Every game genre has defining titles players can point to as milestones. In most if not all cases, awareness of them is basically universal; even those gamers who may not enjoy action games, first-person shooters or role-playing games are still acutely aware of them and how they advanced gaming in general. For the massively multiplayer online role-playing category, which is still very much in its infancy, EverQuest is one such name.

Whether you personally love or hate it, or even if you never played it at all to form an opinion, you've certainly heard of it. During development and the almost six years since it launched, Sony Online Entertainment has done a remarkable job not only marketing the game and keeping it evolving, primarily via the eight expansions released so far, but also turning it into a franchise. In the latter regard, we have seen a crossover from the PC realm to consoles, with releases like EverQuest Online Adventures and Champions of Norrath, and also from its online roots to standalone offerings.