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Is Everquest Next in serious trouble?
Elikal
Member UncommonPosts: 7,912
Now mind ya, I have no proof of this claim, but I think I have a good amount of evidence. It is a bit strange to follow the development of Everquest Next. I mean, Everquest, the name alone invokes a ton of ideas, feelings and impressions. It is the oldest still actively developed MMO IP with EQN it would have the most iterations. So the next Everquest is by no means a small thing.
Over the last 10 years I have followed the development of many MMOs. But never before have I seen such a change from hope and praise to outright uncertainty before release. Usually, if frustration comes, it comes after release. Plus, I really can't remember any MMO where we got so little to no real information in the 2nd year since the announcement. Normally, you'd expect to see Alpha videos, first playable version footage.
But here... nothing.
The problem is, SOE now Daybreak, had set it's own bar tremendously high in terms of information, because when Landmark started, the Dev team communicated in what I felt was the ideal Dev to fan communication. There were regular video meetings, open talks and regular presentation of what was to come. The Dev team was open, communicative and I as played of Landmark had the feeling they really listened to us and talked with us. However, as time passed in Landmark, I had the impression the development of Landmark alone was getting slower and slower. I really had imagined a year ago or so when I started to play Landmark, we would be much further with that game by now. The reality is, the advancement of Landmark is relatively small.
It is even worse with Everquest Next. Yes, we heard of lot of talk about races, but essentially all we got was text and words. The few video feeds where all passive videos, nobody seemed to play it, and it all seemed to be from internal versions of Landmark, not Everquest Next. So one could say, we haven't seen ANYTHING geniunely from Everquest Next itself. Rien.
On top of it all, most of the people who most passionetly presented Landmark to us in the regular videos either quit or were fired, like Omeed or Georgeson. Normally, if things run smooth, you don't fire some of the most prominent faces of your game!
Recently on Massively I read, that Terry Michaels said, they had not shown anything from Everquest Next, because anything can yet change, and there are some big changes coming. So in official year 2, internally year 3 or 4, the big company SOE/Daybreak has not developed the game far enough to show us ANY playable ingame demo? At all?
It all makes me wonder, what the heck is going on? Ever since the company was sold and became Daybreak, it feel almost completely silent, save from the one-sided and rare developers letters, which contain little info at all. It stands in such a sharp contrast to the open communication from before. Or smaller signs, like quitting the contract with the company developing their AI, which was at first claimed to be a hallmark of Everquest Next, and then it was just apparently not that important anymore. I have this nagging feeling, SOE/Daybreak bit off more than they could chew, and there was/is apparently some deep internal conflict over the future direction of the game, maybe even down to the very basics. Are Voxels too demanding to hardware? Is cartoony really a good decision?
But at the bottom line, it really baffles me, that after 2-3 years, the company is not able to even show a playable alpha footage, and all we can see is Landmark, which by all means doesn't count as a VERY barebone tech demo. You can see the physics of the game in it, that's all. (I seriously hope and assume the combat is a placeholder!) I didn't assume 2013 I would play Everquest Next by 2015, but I really believed by then we would see real, playable ingame footage. Something more tangible. But honestly, I expect us hearing some big redesign plans anytime soon.
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
Comments
Originally posted by laokoko
"if you want to be a game designer, you should sell your house and fund your game. Since if you won't even fund your own game, no one will".
Originally posted by laokoko
"if you want to be a game designer, you should sell your house and fund your game. Since if you won't even fund your own game, no one will".
I think "atm" they are just being careful and placing their eggs carefully. I would be lying if I said it seems like they just don't care, cause there seems to be some strategy going on behind the scenes and so far the Everquest Progression server has proven to be quite a success and they launched a second server to meet demand fairly professionally overall which is a good thing and they are already talking about an EQ2 progression server.
I really couldn't care less as long as they are striving to maintain and revitalize their stable and so far it seems they are doing this in fairly safe baby steps which I think is a great idea till they realize what works and what people really want, they seem to be gauging things fairly well and whatever helps to keep the old Everquest games afloat i'm pretty much all for, though I will only support certain avenues as i'm still mainly only interested in old school rulesets and type games, if they need to branch off so be it, but so far they seem to be doing more than just trying to cash-in, though that means nothing to me personally as I will only support what I know I like and so far i'm having a blast on the progression servers.
I just hope they can bring everything together and get it rolling so one day a proper EQ3 can exist. I think they are doing a fairly good job so far and don't want to see them sink everything into one project that makes them sink, but I digress, as long as they maintain a more classic vibe I will continue to support them as I am atm as well as many other people are.
Brother, that is one crazy idea. I will never believe that can happen.
Originally posted by laokoko
"if you want to be a game designer, you should sell your house and fund your game. Since if you won't even fund your own game, no one will".
It is really impossible too say much, but I also find it troubling that they havn't showed us any alpha footage by now.
Come on, Smed. Show us something, it is about time.
I feel still many people are very naive,still hoping for the best and giving them the benefit of the doubt.People need to seriously look at the big picture,they have done NOTHING with any of their games.I can even look back at the card game they closed down,they did VERY little,the bare minimum and NEVER communicated with the players.I know i was there every single day.
Fast forward and since all they have done is layoff employees and close down games.The games they have made like H1Z1 had the equivalent effort of about a 5 man team spending 3-6 months and nothing more.Landmark is even worse,there was very little effort put into that,a generated world and the purchase of a Voxel farm license.The same tools they made to help build Next was what they released for Landmark and that is all the effort hey put in.
Then i watched some of those podcasts or whatever they are called and i was left shaking my head.The one episode was lol,they showed us a few really cheap textures and a door,yes i am serious.The amount of effort what they showed us was ONE person in a lazy weeks work.The rest of the show they showed us player work NOT theirs.
I would say it is FACTUAL,the players have done more work on Next than the dev team has.I have been around gaming a long long time,i also know how much effort it takes to get different things done,this team is NOT putting in the work for whatever reason,lack of funds,lack of employees or spending resources in other areas to get some cash flow.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Wait, you're only becoming concerned now?
The time to ask if EQN was in serious trouble was back when they fired most of the people working on the project months ago.
They have shown the way this is going to go. Gonna be an early access game on steam or something.
Stay in EA for who knows how long...might have an "official" launch someday...then again might not too.
Really doubt that it will be anything like what people are expecting though.
If they had something, we'd probably have seen it by now, as it is, all we have seen is landmark, and now they have increased the workload of what remains of the devs working on landmark, to refocus on EQN, and also still do bits for landmark, at least according to an IGN interview, so, make of that what you will. I kind of doubt we'll be seeing anything soon, maybe they are just waiting long enough so that people won't mind so much when landmark turns into EQN.
I'm concerned but not due to a lack of communication. My concern came with the news that DG and Story Bricks, or the company that owns that technology, have parted ways.
Legally can DG include Story Bricks in EQN? I suspect the answer is no, it's not theirs, it belongs to another company. This is really bad because it seems that Story Bricks was the tech driving the emergent AI. Without that were back to static spawns the same as every other MMO out there. For me this was the biggest selling point that EQN had and if it's now gone, we're looking at a reskinned EQ that will be pretty much the same as any other MMO apart from the voxels.
It's not inspiring confidence.
It will, but it certainly won't be from the Daybreak studio. They are focused on short duration session games now. Indie companies like Goblin Works and Portalarium are tapping into that older school design, so there is hope that something will be produced by someone that will more properly be an EQ3.
"Wrong" question imo. CN bought "something" for "some price" from Sony - we don't need to consider how the deal was structured. Almost certainly the "something" will have included.
That and the fact that the company was sold and is no longer even associated with SOE. It is now, for all intents and purposes, just another indie company. EQN being in serious trouble is a foregone conclusion. EQN is dead in water. The only question now is can it be resurrected.
So lets assume this isn't a doom post, but rather this is a post about the opposite. About how well EQN is doing and what a success story the games development is turning out to be.
What things could someone point out that would reinforce such a claim?
I think the lack of those examples really reinforces the point the original poster brings up and others have echoed.
I'm sure people would rather talk about the awesome things they see, but those seem to be lacking, so they talk about what they do see.
Last 12 years actually.
With Smedley on board you have a guy in charge who sold out his clients for the easy buck, saying to everyone he knew what they wanted and when he forced it onto them they would love him for it.
And he paid the price for it by closing down those games because of lack of customers who left.
And with EQN he showed he hasn't changed one bit. Promising the world while still saying that THIS TIME he has the Holy Grail of gaming for real.
Only difference is that he is saying sandboxes are the future while back then he ruined some to change them to themeparks.
With that guy on board you got already a game halfway slipping over the edge, no matter how good it really is.
"going into arguments with idiots is a lost cause, it requires you to stoop down to their level and you can't win"
The grammar police are in the house! OP your entire post has now been instantly invalidated because your didn't spend enough time word smithing and formatting your post for a computer gaming website........
I don't think its that complicated, they just have to figure out how to undo all the work that's been done which would have made the game play similar to previous EQ titles and focus strictly on the Cash Shop, Solo Play, Flashy Action combat, heavy instancing, console controllers, mobile support and social media connectors.
I self identify as a monkey.
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
SOE is using Landmark as a way for players to pay them to build EQN's assets for them.
Joined 2004 - I can't believe I've been a MMORPG.com member for 20 years! Get off my lawn!