Many massively multiplayer online games have come and gone, but "EverQuest" has managed to stand the test of time: 13 years to be exact. And, to celebrate its anniversary, a version of the game is now free to play.
"EverQuest," which originally launched in 1999, was recently inducted into the GDC Online Awards' Hall of Fame:
With the free version, there are now three different subscription levels to choose from. At the top is the Gold membership, which costs $15 a month, and includes full access to all classes and races, the ability to maintain up to eight characters and full access to all items.
Next is Silver, which is $5 a month and includes much of the above, but with certain restrictions.
The free membership allows for just two characters -- who have level caps -- to be maintained, and has additional restrictions imposed upon available races, items and the like.
The free option is designed to target those who have long been curious about MMOS, but have never given them a chance, as well as to entice back players from back in the day to give their old avatars a spin for old time's sake.
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Matthew Hawkins is an NYC-based game journalist who has also written for EGM, GameSetWatch, Gamasutra, Giant Robot and numerous others. He also self-publishes his own game culture zine, is part of Attract Mode , and co-hosts The Fangamer Podcast . You can keep tabs on him via Twitter , or his personal home-base, FORT90.com .
