So by the end of the discussion I came to this conclusion: EQ doesn't have the staying power that people believe, what it does have is senority among MMOs and very little competition worth mentioning. So far the only major competition in the Fantasy MMO genre has been DAoC, and that still isn't that major of competition since its PvP oriented. Yes EQ does continue to come out with new expansions and what not to give players new things to do, but that can only go so far in the fun factor.
Feel free to agree or disagree.
Until the next big batch of MMOs comes out, EQ still won't have much competition. What I find interesting though, is while people are CONSISTANTLY saying that games need PvP so that they have staying power, EQ has next to nothing PvP-wise.
No matter what everyone WANTS to believe, EQ is #1, and it will continue to be until Sony puts it to bed, or they come out with a VR version. 
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Densetsu had this to say about Reading Rainbow:
As I've always said, whenever someone says, "Oh this new MMO will be an EQ-killer!" the only people that will ever be able to kill EQ will be Sony.No matter what everyone WANTS to believe, EQ is #1, and it will continue to be until Sony puts it to bed, or they come out with a VR version.
Yeah okay.
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Densetsu got all f'ed up on Angel Dust and wrote:
No matter what everyone WANTS to believe, EQ is #1, and it will continue to be until Sony puts it to bed, or they come out with a VR version.
As much as I hate EQ, I do have to admit that this is true. No MMORPG can really kill EQ at this point. It's like fighting a 2e AD&D troll without fire or acid- You can keep it down for a few seconds, but no matter how hard you try, you'll never be able to kill it.
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Naj had this to say about pies:
Well, if you want to be technical about it, FFXI is #1 subscription wise, EQ is close though.
Japos don't count
They'll play MMOPacman obsessively.
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Rockstar games presents; Lashanna;
Japos don't countThey'll play MMOPacman obsessively.
You Ricest
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From the book of Lashanna, chapter 3, verse 16:
Japos don't countThey'll play MMOPacman obsessively.
Bwahaha! 
Now I want MMOPacman... If they can find a way to stop Inky, Blinky, and Clyde from griefing the newbies, it'll be the greatest game EVER!
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Densetsu wrote, obviously thinking too hard:
As I've always said, whenever someone says, "Oh this new MMO will be an EQ-killer!" the only people that will ever be able to kill EQ will be Sony.No matter what everyone WANTS to believe, EQ is #1, and it will continue to be until Sony puts it to bed, or they come out with a VR version.
At this point, I don't think much of anything could be an EQ killer, but thats not what we should be looking for in MMOs anyways. If a MMORPG can give EQ strong competition, THEN we know that finally, there is an extremely good MMORPG out.
Also, I STRONGLY doubt EQ2 will do anything to EQ's ammount of subscribers. If WoW manages to have a strong release and following, I'm pretty sure they could cause a noticeable dip in EQ's subscribers.
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Naj said this about your mom:
Well, if you want to be technical about it, FFXI is #1 subscription wise, EQ is close though.
Not even, technically Lineage trounces everything.
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Willias was naked while typing this:
At this point, I don't think much of anything could be an EQ killer, but thats not what we should be looking for in MMOs anyways. If a MMORPG can give EQ strong competition, THEN we know that finally, there is an extremely good MMORPG out.Also, I STRONGLY doubt EQ2 will do anything to EQ's ammount of subscribers. If WoW manages to have a strong release and following, I'm pretty sure they could cause a noticeable dip in EQ's subscribers.
That depends. EQ2 is by far the most well-known upcoming MMO.
Lots of us here know about WoW and are eagerly looking forward to it (Orc fuckin' Warrior, bitches!), but whenever I talk to pretty much anyone else about MMOs, they always, ALWAYS bring up EQ2, and whether or not they're going to play it, they always talk about how awesome it looks. And I do have to admit, the voice acting part is impressive.
But anyway, I start talking to them about WoW, and they look at me like I'm not only on crack, but have just dropped a significant amount of acid. WoW is an awesome game, but from what I personally have seen, no one even knows it exists at all.
However, things may be different in other areas. So, we shall see. But I'm willing to bet that if people quit EQ to come to WoW, at least... Oh, about a quarter of that group will go back in a matter of weeks, a month tops, with more following later. Those that miss OoW will just pick up EQ2. It's happened with just about every other MMO, it'll most likely happen with WoW, as well.
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Verily, Ruvyen doth proclaim:
But anyway, I start talking to them about WoW, and they look at me like I'm not only on crack, but have just dropped a significant amount of acid. WoW is an awesome game, but from what I personally have seen, no one even knows it exists at all.
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Ruvyen had this to say about Knight Rider:
But anyway, I start talking to them about WoW, and they look at me like I'm not only on crack, but have just dropped a significant amount of acid. WoW is an awesome game, but from what I personally have seen, no one even knows it exists at all.
I hear people talking about WoW a lot more than EQ2.
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There was much rejoicing when Lashanna said this:
Japos don't countThey'll play MMOPacman obsessively.
And if you don't count Euros in EQ, you lose a bulk of the subscribers there too.
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From the book of Skaw, chapter 3, verse 16:
And if you don't count Euros in EQ, you lose a bulk of the subscribers there too.
And because my comment was so meant to be taken seriously.
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Dr Cysa had this to say about pies:
EQ has been around for about 5 years now(correct me if I'm wrong on that), and yet people still play it passionately. WTF? EQ is one of the few games in gaming history to have stayed in the gaming community this long. ...So by the end of the discussion I came to this conclusion: EQ doesn't have the staying power that people believe....
Dude, there is this game called UO, ever here about it?
---EQ will die only when SOE decideds to pull the plug, or it's subscribers drop below what it is needed to show a good profit and maintian the servers.
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Check out the big brain on Naota Nandaba!
I guess it's regional, then.
I thought as much. However, there's no denying that EQ has a lot of hardcore addicts who are looking forward to EQ2.
WoW should have a high population at the start, as a lot of hopeless EQ addicts once again say, "Enough of this damned game" and move on to something better. However, when it comes to keeping these "former" EQ addicts, especially with EQ2 coming up pretty soon, Blizz is really going to have their work cut out for them. They're going to have to really wow people (no pun intended) with release, and keep it up. And even if they do, some of the addicts will still go back. I was once something of an EQ addict myself, and went back multiple times before I was finally able to just stop. The game is literally addicting.
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When the babel fish was in place, it was apparent Peter said:
Dude, there is this game called UO, ever here about it?
Corp Por. Bitch.
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Peter had this to say about (_|_):
Dude, there is this game called UO, ever here about it?---EQ will die only when SOE decideds to pull the plug, or it's subscribers drop below what it is needed to show a good profit and maintian the servers.
WTF? What about UO? It was an MMO but not a very good one, barely can be considered any competition to EQ.
Competition would mean that both parties are TRYING to put each other out of the game, EQ didn't have to try.
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Dr Cysa wrote, obviously thinking too hard:
WTF? What about UO? It was an MMO but not a very good one, barely can be considered any competition to EQ.Competition would mean that both parties are TRYING to put each other out of the game, EQ didn't have to try.
He was referring to the fact that UO has been around a lot longer than EQ and is still going strong. He said nothing about competition. Plus, EQ didn't put UO out of business, obviously. Snoota fucked around with this message on 08-19-2004 at 12:07 AM.
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Over the mountain, in between the ups and downs, I ran into Talonus who doth quote:
Not even, technically Lineage trounces everything.
I don't know where this myth came from. Lineage 1 only has four million subscribers. EQ has ten million and FFXI has eleven million.
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x--Dr CysaO-('-'Q) :
EQ didn't have to try.
It didn't put UO out of the game, either.
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The logic train ran off the tracks when Dr Cysa said:
In any case I don't see UO taking to many subscribers away from EQ and doesn't come close to the subscribers that EQ has.
Nobody, including you, was talking about stealing subscribers until this point.
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Bummey the Fool had this to say about Duck Tales:
I play EQ because I have nothing better to do. Once I get a job and a life, I can stop playing. that'swhatIkeeptellingmyself
I wish I could play without a job. 
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Maradon! obviously shouldn't have said:
I don't know where this myth came from. Lineage 1 only has four million subscribers. EQ has ten million and FFXI has eleven million.
EQ and FFXI have less than 1 million subscribers each. I would like to know where you get your numbers from.
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Dr Cysa had this to say about (_|_):
Eh my point is that EQ has been in the game this long because it is about the only decent one in its genre. I mean 3 or 4 years ago I'm sure EQ was the shiz of nit, but now its just...well it should have run its course by now, but since no other game has come out with enough of a decent frame work that EQ is still one of the best out there.
My theory is that people have dedicated so much time and money into EQ, they don't want to delete their subscription because then it will all seem wasted. I know that's the reason it took me so long to cancel mine. Darius! fucked around with this message on 08-19-2004 at 01:31 AM.
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Dr Cysa had this to say about Robocop:
this is his 10th time returning to the game, and when he plays he doesn't wanna go do anything else, it controls him.
If he's gone "back" 10 times in 5 years then he never actually left.
Kermitov fucked around with this message on 08-19-2004 at 02:00 AM.
honestly, I've tried UO, I've tried DAOC but nothing has given me the same feeling as EQ did. Like the time I tried to run from Qeynos to Freeport at level 4, eventually someone took pity on me and gave me a port that was like 4 1/2 years ago now and nothing has matched it since 
People bitched about the Vision, and wanted Verant to make travel quicker, etc. etc.
But now that Sony's taken over and caved in to everyone's demands, it's gone downhill.
You have Plane of Knowledge, where (practically) everywhere is just a click away. Hell levels gone, etc. etc.
And is the game better now for those changes that everyone wanted? No.
Verant, like any good parent, knew when to say "No", because believe it or not, a lot of times they were acting in the best interests of the consumer.
I mean, it's inevitable that EQ would decline, but still...
Also, what Densetsu said is right. I've played every other MMORPG nearly, and none of them ever felt quite like EQ. I suppose because when I first played EQ I had nothing to compare it to. Everything after it was compared to it.
Any way the real reason I stopped playing EQ is that I got bored with the game.
Anarchy Online is a bit better than Everquest. Where else do you have a MMORPG, Anarchy Online, that have thier own djs. www.gridstream.org 
Lashanna's right; Verant knew what they were doing. SoE does not.
A lot of things in the game feel kinda rushed and unplanned now, but a lot with the Vision just plain didn't make sense. Sony's bringing more bugs to the game, and cranking out shit content on a regular basis, but a lot of changes for the better have been made, too.
p.s. high end game in AO = sucky. Much worse than EQ's. :\
