I started playing with some friends during the beta test. We were all gnomes so we would have the same starting city. I played a rogue. If I recall correctly, the others were magician and cleric.
I played EQ when it went live, and played until Gates of Discord. Since then I seem to have a cycle of playing for 1-2 years before taking 1-2 years off. EverQuest is the game I always end up returning to, though.
I went to a computer camp for a few years, and the brothers who ran it were in one of the high end guilds on their server. A lot of us were immediately obsessed…I remember going home after the first week and begging my parents to buy the game for me.
Got away from it in late high school and college, but I started on p99 during the pandemic.