What caused the decline of EQ as the #1 MMO?

[Amphitryon]

the #1 thing that caused EQ's decline was the simple fact there were other options, other MMOs to play. EQ had a sort of captive audience for a long time. I mean for a while there was simply EQ and UO, and if you wanted 3D, you played EQ, simple as that.

Then Asherons' Call came along, but it never really made a dent in EQ, and Anarchy Only got called the sci-fi version of EverQuest, but it didn't do very well due to an awful launch, then came DAOC...now that one rattled EQ's cage...it was the first competitor to gain significant interest by EQ players as it was the first to offer anything really different from EQ.

DAOC alone did not force EQ into decline, it was simply the start point, the point where players did not simply boomerang back to EQ, they started leaving to try the new games and stayed gone.

Prior to all these other options, player simply had no choice but to endure all EQ's grinds and timesinks or simply not play. The newer games softened the grind, and a lot of people were ready to escape the EQ grinding treadmill at that point.

Never underestimate the value of a captive audience.