WoW is simple. Loads of people like simple, just look at Chieftain. Sure, the devs at Blizzard did a great job building the simplest, nice looking game, but they sure didn't build a lot of challenge into it. Sure, they built in some things that EQ players wanted, they were starting from scratch. Much easier to design in the ability to sell items while offline if you start from scratch. Blizzard devs definitely gained from all the experiences of Everquest. But to say Everquest was wrong because they didn't implement everything everyone wanted is asinine. I don't think my cleric should've been able to solo like a necromancer. And my monk certainly wasn't supposed to be able to tank like a warrior, shadowknight, or paladin. Class DIFFERENCES is what made EQ fun for me. Class balancing is the most fruitless complaint of the mindless masses. Every class isn't supposed to be able to do everything every other class can do, but that's what 90% of the people asking for "class balancing" want. Far easier to whine about that, than to learn how to survive as an enchanter. THOSE people never got it, and never will.
Let's not get stoopid. Everquest was simple. For all but about 4 or 5 classes you either waited for a group or you didn't do anything but sit around with your LFG tag up. That was part of what led to Everquest folding in the long run. Players got so desperate to level their characters that they started playing multiple accounts just so they wouldn't have to wait for a group every time they logged on.
The ingame economy saw massive inflation over the years because players would rather pay an offline dealer for platinum than earn it by actually playing the game. The developers facilitated offline selling by continuing to put in more gear in every expansion that was tradeable even after being equipped instead of soulbound or no drop.
Despite what you're ignorantly trying to imply, a priest in WoW does not solo as well as a warlock. A warlock will never pass for a healer in a group. A rogue will never suffice as a tank. Just because none of the classes require a group to solo and advance in levels does not mean they are all interchangeable.
Come to think of it were you disagreeing with me or trying to reinforce the point?
Let's not get stoopid. Everquest was simple. For all but about 4 or 5 classes you either waited for a group or you didn't do anything but sit around with your LFG tag up. That was part of what led to Everquest folding in the long run. Players got so desperate to level their characters that they started playing multiple accounts just so they wouldn't have to wait for a group every time they logged on.
The ingame economy saw massive inflation over the years because players would rather pay an offline dealer for platinum than earn it by actually playing the game. The developers facilitated offline selling by continuing to put in more gear in every expansion that was tradeable even after being equipped instead of soulbound or no drop.
Despite what you're ignorantly trying to imply, a priest in WoW does not solo as well as a warlock. A warlock will never pass for a healer in a group. A rogue will never suffice as a tank. Just because none of the classes require a group to solo and advance in levels does not mean they are all interchangeable.
Come to think of it were you disagreeing with me or trying to reinforce the point?
You advertise your lack of experience and intellect by spouting that same garbage which you obviously
picked up from other threads and took as your own, because what you're saying here about EQ just isn't
true. Sorry you read the wrong posts.
Players in EQ asked for more "tradeable" equipment, over and over and over. And got it. That's what
drives the economy.
I can't believe you'd bother posting something that's just a plain lie.
Step back, take a few deep breaths, and think. If you can. Admit that you've got no real experience.
Making up things as you go, or going into a thread and reading and deciding that what you've read
makes you experienced, is pretty pathetic. Drop it, because you look more like an idiot every single
word you type.
Jealous of the longevity of Everquest? Dreamed that it folded? They're still adding content, as any fool
can see. Their community likes it.
Or just mad because you don't fit into any gaming community, because you lack the social skills necessary to get along?
Awsome post ... I agree 100% EQ was a great game for myself and FRIENDS that i still talk to in RL/phonecalls all over the world.
The games and most of the people now have no trust so you get new people that dont trust anyone except the ones thay know at hand or friends they know from other games. (not like the Old days i am sad to say)
Let's not get stoopid. Everquest was simple. For all but about 4 or 5 classes you either waited for a group or you didn't do anything but sit around with your LFG tag up. That was part of what led to Everquest folding in the long run. Players got so desperate to level their characters that they started playing multiple accounts just so they wouldn't have to wait for a group every time they logged on.
The ingame economy saw massive inflation over the years because players would rather pay an offline dealer for platinum than earn it by actually playing the game. The developers facilitated offline selling by continuing to put in more gear in every expansion that was tradeable even after being equipped instead of soulbound or no drop.
Despite what you're ignorantly trying to imply, a priest in WoW does not solo as well as a warlock. A warlock will never pass for a healer in a group. A rogue will never suffice as a tank. Just because none of the classes require a group to solo and advance in levels does not mean they are all interchangeable.
Come to think of it were you disagreeing with me or trying to reinforce the point?
You advertise your lack of experience and intellect by spouting that same garbage which you obviously
picked up from other threads and took as your own, because what you're saying here about EQ just isn't
true. Sorry you read the wrong posts.
Players in EQ asked for more "tradeable" equipment, over and over and over. And got it. That's what
drives the economy.
I can't believe you'd bother posting something that's just a plain lie.
Step back, take a few deep breaths, and think. If you can. Admit that you've got no real experience.
Making up things as you go, or going into a thread and reading and deciding that what you've read
makes you experienced, is pretty pathetic. Drop it, because you look more like an idiot every single
word you type.
Jealous of the longevity of Everquest? Dreamed that it folded? They're still adding content, as any fool
can see. Their community likes it.
Or just mad because you don't fit into any gaming community, because you lack the social skills necessary to get along?
LOL
Kalmenicus the Insanely Correct
Players asked for more tradeable equipment because there was a such a massive gap between no drop raid gear and the stuff that dropped off single group content. Part of what alienated so many players and caused SOE to close half the servers was because so much of the content excluded everyone but the small percentage of raiders. The developers couldn't see the forest from the trees.
And don't write a post full of flames with zero valid points and try to say I don't have social skills. I'd like to see what kind of social skills the average raider has when they were spending 5+ hours a night raiding. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
EQ was the greatest MMO...until the players experience RAIDING. Then it is trash.
The majority of peoples who joins EQ, they either join for solo, for kick-ass grouping, tradeskills or maybe even PvP. Peoples who join for raiding? Nope, this was not the case...if 1% of the player-base join for raiding purpose, I would be surprised. They joins to GROUP, or play some other gameplays, but never to raid.
- "If I understand you well, you are telling me until next time. " - Ren
Let's not get stoopid. Everquest was simple. For all but about 4 or 5 classes you either waited for a group or you didn't do anything but sit around with your LFG tag up. That was part of what led to Everquest folding in the long run. Players got so desperate to level their characters that they started playing multiple accounts just so they wouldn't have to wait for a group every time they logged on.
The ingame economy saw massive inflation over the years because players would rather pay an offline dealer for platinum than earn it by actually playing the game. The developers facilitated offline selling by continuing to put in more gear in every expansion that was tradeable even after being equipped instead of soulbound or no drop.
Despite what you're ignorantly trying to imply, a priest in WoW does not solo as well as a warlock. A warlock will never pass for a healer in a group. A rogue will never suffice as a tank. Just because none of the classes require a group to solo and advance in levels does not mean they are all interchangeable.
Come to think of it were you disagreeing with me or trying to reinforce the point?
You advertise your lack of experience and intellect by spouting that same garbage which you obviously
picked up from other threads and took as your own, because what you're saying here about EQ just isn't
true. Sorry you read the wrong posts.
Players in EQ asked for more "tradeable" equipment, over and over and over. And got it. That's what
drives the economy.
I can't believe you'd bother posting something that's just a plain lie.
Step back, take a few deep breaths, and think. If you can. Admit that you've got no real experience.
Making up things as you go, or going into a thread and reading and deciding that what you've read
makes you experienced, is pretty pathetic. Drop it, because you look more like an idiot every single
word you type.
Jealous of the longevity of Everquest? Dreamed that it folded? They're still adding content, as any fool
can see. Their community likes it.
Or just mad because you don't fit into any gaming community, because you lack the social skills necessary to get along?
LOL
Kalmenicus the Insanely Correct
Players asked for more tradeable equipment because there was a such a massive gap between no drop raid gear and the stuff that dropped off single group content. Part of what alienated so many players and caused SOE to close half the servers was because so much of the content excluded everyone but the small percentage of raiders. The developers couldn't see the forest from the trees.
And don't write a post full of flames with zero valid points and try to say I don't have social skills. I'd like to see what kind of social skills the average raider has when they were spending 5+ hours a night raiding. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
Nice reply and right on target, the game sucked the minute it became raider-centric, it is so good it has 1/600th the player base of WoW and had to server combine. Vanguard is the next SOE flop and I see it being cancelled after being sold to SOE by Brad.
Chieftan, you still don't get it. You didn't like EQ because you didn't have the dedication, intellect, and ability to play well with others. Admit it. It's a serious character flaw of yours, but it's okay. There are plenty of solo games out there for you.
EQ was a Great Game, and probably still is, for those who are looking for more than a hack/slash/solo-to-the-top/no-immersion/SIMPLE experience. All of us who put in the time, and had fun doing it, are glad the rest of you have gotten your SIMPLE game to play.
But just because you weren't able to comprehend, to learn, what was great about EQ and participate in it, don't come to these types of forums to flame and whine and cry about it, you only expose yourself as someone who just couldn't get it.
By the way, you probably won't like Vanguard either. It requires more intellect and dedication.
Stick with WoW. Simple. You don't need to spend hours, over the months and years of your character's life, studying and researching what your character's capabilities and potential are, in the many different situations of gameplay you encounter in Great Games like EQ. Your Simple game tells you what you need to know, gives you everything you need, doesn't even require you to decide how to build your stats. Gives you few options for optimizing your character, makes most of the decisions for you. And those decisions it allows you to make for yourself, are reversible, if you get them wrong. EQ required you to think, and that's where most of you failed. Obviously.
Kalmenicus the Thinker (not a sculpture, either)
P.S. Krenalor said: -"A real raider will be perfectly happy in a setting where raiding give edges inside raids only(useless outside of raids). Individuals saying otherwise are to raiding what Gankers are to PvP.'' which is senseless. Another one who couldn't learn the necessary skills, and hates EQ because of it. SOE sure is successful, regardless of your little opinion. And the migration of people from Everquest wasn't because of raiding content, at least for the majority. Lots of us, in the timeframe when there were perhaps a dozen new MMOGs hitting the streets over a 6 month span, went to try new games. Many found things they liked, and stayed. I have a friend I played EQ with over 2 years on a nearly daily basis, who left EQ to try Shadowbane. He's a GOD in that game now, but I tried it and couldn't deal with it. Another friend from years on EQ went to City of Heroes, and still writes me emails with screenshots of his uberness there. Some went to WoW, and stayed, and I went and visited them in WoW, and stayed 11 days before I went back to EQ. For people to say "EQ is failing because SOE does this or that" is just wrong. SOE has done pretty well. They have had and still have quite a few of the top MMOGs. They are successful. Some people hate Microsoft too. Success makes some people mad. /shrug I'm still tempted every day to reload EQ, get the account up to date, patch in all the new content, and HAVE FUN again.
And still laughing at you guys... really. No, Cheiftan, you didn't and don't have the social skills necessary to raid 5 hours at a time, 3 or 4 times a week, and still have friends to go boating with on weekends, social groups with events on weeknights a couple times a month, family to raise, homework to check, spouses to espouse with. It's just clear from everything you say about EQ. I did it, still do. I don't raid in EQ any more, but I play, alpha test, beta test, Release test, and still have a tight, happy family, and a group of friends all over that I'm cool with, and who are cool with me. I can tell you don't have a clue, and I feel sorry for you. Just whine and cry some more about it, if you think that'll help.
Chieftan, you still don't get it. You didn't like EQ because you didn't have the dedication, intellect, and ability to play well with others. Admit it. It's a serious character flaw of yours, but it's okay. There are plenty of solo games out there for you. EQ was a Great Game, and probably still is, for those who are looking for more than a hack/slash/solo-to-the-top/no-immersion/SIMPLE experience. All of us who put in the time, and had fun doing it, are glad the rest of you have gotten your SIMPLE game to play. But just because you weren't able to comprehend, to learn, what was great about EQ and participate in it, don't come to these types of forums to flame and whine and cry about it, you only expose yourself as someone who just couldn't get it. By the way, you probably won't like Vanguard either. It requires more intellect and dedication. Stick with WoW. Simple. You don't need to spend hours, over the months and years of your character's life, studying and researching what your character's capabilities and potential are, in the many different situations of gameplay you encounter in Great Games like EQ. Your Simple game tells you what you need to know, gives you everything you need, doesn't even require you to decide how to build your stats. Gives you few options for optimizing your character, makes most of the decisions for you. And those decisions it allows you to make for yourself, are reversible, if you get them wrong. EQ required you to think, and that's where most of you failed. Obviously. Kalmenicus the Thinker (not a sculpture, either) P.S. Krenalor said: -"A real raider will be perfectly happy in a setting where raiding give edges inside raids only(useless outside of raids). Individuals saying otherwise are to raiding what Gankers are to PvP.'' which is senseless. Another one who couldn't learn the necessary skills, and hates EQ because of it. SOE sure is successful, regardless of your little opinion. And the migration of people from Everquest wasn't because of raiding content, at least for the majority. Lots of us, in the timeframe when there were perhaps a dozen new MMOGs hitting the streets over a 6 month span, went to try new games. Many found things they liked, and stayed. I have a friend I played EQ with over 2 years on a nearly daily basis, who left EQ to try Shadowbane. He's a GOD in that game now, but I tried it and couldn't deal with it. Another friend from years on EQ went to City of Heroes, and still writes me emails with screenshots of his uberness there. Some went to WoW, and stayed, and I went and visited them in WoW, and stayed 11 days before I went back to EQ. For people to say "EQ is failing because SOE does this or that" is just wrong. SOE has done pretty well. They have had and still have quite a few of the top MMOGs. They are successful. Some people hate Microsoft too. Success makes some people mad. /shrug I'm still tempted every day to reload EQ, get the account up to date, patch in all the new content, and HAVE FUN again. And still laughing at you guys... really. No, Cheiftan, you didn't and don't have the social skills necessary to raid 5 hours at a time, 3 or 4 times a week, and still have friends to go boating with on weekends, social groups with events on weeknights a couple times a month, family to raise, homework to check, spouses to espouse with. It's just clear from everything you say about EQ. I did it, still do. I don't raid in EQ any more, but I play, alpha test, beta test, Release test, and still have a tight, happy family, and a group of friends all over that I'm cool with, and who are cool with me. I can tell you don't have a clue, and I feel sorry for you. Just whine and cry some more about it, if you think that'll help.
OK...
...
So... you're not an astronaut or anything like that are you? I mean it would be REALLY COOL if you were part of the space program I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that. I'm just curious...
All this wonderful discussion of EQ, and it's best points, and the failure of ANYone to post any relevant disagreement got to me.
So, I spent all evening, yesterday, installing EQ from the old CDs, got the patcher launched, and patched for 2 hours. I got the old account running again, with a 6 month subscription, and then I got 3 of the expansions that came out while I was gone, they were digital downloads so I left the machine on and went to bed. Got up this morning, shut down to cool things off, then fired up again and did another EQ file check and patch, and then logged in to see what it was like.
Some of my old friends were there, the old guild had merged into another guild after the server merge, and there were a lot of new faces. I got a look around, sent some emails to some old EQ friends, then I logged off to go read up on the expansions and research the new things my cleric would be learning.
All the things I, and so many other EQ players, loved about the game are still there. They've got new content in the expansions for everyone. Big Guild Raiders, solo-class players, mid-level groupers. My account has the 70 cleric, which may still be good enough for the guild, which appears to be the top one on the server. Also, there's the 59 monk, which I used and loved using to blow off steam in a small group after raiding for a few hours on the cleric. A level 34 beastlord, was going to try to focus more on him, because I loved the combat buffs and the pet. And my bazaar-mule was still there, with several items that probably won't be worth nearly as much now as I thought I'd get for them before. But that's ok, there was 70kpp in the cleric's bank. That's probably small beans now, but that's ok too. I had all the active characters equipped pretty well for their levels back in 2005, and while there's bound to be new equipment from the expansions to try to get that's better than what they've got, I have time to work on that.
I got invited to 2 groups while I was on the 70 cleric, but since I haven't refamiliarized myself with the world of Norrath, or with the new content, I declined. While I was on the monk, I got asked about joining a group, going somewhere I'd never heard of, so I declined that one too. By the way, in EQ, I don't recall ever being invited to group until AFTER receiving /tells about it. Ever. Not like other games, where you just go about doing your own thing, and suddenly there's a pop-up window in your UI to click yes/no to join this group. Never liked those. Never will.
EQ players, for the most part with exception of the ones who never got it and never will, talk first. Then play.
I did some looking around on EQPlayers, and found quite a few old friends. It's going to be great to get back into the old, great game, long acknowledged by the MMOG industry as one of the very best of all time, and absolutely the best from 1998 to 2004. The industry. The people that do this stuff for a living. Not players, not whiners, not self-described know-it-alls. Working MMOG Professionals. Find one, ask him/her. Answer's always the same.
Sorry if you can't deal with it.
Kalmenicus the EQer
P.S. Chieftan, nope, not involved in any space programs. Don't worry, it's still way over your head, and you'll never get it. Also, I'm perfectly happy if you don't like EQ. As I've said before, you don't have what it takes. Patience, intellect, ability to comprehend, capacity to work well in groups of 5 to 70, dedication to research and study your character's function and contribution to groups and raids.
EQ was one of the best out there, until SOE took it from Verant. I loved Verant's direction of the game. I stuck around in EQ for many, many years for the community... & the fun; however, it became a gear love-fest: if you didn't have the best gear, you weren't viable in higher-end groups. If you couldn't get into the higher-end groups, you couldn't get the best gear.
That's when raiding took off. I remember hanging with Club Fu for awhile, trying to get into the guild. Then, I heard of their REQUIREMENTS to join: so many hours a day, so many hours a week, no chance on raid gear until so many raids accomplished (etc.). Nope, not for me.
I've come back a few times, play until I fight for a slot in a group with somebody that has 3 toons running & then leave. I don't know if I'll go back, it gets more expensive every time (i.e., I had to buy so damn many expansions!).
BTW, I would think that WoW & EQ, both being (allegedly) MMORPGs & both having the same goal (i.e., gear, gear, gear, gear & level) are perfect comparisons. The only difference between the two is implementation. *shrugs* either way, EQ's numbers are dropping & WoW's are increasing.
I spent a few hours yesterday back in EQ after all the time off, mostly due to this thread reminding me what a blast I had back before I left. It was great fun, the community's awesome, people I used to play with are there and loving it. Standing around in Guild Lobby, I rezzed a few people, buffed a few people, talked to a LOT of people.
I got to spend a couple hours in a small group out hunting, just for fun.
Looks like I'll be going back for more fun today. There are groups looking for clerics all the time, and if I don't want to do that, I have the monk to get reacquainted with too.
I was invited to rejoin a guild I'd belonged to before, the Guild Leader and I talked for awhile. I declined to rejoin, for now. I love the guild atmosphere, easier grouping, raids, always someone to talk to. Sure, the high-end guilds have membership requirements. Can't have noobs jumping into a guild, being useless on a raid, but having an equal chance at raid loot they haven't earned. Just doesn't work like that. Put in the effort they ask for, be a contributing member of a community, and then reap the benefits. I did it in the old days, with three guilds. It would've been just one guild for all time, except schedule changes made it impossible to raid on the guild's schedule. So, because raiding is an exciting part of EQ, I left one guild and applied to another, went thru their app process, to meet their requirements, proved I was good enough to contribute, and became a part of a new, dedicated group of friends.
Every indication is that I'll stick with EQ for awhile again. I'll have to play hard to make up for lost time, make up 5 levels and play hard to upgrade my gear, play hard to meet the requirements of a good raiding guild, but... it's a great game, and playing it is fun. For those of us who have the intellect, dedication, willingness to research and study the game and our part in it, and social skills necessary to have fun and be successful at the Everquest game.
All this wonderful discussion of EQ, and it's best points, and the failure of ANYone to post any relevant disagreement got to me. So, I spent all evening, yesterday, installing EQ from the old CDs, got the patcher launched, and patched for 2 hours. I got the old account running again, with a 6 month subscription, and then I got 3 of the expansions that came out while I was gone, they were digital downloads so I left the machine on and went to bed. Got up this morning, shut down to cool things off, then fired up again and did another EQ file check and patch, and then logged in to see what it was like. Some of my old friends were there, the old guild had merged into another guild after the server merge, and there were a lot of new faces. I got a look around, sent some emails to some old EQ friends, then I logged off to go read up on the expansions and research the new things my cleric would be learning. All the things I, and so many other EQ players, loved about the game are still there. They've got new content in the expansions for everyone. Big Guild Raiders, solo-class players, mid-level groupers. My account has the 70 cleric, which may still be good enough for the guild, which appears to be the top one on the server. Also, there's the 59 monk, which I used and loved using to blow off steam in a small group after raiding for a few hours on the cleric. A level 34 beastlord, was going to try to focus more on him, because I loved the combat buffs and the pet. And my bazaar-mule was still there, with several items that probably won't be worth nearly as much now as I thought I'd get for them before. But that's ok, there was 70kpp in the cleric's bank. That's probably small beans now, but that's ok too. I had all the active characters equipped pretty well for their levels back in 2005, and while there's bound to be new equipment from the expansions to try to get that's better than what they've got, I have time to work on that. I got invited to 2 groups while I was on the 70 cleric, but since I haven't refamiliarized myself with the world of Norrath, or with the new content, I declined. While I was on the monk, I got asked about joining a group, going somewhere I'd never heard of, so I declined that one too. By the way, in EQ, I don't recall ever being invited to group until AFTER receiving /tells about it. Ever. Not like other games, where you just go about doing your own thing, and suddenly there's a pop-up window in your UI to click yes/no to join this group. Never liked those. Never will. EQ players, for the most part with exception of the ones who never got it and never will, talk first. Then play. I did some looking around on EQPlayers, and found quite a few old friends. It's going to be great to get back into the old, great game, long acknowledged by the MMOG industry as one of the very best of all time, and absolutely the best from 1998 to 2004. The industry. The people that do this stuff for a living. Not players, not whiners, not self-described know-it-alls. Working MMOG Professionals. Find one, ask him/her. Answer's always the same. Sorry if you can't deal with it. Kalmenicus the EQer P.S. Chieftan, nope, not involved in any space programs. Don't worry, it's still way over your head, and you'll never get it. Also, I'm perfectly happy if you don't like EQ. As I've said before, you don't have what it takes. Patience, intellect, ability to comprehend, capacity to work well in groups of 5 to 70, dedication to research and study your character's function and contribution to groups and raids.
So far the only thing you've got me convinced of is that you're a kook.
There were far to many bugs and problems with early EQ to deserve the title. Class balance was and is horrible and the devs stated "you play our way, we don't care!". WoW has 7 million+ players now for a reason, and this game with little to no competition couldn't do more then about 550,000.
Except only 2 million of that 8 million is Americans the rest r euros and chinese. Plus 90% of Wow are warcraft 3 and diablo fan bois that would play wow because its so simple.
What does it say when over a million people buy your game but not even half of them stay with it?
Not much as it is quite frequent for mmorpgs. As an example, WoW is meant to have sales of 19m, though would like to confirm this as someone on here said it. But if you do think about it, many people stop subscribing in any mmorpg for whatever reason. I don't think there is many that subscribe for years.
Several memories from before I quit near the middle of PoP (right before PoTime was found)... but many, many more after playing when DoD came out.
For those complaining about sitting around LFG for 5 hours and not liking the game... why didn't you explore? Run around the zone find the camps and see their strategy? Why didn't your craft? Why didn't you do quests? Why didn't you take the game to it's full potential? No wonder you didn't like the game. EQ was more than a grindfest. You chose to make it a grindfest and turn off the rest of the game. Shoulda stuck with D2.
Originally posted by spideyak EQ was one of the best out there, until SOE took it from Verant.
Simple search on Everquest
Originally found on wikipedia EverQuest (EQ) is a 3D fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) that was released on March 16, 1999. The original design is credited to Brad McQuaid, Steve Clover, and Bill Trost. It was developed by Verant Interactive (which had recently parted from 989 Studios) and published by Sony Online Entertainment (SOE).
Simple search on Verant
Originally found on wikipedia Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) is a computer game development division of Sony that mostly creates massively multiplayer online games. SOE is best known for producing EverQuest, PlanetSide, and Star Wars Galaxies, which have gained hundreds of thousands of subscribers. SOE also owns Verant Interactive.
Simple search on 989 Studios
Originally found on wkipedia 989 Studios was a division of Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) that developed games for the PlayStation consoles and Windows personal computers.
So, you see, SoE always had it's sticky overgrown fingers in the EQ pie. The problem then that EQ suffered was then a conflict between what the players thought was best, the Devs thought was best and SoE thought was best. I have my opinions, based on my personal experiences with SoE and the Devs on who wanted what and why things turned out as they did - but they are only my opinions.
Bottom line - SoE always had control of EQ.
---------------------------------------- My dog barks some. Mentally you picture my dog, but I have not told you the type of dog which I have. Perhaps you even picture Toto, from "The Wizard of Oz." But I warn you, my dog is always with me.
EQ was one of the best out there, until SOE took it from Verant.
Simple search on Everquest
Originally found on wikipedia
EverQuest (EQ) is a 3D fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) that was released on March 16, 1999. The original design is credited to Brad McQuaid, Steve Clover, and Bill Trost. It was developed by Verant Interactive (which had recently parted from 989 Studios) and published by Sony Online Entertainment (SOE).
Simple search on Verant
Originally found on wikipedia
Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) is a computer game development division of Sony that mostly creates massively multiplayer online games. SOE is best known for producing EverQuest, PlanetSide, and Star Wars Galaxies, which have gained hundreds of thousands of subscribers. SOE also owns Verant Interactive.
Simple search on 989 Studios
Originally found on wkipedia
989 Studios was a division of Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) that developed games for the PlayStation consoles and Windows personal computers.
So, you see, SoE always had it's sticky overgrown fingers in the EQ pie.
The problem then that EQ suffered was then a conflict between what the players thought was best, the Devs thought was best and SoE thought was best. I have my opinions, based on my personal experiences with SoE and the Devs on who wanted what and why things turned out as they did - but they are only my opinions.
Bottom line - SoE always had control of EQ.
Exactly. They had the endgame raid/grind planned out for several years before Brad quit. It was in the cards all along.
I remember when everybody blamed SOE for Luclin shipping buggy, unpolished and incomplete. "Brad was the good guy and it was the bean counting pencil pushers at SOE that forced the game out the door early and that led to him quitting."
Yet here we are years later and Vanguard has shipped buggy, unpolished and incomplete despite having 4 years of development time with an industry veteran at the helm and one of the highest budgets for a MMO ever. MS sunk so much money into it they they finally got fed up and wanted to launch it last summer. SOE actually did Brad a huge favor by picking up VG and giving them an extra 6 months of development time as well as sharing their resources with Sigil.
SOE's business decisions have pissed me off several times but Brad was just as much a part of the problem as anybody at SOE.
Do I miss EQ....yep. I miss the pre-Luclin days. I miss the community that was there. Do I miss 2-3 hours of LFG? Nope. Do I miss Sony's bullshit? Nope. Do I miss the arrogant assholes that belong to the "elite" guilds? Nope. I had alot of friends in the game and did alot of high level raids and I don't miss that one bit. And as far as the 2 mindless morons in this thread going back and forth at eachother, when you graduate 5th grade and enter puberty maybe you can get a life......
Originally posted by Cheiftan I remember when everybody blamed SOE for Luclin shipping buggy, unpolished and incomplete. "Brad was the good guy and it was the bean counting pencil pushers at SOE that forced the game out the door early and that led to him quitting."
I remember this also. At the time, I had met several of Brads Team (at the Conventions) and from them learned that their attitude was basically old content was old and they weren't interested in looking at it or fixing bugs in it - forward and upwards.
Based on this, I formed the opinion that SoE set hard and fast deadlines for all the expansions, whether they were ready for release or not.
That the Devs prolly did their best to complete the coding, but that once it was out their, they forgot about it and started a new project, totally ignoring any issues or complaints about the last project.
And of course, you had the players all screaming about class inbalance.
As I recall (poorly), Brad and his team left over a dispute on which direction EQ should move in. Brad objected to making the game more "casual player friendly" and SoE wanted to increase the player base.
---------------------------------------- My dog barks some. Mentally you picture my dog, but I have not told you the type of dog which I have. Perhaps you even picture Toto, from "The Wizard of Oz." But I warn you, my dog is always with me.
I started played EQ about one month after release and played for 5 years. During that time I took breaks to try other games from one to three months but always returned to EQ.
I loved that game. Even at the end I thought it was still great. I thought WoW was a good game as well but it only kept my interest about four months. EQ2 had me for about 9 months.
I will never have that feeling ever again I had the first time I wandered out of Halas and was chased back shortly after by a skeleton. When a friend brought a lvl 12 wizard friend he made online to escort me to Qeynos the first time at lvl 5. I can not think of a time in RL that I was more scared. Train city in Blackburrow that could last for two hours. Running naked from Qeynos to Freeport and dieing about 10 yds from the zone line in High Pass when I paniced running by the orcs and started doing loops. Falling off the boat on the way to Antonica and having to swim to the dock based on people yelling me directions in the Ocean of Tears. Death falls from Kelethin. Undead trains in Unrest. Actually thinking it was a RPG and treating the evil races with contempt. The bad guy wasn't the orc it was the jerk wizard that could kill steal your group with one nuke. The griffon in EC wandering over your group and killing you. The sand giant in WC doing the same. Trains, training, kill stealing, camp stealing, all the "bad" things made the game more vibrant. I could list the good times during the early years forever.
It was a game of discovery. You tried things and went there because you didn't know what was there or if things could be done. Could levitate get you to that ledge? I could write forever about all the fun I had.
I miss it and I think because it was such a great experience those first two to three years I have never been satisfied with anything else even though the new games are more polished and less buggy.
For me Everquest was the best game not just the best MMORPG.
You can easily claim the F15 Eagle could destroy the P51 Mustang but I think the P51 was the greatest fighter.
Comments
think it was for eq not sure
Best MMO ever was AC:DT
Before anyone hit lvl 126.
Before the massive duping and macroing.
DUISS, wonderful wonderful post, every word of it.
I am still tempted every day to dig up all the EQ discs and install it again
and log on to patch for 6 hours or more, and fire up the old account, and
even download the expansions my account didn't have when I quit 20 months
ago, and see if I can bring the 70 cleric back up to the top of the game..
In it's first 4 years, there was no other game anywhere close to EQ. I tried
them all, UO, AC, AO, DAoC... all those games that were around several years
ago, or came along between 1998 and 2004.
WoW is simple. Loads of people like simple, just look at Chieftain.
Sure, the devs at Blizzard did a great job building the simplest, nice
looking game, but they sure didn't build a lot of challenge into it.
Sure, they built in some things that EQ players wanted, they were
starting from scratch. Much easier to design in the ability to sell items
while offline if you start from scratch.
Blizzard devs definitely gained from all the experiences of Everquest. But to say
Everquest was wrong because they didn't implement everything everyone
wanted is asinine. I don't think my cleric should've been able to solo like
a necromancer. And my monk certainly wasn't supposed to be able to tank
like a warrior, shadowknight, or paladin. Class DIFFERENCES is what made
EQ fun for me. Class balancing is the most fruitless complaint of the mindless
masses. Every class isn't supposed to be able to do everything every other class
can do, but that's what 90% of the people asking for "class balancing" want.
Far easier to whine about that, than to learn how to survive as an enchanter.
THOSE people never got it, and never will.
Most of the people posting here OBVIOUSLY have had no experience in EQ,
many might've bought the box and installed it and logged in and found they
didn't have the dedication, intelligence, or patience that were required to get
beyond level 6. So now every time they see the game's name somewhere,
they post some mindless drivel based on no experience, no knowledge.
There's no other explanation for the just plain wrongness of these posts.
EQ was great, it might still be great, even if it's got a smaller community
than it used to have. People who spent more than a month, more than 30
HOURS of playing time, know EQ was an exceptional experience.
Kalmenicus the Tempted
The ingame economy saw massive inflation over the years because players would rather pay an offline dealer for platinum than earn it by actually playing the game. The developers facilitated offline selling by continuing to put in more gear in every expansion that was tradeable even after being equipped instead of soulbound or no drop.
Despite what you're ignorantly trying to imply, a priest in WoW does not solo as well as a warlock. A warlock will never pass for a healer in a group. A rogue will never suffice as a tank. Just because none of the classes require a group to solo and advance in levels does not mean they are all interchangeable.
Come to think of it were you disagreeing with me or trying to reinforce the point?
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You advertise your lack of experience and intellect by spouting that same garbage which you obviously
picked up from other threads and took as your own, because what you're saying here about EQ just isn't
true. Sorry you read the wrong posts.
Players in EQ asked for more "tradeable" equipment, over and over and over. And got it. That's what
drives the economy.
I can't believe you'd bother posting something that's just a plain lie.
Step back, take a few deep breaths, and think. If you can. Admit that you've got no real experience.
Making up things as you go, or going into a thread and reading and deciding that what you've read
makes you experienced, is pretty pathetic. Drop it, because you look more like an idiot every single
word you type.
Jealous of the longevity of Everquest? Dreamed that it folded? They're still adding content, as any fool
can see. Their community likes it.
Or just mad because you don't fit into any gaming community, because you lack the social skills necessary to get along?
LOL
Kalmenicus the Insanely Correct
Awsome post ... I agree 100% EQ was a great game for myself and FRIENDS that i still talk to in RL/phonecalls all over the world.
The games and most of the people now have no trust so you get new people that dont trust anyone except the ones thay know at hand or friends they know from other games. (not like the Old days i am sad to say)
You advertise your lack of experience and intellect by spouting that same garbage which you obviously
picked up from other threads and took as your own, because what you're saying here about EQ just isn't
true. Sorry you read the wrong posts.
Players in EQ asked for more "tradeable" equipment, over and over and over. And got it. That's what
drives the economy.
I can't believe you'd bother posting something that's just a plain lie.
Step back, take a few deep breaths, and think. If you can. Admit that you've got no real experience.
Making up things as you go, or going into a thread and reading and deciding that what you've read
makes you experienced, is pretty pathetic. Drop it, because you look more like an idiot every single
word you type.
Jealous of the longevity of Everquest? Dreamed that it folded? They're still adding content, as any fool
can see. Their community likes it.
Or just mad because you don't fit into any gaming community, because you lack the social skills necessary to get along?
LOL
Kalmenicus the Insanely Correct
Players asked for more tradeable equipment because there was a such a massive gap between no drop raid gear and the stuff that dropped off single group content. Part of what alienated so many players and caused SOE to close half the servers was because so much of the content excluded everyone but the small percentage of raiders. The developers couldn't see the forest from the trees.
And don't write a post full of flames with zero valid points and try to say I don't have social skills. I'd like to see what kind of social skills the average raider has when they were spending 5+ hours a night raiding. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
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EQ was the greatest MMO...until the players experience RAIDING. Then it is trash.
The majority of peoples who joins EQ, they either join for solo, for kick-ass grouping, tradeskills or maybe even PvP. Peoples who join for raiding? Nope, this was not the case...if 1% of the player-base join for raiding purpose, I would be surprised. They joins to GROUP, or play some other gameplays, but never to raid.
- "If I understand you well, you are telling me until next time. " - Ren
You advertise your lack of experience and intellect by spouting that same garbage which you obviously
picked up from other threads and took as your own, because what you're saying here about EQ just isn't
true. Sorry you read the wrong posts.
Players in EQ asked for more "tradeable" equipment, over and over and over. And got it. That's what
drives the economy.
I can't believe you'd bother posting something that's just a plain lie.
Step back, take a few deep breaths, and think. If you can. Admit that you've got no real experience.
Making up things as you go, or going into a thread and reading and deciding that what you've read
makes you experienced, is pretty pathetic. Drop it, because you look more like an idiot every single
word you type.
Jealous of the longevity of Everquest? Dreamed that it folded? They're still adding content, as any fool
can see. Their community likes it.
Or just mad because you don't fit into any gaming community, because you lack the social skills necessary to get along?
LOL
Kalmenicus the Insanely Correct
Players asked for more tradeable equipment because there was a such a massive gap between no drop raid gear and the stuff that dropped off single group content. Part of what alienated so many players and caused SOE to close half the servers was because so much of the content excluded everyone but the small percentage of raiders. The developers couldn't see the forest from the trees.
And don't write a post full of flames with zero valid points and try to say I don't have social skills. I'd like to see what kind of social skills the average raider has when they were spending 5+ hours a night raiding. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
Nice reply and right on target, the game sucked the minute it became raider-centric, it is so good it has 1/600th the player base of WoW and had to server combine. Vanguard is the next SOE flop and I see it being cancelled after being sold to SOE by Brad.
Chieftan, you still don't get it. You didn't like EQ because you didn't have the dedication, intellect, and ability to play well with others. Admit it. It's a serious character flaw of yours, but it's okay. There are plenty of solo games out there for you.
EQ was a Great Game, and probably still is, for those who are looking for more than a hack/slash/solo-to-the-top/no-immersion/SIMPLE experience. All of us who put in the time, and had fun doing it, are glad the rest of you have gotten your SIMPLE game to play.
But just because you weren't able to comprehend, to learn, what was great about EQ and participate in it, don't come to these types of forums to flame and whine and cry about it, you only expose yourself as someone who just couldn't get it.
By the way, you probably won't like Vanguard either. It requires more intellect and dedication.
Stick with WoW. Simple. You don't need to spend hours, over the months and years of your character's life, studying and researching what your character's capabilities and potential are, in the many different situations of gameplay you encounter in Great Games like EQ. Your Simple game tells you what you need to know, gives you everything you need, doesn't even require you to decide how to build your stats. Gives you few options for optimizing your character, makes most of the decisions for you. And those decisions it allows you to make for yourself, are reversible, if you get them wrong. EQ required you to think, and that's where most of you failed. Obviously.
Kalmenicus the Thinker (not a sculpture, either)
P.S. Krenalor said: -"A real raider will be perfectly happy in a setting where raiding give edges inside raids only(useless outside of raids). Individuals saying otherwise are to raiding what Gankers are to PvP.'' which is senseless. Another one who couldn't learn the necessary skills, and hates EQ because of it. SOE sure is successful, regardless of your little opinion. And the migration of people from Everquest wasn't because of raiding content, at least for the majority. Lots of us, in the timeframe when there were perhaps a dozen new MMOGs hitting the streets over a 6 month span, went to try new games. Many found things they liked, and stayed. I have a friend I played EQ with over 2 years on a nearly daily basis, who left EQ to try Shadowbane. He's a GOD in that game now, but I tried it and couldn't deal with it. Another friend from years on EQ went to City of Heroes, and still writes me emails with screenshots of his uberness there. Some went to WoW, and stayed, and I went and visited them in WoW, and stayed 11 days before I went back to EQ. For people to say "EQ is failing because SOE does this or that" is just wrong. SOE has done pretty well. They have had and still have quite a few of the top MMOGs. They are successful. Some people hate Microsoft too. Success makes some people mad. /shrug I'm still tempted every day to reload EQ, get the account up to date, patch in all the new content, and HAVE FUN again.
And still laughing at you guys... really. No, Cheiftan, you didn't and don't have the social skills necessary to raid 5 hours at a time, 3 or 4 times a week, and still have friends to go boating with on weekends, social groups with events on weeknights a couple times a month, family to raise, homework to check, spouses to espouse with. It's just clear from everything you say about EQ. I did it, still do. I don't raid in EQ any more, but I play, alpha test, beta test, Release test, and still have a tight, happy family, and a group of friends all over that I'm cool with, and who are cool with me. I can tell you don't have a clue, and I feel sorry for you. Just whine and cry some more about it, if you think that'll help.
...
So... you're not an astronaut or anything like that are you? I mean it would be REALLY COOL if you were part of the space program I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that. I'm just curious...
My youtube MMO gaming channel
All this wonderful discussion of EQ, and it's best points, and the failure of ANYone to post any relevant disagreement got to me.
So, I spent all evening, yesterday, installing EQ from the old CDs, got the patcher launched, and patched for 2 hours. I got the old account running again, with a 6 month subscription, and then I got 3 of the expansions that came out while I was gone, they were digital downloads so I left the machine on and went to bed. Got up this morning, shut down to cool things off, then fired up again and did another EQ file check and patch, and then logged in to see what it was like.
Some of my old friends were there, the old guild had merged into another guild after the server merge, and there were a lot of new faces. I got a look around, sent some emails to some old EQ friends, then I logged off to go read up on the expansions and research the new things my cleric would be learning.
All the things I, and so many other EQ players, loved about the game are still there. They've got new content in the expansions for everyone. Big Guild Raiders, solo-class players, mid-level groupers. My account has the 70 cleric, which may still be good enough for the guild, which appears to be the top one on the server. Also, there's the 59 monk, which I used and loved using to blow off steam in a small group after raiding for a few hours on the cleric. A level 34 beastlord, was going to try to focus more on him, because I loved the combat buffs and the pet. And my bazaar-mule was still there, with several items that probably won't be worth nearly as much now as I thought I'd get for them before. But that's ok, there was 70kpp in the cleric's bank. That's probably small beans now, but that's ok too. I had all the active characters equipped pretty well for their levels back in 2005, and while there's bound to be new equipment from the expansions to try to get that's better than what they've got, I have time to work on that.
I got invited to 2 groups while I was on the 70 cleric, but since I haven't refamiliarized myself with the world of Norrath, or with the new content, I declined. While I was on the monk, I got asked about joining a group, going somewhere I'd never heard of, so I declined that one too. By the way, in EQ, I don't recall ever being invited to group until AFTER receiving /tells about it. Ever. Not like other games, where you just go about doing your own thing, and suddenly there's a pop-up window in your UI to click yes/no to join this group. Never liked those. Never will.
EQ players, for the most part with exception of the ones who never got it and never will, talk first. Then play.
I did some looking around on EQPlayers, and found quite a few old friends. It's going to be great to get back into the old, great game, long acknowledged by the MMOG industry as one of the very best of all time, and absolutely the best from 1998 to 2004. The industry. The people that do this stuff for a living. Not players, not whiners, not self-described know-it-alls. Working MMOG Professionals. Find one, ask him/her. Answer's always the same.
Sorry if you can't deal with it.
Kalmenicus the EQer
P.S. Chieftan, nope, not involved in any space programs. Don't worry, it's still way over your head, and you'll never get it. Also, I'm perfectly happy if you don't like EQ. As I've said before, you don't have what it takes. Patience, intellect, ability to comprehend, capacity to work well in groups of 5 to 70, dedication to research and study your character's function and contribution to groups and raids.
That's when raiding took off. I remember hanging with Club Fu for awhile, trying to get into the guild. Then, I heard of their REQUIREMENTS to join: so many hours a day, so many hours a week, no chance on raid gear until so many raids accomplished (etc.). Nope, not for me.
I've come back a few times, play until I fight for a slot in a group with somebody that has 3 toons running & then leave. I don't know if I'll go back, it gets more expensive every time (i.e., I had to buy so damn many expansions!).
BTW, I would think that WoW & EQ, both being (allegedly) MMORPGs & both having the same goal (i.e., gear, gear, gear, gear & level) are perfect comparisons. The only difference between the two is implementation. *shrugs* either way, EQ's numbers are dropping & WoW's are increasing.
Wow can have its #'s. All good in my eyes. I choose to play EQ. You play what you like, to me EQ is still champ. Just not the heavyweight champ.
I spent a few hours yesterday back in EQ after all the time off, mostly due to this thread reminding me what a blast I had back before I left. It was great fun, the community's awesome, people I used to play with are there and loving it. Standing around in Guild Lobby, I rezzed a few people, buffed a few people, talked to a LOT of people.
I got to spend a couple hours in a small group out hunting, just for fun.
Looks like I'll be going back for more fun today. There are groups looking for clerics all the time, and if I don't want to do that, I have the monk to get reacquainted with too.
I was invited to rejoin a guild I'd belonged to before, the Guild Leader and I talked for awhile. I declined to rejoin, for now. I love the guild atmosphere, easier grouping, raids, always someone to talk to. Sure, the high-end guilds have membership requirements. Can't have noobs jumping into a guild, being useless on a raid, but having an equal chance at raid loot they haven't earned. Just doesn't work like that. Put in the effort they ask for, be a contributing member of a community, and then reap the benefits. I did it in the old days, with three guilds. It would've been just one guild for all time, except schedule changes made it impossible to raid on the guild's schedule. So, because raiding is an exciting part of EQ, I left one guild and applied to another, went thru their app process, to meet their requirements, proved I was good enough to contribute, and became a part of a new, dedicated group of friends.
Every indication is that I'll stick with EQ for awhile again. I'll have to play hard to make up for lost time, make up 5 levels and play hard to upgrade my gear, play hard to meet the requirements of a good raiding guild, but... it's a great game, and playing it is fun. For those of us who have the intellect, dedication, willingness to research and study the game and our part in it, and social skills necessary to have fun and be successful at the Everquest game.
Kalmenicus the Everquester
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Except only 2 million of that 8 million is Americans the rest r euros and chinese. Plus 90% of Wow are warcraft 3 and diablo fan bois that would play wow because its so simple.
Several memories from before I quit near the middle of PoP (right before PoTime was found)... but many, many more after playing when DoD came out.
For those complaining about sitting around LFG for 5 hours and not liking the game... why didn't you explore? Run around the zone find the camps and see their strategy? Why didn't your craft? Why didn't you do quests? Why didn't you take the game to it's full potential? No wonder you didn't like the game. EQ was more than a grindfest. You chose to make it a grindfest and turn off the rest of the game. Shoulda stuck with D2.
Peace.
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So, you see, SoE always had it's sticky overgrown fingers in the EQ pie.
The problem then that EQ suffered was then a conflict between what the players thought was best, the Devs thought was best and SoE thought was best. I have my opinions, based on my personal experiences with SoE and the Devs on who wanted what and why things turned out as they did - but they are only my opinions.
Bottom line - SoE always had control of EQ.
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My dog barks some. Mentally you picture my dog, but I have not told you the type of dog which I have. Perhaps you even picture Toto, from "The Wizard of Oz." But I warn you, my dog is always with me.
Simple search on Everquest
Simple search on Verant
Simple search on 989 Studios
So, you see, SoE always had it's sticky overgrown fingers in the EQ pie.
The problem then that EQ suffered was then a conflict between what the players thought was best, the Devs thought was best and SoE thought was best. I have my opinions, based on my personal experiences with SoE and the Devs on who wanted what and why things turned out as they did - but they are only my opinions.
Bottom line - SoE always had control of EQ.
Exactly. They had the endgame raid/grind planned out for several years before Brad quit. It was in the cards all along.
I remember when everybody blamed SOE for Luclin shipping buggy, unpolished and incomplete. "Brad was the good guy and it was the bean counting pencil pushers at SOE that forced the game out the door early and that led to him quitting."
Yet here we are years later and Vanguard has shipped buggy, unpolished and incomplete despite having 4 years of development time with an industry veteran at the helm and one of the highest budgets for a MMO ever. MS sunk so much money into it they they finally got fed up and wanted to launch it last summer. SOE actually did Brad a huge favor by picking up VG and giving them an extra 6 months of development time as well as sharing their resources with Sigil.
SOE's business decisions have pissed me off several times but Brad was just as much a part of the problem as anybody at SOE.
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Do I miss EQ....yep. I miss the pre-Luclin days. I miss the community that was there. Do I miss 2-3 hours of LFG? Nope. Do I miss Sony's bullshit? Nope. Do I miss the arrogant assholes that belong to the "elite" guilds? Nope. I had alot of friends in the game and did alot of high level raids and I don't miss that one bit. And as far as the 2 mindless morons in this thread going back and forth at eachother, when you graduate 5th grade and enter puberty maybe you can get a life......
I remember this also. At the time, I had met several of Brads Team (at the Conventions) and from them learned that their attitude was basically old content was old and they weren't interested in looking at it or fixing bugs in it - forward and upwards.
Based on this, I formed the opinion that SoE set hard and fast deadlines for all the expansions, whether they were ready for release or not.
That the Devs prolly did their best to complete the coding, but that once it was out their, they forgot about it and started a new project, totally ignoring any issues or complaints about the last project.
And of course, you had the players all screaming about class inbalance.
As I recall (poorly), Brad and his team left over a dispute on which direction EQ should move in. Brad objected to making the game more "casual player friendly" and SoE wanted to increase the player base.
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My dog barks some. Mentally you picture my dog, but I have not told you the type of dog which I have. Perhaps you even picture Toto, from "The Wizard of Oz." But I warn you, my dog is always with me.
I started played EQ about one month after release and played for 5 years. During that time I took breaks to try other games from one to three months but always returned to EQ.
I loved that game. Even at the end I thought it was still great. I thought WoW was a good game as well but it only kept my interest about four months. EQ2 had me for about 9 months.
I will never have that feeling ever again I had the first time I wandered out of Halas and was chased back shortly after by a skeleton. When a friend brought a lvl 12 wizard friend he made online to escort me to Qeynos the first time at lvl 5. I can not think of a time in RL that I was more scared. Train city in Blackburrow that could last for two hours. Running naked from Qeynos to Freeport and dieing about 10 yds from the zone line in High Pass when I paniced running by the orcs and started doing loops. Falling off the boat on the way to Antonica and having to swim to the dock based on people yelling me directions in the Ocean of Tears. Death falls from Kelethin. Undead trains in Unrest. Actually thinking it was a RPG and treating the evil races with contempt. The bad guy wasn't the orc it was the jerk wizard that could kill steal your group with one nuke. The griffon in EC wandering over your group and killing you. The sand giant in WC doing the same. Trains, training, kill stealing, camp stealing, all the "bad" things made the game more vibrant. I could list the good times during the early years forever.
It was a game of discovery. You tried things and went there because you didn't know what was there or if things could be done. Could levitate get you to that ledge? I could write forever about all the fun I had.
I miss it and I think because it was such a great experience those first two to three years I have never been satisfied with anything else even though the new games are more polished and less buggy.
For me Everquest was the best game not just the best MMORPG.
You can easily claim the F15 Eagle could destroy the P51 Mustang but I think the P51 was the greatest fighter.