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- Sony Online Entertainment
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- Sony Online Entertainment
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- Sony Online Entertainment
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- Sony Online Entertainment
EverQuest
Released On: Mar 16, 1999
85
7.6
All Platforms
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 17 Critic Reviews
85
94% Positive
16 Reviews
16 Reviews
6% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 17 Critic Reviews
85
94% Positive
16 Reviews
16 Reviews
6% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
The bar for online gaming has not so much been raised as obliterated. For once, a game lives up to its expectations.
EverQuest is certainly the more immediate of the two online role playing games but it still has a lifetimes worth of enjoyment in it.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 72 User Ratings
7.6
69% Positive
50 Ratings
50 Ratings
14% Mixed
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
17% Negative
12 Ratings
12 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 72 User Ratings
7.6
69% Positive
50 Ratings
50 Ratings
14% Mixed
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
17% Negative
12 Ratings
12 Ratings
I give this game a 10 based on the game as it came out, not what it is today.
To be totally honest EQ would most likely make a better single-player game at this point than most modern games. I would really love a modern take on this game style, but I don't know that it would work as an MMO at this point.
I can however still 22 years later still sit down and play this game with friends or by myself and it holds up, I know people who where not born when this game came out who have played it and are blow away. I don't know that there will be another EQ until game technology really has a major change.
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PC
I started playing this game about a year or so after it came out and it blew my mind. Everything about it was new and pretty brutal. The downtime between fighting mobs was at minimum a few minutes and grouping was kind of a necessity. I remember the first time the screen started doing something weird and I realized my in game character was starving to death and couldn't see straight. I didn't realize that was something I had to worry about until it happened and I was lost in the woods with nothing to eat. Plus, when you died you'd loose all your equipment and items if you couldn't find and retrieve your corpse. You could maybe use chat and find a friendly high level necromancer who could drag your corpse back to you and them. Leveling took forever (years and years) and people would sometimes (accidentally or intentionally) run past you trailing monsters who would then attack you. They would type into chat "TRAIN!!!!" as they were running by you. It was all very exciting at the time.
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PC
It is far more co-operative [than "Ultima Online"], and there is much less player-killing. But this comes at a price. There is also much less interaction with the environment.
The massively muliplayer RPG that's so addictive it makes crack look like Sanka. Play this game at your own risk. [Feb 2003, p.94]
The game world is huge and the developers have done a wonderful job of making each area in the game very unique. I am constantly looking forward to visiting a new zone and discovering new adventures.
Although it might have been better in almost every respect, it is, like any good online RPG, a work in progress. And there's no question that it's the best game of its kind.
Perhaps the biggest complaint about EQ over UO is the utter lack of an interesting dynamic economy and the structures UO allowed you to build before they ran out of room.
This has to be my favorite game of all time. I started playing in 2000 when Kunark expansion was just released... and MAN... I was blown away. By the time you log on, you felt like you were part of a living AND breathing world. It was very dynamic feeling because OF THE PLAYERS WERE ENGAGED(Guilds and Clans who had reputations, beefs among each other, there was zone chat, A tunnel where people would trade face to face, players depending on other players for survival, etc).
You would literally login at 8 in the morning and I would be completely immersed by the social dynamics and dangerous world.... find myself loging off at 6PM... realizing this was another universe. It was absolutely epic.
Nowadays, WoW ruined the social aspect. I swear, people would not DARE offend other players or troll others without any SERIOUS impact on their ability to play in the game(such as find groups which you needed. or joining a guild because your character had a reputation). Everything about the game was designed for people to socialize and to form bonds online.
For example, you could not just plow through monsters like you do nowadays. It took CAREFUL planning and communicating with team members to be on the same page before each fight. If one person did not participate, than your group would surely be wiped out even by the most basic npc/mob. So each class had their distinct role. You had someone who would pull the monsters and bring them towards your group while a healer would keep him alive just long enough for a tank class to taunt the enemy and receive it's attention. This tank was able to take high loads of damage while the healer would be able to keep him alive. But that was not enough!! You needed another team member to "mezz" the additional enemies that would come along and would surely wipe out your group in a few seconds(this mezzer would basically paralyze these npcs). If at any point, your team members were not communicating together on which monster to kill first, then a single attack on an extra NPC would cause the mezz to wear off...which could spell doom. Then there was the direct damage classes such as the Rogue and the Mage who would be your lifeblood to kill these monsters! A COMBINATION OF ALL THIS MADE THE GAME EXTREMELY SOCIAL.
Nowadays, when you group in games like WoW you have no time to even type a message or communicate because your group is running through monsters so fast that you would be left behind if you even tried to type anything... So nobody talks anymore. Besides, it's not like your group will be wiped out if you made a single mistake coordinating. In EQ you had ALOT OF DOWNTIME BETWEEN FIGHTS, to recuperate mana for your casters... in between this time you formed bonds by talking to each other and forming bonds between your group and getting to know each other. You would spend hours with total strangers as if they were guildmates. THis is how it's done. Compare this to modern day mmorpgs, where people never talk to each other and there's no need to be social at all. In fact, you just click "join dungeon" and you run through a dungeon as fast as possible and you don't have anytime to type a single message lol.
This game wasn't perfect. But it had ONE thing that it did REALLY well. This one thing was UNIQUE AND NO MODERN MMORPG CAN DO.
This one unique thing is social dynamics and a feeling of a living breathing world. This alone is worth it's weight in gold. I rather have a game with tons of annoyances but with this aspect. To me this is an mmorpg. These WoW clones are single player large scale multiplayer games. At best, they are like COD "matches" where the server joins you to a arena.
I'm waiting for Pantheon Rise of the Fallen. That game is being made by Brad Mcquaid. One of the original founders of EQ. Looking at his videos and tenets of the game... it will be exactly what we're looking for !
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PC
I was there during beta and I left for 8 years later on and returned some 8 months ago. Yes it has aged a lot but it has such a huge body of content and depth of story that it is definitely worth a look.
The biggest issue with Everquest is that Sony Online Entertainment have it. This is a company that treat gaming customers with utter contempt and let's be honest, do you trust these guys with your personal data?
Everquest will run on anything, has huge depth and a much more mature user base than many MMO. You can play it your own way and have plenty of opportunities to play for a long time to come but bear in mind, it is very very old and it shows. Having made that comment, having beta tested and brought virtually every other MMO release since I keep EQ installed since returning and find I like to drop in and play from my laptop when in hotels bored or just when I want to slow the pace a bit.
Dont expect PvP on EQ, it didnt work 14 years ago and it doesnt work now. SOE in particular seem to be hopelessly unable to make PvP which is balanced and engaging. The early days of EQ saw some of the best PvP experiences I ever had in an online game but then SOE brought it and did nothing positive with it.
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PC
The game as it was 18 years ago is good. But to be honest about it now, the graphics in some older zones will leave you will a slight feeling of nostalgia at best. Don't expect any support if you need it. Support will annoy you with foolishness and will be unable to help you with most problems. There are older and newer character models to chose from so people will be seeing and experiencing different things based on preference. What your character looks like might look different to someone else, depending on which character models are selected. Also most of the people responsible for the games success have moved on to other projects and the game has been left in other peoples hands.
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PC
Dethstar's review of EQ was spot on. SOE (Sony Online Entertainment), is possibly the poorest managed company you will encounter in your lifetime!
A few years ago I left the game owing to horrible customer service. A few things you might see from this company: an hour plus being on hold while trying to correct a billing error, and good luck finding the cancel button for your auto bill... it's hidden. Or how about this all too common response “That’s a known issue, we can’t help you”… ran into that several times. To sum up customer service (which is based on management): they are either unwilling or unable to help you, and you will be expected to jump through red tape and hoops to have things done which are automated in other games. They’re not going to help you, so don’t even try!
So after about 5 years of being away from this game (mostly playing wow) I figured to give it a try again (2013), hoping they would have new management… they don’t, same thing. When a company forgets who pays the bills (the customer), it’s a long or short road to bankruptcy. Our best hope is that SOE goes under soon and a well managed company buys the software.
With that said, this game has a ton of potential, depth in content, a leveling/gear strategy that blows the competition away! PVE that is challenging, and a game playing style which truly supports team play and interaction with other gaming members. After some minor changes, I like this games design more than any other on the market.
Simply put, I refuse to give money to a company which is run this way.
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PC
Summary Prepare to enter an enormous virtual environment-an entire world with its own diverse species, economic systems, alliances, and politics. Choose from a variety of races and classes, customize your character, and begin your quest in any number of cities of villages throughout multiple continents. Equip yourself for adventure, seek allies ...
Rated T
for Teen
Platforms:
- PC
Initial Release Date: Mar 16, 1999
Developer:
- Sony Online Entertainment
Publisher: Sony Online Entertainment
Genres:
