Now that P99 is legal - Everquest Titanium? Cons: Some people may be more inclined to download it and play P99, quitting live EQ. Given the amount of illegal file sharing going on already out there and the fact that playing on the server is no longer considered illegal by DGC, I don't see the con as particularly huge.
This subreddit is devoted to EverQuest, the best MMORPG of all time!EverQuest Family Subreddits.Time-Locked Progression Specific.Emulator Specific Subreddits.Far Flung Hopes and Dreams.Rules:.Be civil to each other, that is to say please refrain from using hateful language toward others. Remember, our community is not as large as it once was, chances are we'll run into each other in game at some point.In keeping with the first rule, we will not allow 'drama posts' about people, players or guilds.We endorse following the rules of all options of playing in Norrath.
Do not discuss hacking, cheating or exploits of Live, Test or Private servers. Abide by the rules of where you play.Guild recruitment may be done in the recruitment thread, excessive posting of recruitment will be treated as spam.Please do not advertise Private Servers, a single post to let people know it's out there (please use the search function to see if it's been made before,) is fine, but regular threads of advertisement will not be tolerated.Please do not post links to your personal blog.Do not advertise your games or websites for personal gain.Links.
Game That Changed The World
It's Rare to find two games in the same genre that have had such an equal and lasting impact on all the titles that followed them. But in the world of online RPGs, we find such a pairing. Ultima Online set a benchmark for online RPGs. with its incredible attention to detail, finely-tuned gameplay, open-ended character development and freedom to do whatever you wanted to do during your time in the game. It was a tough act to follow to be sure, but its success made it somewhat inevitable that other publishers would follow Origin's lead and attempt to expand on the precedent that had been set. Which brings us to the main event.
A company called Verant had its own vision of what an online world could and should be like, and while the company's designers were given a very convincing and proven template to work from in the form of Ultima Online, they largely ignored it and instead ploughed their own, distinctive furrow. They created their own world in the shape of Norrath, with its rich and impressive cities and varied landscapes. They used the standard elves, ogres, trolls and wizards template, with melee and magic classes, which didn't sway from the well-beaten fantasy path. But they also did the one thing that Origin could never do with the technology available when it made Ultima Online -they made their world-famous time-eater EverQuest, feel real'.
Verant's decision to use 3D technology in EverQuest right from the beginning was the deciding factor in their battle against Origin for supremacy in a market that was still very much in its infancy. Ultima Online had extraordinary depth, but this was relatively easy to accomplish with a 2D graphics engine.
You're In Our World Now
Easy, that is, if you have a talent like Richard Lord British' Garriott (creator of the highly successful Ultima single-player RPGs) behind the whole operation. There was little point in trying to take Garriott on at his own game, a fact that was not lost on Bill Trost, one of the original EverQuest designers: We knew about Ultima Online, and we knew the general direction they were taking. We really set out to make our own game, a game we wanted to play, and hoped we would achieve a fraction of UO's success.
EverQuest, which may have seemed shallow at first when compared to Garriott's complex creation, immediately grabbed hold of gamers with its totally immersive and atmospheric 3D landscapes. And four years later, it still has not let go. At a time when 3D technology was still a largely untapped resource, Verant used it to create a world unlike anything ever seen before on PC.There were many key decisions in the development of EverQuest, says Bill. Making it a game that would run only on 3D accelerated platforms sure was a big one. But it paid off in spades.'
It would be easy to attribute EQ's success to simple aesthetics and leave it at that, but in truth there were many factors that played a part in EQ slowly gaining a vice-like grip on the online gaming community. Not least of these was the variety of the in-game environments. There were several starter towns for different races and classes, which served to introduce players to the game. And any EQ veteran will be happy to convey to you the sheer sense of wonder and awe they experienced when travelling from Kelethin (the wood elf tree city) right across the land to Qeynos (human city) for the very first time. Upon arrival at one from the other, it was almost like you were suddenly playing a different game, so distinct was the culture and artwork in the city of Qeynos to its counterpart in Kelethin, or indeed the high elf city in Felwithe. The same applied with Neriak. the city of dark elves, again a different proposition altogether. And so runs the theme throughout the entire world of Norrath. Each continent has many wildly varying realms, rich with cities and NPCs, and if you are going to pick out a single reason why EQ is so far ahead of the competition, then this one is as good as any.
There is so much to see and do in the game that it's almost impossible to get bored, and starting a new character in a new city adds massive replay value because they don't just give you a new character class to play with, they give you a whole new world. But for all EverQuest's visual innovations at launch, it also followed the highly controversial precedent set by Ultima Online by releasing its initial code in something of a mess. Bill remembers the log-on nightmares well.
The launch was rocky, but mostly due to our unexpectedly huge popularity. So it was a good problem to have. We actually gave initial subscribers a few extra weeks of play for free while our bandwidth problems were resolved.'
Despite a less than satisfactory launch, however, EQ rapidly gained momentum and its instant popularity surprised everyone, including the team. Bill continues: We thought it would be a good game and that people would like it, but we were coming into a new market with a new fantasy world, so our expectations were taking that into account. Luckily for us, we made a lot of good decisions within the design of the game and the design of Norrath. Now it's four years later and Norrath is bigger and more popular than ever.'
Altogether Now
One of the most important design decisions the original creators made has stayed with us to this day, and remains highly controversial and the subject of much discussion in online gaming circles. The dilemma: should they give the game world to the players and let them discover it and fight the creatures of Norrath alone if they so desire? Or should they implement a game feature that makes it necessary to team up with other players for dangerous regions in the game? They chose to implement a system of grouping' where players would work together to overcome difficult obstacles and share the experience and loot gained from the kills. It's a simple game mechanic, and it formed the backbone of the EverQuest game experience, something many believe to be a crucial factor in EO's ongoing success.
But still there are people who complain about being forced to group with other players. They want to go solo and kill things themselves, without having to play in a group. In other words, they want a single-player game in a multiplayer environment. The most common reason for this complaint is some people just don't have the time to look for other people to group with and they want aquick fix' whenever they log on. EverQuest has always catered for these people to an extent by creating classes such as necromancers and druids who could effectively take on many of the creatures in the game alone - at least up until they reach the high-level areas. But the core of the game remains focused on grouping. And judging by all the expansion packs released thus far, this will continue to be the case.
Many of EQ's rivals have attempted to capitalise on this with varying degrees of success by making it easy for players to solo' and play the game more or less by themselves should they want to. Dark Ages Of Camelot, Asheron's Call 1 and 2 and Anarchy Online are most noted for this (although AC2 appears to be heading towards a more group-oriented game in the future). They all cater to the solo crowd in different ways and to different extents. Whether this is a good or bad thing is a matter of opinion, but as to whether it's the best move in a financial sense, you only need to look at the overwhelming popularity of EverQuest when compared to even its nearest rival to find your answer. Again, Verant (now incorporated into Sony Online Entertainment), shows it's more in touch with its player base than any of its rivals. It knows it can't please everyone, but it can please the majority. It always has done, and there's no reason to believe this will ever change. The fact it has stuck firmly to its guns with a group-oriented game from the beginning, and never swayed once, is yet another reason it's leagues ahead of the competition. You can argue the merits of solo versus group play all you want, but you can't argue with facts, and the server population figures for EverQuest tell their own story. Whether other online game developers want to take note of this or not is, of course, entirely up to them.
The March Of Progress
Four years is a long time to play any game. Even with EverQuest's huge and diverse world, sooner or later players were going to outlive the content and master the trade skills, and of course reach the highest level in the game. The answer to this problem, as we're sure you have guessed, came in the form of the many expansions released for EverQuest to date. In this area, Verant/SOE has again excelled. The Kunark and Velious expansions both enriched the game in every way possible, bringing huge landmasses, new weapons and armour, new quests and tons of NPCs and dungeons to an already vast game. Even at this point it was always going to be a huge task for any new online RPG to touch EverQuest for content, because the world of Norrath had already evolved so much it was going to be next to impossible to compete with it.
The penultimate nail in the coffin of all would-be pretenders to the EverQuest crown was the Shadows Of Luclin expansion, which brought a new graphics engine, new player models and a new interface, along with all the usual innovations EQ players expected from their expansions. As if Luclin wasn't enough to send the competition running for cover, the developers unleashed the final blow to all online game developers with the release of the absolutely awesome Planes Of Power expansion. Never before has any game, single or multiplayer, been changed and enhanced so dramatically by an add-on expansion. New methods of transport, a new level cap. a huge city full of vendors of all descriptions for every race and class in the game and a whole host of new planes for high-level players made PoP an absolute must for anyone even remotely interested in EQ. And now the Legacy Of Ykesha expansion has been released (review coming soon), the world of Norrath is bigger than ever.
To complement the expansions, new members of the EQ live team have been busy implementing changes such as soulbinders, easier ports and an easier and less painful path through the lower levels for newcomers to the game. All of which proves they listen to their players, and more importantly keep an eye on what their competition are doing.
Bill explains: 'As the game has matured and new people have come on board the EverQuest team, long fought-for changes finally had the support they needed to be implemented. And there was much rejoicing by players and developers alike. I try to play all of our competition to one degree or another. We pay attention to decisions they make and try to learn from the things they do right as well as the mistakes they sometimes make. This industry is still very young.' Young the industry may be. but for many people the biggest success story has already been written. And apart from Star Wars Galaxies, which will surely attract half the world for no reason other than it is Star Wars, the only real threat on the horizon for EverQuest is EverQuest II. Will this mean the end for the Norrath we know and love? Over to Bill: EverQuest is going to continue to grow and be supported for as long as people want to play it. EverQuest II is a different game and is being designed to complement and coexist with EverQuest. Because EverQuest II takes place in the same universe, but 500 years into the future, we have some interesting ideas as to how the two games can grow and interact with each other.'
There is no doubt then, that EverQuest will be around for some time to come in one form or another. For now, it remains the most addictive and complete online role-playing game currently available by a very, very long way. And to any online game developers attempting to take on EverQuest at its own game, we say you are going to have your work cut out - hardened players don't call it EverCrack for nothing, you know. For many people, EverQuest not only changed the world, it is the world.
The Battle For Supremacy
Can You Spot A Future Everquest-Killer Among These Hopefuls?
There is no shortage of competition on the way for EQ, Star Wars Galaxies posing the most obvious threat, though there are mixed reports coming from beta. Nonetheless, the licence alone will guarantee the game a huge subscriber base. You would have to be pretty foolish to bet against EverQuest 2, with its photorealistic graphics and a proven template which almost ensures success before it even gets off the ground. Shadowbane's dated graphics and awkward interface do it no favours, but already it's attracting a lot more players than anyone expected. Asheron's Call2 has lost most of its initial subscriber base through lack of content, but Turbine's plans for the rest of the year are pretty convincing so it can't be discounted. And let's not forget World Of Warcraft: Blizzard's track record in bringing top quality games to market on a regular basis speaks for itself.