The original EverQuest hit shelves this month in 1999, five long years ago, and it's still going strong. Players continue to pack the servers. It remains an influence for the online gaming scene and a fixture in pop-culture. And now the weeks are ticking away until the debut of the long-awaited sequel! GameSpy has been tracking these final weeks through the eyes of the development team.

In last month's developer diary we got a behind-the-scenes look at creating the terrain, geography, and even the unique architecture of the game. Prior to that we posted the inside story of creating the character art and early design decisions.

This month, Design Director Rich Waters steps back to describe the organization of the team and their goals with regards to making the world feel alive, giving all types of players multiple ways to play.