EverQuest Totally Explained

Everything about Everquest totally explained

EverQuest, often called EQ, is a 3D fantasy-themed 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 Sony's 989 Studios and its early-1999 spin-off Verant Interactive. It was published by Sony Online Entertainment (SOE). Since its acquisition of Verant in late 1999, SOE develops, runs and distributes EverQuest.. EverQuest has earned many awards, including 1999 GameSpot Game of the Year and a 2008 Technology & Engineering Emmy Award. EverQuest II was released in late 2004. Set in an alternate universe similar to that of the original EverQuest, this "sequel" takes place 500 years after the awakening of The Sleeper. The game has also inspired a number of other spinoffs.

Business Model

The game's business model includes:

Sale of an account key which allows a new account to be created, or a trial account to be made permanent.
Sale of keys which allow accounts to be upgraded to access the content in expansions. Some keys allow access to only an individual expansion. Others to all expansions up to a certain point in time. The newest expansion,, includes access to all current content including the original game.
Subscription (by the month, quarter, single year, or 2-years) that allow a specific account to be active.

A software package is installed (by download or from CD/DVD) on the player's computer which allows any player with an active membership to connect to the game content and other players on the game servers of SOE.
As of December 2007, SOE offers free 14-day trial accounts which don't require a credit card.

Gameplay

Many of the elements from EverQuest have been drawn from text-based MUD (multi-user dungeon) games, which in turn were inspired by traditional role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons.
   In EverQuest, players create a character (also known as an avatar, or colloquially as char, charrie or toon) by selecting one of 16 "races" in the game, which range from elves, dwarves and ogres of fantasy, to humans, to cat-people (Vah Shir) and lizard-people (Iksar). Players also select each character's adventuring occupation (such as a wizard, ranger, or cleric - called a class—see below for particulars), and patron deity.
   Players use their character to explore the fantasy world of Norrath, fight monsters and enemies for treasure and experience points, and master trade skills. As they progress, players advance in level, gaining power, prestige, spells, and abilities through actions such as looting the remains of defeated enemies and doing quests (tasks and adventures given by non-player characters (NPCs) in which a reward is given upon success). EverQuest also allows players to interact with other players through role-play, joining player guilds, and dueling other players (in restricted situations—EQ only allows Player versus Player (PVP) combat on the PvP-specific server).
   The geography of the game universe consists of nearly four hundred zones.
   Multiple instances of the world exist on various servers. In the past, game server populations were visible during log-in, and showed peaks of more than 3000 players per server.

Classes

The fourteen classes of the original 1999 version of EverQuest were later expanded to include the Beastlord and Berserker classes with the Shadows of Luclin (2001) and Gates of Discord (2004) expansions, respectively.
The classes can be grouped into those that share similar characteristics that allow them to play certain types of roles within the game when grouped with others. One way of grouping classes is described below.

Tank classes

"Tank" classes are those that have high numbers of "health points" for their level and can wear heavy armor. They also have the ability to taunt enemies into focusing on them, rather than other party members who may be more susceptible to damage and death.

Warrior: the prototypical tank class, able to avoid and mitigate more damage than any other class. In a way, this is offset by their inability to cast spells.

Shadow Knight: a durable tank class; this Warrior/Necromancer hybrid has vampiric and damage-over-time spells. Shadow Knights also have the unique ability to Harm Touch (do direct damage) every 72 minutes, the power of which increases in absolute terms but decreases relative to enemies' hit points as a player levels up. At higher levels, Shadow Knights are able to summon a weak pet, summon players' corpses who are in the same zone as them, and are able to feign death. The feign death ability allows the Shadow Knight to function as a "puller" for a group.

Paladin: the "good" counterpart to the Shadow Knight, a Paladin is a hybrid Warrior-Cleric. They are able to Lay on Hands (heal themselves or another player) once every 72 minutes. At higher levels, paladins also receive some resurrection spells. Paladins are tough in melee, with some healing, protective, and stun spells. At mid-range levels, they've a "pacify" line of spells that allows them to function as a "puller" for a group.

Damage dealers

The following classes are able to produce large quantities of damage to the enemy in a short period of time. Within the game, these classes are often referred to as 'DPS' standing for Damage Per Second.
The melee damage dealers have a medium number of hit points per level, but can't wear the heaviest armors and are less likely than a "tank" class to be able to survive direct attacks for a sustained period of time.

Beastlord: The Beastlord is a unique class which combines some powers from the Monk and Shaman classes along with a powerful pet. Beastlords can imbue their pets with powers and combat enemies with hand-to-hand skills or with weapons. They can also "de-buff" enemies with spells, and possess modest healing abilities. This diverse array of skills allows Beastlords to be effective solo adventurers at many levels as well as handy in a group setting.

Berserker: A specialist form of the melee type, the Berserker is primarily a medium-armored, high-damage dealer that uses two-handed weapons and who can hurl axes and other thrown objects.

Monk: As masters of martial arts, Monks are the hand-to-hand fighting experts and are a powerful melee damage-dealer. Monks have the ability to feign death with a high degree of reliability and other skills that enable them to be a strong "pulling" class.

Ranger: A versatile hybrid class combining some of a Warrior's ability with a Druid's spells, Rangers are able to deal large amounts of damage both from a ranged distance and in melee. Their most unusual ability is to track unseen NPCs, for which they can be used as "pullers" in outdoor zones. Rangers also have the ability to "taunt" and in casual play can sometimes play the role of "tank".

Rogue: With their backstab ability, Rogues are able to inflict the highest rate of damage of any of the classes, if they're in a party that can keep the opponent facing away from the Rogue. Rogues also have the ability to make poisons, pick pockets, and pick locks. Their abilities to sneak and hide allow them to walk past both living and undead mobs without being seen. The "caster" classes have the lowest hit points per level and can only utilize the lightest of armors.

Wizard: The primary nuking class; these casters are able to deal catastrophic damage to enemies over a very short time, particularly with their Manaburn skill. Wizards also have transportation spells that facilitate group travel to particular locations.

Magician: Usually referred to as Mages, Magicians are similar to the Wizard class but with somewhat less power. They are able to summon strong elemental pets (which they rely heavily upon), pet armor and weapons, food, drink, and mod rods, which allow players to convert their health into mana. Magicians can also summon party members to different parts of a zone with the Call of the Hero spell, which can be helpful in raid zones.

Necromancer: These masters of death are able to summon powerful undead pets and use a large variety of poison and disease-based damage-over-time spells. Necromancers are able to feign death, snare enemies, and summon players' corpses in-zone. They have a combination of skills and abilities, most notably the ability to snare (make an enemy run slowly) and fear (run in the opposite direction) that allows them to function as an effective solo class.

Crowd control / utility

These classes share the ability to restrain multiple enemies from attacking the party and also have the ability to increase party members' ability to regenerate mana at a faster rate.

Enchanter: A caster class that has few hit points per level and can wear only the lightest forms of armor, Enchanters are crowd control experts and are the most proficient class at Charming, Stunning, and Mesmerizing enemies. They have the ability to Memory Blur an opponent (causing them to forget they were being attacked) or Pacify an opponent (making them oblivious to antagonists in the area), both of which may be extremely useful in avoiding unwanted skirmishes. Enchanters also have a wide range of utility spells, including the Clarity (AKA "crack") line of spells, which when cast on a player allows them to regenerate mana at an improved rate. In addition to being able to both increase players' rate of attack (with the Haste line of spells), and Slowing that of enemies, Enchanters may also cast Illusions on themselves and others, which may have no real benefit (other than conferring a new look) or may grant tangible benefits such as underwater breathing, flight, or a vampiric touch. Lastly, Enchanters possess the unique Rune line of spells, which creates a magical protective buffer against all forms of damage until it's has worn down.

Bard: a jack-of-all-trades class with fair melee ability, good armor, and the ability to play songs that benefit all nearby comrades, such as "crowd control" effects as well as mana and health regeneration. Bards do possess the unique ability to 'fade' from their enemies memories. This makes the bard an excellent pulling class. Bards possess a lesser version of many of the special abilities of other classes. They are known for their ability to increase the movement speed of their party faster than any mount or movement buff. Bards can weave the effects of up to four songs at once to confer the greatest advantage to their group. Bards themselves often don't receive the full benefit of their songs, but they can still be an effective solo class at many levels, especially with their strong "kiting" proficiency.

Healers

The "priest" classes have medium level of hit points per level and have access to healing and "buff" spells.

Cleric: The most powerful healer in the game, and for the first few years of EverQuest, the only class capable of resurrection and the powerful spell Complete Heal. Clerics can wear the heaviest plate-mail type armors.

Druid: A priest class that can cast healing spells, teleport, snare (slow down) enemies, and cast moderately powerful nuking and damage-over-time spells. The range of abilities allows druids to play multiple roles in a group or to solo effectively. Druids may only wear "leather class" armors. Druids also have a number of transportation spells that allow speedy movement throughout much of the gaming world.

Shaman: As a priest class, they've access to healing and many lines of "buff" spells. Shaman possess strong damage-over-time spells, and are able to slow an enemy's rate of attack. Shamans, or "Shammies" may cannibalize their health to restore mana and may wear "chain mail" levels of armor. Because of the range of Shaman's spells, they're sometimes considered a "utility" class.

Deities

There are several deities in EverQuest who each have a certain area of responsibility and play a role in the "backstory" of the game setting.

Zones

The EverQuest universe is divided into "more than 375" . zones. These zones represent a wide variety of geographical features, including plains, oceans, cities, deserts, and other planes of existence. One of the most popular zones in the game is the Plane of Knowledge, one of the few zones in which all races and classes can coexist harmoniously without interference. The Plane of Knowledge is also home to portals to many other zones, including portals to other planes and to the outskirts of nearly every starting city.

Social dynamics

Generally speaking, gameplay in EverQuest can be divided loosely into: adventuring - questing or gaining experience and loot, trading with other players, social interaction with other players, and tradeskilling - making game items using tradeskills.
   Adventuring can be done alone (soloing); by forming or joining a group (grouping) with 1 to 5 other characters; or by forming or joining a raid (raiding) with as many characters as a zone can support.
   At low levels, all classes have the capacity to solo. At higher levels only certain classes are widely popular for gaining experience by soloing. While some parts of EverQuest can be experienced without the help of other players, much of EQ has been designed to strongly encourage or require grouping. In these cases, a single character within the "design intent" level range for the encounter must often be twinked with equipment or have spell enhancements (buffs) to succeed easily, or at all.
   A group (or "party") may form to adventure, trade, or simply socialize. While any combination of classes can form a group, an adventuring group will often consist of a "tank", a "healer", one or more "damage dealers", someone to do "crowd control" and someone to bring the mobs to the group. The last role is called "pulling", and is a tactic used quite often when it's more effective to place the bulk of the group in a "safe", or at least "controlled", location. While a character of any class may "pull", this role is frequently held by a Monk, Shadow Knight or Paladin. A Ranger or Druid using the tracking ability is sometimes especially effective, particularly outdoors. Other groupings can also be effective. Especially popular is Duoing with healer/tank (or at least healer/melee) tandems.
   Most parts of the game can be completed with a single group, but some of the most challenging and rewarding (especially in terms of loot) encounters require players to raid. Any number of characters may take part in a raid. EQ's "Raid Window" will only allow 72 participants to directly share in raid experience and automatic raid loot rules. The upper limit for a given raid may be imposed by: the maximum number allowed in the "Raid Window", the maximum number of characters allowed in certain instanced zones, the maximum number the raid leaders can manage, or the maximum number that can be present without causing the zone or the players' computers to crash. The design of encounters in expansions have changed resulting in raid tactics that have become more and more involved.
   While "groups" and "raids" are temporary gatherings of players, "guilds" are associations that last beyond a single play session. Guilds are initially formed via an application process to SOE. Guilds may have widely varying goals. Each guild member can communicate with all (and only) other members at once using the GUILD chat channel. A character's guild affiliation appears with the character name when viewed in game. In some instances they're little more than a loose configuration of players who wish to be able to communicate easily. At the other end of the spectrum are Guilds that concentrate on tackling challenging raid dungeons and boss monsters. Such "Raid Guilds" may require members to commit up to five to eight hours per day to the game, up to seven days a week.

Gameplay jargon

As shown above (grouping, soloing, raiding, pulling, etc.), EverQuest has its own jargon.
   Abbreviations and acronyms also aid, or at least shorten, communication among players. Examples include SoW ("Spirit of Wolf" -a popular spell which accelerates run or walk speed), KEI (an acronym for "Koadic's Endless Intellect" - another popular spell which accelerates mana regeneration), PoK (Plane of Knowledge - a major "crossroads" zone for travelers), and "rez" (Resurrect - any of several spells or abilities cast on a corpse to summon the player to it, often restoring lost experience points).
   EQ also has its own slang. "Crack" or "mind candy" refers to mana regeneration spells such as Clarity or KEI. Another such term, used as a verb or noun, is nerf. This may be a reference to Nerf-brand swords being harmless, or to a Nerf-brand bat hurting but doing no damage. Players use the term to refer to a skill, spell, or piece of equipment that had its game-play utility reduced dramatically by game changes, or to the act of making the change. Nerf has also been used to refer to a zone, quest or encounter that has been made easier, or to a piece of gear that has been made easier to get or more common. The term was backronymed to mean "New Enhancement Reduces Fun" or "Not Even Remotely Fair" or "Never Ending Reduction of Functionality".
   A number of terms have been popularized by players of EverQuest and passed to other MMORPGs. One is the habit of calling monsters MOBs or mobs and stems from old text-based MUDs' use of the term rather than from the normal English definition (a disorderly crowd). Other terms, while coined in EverQuest, have also migrated to other MMORPGs. Two examples Proc and Farm are credited as coming to WoW from EQ. Other terms have made their way into EQ from other games, such as the term Zerging from the computer game StarCraft—used when a raid's main strategy is to overwhelm an enemy by sheer force of numbers.
   While mostly consistent throughout the entire EQ community, there are also some differences in jargon between servers, and between the Asian, European and American gaming communities. For example, KEI is known on some servers as C3 (it is the third version of Clarity). In-game chat may prove quite impenetrable to anyone who hasn't played EQ extensively.

Development

From John Smedley's initial concept in 1996, throughout various corporate restructurings, Sony has directly or indirectly been responsible for, and John Smedley has guided, the development of EverQuest.

History

The design and concept of EverQuest is heavily indebted to text-based MUDs, in particular DikuMUD, and as such EverQuest is considered a 3D evolution of the text MUD genre like some of the MMOs that preceded it such as Meridian 59 and The Realm Online. John Smedley, Brad McQuaid, Steve Clover and Bill Trost who jointly are credited with creating the world of EverQuest have repeatedly pointed to their shared experiences playing MUDs such as DIKU and TorilMUD as the inspiration for the game. SOE released a Mac OS X version of EverQuest in 2003, incorporating all expansions through Planes of Power. Development of the OS X version has languished since then, but the server remains up and running, supporting a small but enthusiastic user community.
In anticipation of PlayStation's launch Sony Interactive Studios America had made the decision to focus primarily on console titles under the banner 989 Studios while spinning off its sole computer title, EverQuest, which was ready to launch, to a new computer game division named Redeye (renamed Verant Interactive). Executives initially had very low expectations for EverQuest but in 2000, following the surprising continued success and unparalleled profits of EverQuest, Sony reorganized Verant Interactive into Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) with Smedley retaining control of the company.
Many of the original EverQuest team, including Brad McQuaid, Steve Clover and Geoffrey Zatkin had left SOE by 2002.

Subscription History

Verant from 1999 to 2001 and SOE from 2001 to January 14, 2004 issued formal statements giving some indications of the number of EQ subscriptions and peak numbers of players online at any given moment. .

European Servers

Two servers were set up to better support players in (or simply closer to) Europe: Antonius Bayle and Kane Bayle. Kane Bayle was merged into Antonius Bayle.

Controversies, social issues, and game problems

Sale of in-game objects/real world economics

EverQuest has been the subject of various criticisms. One example involves the sale of in-game objects for real currency (often through eBay). The developers of EQ have always forbidden the practice and in January 2001 asked eBay to stop listing such auctions. For a time, such auctions were immediately removed, which changed market conditions and allowed a number of specialized auction sites to specialize in this new virtual economy.
   Because items can be traded within the game and also because of illegal online trading on websites, virtual currency to real currency exchange rates have been calculated. The BBC reported that in 2002 work done by Edward Castronova showed that Everquest was the 77th richest country in the world, sandwiched between Russia and Bulgaria and its GDP per capita was higher than that of the People's Republic of China and India. By 2004, a follow-up analysis showed that the average GDP of each of the two million players was $2,000 (£1,087) which was approximately the same as the GDP of Namibia. Companies created characters, leveled them to make them powerful, and then resold the characters or specialized in exchanging money between games. A player could exchange a house in The Sims Online for EverQuest platinum pieces, depending solely on market laws of supply and demand.
   Sony officially discourages the payment of real-world money for online goods, except on certain "Station Exchange" servers in EQ2, launched in July 2005. The program facilitates buying in-game items for real money from fellow players for a nominal fee. At this point this system only applies to select EverQuest II servers; none of the pre-Station Exchange EverQuest II or EverQuest servers are affected.
   Due to the difficulty in learning the role a specific class plays within a group, and of learning the best way to fulfill this role, individuals who purchase high level characters without prior playing experience are stereotypically sub-par to those who have developed characters normally. Referring to a character in EverQuest as an eBay character or to an individual as an "eBayer" are derogatory comments used to suggest both that an individual didn't develop his own character and that he doesn't know how to play it.
   The 14-day, no-credit-card-required trial accounts have produced a new set of problems in this area. Since the sellers of in-game items and platinum can create new accounts at will, without cost, the quantity of in-game spam from some sellers has become a widely discussed source of annoyance.

Intellectual property and role-playing

Another well-publicized incident from October 2000, usually referred to as the "Mystere incident", involved Verant banning a player for creating controversial fan fiction, causing outrage among Everquest players and sparking a major industry-wide debate about players' rights and the line between roleplaying and intellectual property infringement. The case was used by several academics in discussing such rights in the digital age.
Fans have created the open source server emulator EQEmu, allowing users to run their own servers with custom rules. Running such an emulator is a violation of EQ's end user license agreement and could result in a player being banned from Sony's EverQuest servers if caught doing so. It hasn't gained the same popularity as server emulators for Ultima Online.

Addiction

The game is renowned and berated (by some psychologists specializing in computer addiction) for its addictive qualities. Many refer to it half-jokingly as "NeverRest" and "EverCrack" (a reference to crack cocaine). EQ is very time-consuming for many people, and there have been some well-publicized suicides of EverQuest users, such as that of Shawn Woolley. Relationships broken because of obsessive playing resulted in the creation of an online support group called EverQuest Widows and sites like GamerWidow.com. An infamous rant titled "EQ: What You Really Get From An Online Game" appeared on Slashdot in 2002, and brought this issue of EverQuest addiction to the forefront of many message boards across the Internet.

"EverQuest for Macintosh" Forum Issues

For several years, a "Everquest for Macintosh" subscription didn't allow the subscriber to create posts on the official Sony "EverQuest for Macintosh" forums. Out-of-game discussions thus took root at another location that became an on-line source of information for technical issues as well as for the various gameplay and sociological aspects that are unique to "EverQuest for Macintosh".

Complexity

The complexity and popularity of the game led to the creation of third party information sites, such as Allakhazam where players could gain information to play the game more effectively or more enjoyably.

Sociological aspects of MMORPGs

MMORPGs are described by some players as "chat rooms with a graphical interface". The sociological aspects of EverQuest (and other MMORPGs) are explored in a series of online studies on a site known as "the HUB". The studies make use of data gathered from player surveys and discuss topics like virtual relationships, player personalities, gender issues, and more.

Organized Protests

In May 2004, Woody Hearn of GU Comics called for all EverQuest gamers to boycott the Omens of War expansion in an effort to force SOE to address existing issues with the game rather than release another "quick-fire" expansion. The call to boycott was rescinded after SOE held a summit to address player concerns, improve (internal and external) communication, and correct specific issues within the game.

Characters in the EverQuest storyline

Kerafyrm - The Sleeper

Kerafyrm, "The Sleeper", is a dragon boss in the original "The Sleeper's Tomb" zone.
   While sleeping, Kerafyrm is guarded by four ancient dragons (warders) in "The Sleeper's Tomb". When all four dragons are defeated by players and are dead at the same time, The Sleeper awakes, triggering a rampage of death. Kerafyrm travels through and into multiple zones from The Sleeper's Tomb to Skyshrine, killing every player and NPC in his path. This event is unique in EverQuest, because it can only occur once on each game server. Once The Sleeper awakes, neither he nor the original guardians will ever appear again on that server, unless the event is reset by SOE.
   The guild "Blood of the Spider" on The Rathe server is credited with the 1st kill of the revamped Ventani (the fourth warder) on July 28, 2001, and therefore waking Kerafyrm.
   As of 14 April 2008, Kerafyrm remains asleep only on the Al'Kabor (Macintosh) server.
   Originally intended to be unkillable, SOE prevented a group of nearly 200 players from killing him, in November of 2003. SOE later apologized for interfering, and allowed the players to retry the encounter. After a nearly three-hour battle, the players of Rallos Zek server defeated Kerafyrm on November 17 2003.
   "Kerafyrm The Awakened" appears in the expansion Secrets of Faydwer as part of a raid event "Crystallos, Lair of the Awakened" in the instanced zone of "Crystallos."

EverQuest universe

Since Everquest's release, Sony Online Entertainment has added several EverQuest-related games. These include:

Champions of Norrath (PS2—February 2004)

its sequel (PS2, February 2005)

EverQuest II (PC, MMORPG sequel to EverQuest—November 2004)

EverQuest Online Adventures (PS2, February 2003)

Lords of EverQuest (PC real-time strategy, December 2003)

EverQuest Role-Playing Game (a role-playing game produced in collaboration with White Wolf which uses the d20 system). A line of novels have been published in the world of Everquest, including:

Rogue's Hour, by Scott Ciencin (Oct. 2004)

Ocean of Tears, by Stewart Wieck (Oct. 2005)

Truth and Steel, by Thomas M. Reid (Sept. 2006)

The Blood Red Harp, by Elaine Cunningham (Oct. 2006)

Film

Sony Pictures and former Marvel Comics chief creative officer Avi Arad plan to adapt the game to the big screen with potential release in 2009 or 2010. Sony has verified that they're uncertain of when the film will be released and that 300 writer Michael Gordon was hired to write the script.

In other media

In The Simpsons Game, there's a level called Neverquest where Homer and Marge play in a world similar to EverQuest.

Further Information

Get more info on 'Everquest'.

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