What's EverQuest's secret?

[Shodex]

Three excellent reasons if I do say so myself.

Originally Posted by nalkin [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I was 12 and it was better than runedscape.

Oh undoubtedly, though to give Runescape some credit. It's a really good free MMORPG, and back when I played it religiously, it was a much harder game.

Originally Posted by Uterus [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

The fear of death.

With challenging gameplay, comes intelligent players. With intelligent players comes strong, friendly communities.

[ByronosaurusRex]

I never played classic myself. When I began the game PoP was already out, perhaps even LDoN. Even then I fell in love with it...and then was forced to quit when DoD came out and I realized SOE had turned the game into WoW.

But what I've learned about classic, Verant-era EQ has amazed me. This game is absolutely amazing for several reasons:

1. If you act like a jackass, or are even careless or inattentive for a small period of time, the game is likely to kill you. This tends to filter out stupid, incompetent people as the game repeatedly kills and frustrates them. Not only that, but dying is VERY significant (classic hybrid penalty, case in point).

2. This game doesn't treat you like a child. It doesn't spoon feed you quests or the next location for grinding even. It feels like the big, scary, open world that a fantasy MMO should. It makes you explore. It makes you communicate with people.

3. The Grind! It doesn't feel like a grind oftentimes. Yes, there is some tedium involved in leveling, I'll admit. But it doesn't feel as though the main objective is to reach cap as soon as possible and begin endgame. The leveling experience is something rewarding in and of itself, forcing you to explore and meet people(see #2). It's not straightforward or self-explanatory, and it's not just a means to an end.

I'm sure there's more reasons, but that's all I've got atm.