So thinking of this game I was curious what EQ Next has been up to and how it's coming along and after a few videos... I'm almost at a loss for words. It's just the opposite of what I want out of my next MMO. I don't want to play the hero, I want to play a common person with the choice to do what I want and not have my hand held the whole way.
There is no EQN..
There is only Landmark and the eventual idea/concept of EQN. But even the "idea" of EQN is not flushed out, or even carved out by the Devs and sounds long winded.. when Daybreak/SOE can not even provide any proof that EQ exist, other than inside of LM assets.
Not to mention, a long time supporter of EQN said recently that EQN is not even in pre-alpha and is still 4 years away. So at any rate, there is no point in discussion, or showing support for Daybreak, until they can show us Everquest. I wish the new team a lot of luck, but I am not impressed until SOE/DBGC actually has something to show.
Pantheon is roughly only 7 months old & has more Game (Development) than EQn, which is nearly 2 years in development..
I think EQN kinda got side stepped by H1Z1, there hasn't been much front to it and like others have said. EQN has turned into Landmark which is basically, design our game for us and we'll eventually find enough structures to make the world.
I was excited at first but have quickly moved past that knowing that there was suppose to be something about EQN by now, but we still haven't seen it.
I think they've been through the initial design and development phase of EQN three times, and they've scrapped the results every time. They're trying to 'reboot EQ', but they're missing the most important ingredient of that dish.. because it's in Pantheon Dev. Come on, you know the secret sauce.. Irish name, actually likes playing MMOs..
I stopped looking at the EQN news when I saw the 1000lb shoulder pads and 20ft swords in the concept drawings. It will be a WoW poser, and I can't stand to look upon that vulgar corruption of MMO history. It's worse than drawing nipples on the Mona Lisa.
I know, I know.. we've been encouraged to be gracious to other products.. but I can't suppress the passion of my opinion on this matter. Some truths are too enormous to sugar coat.. you'll just see right through it.
I think also is they are looking at all these different newer MMO's and WoW and saying ok.. How can we take concepts that appeal to those players and bring them to EQ. Where as actual EQ fans just want EQ not any other MMO.
We want that non-new player friendly game, and we want that new player social experience we all had in EQ and eq2. But they aren't looking for that. They see a popular genre and they try to cater their game to it.
Also, more and more I feel this F2P game will be P2W instead, similar to their false promise of H1Z1. Oh SOE, why do you always crumble the good stuff.
Well, I think any long-time follower of EverQuest, is going to feel let down over what SOE has done to the EQ franchise. I was hoping that the lack of EQ noise coming from SOE was because secrecy, not incompetency. But since SOE live this summer, the EQ community has known the truth (of it's vaporware), ...and SOE has been sending out their caretakers on the forums, to try and fill the big hole missing in EQ development with propaganda.
Hopefully things will change now that EQ has new investors & a new development team. And that Daybreak can actually have a tangible alpha project within 6 months time. Oddly, it seems like EQNext & Pantheon (EQ4) are roughly on the same release schedule now. The only difference is that one team is working from a grass roots stance: of the people, for the people.
Either way, I suspect that many of the EQn Community members will eventually hear about Pantheon. And it's formula EQ/VG+64bit=EQ4.
Additionally, EverQuest was never about graphics, it was about the StoRy WOrld you got tossed into... and that you were so conscious & apart of, that One would considered if it was getting dark out... before heading out, or on which way you had to travel.
When truly being interested in the world and/or a NPC, led to avenues other couldn't.
Honestly.. what Adult Role Player wants to settle down in a realm, where there is connect-the-dot glory, via 3 feet tall ? over None Player's heads..?
Instead of true to life questing...
NPC side of road fixing cart, asks for cog that starts a quest. But in reality you run past NPCs all the time, would you have truly stopped to ask that NPC a few questions.. or to meet them?
Who wants to play chess, with someone shouting over your shoulder... "OK, your next move is...HERE" & the only thing left to do, is move the Piece, to connect the dots.
EQ, like EVE is a meta-game.
EQN is very cool. I totally respect the project, and it is another game I am following closely. Unfortunately, it will likely be a different kind of game, not an old school MMORPG like Pantheon, but still enjoyable, albeit in a different way. The project is super ambitious, and I think they are so clever and bold to go about building the game in the way they are. Using a game to build another game has never been done before, but it's a brilliant idea. Landmark is getting a lot of rap for taking the focus off EQN, but almost all the features that will be going into EQN are being first developed in Landmark. And if Landmark hadn't come about, you probably wouldn't know anything about EQN except the bits that are presently called "Landmark." In addition, it probably wouldn't have had its unveiling so early. Yes, they will continue to expand Landmark as they move into EQN, but at that point (which is nearly here), Landmark will be able to support itself and a small development team, a team it may actually share with Next and thus just increase of overall development team of EQN. As far as the switch to Daybreak Games goes, it's super sad to see Dave and Jeff go, but we really know nothing about the corporate structure of SOE. They said they needed to cut jobs to make ends meet, and despite absolutely loving both those guys and thinking of them as the souls of the game, a creative director and a second "senior producer" do seem fairly superfluous. The big thing for me is that what I want is not just a different type of game, but I want a game that can help facilitate the sense of community that was common at the dawn of online gaming. This type of gaming, I believe, is really only possible in a niche market and in the mold of an old-school MMORPG such as Pantheon. I have been MUDing since the 90s, and you'd be surprised how different those trolls are, even today, from the typical variety in todays latest WoW-style MMO. It's harder to be anonymous when there are fewer eyes and most everyone is an acquaintance or a friend.