Here are the highlights from the first-ever Fippy Fest, celebrating EverQuest and EverQuest II fandom and innovation.
Have you ever gone to a party and did not really know anybody, and then your anxiety levels spike—visualizing your emotions like in Disney Pixar’s Inside Out? Well, that was what my experience at the first-ever Fippy Fest felt like this past weekend because I knew nothing about these games. This was a 25th and 20th anniversary for EverQuest and EverQuest II, respectfully. The event was primarily held at the San Diego Comic Con Museum in San Diego, California, for two days last week (Friday to Saturday, June 15, 2024). Attendees were a hybrid of in-person and livestream audiences.
Whether it was dumb luck or not, I somehow came out of this immaculate experience with cool new friends, acquaintances and guides. While I have yet to venture across Norrath in-game myself, I was able to experience it in real life. It was really awesome to hear everyone (from the devs at Darkpaw Games to the fans) talk about their past and current experiences, across various servers in EverQuest and EverQuest II.
As for the future of both games, I was able to catch a sneak peek this weekend at the upcoming expansions for The Outer Brood in EverQuest and Scars of Destruction in EverQuest II. The devs were also excited to announce that the new origin server, Anashti Sul will be live on Wednesday, June 19th, at 12pm. More details on these cool announcements below.
1. The Legacy/The Experience
In a time when many studios have been shutting down and closing their doors, one has withstood the test of time by keeping their doors consistently open: Daybreak and Darkpaw Games. Fippy Fest was not only a celebration for the fans of these significant games; it was also a high recognition for the development team at Daybreak for their outstanding 28 years of consistent, live development. Not many video game companies could claim such a feat.
If you had asked me about a month or two ago, what was the longest-running MMORPG? I probably would have gone with something like Warhammer or World of Warcraft. Some would even argue that Ultima Online would be up there. But it was actually EverQuest that took the cake and title. For an even bigger deep dive to the origins of EverQuest, Russell Adderson from PC Gamer published a detailed article on those earlier days of developing EverQuest.
Studio head of Darkpaw Games Jen Chan explained, in an intimate chat with two other devs and me, on how they ultimately decided on the digital-forward event: “Back in January 2020, we talked about trying to have another in-person event. And if you remember, [there were the] 2020 lockdowns.” For additional context, before Fippy Fest, there were a few in-person EverQuest events called Fan Faires. Ultimately, Chan continued to explain how they kept pivoting until landing on the target of the 25th and 20th anniversaries. They thought about doing a “massive event [with] thousands of people”, all in-person.
However, things did not always go as planned. “With so many players that play EQ and EQ 2, 3000 people is not enough. It’s so limited, and so that’s what we pivoted,” Chan explained on trying to find the balance of an in-person event versus a livestream. Then, the team found a proper pitch to the executives, “I was like, ‘Okay, what if we do a digital-forward event?’ But we still wanted to keep some of the in-person aspect. So, we thought, ‘how small can we make the in-person aspect so that way it’s intimate and very upscaled, but also be very digital forward and do a big livestream?'” And once the rest was history.
The overall Fippy Fest experience was awe-mazing, even for someone who was learning the lingo and ins-and-outs of the EverQuest community. There was some awesome swag given to us, commemorating Fippy Fest 2024. The panels hosted by meteorologist, long-time EverQuest fan, and the amazing host of The EverQuest Show, Robb “Fading” Ellis were super hype on both days. He was our brave party leader, or rather, our guild master through the in-person experience and the livestream event—always keeping everyone in high spirits.
The visit to Daybreak Games was so nostalgic, seeing the old cubicles and offices contrasting the newer ones. Being there and seeing the OG paintings from the original artists, along with original concepts and memorabilia made me think about when Riot Games might do an event like this 20 years down the road for League of Legends or Valorant.
Additionally, day one ended with a “Fippy Feast” that set the fantasy mood like we were chomping down and sipping some mana potions in Norrath itself. Day two ended at the lovely Battlemage Brewery where we got to eat, drink and chillax with everyone on the Daybreak team—the brewery also debuted their EverQuest-themed new IPA called “Corpse Run.”
2. The Fans/Developers
At Fippy Fest, there were distinctive shirts for the guests and the developers from Darkpaw Games—a great way to distinguish the players from the ones who provide the experiences to those across the world. Although, I would say that I did not see a divide between players and devs because I quickly learned that the players could be devs, and devs could be the players. It was a co-mingling of roles with hundreds (if not, thousands) of years of combined experience from both the development and gameplay departments of EverQuest and EverQuest II.
Even though I knew nothing about the EverQuest games, I realized everyone’s storytelling abilities to be so profound. I think the best part about experiencing Fippy Fest in-person was hearing everyone tell their in-game war stories because each one was different but shared a hilarious commonality amongst each one. The moment I knew I was accepted into this deep, rich community was when everyone would explain to me what some of the terms were, and why the memories they shared were so funny. While I have not played this specific MMORPG, I have played others before, so I got the gist.
By the end of the two days at Fippy Fest, I noticed that everyone always mentioned how the community was the best part of the games. Many guests and devs spoke about how both games ensured that friends near and far would stay connected, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
I asked each of the three Daybreak/Darkpaw staff members about their best memories of playing and/or working on the games. Senior Game Designer Adam Bell shared a really heartfelt response about working together with the artists to collaborate “doing the whole process of creating a whole new race [and] creating a whole new way of doing things.” Bell continued, “We took a limitation and made it a feature, and really embraced the LGBTQI+ community, which was important to me. I really enjoyed putting all of that together.”
The creative director on EverQuest II Kyle Vallee also shared his best memories of playing EverQuest since the beta back in 1999. He spoke about how he met his friend from Sweden through playing EverQuest, and continues to stay in touch to this day! “I was a Dark Elf running through Lavastorm, and I ran into this big, clumsy troll guy. He just starts talking to me. Then we became friends, and we played together. And then, it evolved into a real-life relationship,” Vallee reminisced about meeting his friend in-game. “And also, I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for EverQuest. EverQuest is what brought me into the game industry.”
3. The Future
Beginning with the release date for Anashti Sul, this will be a great opportunity for both old and new EverQuest II players. This origin server brings the game back to 2006, acting as a classic server, with stats, systems, and even the look of EverQuest II will be adding to the nostalgia factor. Vallee noted that this origin server was a few years in the making after hearing player feedback from the first Time-Locked Expansion (TLE). “We got a lot of people that came back because they were super excited about this TLE. But a good amount of those people were like, ‘this isn’t the original game’.”
Vallee continued to dive deeper, describing Anashti Sul as “a snapshot back to 2006 where the game was still in its infancy.” He went on to say how this may not have all the systems, and “navigating the world and defeating enemies” might be more difficult. But, he stated how players were asking for this close-to-true recreation of the original server and gameplay. He also expressed that “the people who have been playing in our beta have been super excited, and they’re very positive.” “It’s like, usually when you know you do something, there’s some positivity, but there’s a lot of negativity.”
This is probably the best part for those reading this as EverQuest and EverQuest II players. The 31st expansion for EverQuest, The Outer Brood was described by the developers as something to do with dragons. During a small tease on the livestream, the team showed off a dragon, which is confirmed to be the biggest NPC in the game. The team’s inspiration behind the dragon teased in The Outer Brood was to create a species of dragon that was not Norrathian. This could be an iconic dragon, right next to Lord Nagafen.
As for EverQuest II, the 21st expansion Scars of Destruction was teased to be about the players helping a small band of healers and adventurers, and it has something to do with the scars of Velious. The developers are teasing a “very different Western Wastes” for players to explore. They also mentioned how there is a prelude event coming in August 2024.
Hopefully, this will not be the first and last Fippy Fest. Seeing the continued love and support for both games, I know they will be sticking around for many more years to come!