 By Brad Cook People have gotten married there. They’ve staged plays. They’ve even organized protests. Oh, and of course they’ve embarked on epic quests, plundered hidden treasure, and slain thousands of nasty monsters. |
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 Bright Light, Bright Light! Watch out for magic-using characters. |
Aspire to become a rich and powerful ruler or live the simple life of a merchant? These examples are extremes, of course, but they’re meant to convey the breadth of the possibilities that lie before you when you create a character and join the game. Because it is open-ended and there are no winners or losers, EverQuest allows you to chart any path you wish. Your only limit is your own imagination.
(To learn more about character creation, see “Building the Perfect Adventurer.”)
Monster Mash. He’s coming to get you.
Indefatigable Adventures
Norrath is a persistent world, in which the action keeps going even when you’re not online. Your character enters a sort of limbo while other characters continue to grow and change (of course, everyone has to sleep sometime, so you’ll get to catch up while other players are away). If you stay away long enough, entire wars could be fought during your absence.
There are five continents in Norrath — Odus, Antonica, Faydwer, Kunark and Velious — each with varied geography and cities. As you explore them you’ll meet a variety of characters, both those controlled by other players and non-player characters (NPCs), who take their orders from the computer.
“Hang on a minute,” you may be saying right now. “Hasn’t this game been out for a while? If I sign on now, some 50th level magician will probably turn me into a newt the moment I join the game.”
Land of the Apes. Interact with a variety of interesting races.
Not quite. The development team at SOE put together a never-before-touched version of Norrath for you to explore. You and your friends will get the chance to start at first level and work your way up together. There will be plenty of quests to undertake, monsters to slay, and treasure to find, in addition to communities to forge.
“Every server we create builds a tight-knit community around it,” explains director Richard Lawrence. “Part of that community is based on the camaraderie of having ‘moved up in the world’ at the same time. The other part is discovering things for the first time — exploring an area no one has been to, working out team tactics to fight a dragon, and so forth.”
Depth and Diversity
Lawrence adds that you’re “basically getting three years of gameplay in one package” because the game comes with the Ruins of Kunark, Scars of Velious, Planes of Power and Shadows of Luclin expansion packs, so you’ll have plenty to do.
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These games allow hundreds or even thousands of players to join together in an ongoing game. The game world is persistent, existing for weeks or months on end; players simply visit it for a while. Many allow the player to assume identities of player characters in fantasy worlds. These games are oftentimes referred to as MMOGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Games) or MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games).
In fact, even veteran EverQuest players haven’t explored the entire world yet. One such gamer, who plays a 54th level wood elven ranger named Gaelrond, says: “I still haven’t seen but maybe 70% of Norrath after four years, and I’m constantly amazed at the depth and diversity of the world.”
Lair of the Blue Wyrm. What would a fantasy world be without dragons?
Norrath has a rich history, but that doesn’t mean it’s a static place. It will change as you and your fellow adventurers move through it and take certain actions. You can even interact with its various deities, although that won’t happen until your character reaches 60th level and beyond. At that point, promises Lawrence, “you’ll be able to invade the Planes of Power. There are actions you can take there that will have consequences on how the world itself appears but we’ll leave that to you to discover.”
Don’t Fear the Reaper. Watch your step, brave adventurer.
A Second Family
While the adventures are fun, many players also enjoy the camaraderie that they find online. It’s common for groups of them to form guilds that provide a support structure and give a character a place to call home while in Norrath. Lawrence suggests playing a cleric simply because it’s “the ultimate ‘helper class,’ and there’s no better way to meet people than to resurrect them from a sticky situation or heal them at a critical time.”
Gaelrond says that his guild is “like a second family” to him.
“Don’t get me wrong, the game is outstanding,” he adds, “but without the people, it would simply not have the appeal it does.”
If you liked this game, check out:
Baldur’s Gate II Icewind Dale Lineage Sacrifice|
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