epic-tales-of-the-impossible

Through graft, grit, and grind, even the impossible becomes possible in MMORPGs.

From no-hit Dark Souls series playthroughs to game-breaking speed runs, there's something appealing about surpassing the expectations of the devs themselves. Perhaps more than any other genre, MMO gamers are notorious for their drive to dream bigger than the confines of the game. We've gone back through 20 years of MMORPG history to find tales of MMO gamers doing the impossible.

1) Killing EverQuest's Unkillable Dragon "Kerafyrm the Sleeper"

Some bosses were always meant to be impossible to defeat. But where there's a will and a dogged MMORPG community, there's a way. Way back yonder in November 2003, Kerafyrm "The Sleeper" dragon awakened in EverQuest. For all intents and purposes, Kerafyrm was meant to be invincible. But every strain of mythology has a story of a seemingly invincible being meeting its demise: in Norse mythology, there is the tale of Baldur; in Greek mythology, that of Achilles; in Goldeneye, there's Boris. And in MMO gaming, there's Kerafyrm - a dragon born of carnage.

In Rallos Zek, a brutal hardcore PvP server, warring factions ravaged the lands. Upon entering the icy cavern of "The Sleeper's Tomb" and slaying the dragon's four wardens, players could unleash a one-time only server event wherein the imprisoned sleeper dragon was meant to awaken and immediately lay waste to the pitiful mortals in front of it before destroying the world itself.

The warring guilds of Rallos Zek had actually agreed not to wake the Sleeper so that they could farm the loot of his wardens, but a disgruntled lizardman monk named Stynkfyst leading a band of villains known as The Curse decided to cause a stink fest of his own creation. He set about breaking the treaty and dooming Rallos Zek forever.

But the PvP honed fighters of Rallos Zek were no ordinary heroes. Their might exceeded those of other servers, and they would not be slain so easily. Realising their world would be doomed if The Sleeper ran riot, they decided to try to take him down. Even at the then-level cap of 65, they did a pitiful 3 damage per hit to the sleeper, compared to the 1000 he would dish back at them through AoE attacks. But to quote Predator, players realised: "If it bleeds, we can kill it."

In an arduous slog of resurrections, deflected attacks, and unrelenting grind, they painstakingly lowered Kerafyrm's health. When it got to quarter health, the dragon disappeared. It turned out that Sony, in apparent disbelief that their invulnerable dragon was being defeated, believed there must have been a bug and so despawned Kerafyrm

But by this time, the hardened veterans of Rallos Zek had tasted blood -- crystal dragon blood. They regrouped months later and took the fight to Kerafyrm. After once more slaying its litany of guardians and lesser dragons, they charged the beast once more. At least 3 million damage was done to the dragon and over a thousand Resurrect spells were cast as it slayed players in their thousands. Though eventually, a plucky wizard named Trylun dealt the final blow. The impossible was done. The dragon was dead.

And what legendary loot was their reward? Nothing. After all, the developers never thought it would be possible. Though Trylun and the hordes of heroes of Rallos Zek have earned reward far superior to any in-game item -- glory. In the end, it was they that became the true immortals.

And people wonder why EverQuest is still considered the greatest MMORPG of all time.

2) The Death-Defying EVE Online Star System Runs of Katia Sae & Henrique Arnolles

While most EVE Online players are focused on global domination, piracy, faction warfare, and intergalactic oligarchy, there are others that take a different tact. Believe it or not, some players take a pacifistic route. One such group of players is Signal Cartel -- a group of peaceful cartographers mapping out the 7805 star-systems of New Eden.

Their leader, one Katia Sae, did what no one in EVE thought possible. Over the course of 10 years, from 2009 to 2019, Katia visited each and every one of those star systems, taking a photograph in each of them, and somehow not dying once. That's right, Katia navigated their way through the wars, pirates, and myriad intergalactic threats of highsec, lowsec, nullsec, and wormhole space -- a constantly fluctuating web of wormholes effectively teleporting players to random points in the universe.

Impressive, right? Well, even pacifistic gamers are a competitive bunch; once a record has been set someone will always come along to beat it. Enter, Henrique Arnolles -- fellow member of Signal Cartel.

Henrique decided that he would replicate Katia's feat. And he did. In just 224 days! Now granted this tale needs a bit of contextualising to realise just how impressive it is. Fortunately, one of EVE's greatest storytellers CCP Swift has explained this "jaw-droppingly insane" Guinness world-record-breaking story in layman's terms.

3) That Time Lynx Titan Completed Old School RuneScape

MMORPGs are not considered completable, but that didn't stop Old School RuneScape player, Lynx Titan from trying. Each skill in OSRS has a maximum experience level of 200 million. That sounds like a lot because it really really is. For a player to achieve just one maxed out skill is an achievement worthy of MMO prestige.

So how many did Lynx Titan max out? All of them. Every single one of Old School RuneScape's 23 skills. Fishing, yep. Fletching, yep. Herblore, yep. He did it all. Again, this seemingly impossible MMORPG feat needs some contextualising. How long would such an achievement take? Multiple people have calculated that it would have taken a minimum of 30,000 hours. 30,000 hours is 1250 full days or almost 4 years of solid gameplay. Now consider that he achieved this goal in 2018, only 5 years after Old School RuneScape's release.

We certainly don't recommend anyone tries to replicate his achievement, but you have to salute him, because he has truly achieved what still seems to us impossible.

And why did he do it? This feat that must have taken approximately 18 hours of systematic RuneScape grinding every day for five years on end? For fun, apparently. At least according to the Reddit AMA he somehow found time to squeeze in. Lynx Titan is a true titan of his chosen game and has perma-maxed out all of the high-score boards for OSRS. 

4) The Flower Power of Doubleagent -- World of Warcraft's Pacifist Panda

Described as World of Warcraft's biggest hippie, Doubleagent is a legend unrivalled in his ability to grind WoW. Much like Lynx Titan, he has dedicated endless hours of his life to the inane in an effort to achieve the remarkable.

Instead of fighting his way through the MMO expansions that players are bustling to explore, Doubleagent looked past the combat and spent his time picking flowers. For each flower, he achieved a tiny, tiny amount of XP. And Doubleagent managed to pick flowers all the way up to the level cap.

He did it in 2016, reaching Level Cap 110 in the Legion expansion. He then continued again in 2018, piling another 240 hours into the new level cap for Battle of Azeroth. And when Shadowlands released in 2020, he did it all again without ever having left the Wandering Isle.

He's a true inspiration and a champion of MMORPG peace. Blizzard, rightfully, created a Hearthstone card in his honour. And he's started what can now be considered a tradition of Pandaren pacifists who follow in his footsteps, grinding their way to enlightenment. Pick on, Panda brother, may the sun shine gently upon your face and the wind be always at your back.

If you enjoyed these stories of MMO gamers doing the impossible, you'll love our Stories of EVE series wherein Capsuleers tell of their wildest exploits in EVE Online.