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Smedley: "EverQuest Next will be the world's largest sandbox-style MMO ever made"

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Comments

  • KenzeKenze Member UncommonPosts: 1,217
    Originally posted by JC-Smith

    Obviously we'll have to wait and see the implementation, but I think Smedley is dead on about where the genre needs to go. Generation, player created or driven content, those are the waves of the future. And it's great to see a major company embrace it.

     

    but what does that mean? describe player created content. give me a few examples of how players generate content would look.

    Watch your thoughts; they become words.
    Watch your words; they become actions.
    Watch your actions; they become habits.
    Watch your habits; they become character.
    Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.
    —Lao-Tze

  • gamesrfungamesrfun Member Posts: 127
    Originally posted by Incomparable
    I am concerned with how SOE tries to sell this mmo as a sand box, and what they think is good for the market with a history of sand box mmos failing. If they think by making a sand box mmo that is purely sand box and player created content only then it won't do well. It will still need epic bosses, npcs with alignment systems, advanced ai, questing, Mini games, and complex and rewarding combat. Those are not staple sand box features but are important enough to include. Also things like crafting, customization, are staples of sand box mmos... However rare items are not. Then there should be a balance of introducing rare items with unique uses, and stats but still fit with a sand box mmo... Since these kind of rewards are also great to encourage exploration. And I do hope it has the depth of sand box mmos, and enough otter non sand box content as well. Having missions to do is still important, and it being a pure sand box mmo takes away the feeling of being on a quest when getting rewards but instead macroing skills for end game. And it would be nice if there was quests and a skill point system like tsw, but a short trip to reach end game, and lvling is horizontal to acquire rewards in quests, not macros of chopping wood all the time, for end game. And usual, I prefer games to be for a mature audience since they can put content that makes the game more enjoyable without having to worry about ratings.

    Yes, my perfect sandbox game has:

    1)  Mini games 

    2) Using rewards as carrot sticks to move from zone to zone

    3)  max level in a week

    STAY out of my game please.  Sandbox games do not have MINI GAMES except for games created by players and regulated by players.  

    I suppose you want our sandbox game to have mail, an auction house, and instanced battlegrounds too?  Cross-server dungeon instances?  Ugh lol.

     

  • DavisFlightDavisFlight Member CommonPosts: 2,556
    Originally posted by Kenze
    Originally posted by JC-Smith
    Obviously we'll have to wait and see the implementation, but I think Smedley is dead on about where the genre needs to go. Generation, player created or driven content, those are the waves of the future. And it's great to see a major company embrace it.

     

    but what does that mean? describe player created content. give me a few examples of how players generate content would look.

    SWG's housing and crafting system.

    Dark Age of Camelot's RvR.

    Ultima Online's everything.

    Eve Online's everything.

  • MukeMuke Member RarePosts: 2,614
    Originally posted by DavisFlight
     

    SWG's housing

    fk no!

     

    opening the overhead map on a desert planet that Tatooine was supposed to be in the SW lore and see a Manhattan streetmap instead.

    "desert planet? All I see is houses!!"

    "going into arguments with idiots is a lost cause, it requires you to stoop down to their level and you can't win"

  • gamesrfungamesrfun Member Posts: 127
    Originally posted by Kenze
    Originally posted by JC-Smith
    Obviously we'll have to wait and see the implementation, but I think Smedley is dead on about where the genre needs to go. Generation, player created or driven content, those are the waves of the future. And it's great to see a major company embrace it.

     

    but what does that mean? describe player created content. give me a few examples of how players generate content would look.

    I'll help out with this:

    Player Generated Content FAQ:

    1.  Sale and purchase of goods:

    a)  True sandbox would allow you to essentially put up your vendor  (shop, purchasable NPC) anywhere on the map.  You would need to defend it.  You could set up your own prices, your own restrictions of whom may use it, etc.etc.  Everything put into the vendor is lootable.  

    - Acceptable sandbox compromises:  Location for your vendor is limited.  NPC guards for your sandbox.  Competing NPC vendors in major towns.   Vendor location is not lootable.  

    - Unacceptable themepark trash:  NPC vendors only with mail systems to transport anywhere in the game.  

    Content Conclusion:  The content would be built around attempting to be a successful vendor.  Defending your goods outpost and competing against other players is your content.  It requires NOTHING else but that.  

    2.  Player controlled areas:

    A game can still have systems that promote sandbox (player developed) content.

    For example, any game can have the most rudimentary "power star (shard, tree of life, who cares what it is)" scattered around the map.  Guilds or alliances take control of it and they gain power as time progresses.

    a)  True sandbox experience would allow you to fortify it, purchase NPCs to protect it (or perhaps none at all), put wards on it, build fortifications around it, allow elements of INVESTMENT into the shard to increase its power or to do a whole bunch of fancy things.   The possibilities to promote player driven content is enormous.  

    - Acceptable sandbox compromises:  Static bonuses, realm vs. realm control, artificial limits to when it can be attacked

    - Unacceptable themepark trash:  Shards are instanced, shards reset on a daily basis, shards do nothing at all, shards are token racial or realm eye candy, shards cannot be realistically transferred or taken over, alliances and realms are artificially limited to how many they can take

    Content Conclusion:  Take a tic-tac-toe map and turn your MMO sandbox into 9 different provinces.  Each province has a shard that grants the controlling alliance +10% hit points, +10% experience, and allows you (under the power of the shard, if you so accept) to "tithe" 10% of your divisable loot (read: gold, silver,copper) to that alliance's bank.  

    At its core, this is not complicated code.  No more complicated than what DAOC did with realm bonuses.  It could in fact be even simpler.  But the content that could be generated with such a system (especially if you have complex guild/alliance options in the game) could keep your average hardcore player busy for years.  Far busier than any themepark coding team of 200 could do in a similar amount of time.

    Make sense?

     

  • nate1980nate1980 Member UncommonPosts: 2,063
    I'm excited for this game. Haven't been excited to see a game release since SWTOR was in development. I think SOE can pull it off, because they made SWG, EQ, MO, EQ2, and Planetside and all were good games.
  • RimmersmanRimmersman Member Posts: 885

    I've said it many times since the news was released. If players think that Smed meant a total sandbox game then they are dreaming. Smed said "a sandbox style game" IMO he is talking hybrid with sandbox and themepark features.

    I know he said awhile back that the game will be more akin to EQ than EQ2 with classes that are more akin to EQ and Vanguard which has more in common with EQ than EQ2 does.

    He also said it would have the vast open world that Vanguard has, hopefully non instanced. He also said that some features from Vanguard could be taken and expanded, Diplomacy and Crafting and Vanguards Targetting system. He also said the classes would be more akin to EQ rather than EQ2.

    PVP will be designed from the start.

    EQNext will be IMO a hybrid MMO with expanded features from both games and modern features.

    Also they are talking about a choice of servers, hard core server with corpse runs and similar set up to EQ.

     

    image
  • KenzeKenze Member UncommonPosts: 1,217
    Originally posted by gamesrfun

    Originally posted by Kenze
    Originally posted by JC-Smith
    Obviously we'll have to wait and see the implementation, but I think Smedley is dead on about where the genre needs to go. Generation, player created or driven content, those are the waves of the future. And it's great to see a major company embrace it.

     

    but what does that mean? describe player created content. give me a few examples of how players generate content would look.

    I'll help out with this:

    Player Generated Content FAQ:

    1.  Sale and purchase of goods:

    a)  True sandbox would allow you to essentially put up your vendor  (shop, purchasable NPC) anywhere on the map.  You would need to defend it.  You could set up your own prices, your own restrictions of whom may use it, etc.etc.  Everything put into the vendor is lootable.  

    - Acceptable sandbox compromises:  Location for your vendor is limited.  NPC guards for your sandbox.  Competing NPC vendors in major towns.   Vendor location is not lootable.  

    - Unacceptable themepark trash:  NPC vendors only with mail systems to transport anywhere in the game.  

    Content Conclusion:  The content would be built around attempting to be a successful vendor.  Defending your goods outpost and competing against other players is your content.  It requires NOTHING else but that.  

    2.  Player controlled areas:

    A game can still have systems that promote sandbox (player developed) content.

    For example, any game can have the most rudimentary "power star (shard, tree of life, who cares what it is)" scattered around the map.  Guilds or alliances take control of it and they gain power as time progresses.

    a)  True sandbox experience would allow you to fortify it, purchase NPCs to protect it (or perhaps none at all), put wards on it, build fortifications around it, allow elements of INVESTMENT into the shard to increase its power or to do a whole bunch of fancy things.   The possibilities to promote player driven content is enormous.  

    - Acceptable sandbox compromises:  Static bonuses, realm vs. realm control, artificial limits to when it can be attacked

    - Unacceptable themepark trash:  Shards are instanced, shards reset on a daily basis, shards do nothing at all, shards are token racial or realm eye candy, shards cannot be realistically transferred or taken over, alliances and realms are artificially limited to how many they can take

    Content Conclusion:  Take a tic-tac-toe map and turn your MMO sandbox into 9 different provinces.  Each province has a shard that grants the controlling alliance +10% hit points, +10% experience, and allows you (under the power of the shard, if you so accept) to "tithe" 10% of your divisable loot (read: gold, silver,copper) to that alliance's bank.  

    At its core, this is not complicated code.  No more complicated than what DAOC did with realm bonuses.  It could in fact be even simpler.  But the content that could be generated with such a system (especially if you have complex guild/alliance options in the game) could keep your average hardcore player busy for years.  Far busier than any themepark coding team of 200 could do in a similar amount of time.

    Make sense?

     

     

    so basically you're saying sandbox player generated content is just crafting, pvp and politics. no wonder most sandbox mmos fail.. there has to be more than that.. i hope Smed and the SOE team arent just blowing hot air and they have more, better plans than that.

    Watch your thoughts; they become words.
    Watch your words; they become actions.
    Watch your actions; they become habits.
    Watch your habits; they become character.
    Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.
    —Lao-Tze

  • ThaneThane Member EpicPosts: 3,534
    Originally posted by Ripostethis
    Not enough funding to make it a big theme park mmo like Everquest 2 was. Will be something like GW2 , sounds like it will suck and be boring if you are into PVE, but will be based on pvp.

    yea, sony is a rather small companie, they better get some crowd fundin first if they wanna release a game.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    lol. you guys are weird.

    "I'll never grow up, never grow up, never grow up! Not me!"

  • kanezfankanezfan Member UncommonPosts: 482

    The keyword is sandbox-STYLE, which means it won't be a sandbox at all.

  • RimmersmanRimmersman Member Posts: 885
    Originally posted by kanezfan

    The keyword is sandbox-STYLE, which means it won't be a sandbox at all.

    I have been saying this since the news broke "sandbox style" imo means hybrid.

    Hybrid means sandbox and themepark features.

    We know the world will be open and seamless, will it follow Vanguard and pre LDON EQ for non instanced dungeons, i hope so.

    ArcheAge is Hybrid and is looking pretty sweet.

     

    image
  • JackFrostyJackFrosty Member Posts: 103

    I was right up with him to the point where he said that SWTOR is going to be dominate force for a long time. It made me question everything he said before and if he knows what he is talking about.

     

    When I wake up, the real nightmare begins

  • pvpirlpvpirl Member UncommonPosts: 178

    In regards to EQNext getting it's own forums/hype meter....

    Once the game has an official logo, website, and all that jazz we'll be sure to add a listing.

    Regards,

    Michael Bitton
    Community Manager, MMORPG.com
    http://www.mmorpg.com/
    [email protected]

  • defector1968defector1968 Member UncommonPosts: 469

    maybe it will maybe not.

    im playing only sci-fi :///

    fan of SWG, XCOM, Defiance, Global Agenda, Need For Speed, all Star Wars single player games. And waiting the darn STAR CITIZEN
  • DavisFlightDavisFlight Member CommonPosts: 2,556
    Originally posted by Muke
    Originally posted by DavisFlight
     

    SWG's housing

    fk no!

     

    opening the overhead map on a desert planet that Tatooine was supposed to be in the SW lore and see a Manhattan streetmap instead.

    "desert planet? All I see is houses!!"

    I more meant the shops and governments that sprang up, not the unlimited placement, unlimited placement doesn't quite work, I agree. Needs more limitations.

  • pvpirlpvpirl Member UncommonPosts: 178


    Originally posted by wormywyrm
    Originally posted by DSWBeef Originally posted by pvpirl   Originally posted by dustyhayes Originally posted by rungard well we have the required 350 posts in one day in one thread. Can we get a forum now.
    /Signed +1
    /Signed
    /Signed
    /Signed

    PVPIRL, may I recommend a simple ear as a trophy for PKing?  That was always enough for me back in D2.  Well, hardcore D2 so nevermind :/  But still it isn't a bad trophy.  I think 1 item off peoples body would be OK as well but that just depends how easy it is to spawn camp...  Or maybe the item would only drop once every 30 minutes or so.


    Why not both? In you I used to collect people's heads, hearts, as well as some loot :P

  • AeliousAelious Member RarePosts: 3,521
    It's not too hard to see what SoE has to work with in order to know at minimum what we would be seeing.

    Look at PS2 to see what kind of open world we're dealing with (day/night, lighting, physics, etc.) as there are a ton of videos out there. Keep an eye out for "player built forts" to see there can be structures made from local resources. Also see if PS2 brings in changing weather systems.

    EQ2 is another place to look regarding the tech that should be migrated into EQN and built in from the start. Level scaling, dungeon building, and SoEMote to name a few. There is a feature now where anyone on you friends list can come talk to you rather than being in a group. You are a walking point of audio/video signals. Baring limits on concurrent conversations this tells be you could have zone or custom channels. The ability to also "talk" to NPCs rather than click? SJ already alluded to spellcasting with SOEMote so I wouldn't see why not. Read the SoE Live notes about everything coming to EQ2, most notably from a sandbox perspective being able to modify stats and add visual features for a specific piece.

    EQN will not be a complete sandbox I don't think but I do think that even the parts that aren't will be less redundant than what we're dealing with now.
  • AeliousAelious Member RarePosts: 3,521
    Sorry for being vague. Crafting in EQ2 will see an "experimentation" system where you can tweak stats and add visual features to crafted gear.
  • KazaraKazara Member UncommonPosts: 1,086
    Originally posted by DavisFlight
    Originally posted by Muke
    Originally posted by DavisFlight
     

    SWG's housing

    fk no!

     

    opening the overhead map on a desert planet that Tatooine was supposed to be in the SW lore and see a Manhattan streetmap instead.

    "desert planet? All I see is houses!!"

    I more meant the shops and governments that sprang up, not the unlimited placement, unlimited placement doesn't quite work, I agree. Needs more limitations.

    Houses in SWG before Hurricane Katrina would go *poof* when a house was abandoned and maintenance ran out. While $OE much later proved it could handle house pack ups, lack of solid management and decision making didn't allow continuous auto pack-up of houses that were abandoned (and/or inactive accounts of say 60+ days or more) outside player cities except for the rare player event of forced pack-up events that allowed players to call air strikes on abanddoned structures for tokens (limit 10 per day).

    So yeah, revisiting the concept of SWG housing would definitely be exciting IF $OE has actually learned something from SWG on controlling urban sprawl.

    image

  • RimmersmanRimmersman Member Posts: 885
    Originally posted by Kazara
    Originally posted by DavisFlight
    Originally posted by Muke
    Originally posted by DavisFlight
     

    SWG's housing

    fk no!

     

    opening the overhead map on a desert planet that Tatooine was supposed to be in the SW lore and see a Manhattan streetmap instead.

    "desert planet? All I see is houses!!"

    I more meant the shops and governments that sprang up, not the unlimited placement, unlimited placement doesn't quite work, I agree. Needs more limitations.

    Houses in SWG before Hurricane Katrina would go *poof* when a house was abandoned and maintenance ran out. While $OE much later proved it could handle house pack ups, lack of solid management and decision making didn't allow continuous auto pack-up of houses that were abandoned (and/or inactive accounts of say 60+ days or more) outside player cities except for the rare player event of forced pack-up events that allowed players to call air strikes on abanddoned structures for tokens (limit 10 per day).

    So yeah, revisiting the concept of SWG housing would definitely be exciting IF $OE has actually learned something from SWG on controlling urban sprawl.

    Yeah, Vanguard or SWG is okay with me, as much as i dont mind EQ2 housing it's less appealing because it's instanced. Perhaps they could have both, owning a house in a city ike freeport would be instanced, outside the cities then non instanced.

    image
  • TamanousTamanous Member RarePosts: 3,026
    Originally posted by DavisFlight
    Originally posted by Kenze
    Originally posted by JC-Smith
    Obviously we'll have to wait and see the implementation, but I think Smedley is dead on about where the genre needs to go. Generation, player created or driven content, those are the waves of the future. And it's great to see a major company embrace it.

     

    but what does that mean? describe player created content. give me a few examples of how players generate content would look.

    SWG's housing and crafting system.

    Dark Age of Camelot's RvR.

    Ultima Online's everything.

    Eve Online's everything.

    Daoc is instanced pvp in shared zones away from the rest of the world zones. It isn't anything close to sandbox pvp. In a sandbox the entire world is open to pvp. RvR has always been just an attempt to similate open world pvp. It was a way to coddle players enough to give them a sense of protection while leveling and provide a big playground to trick them into thinking it was risky or real.

    You stay sassy!

  • pvpirlpvpirl Member UncommonPosts: 178

    Again, we're all engaged in mental masterbation as to to what the final product will resemble. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

    Right now, I just wish the launch of PS2 and following month or so of newness to be over with; so Smed stops flooding my twitter with PS2 nonsense, and EQN can move into it's place as the SOE main effort.

    I'm not asking for a playalble demo, hell, not even asking for screenshots. Gimmme a logo, some offical forums, maybe start engaging with the public a bit more. Only time will bring that, unfortunately. I enjoy being a part of this EQN circle jerk as much as anybody else posting here, but I honestly don't know how much we can predict when you have people like "Smokejumper" alluding to far out shit such as "spell weaving" via motion capture web cam. dafuq. What the fuck are they working on in there?!

    I've never wanted a "leak" or anon insider so bad for anything lol. SOE Bradley Manning please stand up, we promise not to reveal your identity ;)

  • ShakyMoShakyMo Member CommonPosts: 7,207
    Daoc doesn't feature any instancing at all. Nothing is instanced in daoc.

    There are areas of the world where pvp is flagged and areas of the world where it isn't. But NOTHING IS INSTANCED. even the leveling pvp in the battlegrounds is not instanced but takes place in fully persistent mini zones. The dungeons aren't instanced either, they work much like darkfall but without pvp flagged (except for darkness falls where pvp is flagged).

    Instancing means having separate copies of stuff for groups of players. Daoc doesn't have this at all, there is one and one only of every single world asset in the game.

    DAOC HAS ZERO INSTANCES
  • ShakyMoShakyMo Member CommonPosts: 7,207
    That said daoc isn't a sandbox.

    It's an open world, instance free themepark with some sandbox elements - housing, darkness falls, and semi sandbox elements - rvr territory control, powerful crafting.
  • rungardrungard Member Posts: 1,035

    Reading all smeds comments you have to think that they will be focusing on player generated content. He has said numerous times that they cant keep up with gamers. So what systems are out there that feature player generated content?

    pvp, crafting, structure building, terrirory control, economies. How do you focus on player generated content without pvp in some incarnation? I dont think you can really.

    That being said there are some things i am sure will be in the game

    dungeons, raids, classes

    but what i think will happen is that they wont have instances, raids wont give out phat l33t, and classes will be alot more flexible than ever seen before. I also think there will be the possibility of FPS combat and concentration on the first person view.

    all in all i think we have alot to look forward to. For most of us all this sounds great, but for the pve purists, i realy do think that it is time to stat thinking a little differently.

     

    image

This discussion has been closed.