I started playing EQ when Kunark came out. Outside of a 10 month break during the Depths of Darkhollow/Prophecy of Ro expansions, I have been a loyal player of the game. I thoroughly enjoy the game, I enjoy the people I talk to and play with, it really is my gaming hobby (even though my wife hates it). Because I have been playing for as long as I have been, I want to be there to see the end of the game. I want to be part of that apocalyptic battle with Veeshan, casting my last spells and pets onto that dragon. I want to be there with my fellow adventurers at the edge of the ocean, watching the sun set for the last time. I feel this would be an amazing gaming experience filled with lots of emotion- happiness, sadness, accomplishment, etc. I also know that I am no longer in my mid 20s. I have a wife, I have a baby girl (now toddler). I know there are other things I want to do with my time nowadays... strike that, other things I *need* to do with my time. Even my *wants* time there are things I want to get involved with that I cannot invest the time I want to because the limited free time I have is needed for Everquest if I want to keep up with the masses. So I wonder aloud as to when the game will end. I know I will not an official answer, and that is fine. I know this type of thread happens once every few months. I know this is more of a ramble as I wait for my car to get fixed at the dealership. But I do know that because I have been playing for almost 17 years since the near beginning, I want to see the end. I just hope, in a way, it comes soon. I don't know how much longer I *want* to play the game before life fully takes over all my time. Just a hope and dream...
It has ended. The Arch Ogre Smed was gloriously defeated by a raid force of 100,000 in an Epic of Epics confrontation. The instance is currently open only to those players who have been subscribers continuously since launch day in 1999 and have logged in every day since without fail. For everyone else, you have to wait until the Secrets of Everfrost expansion unlocks at the 50th anniversary.
Everything has a beginning and an ending. There is nothing that has an infinite shelf life. I am not wanting to Everquest to end. But I know at some point it will. And if I know right now that we will have an expansion in Nov 2017, and then Veeshan Mountain Peak is announced as the final end game zone to be released July 2018... then that gives a reasonable end to the game. And that is something I personally can do. But if I know right now that the final expansion is going go be released in October 2033, I just don't know if I want to be doing this in my 60s. Maybe, maybe not. Again I am just randomly thinking out loud while I wait. Some people want to play EQ for another 15 years, and that is fine. Others just do not want to. I am in the latter. But I also want my cake and eat it too, and I would love to be there for the end. Just not in 2033...
For me it ended in 2002. Then started up again in 2016. Maybe it'll end in 2018. And start up again in 2032? There's a lot of great games out there, nothing wrong with checking them out and coming back at a later date. edit: I am really uncomfortable with the idea that today is as close to Luclin's release date as it is to the year 2032
I don't see it ending all wrapped up the way you would like. Not because they wouldn't want to, but because this isn't just a game, it's people's jobs and such. If you set an end date you are basically putting the nail in your own coffin. The chances that they would have to shut it down early due to lost customers would skyrocket. Everything they do with this game is designed to keep us playing it, and paying for things whenever possible. Who's going to buy things if those things aren't going to be around much longer? It might help to think of EQ as a snippet of a timeline. We get to see what happens in EQ during that snippet, but things happened before and will happen after (this is make believe after all). Seeds of Destruction gave us a peek at the future and the past, which was cool. But overall it's linear and when the game finally does end it will be up to our imaginations as to where things went from there. Honestly, I'd love to see this game keep going for a long time. The more we have invested, the easier it is to come back. Who knows where it will go and how it will end. Maybe there will be a final expansion with closure if the end looks obvious. Only time will tell.
I think the actual story of Everquest jumped the shark ages ago. Most people will say it was Gates of Discord, but I think Planes of Power was the moment, with Druzzil Ro resetting the timeline and breaking the fourth wall for Everquest 2. After that, it was just a series of attempts at milking every side story in the game, and convenient lore resets whenever the developers needed them. Veeshan is not the end boss - not any more so than Discord or Mayong Mistmoore or Kerafyrm were. Who cares how many times Cazic Thule dies or Solusek Ro shouts "the Tower of Solusek Ro was only a set back!" Or whether Discord returns with yet another invasion, or an ancient dude from the Combine empire comes back from the dead? It's all just an excuse to make another expansion, and until the developers can no longer make a living off of it, they'll stretch it out further and further. And even when it does end, it'll feel empty, because the story has gone so off the path that no one still knows what it's all supposed to be about. Veeshan? She's just the dragon who made Norrath. Why would we fight her and how would that even bring closure to the game? It's not like World of Warcraft where Sargeras was built up to be the big bad since the Warcraft 2 days, but even then Blizzard jumped the shark recently by saying that it's actually not Sargeras but the space lords who are the ultimate evil... I just can't. The way these games' stories have developed is more a consequence of the industry, where you're always living from expansion to expansion, than of any grand design. I don't think the makers of Everquest knew, back in 1999, where the game would go after a few years, so in my opinion, ending it on this expansion is no different than ending it on any other. The story itself has never had an end. That's what, funny enough, makes the name Everquest a particularly nice fit.
That is true, but some games have a *very* long shelf life. Dungeons & Dragons started in 1974 and is still going strong today, because it continued to evolve. Magic the Gathering was released in 1993, and is still going today. I think even Ultima Online, which is an MMO that is two years older than EQ, is still going. I wouldn't look for EQ to "end" for several, if not many, more years. When and if the last live EQ server shuts down, I can almost guarantee you there will be emulation servers like P99, etc. I personally doubt EQ will ever really "die" in my lifetime (I'm 51).
EverQuest....EVER...your in their world now. there is no end.....only more QUEST! i hope EQ goes on for many more years. at this point, why not. EQ is the pioneer for every other game out there (ya ya Ultima online). I Hope it goes on for 30+ more years!
I understand your RL struggles and trying to fit EQ into the added responsibilities that adulthood brings but wishing an end to peoples jobs and others entertainment just for some closure is really silly. If the only way one can get closure is by absolute destruction or at the expense of others that's pretty sad. You could pick a termination date for you toon, do some traveling and explore zones that you have fond memories, write an in game will and distribute your items to friends and then say your final words. Camp out, delete your characters and EQ will come to an end for you.
Just keep your account. You can always log in when the wife goes to visit or is gone. You may end up divorced. Weird things happen brother. I have friends I played with back in 99 - 02 that still log in every now and then and say hey!
Well they announced the closing of star wars galaxies 6month's prior to shutting it down? and did some ending to it aswell, would imagine they would do something similar for EQ
Probably better to not wait, and just do what I did. I went to my house, surrounded myself with all the things worth remembering, paid my rent up for a rediculous amount of time, took a screenshot, and logged off. Take with you the only thing in this games which you truly own, memories and your persona. EQ is over for me, but Roxxanna is currently trudging her way through Fallout 4, and will continue on to any other games I play which allow you to create "toons". And bee vomit is freakin delicious.
Don't neglect life for a game. All things come to an end, but I doubt it's a planned event for the near future. Everquest, like most things, will probably end "not with a bang but a whimper" * *TS Eliot
You're in luck Cicely. There's a 3-day raiding guild on your server that allows you to have a life and still is able to get all the important stuff done. Just saying!
