Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

I've had many fun moments playing EverQuest over the last ten plus years (I was one of the folks that got into beta fairly early).  I've probably got even more stories about working on the game for eight of those years.  But for me, like probably many people that have played the game, my favorite stories come from my earliest days playing; playing with my guildies in fact.

It's hard to describe the exact reasons that I remember those times so fondly.  Specifics are hard to come by when you're my age remembering ten years back.  I do know that primarily it was the people.  It was my guild.  Most of us "met" through a weekly web-zine thing as contributors, editors, goofballs or artists long before the game launched.  At some point all of us were invited to beta and were off and running with our "RP" guild of dark elves.  I, uncharacteristically, played a cleric.  I still smile at the hours I'd spend standing at the zone line from Kithicor to Commonlands finding new ways to explain to other dark elves that killing our own guards was foolish, though very hateful indeed.  We were constantly roleplaying in the face of leet name calling and such, and we loved every minute of it.

Our post launch guild was far more diverse.  We had a ranger that steadfastly led our entire group, trailing behind using auto-follow, directly over a cliff causing the death of several of our weaker members.  We had our hide and seek games in Qeynos, where they unfairly proclaim my use of illusions as cheating.  We had good times doing things that the designers meant for us to do.  We had just as much fun doing whatever we thought a band of adventurers might do in their off hours.

But my favorite EverQuest memory happened in real life.  In Las Vegas, in fact.  This was the first time our guild met in real life.  We came from all over the country, and from other countries as well.  This was one of the wonders of EverQuest, that a dozen or more people who had never actually met would consider themselves close enough friends to fly to Las Vegas and spend a weekend together.

I can only imagine what the others thought.  I know that I was thinking that it was going to be pretty awkward.  I figured that there was no way I'd like most of these people in person.  Hell, they were roleplayers, so there was a good chance they weren't nearly as interesting in real life as they were in game.  Of course, I was wrong.  Each and every one of them was an amazing person.  We genuinely liked each other.  Our friendships grew stronger, and it wasn't as weird as I thought to have a real face to give to the game face.  That Fan Faire in Vegas was the most memorable time I've had related to EverQuest and it served me well when I start to wonder why I was working sixty hour weeks on the game.

For most folks of the current generation this might not seem like anything new.  But this was ten years ago.  Back then most folks didn't know that you could actually make friends over the internet.  I know I didn't.  That experience had a lot of influence on me and helped me in the work I did early on EverQuest as a Community Relations Manager.  And now as a designer I try to keep it in mind as I build content for the game.  EverQuest is a game, sure, but it's also a place to make connections and enjoy a great time with good friends.

Alan VanCouvering, Assistant Lead Designer