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Producer's Letter: Development focus shifted to EQN
MissAdventure
Member UncommonPosts: 83
While I have written off hope on what the Daybreak team can actually produce as a final EQN product, this may excite some of you. Well, maybe one of you. There seems to only be one person here still flailing pom poms for Daybreak.
"As the team has wrapped up the various pieces related to the wipe and the bugs associated with it, we have been shifting our focus and resources over to work on the highest priority tasks and systems that will be used in EverQuest Next."
"So, as we shift our focus and development to EQN.."
Comments
IMO this is great news. This is the first step in keeping their word to make 2015 the year of EQN. Also love that pic =-) More pls
Just for clarity, I believe they did say something along the lines of this does NOT mean that EQN will be released in 2015. I believe their aim is probably for spring 2016 as their pessimistic number.
Crazkanuk
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Azarelos - 90 Hunter - Emerald
Durnzig - 90 Paladin - Emerald
Demonicron - 90 Death Knight - Emerald Dream - US
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IMO, if the game comes out in 2016, it will be early =-)
I - and others back in Feb - believed that when CN took over SoE they set a budget for 12 months; not uncommon in business to work to a 12 month plan.
And the news that EQN would release in 2015 supported that - with 12 months taking it to Feb '16; a backstop essentially.
If the plan was (is) for 12 months then CN will have to sign off on additional EQN funding. And the spectre of Sony's $60M write off of development costs is going to loom large. The 12 month timeline is just a guess of course; could be shorter or longer but I think we can be confident that goals and targets were created. And that the time period will have been "shorter" rather than "longer".
"But trust us boss we are close, we only need another 6 months or maybe a year, or two ....."
I just don't see CN being as "forgiving" as Sony.
there's no news at all, producer's letter is an empty shell.
State of the game ? Demos ? features ? dates ? alpha testing ?no facts no acts = nothing.
All lip service.
Simply ask Terry, if that screenshot was from EverQuest alpha server, or just a screen shot from Landmark. Employees at Daybreak know the truth. Wheres the beef?
That is pretty hideous to my eyes.. Maybe Forgelight 2 will help when / if it ever makes it way to EQN and LM. Only thing we know right now is that its going to H1Z1 first.
Sorry this still looks like vaporware to me.
"we have been shifting our focus and resources over to work on the highest priority tasks and systems that will be used in EverQuest Next. While we do this, we’re working in areas with high amounts of creative risk. This means that while we know what we want to do, we know it will take an unknown amount of iteration, tweaking and sometimes drastic direction changes to get these in game and working the way they need to. Because of this, we simply cannot commit to any dates, because until we get much closer, even our best estimates are educated (but still fairly wild) guesses."
"it just doesn’t make sense to continue with the Blueprint, since the goal of that has always been to provide short term, concrete plans of what you could expect and when, and that isn’t something we can reliably estimate at this point."
"You can fully expect updates and hotfixes to Landmark as we continue with this development process; they are simply going to be on a less regular schedule than you guys have been accustomed to over the past year or so."
Also we now that staff numbers working on H1Z1 have been increased and that EQ1/EQ2 have not been cut. So were did those staff come from? New hires or by cutting the EQN/Landmark team? I am betting on the latter.
Good thing art is subjective but if you understood the limitations of Voxels you would be impressed =-) What you gain from having voxels, its worth it having one arm tied behind your back when it comes to art style.
I do like the picture, and I totally agree that art is subjective. But I also think the value of voxels is equally subjective. Having everything being destructible doesn't add anything for me, and appears to cater to the potential for grief. At the absolute best (behind a wall of anti-exploitation code I expect), I can see voxels only as a tool for PVP, and PVP has never been what I envision when I think of the EQ franchise.
So, in my subjective opinion, sacrificing graphics quality for voxels isn't a good tradeoff.
Logic, my dear, merely enables one to be wrong with great authority.
I'm curious what you think '2015 being the year of EQN' might mean and what expectations you have about that claim from the developers. The game releases? A pay to test pre-alpha? They talk about the game or even show it off a little? Showing 1 screen shot of a town?
At the end of 2015, what do you think will happen to make this the year of EQN?
They will be awesome for PvP but also for PvE. Spells and skills will now be used for tactics in PvE. CCing mobs by dropping them in a hole you make with a spell. Pulling from a part of a room through a hole in the wall you made over the door. Exploring a game on the z axis for a change. This will bring something to PvE never done before and hard to judge till we play it.
I have no expectations. This game is mostly an RD game and devs are using phrases like "We dont know how long this will take" "We will be ready when we are ready" "We will let you know when we know" All I would want is when 2016 rolls around I want it to be something more then what we have gotten so far this year. Something that we can say, so thats how things will be. Even info on a level of SoE Live but coming from DGC would mean more. This is an MMO and I know its a long process and I have waited for info before. These things never can be rushed.
EDIT: Thinking on it more. Maybe at least more info then we have gotten in any SoE Live event so far. Something set in stone =-)
It sounds like you have some expectations as you think they are starting to keep their word about this being the year of EQN.
"2015 being the year of EQN" gives me expectations. I don't expect the same level of stuff from 2013/2014 SOE Live events, otherwise 2013 and 2014 were also the year of EQN.
It is a mixed situation. Making a bold claim like that, at the very minimum they should be ready to deliver some serious information that blows away the Live event reveals. However from the current developers letter and Q/A the are still struggling with core level stuff, facing possible drastic changes and have no real idea when things will be done.
This is the beauty of life. Things change. No one knows what going to happen next. You can get upset with the change you dont like or you can accept it and not suffer the pain that may come with it. I want large buckets of info but I also dont want them to tell us things that are rock solid. To many companies have given info when they were not ready and when things change, people get upset. So I rather DGC give us info when its rock solid. Did they want this to be the year of EQN? Sure. Will they deliver? Well they are humans running a company not perfect people that are all knowing. So if things have changed and the year of EQN has to happen in 2016. Im not gonna get upset. How many times as humans have we promised to be somewhere at a set time and failed to make it on time? We all do it. They may still make 2015 the year of EQN but I see no reason to get upset if they try and fail to =-) You do enough of that for the both of us =-)
In the first year everyone knew Landmark wouldn't grow enough to be more than a voxel builder's sandbox. The weak reaction to the combat update sort of guaranteed that there wouldn't be enough of a 'game' to be played and EQN was going to be that game.
IMO the Landmark community doesn't get enough credit for the amazing things they have and continue to build. They have created far more than DGC could ever have. But now I question if there will be enough interest for the community to build the rest of EQN's voxel content.
Nah, I'm not upset. Some being upset would probably stop talking about the actual topic and instead turn to petty insults or short essays on human emotions to discredits someones opinion on a video game.
Lets play nice and talk about the topic, ok?
Anyhow, I think the important takeaway is that when other information is applied, the developers claims and statements are not infallible or beyond scrutiny as some have recently suggested.
I agree that they shouldn't talk about things until they are at the very least on solid foundation. If things are not rock solid as you put it, then they shouldn't be making claims about this being the year of EQN and based on the Q/A it certainly doesn't sound like anything is rock solid.
Which makes me wonder what might have changed since those comments were made or if those were even genuine comments to begin with.
We dont know if things have changed on a level that their timeline is messed up. They maybe on track to make this the year of EQN as planed. But for all we know is say 2 parts of the game thats RD are not integrating as they hoped. If one of them is a key system like AI. Well that can set them back months. Would be nice if people realized they are just humans and dont for see all events. Gamers are quick to point the finger and demand. Even if they said 2015 is the year of EQN and it does not happen. Well disappointment is acceptable. Screaming they suck and doom calling is not. But thats where these forums tend to mob. See a flaw and attack. Your posts are at the front of upset posts. You talk about lets play nice, but unless your planing to change you and a few others are 90% of the reason we cant just talk about a subject. You wanna play nice? Well I will follow your lead but my guess is it wont last long.
Why fault players as if they are pointing fingers and demanding, when Daybreak made these promises all on their own. No one was holding a gun to their head and forcing them to make such claims. They could have just as easily said the game was still missing core features and facing possible drastic changes, but once again they chose to make big claims.
I'm sure people are more than willing to forgive some mistake, but when the same company continually over promises and under delivers can we really blame them for not having faith in their claims or not making up reasons to excuse the same problems?
It was really encouraging to hear Daybreak talk about the game with some level of confidence. I hope they can deliver on whatever it is they think this year will be, but listening to how they are talking now I can't see that as being possible.
What are you quoting when you say "the year of 2015?"
Can't remember if I've actually read/heard them say that or just saw you type it so many times it has become reality.
I know they for sure said that they'd show more of EQN this year and the focus would shift from LM to EQN, which are both true depending on how we want to interpret their meaning, but I don't remember them saying what specifically would make 2015 overly special. Believe they jokingly answered someone's question during a SOE Live panel that we wouldn't have to wait until SOE Live 2015 to hear more about classes (which hasn't happened), but beyond that I don't know what else they "promised" or not.
What promises or big claims did they make that they haven't met?
As I asked Nanfoodle above, while I don't doubt the "year of EQN" comment, it doesn't really mean anything, also as you commented above. Beyond a release that blows people away, I'm not sure I'd claim an entire year for a game that is just starting to become the focus of the team.
They've actually been pretty smart putting everything on Landmark and even it has a hard go around, if EQN some how comes out in a year or two and is great, LM's history won't really matter to anyone beyond the small group of folks that were committed to it.
This whole vaporware or whatever view seems to stem from the opinion that EQN should have reached a certain milestone by this time which unless I missed it, they've never presented. Technically speaking, EQN isn't delayed or taking a long time even, as there haven't been any real time frames set.
Due to the companies history it is easy to have little faith in the possibility of things not working out, but that doesn't apply to EQN specifically.
Oh, wait, wait! I know this one, and, this one never gets old! LOL!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gS0gmg-x4ow#t=616
Ok! Love the 3 way back and forth, sooooo!
Back to you three!
While I take everything Smedley says with a bucket full of salt, I've seen that one before. Beyond him recently saying EQN is still an important project for the company, nothing else is worth listening to in my book.
Beyond that though, as usual, he just threw 2015 out there without anything to go with it, much like the early 2013 comment about something being playable by the end of the year.
I actually believe they've said "2015 is the year of EQN" somewhere, just want the actual source, I like bookmarking such things for those that like to pull "facts" out of thin air and claim I do the same.
Incredible denial.
You fail to take in consideration of every sane person who has been around MMORPGs, yet instead insert your own naivety and non-caring attitude towards the development of this project.
Allow me to quote you, so that everyone may see your sly shift in perception as the "norm":
"This whole vaporware or whatever view seems to stem from the opinion that EQN should have reached a certain milestone by this time which unless I missed it, They've never presented" -Allein
Please understand, at no point in MMO history has a BIG game company presented a major MMORPG title (EverQuest Next @ SOE LIVE 2013) and 2.5 years later still not have an internal working copy, nor any actual playable asset. Let alone being in an official state of Vaporware.
Everyone at Daybreak is aware of this. There is no time frame, because the Company just admitted they have no idea how long their project is going to take. That is their official statement.
No real person can remain in such a state of denial, when reality has already reared it's head. You are willingly ignoring every tell-tale sign surrounding this project. Are you for real? Where is your guild? Where are all your friends?
Why are you the ONLY person within this community, who sees some special light? Does it pay well?