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Selected Features

A complete EverQuest guide produced today would be a weighty tome, and it is not in the scope of this re-review to provide an overview of every single feature in the game. Some features that were added over the years, such as a trading system and instancing - the ability of the game to produce a replica of an amount of content when triggered by players - is expected to be implemented in some form in today's MMOG offerings.

Alternate Advancement

The Alternate Advancement (AA) system was introduced in the Shadows of Luclin expansion and allows players of level 50 and above to put a percentage of the experience gained in the normal course of play to the alternate xp scheme. Instead of levels, you gained points with which you could "buy" varying abilities in order to advance and grow your character with some skills being so useful and desired that players would put the full 100% of their xp towards the AA points until the skills were gained. In high level guilds, besides level, specific class AAs are often required of applicants.

Augmentation and Instancing

Both the Augmentation system and Instancing was introduced with the Lost Dungeons of Norrath and both are worth a mention. The expansion revolved around the tales of the Wayfarer Brotherhood and provided players with small bite-sized instanced adventures that could be completed in an hour or so, depending on the adventure and difficulty selected. Further, the instances scaled according to the average level of each group and players could also select difficulty level. The augmentation scheme allowed players to enhance existing items by adding an "augment" to them. Existing items in the game generally had only a single augment slot, so only one augment could be added. Items purchased at the Wayfarer camps occasionally had up to three slots available to augment. Completion of the adventures offered by the Wayfarer Brotherhood garnered Adventure points which could then be spent on items (spells, weapons and armor) which could be purchased from the Brotherhood. This expansion was a boon to the casual players and even the hard-core enjoyed quick runs and the gear afforded.

Guild Hall:

Individual instanced Guild Halls for guild members to meet and prepare for playing was introduced with the Dragons of Norrath expansion in February of 2005. One of the issues players often complained about was the problem of not having an area for guilds to gather for a raid, and all the inherent issues that attended having many players gather in public areas, including lag and disturbances by other players intent on mischief. The Guild Hall provided many new guild features including a Guild Bank which could have permissions set and members able to draw specific items ear-marked for them, a mana and health regeneration pool - very quickly dubbed the hot tub, a mass corpse summoning altar, tradeskill containers, augment/de-augment "bird bath" and guild portal which allowed guild members to teleport to specific locations with the purchase of a focus stone from a vendor within the guild hall. Buff timers also ceased running when players were in the Guild Hall, hence entire guilds can meet up, get moved into groups by the raid leader, buff up for raids and show up at the raid location in force, prepared and ready.

Tradeskills

Tradeskills are an integral part of EverQuest and contributes to much of its richness. In the early days, tradeskills afforded players much better armor and weapons than they could afford to buy from vendors, or could find from mobs of their level. They provided the first stat enhancements, ammunition, longer lasting, low weight food for monks and cash for players wise enough to figure out that 10 coppers of worms and a fishing pole could translate into about six fish that sold for two silver each. As the game advanced, designers designed tradeskills into the very fabric of character development. Young Vah Shir bards made their first drums with the pottery skill, attaining item, xp and faction in one fell swoop. In the very highest levels, stat enhancing foods and drink are much sought after by all players, and various quest series such as the fondly dubbed "Shawl Crawl" (Coldain Shawl Quest) afford great fun, a much desired reward for mana users and incidental loot dropped by various mobs in the final "Crawl" where the object is to escort a Coldain dwarf safely through the terrain, fending off mobs of wolves and giants that spawn along the way.

Questing

What would an MMORPG be without quests? At launch, though I was disappointed at the lack of quests available, they have been added to regularly, and currently, there are more quests in the world of Norrath than you can shake an epic weapon at. Most are of the collection / delivery variety (bring me 10 rat tails / deliver this to Bob over yonder), and permutation and combination thereof, however, EverQuest also boasts many involved quest series that provide a better reward at each step, each with it's own back story and storyline.

This is the original hard-core game. Your quest journal was a notebook and a writing implement, or maybe walkthrough or "cheat" printed off the web and written notes on where you were in the quest. After many years and many expansions, EverQuest finally implemented an in-game quest journal and although it has improved greatly, it is still clunky. I preferred my notebook and pencil although it does do a good job tracking the number of rat-tails you still need for the Rat-Catcher quest.

Epic Weapons

These weapons are the be-all and end-all uber class-defining item. Casual players need not apply. Are you hardcore enough and do you have friends enough to attain them? The quests aren't all equal with some of them appearing to be easier and some perhaps more fun, but none of them are attainable solo, and none of them are attainable with only a single group. The good thing is that walkthroughs abound on the web.

Roleplay and PvP

PvP in EverQuest is mostly consensual. Players can choose to dual with other players or enter Free for all Arena areas found in some cities to duke it out, and the Arena Zone - which houses a much, much large arena area. One in which hundreds of players may gather to watch trials that are hosted from time to time by the GM staff. A single PvP server - Zek - is also available for players who prefer this playing style - merged from the high of four in the halcyon days.

With a storyline and races as rich and diverse as that of Norrath, roleplayers should love EverQuest. I found mostly, that when I spoke politely in a role-play manner, most players would respond in kind. However, less of it is found in-game these days it seems, as I had a few players comment on how it was something they used to do and missed it.

EverQuest also has the most diverse language systems of any MMO game there is. Language? You ask. In a game? Yes. Each original distinct player race had their own language some had two, such as Erudian and Old Erudian. Magic research tomes were written in several different languages. Dragon, Combine and Elder Dragon. Pure spell casters would spend time learning languages from each other in order to read these tomes in order to learn to craft their spells. Although Common Tongue was the default language, players could choose to speak in another language and those without enough skill in that language would see only a string of gobbledygook run across their text screens. The only use for this is on the Firiona Vie Server where Common Tongue is not available and players of different races have to learn each other's languages to properly interact... although it is quite possible to make do with game mechanics such as a group invite and animated emotes to get your point across. It is a great pity that this system was not exploited fully for quests and remains an interesting "flavor" or perhaps a trivial note in EverQuest.

The Fun

The true fun of EverQuest are group dynamics. The combination and permutations you can have in creating an effective group out of 16 classes are almost endless. The most efficient groups are four to six. I enjoy the challenge of small groups as well as the complacency a group of six good players with the "holy trinity" of the Warrior, Cleric and Enchanter (pure tank, pure healer and pure crowd control) plus three others could create.

To truly succeed in EverQuest, besides playing your class well, you need to be sociable or know someone that is sociable. When I played regularly, I could always count on two or three to contact me the moment I logged in, asking if I had a group going. My response was always, "I do now." Two clerics? No problemo! They can trade off on who heals and who nukes.

The Ratings

How does EverQuest compare to other MMORPGs out there? How does it rate? I've played EverQuest since its inception - from the last beta actually, and I've played many other MMORPGs since.

Graphics:

New graphics rate a solid 9. The new Drakkin player model looks good, animation is smooth and natural. Just step into any new or recently revamped zone. The colors are vibrant, the flora and fauna realistically rendered, animations smooth and naturalistic. However, older zones are definitely "old-skool" and animations choppy, slipping this to an overall 8

Sound:

Sound and music has been much revamped in EverQuest but although the music in some zones is superlative, others are sadly lacking. Sound effects are nothing to crow about especially when compared to current games. For example, no matter what terrain you are running over, the sound of your footsteps do not vary. Overall, I cannot rate it higher than a 6

Role Playing:

EverQuest provides a great backdrop for role-playing. It also provides features that adds good flavor, such as the titles one can earn, and language. There are also naming rules that discourage players from bestowing non-fantastic names on their characters. Set in a world of high-fantasy, most players will do some form of role-playing and a role-playing server with a distinct rule-set is available. Kewl dudes and "leet speak" are the exception rather than the norm. I give it a 9

Value:

The monthly subscription fee ($12.95) is no more than other comparable games on the market. The "Anniversary" retail edition is available (April, 2007) at $19.99 and includes the original game and all 13 expansions. How can you beat that? 10

Fun:

What a subjective category this is. Do you enjoy a challenge in your MMORPGs? Do you think that character death should mean something? Do you think that you shouldn't be able to solo in an MMORPG? If you do, then you'll find EverQuest heaps of fun. If you don't, you'll think it stinks. Me? I think it is a blast. I love the adrenaline rush of pulling from a camp of Mobs for the first time and finding out which are linked. I refuse to gate, letting my tank take the death when there's a chance that we could prevail because I have just one more heal in my cleric. Fun? 9.

Community:

EverQuest was made by its community. The players stuck through the thick and the thin. Class sites had prevailed through the years. Passing from original owner to successor after successor. Loyal fans still show up at FanFaires year after year. It has dwindled due to certain disastrous missteps by SoE, in particular the Gates of Discord expansion fiasco, but with official Ambassador & Community Leader programs still much in evidence, the community is solid, but sparse. I rate it a good 8

Perf/Lag:

Performance and Lag are very much factors not only of the game servers and design but player connection speeds and hardware as well. EverQuest has many built in filters to reduce performance issues by reducing the graphics load. Players can turn off shadows and other environmental effects, and newer, high polygon count character models. At one point, in EverQuest's design history, the graphics / textures in some cities caused noticeable lag even in high performance machines. The EverQuest servers are stable, but certain zones are still laggy. An overall 8.

Customer Service:

Customer Service? What customer service? Perhaps that is a little mean, but when compared to the early days when Guides (player volunteers) and GMs were very visible, customer service in EQ has become automated and impersonal. Outside the game, Customer Service reps are active and evident on the official forums. Rating - 6.

Wrap-Up

EverQuest did and continues to do an excellent job of designing zones that players remember with fond nostalgia. Players often returned to their old stomping grounds to take out mobs that they kept a weather eye out for when they were younger. They would protect and often buff a whole zone of youngsters while waiting to revenge their younger selves on the zone boss. They worked their way from "yard trash" to the doorway of the castle. From the ground floor up to the top where the Vampire Mistress lurks, ready to wipe out an unwary party.

I asked Producer Clint Worley for an EverQuest "State of the Union" address and he had this to say:

"EverQuest is still growing! We have new content that is being produced at an alarming rate and supporting the players through live events is also increasing. Sony Online Entertainment still believes in the power of EQ and is working to keep the future full of amazing new adventures for the players. We are working on giving the players an inside look of the development process and even help everyone understand how the development team works with customer support to ensure that the gameplay experience is safe and fair. EverQuest was made by a small group of dedicated people and it has become a massive force in the MMO market and it will continue to bring a unique experience that will change players outlook on what is possible in a virtual world."

EverQuest is an MMORPG at a mature level of development. It is certainly top heavy where the level distributions of players are concerned. Players absolutely new to the game may be discouraged by the lack of other low level players to play with. However, a group of friends entering this game will find an entire world of fun and challenge before them. The best time for entry is always when a new race or class is introduced, or when a new server is created, as there will always be current players who want to try out a new race or class, temporarily creating a larger pool of low level characters on a server.

If you've never tried it before, there's a free 10 level trial server - Escape to Norrath. After you've reached level 10, you can sign up and move your character over to a live server. If what I've described sounds interesting to you, give it a shot. What can you lose?