Is EverQuest Dead?

With the recent Living Legacy promotion there’s been a lot of old players returning to EverQuest. Sadly, most of these players only login once or twice and disappear back into the darkness they came from. I had to ask myself why.

There’s a number of reasons it’s possible that somebody would take the time to return to EQ only to quickly leave. Perhaps the new expansions don’t run smoothly on their machines or they don’t like the direction the game has gone. Honestly though, I have a hard time believing that either of those are the big reason. I think I figured out the real reason…they think the game is dead.

The Past
Most players left the game around 2004 or 2005, right around the time EverQuest 2 and World of Warcraft were released. Heck, I’ll be honest, I left the game for several years to play both EQ2 and WoW. Around this time Omens of War was pretty new, the top guilds were struggling through Gates of Discord, and the Planes of Power were absolutely flooding. I remember I was the only person in the Plane of Disease once. It was such an amazing occasion that it required a screenshot! Pretty much every zone had at least a couple groups in them. Bastion of Thunder was absolutely exploding. Even a lot of the older, Velious era, content was used enough to where you were hardly ever alone.

The Present
Fast forward to 2008. Gates is close to abandoned. The Planes of Power still see some action, usually because one of its zones is a hotzone, but it’s mostly empty. Being alone in a zone was once a rarity, now it’s commonplace. Even the Plane of Knowledge rarely breaks 50 people. So it must be true right? EverQuest must be dead!

The Perception
All of these returning players know nothing of the newer zones. They’re behind in levels. They’re behind in AAs. They’re behind in gear. Catching up sucks.

This problem is compounded when they try and get a group in there favorite zone (from 2004) which has long since been past over. I can imagine their train of thought to go something like this:“How can this be?! There’s only three players in the Plane of Fire?! There’s only 22 people in the Plane of Knowledge?! I’m the only person in Paludal Caverns?! Woah, this game is dead.” I don’t think many players make it past this point. Already being behind in levels/gear/AAs is frustrating. Being behind in all that and thinking the game is dead guarantees they won’t be back.

The Truth
So EverQuest is dead right? Right?! Honestly, I don’t think so. Unfortunately, it takes a bit more digging than the average player is willing to do to discover that. Those hundreds of players that used to be in the Plane of Knowledge…they’ve relocated to the Guild Hall (where buffs don’t wear off). The Planes being dead…it’s old content. You can’t really expect content from 7 expansions ago to stay busy forever. Most people are in hotzones or in the latest expansions.

The biggest problem EQ is facing is that as it continues to grow in content, every zone looks emptier and emptier. Things will feel very lively if you have 1000 players and only 10 zones. Things feel pretty dead if you have 1000 players and 500 zones. EverQuest is facing this exact problem.

The Furture
EverQuest is dying though. The fact is, I hardly ever see any actual new players. Just returning old players or a current player’s new boxed character. They’ve slowed the expansion cycle under the guise of “higher quality”. I’d prefer it that way if it were true, but it reeks of “we actually only have half the team we used to for making expansions, so we need twice as long.” How much longer will EQ go? Honestly, I have no idea. I’m guessing about 2-3 more years.

The nail in the coffin for EQ will be when the devs, after all these years, announce there will no longer be new expansions created. The doors will stay open long after this, but most players will leave, realizing they are traveling down a dead end road.

For now, let’s enjoy the MMORPG we’ve loved for years and make sure to tell your friends, “No, it’s not dead!”