Barring the free month I received with a copy of Ultima Online, my first real experience of a modern MMO was Everquest, about a week prior to the release of the ‘Shadows of Luclin’ expansion.

The game had me enthralled; no wonder it was known to some as ‘Ever-crack’ for its ‘addictive’ nature. It was the immersion that got me, a well-defended immersion that was enforced by strict naming policies and strong encouragements. I spent much of my time with my RP tag turned on, being a Wood-Elf Ranger out in the wilderness. Later, I created a character on a roleplaying server to go that one step further.

Years passed, I moved on from Everquest to other games. I tried my best, by they didn’t grab me as Everquest once had. Cruelly though, something about these other games had ruined Everquest for me. Where once I saw miles of expansive plains and a huge game-world, now I simply saw a boring hour-long run to get from Freeport to Qeynos, or an expensive portal from the druids. I refused to use the Knowledge Portals or the Spires, perhaps out of some irrationally masochistic loyalty to the past. I only felt that sense of wonder once more; my Tier’Dal rogue betrayed Freeport and I remember the sense of wonder as I fled the city for the home of my one-time enemies.

Thought I had tried to put it off, I found myself trying World of Warcraft. I felt shamed, like a child who has learned to tie his own shoelaces, but chooses to wear shoes with velcro. No matter what I tried, I felt like a reader of the Sun newspaper; I felt soiled, but strangely comforted by the lack of effort it required.

To my shame, I was hooked. In time, I learned to find the nuances and discovered that World of Warcraft was not vacuous or low-brow unless I chose to play it that way. I learned to love the mass-market success. (I also learned to envy it, but that is another story)

I took the plunge and created a roleplaying character. I prepared for the immersive in-character experience and then saw that the world was still largely populated with ‘DaKilla’ and ‘HealU’ wherever I looked. I knew that it would not be Everquest’s approach to roleplaying, I knew it was roleplay-preferred rather than enforced, but…

I miss Everquest at times like this. I am an elistic snob, but it pains me to see names on a Roleplay server that would have been naming violations even on a non-RP Everquest server.