ON MARCH 16, 2019, EverQuest turned 20. Daybreak Games rolled out new monsters, items, quests, and areas for players to explore.
But the more interesting content for long-time players, and perhaps the developers themselves, were the numbers shared in an official tally of statistics.
142,511 active guilds.
465 average hours played per character.
7,305 days since the game’s launch in March 1999.
That last stat is arguably the most impressive. The advent of video streaming, smartphones, and social media caused an explosion powerful enough to unleash an avalanche of content. Articles, books, videos, live streams, video games—the content never stops. Most creations have a lifespan of days or hours. Others are lucky enough to survive for weeks or months.
EverQuest is an even rarer breed, a game built on aging technology that miraculously continues to capture the imaginations of users who exist in a world where everything else is competing for their attention at every moment.
“At about three months into EverQuest, the doomsayers started appearing in forums and in-game: ‘This game's never going to last. It's going to die in, like, six months,’” recalled Linda Carlson, formerly director of communications for Daybreak. “And here we are, 20 years later.”
In the grand scheme of changes to its content and structure—graphical enhancements, more quests, areas, characters, weapons, and spells—new technology has little to do with EverQuest’s longevity. Its foundation, a space for players to occupy together, to talk and battle and quest and rescue and live their virtual and real lives, is all they’ve needed for 20 years, and may be all they need for 20 more.
“Nobody had a clue it would last so long,” Carlson continued. “Developers would have been surprised if it had lasted three or five years. This is a game where the sum of its parts is much greater than the game itself, and it's continued to evolve. A lot of us have a special place in our heart for the early days, but it's still astonishing to me.”
“It's the players, I think, the people involved who make this so memorable,” agreed Kevin Lydy, artist and world-builder. “A lot of these people and I kind of grew up together. We've spent more time together making this thing than we've spent with our spouses. One of the guys who worked on the project years ago played in a band together not that long ago. The relationships really stick with me.”
“Andy Sites and I always joke around, saying, ‘EQ for life,’” added artist Brandan McDonald. “It is really strange, I guess, to be working on one game for so long. But, hey, it's EverQuest. It goes on forever, and it's so fun.”
“An interesting phenomenon happened,” said John Smedley, whose grit and determination to pioneer online game was largely responsible for EverQuest existing at all. “Because I ran the company for so long, I went to our fan faires every year, and there were people who had kids, and they'd start their kids playing EQ. The kids were five or six, sitting on their parents' laps. These kids would come to the faires, and I'd get to watch them grow up. Watching families play together was one of the coolest aspects for me, making this game that made family connections so much stronger. In my own gaming life, playing with my son and daughter is very personal for me, so I know exactly how that feels. But being able to watch it happen to other people, seeing the joy our game brings into their life, is really gratifying.”
Those interactions, those shared experiences, spurred EverQuest’s popularity in its early days—and is the impetus for its endurance. “In my opinion, the genesis of online games, there were others like Meridian 69 and Neverwinter Nights—I played all of them,” Smedley continued. “But we captured some magic. The success of EverQuest is largely because it was a completely new experience for many people, but I don't pretend there were no online games before us. We went our own way, and I think that worked out pretty well.”
“It's interesting to be a part of something that's been around for so long,” reflected Scott Dale, a staple of support for the game’s community. “I forget I've been part of different aspects because I just come in trying to help people, and make the experience better for our customers. I've helped launch lot of games, but EQ is special because I played it before I started here. I played it so often with friends, and some of them I don't even talk to anymore. It's special.”
EQ designer Jonathan Caraker likewise views himself as a resident of EQ more than one of its operators. “I feel like a steward of this game. I was there when it was a toddler, and I've helped raise it into a functional adult. I feel like the game is bigger than any of us. Initially, we were the game gods. We controlled it, directed it, we made it; it was ours. But now the game is so big and means so much to other people. We're guides and stewards, and less in control of its destiny. The community is integral to the game. As an MMO, the game is the community. It's a vehicle for socialization and shared experiences, so players are, in large part, the content of the game.”
To designer Alan VanCouvering, EverQuest’s 20th anniversary is both special, and just another mile marker on a road with no end in sight.
“I know people who met and got married, who are part of these communities, and who may never have gotten the chance to meet each other if not for this game. You couldn't do that in a previous age. When I was growing up, if you didn't like any of the kids in your neighborhood growing up, tough shit. They're all you had. So it's interesting to hear people talking about this 20th anniversary like it's a milestone. For me, every year feels like a milestone. It's hard for me to treat this any differently than any other [content release]. It's been 20 years, but to me it feels like five. It's exciting, but we still have more work to do.”
