Forums » Off-Topic and Casual Chatter

Landmark

    • 3016 posts
    January 5, 2017 3:52 PM PST

    Just got this notice in my e-mail like a minute ago:   

     

    IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING LANDMARK

    On Tues‌day, Febr‌uary ‌21, 20‌17 at 4:0‌0PM PS‌T Landmark game servers

    will close.

    Starting immediately, Landmark will no longer be available for purchase. All items in the Markeplace with a Daybreak Cash price will have their price reduced to 1DBC.

    Additionally, Player Studio items will no longer be available for listing or purchase in the Landmark Marketplace.

    For additional information regarding this announcement, please see the Landmark website.

    Daybreak Game Company LLC

     

    So they're sunsetting yet another game...good grief.   I did buy this one but lost interest.  So I wonder how long before they do this same number on their remaining games?    


    This post was edited by VR-Mod1 at January 6, 2017 4:27 PM PST
    • 188 posts
    January 5, 2017 3:57 PM PST

    Good riddance.  Won't miss this one at all.  Can't say enough how poorly I feel the decisions that Georgeson made for the EQ franchise have played out.  Landmark will forever be the game that may have killed the future of the franchise.

    • 3016 posts
    January 5, 2017 3:59 PM PST

    Hannar said:

    Good riddance.  Won't miss this one at all.  Can't say enough how poorly I feel the decisions that Georgeson made for the EQ franchise have played out.  Landmark will forever be the game that may have killed the future of the franchise.

    Well yeah have to agree..didn't take me long to lose interest.   A week maybe? hehe

    • 1618 posts
    January 5, 2017 4:36 PM PST

    I had so much hope the EQNext that Landmark was eventually supposed to become.

    Everquest was the greatest franchise ever. Hopefully Pantheon can become greater.

    • 780 posts
    January 5, 2017 4:51 PM PST

    Yeah, I'm kind of surprised it stayed around this long, actually...maybe just to placate those who paid for Landmark when it was supposed to be tools for creating EQN.  I haven't logged in for two years anyway.  Too bad I can't take the money I spent there and put it toward this game.

    • 2886 posts
    January 5, 2017 8:21 PM PST

    RIP EQ franchise. 

    I liked Georgeson and his enthusiasm for his goals. And then corporate took a giant dump on them. Can't say I'm surprised tho. EQLandmark seemed cool but I just watched from a distance as my main focus was on EQN at the time. Still seemed like it never really got off the ground though. And when EQN got canned, Landmark seemed completely 100% pointless. It was a sitting duck - must be a ghost town.

    Which begs the question: Is EQ2 next? Probably, but not any time soon I would guess. It's far from the most popular game out there but it seems like they're just barely big enough to be profitable. Daybreak cares only about the money and will destroy anything that is costing them, regardless of the backlash from nostalgic fans. If they ever sunset EQ1, I might cry. Even tho it's not what it used to be, it must live on forever. I'd like to think there are still enough loyal players that will keep dumping money into it as long as they can.

    I have great respect for the values Brad has set in place for VR. I know it has been a tough road getting here, but it gives me hope that they will be able to steer clear of certain pitfalls that a lot of companies fall into that cause them to sell out and send otherwise great products down the drain.

    • 432 posts
    January 6, 2017 1:30 AM PST

    Well I have supported EQNext for a long time hoping that it would be EQ 2.0 what EQ2 never was .

    Landmark was just a tool . Promising, sure, but just a tool which was supposed to bring MMO genre far beyond a point that anybody ever reached .

    When EQN was axed, Landmark instantly lost any interest and value . It was an unfinished construction game with hideous graphics, no lore, no story, no adventuring and no team work .

    I still had it on my HD but the max population was somewhere around 3 and with me stopping logging in, it lost 33% of its players :)

    Having seen it axed has not surprised me . What surprised me was that it has not been shut down at the same time as EQN .

     

    The only pity is that dozens of thousands hours of developpement were wasted and just went to the garbage bin .

    • 308 posts
    January 6, 2017 6:37 AM PST

    Bazgrim said:

    RIP EQ franchise. 

    I liked Georgeson and his enthusiasm for his goals. And then corporate took a giant dump on them. Can't say I'm surprised tho. EQLandmark seemed cool but I just watched from a distance as my main focus was on EQN at the time. Still seemed like it never really got off the ground though. And when EQN got canned, Landmark seemed completely 100% pointless. It was a sitting duck - must be a ghost town.

    Which begs the question: Is EQ2 next? Probably, but not any time soon I would guess. It's far from the most popular game out there but it seems like they're just barely big enough to be profitable. Daybreak cares only about the money and will destroy anything that is costing them, regardless of the backlash from nostalgic fans. If they ever sunset EQ1, I might cry. Even tho it's not what it used to be, it must live on forever. I'd like to think there are still enough loyal players that will keep dumping money into it as long as they can.

    I have great respect for the values Brad has set in place for VR. I know it has been a tough road getting here, but it gives me hope that they will be able to steer clear of certain pitfalls that a lot of companies fall into that cause them to sell out and send otherwise great products down the drain.

    Georgeson was the problem - http://eq2wire.com/2017/01/05/closing-the-book-on-everquest-next-and-landmark/  

     

    • 2130 posts
    January 6, 2017 6:43 AM PST

    I won a 2500 Station Cash Card in a PvP tournament in Landmark. Just throwing that out there.

    I'll be surprised if Daybreak is still around within the next 5 years.


    This post was edited by Liav at January 6, 2017 6:43 AM PST
    • 308 posts
    January 6, 2017 6:46 AM PST

    I think they will be (it probably won't look like it does today though), as much as it sucks for any game to close, it's the right move for them - they really need to streamline and get focused on their money makers.  I hope that they now focus or at least refocus on helping the games that got them where they are and reallocate those resources to EQ 1 and 2.  

    • 2886 posts
    January 6, 2017 7:14 AM PST

    Reht said:

    Bazgrim said:

    RIP EQ franchise. 

    I liked Georgeson and his enthusiasm for his goals. And then corporate took a giant dump on them. Can't say I'm surprised tho. EQLandmark seemed cool but I just watched from a distance as my main focus was on EQN at the time. Still seemed like it never really got off the ground though. And when EQN got canned, Landmark seemed completely 100% pointless. It was a sitting duck - must be a ghost town.

    Which begs the question: Is EQ2 next? Probably, but not any time soon I would guess. It's far from the most popular game out there but it seems like they're just barely big enough to be profitable. Daybreak cares only about the money and will destroy anything that is costing them, regardless of the backlash from nostalgic fans. If they ever sunset EQ1, I might cry. Even tho it's not what it used to be, it must live on forever. I'd like to think there are still enough loyal players that will keep dumping money into it as long as they can.

    I have great respect for the values Brad has set in place for VR. I know it has been a tough road getting here, but it gives me hope that they will be able to steer clear of certain pitfalls that a lot of companies fall into that cause them to sell out and send otherwise great products down the drain.

    Georgeson was the problem - http://eq2wire.com/2017/01/05/closing-the-book-on-everquest-next-and-landmark/  

    I still give him credit for being passionate. It's no surprise that sometimes passion can be blinding.

    Liav said:

    a PvP tournament in Landmark

    lolwut. I don't even know what to say


    This post was edited by Bazgrim at January 6, 2017 7:18 AM PST
    • 200 posts
    January 6, 2017 8:30 AM PST

    I jumped onboard when it was supposed to be EQNext and presented as such at a Fan Faire..then quickly got the rug pulled out from under me when they said it was just going to be "landmark"

    Hopefully some got their enjoyment out of it..but my experience was very lacking.

    • 2886 posts
    January 6, 2017 10:29 AM PST

    I'm glad I was poor back then because I probably would have dumped a bunch of money into EQN only to get literally nothing in return. Glad that my first investment in a game was with a responsible company such as VR. And let's not forget their genius timing - as soon as it was announced that EQN was canceled, VR announced their first livestream. Brilliant. Grabbed all those people that had just had their dreams crushed and took them under their wing and showed them a new, even better world. That's how I felt anyway haha

    • 3016 posts
    January 6, 2017 11:01 AM PST

    Agree it was good timing...I see some people mentioning that under COHH's stream.    All the better for Pantheon. :)

    • 470 posts
    January 6, 2017 2:46 PM PST

    CanadinaXegony said:

    So they're sunsetting yet another game...good grief.   I did buy this one but lost interest.  So I wonder how long before they do this same number on their remaining games?    

    Going to be honest, I'm surprised it lasted this long after they canned EverQuest Next. But yeah, Daybreak's library is looking pretty starved at the moment. When I think of the sheer number of games they've canned since about 2014 alone, shesh. It does make me worry about their future. And love em or hate them, I'll always have a soft spot for Daybreak (SOE) and EverQuest.

    • 432 posts
    January 8, 2017 9:01 AM PST

    Liav said:

     

    I'll be surprised if Daybreak is still around within the next 5 years.

     

    Well Daybreak just became the publisher of Lord of the Rings OL (still quite successful) and DDO which were sold by Turbine (Warner) .

    So what's happening is exactly the opposite of your supposition - Daybreak is getting more and more involved in existing franchises so they are with us to last well beyond 5 years .

    Actually if one excludes WoW, Daybreak is otw to become the biggest MMORPG publisher .

     

    Of course Daybreak's know how and their competence is more in managing assets and cutting costs than in developpement but this may very well be what will be financially successful in the next decade as far as existing MMORPG are concerned . I would say that the choice for the smaller ones is either shut down or go to Daybreak sooner or later ....

    • 3016 posts
    January 8, 2017 11:13 AM PST

    Like they used to do with EA...examples Mythic (now defunct) and Bioware (now defunct)    Large companies owning anything and everything.    I hope future companies don't sell out to EA, or Daybreak.  These large companies focus on the beans not the content..from what I have seen.   They aren't gamer oriented.    Warhammer started up with EA..and is already sunsetted.  EA's focus was trying to make the next Wowkiller...not going to happen.

    • 2130 posts
    January 9, 2017 12:19 PM PST

    Deadshade said:

    Well Daybreak just became the publisher of Lord of the Rings OL (still quite successful) and DDO which were sold by Turbine (Warner) .

    So what's happening is exactly the opposite of your supposition - Daybreak is getting more and more involved in existing franchises so they are with us to last well beyond 5 years .

    Actually if one excludes WoW, Daybreak is otw to become the biggest MMORPG publisher .

    Of course Daybreak's know how and their competence is more in managing assets and cutting costs than in developpement but this may very well be what will be financially successful in the next decade as far as existing MMORPG are concerned . I would say that the choice for the smaller ones is either shut down or go to Daybreak sooner or later ....

    DBG has a large quantity of games but realistically, H1Z1 is probably where 75%+ of their revenue comes from, and that probably comes from twitch.tv exposure more than anything.

    Their older games like EQ and EQ2 are severely understaffed, and what staff they do have are incompetent.

    I wouldn't be surprised if LOTRO gets shuttered within a year or so of its acquisition. I hope I'm wrong.

    • 308 posts
    January 9, 2017 12:51 PM PST

    Lotro was not acquired by DBG, they made a deal to be it and DDO's publisher, but the game is owned by Standing Stone Games so Lotro's future isn't completely tied to DBG's.  The EQ1 staff, while undermanned in spite of getting 1.5 or 2 devs added to the team over the last year, is far from incompetent.  The bad decision making is come from higher up the chain.

    • 2130 posts
    January 9, 2017 1:34 PM PST

    Reht said:

    Lotro was not acquired by DBG, they made a deal to be it and DDO's publisher, but the game is owned by Standing Stone Games so Lotro's future isn't completely tied to DBG's.  The EQ1 staff, while undermanned in spite of getting 1.5 or 2 devs added to the team over the last year, is far from incompetent.  The bad decision making is come from higher up the chain.

    Fair enough, I didn't realize that DBG was only taking the role of publisher.

    With regards to incompetence, perhaps. I'd be interested to know where some of these decisions are coming from with the upcoming PoP release.

    • 308 posts
    January 9, 2017 1:40 PM PST

    I wouldn't be surprised if those decisions are being made by Holly Longdale (who took over as Executive Producer for EQ1 and 2 after Dave Georgeson was let go), and i am sure Absor (who has done most of the work on the previous TLPs) has had some input, but it's not fair to blame the entire team for that since they have spent most of the last 6 months working on EoK expansion which is surprisingly good.


    This post was edited by Reht at January 9, 2017 1:43 PM PST
    • 2130 posts
    January 9, 2017 3:05 PM PST

    Reht said:

    I wouldn't be surprised if those decisions are being made by Holly Longdale (who took over as Executive Producer for EQ1 and 2 after Dave Georgeson was let go), and i am sure Absor (who has done most of the work on the previous TLPs) has had some input, but it's not fair to blame the entire team for that since they have spent most of the last 6 months working on EoK expansion which is surprisingly good.

    I have nothing but ire for DBG as a whole after how hard they ****ed me in EQ2. I honestly will feel a sense of relief when they eventually crash and burn just as my own petty revenge for how badly they destroyed the parts of EQ2 that mattered to me.

    Forgive my bias.


    This post was edited by Liav at January 9, 2017 3:05 PM PST
    • 308 posts
    January 9, 2017 3:10 PM PST

    I have zero problem with having ire for DBG for EQ2 or various other things, i have barely played it so i have no dog in that hunt - but i can understand the sentiment.  I was there with the EQ1 team about 3 years ago, however after some personnel changes on that team, I personally feel like the EQ1 dev team is doing a pretty good job right now with what they have to work with even though i do dislike some of the decisions.


    This post was edited by Reht at January 9, 2017 3:10 PM PST
    • 208 posts
    January 9, 2017 6:26 PM PST

    Such a shame to have the EQ legacy crapped on by this collosal cock up. 

    • 2886 posts
    January 10, 2017 9:23 AM PST

    The way I look at it, they are acquiring bundles of games and then quickly weeding out the ones that are not profitable endeavors. This also allows them to focus their efforts on the other games. In which case, that's actually a good business move and I don't expect them to fall apart anytime soon, but who knows. It seems like they are actually slowly taking over the industry. That said, I'm still not a big fan of them as I view them primarily as selfish cashgrabbers with poor customer service. I understand anyone in a particular business is in it to make money, but I think they step on too many people's toes in the process.

    I also read that they are still interested in expanding the EQ franchise, but I'm obviously not holding my breath. Things are constantly changing and even if they do actually make an effort to do so, there's no way of knowing if it'll be good or if their audience won't even be interested because their reputation is beyond repair. We'll see, but I'm happy to have my focus shifted on Pantheon. With Brad having been a designer in EQ's golden era, it still seems like EQ's legacy is still being carried out here in a way so I still feel right at home.