I have a theory on this, and it has to do with the gaming climate of the era. Back in 1999 you had 2 options – Ultima Online or Everquest. Both games became massively popular and were generating HUGE revenue streams that gaming developers realized could be exploited…thus the age of the MMORPG was born. Around the PoP era EQ had devolved into a MASSIVE time sink (it still is) that very much was about exclusiveness. The casual player was all but relegated into obscurity. But there was a light at the end of the tunnel, new games similar to EQ were being developed. Soon we had the releases of Asheron’s Call, Dark Age of Camelot, Anarchy Online, Final Fantasy XI, multiple Ultima Online X-pacs, Shadowbane, EVE, Starwars Galaxies, Lineage, Horizons….All of a sudden gamers had TONS of options, and Everquest all of a sudden became synonamous with the “Obese basement dwelling man child” that we like to make fun of on these forums all too often.
So when the “new” wore off these new games and people tried to go back to EQ, they found the land of Norrath COMPLETELY different than when they left…Cats on the moon, AA’s, Plane of Knowledge, OMGERD – WHAT HAPPENED!!@!@!#????
So it is my contention that why people here love Velious so much is noting but a symptom of “good ole days” syndrome from when they remember actually enjoying EQ before they left to another game.
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