Originally posted by Nethermancer

I feel like the only MMO fan that has bad memeories of how tedious and horrible EQ1 was........i was 16 when it came out though so maybe i needed to be younger to appreciate it?

 

 

Most of the people that played EQ were adults. It was not an easy game like WoW. It took a lot of patience, which you might not have had.

long live everquest

Best memory of all was when I finally was able to solo dragons in Velious with my shaman. Seeing massive creatures die to my reckoning back in 2000 was amazing! 

Originally posted by adam_nox

Appreciation of it's success aside, the EQ model has been a scourge on mmo gaming that still hurts the genre through WoW and now SWTOR, with almost every other major release following that mold over AC, SWG, UO, CoH, and other much more creative and less treadmilly mmo's.

 

Nothing about EQ "hurt" the genre. It was one of several that came out at the same time with different philosophies. It became the most popular because people liked it's design better than the others. It only "hurts" those that like a different design that's not as popular. Blame the developers and companies for rushing out buggy, dumbed-down games trying to cash in on the WoW money train. Don't blame EQ for doing something original and innovative for it's time. And bringing recognition and popularity to the genre.

I remember EQ fondly, hell it pretty much was the cause of me not graduating from college. I was lucky enough to get into a very early beta stage where I frequently grouped and went on corpse runs with the developers. I gave a lot of feedback as did a lot of the other early beta testers and feel we helped to shape the game that others got to play as at that time as the developers truly listened to what we had to say.

EQ was a different type of game then the MMO"s these days, and while it wasn't exactly an easier or harder game then they are now, it for sure wasn't dumbed down like they are now. EQ gave the players a feel of adenture that you just don't get today.  Now adays players are just names, there isn't a community feel to the game. Back then you knew pretty much every one on your server within 5-6 lvls above or below you and if you were one of the higher lvl players then it was a good chance that even the lower level players knew of you and your exploits.  I can't image getting a /w from some one 20 levels lower then you in SWOTR asking if you could help with a corpse run because some one didn't want to loose that sword they'd just got.   It just brought the whole game community together like no other MMO has since, although AC came close.

I've enjoyed many games since I stopped playing EQ, but I haven't lived any games since then.  I know it sad and nerdy, but at those times it almost felt like you were in the moment with the players in your group as you spent 18 hrs straight camping for a pair of JM Boots. Or as you tried to go deeper into Cazic Thule and 1 bad pull had your  whole team running for the zone and shouting for the whole zone to head there as well. 

Biggest pay off of the game for me was being on the very first Dragon kill with Aradune and the Dev's didn't think we'd be able to kill yet so they didn't have any loot on it!

Oh classic eq.... later!

I just spent the past 2 weeks playing the "trial EQ".  My how the game has changed!  I started fresh new characters and can count on two hands the other players I came across in the newbie zones I was in on my server.  Luckily, the game now is pretty much soloable, like the newer MMOs of today.  I cold not believe how friendly the MOBs are now.  Very few of them ever conn'd "looks at you threateningly".  Most conn'd "indifferent" so it was pretty much a free walk through the zone.

I do have my Titanium Edition ordered and will be seeing how Project 99 fares shortly :)

Great memories are made from hardships and obstacles overcome, not fast travelling, overpowered characters that copy other player's strategies in zones that are "safe for their levels".  EverQuest had "big bad MOBs" roaming in every zone, starting with the newbie zones, that could one-shot you.  You actually worried when your target started to run away, wondering where it may end up!

As a very early UO player I was well aware of Everquest and so of course I ultimately had to give it a try. I remember that my first experience with it was sort of magical. The fact that it was my new favorite genre in 3D just seemed so amazing. The barbarian starting area with ice, snow, and interactive water was pretty groundbreaking to me. However I'd have to say what really knocked my socks off was the boat transport from city to city. I'm pretty sure that if I could still log back into that account I'd find my first and only Everquest character still floating in the middle of a stormy sea with no land in sight.

However, despite the wonder of it all, I don't believe that I played it for more than a few days before I was back to UO. Even then, and especially after UO, the idea of defined classes and a linear leveling system seemed far too restrictive

I remember when Kunark came out -- and the trees swayed on my brand new voodoo card.  It was about as high end as a game could be at that moment and very few people could run it maxxed out...

I actually re-rolled iksar when kunark came out because I wanted the whole kunark experience as opposed to being an outsider invader...

Originally posted by Litestep

Hmm  ...  I know it's EQ day at MMORPG now ...  

 

but almost sad - how in the shadow of EQ people forget Turbines  Asheron's Call, that came out the same year (1999) and IMO in many ways was superior to EQ  (world w/o zoning, etc.)

 

 

I agree completely, AC was a much better game imo and it would have been nice had the industry focused more on the AC model then the EQ model.

Something to note also..the dev team was only 25 people. Today a AAA title has a team in the hunreds. If you think in terms of measuring sucess based on total money made versus the number of people required to make the product EQ still ranks right up there in the top.

It was a great game and the idea of challenging the player is what still sets original EQ apart from any other title to this day. Those of us who enjoyed that part of the game are still waiting for another game to come along and actually challenge us.

For me Corpse runs/Level loss/Content that required groups/The inability of most of the classes to play the entire game solo - these are the things that while frustrating from time to time also made the most enjoyable experiences too.

I started on the progression server for the free days just before Rift started and had a whale of a time in Blackburrow with my barbarian shammy. Then did the run from Qeynos to Freeport so I could continue levelling in Ro (pity it was the revamped zones and not the original ones).

After playing Rift till the level cap I couldn't help feeling that I'd had more fun playing EQ.  {mod edit}

Difficult MMOs are dead because the person that praises them in forums is the same person that cancels his account when things don't go his way.

Why did WoW kill EQ? - Typical answer: Well kids can't handle difficult games, they don't have the attentiuon span. Wrong: Most MMO players are adults. The industry demographics puts us around 35. So that answer is an easy knee jerk reply that not only isn't true but reveals an immaturity in the poster that forces them to blame some easily demonized portion of the playerbase.

Why do difficult games die? - Typical answer is bugs, or imbalance or anything other than the fact that the game was difficult. Well, guess what, a buggy/imbalanced game is difficult. Burn through it and keep paying them if you truly want a difficult game and aren't just paying the concept lip service.

The truth is most people don't want a difficult game, or they would vote with their subscriptions.

They want a game that appears difficult which really isn't under the hood.

I am sure this post will get flamed, but it makes a poster look good, makes them look skilled to say they want a difficult game on the forums, but the account cancellation button can always be pressed in private, and according to the most popular MMOs that's exactly where the posters asking for difficult games are making their most valuable vote.

Excelent writing, and great recap of the EverQuest phenomina. 

EverQuest was in no way perfect, and I dont think anybody in their right mind could argue for that case, but the fact was, as is the same with Ultima, this was one of most purest forms of MMORPG you can find. It was developed by a need to entertain its developers, it wasn't expected to even appeal to more than 75,000 buyers, and it definitley wasn't believed to be the biggest thing for PC gaming to happen. Everything in the game is there because it promotes fun, teamwork, and the genuine belief that you are a wizard of Qeynos, trying to make a few coins and live your own virtual life. Now we complain about games that cater to newer audiences, accesbility allowances, and even space for those that prefer to rush through content in a week and then complain for the next few years. This is ground zero for the genre, the point when none of those audiences existed, just those that wanted to wash away into virtual reality. A special game indeed.

I love all this timeline and very good reporting of the facts. I get so fed up when I read people making comments in other thread or discussions about how Smedley had never had anything to do with Everquest. I am so happy you laid all that out there and I am keeping this as my trip down that lane as an Everquest player myself in 1999.

*tear flowing down my cheeks*

''2 bags full of stuff for sale at EC tunnels 2nd torch. Bronze armor at 1g per AC.''

''TRAIN TO WC ZONE''

''CAMP CHECK''

''First camp''

''Second camp''

My life as an EQ newbie was the best experience I've had in a game EVER!

MMOs today just don't come close to EQ. Everything is so easy, every game is fully soloable now, with some classes in some games, you can even solo group content. Dying doesn't even matter, let's die here and there to try out new things.

People get to max lvl in 2-3 days now, if you could get to lvl 10 in EQ at release in 2-3 days, you were a hardcore gamer who did not sleep.

Peace to EQ

I remember having to camp every two hours because of BT disconnect, terrorfying Qeynos Freeport runs, and invisible pirates that tried to kill you on the way to Odyus. Oh and that werewolf that roamed near Rivervale. Harsh game. Brilliant game.

I remember the magic of EQ.  It was the first MMO I ever played.  I remember the first time I logged in and saw other players running around and a few of my real-life friends sent text messages to me.  It was amazing.

Eventually, however, that amazement turned into the frustration of endless grinding, corpse runs, losing gear, getting horribly lost, and just generally feeling like breaking something.  Not only that, but SOE began pumping out expansions when they hadn't even fixed basic bugs such as mobs walking through buildings and attacking you when you were trying to talk to an NPC and crap like that.

It was definitely huge, but I am glad that modern MMOs don't make you sweat blood to get anywhere.

Oh WoW a reference to Vodoo graphics cards. That takes me back!

What ever happened to vodoo anyway?