My First MMO Character: A Player's EverQuest Memory

PC Gamer has published a personal essay exploring players' first MMO characters, featuring Joshua Wolens' experience creating a half-elf character in EverQuest around 1999.

Wolens was introduced to the game by watching his father play a gnome magician in the then-new release. Eager to join in, he asked his dad for help creating a character. He avoided the gnome race, preferring not to play as short in-game when he was already small in real life. He also shied away from the magician class, finding it too complicated.

Instead, Wolens rolled a half-elf with a randomly generated name and began his MMO journey. His early experience was defined by caution rather than exploration. He avoided venturing far from Freeport's gates, fearing he would become lost in what felt like an impossibly vast world. Rather than risk getting separated from the starting area, he spent his time fighting orcs and rats just outside the city.

Despite this limited scope, Wolens describes the experience fondly. The simple routine of staying in one familiar area provided a happy introduction to MMOs, even if it meant missing much of what EverQuest had to offer.