EverQuest and the Intoxication of Nostalgia

Just because my own EverQuest nostalgia buzz is in remission for the moment doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot out there to be harvested.

EverQuest, still riding high in its 10th year has had a poll going about a new server they plan to open.  They wanted to know what sort of rule set the players would want.  And the results were announced last Friday on the EverQuest Developer Blog, it is going to be a 51/50 rule set.

And unless you’ve been paying close attention, that doesn’t mean much.

The new rule set means that when you create a new character it starts out at level 51 with 50 AA points to spend and a standard set of equipment.  This may be, as Tipa points out, a unique opportunity to experience EverQuest.  You will suddenly have a server loaded with people who are level 51 and looking to play, to experience EverQuest anew.

I’d personally have to find a group to run with… which I guess would be the point… because level 51 is a few levels beyond what I have ever achieved in EverQuest.  But from the tourist perspective this is a serious enabler.  And there is certainly more work to be done, as the level cap is up to 85 and you can earn (and will need) a gazillion AA points.

Of course, this isn’t enough nostalgia for some.  I saw a post the other day that was pointing toward yet another Internet petition drive, this one asking for SOE to create a classic EverQuest server.  They have their own site and you can go read the petition for details, but in essence they want to relive the first few years of EverQuest in real-time with the same content.

That means a good stretch of time with only the release content, rules, and graphics.  That might seem like a good idea when looking through the rose colored glasses of nostalgia, but probably isn’t.  EverQuest was awesome on day one partially because there was nothing else really like it.  Today however….

I do wonder if World of Warcraft will generate the same amount of nostalgia in a few years, if there will be petitions to create servers where hunters still have to go tame animals to learn skills and such?  Not that Blizzard plays the nostalgia card that way.  They tend to make a game, make an expansion, and move on.  And if they want to revisit an IP, they make a new version of the game.

And on the EverQuest theme, Raph Koster pointed out that Games Studies is devoting this month’s edition to EverQuest in celebration of the 10th anniversary.  They have some interesting articles up including a somewhat dated but interesting interview with Brad McQuaid and Kevin McPherson.

And if all of that isn’t enough to get you thinking about resubscribing to EverQuest just for old time’s sake, go watch Sayonara Norrath one more time.  If that doesn’t do it, you were probably not a fan of EverQuest in the first place.