The Classic EverQuest MMORPG Finally Goes Free to Play

Sony Online Entertainment has announced that EverQuest has officially gone into Free-To-Play (F2P) mode. The long-standing MMORPG is also celebrating its 13th birthday by offering in-game activities and game updates including improvements to the maps, improved Find Tracking, improved navigation, a zone path finder and more.

"Through 18 successful expansions and countless other game updates, EverQuest has forged its place in history amongst the MMO and online game elite," said Dave Georgeson, director of development of the EverQuest franchise. "With one of the most loyal player communities in the industry, we believe that after 13 years we need to provide them with a wide variety of ways to play the game on their terms. Players can now choose to play in a way that suits them best and continue to expand their game experience…until the next milestone birthday!"

As with EverQuest 2, SOE is providing three models for the classic MMORPG including Free, Silver ($5.00 USD) and Gold ($14.99/Month USD). Free members have full access to the base game and its 17 expansions in addition to four races, four classes, two character slots per server, four bag slots and more. By spending $5 in SOE's virtual shop, free members are automatically upgraded to Silver, which offers a few additional perks like more player character slots, additional bag slots and other perks.

"Originally launched in 1999, EverQuest arrived as a brand new evolution within the respective MMO, RPG and online gaming genres, with continued recognitions over its epic 13-year history for pioneering major concepts such as guilds and raiding online," SOE said on Friday. "EverQuest now joins the ranks of fellow free-to-play favorites DC Universe Online and EverQuest 2– both of which successfully made the transition to free-to-play within the past year."

Once users download the 11.7 MB installation file, EverQuest requires an additional download of 8.32 GB. To get started, head here and hit the big green Play Free button. A Station account is required.

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Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.

31 Comments Comment from the forums

memadmax

Still sucks.
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jgutz2006

ohh man and to think that my first Quake 3 clan fell apart due to flakes leaving for EQ!

Quakelive.com, quake fans are quite loyal as well!
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NuclearShadow

EverQuest was the MMORPG that was such a major success and made everyone else want a piece of the pie. The game was a quality game as well. There is a reason why so many have come and died while EverQuest still goes on. Before WoW when someone mentioned MMORPGs the first game that came to mind was EverQuest.

13 years of pay to play when newer games are now lucky to achieve a few years. Not to mention the countless ones that ended completely. You have to hand it to EverQuest it is a piece of gaming history. For the critics please point to me a game you developed that had a 13 year P2P lifespan.

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aoneone

wow big news.. eq emulator is stronger than ever and with original servers dedicated to 1999 realism. big deal. Hah!
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Hypertraxx

lol da fuq, like anyone wants to play this crap. Just like WoW.

Well maybe some people do... Virginity must be high to them.
May the virginity gods be with them who play these games and protect them another 13years from girls.
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dgingeri

I logged back in yesterday, and realized why I hated that game so much so long ago. I couldn't even find my way off the plane of knowledge, let alone find components for my spells. WoW is just light years better.
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" logged back in yesterday, and realized why I hated that game so much so long ago. I couldn't even find my way off the plane of knowledge, let alone find components for my spells. WoW is just light years better."

Easier is not always better. Everquest as a raid game is much superior to wow. It harder, involves more people and tougher stratigies. People don't use addon's to make playing their class easier like heal bot
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Dyseman

Man, Flashback to Voodoo2 Card and Hell Levels. Back in the day, this was my first official pay per month game. Back in a time I thought people were crazy to pay a subscription just to play a game.
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Dyseman

PlasmidShit, Just looked at the graphics and they haven't been updated. I bet supermario has better graphics than this crap.
Yeah, Super Mario updated over the years, but... Super Mario 1, 3, and World are much more fun to play than current versions. Can't Raid in Super Mario... Period.

EverQuest updated to EverQuest2 and a future one in the works.

Playability is what people really want. If you want better graphics, you get the newer version.
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lashabane

NuclearShadowEverQuest was the MMORPG that was such a major success and made everyone else want a piece of the pie. The game was a quality game as well. There is a reason why so many have come and died while EverQuest still goes on. Before WoW when someone mentioned MMORPGs the first game that came to mind was EverQuest.13 years of pay to play when newer games are now lucky to achieve a few years. Not to mention the countless ones that ended completely. You have to hand it to EverQuest it is a piece of gaming history. For the critics please point to me a game you developed that had a 13 year P2P lifespan.Don't forget about Asheron's Call. Sure it came out 8 months after EQ but it still has it's own loyal following and is still pay 2 play.
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