MacroQuest64

I played EQ years ago, got a lvl 64 on Rallos, learned MQ when the 3k/hour arrow macro came out, and could find my own offsets and whatnot by the time I quit. I could do a lot of basic stuff and knew the theory behind it, but there was a lot that was beyond me and I would like to get some of the history of hacking EQ from someone that was around at the time. My idols were Rizwank (my guild even!), Zaviar, and Tuxracer, although I'm sure there were people just as important.

I've always wondered a few things and I was hoping some of you big guys could answer me:

When did people really start hacking EQ? From the beginning? I know it got popular after the arrow ordeal (there were MOTD about it), but I don't know when it started.

Did you use your hacks against others in PVP? I'm not ashamed to say I did on my lvl 24 twink. He was invincible! And illegal!

What was possible? I heard you could control another player by changing player ID numbers or something. Is that true? What is ghostkilling? How much could you really do against NPC's? Was it possible to solo against mobs people normally raided against?

I just read a post about Venthos on Vazaelle. He said he could trade no drop items somehow. How was this feasible? I didn't think you could change the no drop tag to droppable, but there are probably ways I didn't consider.

Could you report text that didn't really happen? Like, could I pretend someone called me a racial slur, and change that in my dialogue box as that is client side, and report that? I wasn't sure if it reported what you had there or what the server thought you had.

Well, mostly, what could you do that was most awesome but is now nerfed and you can talk about it?

I was Rolloss and Daall on RZ if anyone cares.

Also, was there ever anything true about skull ale, or was it always a running joke?

I just read a post about Venthos on Vazaelle.

I was on Vazaelle for years (and yes, this is the first time I've ever said that)...and I knew Venthos. He was a complete ass and totally impossible to deal with ..but, he did do some funny shit sometimes.

He wasn't a major hacker though I don't believe. Just a scriptkiddie.

I don't know anything about Venthos, it was just a thread that inspired me to care about Everquest again for a few minutes. Do you know of any other threads or locations i could go look to answer my questions? I don't care about anything recent or anything that still works, just the history of EQ hacking back when I played.

Well, mostly, what could you do that was most awesome but is now nerfed and you can talk about it?

I thin the most fun was when I had about 10 level 65 rogues banned on superbowl night. The GM's did a sting while I was hosting a superbowl party. Everything was too lound to hear any of my macro alarms. So after the wonderful party I go to check on my guys and only see one left with a GM in front of him. Somehow I managed to save him, I'm sure I still have that account around somewhere.

The most profitable was the bow macros. I didn't have warp at that time, so my guys actually had to run and open up the doors and jump up. I remember using growth potions so that they didn't get bugged trying to jump up on the ledge after the door to run to a vendor. It was a lot of fun finding the next new macro and the competition (which got ugly when the market fell apart) and allies. A game within a game with real life rewards. I made a decent amount but nothing that people like Alex, Kaz, and Sprite (who more or less macroed himself a nice car). The thrill however was more fun than the reward.