Hi all! I just made a pledge and joined the site! A little about myself, I, like millions of other adult American males in their early and mid- thirties, got had my passion for PC gaming and MMO's ignited by the original Everquest. I still remember watching the clock tick away in my 8th grade algebra class and thinking about how much I couldn't wait to get home log into my dial-up and continue my adventures with Drakon, my Dark Elf Shadow Knight. I even remember introducing my dad to the game one night and going to bed, only to wake up the next morning and see he hadnt gone to bed all night! That was literally his first time playing the game! It goes without saying that Everquest is one of the most important and influencial IP's in the history of gaming and I am sure everyone here has there own great Everquest memories circa 1999 -2004, the golden years of EQ. I have played Ashron's Call, DAOC, EQ2, Warhammer Online, Star Wars Galaxies, WoW, and Old Republic..... but nothing captured the magic of the original EQ! The best lore, the best challenge, the best community. I'm not an avid gamer anymore. I'm a MD and on-call consumes a lot of my time when I am not with my family. I stumbled upon this site bcs just the other day I met another guy around my age and somehow we started reminiscing about the great experiences we had playing EQ as teenagers. It got me feeling nostalgic and I did a little research and found that Brad McQuaid, EQ Co-creator, is the CCO for this Pantheon project. Rambling aside, I will get to my question. With the death of Everquest Next/Landmark and the departure of John Smedley from Daybreak games. It seems like the EQ property is just about to be left in the dustbin of history. Which would be a shame..... I think a studio like Visionary could take the original EQ update the graphics and animations and create a blockbuster. EQ has so much name recognition its almost ingrained in the culture. I know its a pipe dream but I would love to see a up and coming studio with the experience and talent, like Visionary, buyout the EQ IP from Daybreak. I think a combination like that might even surpass the numbers WoW did. I hope I don't get flamed for this post. Pantheon looks amazing. But I think there a large market of middle aged guys out there who have fond memories and would love to see classic Everquest bought back in 2019 with new coat of paint. You could even integrate a lot of the new material from this game into a remodeled Classic EQ. Again this is in no way a criticism of Pantheon. Just my own personal pipedream. It just seems like the EQ IP is dying on the vine right now and could be acquired for a bargain. I would be interested in hearing other people's thoughts. Am I being unpractical? unrealistic? Will guys like me who grew up playing EQ ever get to return to an updated Norrath/Classic EQ or is there even a place for an updated EQ twenty years later?
If you're looking for that experience, you've come to the right place. Unfortunately you'll have to check your request for an IP purchase at the gate on your way in. I don't think thats in the cards at this point in time. Who knows what the future will bring though?
Nuggie said:If you're looking for that experience, you've come to the right place. Unfortunately you'll have to check your request for an IP purchase at the gate on your way in. I don't think thats in the cards at this point in time. Who knows what the future will bring though?
Well I would pledge $10k to see Visionary aquire the IP rights to EQ..... mb even more lol. Pantheon looks really interesting though! I will definitely dig into the site when I have a little more free time.
Welcome Drakonis, great to have you here with us my friend.
The answer is - Very Unlikely, we are not interested in other companies titles.
We will be making Pantheon the game we want to play and taking as many features, systems and mechanics from previous games that the team has worked on plus throwing it a bunch of new stuff that we think will compliment our game and hope you folks will be here playing it with us for years to come.
I have moved this post to the Off-Topic forums as it does not directly relate to Pantheon General Discussion.
I'm pretty sure even the dying Eq franchise would be quite expansive for a small studio like VR.
Eq's name got quite rubbed in mud over the years, EQ2's simultaneous launch and life while EQ was and is still active, Eq's tremendous expansion number, EQnext's failure (after a whole opening ceremony about a "new and different theme song rewrote by jeremy soule...").
Honestly, memories should remain memories, and EQ's better in the dust than resurrected with all the negative it now has tied to it.
A fresh start, a new game, that's what is needed in my opinion.
MauvaisOeil said:Honestly, memories should remain memories, and EQ's better in the dust than resurrected with all the negative it now has tied to it.
A fresh start, a new game, that's what is needed in my opinion.
Absolutely agree. It's often best to just let things run their course. EverQuest has more than served its purpose in the world and I love it dearly. But unfortunately the reality is that it is old and beyond repair in many ways. I don't see a point in trying to disrupt it - that may only make it worse.
Some of the old games were truly great ...for their time. But that time is gone and not many of us would really enjoy them today after the nostalgia kick wore off.
Better to create new legends combining modern technology and old school values.
Not that I would mind at all seeing EQ cities and races in Pantheon but I think VR can come up with something new that is just as good without having to borrow from old games.
If Brad and team bought the EQ IP, it would be like going to the recycling store to buy back the clothes you got rid of last year or going through your phone and calling old girlfriends. They're gone for a reason.
Pantheon is much more than recycled EQ. VR is very unlike the companies that ARE just buying up game IP and recycling it.
The value EQ brought to the genre is now history, but no one will forget their early adventures. Nor will the developers at VR forget the lessons learned from past games. It's what drives them to make Pantheon a success.