Hi. As you may have guessed, my name is FattyMoo. Not a serious name, but I'm not a serious person. Anyone who plays Meridian can tell you that. =) I just wanted to abuse my power and tell you what I think of the game.

Well, first, I'm hopelessly addicted. Just thought I'd get that out of the way. If you read my first post it explains that I started playing again in the first beta test. I've been hooked ever since. Will you be? To be honest, I don't know, but I'm going to tell you my take.

I did play Everquest for about 4 months while Meridian was shut down. A friend told me to try it out and.. well.. I gave in to peer pressure. I liked it. Not gonna lie. It was shiny, and new, and just so pretty. I kept playing, finding my way around the little newbie area, killing snakes and the such. I said "Hi" to people. This is where things went wrong. Sure, they said Hi back, sometimes we'd even chat for a little bit.

At this point I was thinking to myself, "Oh, look! A friend!" I never saw these people again. I made other friends and this time made a group so I could contact them later. Problem is, I'd stop playing for a day or two.. and.. Uh oh.. They're 3 levels ahead of me. Either I play 48 hours straight to play catch up of I find new friends.

The whole time I had a nagging feeling in the back of my mind. After I stopped playing EQ and canceled my account a month later I figured out what this was.

I was thinking about Meridian. I remembered how I could have a friend and always rely on them to be there. How I could broadcast and talk to everyone. I remembered the sense of community. I remembered the PvP. =) I remembered even how at 13 I could play the game and understand it. How I could get HPs and relate to people in the game.

Well, now Meridian is back and I'm having a ball. I recommend checking it out. It's easy to learn, not just because the commands are simple, but because the people are always willing to lend a hand. And if you need MORE help? Hey! They're still there!

I've even had some really crappy moments in my real life and have had a whole guild of people supporting me. Telling me stuff to do or just being there to listen. That's one of the greatest feelings, someone you've never met in real life helping you out like that. You know who you are. =)

In Meridian there’s still “levels” per se, but they’re multi-faceted. You could have high hitpoints and be a master of one spell school but still be a beginner in another. You could be 35 hit points and fight with someone 100 hitpoints in a war. You can be a healer, watching your friends backs. You can ‘buff’ your friends with enchantments, making them fight better and harder, or you can weaken your enemies with detrimental spells. The possibilities are endless.

Without class restrictions you can take a myriad of routes with your character. From a pure warrior to a pure mage and everything in between there’s something for everyone.

Well, I know I’m getting a little longwinded but I wanted to explain a few opinions from a players point of view. If you have any questions feel free to contact me any time with my ICQ #, 16040231. Or, if you decide to join us in Meridian, I’m on both servers as FattyMoo and on 101 as Michael Von Fische. I look forward to seeing you. =)

Source: FattyMoo - fattymoo@gilcon.net