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10 Years Ago This Week: EverQuest

10 Years Ago is a recurring feature that looks at whatever the new hotness was around this time 3,652 days ago. Ostensibly it will look at the game’s impact both in past and present terms, but mostly it will just make you feel really old.

While not the first successful MMORPG (Ultima Online is frequently cited for this accolade), EverQuest (released March 16, 1999) was undoubtedly the first truly culturally relevant MMORPG, and the first one to achieve critical mass in its player base. The things EverQuest did in its five years at the top of the genre defined not only the way MMORPGs are designed. It also codified how the MMO business is structured, cemented a great many aspects of massive game player culture, and began the controversies that continue to haunt the genre to this day. It’s hard to overstate how much EverQuest has contributed to the medium, and you could certainly make an argument for it being the most important game of the last ten years (though you only have the rest of the day to do so).

Posted Mar 16 2009, 10:00 AM by Joe Keiser with | with no comments

Filed under: world of warcraft, sony online, mmorpgs, pc games, everquest, joe keiser, 10 years ago, the realm, mythic, meridian 59, stormfront, ultima online, mac games

How to Cook like a Tauren

"Tired of your character getting all the great food?" So begins the sales pitch for one of the interent's quirkier e-books. Some internet hero has developed a cookbook based on the fictional delicacies found within World of Warcraft's Tauren territories. Dee-lish.

You've fought like a Tauren and died like a Tauren (and probably taken more than a few with you,) so why not eat like a Tauren? In real life. Why should you only be able to eat Poached Sunsdcale Salmon in-game? You've seen Delicious Cave Mold dropping here and there, but what's it really like?

Mmm. Cave mold.

Posted Mar 13 2009, 11:00 AM by Cole Stryker with | with 1 comment(s)

Filed under: world of warcraft, cole stryker, mmorpgs, cooking, tauren chef, food

How to Create Good Game Economies when Money Grows on Trees

GameSetWatch has reprinted a fascinating piece from Game Developer Magazine about in-game economies. It takes a lot of finagling, and different developers have approached the issue in different ways.

In Rise of Nations, high demand increases price, just like in the real world. Valve tried this too, by pricing weapons according to demand in Counterstrike, but it didn't pan out as well:

Unfortunately, the overwhelming popularity of certain weapons trumped the ability of the algorithm to balance the game. For example, while the very effective Desert Eagle skyrocketed to $16,000, the less useful Glock flatlined at $1, leading to some extreme edge cases (such as the “Glock bomb”). A game economy is not a real economy; not everything can be balanced simply by altering its price.

Posted Feb 02 2009, 11:00 AM by Cole Stryker with | with no comments

Filed under: counterstrike, cole stryker, mmorpgs, rise of nations, economics

Free to Play MMO's: Where do You Draw the Line?

According to a press release, over 220,000 people have joined the Runes of Magic beta since Monday. This number astounds me.

I have never got into any MMO's, but it got me thinking, at what point will users be willing to pay money for an online game? How much better a play experience is World of Warcraft as compared to something like Runes of Magic? Are people willing to put up with a noticeable drop in quality as long as they can avoid monthly subscription fees?

Where do you draw the line?

Posted Dec 17 2008, 04:30 PM by Cole Stryker with | with 2 comment(s)

Filed under: world of warcraft, cole stryker, freeware, mmorpgs, runes of magic, runescape

Yes, There is a New Dungeon Keeper. No, You Can’t Have It.

I love my morning feed of press releases as much as the next guy (read: not very much, but at least it’s not as depressing as real news), but this morning I seriously considered never, ever looking at it again. And not because it was boring, because that I can take. No, this morning it was actually cruel to me.

The release in question had a title that contained the words “New Online Game – Dungeon Keeper Online.” In a perfect world that phrase would be...well, less redundant, but also sacrosanct, the sort of words that would come down a mountain embossed in a pillar of bronze. The ensuing party would last for days.

But just before popping the champagne, it occurred to me to actually, you know, read the release. And, of course, this was not the return of Peter Molyneux’s beloved good-to-be-bad strategy game that left me cackling into the wee hours of 1997. This despite its name, and despite "themes, characters and other game content" that will be coming from that game. No, this Dungeon Keeper is by NetDragon, a company you’ve never heard of because it primarily makes those inscrutable grindfest MMOs for Asia. Oh, and by the way, Asia is the only place you’ll be able to play Dungeon Keeper Online.

Posted Dec 01 2008, 12:00 PM by Joe Keiser with | with no comments

Filed under: ea, mmorpgs, cruelty, dungeon keeper

EVE Online Is an Elaborate Screen Saver

I don't play MMORPGs, mainly because living in the same house as an MMORPG victim was one hell of an eye-opening experience. My stepdad has been playing Everquest since 1999, and my greatest memory of his nearly decade-long addiction is the day I walked down into our basement and saw him watching TV on the couch while Everquest played silently on a nearby computer. Wondering why he wasn't glued to the keyboard, I asked why he abandoned his game. The answer: "I'm traveling." His character was sitting on a ship.

That was not the life for me.

Posted Sep 04 2008, 04:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 3 comment(s)

Filed under: yahtzee, zero punctuation, mmorpgs, bob mackey, eve online, everquest

Gold Farming: Why I'll Never Play an MMORPG

A sensational title, to be sure, but this is insane.

BBC News reports that nearly half a million people make a living supplying lazy first-world gamers with monopoly money.

Posted Aug 26 2008, 08:00 PM by Cole Stryker with | with no comments

Filed under: world of warcraft, cole stryker, mmorpgs, gold farming

Richard Garriot Wants to Fly You to Space

The ever-eccentric Richard Garriott is up to his old tricks, this time promising Tabula Rosa players the chance to virtually join him (via DNA code and virtual avatar) on his trip to the International Space Station later this fall.

Posted Jul 30 2008, 03:00 PM by Cole Stryker with | with no comments

Filed under: cole stryker, mmorpgs, richard garriott, tabula rasa

Ragnarok Online Reminds Me Why I Don't Like MMORPGs

I've recently re-entered the hyper-colourful world of Rangarok Online because I must play it for work purposes (honest). I say "re-entered" because I've been down this road before.

It didn't take me a whole lot of time to remember why I left Midgard to its fate in the first place. Lots of people are capable of playing massive multiplayer online RPGs casually, but others can become hooked for life, even abandoning work and family for the sake of riding on a tiger. I'm not one of the latter. Sure, MMORPGs are a fun distraction, but I can't concieve of why anyone wouldn't tire of it after a few hours of grinding.

I'm playing as an archer named Fuzzy Stone and I've been killing bugs and rabbits for hours upon hours just so I can get strong enough to safely beat up differently-coloured bugs and rabbits. If I stick with it, I can blend in with hundreds of other generic mid-level warriors as we band together to fight the menace of--what are we fighting against, exactly?

There are a chosen few who Lord over the rest, who stride through the n00b fields, literally radiant with power while we collect ten-zenny clover dropped by catepillars. Some might aspire to have their name echo through the servers. I don't. I remember when I initially played, I was so proud when I gained enough levels to ride a pecopeco, a sort of Chocobo ripoff. When I rented my ride, what was around me? Dozens of other riders who looked just like me, except I was wearing a jaunty hat.

I once talked to 1UP's Solid Sharkey about the appeal of the vague goals MMORPGs dole out and he more or less agreed that there's little to keep you going after a certain point. When he got his pecopeco, he said, "I can ride Big Bird now, so does this mean I won?"

My disdain for MMORPGs is partially the fault of my own quirks: I have no interest in cooperating and forming a party. I kind of like doing that sort of thing with my friends, but they all inevitably lose interest and leave me with fifteen-year-old acolytes who beg me to join the Sephie x Cloud Yaoi guild.

Posted Jul 22 2008, 08:36 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 1 comment(s)

Filed under: gravity, distraction, ragnarok online, mmorpgs, addiction

about the blogger

John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

Derrick Sanskrit is a self-professed geek in a variety of fields including typography, graphic design, comic books, music and cartoons. As a professional hipster graphic designer, his recent clients have included Nerve, Pitchfork and MoCCA, among others.

Amber Ahlborn - artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

Nadia Oxford is a housekeeping robot who was refurbished into a warrior when the world's need for justice was great. Now that the galaxy is at peace (give or take a conflict here or there), she works as a freelance writer for various sites and magazines. Based in Toronto, Nadia prizes the certificate from the Ministry of Health declaring her tick and rabies-free.

Bob Mackey is a grad student, writer, and cyborg, who uses the powerful girl-repelling nanomachines mad science grafted onto his body to allocate time towards interests of the nerd persuasion. He believes that complaining about things on the Internet is akin to the fine art of wine tasting, but with more spitting into buckets.

Joe Keiser has a programming degree from Johns Hopkins University, a tiny apartment in Brooklyn, and a fake toy guitar built in the hollowed-out shell of a real guitar. He writes about games and technology for a variety of outlets. One day he will stop doing this. The day after that, police will find his body under a collapsed pile of (formerly neatly alphabetized) collector's edition tchotchkes.

Cole Stryker is an American freelance writer living in York, England, where he resides with his archeologist wife. He writes for a travel company by day and argues about pop culture on the internet by night. Find him writing regularly here and here.

Peter Smith is like the lead character of Irwin Shaw's The 80-Yard Run, except less athletic. He considers himself very lucky to have this job. But it's a little premature to take "jack-off of all trades" off his resume. Besides writing, travelling, and painting houses, Pete plays guitar in a rock trio called The Aye-Ayes. He calls them a 'power pop' band, but they generally sound more like Motorhead on a drinking binge.