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Everquest next is NOT a remake of EQ1!
Ecoces
Member UncommonPosts: 879
get that through your head and you will be much happier.
Its a re-imagining of EQ, not a remake. they have already said they don't want to take the playerbase from EQ1 or EQ2 they are looking for a new playerbase for EQnext.
So can we stop with the "its nothing like EQ1" .... its not supposed to be!
Comments
a mix of SWG and Minecraft will net you more than 1000 ... quite a bit more.
its not supposed to be remotely close to EQ! this is why at first they wanted to name it something else besides Everquest.
I don't know why they didn't go through with that statement.
There are plenty of EQ and EQ2 vets that are happy to try something new. Not only new, but much more of what makes EQ, well, EQ. It doesn't look like it on the surface though and that's what some people seem to be focusing on.
Pages and pages of people complaining/demanding EQN have X Y Z like EQ or it will fail or they won't play would be a start.
Or comments like "its not even remotely eq like".
It is exactly what the OP said it is "re-imagining of EQ."
Everything is the same and everything is different.
While I see the connection very easily, I think many others won't get it until more Classes, Races, Environments, Mobs, Items (pretty much the entire game) are put in front of them. Some people need it all pointed out for them to understand.
And the graphics that WoW and Free Realm players will like helps that number get a lot bigger.
And those that like high quality graphics that bring the world a live...
Sounds like the only way to remedy this problem is a player-base protest of EQ/EQ2.
I bet if the base stop playing, they'll try to court them back because without the base, the whole thing crumbles.
Jenga.
This all uncannily reminds me of what happened with the Dragon Age and Dragon Age 2 RPG games by Bioware.
The original Dragon Age was a huge hit, although it had its flaws as well. Even though it had somewhat clunky animations and graphics, and the art and engine looked dated, players loved its maturity, depth and story. When Bioware announced it was making Dragon Age 2, the excitement was immense.
However Bioware, like SOE, is doing now with the EQ franchise, decided it needed to "fix" Dragon Age 2 to appeal to a wider audience - the twitch, action audience. So they replaced the slower, more tactical, gameplay that players loved with waves of enemies like you see in an arcade game. Player companion specialization was dumbed down, armor for companions dumbed down, the story line dumbed down, the breath of the game world narrowed....Bioware, like SOE, felt this was the "wave of the future." Even though their loyal fan base wanted more of the same game they had loved and supported, Bioware - like SOE - knew best. Dragon Age 2 released and it was a disappointment to many. Now they are trying to recover with a Dragon Age 3 that will be more like Skyrim.
Bioware violated the cardinal rule of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Just as SOE did with the "new experience" in the original Star Wars Galaxies. Just as SOE appears to be doing now by replacing the classic Everquest approach with a "new and emergent" gameplay using Pixar/Disney graphics and action animations reminiscent of Mortal Combat.
Maybe SOE will pull it off. But web site polls aside, I detect the same "Smedley knows best" attitude emanating from their approach already. The same one that "fixed" Star Wars Galaxies.
The problem is that EQ was/is broke. If people still enjoyed it more then other MMOs, it would be doing much better, only making it F2P boosted growth and it is still barely chugging along compared to the top tier MMOs. So many claim that EQ was the greatest thing ever (I loved it myself), but like me, most can't go back and play it full time.
WoW bled EQ dry. If WoW had been such a terrible game, people would of flocked back to EQ without hesitation. The problem is, that people enjoyed WoW to a point and it offered a lot of new things that EQ didn't have or didn't do as well. Today of course it is losing millions of players because they took it way too far.
EQ was a great game when I played 1999-2002 or so, but it is completely different today. Seems many remember the early years, but that game doesn't even exist. I'm sure it is still fun (I've messed around in it a bit lately), but I can't get back the same experience I had all those years ago.
EQN is an attempt to bring the past and future together and united it all under one roof.
It could be a total flop or it could draw more players then EQ every dreamed of having. Time will tell.
and thats just it....SOE doesn't have the gonads to make a great game anymore....ALl they can do is copy other leaders in the industry and reap the benefits.....Its sad that EQN has nothing to do with EQ1 really...That game was exactly what a MMO should have been in its early years...I have little doubt that SOE will make a game that appeals to the masses.....Obviously GW2 and minecraft are popular games and alot of people will want to play them in a new skin.....Those of us that hoped for a great old school style of game aren't going to get it here and we knew that.....
It sounds like they were making "just another" MMO and opted to build something unique. You can say "oh, we'll they copied this from here and this from there"... but if EQN comes with the features as advertised it will be an original MMO, something no one else has.
I can see why at first glance EQ vets are scorned because they think EQN wasn't built with them in mind, that it's a slap in the face.
For anyone who feels this way forget about EQN for a minute and ask yourself what makes EQ so great. What features make it stand out as a fantastic MMO. You may be surprised how close EQN, allegedly, is to those features.
This...
Well if you think about it, all the industry leaders copied EQ, so wouldn't EQN be copying a copy of EQ? Still some of the original in there somewhere.
EQN has everything to do with EQ. Seems some will only accept an exact 100% copy though. They will have plenty of things in the game giving those that played EQ/EQ2 something they will remember (Flowing Black Robes were shown), beyond the obvious lore and what not that is rooted in the previous games but has been redone.
How they could make an "old school game" now without a time machine is confusing to me. Beyond making another run of the mill mmo, which it seems everyone hates with a passion.
well that's their issue isn't it? they deserve the backlash if they are going to call a game everquest and not put anything in the game that remotely resembles an everquest game.
they are just calling it everquest to make more money by fooling EQ fans into thinking it has the "spirit if everquest" like the author of the article on this site.
it simply does not, its just another game, its not everquest.
What exactly are they missing that made EQ, EQ? Beyond slow combat with the Trinity and Tab Targeting.
And how could they take the unique elements and translate them to 2013 and for the gaming community of today?
The EQ you and other EQ vets wanted died the day SWTOR took a face plant into the dirt. I am pretty sure the first versions of EQ Next was more like the older EQ games but SOE shifted gears and decided to scrap it. New themepark style games cannot beat WoW, people will play it then go back to WoW, sadly the early version of EQ Next would of been called a WoW clone by players who never heard of EQ. If ESO and EQ NEXT flop then big western companies will stop making mmos.
SWTOR the most expensive mmo ever made loss 75% of its starting player base and was expected to have millions playing it, when it failed it was a big signal that the old ways of making mmos is not going to work anymore. SOE wants too kick Blizzard in the balls and hit a home run with a different kind of game that will appeal to WoW players with its art style. They are going after money and creating a new game which could fail big time or replace WoW (which is on its last leg) as the leading fantasy mmo on the market.
It may not be your EverQuest but it will be a EverQuest to a new playerbase. I think a indie company can make a new version of the old EQ with a different IP and there will be market for it. I think a lot of the EQ vets not happy with EQ Next can help invest in it. It can happen.
Why would they call it something different? They are using the same setting / classes / races. It has enough characteristics of Everquest to be called Everquest Next. Its not like it is now set in space and is a first person shooter.
EQNext is a stew of GW2 + Minecraft + TSW packaged in a Everquest plastic bag.
but ya youre right. this is gonna be NOTHING like EQ1. nothing. yup, i got that through my head but it did not make me happy.
oh there will be the old names - labels to invoke familiarity and give a veneer of reason for calling it Everquest, to cash in as much as they can on the name. but the gameplay is going to be pretty much GW2/TSW and that makes me want to fall asleep with boredom.
The things you listed were unique to EQ for a very brief moment in time. Now they are what every dying game is built upon.
Notice I asked how you could make those work in 2013? Players and the market have changed in the last 15 years. EQ itself has changed (a lot more then just a screen full of buttons).
Non-Trinity, Action Combat, Small Skill Bars are the future. As EQN will be less quest hub/themeparky, it is safe to assume group play will come to have more meaning as you'll actually need to explore to find things.
EQN could of been EQ3 and just copied EQ and essentially WoW and every other MMO out and could of also made no dent in the gaming world. Or they could try thinking outside the box and incorporate ideas that are growing and becoming more popular today, not 1999.
They are looking for something that will last 20 years, not a couple months.
As others have said, pretty much all the old lore, gods, items, skills, classes, races, cities, lands will be there, but they will all be redone to not just rehash the same old story. EQ2 was different then EQ, not so much as EQN, but EQ2 wasn't just a clone of EQ.
I guess you can look at it on two levels. There are the mechanics/system type stuff of EQ and then there is EQ the setting-lore-story.
The mechanics have been done over and over and over in so many games that it is obvious they do not make EQ, EQ.
WoW doesn't have Nagafen or Flowing Black Robes as they are part of what makes EQ, EQ.
If you find Trinity more EQ then NAgafen, then that is your choice. Personally I connect what I can see, where I can go, and what I can be.
I easily see EQ in EQN. They could of named it Scooby Doo's Adventure and I would see EQ.
The comparison they gave of the new Star Trek movies works for me. While I watched the original (EQ) as a little kid, I grew up on TNG and DS9 (EQ2).
The new movies (EQN) were pretty good and let a new generation that probably had little exposure to the original get a chance to see a version of the original and let older people get sense of nostalgia repackaged to look all pretty and new.
Of course some die hard fans hated it, but there is no replacing the original. When remaking anything, you lose a part of the magic and can only hope that what is being made brings its own.
Action adventure combat is a fad that will never stand the test of time in serious MMOs. Years from now, combat with threat management and dedicated roles will still be here. Eventually they'll learn to improve on what Everquest did originally with new dynamics for a system that facilitates truly diverse fantasy classes.
Until then, ping pong tanking, kiting and zerg combat is the hot shit. At least until everyone gets a whiff.