Tonight I’m gonna party like it’s 1999...

It might be 12 years old and been overtaken by shiny modern MMOs such as World Of Warcraft and Rift, but PC classic EverQuest is currently undergoing a resurgence in popularity.

Yes, the game that introduced us to the joy of corpse runs, camp checks, trains (no, not ones that run on tracks) and Misty Thicket Picnics is thrilling EverCrack addicts all over again.

Two new timed progression servers were launched back in February, offering masochists the chance to once again experience the grind of the golden days when the land of Norrath was in its infancy.

As the months roll by, players are asked to vote as to whether new expansions should be rolled out. Currently, we’re still in vanilla EverQuest, although it looks as if The Ruins Of Kunark expansion is just around the corner.

This is great news for my fledgling bard, as I’ll soon be able to sing and dance my way over to the fabled Lake Of Ill Omen, where I learned the art of “kiting” mobs back in those halcyon days.

Experiencing the game again all these years later throws many of EverQuest’s flaws into sharp focus and some gameplay quirks are positively archaic.

But despite its rough edges – starting out is a bewildering fuddle – EverQuest delivers an experience quite unlike modern MMOs, with players having to really get under its skin to get the most out of the game.

It’s a game which plays at a slower pace, too – as you have to sit waiting for a quest mob to pop or for your mana or health to regen. Not everyone’s cup of tea, sure, but grouped with a few friends and chatting via TeamSpeak, there’s nothing quite like it.

Both servers are nice and busy, too, and during my first 10 levels, I regularly got into groups in the madness that is Clan Crushbone, while the undead-infested Estate of Unrest is currently coughing up lovely xp and lots of mental dashes to the zone line to escape Festering Hags and other nocturnal nightmares.

Getting hold of a physical copy of EverQuest is a bit of a chore these days, but luckily, you can grab a digital version from Steam. So if you are bored of Warcraft’s casual hand-holding and are looking for a deeper, more rewarding experience, come and join us on the Fippy Darkpaw server.

MMOs: What Does The Future Hold?

In August 2002, my friends built me a PC. Why? Well, they wanted me to experience epic MMO EverQuest. I was reluctant at first, although having seen them play SoE’s online epic, I was beginning to come around to their way of thinking.

Eventually I caved, buying all the parts I needed before they beavered away long into the autumn night crafting the PC which would take me on some memorable journeys across Norrath, the moon of Luclin and on to the fabled Planes of Power.

What started as nothing more than a mere curiosity soon took hold and blossomed into a two year obsession.

From a gamer whose only RPG experiences until that point came from console games such as Zelda and Final Fantasy, EverQuest’s open world freedom simply blew me away.

With my friends at my side and a friendly guild at my back, we explored much of what EverQuest and its subsequent expansions had to offer. It might be the norm now to team up via PC, 360 or PS3 and battle strange beasts and hoover up shiny new trinkets, but eight years ago, it was something of a novelty.

My guild, Twilight Brethren, were then thrown to the wind due to the arrival of EverQuest 2 in 2004. Some people stuck with EverQuest, others - including myself - jumped straight into the sequel on its first day of release.

I loved EverQuest 2, and played it religiously. However, when I received a beta invite for World of Warcraft a few weeks before general release, all other gaming endeavors were hastily shoved to one side.

Eventually, I was playing both EverQuest 2 and World of Warcraft - and as any MMO player will tell you, playing more than one just isn’t possible due to the time demands and costs involved.

Warcraft won out in the end and I’ve been playing it on and off since launch as a strictly casual player. Part of my job revolves around playing games for review, which curtails my MMO time. Not that I particularly mind, as the lure of the MMO has been fading for me in recent years.

Now, a session on Warcraft usually feels more akin to a single player experience, with a distinct lack of chatter on the guild channel, while gold sellers constantly spam the airwaves with their offers.

I’m looking forward to Knights Of The Old Republic and have recently started dabbling with Rift, but the genre needs a hefty kick up the backside.

Evolution and MMOs don’t really go together - even Rift appears to be a 'greatest hits' package of what has gone before. While many have tried to tinker with the tried and tested fetch quest formula, the whole thing is getting a bit long in the tooth.

I only hope that future MMOs at least try and push the boundaries, because the whole genre feels stale and unloved. If things continue to trundle along, I'm sure more and more players will jump across to MMOs which feature a free to play model, leaving many so-called big hitters face down in the dirt. That might be a bold statement given the size of World of Warcraft's player base, but nothing lasts forever.

Players in general don’t have a great deal of time to play games given their other commitments, something which has undoubtedly led to the rise in the casual games market.

Let’s hope developers take a fresh stance and re-invigorate the genre and move away from the usual array of MMO trappings...God knows it needs it.

Dragonica - PC

When I first started playing MMOs, there wasn't a great deal of choice. Eight years ago, the only two real options were Ultima Online and EverQuest on PC.

However, with the huge success of World of Warcraft and Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo all embracing online play, gamers have never had so much choice.

Dragonica is a free-to-play side-scrolling PC MMO, which will be released later this year. I've been lucky enough to have spent the last few weeks in the Beta test and it's shaping up to be a great game.

Most free to play MMOs aren't the best, failing to match the quality of pay-to-play games such as Warcraft, EverQuest 2, Eve Online and Lord of the Rings Online. However, Dragonica - along with the recently released Free Realms - have proved, free to play doesn't necessarily mean cheap production values.

Developed by South Korean firm Barunson Inteactive and distributed in the UK by gPotato, Dragonica clearly isn't aimed at the hardcore World of Warcraft player. However, those who think its kid-friendly visuals indicate an MMO-lite will be in for a bit of a surprise.

Underneath its deliciously colourful wrapping lies all the elements that go into making a memorable MMO: Skill trees, quests, battles, special attacks, item crafting, enchanted weapons and, more importantly, loot drops. Finding items from downed creatures lies at the core of a decent MMO, and it's a mechanic which keeps players playing. It's implemented well here, with quest hand-ins yielding better equipment and weapons.

For those used to the open world aspect of an MMO, Dragonica is something of a shock. While it's possible to move up and down to a limited degree while exploring the world, the game is played out on a pseudo 3D map.

Another jolt to the average MMO player will be the control method. Dragonica largely does away with the mouse, relying instead on the cursor keys to move, C to jump, X to attack, Z and Space to interact with people and objects, while special abilities can be mapped to the QWERTY keys. Also, judging by iPotato's press release, it looks as if control pad support will be added at a later date.

It's hard to be too critical, especially as the game is still in the beta phase of development, but there are a few niggles which will hopefully be sorted before the game launches.

There are some terrible grammatical errors throughout and the menu system can be unnecessarily cumbersome and messy at times. Some menu overlays also stick, meaning you have to logout and re-enter the world, while the lack of 1440 x 900 support means the game looks a bit fuzzy on my widescreen monitor.

However, there's enough on display at the moment to suggest that Dragonica will be an impressive package when the game goes on general release. Definitely one to keep your eye on.

Happy Birthday EverQuest

As EverQuest celebrates its 10th birthday this week, I thought I would take a look back at the game which changed my perception of what videogames could achieve.

Up until I took my first steps in Norrath, I was strictly a console RPG player – and I played a lot. From exploring the kingdom of Hyrule in Zelda: A Link to the Past, to delving deep into Square’s Final Fantasy series, I thought nothing of ploughing upwards of 50 hours into these deep and rewarding titles.

However, as magnificent as these games were, they all followed a familiar pattern, where the player was essentially led from one point to another to advance the story.

I had three friends who played EverQuest on PC, and I was intrigued by their passion and enthusiasm for the game – a game which didn’t follow a cookie-cutter storyline, and instead let the player create their own experiences in a rich and diverse world.

Social interaction was central to the experience, and by grouping with other players from around the world, previously inaccessible areas would open up, and memorable encounters would ensue. It might be the norm now thanks to the myriad of MMORPGs on the market, but back then, EverQuest’s style of play was a revelation to me.

It wasn’t until 2002 that I finally took the plunge, and thanks to the help of my hopelessly addicted EverQuest friends, my PC was built from scratch just so I could experience the wonders of Norrath first-hand.

After much deliberation, I chose to play as a Dwarf Paladin named Balderak on the Torvenillous server. Over the coming weeks, months and years, the world of Norrath became my second home.

It wasn’t just the exploration and discovery aspect which I found so compelling about EverQuest, but the social interaction within my guild, Twilight Brethren, which sealed the deal. It was a wonderful guild, full of lovely, helpful people from across the globe - people who would go out of their way to help a struggling beginner such as myself.

A full namecall here would be too much, but chief among these like-minded players were Tegout, Milliana, Atiyin, Morghana, Fedarov, Olympe, Sardaor, Mubadger, Rosi, Rabbie, Grippa, Mavis, Bellesin, Bereg, Gakrek, Sebbi, and Caminarra.

With our merry band of Brethren, we traversed the realm of Norrath and beyond: The dark, dank caverns of Lower Guk, the underwater ruins of Kedge Keep, the decrepit and deadly Estate of Unrest, and the haunted Castle Mistmoore were just some of the places we explored. Even the gods weren’t safe from our trusty band, with Norrath’s creators quaking in fear as Twilight Brethren ascended to the metaphysical planes they inhabited.

I seldom had the time to take part in organised raids, but I did manage to attend several memorable encounters, and fairly early in my EverQuest life, seeing the fearsome ice dragon Lady Vox in her frosty lair was a particular personal highlight.

I played EverQuest constantly for two and a half years until I left the game to explore EverQuest 2 and World of Warcraft. I have been back many times since to sneak a peek at what Sony Online Entertainment have added to the game. I sometimes even toy with the idea of going back full-time, although I truly believe I played EverQuest during a golden era and worry the old magic would no longer be there if I were to return.

However, I’m thrilled to see EverQuest still going strong and although I am no longer part of the community, the time I spent with Twilight Brethren - many of whom I still keep in touch with and many of whom are still playing! - will always remain special to me.

So here’s to another 10 years, EverQuest. Happy birthday.

Images courtesy of Sony Online Entertainment