Word: mcquaid
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...worried parents, there's violence in Everquest. But the game's best post-Columbine feature is its marginalization of slaughter. In sharp contrast to Ultima, in which veteran players often murder "newbies" just for the thrill of it, Everquest, says producer Brad McQuaid, lets users choose whether or not to be "player killers"; only those who do can kill--or be killed by--others. Thus far only 15% have opted for killer status...
...talk via chat windows in one of the languages spoken by the game's 12 races (elf, gnome, human, etc.). Players attend concerts, auctions and weddings; bicker over everything from wolf meat to scimitars; and pool talents and resources to quest for distant treasures. "Stuff like that," says McQuaid, "is more binding than shooting your friend with a rocket launcher...
...seems to care or give a damn. They feel we can borrow forever." Still, the capital is not immune to the jitters. Washington caterers say that guest lists are smaller and there are more lunches than dinners, more wine than champagne. "It's chic to be prudent," says Michelle McQuaid of Ridgewell's Caterers. "Being rich in the '90s is not in style." Families are learning hard lessons in economics, and in discipline. One by one, items drop from the budget of a middle-class dream: cable TV, designer coffee, a winter vacation, credit cards. In the boom years...