EQ Never

X X E X X_sl said:

Interest in this game has diminished so much, it was like "wow exposure everywhere!" then ".....". This years EQLive should be interesting if they even hold it.

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They have been putzing around way too long. The world has moved on. The kids don't know or care what EQ was and the die hards will be in retirement homes by the time they release it.

There is something to be said for rushing to market. It keeps your brand in the public's eye, even if the product is imperfect.

I know developing an MMO isn't easy, but damn... the focus is EQNext here, a small timeline (and I undoubtedly missed a lot of stuff)

Aug 13th, 2009 - SOE Confirms Development on EverQuest "Next"SOE Confirms Development on EverQuest "Next" :: EverQuest II :: ZAM

August 2010 - Fan posts: Yes here's a fabled screenshot from SOE Fan-Fare 2010. Yes Everquest 3 or Everquest Next is in the ...Everquest 3 - YouTubeMassively posts Fan Faire 2010: John Smedley and the SOE crew talk EverQuest NextFan Faire 2010: John Smedley and the SOE crew talk EverQuest Next | MassivelyEveryone who doesnt read ZAM is surprised.

22 oct. 2012 - EQNext blew up a second time: Why SOE scrapped EverQuest Next: "We saw the writing on the wall with .... are still "really interested" in doing a Knights of the Old Republic 3 ...Why SOE scrapped EverQuest Next: ??oWe saw the writing on the wall with SWTOR.??? | PCGamesNSOE has now decided to scrap the original design for the 3rd installment of EverQuest.EverQuest Next??Ts Design Scrapped: SOE cites SWTOR, Rift, The Secret World as Reason

14 dec. 2012 - The long anticipated follow-up to Everquest isn't looking to plough the same furrow as previous MMOs. In fact, SOE threw away two prototypes ...Everquest Next is - PC Gamer

June 19, 2013 - PC Gamer is butthurt after E3: Everquest Next was at E3, apparentlyEverquest Next was at E3, apparently - PC Gamer

August 3, 2013 - After the big reveal of August 2, 2013: EverQuest Next: Beta Sign up Announced for 2014 Release Date (+Videos)EverQuest Next: Beta Sign up Announced for 2014 Release Date

August 12, 2013 - EverQuest Next Not Planned For PlayStation 4EverQuest Next Not Planned For PlayStation 4 Yet - IGN

January 25, 2014 - EverQuest Next could be the first MMORPG to support the Oculus RiftEverQuest Next could be the first MMORPG to support the Oculus Rift | The Verge

January 27, 2014 - EverQuest Next Announced For PS4EverQuest Next Announced For PS4, PlanetSide 2 Update - IGN
(From this point on Landmark becomes the focus of announcements, no direct info on EQNext is given except in Roundtable, which is mostly bullshit discussions. The community is asked a inconsequential question which then ping pongs back and forth between developers and the community without a consensus. A low point :https://forums.station.sony.com/ever...lts.478/page-5)

January 31, 2014 - Landmark goes alpha: Purchasers of the $99.99 Founders Pack or the $59.99 Explorers Pack were allowed into this Alpha testing as part of the game developers goal of "making development a collaborative process"

March 26, 2014 - Everquest Next Landmark begins its closed-beta testing. (Weekly Landmark updates become even more the focus. Nobody watches these videos however.)

August 2014 - SoE Live, first substantial update in months on gameplayEQ NEXT core gameplay - YouTube

Aug 27, 2014 - SOE's John Smedley on the future of EverQuest Next and H1Z1SOEs John Smedley on the future of EverQuest Next and H1Z1 - PC Gamer

Sep 30, 2014 - First "teaser" with stuff that's already been confirmed in 2013: EverQuest Next devs tease a world of choice and consequenceEverQuest Next devs tease a world of choice and consequence - PC Gamer

Oct 30th, 2014 - People getting increasingly pissed with the lack of info on EQNext: The Think Tank: Fixing the Landmark-EQ Next perception problemThe Think Tank: Fixing the Landmark-EQ Next perception problem | Massively

Dec 19, 2014 - Landmark closed beta launched PvE combat this week; SOE says it will shift full-time to working on EverQuest Next in early 2015.Betawatch: December 13 - 19, 2014 | Massively

February 2, 2015 - SOE acquired, becomes Daybreak Game Company, Sony Online Entertainment titles headed to Xbox and mobile [UPDATE: SOE just wasn't "particularly strategic" for Sony, say analysts] @j_smedley - "can't wait to make Xbox One games!" "So what exactly does this mean for you? It will be business as usual and all SOE games will continue on their current path of development and operation."SOE acquired, becomes Daybreak Game Company | GamesIndustry.bizandSony Online Entertainment sold off by Sony, renamed Daybreak Game Company | Polygon

February 11, 2015 - Big Layoffs At EverQuest Studio Today [UPDATE]Big Layoffs At EverQuest Studio Today [UPDATE]

February 13, 2015 - Small update from Terry Michaels - "EverQuest Next and Landmark are games that involve lots of *very* large plans, so please bear with us as we take the time to review and reorganize the schedules. As soon as we have something we feel comfortable with, we'll be updating the entire team - which still includes all of you, of course - with our new plans and with details about how things will be rolling out in the near future."Small update from Terry Michaels - News - EQNext FansDaybreak's John Smedley: EverQuest Next is going to be 'more than ok'Daybreak | Massively Overpowered

Double post, still these are press articles only, I can only speculate on what happened internally.

GREAT post bro.

Convo_sl said:

They scrapped bc they saw the writing on the wall lol... What's the writing on the wall saying right now? Seems like an old school movement at this point in the mmo world. Lots of games in development going back to their roots.

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The writing on the wall says aradune is stinky.

The writing on the wall these days is this:Landmark Live #42 - YouTubeand a grand total of 2.357 views. Seriously, don't put energy in stuff like that if your target audience is like 200 people. Scrap it and move to EQNext.

Put a small team on Landmark, cross your fingers on making some money and make the small Landmark fanbase happy. Let EQ completely break away from it.

I don't think that's happening, I just wish it was. I want the EQ Elidroth was talking about pitching at HOSS.

Landmark is EQN for all intents and purposes. Its the skeleton, the foundation.

And dumb.

Yeah I know, I don't actually believe it's a thing that's going to happen. At this point I'm hoping they scratch a few things off my shit list and make me more at peace with what this iteration of EQN is.

We want an RPG world, not a queue lobby, not a dig-dug minecraft, but a world with things to do it in that aren't classified solely as a "daily" or "bear ass quest" or "weekly lockout timer"

If the words "boss enrage" ever come up someone's getting a pencil to the eye.

Landmark isn't going to go away, but in the end it's just the toolset to build EQNext. This is a great thing for a modding community, but the basic gamer community doesn't give a shit about a toolset. It's cool this is available for the community, but I don't understand this stupid statement: "SOE says it will shift full-time to working on EverQuest Next in early 2015". I'm sorry but what have you been doing all this time? I know I draw conclusions way too fast, but I read that statement as this: "We're continuing with Landmark! If there's still time and money, we'll put some work in it's afterbirth: EQNext."

When you're hosting a game, you have to keep it in service and update the fucker unfortunately for them. I think tad already said it, but Landmark should have been a $60 client to sell, let people have a full landmass to fuck with and submit builds through some portal.

Creativity would be a lot less restricted if they didn't try to make Landmark persistent.

bwuceli_sl said:

Landmark isn't going to go away, but in the end it's just the toolset to build EQNext. This is a great thing for a modding community, but the basic gamer community doesn't give a shit about a toolset. It's cool this is available for the community, but I don't understand this stupid statement: "SOE says it will shift full-time to working on EverQuest Next in early 2015". I'm sorry but what have you been doing all this time? I know I draw conclusions way too fast, but I read that statement as this: "We're continuing with Landmark! If there's still time and money, we'll put some work in it's afterbirth: EQNext."

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But the thing is - and the giant elephant in the room seems to be - it's not a very good toolset for building an MMO. I have a friend who has become quite proficient with Landmark and AFAIKT pretty much everything he has done could have been built faster and better using traditional 3D modeling tools.

Sure you can build a basic house or Church or Castle in Landmark almost as easy as in Exin Castillos, but to make something actually look "nice" requires (as noted ten or fifty pages back) a deep understanding of the tools and you're still not going to get anything as nice as a competent someone working in Maya, AutoCAD, or etc could make.

Grim1_sl said:

There is something to be said for rushing to market. It keeps your brand in the public's eye, even if the product is imperfect.

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This thread is fucking ridiculous. People advocating rushing out WoW clones.

Laerazi_sl said:

This thread is fucking ridiculous. People advocating rushing out WoW clones.

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I would have replaced Grim's comment with: "There is something to be said for getting a product out your playerbase has been asking for instead of shitcanning two different visions over five years and restarting in late 2012, even if it means that product doesn't have all the latest whiz-bang marketing terms in its product description."