On March 16, 1999, Everquest was released. Even after 20 years, it is still actively played and developed. In this article, we will look back at the history of the game and its influence on the genre.
Everquest plays an important role in the milestones of MMORPG development. It was one of the first 3D online role-playing games and soon after its release, surpassed the player numbers of Ultima Online.
Due to its success, it also had a strong influence on the development of the most successful game in the genre, World of Warcraft.
The Pioneer of Themepark MMOs
The first MMORPGs: MMORPGs developed from Multi User Dungeons (MUDs). Among the first games that made the genre accessible to a mass audience was Ultima Online. It was released in September 1997.
Everquest was released about 17 months later and fundamentally changed the genre. With its three-dimensional world and its basic structure, Everquest set standards for MMORPGs that still apply today.
What was Everquest’s structure like? Everquest used a first-person perspective, rather than relying on isometric views like many other games. This allowed players to experience the world of Everquest in a completely new way.
The structure of this world was also unique. The high difficulty and the necessity to form groups and be creative in combat early on generated excitement. It was also the first open world that did not rely on instances.
On Reddit, User Findar describes his experiences with the game as follows:
Everquest was the first RPG that felt alive. The players were real, the community was closely connected, and one often interacted with familiar faces. You could quickly make a name for yourself, and […] Botting and multiboxing weren’t a big deal back then.
However, players left the game because the mechanics were poor. […] The UI was bad, the pathfinding was horrendous, the quests were terrible, there was hardly any class balancing, and the game had many bugs.
Many gaming websites also described the game as a true revolution and gave correspondingly high ratings:
Was the MMORPG successful? Just a few months after the release of Everquest, the subscriber numbers of Ultima Online were surpassed.
Everquest became the first game to reach 450,000 subscribers. At its peak, just before the release of World of Warcraft and Everquest 2, the game had even 550,000 paying players. For that time, these numbers were actually unimaginable.
Only with the release of Everquest 2 and of course the class leader World of Warcraft, each in November 2004, did the numbers then drop rapidly.
Sandbox or Themepark? Whether Everquest is truly a sandbox or a themepark MMO is still debated by some players today. Essentially, one must discover many things independently in the world and conquer challenges as a group.
Some quests are not immediately available but must be discovered. For instance, if you give a guard a muffin, he is distracted by the eating. This way, you sneak past him to reach the actual quest-giver.
However, eventually the gear is maxed out, you outgrow certain zones, and you have seen all the content.
Accordingly, the path might not be as clear as in today’s themepark MMOs with linear stories and fixed tasks. Nevertheless, Everquest is considered the pioneer of these games.
This is how Everquest looks today
Can I still play Everquest? The servers of Everquest are still running today. The game is free-to-play. Additionally, there is a shop and an optional subscription. It belongs to the old MMORPGs that are still played today.
Everquest and its gameplay and combat system have aged quite a bit. Nevertheless, one can still have fun with the game today. The reason for this are the challenging tasks and the special community that has formed over the years.
How successful is Everquest? Currently, Everquest is more successful than in 2015. Daybreak is satisfied with the development, and new progression servers are regularly set up.
These servers reset the MMORPG to its original state and gradually expand it with the existing content.
They were also pioneers in the area of classic servers before other games like Rift, which have shut down their servers, and World of Warcraft followed suit.
Statistics 20 years after release: For the anniversary of Everquest, Daybreak released statistics about the game. A total of 25 expansions have been released for Everquest, the latest in December 2018.
The game now includes over 152,000 different items, more than 400,000 NPCs, and more than 13,700 quests.
A hardcore fan: The player “Tharkis” has reached 4,750 days of playtime since the game began 20 years ago. That corresponds to about 13 years of pure playtime.
If you are interested in other MMORPGs before the time of World of Warcraft:
