The latest update to hit EverQuest entitled, "Ancient Heroes", is now live! The new update is kickin' it old school by allowing players to travel back to the days of yore, before the Lands of Kunark had been discovered, and get another taste of some classic EverQuest.

An NPC in the Plane of Knowledge will allow you to morph into a Level 50 character, fully tricked out in classic gear, and you'll be able to go off and tackle the Kobolds in Nagafen's Lair or the Frogloks of Guk, even that old beast Lady Vox is back.

Of course, those of you out there who aren't nostalgic about EverQuest might be scoffing at the notion of retreading old content. Well, if nostalgias not enough for you, there are new rewards available for those who want to party (Get it? Party!? I'm horrible.) like it's 1999.

There are some other interesting inclusions in the Ancient Heroes update, such as the new gender and name altering potions available on the Marketplace. There is also the appropriately named "Witness Protection Pack" which combines the gender and name altering potions for those of you who are on the run from the law, or just got caught cybering in the city center, and everyone on the boards has seen the transcript. Maybe you just want to feel like a woman today, I don't know!

Patch notes for the Ancient Heroes update are available here.

Why would anyone want to go back to play early EQ?  EQ is a much better game today than it was then.

Originally posted by Ozmodan

Why would anyone want to go back to play early EQ?  EQ is a much better game today than it was then.

Maybe to you but I see this step as interesting but will not return for it. I want to actually play through an old classic server again not be handed gear and go out and do top level dungeons. The new EQ is awful and the reason I left. Still this is not what classic fans were asking for.

 wow thats very nice ty for the info 

lot of everquest lover here 

can you xfire some video to get a fair idea of what this 

ends up like

the way everquest patchnote speak this sound even more hardcore then the actual everquest 1(evil grin)

Or they could give us a classic server and let us do the rest?

Its still a nice gesture though.

I really would like a classic server. I would come back for that in a heartbeat.

I really miss places like crushbone and leveling at the chessboard. Unrest, nek forest, EC,WC, and Highhold. I liked the higher lvl stuff too but the low lvl areas were so much fun for me.

As an expatriot EQ fan, I have to say that this is NOT what it would take to get me back.

I like all the options aforded by the new content as far as places to go, things to do, and such, but I don't like the focus on high level characters.  What ruined EQ is the constant arms race involved in leveling up to the new high level, and the requirement that every new expansion have content that was in support of that new high level.

They created the situation themselves.  L75 characters who could slaughter everything in the first six expansions with no problem, and started pharming everything that was worthwhile from all of those expansions.  Higher level caps meant needing better equipment to support those levels, so the arms race proliferated to the game economy, which totally unbalanced everything, requiring that all new items (mostly) be nodrop.  So, in order to get the new items to survive in the new high level zones you needed to get the new items....sigh...

This forced players to constantly head for higher and higher level zones, ignoring previous content as totally unusable and archaic, thus marginalizing any newer or slower leveling players, forcing powerleveling, which created a generation of players who thought powerleveling was not only integral to enjoyment of the game, but actually part of the intended stategy of the game.

Sad, really.   In attempting to cater to the high level aspirations of players, they destroyed all previous content, mangled the need to group (it is far easier to solo rather than find a group, frequently), and created a culture of pharming and powerleveling.

If they had spent half as much effort on making the game content below level 60ish more interesting, rather than expanding the level cap to L80 (or is it 85 now?), they may have had a more dynamic, living game now.  The new zones were a great idea.  The new services and in game things like the guildhall were a great idea.  The constant tinkering with the crafting system was ok.  The level cap raising and resultant arms race was stupid and what destroyed the game.

 Looks like it might be a fun little thing for a walk down memory lane, but it isn't really what people have been asking for. If I were  playing EQ now, I would definitely give it a try, but it isn't going to bring me back, and I doubt it will snare too many other people either.

I am sympathetic to the people who want a classic server, even though I also feel that EQ is better now than back in the day. And, yes, I was there,  back when you got a dagger and a cloth shirt and kicked out into the world to find your way. It was great at the time, but I prefer new EQ. Still, people keep begging and pleading, so why not give them a server and see what happens? If it doesn't work, they can always merge it later. 

 Awesome. Now let us play the first 49 levels of Classic and I'll consider returning. If I just wanted to raid, I'd play modern EQ.