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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsEQ dev: WoW wouldn't exist without EQ
by Michael Sacco 
Jun 18th 2009 at 9:00AM
Videogamer.com has an interview up with Ryan Barker, the lead designer for seminal MMORPG EverQuest. When asked if he thought WoW would exist without EQ having been around, he replied that he didn't think so, and that Blizzard designers would likely agree with that statement.
I think he's right, too. The success of EQ allowed for countless imitators and innovators to follow in its footsteps, and WoW is certainly both of those things. What made WoW successful in the first place, beyond brand recognition, was the fact that the developers -- whose team consisted of a number of former EQ devs and prominent community members! -- refined and added on so many features cribbed from EQ. They made the formerly hardcore-only genre accessible to a wide variety of players and age groups, and in doing so broke subscriber and sales records -- thus continuing to make new MMOs financially plausible. And with WoW's improvements to the diku formula, the genre is now filled with WoW imitators as well. History repeats itself.
Sure, it's entirely possible that WoW could have existed without the advent of EQ, but it would have been a very different game if it existed at all. And I doubt it would have been anywhere near as good without having been able to learn from EQ's myriad mistakes or study its successes. We owe a lot to Old Man EQ. Now get off his lawn.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 4)
Gareth Jun 18th 2009 9:57AM
I'd too describe EQ2 now as more polished a game then WoW, I've been playing both now for about a year having started on WoW about 3 years ago. EQ2 has changed a lot since launch, maybe a problem with the original was it was a bit too complicated in some areas and the chiefly the graphics were beyond the capabilities of most graphics cards in any good detail mode.
Now though the graphics look awesome, the latest update has upgrade the engine even further, check out the various races, playing a Froglock here (hated as much as Gnomes in WoW it appears ;) ) and the detail really needs to be seen to be believed. Its still a bit more complicated, but you can get by without mastering it, and gradually learn the game as you progress. 16 classes, and I think ~14 races, its refreshing to know your friends in a crowd just from the way they look too with the character customisation.
Game play wise it too has been garnering more of my time recently and I even missed a uldar raid last night to play it which is saying something, totally bored of the non raid action now in WoW especially the endless journeys to one location just to do a 15 minute daily, and to be truthful I found that was true of 90% of Wotlk levelling being just too easy with very few quests really testing me, a lot of the time it felt like fetch and retrieve :P
There was not even an option to step up a gear and blast through it faster but at a higher difficulty level - just limited by the speed of my epic ground mount until level 77 :P
In comparison I stepped into the desert of flames area near Maj'dul and got obliterated taking on what I thought would be reasonable opponents, its certainly gives the option of stepping up a gear questing in challenging areas, for now I'm heading back to the swamps of Feerrot for a couple more levels :)
Avashnea Jun 18th 2009 10:24AM
I just left WoW for EQ2 because its FAR more interesting and isn't ignoring casual players that don't want to raid or do arena. They should just change the name of WoW to Warcraft raiding arena..that's all they seem to care about developing and improving.
Netherscourge Jun 18th 2009 9:23AM
Well, Kalgan, Tigole and Eoynix all came from EQ and UO, so - DUH.
WoW absolutely evolved from EQ and UO, as did every other MMORPG on the market.
Without EQ and UO, WoW would probably be a glorified Diablo III.
Robert M Jun 18th 2009 9:53AM
Just a shame they have Kaplan working on the new MMO, who knows how many years it will take for the development team to undo all his shitty mistakes and embarassing hybid classes.
What year is WoW on? 4? And GC and company are trying to fix the injustice bestowed on the hybrids because Kaplan and crew were either arrogant, or stupid, or both to fit hybrid trees into the holy trinity of mmo's and allow those classes to do something other than heal?
Hybrid is synonmous to healer for Kaplan, and we want to applaud him for that? Give me a break!
Arcaria Jun 19th 2009 11:12AM
This is really gonna set off the fanbois that have no idea about the history of games but yes, he is correct. Most of WoW was taken from the games before it by other companies.
I may be wrong but I think the only major part of WoW that wasn't used by other companies before is the talent system which they brought over from Diablo.
Glintwell Jun 18th 2009 9:25AM
Well, let's not put too much stock in brand names. WoW would still exist if EQ itself hadn't existed. However, WoW likely wouldn't exist as it does now if games *similar* to EQ and UO hadn't preceded it. Its just that those brands defined a genre, and the Blizzard brand is building on that genre.
So what I'm getting at is that if Sony hadn't been in the picture, some other developer would inevitably have made the seminal predecessor to all other MMORPGS. Fantasy role playing has been around since at least before the original pen and paper D&D. Everything we see now is a mixture of that very old formula with new technology. It's just that some developers/publishers (e.g., Blizzard, NC Soft) knew how to package it better than others.
KilgoreTrout XL Jun 18th 2009 9:25AM
I feel the need to mention Ultima Underworld here, since it was a kickass game, and people keep mentioning Garriot's stuff.
But yeah, EQ has a huge impact on WoW. Except for the art scheme, I guess. We could trace this back to MUD too.
Mordockk Jun 18th 2009 9:29AM
Neither of these games would have ever existed if it wasn't for Chronotrigger...
:P
Mattimaticus Jun 18th 2009 9:36AM
Gran Torino reference FTW!
Netherscourge Jun 18th 2009 9:38AM
GET OFF MY LAWN.
Kaeona Jun 18th 2009 9:35AM
Great, now I'm going to have Ambassador D'Vinn and Crushbone train flashbacks all day.
Like that's what I needed...
Dracula Jones Jun 18th 2009 12:15PM
Surely I wasn't not the only level 10 wood elf to have had a /shout D'VINN TO ZONE hotkey.
Aarkan Jun 18th 2009 9:43AM
WoW is what EQ wanted to be. All the top raiders and players who were playing EQ in Velious, Luclin, Planes of Power all wanted what WoW now has. WoW is the promised land for EQ players, some EQ players really lucked out in that since WoW EQ has done a lot of things to become more like WoW. Leveling isn't a many many month extravaganza anymore and you can work your way through at a brisk pace. I'm an EQ player at heart and I love EQ, that is why I love WoW.
Rob Jun 18th 2009 9:47AM
I think it would. It may not be EXACTLY like it is today... but pretty close. Most of the style was taken from Diablo, just taken to the next level.
jayus Jun 18th 2009 9:50AM
No WoW without EQ, No EQ without UO, no UO without Adventure the first MUD, etc, etc all the way back to the first stone tool.
Bubsa Jun 18th 2009 9:50AM
/pizza
'Nuff said.
Teralis Jun 20th 2009 2:58PM
I still feel like UO (Ultima Online) Never really gets it's due... It was hands down the best MMO until Trammel and lasted strong until SWG came out where it started its slow decline.
UO even still has a lot of things that no MMO has implanted as successfully.
And while I agree that "WoW wouldn't exist without EQ" that's like saying Harry Potter wouldn't exist without Dungeons and Dragons, which wouldn't have existed without LOTR, etc.
The statement is only one step in a chain of "wouldn't exist without..." and thus is a bit weak.
thain Jun 18th 2009 10:00AM
WoW wouldnt have been the same without EQ
EQ wouldn't have been the same without DnD
DnD wouldn't have been the same without Tolkien
Tolkien wouldn't have been the same without Norse/random other mythologies to draw inspiration from
Random other mythologies wouldn't be the same if it weren't for Cavemen.
Therefore, WoW owes geico like all of their money.
Eriel Jun 18th 2009 10:10AM
Can this dev explain to us why Eq2 was such a failure comparing to Eq?
Also does EQ was the first mmo ever created? ofc not. So the dev speaks nonsence
Wow would have been released even if Eq dint exist although its obvious it could have been a very different game . Hmm more pvp oriented maybe.
Jason Jun 18th 2009 12:35PM
No, EQ was not the first MMO created. Nor does the article say so. But it was the first first person 3D MMO and the first to make the genre really popular.
EQ2 is actually more of a success than EQ. It's pop numbers peaked higher.
EQ to date has released 15 expansions and EQ2 5 expansions and 3 adventure packs. New expansions for both will be announced next week.
EQ also has new progression servers so you can start playing the same as it was at launch and with server unlocks you can unlock each and every expansion. These are very popular.
There is clearly still a market for both games.