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Comment by shiftpgdn | Hacker News Reader

I would argue Ultima Online set the bar for MMOs long before Everquest. The UO servers had 3000+ players online vs the 300ish of Meridian 59.

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UO was the first really popular MMO but it was 2D(or 2.5D at best).

EQ was the first 3D MMO.

UO was fantastic for its mix of PvE and PvP. For a time, you could be a player who preferred PvE but you could still protect yourself against PvP. I remember mining in rags, when underneath I was a fully maxed armed plate wearing mage ready to pounce on any unsuspecting griefers.

EQ took a different route, it emphasized PvE. PvP servers were considered broken.

There were endless discussions in gaming forums lamenting this lack of "forced but fun" PvP in EQ which was present in UO.

However, EQ proved to be more influential, the big successes that followed like WoW emphasized PvE and the care-bear factor.

Those games that tried to bring some sort of forced PvP onto users failed.(I am not sure where EVE falls in this regard)

Disclaimer: I played both UO(1998-2000) and EQ(2000-2006) and my bots still play EQ.

I wasn't sure how to phrase it. The first two real MMOs (in the massive sense) where UO and EQ, with UO coming first. That said I think modern MMOs would claim more in common with EQ than UO.

EQ being the first in full 3D as I recall.

They do. Pre-patch UO was much more of a free for all. Then the 2nd Age created a mirrored server that prohibited all but mutual combat. It took a lot of the excitement out of it for me. The risk/reward of going to dungeons and territorial feuds were what drew me to the game.

Minor correction: Renaissance, not the 2nd Age, split the world into two mirrored facets.

I agree, though I do think EverQuest was more popular in the public image, I remember when it was mentioned in the movie "The New Guy" and I was like, whoa!

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