My thought is that they were using the year to figure out how to make a game that had some of the features but that wasn't going to cost them an arm and a leg.
They realized they couldn't do it and just stopped development.
They didn't want to show anything because everything was subject to change.
You really think it took them a year to figure out the game couldnt be finished in a year or that they couldn't show a single thing?
I can't think of another company with more experience on more experience developing, buying and publishing MMOs than SOE was. If a project is given a year to finish, there really isn't "subject to change" as you are suggesting. Things would be pretty set in stone and marketing would be gearing up for a release.
However the exact opposite occured. The first action the new owners took was to fire almost every single person in charge of the EQN project and stop discussing its development. That doesn't say "here is another year of funding" that says "project cancelled".
Agree up to a point. (Although maybe NCSoft have as much experience!)
We were told that the EQN team was "the largest" and - I would assume - that the people who remained "signed off" on getting it done "in 2015". (It went dark later on btw).
2015 because I think that is when it was supposed to release. Something anyway. Before Thanksgiving probably. The job, post takeover, would have been to package up whatever was available to push out in some form or other and as you say sort out the marketing etc. A year would allow some contingency if things slipped.
Internally - within DBG - it will have become obvious that it wasn't happening. When Smed left? When it went dark?
Why the announcement now though? One unknown is when did CN find out? When DBG reported that they would need more money? Sony kept providing more funding perhaps they believed that CN would do the same. Or maybe it was simply a case of: facade it is still in development could no longer be maintained. Or maybe just how CN do business - reviews at set times etc.
[x]. when they were announcing a new game I cared about that. I was expecting EQ3 to be announced. When EQN was what they announced, I lost interested and didn't care. It doesn't surprise me, given what has happened since, that this game has been cancelled.
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what
it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience
because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in
the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you
playing an MMORPG?"
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what
it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience
because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in
the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you
playing an MMORPG?"
I had a feeling. This mythical 'open world, do what you want dynamic world' model just won't work. You need some structure to the gameplay otherwise players will feel as if they aren't going anywhere. Games like Minecraft or Ark function due to the fact it promotes the sandbox elements of creativity. Having an actual game with a system in place attempting that RPG just won't work.
Its not to say more open world elements can't be in place with a dynamic sense to the world, but people NEED structure as much as they claim they want just an open world mmo. You need to blend the elements in the right way giving that RPG sense of progression while giving the feeling of an evolving world.
It is a shame they canceled the project and didn't try to evolve it. I do think we will eventually get it, developers just need to realize that what the players claim they want isn't exactly what they will enjoy in practice.
I think, most of the people who wanted this game NEVER played EQ1 or 2. If you were TRULY a player and fan, how could you want something that CHEAPENED the brand soo much, and didn't have much of a connection to the original? I'm GLAD they dumped this idea in the trash. That was NOT EQ.
I had a feeling. This mythical 'open world, do what you want dynamic world' model just won't work. You need some structure to the gameplay otherwise players will feel as if they aren't going anywhere. Games like Minecraft or Ark function due to the fact it promotes the sandbox elements of creativity. Having an actual game with a system in place attempting that RPG just won't work.
Its not to say more open world elements can't be in place with a dynamic sense to the world, but people NEED structure as much as they claim they want just an open world mmo. You need to blend the elements in the right way giving that RPG sense of progression while giving the feeling of an evolving world.
It is a shame they canceled the project and didn't try to evolve it. I do think we will eventually get it, developers just need to realize that what the players claim they want isn't exactly what they will enjoy in practice.
I dont agree with this:
1. you seem to be saying 'open world RPG' doesnt work and yet it painfully does. from indie titles that I like 7 days to die to more popular titles that the mainstreamers like such as Fallout 4.
2. I really think this is really what happened. Tom Semdely screwed up the project internally, he left, budget went over, they sent in some concerned accountants to play the game to decide if it should stay as a project and said accountants had no idea what they were playing.
its not that open world doesnt work with RPG that is insanity;.
Please do not respond to me, even if I ask you a question, its rhetorical.
Perhaps EQ Next was SOEs answer to the heavy demand for sandbox MMOs by the gaming community (notably on this site). When they realized the first new sandbox games weren't faring too well, they decided it wasn't worth the risk. Pure speculation.
Probably would of greatly enjoined the game if their true vision came along however, once their was about 2 months with 0 news(long ago) and everything on the EQN website was about EQL I pretty much knew that was it.
Once they decided to not work with the Storybrick system and SOE being turned to Daybreak put the nails in the coffin and I honestly stopped even following anything because their was nothing to follow as I saw it coming.
Not really sad more relieved(can't really describe) to at least hear one way or the other instead of just hiding it.
Not shocked, but actually happy. Sorry for those that wanted this... but a game so far away from EQ should never have the title "EQ".
Hate that marketing. Selling new games with old names. Just like Sacred 3.
MMOs finally replaced social interaction, forced grouping and standing in a line while talking to eachother.
Now we have forced soloing, forced questing and everyone is the hero, without ever having to talk to anyone else. The evolution of multiplayer is here! We won,... right?
Finally some long awaited news on EQ:N today. What are your thoughts?
Angry! Some on the forums had suggested that the company buy out was an investor move and that Daybreak would cut loss leaders and just concentrate on lower end games and anything to milk existing games and prophet margins.
I had hope this was not true and every time. I went to the EQ Next sight, there was an update about how they issued new racial building directives for those in Landmark to Create.
Now....what the heck is Landmark without Everquest Next?
This whole thing is a mess and a huge let down and almost exclusively Daybreak's fault. Sad and angry day for anyone who put even an ounce of faith in this company and it's promises.
We gamers don't forget and know who to give our support to in the future and who to not invest time money on.
Sorry, I'm just saying that I couldn't see a venture cap firm buying it at or above market cap if they aren't planning on continuing to develop their flagship franchise.
There's no such thing as market cap on a wholly owned subsidiary. Market Cap = the sum of all publicly traded shares.
Ok, so now that's out of the way, come support the real spiritual successor of Everquest, Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen. Hey, look, they've actually got pre-Alpha gameplay www.pantheonmmo.com Pledge up.
Not shocked, as the writing has been on the wall for a while. Still, I kept hoping they'd get some version of it finished eventually.
The concept wasn't entirely convincing - but I certainly admired the bold vision and the innovation. Something special could have come of it.
Now, it seems, we've truly reached a point where the genre is more or less dead. I have no doubt it will rise again - but it's clear that it will be quite a few years until the next big thing comes out.
No surprise really. Once they broke the fourth year in development and then got sold i had a feeling we would not have a happy end to this. CN is not NCSoft it seems.
I also was skeptic of the scope from day one, it sounded a little to good so i was always a "if they can deliver half of this" kind of guy.
Now that does not mean that i am gloating.... I was genuinely hoping for the game to get traction. I hope they can salvage some of the tech and put it to good use in a game with perhaps a slightly smaller scope.
Comments
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
"The Society that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting by fools."
Currently: Games Audio Engineer, you didn't hear what I heard, you heard what I wanted you to hear.
We were told that the EQN team was "the largest" and - I would assume - that the people who remained "signed off" on getting it done "in 2015". (It went dark later on btw).
2015 because I think that is when it was supposed to release. Something anyway. Before Thanksgiving probably. The job, post takeover, would have been to package up whatever was available to push out in some form or other and as you say sort out the marketing etc. A year would allow some contingency if things slipped.
Internally - within DBG - it will have become obvious that it wasn't happening. When Smed left? When it went dark?
Why the announcement now though? One unknown is when did CN find out? When DBG reported that they would need more money? Sony kept providing more funding perhaps they believed that CN would do the same. Or maybe it was simply a case of: facade it is still in development could no longer be maintained. Or maybe just how CN do business - reviews at set times etc.
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
What do you get for calling it out? What does such a major accomplishment merit?
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
"The Society that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting by fools."
Currently: Games Audio Engineer, you didn't hear what I heard, you heard what I wanted you to hear.
Its not to say more open world elements can't be in place with a dynamic sense to the world, but people NEED structure as much as they claim they want just an open world mmo. You need to blend the elements in the right way giving that RPG sense of progression while giving the feeling of an evolving world.
It is a shame they canceled the project and didn't try to evolve it. I do think we will eventually get it, developers just need to realize that what the players claim they want isn't exactly what they will enjoy in practice.
1. you seem to be saying 'open world RPG' doesnt work and yet it painfully does. from indie titles that I like 7 days to die to more popular titles that the mainstreamers like such as Fallout 4.
2. I really think this is really what happened. Tom Semdely screwed up the project internally, he left, budget went over, they sent in some concerned accountants to play the game to decide if it should stay as a project and said accountants had no idea what they were playing.
its not that open world doesnt work with RPG that is insanity;.
Please do not respond to me, even if I ask you a question, its rhetorical.
Please do not respond to me
거북이는 목을 내밀 때 안 움직입니다
Pure speculation.
Once they decided to not work with the Storybrick system and SOE being turned to Daybreak put the nails in the coffin and I honestly stopped even following anything because their was nothing to follow as I saw it coming.
Not really sad more relieved(can't really describe) to at least hear one way or the other instead of just hiding it.
Sorry for those that wanted this... but a game so far away from EQ should never have the title "EQ".
Hate that marketing. Selling new games with old names. Just like Sacred 3.
MMOs finally replaced social interaction, forced grouping and standing in a line while talking to eachother.
Now we have forced soloing, forced questing and everyone is the hero, without ever having to talk to anyone else. The evolution of multiplayer is here! We won,... right?
Some on the forums had suggested that the company buy out was an investor move and that Daybreak would cut loss leaders and just concentrate on lower end games and anything to milk existing games and prophet margins.
I had hope this was not true and every time. I went to the EQ Next sight, there was an update about how they issued new racial building directives for those in Landmark to Create.
Now....what the heck is Landmark without Everquest Next?
This whole thing is a mess and a huge let down and almost exclusively Daybreak's fault. Sad and angry day for anyone who put even an ounce of faith in this company and it's promises.
We gamers don't forget and know who to give our support to in the future and who to not invest time money on.
Shame Daybreak......Shame!
www.pantheonmmo.com Pledge up.
The concept wasn't entirely convincing - but I certainly admired the bold vision and the innovation. Something special could have come of it.
Now, it seems, we've truly reached a point where the genre is more or less dead. I have no doubt it will rise again - but it's clear that it will be quite a few years until the next big thing comes out.
I also was skeptic of the scope from day one, it sounded a little to good so i was always a "if they can deliver half of this" kind of guy.
Now that does not mean that i am gloating.... I was genuinely hoping for the game to get traction. I hope they can salvage some of the tech and put it to good use in a game with perhaps a slightly smaller scope.
This have been a good conversation
Are they actually a MMO development studio, or are they now just glorified MMO janitors ?
Are they down to like 20 staff keeping the ancient EQ's, opportunistic H1Z1 and cashgrab Landmark in maintenance mode ?
What are they actually developing ?