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EQNL looking good for EQN
mcast1234
Member UncommonPosts: 26
I will assume EQN will be constructed upon the same engine etc. of EQNL? if so I'm looking forward to EQN. (I will not be playing EQNL, it's not my type of game)
I've also changed my mind about the cartoony graphics, I like them now. I like the harvesting, collecting, building and crafting (crafting seems a bit too simple though).
If they can create a good group/raid/craft/build MMO based on EQNL this is probably the game I've been waiting for after many many years.
I'm hugely skeptical over any new MMO release, but this does look as though it may be a true "next-gen" MMO.
About time.
Comments
I agree, the graphics for EQN:L look absolutely beautiful, and I cannot wait to see more of EQN.
I have gone back to WoW so many times now, but even as a jaded MMO vetern, I am quite excited about the possibility of EQN being the next big thing.
I really like the idea of the emergeant AI.
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
I don't think any of the things that make landmark interesting will be transferable to a standard themepark mmo.
you either handcraft the world, or you make a blank world and give players to tools to craft it. you can't really do both.
My blog:
I think you are sort of correct here. From what I have read so far, it seems that Landmark will allow players to make and sell the templates to items and structures.
From there players can purchase these templates to use, however they will still need to gather the various materials to construct the template. From what the devs have been saying, this template idea will be part of EQ Next as well. We will basically be building various cities possibly from templates and filling the needed materials by gathering from the world.
Either way, it's still an exciting time in gaming to have these two games to look forward to along with others. I have to temper my excitement level and always keep an eye on at least a few different games at a time these days so I don't miss out on a gem of a game.
You are correct that you can't transfer Sandbox elements to themepark games easily... however, EQN is not a themepark. In fact, when you first load EQN, the world, will essentially be a blank slate, with roaming NPCs, MOB villages and the like, with questgivers near the beginning who are going to be asking players for help in the construction of Qeynos... which according to the devs, is set to take place over a few weeks real time.
There are a few themepark elements in EQN, but make no mistake, it is going to be a Sandbox. I have seen part of their voxel technology in action, and the world does randomly heal and redo itself (aside from the current build which has no caves or water or NPCs, along with static mountain ranges). They even need a completely separate server, whose sole job is going to be controlling NPC pathing, since current AIs have no idea how to move in a destructible environment where smart players would just dig up the ground and bait the npc across to have it fall in an abyss where they would be easy prey. The new NPCs would know and predict how to avoid said traps, either through jumping, going around, or even grappling across, if they are human-like NPCs and not just beasts.
So far, if all promises are kept, EQN is poised to be one of the very best sandbox games ever made to this point.
Good thing EQN isn't a themepark then.
Looks very promising so far... imo, they've got the basic concepts how the world's to be created and evolved pretty well thought out.
However, the next crucial step in making a truly great mmo I know nothing about - characters. What's that going to be like? Any news on that front? The basic mechanics of interacting with the world (read combat and stuff) and defining and advancing your character (classes, skills, horizontal, vertical? how's it going to interact with the world? level-gated areas could really destroy the whole experience for me) I'd really like to learn more about it. The very notion of player-created arenas or even worlds to PvP in (maybe even with deep modding at the level of TES games O.o!) makes me drool... Or player-created PvE worlds with completely different cooperative concepts! Just think what the modding community did with Skyrim and translate it into a mmo sphere! However it all depends on what is the combat and basic interactivity like. At the moment they've got 1/2 of perfection... the other half could easily screw it up.
I agree 100%, although half of perfection is still a lot more than any other game in the past few years.
The lack of the "trinity" and specific roles scares me, maybe it can work? The fact there is instanced grouping WoW style makes me sad.
Please SOE don't screw it up.
Why do people keep assuming that there is no trinity? There will most definitely be times when a classic trinity is required. But other times a different strategy will be needed. The difference in EQN is that players can assume multiple roles or hybrid roles or even stick to just one role the whole time.
It's the fear that they tossed their cookies in the GW2 PVE basket too early, based on the reveal video a while back. The ability to swap roles means little if the content or mechanics allow you to trivialize them. It's definitely a concern until we hear or see otherwise.
The term sandbox term is hugley subjective, I'm skeptical, we'll have to wait and see. Seems like very little much solid info on EQN, and alot of marketing spin. most of what I read gave me the impression it will have some cool new flavours but still at its core be a conventional MMO, like GW2. For instance in in both you can "change" the world, but its not perminant in either.
Also I really don't think EQN has been described as a blank state it sounds very much the opposite:
We are populating the world. We’re developing the dungeons. We’re laying out the city of Qeynos and placing the NPCs and telling the stories through story bricks using the exact same tools that you guys are going to be looking at.
Landmark is the tools/sandbox, EQN is the prebuilt mmo.
My blog:
So in your view Everquest Next will not be a sandbox game unless it is Landmark?
Back to the old "no understanding of what the term Sandbox actually means" again...
You can handcraft the world, disassemble it and give players the tools to rebuild it and add on to it.
Sandbox is a very broad term that encompasses a bunch of different types of games. The most generic definition is having an open or non linear world. For MMORPG it is usually used to mean that the players can permanently impact the gameworld thus shaping the future of the server.
If you log into two different EQN servers you will see different worlds assuming the game is anything like they say it is going to be. Mobs move around based on what the players do, cities can be built and destoyed based on what players do, players will be able to bring some creations from EQL to EQN.
It is pretty much by the book definition sandbox.
WoW is a themepark. If you log into 10 different WoW servers and walk around you see the exact same thing on every single server. DAOC was a theme park with some of the rides changing hands and then some housing put into one special zone. GW2 is a theme park. Shadowbane on the other hand was a Sandbox, though a pretty limited one since you couldn't really impact the PvE side of things.