What caused the decline of EQ as the #1 MMO?

[gnomishfirework]

EQ just didn't have the mass appeal WOW does. EQ is hard. EQ is a challenge. Even making it easier didn't save it. It couldn't have.

I solo'd trak on my ranger at 65 or 70 and I had very few AAs (less than 200) but great gear (had outside buffs though) I almost got him without outside buffs (or potions) but the fucker banished me and I sat but he didn't summon. He came and got me. With a bunch of friends. It sucked. I was never able to get him that close again (I was fine on mana and health AND stilll had WS cause I proc'd slow really quickly).

I once fought woushi for a while and realized I wasn't going to win, but I got away =P Duo'd rumblecrush with my shaman (lol not really my shaman, it was given to me by a guildy who was given it by a guildy who quit). Not really a difficult fight, but it was tough to stay awake.

That stuff didn't kill the game, it made old trivial content fun again.

To date, EQ was the best MMO. No MMO has captured my attention in the same way. WoW is a good game, but its a solo game where you group up to kill bosses (group quests - which aren't common, group instances and raid instances). It lacks the social component that I find fun. Grouping in wow my first few times was so much fun and kept me in it, but I lost interest in solo grinding.

At least solo grinding in EQ was fun. It was challenging (more so for some classes, but still even a necro was more a challenge to solo than the worst class in wow.) Also, the classes in WoW are too jack of all trades. Some classes can't heal, and some can't tank. All can DPS and DPS well if geared/spec'd properly.

Its geared for mass appeal. EQ was a niche game that was innovative.

I still have more fun in P1999 than I did in WoW.

The only MMO to come close to the appeal (for me) is Darkfall, but its PvE is lacking.

Age really killed EQ. it had a good run and is still around today. Thats impressive.

[odizzido]

For me it was things like books, corpse summon halls, etc. EQ is good for me because of things like travel and risk.

Old world content becoming easier and easier is just the natural evolution of a game like EQ. I imagine a single item from a raid boss in EQ now is better than all the best items combined in classic EQ.

[Alleusion]

I think the release of other games is what caused EQ's decline in the beginning. Than in an attempt to lure people back from those games, SOE devs overcompensated and made the game stupidly easy...mercs anyone?

When I started playing, the world was big. Travel was dangerous and you actually had to earn exp. Your reputation was a big deal and there was a community. Then the world got bigger, but travel became a little easier (Nexus). People hung out and chatted while waiting on ports. Then it got bigger still (PoK)...and bigger...and bigger. With each expansion travel got easier and easier. Guild halls were introduced and people would hang out in there...and it got quiet. Unless you sat around in the guild lobby or PoK, there was little chatter. People wrapped themselves up in their guild and became suspiscious of newcomers. The game wasn't social anymore.

[Akame]

Time sinks killed EQ. Why keep playing EQ when there was much more instant gratification elsewhere.

[Jify]

I jumped ship because I hated GoD and OoW. It didn't feel like EQ, it felt like I was playing something completely different. I decided to rough out GoD, and then OoW came out and it was the same shit-tastic mobs, zones, etc. I said screw it!

Then I went to EQ2, which was AMAZING.... and then they brought in things like the Sony Exchange ($$ for pp & gear), and lots of favouritism (freaking Curt Schilling got so much GM favouritism), the little things added up. When I came back to try it out, it was still fun content wise, but they introduced an "AA-like system", and I wasn't having fun earning points for minimal improvements. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Feather]

I think it was having crappy GM's or no GM's at all - - the disdain Verant has for players. They basically shut down communication with players. I sure didn't feel like I was valued as a participant.

[Chieling]

IMO if they would have spent the time updating the EQ engine, and possibly adding more quests or something - instead of coming out with EQ2 - that the original EQ would still be doin alot better.

[Brut]

I guess it just grew old and folks got bored. Happens.

Personally quit because I was never in any big raiding guild and felt like 98.5% of the content looked to be directed solely to the server's #1 guild. Couldn't be assed to buy 6 latest expansions since 4 of em were now graveyard zones, and I saw no appeal in any of the monster-mission-craps. Could pretty much look from somewhere like Allakhazam on what the new raid bosses in DoN look like, while I ran around in PoP elem-tier gear and some bazaar-bought crap, spending time goofing in the Hole. Had fun in the Hole, though. And then got bored of the Hole and quit.

[nicemace]

there wasnt one thing that drove me away from EQ except for the fact my GF and my parents made me get a job. cause i live in new zealand, raid times on live were during the middle of the day for me, so it was impossible to work and raid [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

played 8 years of EQ, was full of win.

most fun was me and my 5 mates downing raid targets (not years behind either) with an army of bots (all played not MQ'd)

1 grouping exiled (with DT timer) was hilarious, was about 45 min fight.

6 of us playing 22 toons to kill seru in like hour 20 mins was a test of focus.

all round was great fun.

[BlackBellamy]

I left to go to DAoC. Still no better PvP game out there.