Is Sony's Everquest the Ultimate Virtual World?

From TIME Digital: The quest to build an online fantasy world takes a giant leap forward

  • "An immersive virtual environment." "Massively multiplayer." "Persistent world." These are some of the buzzwords that flew around Electronic Arts' Ultima Online last year, a computer game that allows thousands of players to adventure together in a virtual world over the Internet. Unfortunately, Ultima Online was a troubled world, plagued by technical bugs and disputes among players.

    But the dream of a collaborative fantasy world was so powerful that despite the odds, companies such as Microsoft rushed similar projects into development, knowing that whoever could conquer the technical and design challenges would have a gold mine on their hands. With Everquest, Sony may have realized that dream.

    Everquest was released on March 16, but because massively multiplayer games are so complex, it's taken some time to ascertain whether it was wholly successful. Everquest's gaming scenario doesn't vary much from the tried-and-true fantasy tradition. Players take on the role of a character chosen from among 12 humanoid species -- humans, ogres, elves (the elves come in several flavors, from "woodland" to "high"), etc. -- who practice a range of professions: wizards, warriors, rangers and bards. When the game begins you find yourself in a world called Norrath, in the Age of Turmoil, and needless to say you're bent on acquiring treasure and experience. When you log off, your character keeps his or her wealth and skills, ready for you to pick up where you stopped the next time you log on. MORE >>