History VideoGame / Everquest

* EasterEgg: Tons and tons of them, too many to list them all. But we'll hit a few of the bigger ones...
** In the Qeynos Sewers, some graffiti say "Aradune is Stinky". Aradune was the character of the original game's creator Brad [=McQuaid=].
* EldritchLocation: Korafax.

* MeleeATrois: The [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Ring Of Scale]] [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Mayong Mistmoore]] and [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers League Of Antonican Bards]] are all mutual enemies. The reason for this is never explained.

The game has, naturally, undergone massive changes since its 1999 release. To the point where it's hardly still the same game. Luckily, there exists a popular mod called [[https://www.project1999.com/ Project 1999]] that [[VideoGameDemake restores Everquest to its 1999-2001 form]], much like how [[VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft World Of Warcraft Classic]] restores [=WOW=] to its original 2004-2007 form.

* {{Feelies}}: The retail versions of the game's expansion packs all came with a cloth or paper map of the world of Norrath, focusing on the new area of that expansion. Planes of Power went one step further and included a figurine of Firiona Vie.

* TheArtifact: This is very prominent in ''[=EverQuest=]''. As the expansion packs mount up, old world content is increasingly useless - it's now possible to get armor dropped from random monsters better than the stuff you had to go through extensive questing to get back in the old days. Many zones, especially dungeons, lie abandoned for various reasons. Sometimes Sony reworks a dungeon to increase the level (this was notably done to Splitpaw and Cazic-Thule). However, since ''[=EverQuest=]'' isn't designed well for solo play, people all hunt in the same few zones since all the other players are there, rendering most of the game an artifact.
** "Hail" itself is something of an artifact - it was made the standard greeting back when the game encouraged roleplaying and players to use medieval terminology.

* BigBoosHaunt: LOTS of them. In just the initial ''[=EverQuest=]'', there was Befallen, Lower Guk, the Estate of Unrest, and Mistmoore Castle. Those are entire zones - many zones had smaller Haunts (for example, the spectre tower in the Oasis of Marr). ''Ruins of Kunark'' added Kurn's Tower, Kaesora, and the City of Mist. ''Scars of Velious'' added more still... and it just keeps on going.

* ChokePointGeography: You have to pass through Blackburrow to get from Qeynos to Halas. Back in the really old days this was a pretty big hassle. Although the path only went through the upper level of Blackburrow, there was a chance that either a grizzly bear or a named gnoll with a level in the high teens[[note]]the upper level of Blackburrow is designed for player no higher than level 10, and even the toughest sections of Blackburrow are scaled for players level 15 and below[[/note]] would spawn and wander around killing people until a benevolent high level player killed it. For that matter, the tunnel leading to Blackburrow on the Everfrost side was an absolute bear back then too - without some form of infravision, it was easy to get lost in the dark and torn apart by lower level gnolls while you couldn't see well enough to run away from them.

* HumansAreWhite: Yes, all Humans are white - there's one human male model that looks like it ''could'' have some Asian features, though it's hard to tell (faces are low resolution). Instead of having black humans, they made the entire race of Erudites black skinned. This was a technical limitation at the time, since the game was pushing the limits of personal computers available during the late 90s, and there was no memory budget for every PC to have multiple skin color textures for every race. This is averted in the [[VideoGame/EverquestII sequel]], which added more skin colors and a higher amount of facial customization.

* IncrediblyDurableEnemies: The ''Shadows of Luclin'' expansion was notorious for featuring enemies with ridiculous pools of HP - especially in its endgame raid zone, Vex Thal, where raids were known to take upwards of ''eight hours'' to complete!

* LevelGrinding: Leveling up takes time. This was especially true in the old days, when quests were few and far between and leveling up meant finding a group, a good camping spot, and killing the same few monsters for hours at a time. You had to grind your skills up as well - casting spells over and over again so that your higher level versions of them wouldn't fizzle. And clicking the Sense Heading button over and over again while waiting for a boat, or waiting for it to become daytime so you could cross Kithicor Forest and not die.

* NintendoHard: Ahh, the old days. The next time someone in your [=WoW=] party complains when you wipe and have to run all the way back to the dungeon, try telling them that in original EQ, you did the same thing, but not as a ghost - nope, you were alive. And naked, because all your equipment stayed on your corpse until you retrieved it. From in the middle of all the nasty things that killed you the first time. No arrows or minimaps, so you'd better remember exactly where you were. If you were unlucky enough to forget to get somebody to cast a bind spell at the nearest city, you might be facing a run across a continent, too. It was not unusual to die several times trying to retrieve your corpse. Oh, by the way, every time you die, you lose experience points. Including de-leveling. At higher levels, the ratio of amount lost to how long it would take to get it back got more and more dire. At the high levels, things became insanely stressful. People had breakdowns.

* NonMammalMammaries: Similarly to the BreastPlate trope, Everquest does a relatively good job averting this. EQ has three major non-mammal races - Iksar, Froglok, and Sarnak. The female Iksar have a slightly hourglass shaped figure [[note]]the original female Iksar models were identical to the male ones with the exception of brightly colored markings on their faces[[/note]], but no actual breasts. Female Frogloks just have slimmer heads and color schemes ranging more towards pastels. Sarnaks aren't a playable race and don't have separate gender models.

* PowerUpFood: Offered through the baking and brewing tradeskills - smoked Wood Elf, anyone? The stat boosts are usually very minor, however, and the best food tends to be an ''utter'' pain in the ass to produce, due to the rarity of the ingredients and the zillion subcombines required to make the final product. Want to make a baker cry? Ask them about the Misty Thicket Picnic[[note]]An item combine that required the player not only to be a Baker with maxed skill, but also to have leveled up to reasonable competency: Tailoring, Smithing, Brewing, and Foraging (not available to all race/class combos, forcing non-Foragers to buy supplies from players at a premium). Components available at vendors were not found in one location, but rather at no fewer than 7 different vendors scattered hither and yon. Players would spend ''months'' leveling up their crafting skills just to make a single attempt.[[/note]] or the Halas Ten Pound Meat Pie.

* SexyPackaging: Firiona Vie was featured very prominently on the artwork of the original game's box and the first 13 expansions. This then stopped abruptly and utterly - box art since then has generally featured the expac's main antagonist.

* {{Stripperiffic}}: Firiona Vie - the character, not the zone. Any female character without armor equipped. And for the first dozen or so expansions, any female character on the box art.

''[=EverQuest=]'' (1999) is a highly popular MassivelyMultiplayerOnlineRolePlayingGame inspired by [[MultiUserDungeon DikuMUD]], a ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' textual multiplayer game. It is famed for being highly addictive and having an excellent social environment. It's also one of two games that really put [=MMOs=] on the map, sharing the title with ''VideoGame/UltimaOnline'', and the model it used for high-end play has been the model used in almost every other game since, even ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''. It has also spawned many {{Expansion Pack}}s, a sequel game in ''VideoGame/EverQuestII'', a novel series, and a film is in the works.

* OneSteveLimit: An aversion: There are no fewer than ''four'' completely unrelated (=NPCs=) named "Bonecracker", although one at least has a space in his name (i.e "Bone Cracker")

* OneSteveLimit: An aversion: There are no fewer than ''four'' completely unrelated NPCs named "Bonecracker", although one at least has a space in his name (i.e "Bone Cracker")

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

%%* BondCreatures: Beastlords .

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

** The Ogres -- Rallos Zek's most prized creation -- were stricken with a curse that resulted in future generations seeing a massive drop in intelligence and cognitive abilities, as well as their physical appearance degrading despite a notable gain in muscle mass and girth. They quickly changed from a highly intelligence war mongering race of {{Lightning Bruiser}}s into hideously ugly DumbMuscle.

* DivinePunishment: A large part of Norrath's backstory was the first Rallosian War. Rallos Zek, the God of War, rallied his armies and stormed across both Norrath and the elemental planes. Conquering most of Tunaria wasn't heinous enough, but they then invasioned the Plane of Earth, captured all twelve members of the Rathe Council (the Gods of Earth), and then executed them in Norrath. This resulted in the entire Rathe Mountains springing up under each of their execution sites in the southern part of Tunaria. The other deities decided this was a step too far, and enacted their punishment upon Rallos Zek's own creations.

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: Most of the strongest raid bosses are in power ''because'' they're strong enough to force their will on others. The gods are a prime example of this.