EverQuest

EverQuest
Developer(s)	Sony Online Entertainment
Publisher(s)	Sony Online Entertainment
Platform(s)	Windows, Mac OS X
Release	March 16, 1999
Genre(s)	MMORPG
Mode(s)	Multiplayer

EverQuest, often called EQ, is a 3D fantasy-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) that was released on March 16, 1999. The original design is credited to Brad McQuaid, Steve Clover, and Bill Trost. It was developed by Sony's 989 Studios and its 1999 spin-off Verant Interactive. It was published by Sony Online Entertainment (SOE). Since its acquisition of Verant in 1999, SOE develops, runs and distributes EverQuest..

While there is no complete agreement on what constitutes a player (or subscriber), it is generally accepted that EverQuest was, from 2000 until 2004, the most popular MMORPG. EverQuest earned many awards, including GameSpot's Game of the Year Award for 1999.

A sequel , EverQuest II, was released in late 2004. The game has also inspired a number of other spinoffs.

Business Model

The game's business model includes:

• Sale of an account key which allows a new account to be created, or a trial account to be made permanent.
• Sale of keys which allow accounts to be upgraded to access the content in expansions. Some keys allow access to only an individual expansion. Others to all expansions up to a certain point in time. The newest expansion, Secrets of Faydwer, includes access to all current content including the original game.
• Subscription (by the month, quarter, single year, or 2-years) that allow a specific account to be active.

A software package is installed (by download or from CD/DVD) on the player's computer which allows any player with an active membership to connect to the game content and other players on the game servers of SOE.

As of December 2007, SOE offers free 14-day trial accounts which do not require a credit card.

Gameplay

Many of the elements from EverQuest have been drawn from text-based MUD (multi-user dungeon) games, which in turn were inspired by traditional role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons.

In EverQuest, players create a character (also known as an avatar, or colloquially as char, charrie or toon) by selecting one of 16 "races" in the game, which range from elves, dwarves and ogres of fantasy, to humans, to cat-people (Vah Shir) and lizard-people (Iksar). Players also select their characters' adventuring occupation (such as a wizard, ranger, or cleric—called a class—see below for particulars).

A Sand Giant engaging a group in a desert-themed zone, Oasis of Marr.

Players use their character to explore the fantasy world of Norrath, fight monsters and enemies for treasure and experience points, and master trade skills. As they progress, players advance in level, gaining power, prestige, spells, and abilities through actions such as looting the remains of defeated enemies and doing quests (tasks and adventures given by non-player characters (NPCs) in which a reward is given upon success).

EverQuest also allows players to interact with other players through role-play, joining player guilds, and dueling other players (in restricted situations—EQ only allows Player versus Player (PVP) combat on the PvP-specific server).

The geography of the game universe consists of nearly four hundred zones. Multiple instances of the world exist on various servers, each one hosting between one and three thousand simultaneous players online during peak times.

Classes

The fourteen classes of the original 1999 version of EverQuest were later expanded to include the Beastlord and Berserker classes with the Shadows of Luclin (2001) and Gates of Discord (2004) expansions, respectively.

The classes can be grouped into those that share similar characteristics that allow them to play certain types of roles within the game when grouped with others. One way of grouping classes is described below.

Tank classes

"Tank" classes are those that have high numbers of "health points" for their level and can wear heavy armor. They also have the ability to taunt enemies into focusing on them, rather than other party members who may be more susceptible to damage and death.

• Warrior: the prototypical tank class, able to avoid and mitigate more damage than any other class. In a way, this is offset by their inability to cast spells.

• Shadow Knight: a durable tank class; this Warrior/Necromancer hybrid has vampiric and damage-over-time spells. Shadow Knights also have the unique ability to Harm Touch (do direct damage) every 72 minutes, the power of which increases in absolute terms but decreases relative to enemies' hit points as a player levels up. At higher levels, Shadow Knights are able to summon a weak pet, summon players' corpses who are in the same zone as them, and are able to feign death. The feign death ability allows the Shadow Knight to function as a "puller" for a group.

• Paladin: the "good" counterpart to the Shadow Knight, a Paladin is a hybrid Warrior-Cleric. They are able to Lay on Hands (heal themselves or another player) once every 72 minutes. At higher levels, paladins also receive some resurrection spells. Paladins are tough in melee, with some healing, protective, and stun spells. At mid-range levels, they have a "pacify" line of spells that allows them to function as a "puller" for a group.

Damage dealers

The following classes are able to produce large quantities of damage to the enemy in a short period of time. Within the game, these classes are often referred to as 'DPS' standing for Damage Per Second.

The melee damage dealers have a medium number of hit points per level, but cannot wear the heaviest armors and are less likely than a "tank" class to be able to survive direct attacks for a sustained period of time.

• Beastlord: The Beastlord is a unique class which combines some powers from the Monk and Shaman classes along with a powerful pet. Beastlords can imbue their pets with powers and combat enemies with hand-to-hand skills or with weapons. They can also "de-buff" enemies with spells, and possess modest healing abilities. This diverse array of skills allows Beastlords to be effective solo adventurers at many levels as well as handy in a group setting.

• Berserker: A specialist form of the melee type, the Berserker is primarily a medium-armored, high-damage dealer that uses two-handed weapons and who can hurl axes and other thrown objects.

• Monk: As masters of martial arts, Monks are the hand-to-hand fighting experts and are a powerful melee damage-dealer. Monks have the ability to feign death with a high degree of reliability and other skills that enable them to be a strong "pulling" class.

• Ranger: A versatile hybrid class combining some of a Warrior's ability with a Druid's spells, Rangers are able to deal large amounts of damage both from a ranged distance and in melee. Their most unusual ability is to track unseen NPCs, for which they can be used as "pullers" in outdoor zones. Rangers also have the ability to "taunt" and in casual play can sometimes play the role of "tank".

• Rogue: With their backstab ability, Rogues are able to inflict the highest rate of damage of any of the classes, if they are in a party that can keep the opponent facing away from the Rogue. Rogues also have the ability to make poisons, pick pockets, and pick locks. Their abilities to sneak and hide allow them to walk past both living and undead mobs without being seen.

The "caster" classes have the lowest hit points per level and can only utilize the lightest of armors.

• Wizard: The primary nuking class; these casters are able to deal catastrophic damage to enemies over a very short time, particularly with their Manaburn skill. Wizards also have transportation spells that facilitate group travel to particular locations.

• Magician: Usually referred to as Mages, Magicians are similar to the Wizard class but with somewhat less power. They are able to summon strong elemental pets (which they rely heavily upon), pet armor and weapons, food, drink, and mod rods, which allow players to convert their health into mana. Magicians can also summon party members to different parts of a zone with the Call of the Hero spell, which can be helpful in raid zones.

• Necromancer: These masters of death are able to summon powerful undead pets and use a large variety of poison and disease-based damage-over-time spells. Necromancers are able to feign death, snare enemies, and summon players' corpses in-zone. They have a combination of skills and abilities, most notably the ability to snare (make an enemy run slowly) and fear (run in the opposite direction) that allows them to function as an effective solo class.

Crowd control / utility

These classes share the ability to restrain multiple enemies from attacking the party and also have the ability to increase party members' ability to regenerate mana at a faster rate.

• Enchanter: A "caster" class that has few hit points per level and can wear only the lightest forms of armor, Enchanters are "crowd control" experts and are the most proficient class at charming, stunning, and mesmerizing enemies. They have the ability to "memory blur" an opponent (cause them to forget they were being attacked) or "pacify" an opponent (make them not notice enemies are in the area) which can be highly useful to avoid combat. Enchanters also have a wide range of utility spells, including the Clarity (AKA "crack") line of spells, which when cast on a player allows them to regenerate mana faster. In addition to being able to both increase players' rate of attack (with haste), and slowing that of enemies, Enchanters can cast illusions on themselves and others, which may have no real benefit (other than having a new look) or may confer real benefits such as underwater breathing, flight, or a vampiric touch. Lastly, Enchanters possess the unique Rune line of spells, which acts as a protective buffer against all forms of damage until a fixed amount of damage has been absorbed.

• Bard: a jack-of-all-trades class with fair melee ability, good armor, and the ability to play songs that benefit all nearby comrades, such as "crowd control" effects as well as mana and health regeneration. Bards possess a lesser version of many of the special abilities of other classes. They are known for their ability to increase the movement speed of their party faster than any mount or movement buff. Bards can weave the effects of up to four songs at once to confer the greatest advantage to their group. Bards themselves often do not receive the full benefit of their songs, but they can still be an effective solo class at many levels, especially with their strong "kiting" proficiency.

Healers

The "priest" classes have medium level of hit points per level and have access to healing and "buff" spells.

• Cleric: The most powerful healer in the game, and for the first few years of EverQuest, the only class capable of resurrection and the powerful spell Complete Heal. Clerics can wear the heaviest plate-mail type armors.

• Druid: A priest class that can cast healing spells, teleport, snare (slow down) enemies, and cast moderately powerful nuking and damage-over-time spells. The range of abilities allows druids to play multiple roles in a group or to solo effectively. Druids may only wear "leather class" armors. Druids also have a number of transportation spells that allow speedy movement throughout much of the gaming world.

• Shaman: As a priest class, they have access to healing and many lines of "buff" spells. Shaman possess strong damage-over-time spells, and are able to slow an enemy's rate of attack. Shamans, or "Shammies" may cannibalize their health to restore mana and may wear "chain mail" levels of armor. Because of the range of Shaman's spells, they are sometimes considered a "utility" class.

Deities

There are several deities in EverQuest who each have a certain area of responsibility and play a role in the "backstory" of the game setting.

Zones

The EverQuest universe is divided into nearly 400 zones. These zones represent a wide variety of geographical features, including plains, oceans, cities, deserts, and other planes of existence. One of the most popular zones in the game is the Plane of Knowledge, one of the few zones in which all races and classes can coexist harmoniously without interference. The Plane of Knowledge is also home to portals to many other zones, including portals to other planes and to the outskirts of nearly every starting city.

Social dynamics

File:Velketor-doljonijiarnimorinar.jpg

Powerful enemies such as this named genie, Lord Doljonijiarnimorinar, require players working together as a group.

Generally speaking, gameplay in EverQuest can be divided up into three spheres: adventuring (i.e. gaining experience and loot), trading amongst other players, and social interaction with other players.

Adventuring can be done either alone (soloing), with a group (up to six players), or a raid (with as many as a zone could support, between 50–200, although Raid window will only allow 72 official participants). At low levels, all classes have the capacity to solo, although the game has been designed to encourage group play; and at higher levels only certain classes can efficiently gain experience by this method. While some parts of EverQuest can be experienced without the help of other players, much of EQ has been designed to encourage group-oriented gaming. A single character, unless exceptionally well-prepared (either by means of twink equipment or with spell enhancements, referred to in-game as "buffs"), will be unable to complete many of the encounters in EverQuest.

A effective group (or "party") will often consist of a "tank", a "healer", one or more "damage dealers", someone to do "crowd control" and someone to bring the mobs to where the group is set up. The last role is called "pulling" and in indoor zones is frequently held by a Monk, Shadow Knight or Paladin, while outdoors a Ranger using the tracking ability is sometimes used. Other groupings can also be effective, such as a group of Wizards in an indoor zone or Duoing with the Shaman-Monk and Cleric-Warrior tandems being highly successful.

While most parts of the game can be completed with the standard grouping of up to six players, some of the most challenging (and rewarding, in terms of loot) encounters require players to coordinate efforts in a raid. Normally the number of players in a raid range from 36 to 72, limiting factors being the maximum number of people allowed in a "raid window" and the maximum number of people allowed in certain instanced zones in more recent expansions. The design of encounters in expansions have changed resulting in raid tactics that have become more and more involved.

While "groups" and "raids" are temporary gatherings of players, "guilds" are associations that last beyond a single play session. Guilds are initially formed via an application process to SOE. Guilds may have widely varying goals; in some instances they are little more than a loose configuration of friends who wish to be able to stay in touch more easily. At the other end of the spectrum are Guilds that concentrate on tackling challenging raid dungeons and boss monsters. Such "raid guilds" may require members to commit up to five to eight hours per day to the game, up to seven days a week. For gameplay, guild membership allows all members of the guild to communicate with all other members via a special communications channel; and a player's guild affiliation appears alongside his or her character when viewed in game.

Gameplay jargon

EverQuest carries an internal language and culture of its own, including a plethora of arcane abbreviations aiding communication between players. For example, SoW (which stands for "Spirit of Wolf", a popular spell which accelerates players' movement), and vernacular usages such as "crack" or "mind candy" which within the context of EQ refer to mana regeneration spells such as Clarity or KEI (an acronym for "Koadic's Endless Intellect"). While mostly consistent, there are also some differences in jargon between servers, and between the Asian, European and American gaming communities. For example, KEI is known on some servers as C3 (it is the third version of Clarity). In-game chatting can practically be a foreign language to anyone who has not played it extensively.

Players utilized the term nerf (a reference to Nerf-brand swords being harmless) to refer to a skill, spell, or piece of equipment that had its game-play utility reduced dramatically by the designers when insufficient play testing had been done before release. The term was backronymed to mean "New Enhancement Reduces Fun" or "Not Even Remotely Fair" or "Never Ending Reduction of Functionality".

A number of terms used in-game have been popularized by players of EverQuest and passed one to use in a variety of other MMORPGs. One is the habit of calling monsters MOBs or mobs which is a contraction of Mobile OBjects and stems from old text-based MUDs' use of the term rather than from the normal English definition (a disorderly crowd). Other terms, while coined in EverQuest, have also migrated to other MMORPGs. Other terms have made their way into EQ from other games, such as the term Zerging from the computer game StarCraft—used when a raid's main strategy is to overwhelm an enemy by sheer force of numbers.

Development history

The design and concept of EverQuest is heavily indebted to text-based MUDs, in particular DikuMUD, and as such EverQuest is considered a 3D evolution of the text MUD genre like some of the MMOs that preceded it such as Meridian 59 and The Realm Online. John Smedley, Brad McQuaid, Steve Clover and Bill Trost who jointly are credited with creating the world of EverQuest have repeatedly pointed to their shared experiences playing MUDs such as DIKU and TorilMUD as the inspiration for the game.

Development of EverQuest began in 1996 when Sony Interactive Studios America (SISA) executive John Smedley secured funding for a 3D version of text-based MUDs following the successful launch of Meridian 59 the previous year. To implement the design Smedley hired programmers Brad McQuaid and Steve Clover who had come to Smedley's attention through their work on the single player RPG Warwizard. McQuaid soon rose through the ranks to become Executive Producer for the EverQuest franchise and emerged during development of EverQuest as a popular figure among the fan community through his in-game avatar, Aradune. Other key members of the development team included Bill Trost, who created the history, lore and major characters of Norrath (including Everquest protagonist Firiona Vie), Geoffrey "GZ" Zatkin who implemented the spell system, and artist Milo D. Cooper, who did the original character modeling in the game.

EverQuest launched with modest expectations from Sony on March 16, 1999 under its Verant Interactive brand and quickly became successful. By the end of the year, it had surpassed the leading competitor, Ultima Online, in number of subscriptions. Numbers continued rising at a steady rate until mid-2001 when growth slowed. As of 2004, Sony reports subscription numbers close to 450,000. SOE released a Mac OS X version of EverQuest in 2003, incorporating all expansions through Planes of Power. Development of the OS X version has languished since then, but the server remains up and running, supporting a small but enthusiastic user community.

The success of EverQuest has triggered several corporate iterations of its publishing entity which has engendered a popular misconception among newer fans of the series that ownership and creative leadership of franchise passed somehow in 2000 from an independent entity known as Verant into Sony's hands. In reality, EverQuest from its inception has continually been owned by one or other subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, with John Smedley retaining ultimate control of the product, from his creation of the concept in 1996, to this day. This confusion can be attributed to a shift in Sony's publishing priorities in the U.S. prior to the launch of its Playstation 2 product in 1999. In anticipation of PlayStation's launch Sony Interactive Studios America had made the decision to focus primarily on console titles under the banner 989 Studios while spinning off its sole computer title, EverQuest, which was ready to launch, to a new computer game division named Redeye (renamed Verant Interactive). Executives initially had very low expectations for EverQuest but in 2000, following the surprising continued success and unparalleled profits of EverQuest, Sony reorganized Verant Interactive into Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) with Smedley retaining control of the company. By 2002 however, a majority of the original EverQuest team, including Brad McQuaid, Steve Clover and Geoffrey Zatkin had left SOE and day-to-day development of new titles in the franchise continues largely in the hands of a new generation of Sony designers.

Servers

The game runs multiple servers, each with a unique name for identification; these names were originally the deities of the world of Norrath. In technical terms, each "game server" is actually a cluster of server machines. Each individual machine is fairly powerful. The server machines are regularly upgraded to handle the world as it is expanded.

In addition to the standard servers, some special servers have different rule sets. For example, some servers allow PvP on the server so that player can attack each other with fewer restrictions than there are on the standard servers. Several servers have been introduced with alternate rule-sets, including one which allows player killing, another, Firiona Vie, that has a set of rules more friendly to role-playing (although it also contained other rule changes that made it attractive to non-role-players which some argue defeated the purpose), and a premium flagship server titled Stormhammer Legends server (which, for a higher fee provided a greater level of in-game customer service. Many players saw this as a way to charge players more money for a level of service which should have existed without the fee). After many months of the "Legends" community pleading for communication with Sony about its future, nothing was said until a sudden announcement in December 2005 that Sony was closing the EQ flagship server. EverQuest Online Adventures, released in February 2003 , is an MMORPG for the PlayStation 2 console. EverQuest II, an alternative version (not sequel) of EverQuest, was launched in November 2004. Champions of Norrath, the d20 system EverQuest Role-Playing Game, several books, and player gatherings (Fan Faires) have also been spawned from EverQuest.

SOE opened Progression Servers, named The Sleeper and The Combine, which initially only offered access to the oldest continents of Norrath: Odus, Antonica, and Faydwer. Though the geography resembles that of the game's initial release, newer zones that are located on those continents are also available (for example, Odus includes the Warrens and Antonica has Jaggedpine Forest, though inclusion of both these zones came long after the start of the game). The expansion content is determined by the progress of the players on those servers, and the completion of certain tasks (such as defeating powerful characters or completing momentous quests) triggers the addition of later expansions. The two servers were merged, and are currently opened up through the Depths of Darkhollow expansion.

Once a character is created on a specific server, it can only be played on that server unless the character is transferred to a new server by the customer service staff. Each server often has a unique community and people often include the server name when identifying their character outside of the game.

EverQuest expansions

There have been fourteen expansions to the original game since release. Expansions are purchased separately and provide additional content to the game (for example: raising the maximum character level; adding new races, classes, continents, quests, and equipment; or adding additional game features). Additionally, the game is updated regularly through downloadable patches. The EQ expansions to date:

File:Crystal Caverns Queen spider lair.jpg

Queen Drachnia, with her guardians, in the Crystal Caverns, a zone in Velious expansion.

1. The Ruins of Kunark (March 2000)
2. The Scars of Velious (December 2000)
3. The Shadows of Luclin (December 2001)
4. The Planes of Power (October 2002)
5. The Legacy of Ykesha (February 2003)
6. Lost Dungeons of Norrath (September 2003)
7. Gates of Discord (February 2004)
8. Omens of War (September 2004)
9. Dragons of Norrath (February 2005)
10. Depths of Darkhollow (September 2005)
11. Prophecy of Ro (February 2006)
12. The Serpent's Spine (September 2006)
13. The Buried Sea (February 2007)
14. Secrets of Faydwer (November 2007)

Controversies, social issues, and game problems

Sale of in-game objects/real world economics

EverQuest has been the subject of various criticisms. One example involves the sale of in-game objects for real currency (often through eBay). The developers of EQ have always forbidden the practice and in January 2001 asked eBay to stop listing such auctions. For a time, such auctions were immediately removed, which changed market conditions and allowed a number of specialized auction sites to specialize in this new virtual economy.

Because items can be traded within the game and also because of illegal online trading on websites, virtual currency to real currency exchange rates have been calculated. The BBC reported that in 2002 work done by Edward Castronova showed that Everquest was the 77th richest country in the world, sandwiched between Russia and Bulgaria and its GDP per capita was higher than that of the People's Republic of China and India. By 2004, a follow-up analysis showed that the average GDP of each of the two million players was $2,000 (£1,087) which was approximately the same as the GDP of Namibia.

File:EverQuest - East Commonlands tunnel.jpg

The East Commonlands tunnel was a commonly used area for trading. The original tunnel shown has since been replaced with a new layout and new graphics due to an extensive zone-wide update.

Companies created characters, leveled them to make them powerful, and then resold the characters or specialized in exchanging money between games. A player could exchange a house in The Sims Online for EverQuest platinum pieces, depending solely on market laws of supply and demand.

Sony officially discourages the payment of real-world money for online goods, except on certain "Station Exchange" servers in EQ2, launched in July 2005. The program facilitates buying in-game items for real money from fellow players for a nominal fee. At this point this system only applies to select EverQuest II servers; none of the pre-Station Exchange EverQuest II or EverQuest servers are affected.

Due to the difficulty in learning the role a specific class plays within a group, and of learning the best way to fulfill this role, individuals who purchase high level characters without prior playing experience are stereotypically sub-par to those who have developed characters normally. Referring to a character in EverQuest as an eBay character or to an individual as an "eBayer" are derogatory comments used to suggest both that an individual did not develop his own character and that he does not know how to play it.

The 14-day, no-credit-card-required trial accounts have produced a new set of problems in this area. Since the sellers of in-game items and platinum can create new accounts at will, without cost, the quantity of in-game spam from some sellers has become a widely discussed source of annoyance.

Intellectual property and role-playing

Another well-publicized incident from October 2000, usually referred to as the "Mystere incident", involved Verant banning a player for creating controversial fan fiction, causing outrage among Everquest players and sparking a major industry-wide debate about players' rights and the line between roleplaying and intellectual property infringement. The case was used by several academics in discussing such rights in the digital age.

Fans have created the open source server emulator EQEmu, allowing users to run their own servers with custom rules. Running such an emulator is a violation of EQ's end user license agreement and could result in a player being banned from Sony's EverQuest servers if caught doing so. It has not gained the same popularity as server emulators for Ultima Online.

Addiction

The game is renowned and berated (by some psychologists specializing in computer addiction) for its addictive qualities. Many refer to it half-jokingly as "NeverRest" and "EverCrack" (a reference to crack cocaine). EQ is very time-consuming for many people, and there have been some well-publicized suicides of EverQuest users, such as that of Shawn Woolley. Relationships broken because of obsessive playing resulted in the creation of an online support group called EverQuest Widows and sites like GamerWidow.com. An infamous rant titled "EQ: What You Really Get From An Online Game" appeared on Slashdot in 2002, and brought this issue of EverQuest addiction to the forefront of many message boards across the Internet.

'"EverQuest for Macintosh'" Forum Issues

For several years, '"Everquest for Macintosh'" subscribers lacked the ability to create posts on the official Sony '"EverQuest for Macintosh'" forums. Out-of-game discussions thus took root at another location that became an on-line source of information for technical issues as well as for the various gameplay and sociological aspects that are unique to '"EverQuest for Macintosh'".

Complexity

The complexity and popularity of the game led to the creation of third party information sites, such as Allakhazam where players could gain information to play the game more effectively or more enjoyably.

Sociological aspects and game problems

MMORP games are described by some players as "chat rooms" with a graphical interface. The sociological aspects of EverQuest (and other MMORPGs) are explored in a series of online studies on a site known as "the HUB". The studies make use of data gathered from player surveys and discuss topics like virtual relationships, player personalities, gender issues, and more.

In May 2004, Woody Hearn of GU Comics called for all EverQuest gamers to boycott the Omens of War expansion in an effort to force SOE to address existing issues with the game rather than release another "quick-fire" expansion. The call to boycott was rescinded after SOE held a summit to address player concerns, improve (internal and external) communication, and correct specific issues within the game.

EverQuest universe

A number related products have been released for the EverQuest universe.

Since Everquest's release in March 1999, Sony Online Entertainment has added thirteen expansions to accompany it, and several different newer EverQuest-related games of various types that are all set in Norrath. These additional games include Champions of Norrath (PS2—February 2004) and its sequel Champions: Return to Arms (PS2, February 2005), EverQuest II (PC, MMORPG sequel to EverQuest—November 2004), EverQuest Online Adventures (PS2, February 2003), Lords of EverQuest (PC real-time strategy, December 2003), and EverQuest Role-Playing Game (a role-playing game produced in collaboration with White Wolf which uses the d20 system).

A line of novels have been published in the world of Everquest, including:

• Rogue's Hour, by Scott Ciencin (Oct. 2004)
• Ocean of Tears, by Stewart Wieck (Oct. 2005)
• Truth and Steel, by Thomas M. Reid (Sept. 2006)
• The Blood Red Harp, by Elaine Cunningham (Oct. 2006)

Film

Sony Pictures and former Marvel Comics chief creative officer Avi Arad plan to adapt the game to the big screen with potential release in 2009 or 2010. Sony has verified that they are uncertain of when the film will be released and that 300 writer Michael Gordon was hired to write the script.

In other media

• In The Simpsons Game, there is a level called Neverquest where Homer and Marge play in a world similar to EverQuest.

Characters in the EverQuest storyline

Kerafyrm

Kerafyrm (also called "The Sleeper") is a boss character in the fantasy MMORPG EverQuest.

Originally intended to be unkillable, the character caused a stir in the EverQuest community when the developers of the game (Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) intervened and prevented a group of nearly 200 players from killing him, in November of 2003. SOE later apologized for interfering, and allowed the same group of players to retry the encounter. After a nearly three-hour battle, Kerafyrm was defeated.

Sleeper's Tomb

In the game, Kerafyrm is guarded by four ancient dragons in a zone called "The Sleeper's Tomb". If all four dragons are defeated by players and are dead at the same time, The Sleeper is awoken, and begins a rampage of death across the game's land of Norrath. This event is particularly unique in EverQuest, because it can only ever be completed once on each game server. Once The Sleeper event is triggered, he will never appear again on that server.

The guild Blood of the Spider on The Rathe server was the first guild system-wide to kill the revamped Ventani (the fourth warder) on July 28, 2001, and therefore wake the sleeper. The event caused a stir on the server when Kerafyrm went into multiple zones, including Skyshrine, killing everyone and everything in his path.

File:Sleeper 14.jpg

Sleeper at 14%

On November 17, 2003, after a nearly 3-hour battle, Kerafyrm was defeated. On September 10, 2007, Rashere confirmed on the official Everquest forums that Kerafyrm was bugged at the time of his kill.

I can confirm the sleeper's regen one. Whether by pure coincidence or great planning, the zek attack on the Sleeper took place after a patch that broke NPC regen, causing them to regen at a far lower rate than they would normally. The sleeper's normal regen makes him essentially unkillable.

As of August 31, 2007, Al'Kabor (Mac-based server) is the one and only official EverQuest server where Kerafyrm still is sleeping.

It has been announced that Kerafyrm will be returning in the expansion Secrets of Faydwer.

External links

• EverQuest Live: Official EverQuest News
• EQ @ CastersRealm.com: Another site with plentiful EverQuest information
• EverQuest @ Allakhazam: A site with plentiful EverQuest information
• Lucy: A site with complete spell and item information for EverQuest