[karsten]

ten ton hammer interviewed me n xzerion n otto

i was of course drunk

http://www.tentonhammer.com/features...uest/nostalgia

"There hasn’t been a game like [EverQuest] in difficulty and content matter," said Xzerion, guild leader of Inglourious Basterds. "You have to be good at playing your class. In World of Warcraft, you were playing with a bunch of nine year old kids and all they had to do was to show up, get some levels, and be somewhat useful on a raid. Here, it is clearly evident if somebody is playing with you and is not good and could deter whatever group or raid you’re trying to take part in."

"To be able to progress and meet your full potential as any kind of class, you have to understand the game mechanics," added Otto, former guild leader of Inglourious Basterds. "You need to understand the layout of the zones; you need to understand how your class is beneficial in group situations. Every other MMOG that I’ve played is just so easy that the journey to the final level in the game can be accomplished within a few days, at most. That’s what I liked about EverQuest--it took time and effort... I think that without the difficulty of the game, you miss out on the fulfillment factor."

One of the guild's officers, Karsten, agreed, and offered a more analytical perspective. "I would answer in a much more metaphysical and psychological way," he began. "That question opens up a large variety of ways in which you could answer it. The succinct way of answering it is that I like playing EverQuest in the same way that I’m attracted to women who are hard to get. It’s a sad commentary on the psychology of what mankind is attracted to. I really do think that one of the reasons why EverQuest was so popular is that I think they [SOE] put together a game that specifically plays on those parts of humankind’s personalities. A lot of us play EverQuest because of our latent masochist tendencies... We like EverQuest because it’s difficult.

"I remember that when I started playing World of Warcraft, I couldn’t stop raving about the fact that it didn’t try to punch me in the face whenever I logged on and tried to XP, and that was refreshing and nice, but it’s also the reason why I quit playing it."