There is a giant nebulous monster in the room whenever MMORPGs are discussed, and it is an absolutely vital mechanic that can change the entire course of a game, yet it is nearly never referenced. This problem has been alleviated and partially solved by some more modern games, but I'm not sure that EverQuest could do it except by having a radically lower population.
The problem is this: the entire multiple server paradigm.
What people love about EverQuest anymore isn't JUST that there's only one Vox on your server. Right now, SHE IS THE ONLY VOX IN EXISTENCE for a cool, Classic EQ experience.
When resources are limited, they are more valuable. When they are absolutely UNIQUE, their value is almost impossible to overestimate. The awesome thing about EVE Online was this:
EVE Player 1: Oh man I was in this amazing battle last week in Curse region where like 8 carriers jumped in and saved a Titan.
EVE Player 2: DUDE I WAS THERE!!
WoW Player 1: Oh man I was in this awesome dungeon last night...
WoW Player 2: Cool! What server are you on?
WoW Player 1: Broken Skull, it was wild!
WoW Player 2: Oh ok, I'm on one of the other 100 servers. Never mind.
EQ Live went wrong even before they launched the game, in the multiple server model. There's really no coming back from that... it needs to be a fundamental part of game design from inception.
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