Here's the thing though. I don't give a shit that any company is burning money to make it. I just want it! LOLThere's a reason there's no EQ clones out there brother.
I never really thought about it before but were there ever any EQ clones? DAOC, AC, and whatever else came out around that time seemed to try and take a different approach. Most MMOs released after 2004 have more in common with WoW than EQ. Vanguard could have been the closest thing to an EQ clone but it seemed to be a mash up of EQ and WoW. Pre-WoW the only other MMO I can think of that was really popular was Lineage and it didn't strike me as being that related to EQ but I do not have much experience with it.There's a reason there's no EQ clones out there brother.
I look at EQ and WOW as being on the extreme opposite ends of the spectrum, and honestly I think they both sucked for it. My biggest gripe with EQ was new players having to grind thousands of AA just to get good groups (class depending), but the only people who got good AA/hour were people with relatively high AA. It got so bad that they had to change the AA XP scaling, and now you can push a Heroic char instantly to 85 and ~+4k AA. WOW can get fucked though...yeah, new players can 'catch up' relatively speaking, but Blizzard screwed the pooch once expacs started making all your gear and accomplishments largely obsolete.4. Time = Power. Players who have the ability to spend more time in game tend to be much further along than those who can't.
I'd actually argue that WOW has strong elements of #1, 2 and 6. For 3, I'd say is also probably era dependent for WOW. People look at being able to solo to max level or having a ton of "collect bear asses" quests in open world zones, and think that WOW doesn't have a lot of group-based content. I spent way more time grouping and raiding in early WOW than I ever did questing or soloing.Was WoW an EQ clone? There are a number of shared similarities between the two games but also some pretty big differences that cause me to feel uncomfortable in saying it was an EQ clone.
The top 7 "Everquest for modern times elements":I think for a Mmorpg to be an EQ clone, it needs the following...
WOW had a lot of that at various times in it's life.Wow was the result of what some didnt like in EQ.
Those that hated Twinks, lack of quests, sucked at CC, multi-mob kiting, long camping, working for gear (Able to remember great items lasting for many lvl or end game), able to kill way over mob lvl unless you were X class, crafting system, money making auction and NPC shopping ability, long fights and exp gains (Creates social building).
Result, no kiting (Means no pulling/spilting now), no hand-me-downs, more questing, gear flooding upgrades (Noone remembers name of anything), static gear drops, limited over-lvl killing, No drops and lvl limited gear (no more long term items), joke of crafting system, limited money making AH with no NPC shopping ability, fast fights and exp gains (Which losses social building).
That's par for the average complaint. WoW changed just like EQ changed. Most people want the first two years max of the EQ timeframe. WoW was a better EQ for a solid amount of time. They didn't have to throw out 2-3 expansions a year to fix some bugs and make a shit ton more. Or to rip their playerbase off while not listening to complaints or fixing hardly anything. EQ was run by SOE so it was an inferior product by default.I don't think Dr. Neir ever played WoW, and instead read about it while playing emulated EQ servers or something.
Sounds like you just described FFXI more or less. Closest thing to a EQ clone I've seen.I think for a Mmorpg to be an EQ clone, it needs the following...
Mob manipulation:
1. Pulling
2. Splitting
3. Mezzing
4. Charming
5. Snaring
6. Fearing
7. Rooting
8. Agro radius reduction
World:
1. Open world content
2. Dungeons with many camps with respawn timers So you can clear a camp and then pull it single as they spawn from then on out
3. Rare mobs that drop rare loot
4. Raid content with raid loot that isn't obsolete instantly when the next expansion comes out
Characters:
1. Many different races with racial benefits
2. Many varied factions that can be raised and lowered to be accepted or hated
4. Leveling mainly from killing mobs
5. Alternate Advancement system that further grows the classes primary and secondary abilities/roles
6. Buffs that are very powerful and last a very long time unless you die
7. DoTs that last longer than 10 seconds
8. Debuffs that are meaningful and can turn the tide of combat greatly
9. Pets that are MUCH MORE than just a visual Dot
10. Pets that cam be buffed, given equipment to use, and utilized as tanks and/or dps
11. Feign Death
12. Sow
13. Invis
14. Invis versus undead
When your UI is so bad that it makes everquest's look like a functional masterpiece... No, FFXI could have been good, but UI man, that fucking UI.Sounds like you just described FFXI more or less. Closest thing to a EQ clone I've seen.
I haven't played since the relauch, but at real launch (which i was SO HYPE) it would take 5 seconds to perform a command, no thank you.When your UI is so bad that it makes everquest's look like a functional masterpiece... No, FFXI could have been good, but UI man, that fucking UI.
I always thought that WoW took from DAoC more than anything.But as far as game systems, really wow was an ac2 clone, just polished and complete.