Did EverQuest copy the code of a game from 1991? The first MMORPGs with 3D graphics in the report

The MMORPG genre has fascinated and inspired millions of players for decades. In a multi-part report, MeinMMO editor Karsten Scholz examines the roots, development and future of online role-playing games. Part 2 focuses on the first 3D MMORPGs.

After the first part of the multi-part MeinMMO report on the genre of online role-playing games focused on the pioneers of the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s, the era of the first MMORPGs with 3D graphics has now dawned.

Which games paved the way for today’s genre kings? Why wasn’t there a big hit before 2004 that could take the genre from a niche into the mainstream?

The beginning of a new era

When Meridian 59 was released in 1996, an exciting phase began for all fans of online adventures. The oldie, which is still playable today, catapulted the MMORPG genre into the 3D era, although moving objects were still shown in 2D. A few hundred players were accommodated in each version of the game world.

Initially, the game’s focus was primarily on PvP duels. Virtual death was punished drastically – through the loss of maximum health points and all possessions that could be plundered from other players.

Publisher 3DO called the game an MMPRPG, i.e. a “Massively Multiplayer Role-Playing Game” – without the “online”. The standard term “Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game” (MMORPG) was coined a year later by Richard Garriott.

Ultima Online is one of the great milestones of the MMORPG genre:

One classic chases the next

The same Garriott, who became known as “Lord British” through his Ultima role-playing game series, had his own MMORPG candidate in the stable with Ultima Online. From 1996 onwards, various other online RPGs appeared left and right, in all shapes and sizes.

While Ultima Online relied on an isometric 3D view and a subscription model, games like Tibia (1997) used 2D graphics and free2play access. In addition to the popular fantasy theme, developers increasingly focused on alternative settings such as science fiction (Terra, 1996) or horror (Dark Eden, 1997).

In terms of gameplay, alongside Ultima Online, EverQuest (1999), Runescape (2001) and Dark Age of Camelot (2001) left important footprints. DAoC was particularly popular with its three-front war between the kingdoms of Albion, Hibernia and Midgard.

Runescape, meanwhile, attracted countless players through low hurdles (browser game plus freemium model) and was even able to make several entries in the Guinness Book of Records – for example for the most registered players (more than 254 million) in 2017 (via Guinness World Records).

The “first EverQuest” was a great package, consisting of a huge game world, 14 classes, twelve races (plus their alignments, divided into good, neutral and evil), countless special skills (such as mastering the troll language), guilds and much more.

By the way, it almost came to a lawsuit because the EverQuest developers were quite heavily inspired by a text-based multi-user dungeon representative called DikuMUD (from 1991).

So much so that at times there were even accusations that parts of the EverQuest code had been copied. A final statement on this can still be found on the official DikuMUD website:

“The DIKU Group is proud that the ‘DIKU feeling’ has found its way into such an entertaining and award-winning game as EverQuest.”

Meanwhile, what was happening in Asia?

With the start of the 3D era of MMORPGs in the West, the first relevant online role-playing game appeared in Asia. In 1996, Nexus: The Kingdom of the Winds became the first million-seller of the genre, despite its 2D graphics.

Two years later, Lineage – again in 2D – was an even bigger success, with tens of billions of US dollars in revenue for NCSoft, a direct sequel (Lineage 2 was released in 2003, with a 3D engine), mobile spin-offs and modernized clients.

Other Asian milestones of this period include Phantasy Star Online (2000) – which was developed for the Dreamcast rather than the PC – as well as Final Fantasy XI (2002), Maple Story (2003) and Fantasy Westward Journey (2004, which is one of the most successful online games of all time in China).

The great fascination of 3D MMORPGs

Entering an online role-playing game for the first time in these pioneering times must have been an unforgettable experience for every player. After all, you were in an often huge, persistent online world. In addition, the understanding of multiplayer took on a new dimension.

You could meet other players everywhere to go out together, fight each other or just chat (MMORPG chats were basically the predecessors of today’s social networks). In which other games of that time was that possible?

Back then, open worlds weren’t just a PR buzzword that you could use to describe almost any genre. Even single-player role-playing games with a 3D engine and a large, open world were something special (and often randomly generated, like in Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall).

A special social experience

MMORPGs became even more fascinating once solid communities formed on the servers, where guilds and individual players could make a name for themselves. Veterans of Dark Age of Camelot would probably now rave about nightly telephone chains that successfully fended off attacks by the enemy faction.

If such a community of like-minded people stays together long enough, friendships and even relationships for life are formed, flanked by beautiful memories of guild meetings, challenges mastered together or special in-game events such as competitions, weddings or role-playing activities.

Lack of Internet expansion prevented MMORPGs from flourishing

In this first generation of 3D MMORPGs, there were already a number of titles that achieved strong sales and subscription figures. EverQuest, for example, is said to have sold three million units by the end of 2004 and reached a peak of 550,000 paying subscribers.

However, the genre has not yet reached the mass market. There are two main reasons for this:

To put it into perspective: According to the State Media Center, in 1997 just 6.5 percent of Germans aged 14 and over regularly used any online services. No wonder. There was no Facebook, Twitter or TikTok, and no internet flat rate either.

Every minute spent online drove up the monthly phone bill. That was no fun with a slow phone modem from back then (DSL or even fiber optics were still pure fiction). The subscription fee for various MMORPGs was on top of that.

It was only in the mid-2000s that these conditions changed across the board, and one game in particular was able to benefit from this enormously. But that is what the third part of our report is about. Until then, you can pass the time with the following special: The 15 currently best MMOs and MMORPGs in 2024