EverQuest

EverQuest is a massively multiplayer online role playing game developed by Verant Interactive and released by Sony Online Entertainment in 1999, rendered in a fully three dimensional world unlike most of its predecessors. It became the dominant subscription based MMORPG in North America in the years before World of Warcraft's 2004 release, known for a difficulty level and reliance on organized player groups that demanded a substantial time commitment, and it is widely credited with establishing many of the genre conventions later MMORPGs would either adopt or deliberately react against.