Why the original, 1999 version of EverQuest is still one of the best MMOs to play today
Why the original, 1999 version of EverQuest is still one of the best MMOs to play today
I suppose your mileage will vary, but when I played this game in 1999, I couldn’t get a party together that wanted to do anything but grind the orcs in the common lands. Everyone kept saying that’s where the best experience is. I asked people when the game started to get good, and they told me “this is the game.”
If you asked other folks they'd probably tell you that "the game only starts at max level with fully built out gear."
You'll always find groups of people min-maxing but in my guild the general philosophy was to enjoy the journey.
If that meant getting drunk and causing shenanigans in town that day, so be it.
You needed to get out of the Faydark and go somewhere where the higher level players were. All the noobs would stay in the starting areas and grind an easy boss zone. All the good players were off across the world, far away from those starting areas. I used to get good parties by hopping off the boat between the continents at the little island, because only the actual adventuring players were traveling there.
The best time I had, though, was when I got enough people to start my own guild. It was an RP guild, and my character was an egotistical, megalomaniac High Elf that started the Order of Pureblood Elves. We only took in Elf characters as members. Half-Elfs could also petition to join, but they were treated only slightly better than other races.
The hardest part of that was getting my reputation up with the Dark Elf city so I could go there and recruit dark elf players to the guild without having the guards attack on sight.
Nostalgia is a hell of a drug
For me it's Asheron's Call. Loved that game.
Old mmos had adventure and discovery. The current state of the internet doesn't allow for adventure and discovery in an online multi-player game.
With Asheron's Call we had Maggie The Jackcat and the VN boards, and that was it. You couldn't just look up the best path across the obsidian wastes to Ayan Baqur and find a youtube video explaining all of the danger points and farming areas. You had to just do it yourself or communicate with real people in real time to figure things out.
That magic is gone and it's never coming back... and it sucks 😕
AC was clearly better than EQ though 👍
I have the impression that being "good" at the game wasn't even a concern back then. I remember a lot of players being completely unbothered about their own character levels and wealth. Players were busy building communities and driven by small and personal achievements. Sometime I wish gaming had remained niche and never reached the masses. The early 00s was such a sweet spot.
or communicate with real people
You lost me.
Darktide forever.
...and also Morningthaw because carebear experience with my brother.
Anarchy Online was my first broadband MMO (playing Ultima on dialup doesn't really count), and it will always be amazing to me.
But I also fully recognize it was jumbled mess of poorly balanced characters, PvP that was completely stuck in the status quo, incredibly unclear and obscure mechanics that aren't explained anywhere, and random grindwalls.
But damn if it wasn't fun getting a group of newbies and figuring stuff out.
Old-School RuneScape is still the best designed MMO:
It doesn't require you to choose a class and miss on content, you never have to "reset" or "prestige" an account and restart, the skills, the world and the quest are deeply intertwined, you're not forced to follow one specific order or way of doing things - but there are natural entry points into quest lines for those that want some direction. As hard as levelling some skills are, once you conquer even 1 exp your effort is never lost or reduced.
Perfect MMO design, IMHO.
I wish I could enjoy it that way, it really does sound amazing, just as a consequence of its age and engine... It's feckin ugly and the combat doesn't feel like much of anything is happening.
The combat is by far the weakest point of the game, that I agree with. It fits well with the idea of keeping it in a second monitor while you watch something else, but it's not engaging alone.
But as for the graphics, using RuneLite plugins you can get a really interesting look where the game still uses the old school models, but a modern lighting system, improved textures and smoother animations. It actually looks super good.
Perfect MMO design, IMHO.
Everyone has their own opinion. I could never stand RuneScape because literally every single activity was a boring grind fest with little to no fidelity or depth. Nothing about it is exciting or engaging.
The fact that most people recommend the game as an afk game or something to do on the side is evidence to me that the game is boring and not worth the grind.
You're not wrong, it's your opinion after all.
But keep in mind I said "perfect MMO design" and MMOs where purposely designed like this: you're supposed to be talking to people around you, making friends, stumbling around the same players in your next mining trip.
Today we talk via Discord, WhatsApp, talking via a game is... Irrelevant. Finding another player? Of course, that's trivial. The Wiki is almost complete. So people only focus on the RPG part of MMORPG. RuneScape gives you the incentive, time and space for the MMO part too - this forces skills to be somewhat idle.
It's way too grindy, but then again, that's why I don't play MMOs generally. It is the one I put the most time into, so I guess there's that.
I played this game in beta and while it was mindblowing to have a 3D mmorpg, this game took a certain person to like. I played and bailed on it a few times, always because a friend of mine promised it had "gotten better" and he promised to power level me and SoW me when I needed. One time that happened because I was so low level playing some nights for an hour or so and he was spoiled by his mom and jobless so he played all day everyday.
That being said, the most fun with EQ Ive had was doing race war PvP with a college frisnd and as gnome wizards killing all the other gnomes
Project1999.com. You're welcome.
this was a staple between my dad, my 2 uncles, and my grandpa. my grandpa still has a few super high level characters
Would you say it’s still a better experience than bg3? Honest question.
Baldur's Gate 3 is not a MMO
Would you say BG3 is a better experience than Mario?
Totally different kinds of rpg. You'd be better looking at pathfinder, divinity original sin or pillars of eternity if you enjoyed bg3 instead of an mmo.
The cover art is beautiful. A bit too randomly horny for my taste but, nonetheless, beautiful. If anyone else is curious about the whole thing and some barbarian ass.
Horniness aside, I really love that old style of fantasy art.
Is it just me or does the magic user (blonde on the left) look a little like Ali Larter?
I googled her and would say there is a strong resemblance. Guess when they make the movie we know who can play Firiona Vie.
It's a great artstyle. Always loved that about Rhapsody's earlier cover arts. Looks much better than their later, more "modern" cover art.