EverQuest

About EverQuest

EverQuest (1999) is Sony's 3D fantasy MMORPG set in Norrath, the first commercially successful online role-playing game with a 3D engine and still receiving expansions more than 25 years later.

EverQuest in Depth

Drawing heavily on text MUDs, especially DikuMUD, and through them on Dungeons & Dragons, EverQuest has players create a character from twelve races, from humans and three kinds of elf to dwarves, gnomes, ogres and trolls, then choose a class, a patron deity and a starting city. At launch there were fourteen classes in four broad groups: melee fighters such as the Warrior, Monk and Rogue; priests such as the Cleric, Druid and Shaman; casters such as the Wizard, Magician, Necromancer and Enchanter; and hybrids including the Paladin, Shadowknight, Bard and Ranger. Some armour and weapons can be used only by followers of a particular god, and a character's deity affects where they will be attacked on sight.

Players explore the medieval fantasy world of Norrath, eventually more than five hundred zones, fighting for treasure and experience, taking quests from non-player characters and learning trade skills. The design pushes co-operation, with each player filling a role in a group, and players can join guilds and role-play. Fighting other players is limited to a dedicated PvP server, arenas and agreed duels. Each server holds its own world and community, with peaks of more than 3,000 players per server.

Making EverQuest

Sony Interactive Studios America executive John Smedley secured funding in 1996 for a 3D game like the text MUDs, following the launch of Meridian 59, and hired programmers Brad McQuaid and Steve Clover; Bill Trost wrote Norrath's history and characters. The four credited creators said their shared play of MUDs such as Sojourn and TorilMUD inspired it. It had a budget of $15 million. When Sony's studio refocused on PlayStation games as 989 Studios, EverQuest was spun off into a new division, Verant Interactive.

Sony launched it on 16 March 1999 with modest expectations, and by the end of the year it had passed Ultima Online in subscriptions. Critics called it "the best game in its class", and GamePro wrote that the developers had "created the first true online killer app", while noting its slow early levels and poor documentation. It scored 85 on Metacritic and won the Interactive Achievement Award for online game of the year. Its surprising profits led Sony to reorganise Verant as Sony Online Entertainment in 2000. Subscriptions passed 500,000 in 2003, and EverQuest II followed in 2004.