Graphics

Back in the day…

As I mentioned before, Ultima Online is the oldest of the three games. It has been on the market for years now and its graphics are outdated compared to the levels of quality Asheron's Call and Everquest have. When Everquest hit the market many people left Ultima Online for EQ to try out the new style of online RPG. I have to admit seeing the world through the 1st person perspective does make the game that much more in depth. The world of Everquest was huge and the tall trees and the mountains really were nothing like Ultima Online at all. I loved the graphics, but I missed the top down view that I was so used to in Ultima, it created a good feeling of community.

A predawn hike

Daytime in a sparse woodland

Graphic splendor

When I first loaded up Asheron's Call for the beta test I was excited to see how it compared to the others. I had heard many things about this game being the perfect blend of Ultima Online and Everquest. I thought to myself this could be it, but then jokingly I reminded myself that it was indeed a Microsoft product, so I would just have to wait and see. Well when all was said and done, it loaded up and I was impressed. Although the level of detail on the characters was not as high as those in Everquest, Everquest could not compete with the scenery Asheron's call had. You could look to the sky to see day fade to night and witness moons crawling across the sky. I never felt as absorbed in EQ like I do now in AC.

Check out that moon

Cool, two moons

Zones and their effect on graphics

The mechanics behind the game have a lot to do with it too. UO and AC are whole worlds; as you travel, you fail to notice that you are crossing a server boundary, unless lag is bad. In Everquest this is not the case. Each of EQ's servers ran a "zone." To load another zone, when you traveled, your character was funneled into a small mountain pass or just an invisible line in the middle of a field where you would all of a sudden have to wait a minute to load the next zone. This is an annoying feature to have to twiddle your thumbs for, but it does cut the lag down, so it serves its purpose. My main problem with it was issues concerning player killing and lag when you accidentally hit the wrong key and all of a sudden you are loading the zone you wanted to leave. So, with all of that said, hopefully you understand that you cannot see the seemingly endless forest from the peak of a mountain in Everquest like you can in Asheron's Call.

Daybreak in Dereth

Is this a jail?

Character detail

On the same token Asheron's Call doesn't have the level of detail on its character images like EQ does. However, there is a really good explanation for this. Everquest allows users to create characters and choose one of several faces from a short list. AC lets you choose each feature of the face, which leads to some serious customization of your appearance. UO had system very similar to this where you could choose hairstyle and color and even skin tone. AC expanded this to allow different eye color and even choices for noses and lips. For an RPG I enjoy games that allow someone to create a unique appearance for themselves. I think it is far better to have a system like that then to depend on one's armor or clothing to distinguish who they are, like in Everquest.