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The ultimate online multi-player fantasy game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 27 / 28
Date: January 13, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I grew up exposed to role-playing games, and my major problem was that I could never find anyone to play with. Especially since a game required 4-6 hours a week, every week. I wanted to play, I read a lot, sometimes I even started campaigns. But, unfortunately, I could never find enough other people to get involved.

Everquest is the solution to that problem. In the old days, you had one person who built the world (a DM or GM), and four to eight people who played in it, when they were all available. Now we have a company that builds the world, and 400 thousand players who play when they want to, for as long as they want to.
Finally, you can get out and play, and play whenever you have time.

The worlds are huge, they are beautiful, and there are both other players to meet and places to adventure.

Downside? Well, if you've never played a fantasy game, you are going to be massively confused.
If you've never played a first-person shooter, you are going to have some trouble.

If you have a 56k modem, or an older system, this will be pretty hard for you, the game works much much better on a powerful system with DSL or Cable modem.

When you play the tutorial, you might be tempted to put the disk back in the box and ask for a refund.
Don't. It defaults to some really crummy graphics (pre Doom quality), but those can be turned up and improved. Once you get into the game, you are going to want to use F10 to get the full-screen view of the world.
Now is when things start to shine. On a good system, in full-screen mode, the game is visually on a par with quake.
If you get the expansion pack (shadows of luclin), your graphics will be much better, but you'll need a better system.
It moves fast on my DSL (internet connection speed makes more difference than system speed, and graphics card makes more difference than ram), I suspect it would be a drag on a 56k modem.

The best things about the game?
1) Lots of choices for class and racial type, including evil ones like drow, trolls and ogres
2) Great graphics, when your system can support them.
3) LOTS of other people playing.
4) Play when you want to, for as long as you want to.
5) HUGE worlds.
6) A lot of online sites that have maps, discussion boards, etc. Good player support network.
7) A company that is CONSTANTLY releasing patches and updates. They patch this game every week!
They put a TON of work into keeping this game running, and running smoothly.

The worst things about the game?
1) Really hard to get started. Everything from default graphics, to figuring out how to do stuff, this game is rough on the beginner.
2) The game does seriously focus on going out and killing things. Alternatives like quests exist, and they are pretty extensive, but most quests are "go kills something and bring me the body" quests.
3) Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. This game is seriously addictive, and if you aren't careful, may start to cause problems.
4) You will spend more time playing than for most games.
5) Can run on a lower-end platform, but really isn't worth it. Will make you want to upgrade.
6) DSL or Cable a must.

This is the original game and the first two expansions, packaged together. I'd definitely recommend it over the jewel-case only version, which is just the main game. The graphics improvements that came with the expansion make it worth the extra cash up-front. Everquest has a small monthly fee, which is per user, so if a couple people in the household want to play, that fee can add up.

A Great Kit for New Players

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 23 / 26
Date: September 21, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This package is great for new players just entering the world of Norrath. Not only do you get all the expansions, you also get a newbie guide, a map (very useful, this place is HUGE!), and action figures! These features make this package really shine. When I began playing EverQuest, I needed a lot of help since I was a bit confused at times. This guide makes the game easy to learn. I bought it as a present for my friend and he loves it. When we first told him about EverQuest, he said, "Why would you pay 10 dollars a month to play?" He quickly found out why. EverQuest is like having cable television, you pay for it's great features and such. My suggestion to a newer player is to ask around and see if anyone you know plays the game. Once you get to a higher level, you can go on quests and raids with them! You'd be surprised how many people you know play...

EverQuest: Bane of Social Life

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 18 / 19
Date: February 13, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Now, I suppose I am not qualified to write this review since I do not actually own the Trilogy set, and therefore I am playing vanilla EverQuest, a game with neither of the expansions featured in the Trilogy set.

However, I am writing to illustrate a point - the point that I rate a game 5 stars on it's own, when there are two add-ons available right before your eyes - add-ons which only serve to improve the game, set the level limit a little higher, add more items and two new continents - new quests, playable races and NPC's to interact with. Whilst I have none of these additional features, I rate this game above all others.

EverQuest is a game based in the fantasy world of Norrath. For those of you unfamiliar with fantasy games or books in general, you play in a fantastic world - a world of powerful Dragons, dark, sprawling Dungeons and potent and destructive Magic. In short, you are part of a world of adventure. For a beginner, this game can be tough - one of only a few criticisms that can be aimed at it. A beginning player will find him or herself strapped for cash and unable to kill a very, very large percentage of the creatures that populate the world of Norrath. All is not lost, however, as Bats and Wasps populate some zones - easy pickings for even the lowest level characters.

It is not long before you reach level 10, and from there onwards things become more interesting - you are killing more powerful foes and gaining at least some treasure of value. However, it is not until you reach level 30 that you can really begin to experience the wealth of options this game has to offer. Hitting level 30 is a process that will not take you long, with the huge number of helpful people on any given server, willing to help you out graciously and generously - this was not something I expected, having been treated to taunts on many other online games as a newbie (someone new to the game).

The one biggest criticism I have to aim at the game is the fact that it is addictive to the point of being outlawed for the same reasons as narcotics - this game is capable of single-handedly reducing a social/work life to ruin. This, however, is only a minor issue provided you can keep in touch with reality as well as the infinitely more appealing world generated by EverQuest. Another problem with the game is that of money - whilst the $10 a month (or roughly £6.90 for UK users) is perfectly reasonable, considering the money and time spent on new games. What is slightly demanding, however, is the fact that gamers are forced to pay a lump sum upon purchasing the software that should really be free. The reason I do not own Trilogy is that I cannot afford to spend the money, considering the number of months I would put into it after having bought it. I also think it is unacceptable for Verant not to include the new Shadows of Luclin expansion with the Trilogy pack - forcing people to fork out money to the tune of $45 as well as an additional monthly charge of $10 for the priviledge of playing a computer game is ever-so-slightly demonic - but the fact of the matter is that Verant can afford to, as players are unlikely to stop playing the game once addicted - and the $45 to start does not seem like much until you add it to the $120 you spend on playing for a year (assuming you renew every month - the most expensive option - instead of renewing every 3 or 6 months).

All in all, EverQuest is a fantastic game and a must-buy for all interested. It's pro's far outweigh it's con's provided you can stomach the threat to your life in the real world.

EverQuest, the Online Communiuty

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 12
Date: January 23, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I have been playing video games since I was 3 and this is the best game I have ever played. However it takes a long time to learn everything and it's not for someone who only has a couple of minutes to play every day.
This game is a community, every race and class has special abilities that contribute to the community. For example, wizards and druids can get other players to where they're going faster than anyone else, warriors protect the wizards and druids, but clerics heal the warriors. Then enchanters can make magical jewelry that increase stats when you put them on, and gnomes are the only race who can use the skill called tinker.
As with any other community it has criminals and jerks. But, luckily, the game also has police, the GM's (game masters) and volunteer guides.
So, let me say again, do not buy this game if you have a strict schedule, do not buy this game if you only intend to play a few minutes a day, but DO buy this game if you want to have some of the best gaming experiences of your entire life.

Even after all this time, they still can't get it right

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 18 / 25
Date: October 01, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Verant Interactive has worked for quite some time to fix problems in the game. They have been largely unsuccessful. That's not to say that the original content and ideas were bad. On the contrary, in the beginning it was groundbreaking. But, sadly it went all downhill from there.

This downward trend has been fostered by many things. Pathetic, unresponsive, and difficult customer service for one. They rarely listen to the players, and as a result that are STILL attempting to balance the classes more than two years after the release. It was just recently announced that they would be adding triple attack to the Rangers, and rebalancing all the melee classes. They continue to struggle with modifications to casters of all types, while the casters grow more and more frustrated with a system that leans toward the melees, giving the melees more and more power as the casters (excluding clerics) are less and less effective thanks to extremely high resistance rates and in some cases unbelievable hit points.

Below 45 to 50th level, the game can be enjoyable. But not always. At times it may take you more than 2 hours JUST TO RETRIEVE YOUR CORPSE after a bad death. Post 50, the game is a farce. Only the "Holy Trinity" of Warrior, Cleric, and Enchanter are neccesary post 50. The only other class that can add much in the post 50 game are theives, because of the number of "locked doors" requiring Pick locks skill and the backstab multiplier. So you could spent hundreds of hours getting a class up past 50, only to find you have very little to do unless you are able to mobilize LARGE groups of people (30 to 50 or more) to accomplish the really high end encounters. Organizing that many people is a full time job in itself. This game can quickly turn into something that feels like a JOB versus a game to have fun in. DON'T BUY IT! There are better games coming.

They don't call it EverCrack for nothing

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 12 / 14
Date: August 06, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I rated this game at 5 stars because, as the EQ web site states, "You're in our world now". The game is exciting, immersive, frustrating, challenging, agravating, and lots of fun. It is a welcome escape from your daily life. ...

First and foremost, heed this warning: If you cannot dedicate several hours a week to playing this game, please look elsewhere. Understand that this game is addictive by design. It is engineered in such a way that you need to spend lots of time online. The singlemost important aspect of this game is that you spend as much time as possible online. Know that it will take over a year for your main character to reach the highest level (60).

As for gameplay, the overall graphics/sound/physics is nothing spectacular, but nevertheless it is effective and immersive. This is not DOOM II so you don't need lightning reflexes with your keyboard/mouse/joystick, but it helps to have quick fingers and a clear mind. Interaction with NPC's is rudimentary since EQ NPC's do not have the best AI in the world. Also, while there are zillions of quests to do, most of them are silly, and few offer anything of value other than EQ lore.

In gerenral, the value of items are based on how hard the thing was that you had to kill. Killing things depends entirely on your class and the things you are trying to kill. No one class in the game can do everything, and every class has a specific ability and advantages that no other class has. This brings about the second most important aspect of the game - the necessity to socially interact with others.

The most exciting things in EQ are things that you do in groups. It is the social interaction that is most intriguing and unpredictable. Killing a room full of orcs in a melee frenzy with five of your online friends is a blast.

Another exciting (or agravating to some) thing is that there is real danger, with risks that may be devastating if you fail. Because of this underlying risk, it can be downright terrifying to traverse over dangerous terrain, or trek deep within a dungeon. Your death can mean the loss of experience that took days to acquire, not to mention the time it will take to recover your corpse (and all your hard-earned items on it). Another risk is the loss of faction when you kill (or help someone kill) something you weren't supposed to harm. Then there is the risk of failing the last portion of a quest that took weeks of preparation to initiate. When you fail in EQ, it hurts. But when you triumph, it feels great, like a real reward for your hard work.

So if you have lots of time, and want a game that will consume and addict you, spend the money on EQ. It is money well spent.

a very poorly maintained MMORPG

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 11 / 14
Date: January 26, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I played EQ for over 2 years, and I have to say that at first, it was like totally awesome. I bought EverQuest thinking that it would be a high fantasy role-playing game, with the unique experience of living an virtual life in a virtual fantasy world, so to speak.

However, EverQuest just doesn't provide the traditional RPG features that made the RPG genre so great. The game just doesn't live up to its claims or even its name. EQ really should not be in the RPG category, because the developers who make the game really have no respect for the genre at all. This game is all about hack and slash action. It's been dubbed "Quake with Swords", and "the worst MMORPG ever made" by many real RPG enthusiasts. The beginning of the game starts out ok. There are 65 levels (if you get all 4 (soon to be 5) expansion packs...hope you got a big fat wallet). The game just rocks for the first 30 levels or so. But after that it's all downhill. The main focus of EverQuest is on the level 60-65 range.

pretty much when you log on most of the time you just twiddle your thumbs until you can band 30 people together to kill something for a single piece of lewt. It's a commitment that will cost you maybe 7 hours a night, literally (if you don't devote those hours you will probably not get anywhere in the game...) it's very political - it's not just a freeform "adventurers getting together and killing" kind of thing. You have to join a guild, and most guilds of the right level range require you to be at the raid if you are online. Some people enjoy it, but they are usually people who enjoy military style ethics, which is VERY much what it's like. Many people feel like it's just like having a job though. Playing the game is more of a chore than about having fun.

There is no "high fantasy" or "roleplay" in EQ - you make a character, kill any NPC or PC you can find, and pay 13$ a month. It's as dry as it sounds. I'm not like a hardcore roleplayer or anything, I like action too... But even killing stuff in EQ is no fun. You're so strictly dependent on others in this game that essentially if not enough people are online to kill anything, you either can't play, or you just sit in a town twiddling your thumbs waiting for people to log on so you can actually do anything. Some classes are more important than others, unfortunately, so you may just gain 65 levels only to find out that on raids you do nothing but hit 'autoattack' every 5 minutes for 7 hours... Seriously! I'm NOT exaggerating LOL

If you like having to commit several hours of your time everytime you log on, waiting for enough people to show up so you can kill something, hours upon hours of mind numbing repetition, and being STRICTLY DEPENDENT (I can't emphasize this enough)on other players, then maybe you could find enjoyment in EQ. However, if you're looking for an immersive, high fantasy, well-designed, well-managed game, you're better off going with some of the newer MMORPGs. Mix mind numbing boredom and monotony with the worst customer service in the history of mankind, and I wonder why people even play this game anymore. Some just have a higher tolerance for incompetence than me I guess.

The developers of this game clearly don't have a passion for games - they exploit their players for money too much for me to believe otherwise. EQ2 will be released late this year or early next year sometime, but to be honest, with SOE/Verant's track record, I have no plans on buying it. It'll have great graphics and technology cuz that's all the devs seem to care about (and the sys reqs will make you believe it with a vengance...keep in mind that once your character is high enough in lvl, most of the time you're playing you have to be with about 30 other players...and neither will an ATI Radeon 9700, DSL, nor 8x AGP be able to save you). But the gameplay is going to be headache spawning dysfunction, and the customer service 10x's worse (worst case scenario: had a friend lose all of his hard earned equipment to a game bug, his EQ life's work, because of no response from customer service (their logs expire after 7 days)...with some items in the game taking months to over a year to get, losing them permanently is NO JOKE). The game will change a lot over time through weekly/monthly patches. There's a strict Verant vs. Player relationship, and you WILL learn to hate it. I mean the Gamemaster spell for summoning players in EverQuest is called "Call of the Zero". How weak, let alone insulting, is that? THis is why I have high skepticism about EQ2 and other MMORPGs run by SOE/Verant.

There's many other MMORPGs out there. Spare yourself the headache and get one made by a company with a real passion for games.

Fun at best, frustrating at worst

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: November 10, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Everquest
Pros:
Great graphics
Large game world
Intensive amount of detail to be learned

cons:
Large time sink doing the same thing over and over
Large time spend in non-productive activities (waiting for stuff, like boats, monsters, etc.).
ummm....alot of detail to be learned. A lot. You have to read a website to find out what spells do/maps/quests/monsters etc--or be prepared for an even larger time sink and many more deaths. On reason i didn't switch to Da0C was I already was familar with EQ's world and didn't wanna blow all this information away and start over.

At its best, everquest can be a challenging game that can while away eight hours easily. At its worst, its a terribly frustrating game with horrific customer service designed by a team that doesn't appear to play the game.
Unlike some games like Diablo where your character is more powerful than the monsters, in Everquest, your character is at a big disadvantage compared to monsters. Monsters can chain cast, cast while being hit, be resistant to spells, and just generally be able to beat you into a pulp (at least at times). This is because Verant wants players to group, but the problem lies it can take a long period of time to find a group of players. With so many zone regions now in EQ, most zones may only have a handful of players and if you're not one of Verant's priviledged classes, your class may not be wanted even if there's an opening in a group. To make matters worse, even as tough as it is for players, Verant will "nerf" classes (like monks) that destroy their grouping ability and make them less desirable for groups--although Verant received criticism and tons of email from monks about this, they arrogantly stick to wrong decisions for several years before attempting any fixes. Don't waste your time with Everquest. Wait for Everquest two or maybe Star Wars Galaxies. Or even better a game designed and supported by another company.

Wave goodbye to "real life"

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 8 / 10
Date: September 29, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This game will become your life. After my first 2 hours of playing, my mind slowly began to meld reality and the fantasy into one. My name became Drelfidion, and I became certain that despite my human features, I was of Draconian heritage. After 4 hours, real life began to slowly fade away, and by 6 hours I could remember nothing of a life that was not Everquest. Soon my addiction of hours became an addiction of days, weeks, even months. Reality was like the fleeting, surreal dream that quickly faded away whenever I returned to Everquest. Life in Everquest had its advantages... I was much more popular with the girls, witty and muscular, fearless and without insecurities. It seemed like a paradise, until one day cruel fate tore me from this blissful utopia. According to the authorities, a power circuit blew, but my body in its starved and withered state was unable to fully operate away from Everquest and rescue myself from this situation. My comatose, lifeless form was discovered five days later, and I spent four weeks in hospital recovering mentally and physically from my addiction. Everquest is a truly fantastic thing, but be prepared, for its perfection gives rise to consequences more severe than you could ever have imagined.

Best computer game I have ever played.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 10
Date: October 28, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Since I started playing EverQuest the other games I have have gone back into their boxes. You don't play this game just against computer generated AI characters, you play in cooperation with other living people.

Unlike other online game platforms I have tried, like GameSpy for example, EverQuest is filled with players who are actually polite and helpfull when asked for assistance. Imagine that!

Verant has worked hard to build an enjoyable game platform, that promotes player harmony and cooperation. They should be commended.

Buy this game... (Not responsible for you wife hating me as a result of this review!)

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