History VideoGame / EverQuest

* ArbitraryMinimumRange: The game has a minimum range (usually 10 meters, just outside of melee combat for most monsters) required before anyone can use a ranged weapon such as a bow or throwing knives and shurikens.

* {{Gainaxing}}: For FanDisservice no less - female Ykesha-era trolls breasts flop around grotesquely during combat.

** Crowd Control: Everquest pioneered this adventurer role, and Enchanters are the class that excels at it, although Bards can do it a bit. Necromancers can do it well but only on undead monsters.

* AscendedExtra: Fippy Darkpaw was just one of many of the named Darkpaws who'd shout about humans ruining their lands and stupidly charge the gate guards to die. Djerr Darkpaw, Grarrax Darkpaw, Holinix Darkpaw, Kraxz Darkpaw, and Nixx Darkpaw all behave exactly like Fippy. Fippy isn't even the strongest of the Darkpaws, depending on the level he spawns at he's either third behind Holinix and Grarrax, or tied for weakest with Djerr. Yet Fippy became a meme, got a Fabled version of himself, and eventually [[spoiler:became a raid boss]], whereas the others all remained obscure newbie trash mobs.

* GodzillaThreshold: This happens at the end of the Planes Of Power Expansion pack. Basically, the players have made their way into the Plane of Time where [[NayTheist Zebuxork]] is imprisoned. If they free him, he can teach them the Divine Language, which would allow them to become gods themselves. By the end of the zone, they have killed entire armies of the gods' minions, as well as killing [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu multiple gods and demigods,]] although said gods [[RessurectiveImmortality eventually come back.]] The elemental gods decide their only hope at this point is to deploy [[FinalBoss Quarm,]] a ''huge'' [[MultipleHeadCase four-headed]] dragon/hydra thing. They even call him the "beast we swore would never be needed."

* DifficultySpike: One of the things that's gotten more pronounced in the latter days of the game. Nowadays EQ holds your hand through your newbie days... and then suddenly kicks you in the nuts right around the time you hit level 25. In the old days, the game was happy to kick you in the nuts the second your brand-new character spawned, though, so this is actually a small improvement...
** As the updates go on, the difficulty spike kicks in at a higher level. * DirtyCop: There's an entire faction of corrupt guards in Qeynos. In edition, it's implied there is a major corruption problem among the guards of Freeport, so much that the local paladin guild considers them enemies.

Set in the fantasy land of Norrath, you start as a race[[note]]Human, Barbarian, Dark Elf, Drakkin, Dwarf, Erudite, Half Elf, Halfling, High Elf, Gnome, Iksar, Ogre, Troll, Wood Elf[[/note]] and pick [[AnAdventurerIsYou a character class]] [[note]]Berserker, Cleric, Druid, Enchanter, Mage, Necromancer, Paladin, Ranger, Shadowknight, Shaman, Warrior, Wizard[[/note]] (which classes are available are restricted by race). Technically you have a hometown, but you start in a tutorial dungeon and then head straight to Crescent City (assuming you didn't just make Crescent City your hometown, which the game strongly encourages you to do). After perhaps hundreds of hours of LevelGrinding and quests, you can reach a level where the wildlife, highly aggressive to your innocent adventurer, won't kill you in seconds. This can be sped up much by having a team member or five.

** Melee DPS: Rogues dual-weild and backstab. Monks and Shadowknights to a lesser extent can perform melee DPS as well.

** Crowd Control: Everquest pioneered this adventurer role, and Enchanters are the class that excells at it, although bards can do it a bit, and necromancers can do it well but only on undead monsters.

* DirtyCop: There's an entire faction of corrupt guards in Qeynos. In edition, it's implied there is a major corruption problem among the guards of Freeport, so much that the local paladin guild considers them enemies.
** As the updates go on, the difficulty spike kicks in at a higher level.

%%* FetchQuest: By the bushel.

** Possibly the case with Kerafyrm the [[DraconicAbomination Prismatic Dragon]]. While the lore surrounding him is [[MultipleChoicePast vague and contradictory,]] one story suggests the other dragons feared his power and [[SealedBadassInACan. sealed him away.]] As such, when he is awakened, he immediately goes on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge and kills all the dragons in Skyshrine and the Temple Of Veeshan.

* CruelElephant: While most of the elephants in South Karana are harmless unless provoked, there is a rare spawn named Cracktusk who is super aggressive because [[WoobieDestoyerOfWorlds the pain of his tusk has driven him insane.]]

[=EverQuest=] has a sequel, ''VideoGame/{{EverQuest II}}''. 2004 saw the release of a (mostly forgotten) RTS adaption, known as "Lords of Everquest". There's also a tabletop version of [=EverQuest=] and a couple of tie-in novels.

* BlackAndWhiteMorality: Qeynos Guard vs Bloodsabers, Order of Marr vs Freeport Militia

* BondCreatures: Beastlords .

* BottomlessBladder: Played straight for players. Not always so true for [=NPCs=].

* JackOfAllStats: Humans in both games.

** The three major cities of Velious qualify somewhat. While the dwarf and dragon factions are not directly connected, some quest text hints that they like each other no better than they like the giants.

* LawOfCartographicalElegance: Averted with the map of the original three continents, which had several areas labelled on them which didn't actually exist in game. While future {{Expansion Pack}}s would add many of them, there are still some that are {{Vaporware}}, such as the Unkempt Forest and Hatchlands. Maps for future expansion areas mostly avoided this.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: In the ''Dragons of Norrath'' expansion, killing Yar'Lir unleashes a curse upon The Nest, making things a whole lot more unpleasant.

* NobodyPoops: Averted. Kaladim has a giant statue of a dwarf above the entrance, and an NPC sends you off to kill kragploom aviaks because they keep perching on the statue and then pooping on it.

* InterfaceScrew: The blind spell and alcohol. Certain bosses try to pull these off now and then.

** Possibly the case with Kerafyrm the [[DraconicAbomination Prismatic Dragon]]. While the lore surrounding him is [[MultipleChoicePast vague and contradictory,]] one story suggests the other dragons feared his power and [[SealedBadassInACan.]] sealed him away as such, when he is awakened, he immediately goes on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge and kills all the dragons in Skyshrine and the Temple Of Veeshan.

** Possibly the case with Kerafyrm the [[DraconicAbomination Prismatic Dragon]]. While the lore surrounding him is [[MultipleChoicePast vague and contradictory,]] one story suggests the other dragons feared his power and [[SealedBadassInACan.]] sealed him away as such, when he is awakened, he immediately goes on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge and kills all the dragons in Skyshrine and the TempleOfVeeshan.

* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: [[DraconicAbomination Kerafyrm]] does this when he's [[SealedEvilInCan set free]] in the Scars Of Velious ExpansionPack. Specifically: he first kills any players still in the zone, then goes on to kill all the dragons in Skyshrine and the Temple Of Veeshan for imprisoning him. This is a once-per-server event, after which Sleepers Tomb (where he was imprisoned) permanently changes.

* ConLang: The "Fleshless Tongue" spoken by the Akhevans on Luclin. The TabletopGame even had an Fleshless Tongue dictionary in its ''Monsters Of Luclin" book. Also counts as a StarfishLanguage, as it's implied to be mostly telepathic (hence the "Fleshless" part), and the spellings of NPCs with names in Fleshless are implied to just be the closest phonetic equivalent.

* GameWithinAGame: "Gems" -- a ''{{Bejeweled}}'' ripoff to pass the time while meditating/healing/looking for group. Came about during the era when ContinuingIsPainful was the norm.

* LawOfCartographicalElegance: Averted with the map of the original three continents, which had several areas labelled on them which didn't actually exist in game. While future ExpansionPacks would add many of them, there are still some that are {{Vaporware}}, such as the Unkempt Forest and Hatchlands. Maps for future expansion areas mostly avoided this.

Set in the fantasy land of Norrath, you start as a race[[note]]Human, Barbarian, Dark Elf, Drakkin, Dwarf, Erudite, Half Elf, Halfling, High Elf, Gnome, Iksar, Ogre, Troll, Wood Elf[[/note]] and pick [[AnAdventurerIsYou a character class]] [[note]]Berserker, Cleric, Druid, Enchanter, Mage, Necromancer, Paladin, Ranger, Shadowknight, Shaman, Warrior, Wizard[[/note]] (which classes are available are restricted by race). Technically you have a hometown, but you start in a tutorial dungeon and then head straight to Crescent City (assuming you didn't just make Crescent City your hometown, which the game strongly encourages you to do). After perhaps hundreds of hours of LevelGrinding and quests, you can reach a level where the wildlife, highly aggressive to your innocent adventurer, won't kill you in seconds. This can be sped up much by having a team member or five.

* OurElvesAreBetter: Played completely straight. ''[=EverQuest=]'' has the superior High Elves, the woodsy Wood Elves, and the evil Dark Elves. And the Half Elves, who mostly fit in pretty well with the easy going Wood Elves.