It wouldn’t be an EverQuest adventure without something going awry in the Ocean of Tears.
After our time in Najena, I thought I would scout out the path to Unrest, just to remind myself how to get there. In this adventure, Potshot does the tanking and the healing and I play the faithful Indian guide.
So to keep that role, and the illusion that I know where the hell I am going and what I am doing, I take it upon myself to figure these things out in advance and then suggest them casually when we are in game.
So I decided to take the boat to Butcherblock.
That involved actually finding the harbor in East Freeport, which was not small matter. While you can use the “find” system to locate a lot of things, the harbor isn’t one of them. Eventually though I made my way to the dock. As I suspected, the fishing vendor was near the harbor, so I used the Find option to get myself to them.
Respect my Port Authority
Tistann and Thrall got on board and sailed away.
Aboard the Boat
The boat seems to move much faster than I remember. The trip from Freeport to Butcherblock took just under 5 minutes. Again, memory from the old days recalls a much longer trip, something in the 20 minute time frame. It used to be a big deal when the boat showed up, since it seemed to dock about once an hour in Freeport.
And to miss the boat was a heart breaker.
But now it seems to sail speedily along.
Welcome to Butcherblock
I made it to Butcherblock, ran around a bit to scout, getting as far as Kaladim, then headed back to the dock.
Visit Spectacular Kaladim!
This is another zone that is still in its classic, 1999 state.
On the way back Tistann and Thrall ran into two aqua goblin wizards. They only con’d blue, so I had my two guys go after them.
Wizards, being wizards, put out a lot of damage, much more than Tistann’s song of healing could counteract. So while I managed to kill both of the goblins, Tistann went down as well.
Bound in Freeport, Dead in Butcherblock
That sent him back to Freeport where he needed to take the boat again.
And this is where my troubles began.
I found my way back to the dock.
Standing on a dock by the bay...
The boat pulled up.
Here comes my ride
I boarded. The boat sailed away. We zoned into the Ocean of Tears.
And then, once in the Ocean of Tears, the boat sailed off while Tistann remained floating in mid-air.
Now this is not right
This is not a naturally tenable position for a bard in heavy armor and eventually he fell into the water.
But he fell into the wrong water.
After a long and futile attempt to swim to a nearby island, I finally worked out that I was outside of the actual zone.
The unreachable island
There was an invisible barrier between me and what people would generally consider the geography of the Ocean of Tears.
The zone itself is a rectangle with an invisible barrier around it. I was on the wrong side of the barrier.
Thinking I'm outside the box
That little arrow on the map above. That is me. The purple line is the zone barrier, while the aqua line is the path the ship takes.
Once I figured out my position, I decided to see if I could just turn around and swim out of the zone.
Instead, I ended up swimming to the edge of the zone, at which point I fell out of the ocean.
Unexpectidly in mid-air... again
I could fall out of the ocean, but I could not leave the zone. At about this point I decided I had better open a ticket. I quickly received an automated response.
Question Reference #110328-002106
Summary: Stuck in the Ocean of Tears
Product Level 1: EverQuest
Category Level 1: [EQ] Stuck
Date Created: 03/28/2011 08:53 PM
Last Updated: 03/28/2011 08:53 PM
Status: Unresolved
Server: fippy
Race/Species: Half Elf
Class/Profession: Bard
Level: 17
Guild/Association:
Character Name
TistannDiscussion Thread
Auto-Response03/28/2011 08:53 PM
Greetings Denizen of Norrath!Thank you for petitioning for your Stuck Character issue. This automated response is directed to help us accurately assist you as quickly as possible.
There is a command in-game that attempts to back your character up a few paces. To try troubleshooting stuck character issues, please attempt the command /rewind in-game.
We try our hardest to answer Stuck Character petitions as fast as possible since they are so time sensitive and we hope to have a Game Master in-game to assist you in the very near future!
I do not think they employ very many game masters these days, so I wasn’t very hopeful that I would be saved any time soon. In the mean time, the /rewind command was not cutting it. That is fine when you get stuck and cannot move. I was free to move all I liked, just outside of the zone area I needed get to.
This is not the first time I’ve fallen off of the boat in the Ocean of Tears, though it is the first time I have fallen off in this part of the zone.
I remembered that, back in the day, that if you placed yourself in the path of the boat it would sometimes just scoop you up and you would be back on your way. So I spent some time trying to line up the boat, which seemed to pass quite easily through the invisible zone barrier.
BOHICA!
That did not work out. The boat ran me over, pushing me aside, and went on its way. I have to guess that the zone has been reworked since last I fell off the boat.
The old boat used to allow you to go below decks. The current boat keeps you on the main deck. So I would guess that the invisible barrier is probably deck height, or just below deck height. And, it was probably that barrier on which Tistann was stranded initially. He probably just stepped off the wrong way.
I guess this also answers my question about the rowboats. There used to be little rowboats in the Ocean of Tears and Freeport harbor that you could, well, row around in. If you were really determined, you could row across the Ocean of Tears. It would only take you about three times as long as the boat, but I remember doing it just to do it.
Now the rowboats are probably just a memory.
That reverie aside, I hung out in the water, looking for a loophole out of my mess and hoping that a GM would fish me out of the Ocean of Tears. After about an hour, I decided to call it a night. It was just turning 10pm.
Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...
Of course, in the morning, there was an email response to my petition.
Subject
Stuck in the Ocean of TearsDiscussion Thread
Response (GM Maaku)03/28/2011 10:09 PM
Greetings Tistann,This is GM Maaku, Thank you for contacting Sony Online Entertainment, After investigating your issue, I was able to move your character to the Butcherblock in hopes that you can now access your character. Thank you for your patience and understanding regarding this issue, If you have any further issues, feel free to contact us, and we will be glad to assist you.
Good Luck And Safe Travels,
GM Maaku
EverQuest In-Game Support
Sony Online Entertainment
Thank you GM Maaku!
If I had just waited a few more minutes, I would have known I was saved. But I was headed to bed anyway. 10pm bed time. This is what happens when you get old. It isn’t that you don’t want to stay up, you just can’t any more… if you know what I mean.
Anyway, I should be set to explore Butcherblock. But maybe I had better bind in Kaladim, just in case.
The Ancient Gaming Noob 