by
Return Home | Thursday, March 29, 2018 |
In January 2012, the official letter from Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) reached the EverQuest Online Adventures (EQOA) community. After 9 years of bringing gamers together, EverQuest Online Adventures was shutting down.
While SOE gave notice about the impending shut down, it did not help mend the hearts of its players, or prepare them for the separation as individuals gained lasting friendships and formed close bonds during their time in-game. While Project: Return Home’s crew is working diligently to bring back that experience, we take a moment of silence as today marks the 6th anniversary of the server shut down.
On March 29th, 2012 large groups flocked to the popular cities of Norrath to come together one last time. Players flooded the chat with farewells, well wishes, memories and exchanged contact information with the friends and family they had made. Freeport, a hot spot for finding parties and hanging out, buzzed with one last surge of community presence as the experience of a Gamer’s lifetime was coming to a close.
With these thoughts in mind we would like to take a moment to reflect on the wonderful times this MMO, for so many of us, provided. From our Facebook page we received many responses to our question: “What was your favorite thing about EQOA, and what was your reaction/feeling when the Shut Down was announced?” A very solid percentage of responses stated similar things to “Nothing has been able to fill the void”, or “I haven’t been able to find anything that feels the same,” the very feeling and vibe that EQOA had was not just noticed by a handful of players, and we believe it is safe to say that the members of this community felt this pull, and still do 6 years later.
Some key points that were commented on were being in total control of how your character developed, having freedom to roam without really any restriction, (and I know some of us recall the gnome runs!), making friends, meeting a soul mate, and having something to go to and lean on when facing hard times. EQOA was there for all of us in different ways and always waited with welcoming, open arms.
While it would be impossible to fit all responses to our post here, we welcome all to read the post made on February 28th, 2018 on our Facebook page, and want to share a bitter sweet video, that displays the final moments shared by a server community.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yco7spSF9rM&feature=youtu.be
Thank you to all members of the community that contributed responses to our question, the comments certainly help fuel our ambition and goal with Project: Return Home! Also a very big thank you to Randall Adams for the link and capturing his last moments on Marrs Fist as the sun set on the EQOA servers.
If you're not already a member of the Facebook group, please consider joining us!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/EverquestOnlineAdventure/
- Macey DeLeon (Mace)
References:
Facebook Community Question [Interview by M. J. DeLeon]. (2018, February 28). Retrieved March 29, 2018, from https://www.facebook.com/groups/EverquestOnlineAdventure/
J. (2012, March 30). Last Moments of EQOA. Retrieved March 29, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yco7spSF9rM&feature=youtu.be