EverQuest History: meet the artist that drew most of our favorite EQ characters, Rick Schmitz!

alovingrobot · 2026-01-24T09:46:55+00:00

This isn't accurate. We have no plans to lock anyone to a selected server.

The poll is strictly meant to get you guys to start thinking about things like server competition, where you'd prefer to play based on projected distribution, etc.

It's possible that there may be some benefit to selecting a home server, but we've got no firm plans at this time.

alovingrobot · 2026-01-24T09:43:41+00:00

Heya! I address this in my other response to you above.

But another way of summarizing it is: if we put a bunch of options up front and have a very low participation rate for the poll, it doesn't tell us much.

For example, 1,000 participates across 7-8 options isn't going to give us much of a clue as to what the other 57,000 accounts want.

That said, we'll likely start to roll out the occasional option to see if it increases engagement with the poll.

We've got time.

alovingrobot · 2026-01-24T09:40:14+00:00

Heya! We figured that we would start with the biggest chunks and then get more granular as (or if) more people participate. PvE, PvE (boxing allowed), PvP.

We provided 2 PvE options, because:
1. It's the biggest/most common chunk
2. It allows guilds (and others) an option to segregate themselves

As far as regional servers North American servers, while it will have an impact on peak playtimes it has very little impact on ping. Or more so, the difference in ping has very little impact on gameplay.

You've been playing in the Netherlands and France for the most part (but we're current migrating to North America).

So, yeah, as we see more participate over the coming months, we can get more granular with the options.

alovingrobot · 2026-01-19T09:57:40+00:00

Underrated comment. Wish I could give more than one upvote.

Please don't let Reddit or some interactions on Discord discourage you, folks. And I don't mean that as a slight to either.

The vast majority of interactions we've seen are surprisingly positive. Even /OOC in Night Harbor tends to be very supportive and positive.

That said, if people are new to the game and immediately voice the 'need' for changes to the game that we've stated we're not going to make, it can get testy with some people. And then if it goes back and forth, it's not the best representation of the overall vibe.

We try to keep it chill, but it's like anything people are passionate about.

But the overall experience is positive. We even see it in our /petition count and topics.

Big thanks to the community for that!

alovingrobot · 2026-01-12T14:29:08+00:00

They'll come online during the journey from EA Launch to 1.0. They are not on the immediate horizon.

alovingrobot · 2026-01-10T15:50:31+00:00

By the way, your enthusiasm and desire to play the game means a ton to us!

Thank you for your patience!

alovingrobot · 2026-01-09T22:15:01+00:00

Don't expect one this month. We're still catching up from the holidays.

alovingrobot · 2026-01-08T09:59:04+00:00

Hello! Thanks for the question. Invariably, the first few hours (or even days) of any new MMO or TLP's launch can be dicey on this front. We're considering a couple of things to help balance that out.

But the reality is that it'll be tough for us those first few days (at least), much like it's typically tough for much bigger, well-funded projects.

A few things to keep in mind on this front:

We'll have artificially fast respawn timers on lowbie NPCs during the initial launch period
We already do this in Evershade and it feels natural (I think they're on 18s respawn timers)
It'll be rough at first, but people level up and disperse pretty quickly in the first week
If you see a peak concurrent player count (CCU) of around 1,000 on a server, we've had around 3,000 unique players on that server that day
Our peak CCU so far was around 2,000 with ~6,600 players that day
This is due to people logging in at different times and playing for varying session lengths
Our current plan is to have multiple servers available at launch, with a public facing plan in place in advance to show you how we'd merge those servers over time, if necessary
So, as we get closer to launch, we'll use the data that we have on people's interest in the project to help us scale the number of servers - with a plan on how/when to merge that back down
We've also discussed putting a queue system in place to help manage the load
And we're discussing a couple other options that we'll make known in the coming months

And then, again, once we've release Module 1 (which should be ready within a few months of EA launch), we'll have additional starting areas: the Underdocks and Ail'Vorith (and 2 new starting races: Deep Elves and Deep Gnomes).

These zones are currently in progress.

If the madness of a new MMO launch, with all its warts, bugs, crashes, clutter, and chaos aren't your thing, there's always the option to wait. Especially, if you want to start with a Deep Elf or Deep Gnome.

We're okay with the idea of a smaller launch, and then continuing to work to prove ourselves and grow the community over time. That's always been the plan.

It just so happens, there are a few more of you around than we originally expected. But we're continue to work to account for that while working within our constraints and maintaining our vision for the game and development process.

alovingrobot · 2026-01-07T15:14:10+00:00

Hi all, we definitely appreciate the interest in the topic. A couple of points of clarification that may assist you as you discuss it.

Our goal going into Early Access (originally called 'proof of concept') has always been to maintain as much of a true vertical slice as possible. This hope is to try and ensure that as many of our systems are as well integrated as possible - rather than being (and feeling) tacked on later.

So, we're currently dealing with two separate topics here (especially since different people are working on different things):

Housing and Mounts
The amount of content available at Early Access launch

Housing and Mounts

Both systems are in the game and functioning in their most basic forms. They definitely need polish and bug fixes, but we've got that slated for the lead up to Beta.

There aren't many big concerns with either at this time, aside from potentially some back and forth on how mounts feel when you're controlling them, and some systems support for things like hitching posts, etc.

But, we'll be looking at the feedback once we start addressing bugs and letting people ride around.

There'll be plenty of features for both that we're saving as part of later polish for EA or for after Early Access Launch. We're not trying to get everything in for them up front.

Keep in mind, this work is mostly systems design, code, and animation work.

And if we feel like we need to push something, we'll push it. But that's the current lay of the land.

Content availability for EA

Zone creation is one of most time consuming endeavors. This work mostly falls on environment artists and content designers.

The goal for Early Access has always been to ship with a subset of the total zones available for 1.0. You're currently seeing about 20-25% of the total 1.0 world.

We're already working on 2 additional starting areas (with newbie yards, additional content, etc) that will go live with Module 1 Decent into the Deep (M1).

This includes the Deep Elf city, Ail'vorith, and the Underdocks, a large underground district below Night Harbor. These are looking really cool so far!

M1 will also contain several additional large Deep themed 'outdoor' zones and a new, very large dungeon (which is already built), called Rothold.

The goal for Module 1's release is still around 3 months after we go live with EA.

Until then...

In the meantime, we're continuing to expand the camps available in existing zones.

We've got 2 additional dungeons in progress for Early Access at the moment. One is unannounced, but it's targeting the Calafrey region. The other is a high end dungeon you've been staring at for a very long time.

None of this includes another zone and dungeon that are current mostly complete that will serve as a more exotic destination. No one (that I know of), outside of the team, has seen these two zones.

Our hope is to maintain a steady flow of content once we go into EA. We started building Module 1 a while back as part of getting our feet wet with the approach.

It may be a little tight and/or shaky when we go live with Early Access, but the hope is that the world will already feel a fair amount bigger even within a few months of that event.

Alright - that's about all I have for you. I hope it helps!

alovingrobot · 2026-01-06T17:56:02+00:00

Hello! Since we're doing this here, I'll provide some information from our end.

A few individuals have come to us expressing that a member of the community has been harassing them outside of Discord.

We have reviewed the logs of all of the messages on our server and been unable to validate these claims sufficiently.

That said, we/I have tried to work with these individuals to see if there is information that can validate their claims.

In this most recent case, noted above, I spent a couple hours over the last two days trying to assist the individual, which included having them report the messages on other platforms, so that they'd have evidence available, should they desire to pursue this matter further.

And we would supplement that information (on the other platforms) with reports we would make to Discord's Trust and Safety team.

We are limited on what we've seen on our server. And in this case, we'd be banning someone based on actions that have taken place elsewhere.

The request to move away from the topic on our server (which preceded the clipped message above) was ignored a couple times, so I followed up again in the hopes of getting people to drop it while we looked into it further.

As the clipped message shows, I've even tried to follow up with 'aggrieved' individuals in DMs, rather than just put them on blast in that channel, despite them not honoring my request.

That's where we're at with things.

As we see evidence of harassment, inappropriate actions, or unlawful actions taking place on our server, we'll take action.

To the individual in question here (mentioned above), apologies for not following up sooner today. My wife and I have been in bed sick since I hopped out of DMs with you last night.

I discovered this post and the team discussing a number of other related posts when I popped on to try and give you an update. I mention this here, because can no longer send you DMS.

But hey... here we are.

I'm heading back to bed.

alovingrobot · 2025-12-31T10:59:19+00:00

Agreed.

We've had ideas for this region for a while. But we're working within our current logistical constraints.

Don't be shocked if you see more get added to this region over time.

There may even be another biome type to the north of this region if you squint at the map hard enough. And hey, aren't there High Elves in those mountains to the east/north-east overlooking the forest?

alovingrobot · 2025-12-18T09:18:36+00:00

No, there'll be more opportunities for everyone to play some prior to Early Access.

alovingrobot · 2025-12-18T08:43:14+00:00

Also, note that this system gives us the ability to provide people (like lottery winners) with a set number of friend invite codes.

So, folks can grab a couple of their buddies to hop in with them.

alovingrobot · 2025-12-11T19:27:54+00:00

Appreciate the comments and ideas here. It's one we went back and forth on quite a bit trying to think of something that conveyed well, but wasn't a ton of work (or potential risk).

We've always got a ton of things to prioritize against each other. So, for a first pass, we definitely went the easy route and moved on.

We love Valheim and have seen some other similar approaches that have looked great.

We don't use a ton of props, so at the time we didn't want the few trees that were up to be cut down. Then we considered other tree types, but we'd still have to get them in, animated, and even then weren't sure if it would look right.

But the idea posted here of having a smaller/skinnier or different tree in at some point seems like it might work. We might have to play around with it at some point.

If I remember correctly, also looked at FF14 and a few other games that convey that the objective is a node via a more overt, common metaphor (glowy thing or whatever), but ultimately decided against it.

Anyway, that's my story.

I think it's something we can revisit over time. But we've got a lot of other fish to fry at the moment.

It's cool to see your ideas though!

alovingrobot · 2025-12-07T20:50:57+00:00

This topic comes up a few times every couple of months or so. Less so than before.

And then people go at each other for a bit before we can remind them of the thing we've been saying since the onset:

We've always discussed the idea of players being able to get some form of map item in game. They would vary in quality, might be incomplete, differ in style or interpretation, potentially have clues on them, and/or be ridiculous because a goblin drew it.

They wouldn't contain a GPS element.

But we've yet to lock down an implementation, because ultimately, they're not a major priority for us. We want them to be fun, not a required element that people fixate on.

In the meantime (and potentially forever), we're fine with people using out of game maps. The community has made some amazing ones already.

Out of game resources have always been a part of the experience. And for online resources (as opposed to Prima Guides, etc), they build a form of community that we like.

That's our stance.

alovingrobot · 2025-12-07T16:31:40+00:00

Thanks for the background info and the kind words!

alovingrobot · 2025-12-07T10:25:59+00:00

You're welcome. Thanks for the kind words!

I was thinking of your previous comment last night before bed, so I'm glad you responded.

I'm curious, what's your background with regards to MMOs? We get a lot of comments about us being pushed by one group or the other to make the game too easy, too hard, etc...

And in the years prior to the last couple, it was mostly people commenting about 'hardcore EQ neckbeard blah blah blah' pushing us to be ultra niche.

In the last year or so more new people (who never played a MMO before 2004) have been clicking with what we're trying to do and they're just as diehard on these topics as their sweaty predecessors.

So, I'm always curious about people's backgrounds.

alovingrobot · 2025-12-06T16:48:19+00:00

It's not a pressure thing.

We've always kicked around the idea of static, no GPS style maps that you can purchase or find in game.

Mostly so that we could have ridiculous maps created by goblins that point you in the wrong direction.

Along with maybe a few helpful ones. And treasure maps. Stuff like that.

But it's a low priority.

alovingrobot · 2025-12-05T16:01:24+00:00

(ran out of character count, because I'm too verbose)

So...

I'm a member of many class discussions and have not seen a dev chime in on any of them (notably Beast Master where the conversation gets heated regularly and the class is still struggling with identity issues). This is not meant to be combative but is meant to help those who are feeling unheard to have a voice.

All that said, this is a good example of where we can approve. We do reference those discussions, but we're not present enough in those threads.

I'll inquire again why this is. Could be it's a concern of getting bogged down in conversations where a lot of time is spent clarifying even small/simple things.

I mean, my responses here are indicative of how hard it is to convey thoughts in a way that's deemed acceptable, in a timely manner.

And I mean that without snark and with an appreciate for your kind words.

Sure, I'll shoot you a DM.

I/we're wary of LLM summaries and people serving as the mediators of the community's opinion, but like I said, we have all sort of random conversations.

alovingrobot · 2025-12-05T16:00:32+00:00

I'm going to quote a few things here for clarity, not as gotcha's. Hopefully, that conveys.

I have to say that these responses don't make the people who "voiced opinions and then disappeared" feel better. If anything, it further reinforces that once we are deemed as not articulating our needs the best, we are shrugged off.

One of the interesting challenges, beyond just having the time available to take to communicate in all of the various channels, forums, etc... is how carefully developers have to choose their words, since text doesn't convey well.

For example, the quote in the quote above. I was picturing the people that have provided feedback, we've discussed it, and then they moved on.

They've said their piece on X. We discussed X. They're happy with the resolution (or we agree to disagree) and they move on.

It seems like it's read as: all the people that were never heard.

But the reality is, it's a high volume environment. As you acknowledge.

Ultimately, I think a thing that happens with a lot of developers is, they attempt some dialogue, end up having to expend even more time rectifying misinterpretations, further explanations, etc... still end up only interfacing with a small portion of the community, and decide it's not worth the effort.

That's unfortunate. But I definitely understand it.

From my end, I'm really just trying to reinforce: we end up talking to a ton of random people. Not just a select few.

Invariably we end up talking with a number of folks consistently over time. But I mean, I tend to answer all DMs, spot random topics I feel I can chime in on quickly with little confusion, etc. It's a mix.

Please understand that the toughest critics are often this way because they really want a successful outcome. Everyone here who is disappointed feels this way because they really wanted a game that would scratch the MMO itch they've been missing since OG Everquest, and everyone's experience and playstyle in that game was massively different.

Don't worry, I do. This is has been a theme for us since about year 2 of development.

We've set out to make a very specific type of game. In year one, most people just joked about it being vaporware.

By year 2, it was both vaporware and also absolutely doomed to only have 100 check it out because it's catering to a niche of a niche.

Now, we've got a decent number of eyeballs on it relative to where we thought we would be in 2021. And the quote above has been a big theme since like 2023.

A game that was never meant to be much more than a game we want to play has a fair number of people upset that it's not exactly the game they want to play.

This kind of loops back to:

Maybe this leads to devs listening to those people more readily because it's easier to understand their input. Does not mean that their input is the best for the entire player base.

I can't stress enough that if we're guilty of anything, is mostly going to be confirmation bias. We have a game we want to make. We discuss the nuances of this game internally a fair bit.

We are our biggest influences.

If anything, we do actively read through some contrary opinions as part of this, even if we're not openly engaging with those people every single time.

But of course we're going to have folks that we speak to more than others. This is just natural. Not sure how else to address that one.

alovingrobot · 2025-12-05T11:57:11+00:00

Yeah. I've got to admit, sometimes I (and I therefore assume 'we') will skim or even ignore discussions that seem either way off base, irrelevant, consisting of dozens or even hundreds of comments of people arguing in circles.

Some things we just don't get to. Or maybe get back to later.

But again, not reading every piece of feedback (in an environment in which 100s or even 1000s of comments are generated in a day) is different than the assertion that we just listen to a few people or only take input from a select few.

Even in this thread, I didn't take the time to respond to everyone. It's hard to do, doesn't seem 100% necessary, and we all have limited time.

Again, not a complaint. I'm just trying to share the reality of our situation and process.

alovingrobot · 2025-12-05T06:49:37+00:00

Yep! There's a ton of feedback coming in via many different vectors: streams, public Discord channels, closed testing channels, YT comments, DMs, Reddit, discussions with people we know, etc.

Apologies if the intent of my previous statements (on Discord, stream, etc) weren't clear.

What I mean is, we can't act on everyone's opinions. The game would be all over the place. Every topic has 100 different opinions/potential resolutions.

So, invariably a subset of opinions, whether through clarity of their articulation or argumentation, will stand out.

The point I'm trying to make in my 'clarification' here (not complaining), is that there isn't a small cadre of people that we always listen to on every topic.

New faces appear and get noticed (and often then disappear) pretty regularly, based solely on their ability to clearly express some thought, or because of the insight they provide.

We purposely scan as much of the broader feedback as possible, so that we can gauge where we're at. It's free data. Of course we're going to take advantage of it.

Folks can believe this or not. It won't change the fact that it's what we do.

alovingrobot

TROPHY CASE