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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 3 of 4)
Myria Jun 18th 2009 10:16AM
WoW wouldn't exist without EQ?
Maybe, but WoW also wouldn't exist if EQ had been better...
Drevan Jun 18th 2009 10:19AM
EQ wouldn't exist without MUDs. Granted, EQ was a great next step (although it was inevitable). Really all they ended up doing was putting a graphical UI on top of a MUD. I'm not saying that what they did wasn't great. What I'm saying is that before they go being all high and mighty saying, "WoW would even exist without EQ..." I think they should consider that they owe the success of EQ to MUDs.
harywilke Jun 18th 2009 10:24AM
and none of them would exist w/o nethack, mud's, d&d, blah blah blah
Kiros Jun 18th 2009 10:33AM
EQ: I started this mainsteam mmo shit and this the motherfuckin thanks I get?
WoW: Who are you?
thebl4ckd0g Jun 18th 2009 10:37AM
None of them would have existed if it wasn't for PONG. :p
Kerronis Jun 18th 2009 10:45AM
The WoW designers definitely had the advantage of learning from the strengths and weaknesses of predecessor MMOs. It's something of an evolution of the MMO style of game: what works or not in terms of the game, the business, etc. WoW is but one in evolutionary chain, and future game designers will learn from it (there's definitely a lot to learn, given WoW's success).
"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."
- Isaac Newton
Terrant Jun 18th 2009 10:42AM
Who knows what genre Blizzard would have taken the Warcraft franchise in if EQ didn't exist or wasn't successful? Perhaps we'd have Warcraft Dash, where Thrall struggles in his new role as an Orgrimmar waiter.
Heeden Jun 18th 2009 11:00AM
WoW would have looked very different if it wasn't for Warhammer...
GoneFishin Jun 18th 2009 12:37PM
I heard that Warcraft 1 was supposed to be based on Warhammer, but Blizzard never acquired the rights.
ao.dom Jun 18th 2009 11:26AM
I really hate it when companies of similar genres start barking about this or that.. Both EQ and WoW have imitated features from each other so much that it's all a blur now.. EQ came out before WoW yes, but the Warcraft game line (to include concept) was out before EQ.. Even EQ has imitated some WoW features such as quest tracking and instanced zones.. These two features alone were not part of EQ until after WoW's release.. So it really doesn't matter who did what when, it boils down to preference and choice.. I've played both and I'm a former 8 year vet of EQ, but given the double annual expansions by Sony it became too costly to maintain and keep up with content / levels.. What has drawn me, and retained me, about WoW is the new zones or dungeons, small content upgrades, without the extra cost.. That little bit has probably retained more client base than basically throwing up new content all over players in hopes of keeping them interested..
Jason Jun 18th 2009 12:42PM
much of wow is based on the warhammer universe.
I don't see a single thing in EQ based upon WoW at all. EQ most certainly did have instances before WoW development was even announced much less started. Don't forget the dungeons of norrath expansion. Also EQ2 has instances and launched before WoW.
Another advantage that EQ has over WoW is they include all the expansions and orginal game when you buy the latest expansion. You don't have to buy every single one. Pick up one here or there and you get everything. All for $20-$30.
EQ2 has released far more free content than WoW ever has.
Naix Jun 18th 2009 11:40AM
My brother played a priest healer in EQ. There was an ability the priest had to transfer damage to another char from the mobs damage. You could do this out of combat with the mob. So during raids he would 1 shot a player just for back talking when trying to explain the raid.
Funniest thing ever
FargoBot Jun 18th 2009 12:06PM
Nothing would have existed without Pong.
GoneFishin Jun 18th 2009 12:35PM
Pong wouldn't have existed without humans.
...And humans wouldn't have existed without Earth.
And Earth wouldn't have existed without the Big Bang.
GoneFishin Jun 18th 2009 12:34PM
What? No one here played Asheron's Call?
Zyrinx Jun 18th 2009 12:45PM
I played EQ for like 5 years pre-WoW, but that was a while ago.
Sometimes I wonder what that game has evolved into. The major malfunctions of EQ were, in my opinion, lack of soloability of many classes and an emphasis on grind (vs quest) levelling.
As I said, I wonder how it has changed.
Aurix Jun 18th 2009 12:51PM
Aaah, EQ memories. Trains, xp loss, Naggy and Vox.
It's thanks to EQ that everytime I watch Fellowship of the Ring, I always think "Train to bridge!" when they're running to the bridge of Khaza-dum.
thain Jun 18th 2009 1:01PM
Also these people know the Lineage was release over a year ahead of EQ and Blizz is very much into the korean gaming scene (They previewed a lot of SC2's stuff in Korea before even the US!)
Also, yes I played asheron's call, even tho it never got as big as EQ, technically it was released like 5 months after EQ, but honestly if someone can steal your concept and create and release a game in 5 months they deserve their money.
Meridian 59 - Released 3 years prior to EQ
and my personal favorite
The Realm -Dec 1996
This was almost a textbook conversion of muds, in the fact that you actually ran around room by room and could go N E S W from room to room.
Every game today exists because of a successful video game industry. And every game is influenced by every successful game before it. Do you think the people designing games right now are not playing games? They are, and even if they do not go out of their way to rip off something, they very well could be inspired without even realizing it.
Sanguinefrozenboy Jun 18th 2009 1:03PM
My mother and father used to play EQ or some variation for PS 2. I remember just chilling and watching it on my father's giant screen tv as they raided some guy named bertauxlomous or something like that.
It was kinda weird because at the time I thought that it was pretty neat but also somewhat boring.
My mother was a healer and my father was a dps warrior or something along those lines.
Either way, I remember my father would sometimes fall asleep as they were about to start a raid or leveling group (I dunno) and auto run forward into mobs of enemies. Ironically, most of the time they managed to clear the way until he hit a rock or something. I don't remember entirely.
They said that I should come play with them and I joined up for about 3 weeks until I got bored of it. At the time I was juggling a new job and Final Fantasy eleven so I had to give one of them up.
Of course it was kind of odd because I gave both of them up when my friend pulled me into wow. Although there weren't any catgirls in it, the elves had huge ears and I thought that was awesome lol.
Aside from that, wow was just way more fun than those games. You can solo level unlike FF and the quests are way more distinct than EQ.
Right now WoW stands in a very good spot, not only are they not set in their ways and ready to change their game for the better, but it's an incredibly hard game to replicate let alone beat.
Hah, sorry for the super long comment.
Beelzebud Jun 18th 2009 1:46PM
As others have pointed out... Without Ultima Online, or even Dungeons and Dragons, there most likely wouldn't have been an Everquest...
This guy seems like the type of person that would say "The best thing about myself is that I'm very modest."