuge.

The voyage itself serves as a tutorial, introducing new players to the basics of interacting with the world of Norrath: speaking to characters, interacting with objects, moving around, trading and, of course, fighting.

I deliberately chose not to complete any of the quests on the island, however. I have left myself the option of returning later to experience them. If I do, I will of course mentor down in level with the assistance of the Timeless Chronomage.

The Isle of Refuge Then and Now

That said, I cannot help comparing the current iteration of the Isle of Refuge with its original incarnation.

To me, the older version had a charm and depth that the present-day island lacks. Perhaps returning later and experiencing the quests at the appropriate level will give me a different perspective, but for now I find that the nostalgia of the original outweighs what the updated version offers.

Origins makes this comparison particularly interesting. I am playing a version of EverQuest II that is deliberately much closer to the game's beginnings, yet even here I am carrying my memories of how the game has changed over the years.

Arriving in Qeynos

Andarin arrived in Qeynos Harbour as a level one character, giving me a completely new experience of the city and its surrounding areas.

I think the original starter zones, both Freeport and Qeynos, offer players a much greater degree of freedom than some of the later zones, which tend to have much tighter questlines.

Of course, it does not take long to progress from level 1 to level 20 these days. Without the Timeless Chronomage, many characters would have little practical opportunity to experience those early levels at their original pace.

Origins therefore gives me an opportunity to deliberately slow down and look at the early game in a way that the modern version of EverQuest II does not normally encourage.

The Advantage of a Veteran Account

Andarin does have some advantages that a genuinely new player would not have.

He has access to the veteran rewards associated with my Daybreak account. I had not looked at those rewards for many years, but I was surprised by just how significant some of them are for a new character.

Andarin immediately had access to more than 100 storage slots, compared with the 24 slots available to a new character on a new account.

That makes a surprisingly large difference.

It means I can complete more quests between trips to the bank and spend more time actually adventuring rather than constantly having to stop and empty my bags.

The Real Choke Point: Bags

Perhaps the biggest choke point in the early game is not experience, equipment or even quests.

It is bag space.

EverQuest II gives you an enormous amount of stuff to collect. Quest items, equipment, collectibles, crafting materials and all the other pieces of loot that accumulate during an adventure quickly fill even a reasonably well-equipped character's bags.

I have come to think of an adventure as everything that happens between trips to the bank.

I will normally quest until my bags are full and then return home, empty everything out and set off again.

Having more storage space therefore does more than make inventory management convenient. It effectively makes each adventure longer.

A Different EverQuest II

Andarin's journey is only just beginning, but already Origins has given me a different perspective on EverQuest II.

I am not simply replaying the modern game with a level one character. I am experiencing a version of EverQuest II that is deliberately closer to its origins, while bringing with me everything I have learned from playing the game over the years.

That creates an interesting contrast. I know where many of these systems eventually lead, but I am now experiencing them in a very different context.

Andarin will continue exploring Qeynos and its suburbs before venturing into Antonica. Along the way, I want to see what Origins feels like when approached not as a veteran rushing towards the endgame, but as an adventurer discovering this version of Norrath one level at a time.

In the next part, I will look at what happened as Andarin progressed to level 13 in Qeynos and its suburbs before venturing into Antonica.

What are your thoughts on Origins? Does it give you a different experience of EverQuest II? And if you have played both Origins and the modern game, which version do you prefer?

I would love to know.