The Inside Scoop on Gaming

I can not say I have conquered Everquest by any means. The game is just too dense. But I have been playing long enough to share my thoughts on it.

The great thing about Everquest is its learning curve. It is challenging for people at first level, tenth level or even 20th level. Of course for the first ten levels you can not do much more than kill rats and other light weights. The game encourages growing your character, becuase if you don't there is simply not much to do.

The biggest deficit in Everquest is the documentation. The book included with the software is so bad, that you either have to pull a lot of information off web sites or fork out fifteen bucks for a player's guide.

The story behind the game is weak and could have been done much better. There is a lot that is not explained and the standard fantasy setting is thrown to us like a hastily placed rug. The set up for the game could have been better and perhaps enhanced an already decent atmosphere. There are the standard races (Human, Troll, Orc, Human, Elf, Dark Elf, etc.) and fairly standard classes (cleric, warrior, magic users, paladins, etc.). There are a lot of choices for characters and how you want them to be in the world.

As a character there are lots of things to get. But it takes time and even to be fully equipped with mudane items is going to take a lot of time, money and effort. Each location on the body has its own protection (i.e. shoulder, chest, feet, legs, etc.) and it is tough to find money enough to get basic stuff. The skill system is good, but not well documented. It takes a looong time to get good at skills.

The game has about as much role playing value as Diablo. Which is to say superficial at best. But the building of characters is so work and time consuming you do care an awful lot what happens to them. But on a grand campaign sort of feel to the game? That is still a mystery to me.

However there are a lot of places to go. It would take literally hours upon hours to walk across all three islands in the world. But early on you are lucky to go a few zones out from your home base. It gets scary when you go out into the world!

The monthly cost to play might turn some players off. To be frank it turned me off at first. Then I realized I have a tough enough time finding people to play even the most mundane hack-n-slash games, much less the convienient time slots to play. My friends whom I game with in real life have similar troubles. Now we can hook up for an hour or two and then part ways in game or if real life calls. Certainly for about ten bucks a month of a gaming budget, that is not bad.

From a technical standpoint Everquest is well done. The lag is sometimes irksome, but overall it runs smooth. Each server represents a world, and players can not move between servers (which all house the same basic setting). The graphics are good, but certainly not what is considered state of the art in 3D acceleration.

Overall I like Everquest. It is well designed, affordable and fun. But it could have been more.

Maybe when online games catch up with the dynamic of real person to person games is when the print RPG industry will have to worry. But not right now. Everquest is good and the best online RPG to date, but it is not substitution for the real thing.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 3 (Average)

Everquest
Author: Unknown Category: CRPG Company/Publisher: 989 Studios Line: Everquest Cost: 45.00 Page count: n/a Capsule Review by Wes Johnson on 05/17/99. Genre tags: Fantasy	I can not say I have conquered Everquest by any means. The game is just too dense. But I have been playing long enough to share my thoughts on it. The great thing about Everquest is its learning curve. It is challenging for people at first level, tenth level or even 20th level. Of course for the first ten levels you can not do much more than kill rats and other light weights. The game encourages growing your character, becuase if you don't there is simply not much to do. The biggest deficit in Everquest is the documentation. The book included with the software is so bad, that you either have to pull a lot of information off web sites or fork out fifteen bucks for a player's guide. The story behind the game is weak and could have been done much better. There is a lot that is not explained and the standard fantasy setting is thrown to us like a hastily placed rug. The set up for the game could have been better and perhaps enhanced an already decent atmosphere. There are the standard races (Human, Troll, Orc, Human, Elf, Dark Elf, etc.) and fairly standard classes (cleric, warrior, magic users, paladins, etc.). There are a lot of choices for characters and how you want them to be in the world. As a character there are lots of things to get. But it takes time and even to be fully equipped with mudane items is going to take a lot of time, money and effort. Each location on the body has its own protection (i.e. shoulder, chest, feet, legs, etc.) and it is tough to find money enough to get basic stuff. The skill system is good, but not well documented. It takes a looong time to get good at skills. The game has about as much role playing value as Diablo. Which is to say superficial at best. But the building of characters is so work and time consuming you do care an awful lot what happens to them. But on a grand campaign sort of feel to the game? That is still a mystery to me. However there are a lot of places to go. It would take literally hours upon hours to walk across all three islands in the world. But early on you are lucky to go a few zones out from your home base. It gets scary when you go out into the world! The monthly cost to play might turn some players off. To be frank it turned me off at first. Then I realized I have a tough enough time finding people to play even the most mundane hack-n-slash games, much less the convienient time slots to play. My friends whom I game with in real life have similar troubles. Now we can hook up for an hour or two and then part ways in game or if real life calls. Certainly for about ten bucks a month of a gaming budget, that is not bad. From a technical standpoint Everquest is well done. The lag is sometimes irksome, but overall it runs smooth. Each server represents a world, and players can not move between servers (which all house the same basic setting). The graphics are good, but certainly not what is considered state of the art in 3D acceleration. Overall I like Everquest. It is well designed, affordable and fun. But it could have been more. Maybe when online games catch up with the dynamic of real person to person games is when the print RPG industry will have to worry. But not right now. Everquest is good and the best online RPG to date, but it is not substitution for the real thing. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 3 (Average)