EverQuest Inducted into GDC Online Awards Hall of Fame

October 12, 2011

Sony Online Entertainment's long-running MMORPG EverQuest, has been inducted into the Game Developers Choice Online Awards Hall of Fame. EQ joins Ultima Online, which in the early days of MMO's was its closest and toughest competition at the time. Surprisingly both games are still running. EQ was recognized for its contribution to the long-term advancements of online gaming, pioneering major shifts in the medium's development and video games as a whole. EverQuest introduced the concept of raiding within an online world and improved the concept of a guild.

EverQuest is no stranger to winning awards; it was a 2006 Walk of Game selection and 2008 Technology & Engineering Emmy Award. To date, EverQuest has released 17 expansions, spanning from The Ruins of Kunark in April 2000 to House of Thule in October 2010, with the new Veil of Alaris expansion set for later this year.

"When we set out to create EverQuest, many felt it was an unattainable stretch of the imagination. As it turns out, EverQuest exceeded even our wildest expectations. Twelve years later, we are about to release its 18th expansion, and have big plans for its future," said John Smedley, President, Sony Online Entertainment. "We are incredibly proud of its impact on the industry and the community we have built. Tonight's honor is a testament to the hard working individuals who have contributed to EverQuest -- both past and present."

Along with EverQuest's Hall of Fame induction, SOE's DC Universe Online has been nominated for Best Online Visual Arts, Best Online Technology and Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures was nominated for Best Audio for an Online Game to be announced at the GDC Online 2011 Online Choice Awards.

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Andrew Eisen: Needless to say, a chunck of those might not be inclined to plunk down their dough for Nintendo's new console when they just bought a competitor's, compounded with the fact that Nintendo has shown little interest in catering to their needs.02/22/2012 - 5:43pm
Andrew Eisen: If Nintendo is serious about courting the core gamer, it can't just ignore them until it releases the Wii U. They'll just get their fix somewhere else.02/22/2012 - 5:40pm
Andrew Eisen: A game which didn't light the sales charts on fire but didn't bomb either. In fact, from what I've read, NA sales make up a good half of that game's worldwide sales. Not to mention the good will Atlus garners by continuing to cater to gamers.02/22/2012 - 5:34pm
RedMage: Especially when the likes of Atlus seem to have no problem doing a great job localizing something niche like Catherine.02/22/2012 - 2:20pm
Uncharted NES: Entertainment Industry Embraces New Business Model: Suing Google For Third-Party Android Apps That 'Promote Piracy'- http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120221/08245617830/entertainment-industry-embraces-new-business-model-suing-google-third-party-android-02/22/2012 - 2:07pm
Andrew Eisen: Hard to imagine the games would sell so poorly that they wouldn't cover the reletively minimal cost of bringing them over (shipping, ESRB rating, new packaging, printing, etc.).02/22/2012 - 2:02pm
Andrew Eisen: A point I made in that YouTube video I did last summer. The games tend to sell more copies here so if the damn thing is already developed and localized, why not release it here?02/22/2012 - 2:00pm
RedMage: That's what I figured. It's especially ironic since the black and white data shows NA buys more of these games than Europe or even Japan.02/22/2012 - 1:57pm
Andrew Eisen: And honestly, at this point, most probably won't because they saw their were no more games and moved on.02/22/2012 - 1:55pm
Andrew Eisen: Localizing for Europe is actually harder. Or at least, more work because typically, you do more languages. I don't think its a matter of difficulty but that Nintendo, for whatever reason, has no faith in NA gamers to actually buy these games.02/22/2012 - 1:54pm
Andrew Eisen: Fatal Frame's localization was also announced! For Europe...02/22/2012 - 1:52pm
RedMage: Definitely the latter. I'd still like to know why Europe is apparently easier to localize RPGs for.02/22/2012 - 1:51pm
Andrew Eisen: Do you mean the quality of the localization itself or Nintendo's tone deafness when it comes to catering to the NA market.02/22/2012 - 1:45pm
RedMage: That being said, Nintendo still sucks when it comes to localization.02/22/2012 - 1:42pm
RedMage: Last Story confirmed for North America in 2012! FINALLY! http://bit.ly/yDVyEY02/22/2012 - 1:42pm
Andrew Eisen: Sounds like an interesting story. Nothing to do with video games I wouldn't think but we're big on free speech rights here. Darn shame Slashdot's link doesn't work.02/22/2012 - 1:32pm
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Uncharted NES: Seriously Zippy? Well Happy 36th. :)02/22/2012 - 1:11pm
james_fudge: BREAKING: Happy Birthday!02/22/2012 - 12:37pm
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