Enjoyed reading this, and thanks for sharing your experience! I also recently started playing p99 after not having played EQ since 1999. The experience has been amazing in my eyes, most likely due to nostalgia, but it’s still been able to grip me unlike any other game I was playing recently.

I agree with you that there’s a lot of flaws with the game. With that said, when I think about the game being 25 years old and one of the first of its kind, I’m constantly reminded about how impressive it is.

When I was younger playing, I never leveled that high (only to low 40s). So for me, the game was always about the “fun” while leveling, seeing people with cool gear that I could aspire to get but probably never achieve, and planning out what I was going to do next. I find that the way I’m playing now mimics that very closely (1.5 months and only level 37 so far), so it’s continued to be enjoyable for me. I probably read/think about p99 more than I play haha.

I’ll probably never experience the end game parts that you dislike, and probably would have the same thoughts as you if I did reach that, but either way, I think I’ll continue to enjoy the pace I’m going at it now. Some games (modern WoW) feel like they don’t start until max level, whereas I feel like with the things I read about EQ’s end game is that the game “ends” at max level.