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SOE Live 2013 - EverQuest Next Thread: Return of the Sandbox [free2play]

Ashodin

Member
JoUEtew.png
everquestnextbanner4a32z3y.png


With SOE Live 2013, Sony Online Entertainment will reveal their next MMO, EverQuest Next. Specifically, at their keynote address on August 2nd, it will be streamed on twitch.tv:

BIG THREAD ON EQNEXUS WITH QUOTES SO YOU KNOW ITS THE GODS HONEST TRUTH http://www.eqnexus.com/forums/threads/eqnext-information-index-use-this-thread.527/#post-5692


http://www.twitch.tv/EverQuestNext - Livestream, first goes live August 2nd
https://www.everquestnext.com/ - Website, updated most likely when details come out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuuRIVm3YGg - EverQuest Next Black Box Teaser Video
http://www.twitch.tv/everquestnext/b/416159876 - Previous E3 Broadcast about EverQuest, holds some information about EverQuest Next.


lineuppicturea3jez.png


What EverQuest Next Is:
(shamelessly copied from massively)


  • Sandbox
  • Free to Play
  • Terrain Deformation
  • Emergent Gameplay
  • Huge Player Interaction With The World
What is EverQuest Next? While we can't see the whole picture, here are the (public!) pieces of the EQN puzzle that we have so far.

At SOE Live 2012, the upcoming game was revealed to be a sandbox by none other than SOE CEO John Smedley himself. Since then, he's talked about the how the game has tools for players to shape the living, breathing world around them. While this news isn't exactly detailed, it does lay the foundation for what players can expect.

Do tools to shape this world include crafting? Yes. At PAX East, Franchise Director Dave Georgeson described his pet theory that crafters are the glue of MMOs. He told us, "You can pretty much assume that there will be a strong backbone in EQ Next for those players." And bringing Emily "Domino" Taylor (known for her work expanding the crafting system in EverQuest II) on board as producer for EQ Next helped cement that idea that crafting would be integral.

What about the living, breathing world part? Smedley noted, "We're changing what AI is in these games to a degree that we're going to bring life to the world. That to us is the essence of the change that we're making." Earlier this year, we learned that the team behind Storybricks, a developing game with revolutionary AI that responds to individual players, is collaborating on EQN.

What else do we know? In that same PAX East interview, Georgeson said he felt that SOE was already tipping its hand somewhat with what has been added to EQ and EverQuest II. He elaborated by noting that features like Player Studio and SOEmote will be a part of the sandbox. We also have the confirmation that the sandbox will follow the rest of SOE's portfolio and be free-to-play.

Visually, we've also been treated to two bits of art to give us a glimpse of the game: the first, a texture-less and colorless character model, and the second, the official concept painting. Calm your shock about the size of the shoulderpads and such on the armor and remember that the concept paintings for the other two games were also just that -- concepts. In-game art is likely to vary just as it did for the other games.

And finally, we know that this year players will get more than just a peek at a demo at SOE Live; as Smedley has hinted, "Players will get their hands on an actual release version of what we're doing late [this] year -- and I don't mean a beta."


What EverQuest Next Isn’t:


  • EverQuest
  • EverQuest 2
  • MMO that you remember from years ago (nostalgia)
Although it's third in line in the EQ franchise, EverQuest Next is not a sequel. Both Smedley and Georgeson have spoken on multiple occasions about how the EQN versions that were originally turning out more like EQ 2.5 or EQ III were scrapped. Even the title itself, EverQuest Next, draws focus away from the game's being just a rehash of its predecessors. In the aforementioned PAX East interview, Georgeson teased us with the line that EverQuest Next is "an MMO you've never played before" -- that it's "a completely different critter."

In that light, will this next version sound the death knell for EQ and EQII? Even before EQN's big screenshot-blowing-up reveal at the convention, Georgeson addressed this concern by assuring that "EQN is not being designed to replace those games." And when I talked with him at SOE Live 2012, he reaffirmed that stance, pointing out that the newest sibling to the franchise is such a different game and fans are so loyal to their respective games that there is little worry of a mass migration.​


EverQuest Next Analysis

To come as the game's info gets released!
 

Jira

Member
Jeremey Soule creating the OST for EQN!

Here's a link to a rough version of the main theme:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zzgrFFnavY

Here's the logo:

RBr1H1j.png


Everquest Next Landmark Beta Sign ups:

https://account.station.sony.com/authenticated/beta/betaRegistration.action?betaId=17

Official Site:

https://www.everquestnext.com

Producer's Letter:

https://www.everquestnext.com/news/welcome-to-everquest-next-eqn

Round Table:

https://www.everquestnext.com/round-table

General rundown from Reddit:

  • Rewriting of the lore.
  • Day/Night cycles.
  • Generic looking races.
  • Can vault small obstacles.
  • Multi-classing - Eight different classes at the start. Acquire more classes as you play the game (40 more classes). Can mix and match abilities.
  • Class defining weapons. Each class can only use certain weapons like Guild Wars 2.
  • Abilities are dependant on weapons like Guild Wars 2.
  • Mix and match weapons
  • Voxel based world to allow destructibility. The world will repair itself slowly over time though this isn't true for rallying calls.
  • Certain abilities change parts of the terrain e.g. destroying bridges
  • Emergent AI - No fixed spawn points. Monsters spawn based upon a "tagging" system and everything is tagged and tracked. Events happen based on tagging as well.
  • Tiered World - Procedural generation to make environments. You can mine through the world to find stuff. Dynamic areas are procedurally created to be found by mining through the world.
  • "Permanent change" through "rallying calls". As you work through the content it changes the world. For example, everyone in the game is on the same quest and to build a city. Lot's of little quests that you can take part in to make the city. Events of the "rallying call" change based upon what you do through the "tagging" system. This means the quest will change dependant upon your server. If you don't do parts of the quest the quest will change e.g. not building a stone wall for the city will make the goblin army attack.
  • The point is that the "rallying call" event will be different for each server, dependant on what does and does not get done. These "rallying calls" also chain and therefore each server becomes very different to each other so in a few years the worlds will be different depending on the server you're on. Each server has it's own different history as a result.
  • Everything is made out of voxels. You can build stuff in "Everquest Next Landmark" and sell it in an economy where you get some of the profits that is real money.
  • If you build really good stuff it can be added to the actual world of Norath.
  • "The round table". Open development you can see what they're making and being able to vote on what you like and don't like. You can make stuff and add it to the game. Promising a lot more developer interaction in making the game.

Articles:

http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/08/02/soe-live-2013-introducing-everquest-next-landmark/
http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/08/02/soe-live-2013-everquest-next-explained/
http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/08/02/everquest-next-landmark-announced/
http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/08/03/everquest-next-interview/
http://www.pcgamer.com/previews/everquest-next-preview/
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/08/02/first-look-everquest-next/
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/08/02/forging-worlds-everquest-next-landmark/

Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gvSRXZZwec
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyEsZRifwrQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sl3buyb3JAA

Images:

 

Ashodin

Member
Here's some choice quotes from John Smedley I posted in the MMO thread:

On the subject of griefing

When it comes to emergent gameplay and the notion of players as content, there's also the problem of antisocial behavior. What sorts of ways do you address that in sandbox titles?

It all revolves around what the sandbox elements that you're putting into the game are. Certainly griefers are a part of every game. Our intent is not to make a game where antisocial people rule the world. The intent is to make a world that's immersive and allows so many player interactions and so much involvement, not to empower griefers. Every single one of our new games is designed with that in mind. A good example is PlanetSide 2. There's a very harsh anti-griefing system in that game. It's funny because before we put it in, you had exactly what you'd expect, which was people just mowing teammates down. We went to China Joy, and it was one of the funniest things I've ever seen, just watching people. They only had 15 minutes on the game, so they shot anything that moved. They were just mowing teammates down. So we had to put the anti-griefing stuff in.

This is not going to be Grieferquest, and every system will be designed around not allowing that. It's one of those things where you have to make it so that griefers can't ruin the experience for everyone else.

Here's another quote from Smedley that really has me going.

You also talked about how quickly traditional MMO content is consumed and how that plays into your decision to adopt a philosophy toward emergent gameplay. The question comes up about how that affects the future of raid content -- something that takes a lot of time to design and is usually played by only a portion of the community. What are your thoughts on that?

This is a very interesting question. I think it's at the core of why what we're doing is sustainable. I'll go right to the heart of the matter. You get to the point where we make an expansion, and when I say we, I mean the entire MMO community. You make your expansion, the real hardcore players consume it in a month, and they're doing the raids over and over and over until the next round of live content that we put in. Typically, three or four times a year, we as MMO companies put new endgame in there to keep the raiders happy.

We absolutely need to build that style of content into every game we make because players want that. We're not talking about the end of raids, the end of this incredibly high-level content. We're talking about changing the nature of the world around it so that there's a lot more to do "in between" expansions. A good example, but a very narrow example, is battlegrounds in WoW or EQII, where players get bored doing it over and over again. But imagine the entire world as part of the interaction. Imagine seasons changing. Imagine if you're a Druid and you need to literally seek out reagents for your spells or worship your deity in a glade somewhere off in the wilderness, but you don't know where. Or image forests growing back after they're burned to the ground by invading forces. What we want is a dynamic world that gives all those other possibilities and doesn't just say OK, go to raid X with group composition of X, Y, Z, and kill the dragon for the 52nd time to get the tier 800 gear. It's this rinse-and-repeat gameplay that's got to change, and so we're changing it.
 

ReaperXL7

Member
Kind of hyped, Im wondering if they will reveal the rumored PS4 version at the same time. Im excited, but I want to actually see what they are doing with this before I hype myself too much. SOE has been making some enjoyable games recently though.
 

BigDug13

Member
Just bring the scariness back. Knowing all the levels of creatures in a zone and having it all be a tightly packed level range is boring. There's nothing like pissing off a mid 30's hill giant walking around a zone meant for teen levels. Keeping your eyes peeled and your head on a swivel in case he comes walking close by.
 
D

Deleted member 17706

Unconfirmed Member
Hell, yeah. I think I'm going to let myself get hyped for this one. It's pretty much the last hope after a decade of disappointment and broken promises.
 

Ashodin

Member
Kind of hyped, Im wondering if they will reveal the rumored PS4 version at the same time. Im excited, but I want to actually see what they are doing with this before I hype myself too much. SOE has been making some enjoyable games recently though.

Indeed. After Planetside 2, I'm really curious how their mantra has turned around.

Grimløck;72920541 said:
Subscribed. Hopefully we'll get word on a PS4 version.

Most likely happening!

F2P and sandbox? Consider me interested.

Should be pretty awesome!

Just bring the scariness back. Knowing all the levels of creatures in a zone and having it all be a tightly packed level range is boring. There's nothing like pissing off a mid 30's hill giant walking around a zone meant for teen levels. Keeping your eyes peeled and your head on a swivel in case he comes walking close by.

Check this picture out:


It's from Planetside 2, but it showcases the Forgelight engine, which PS2 uses. It's also really fucking DARK.
 

BigDug13

Member
Indeed. After Planetside 2, I'm really curious how their mantra has turned around.



Most likely happening!



Should be pretty awesome!



Check this picture out:



It's from Planetside 2, but it showcases the Forgelight engine, which PS2 uses. It's also really fucking DARK.

That looks good, but that's not what I was referring to. I don't care if the creatures have 3 polygons each, I'm referring to the gameplay. Having scary things to avoid even in newbie zones. Making the world feel alive and not an instanced theme park.
 

Jira

Member
That looks good, but that's not what I was referring to. I don't care if the creatures have 3 polygons each, I'm referring to the gameplay. Having scary things to avoid even in newbie zones. Making the world feel alive and not an instanced theme park.

Nothing to worry about there. This is going to be as far away from a themepark as you can get.
 
Please just be for consoles and not for PC! Or if it is for both have them separate! 3rd party macroing programs have ruined the economies and level progression aspect of every MMO I have ever played. :(
 

Ashodin

Member
Please just be for consoles and not for PC! Or if it is for both have them separate! 3rd party macroing programs have ruined the economies and level progression aspect of every MMO I have ever played. :(

I think it will be for both platforms, but the latter parts you're concerned about, I hope will be so different than previous MMOs that it will be solved in itself.
 

Jira

Member
Please just be for consoles and not for PC! Or if it is for both have them separate! 3rd party macroing programs have ruined the economies and level progression aspect of every MMO I have ever played. :(

It's up in the air whether or not it will have cross platform play. Though you can absolutely guarantee there will be no levels in EQN. Also, I'm expecting there to be region based economies throughout the game world like EVE versus a single economy for a server. This actually encourages and creates an entire form of gameplay where you can just be a trader who buys and sells in one region and moves across the world and makes a profit selling wares in another region.
 
I long for an MMO as deep as Galaxies was with player run economies, cities and non combat professions like architect and clothier etc.
 

SparkTR

Member
Please just be for consoles and not for PC! Or if it is for both have them separate! 3rd party macroing programs have ruined the economies and level progression aspect of every MMO I have ever played. :(

It's definitely going to be on PC, cross platform servers could be a thing if there's a PS4 version. On one hand stuff like update and content cert delays make me want different servers, but more players is always nice in sandbox MMOs.
 

Wallach

Member
I'm definitely ready to finally see this game. My fatigue of the past decade of MMO design going in roughly the same direction is high.
 

Ashodin

Member
I long for an MMO as deep as Galaxies was with player run economies, cities and non combat professions like architect and clothier etc.

Should be pretty awesome dude. They really want to make crafting a big thing in the game. Already in EverQuest 2 you can texture furniture and sell it to people in game. This has already been confirmed to be in EQN.

I just want to see what this baby looks like. I can't wait for next week.

You can sneak a peek with the screenshot I posted above.
 
It's definitely going to be on PC, cross platform servers could be a thing if there's a PS4 version. On one hand stuff like update and content cert delays make me want different servers, but more players is always nice in sandbox MMOs.

Yeah but when several programmers create macroing programs on a pc and then macro 24/7 7 days a week so that their main character can have tons of resources, well that kinda ruins the game in my opinion.

Then you have the console gamers who can't do that. They will always be the poor rabble who has to play in a broken game next to PC playing decked out super characters. It will become super un-fun super fast.

They should at least have separate servers at the very least.
 

Shin

Banned
Never played a EQ game before and generally not into MMORG's, but as of late I'm starting to get this feeling that I want to experience such games.
So I'll patiently await to see what Sony unleashes next week, hopefully the classes/worlds are interesting
 

Ashodin

Member
Been looking forward to news on this one for a long ass time. Please live up to my expectations.

Looking forward to just in case if SOE doesn't deliver, but delivering on making sure the thread is up to date with what we find out on the net when the reveal goes live.

Never played a EQ game before and generally not into MMORG's, but as of late I'm starting to get this feeling that I want to experience such games.
So I'll patiently await to see what Sony unleashes next week, hopefully the classes/worlds are interesting

If there are even classes!
 

Jira

Member
Yeah but when several programmers create macroing programs on a pc and then macro 24/7 7 days a week so that their main character can have tons of resources, well that kinda ruins the game in my opinion.

Then you have the console gamers who can't do that. They will always be the poor rabble who has to play in a broken game next to PC playing decked out super characters. It will become super un-fun super fast.

They should at least have separate servers at the very least.

Botting is something most MMO devs take very seriously and crack down on it pretty swiftly. Also, really botting is mostly done by gold farmers who don't really play the game to begin with, they just kill stuff or collect resources to sell for coin to then sell for real money. This usually only has an effect on the economy in some fashion and doesn't directly impact your gameplay.
 

BigDug13

Member
Botting is something most MMO devs take very seriously and crack down on it pretty swiftly. Also, really botting is mostly done by gold farmers who don't really play the game to begin with, they just kill stuff or collect resources to sell for coin to then sell for real money. This usually only has an effect on the economy in some fashion and doesn't directly impact your gameplay.

Inflation always impacts gameplay. It's not like that level 40 Gnoll is going to adjust his gold drop rate with inflation. If gold has less value and it takes you longer to get as much gold that has the same value, that sucks.

"Hey come to the bank window so I can give you thousands of platinum because I can't move once I take it out of the bank!"
 

Orayn

Member
I really hope this brings back the glory days of SWG; that game gave players an huge palette of options when it came to interacting with the world and each other. You could very easily focus entirely on social or crafting elements and have an experience no less fulfilling than someone who was in combat all the time. It had player-driven EVERYTHING, which is a real rarity now.
 

Ashodin

Member
Inflation always impacts gameplay. It's not like that level 40 Gnoll is going to adjust his gold drop rate with inflation. If gold has less value and it takes you longer to get as much gold that has the same value, that sucks.

"Hey come to the bank window so I can give you thousands of platinum because I can't move once I take it out of the bank!"

One thing I'm hoping they invest in the game is regional economies. Say for example a town needs more ore WAY away from everyone else, and since you got to it first and just happened to mine up a bunch of ore, you get to benefit from it!
 

Yoshichan

And they made him a Lord of Cinder. Not for virtue, but for might. Such is a lord, I suppose. But here I ask. Do we have a sodding chance?

Jira

Member
Inflation always impacts gameplay. It's not like that level 40 Gnoll is going to adjust his gold drop rate with inflation. If gold has less value and it takes you longer to get as much gold that has the same value, that sucks.

"Hey come to the bank window so I can give you thousands of platinum because I can't move once I take it out of the bank!"

Yeah I debated on whether or not to say those words. If the economy turns out how I think it's going to, inflation isn't going to run rampant. Too many MMOs give out way too much coin and once you pass a certain point you stop needing to spend it and there's not enough renewable goldsinks. I have high hopes in seeing realistic loot drops where bears only drop teeth, pelts, eyes, etc and not swords and shoes. I so badly want a system where towns, cities, and villages all have their own economies where you can make a living just supplying places with materials, armor, weapons, etc that are in low supply.
 

PatzCU

Member
Can't wait!!!!! I played EQ from original launch until somewhere in the middle of Luclin. Tons of great memories like every other EQ player. I'm not expecting EQN to resemble EQ1, but I do hope some aspects remain. It would be nice to have a revival of actual DANGER. Walking through Kithicor Forest at night in EQ1 was fucking scary. You couldn't see shit, the forest was full of baddies, and if you died, not only would you lose hard earned XP, you might not get your corpse back without the help of others.

I want that sense of danger back. It makes overcoming obstacles so much more rewarding. If EQN goes soft on death penalties I'm going to be sad.
 

Jira

Member

Unfortunately, people have this idea that all F2P games are Pay2Win even though they're actually few and far between, especially in the NA/EU markets. They also automatically assume that because it's F2P that it cannot be a good game for whatever reason. Needless to say, the most played games in the world right now are F2P and of very high quality with absolutely zero P2W aspects (LoL, Dota 2, World of Tanks, TF2). There's negative connotations that come with the F2P model, however, judging the entire model based off of a very select few games is ignorant to say the least. Hell, the F2P MMO market is not only larger from a playerbase standpoint, but it makes more money than the P2P market and is growing YoY. When you drop the barrier of entry, you get people playing your game and potentially giving you money that may have never played your game otherwise. Every MMO that has went from P2P to F2P is far more healthy and profitable under their new model. What is important is that the entirety of EQN is being created with F2P in mind so you have a game built from the ground up with their one and only business model in mind, the only one it will ever have, rather than changing models 6 months down the road and the gameplay not changing with the new model.
 

Yoshichan

And they made him a Lord of Cinder. Not for virtue, but for might. Such is a lord, I suppose. But here I ask. Do we have a sodding chance?
Welcome to the party! Drinks are over there.
Thank you sir, gonna do some research now!
Unfortunately, people have this idea that all F2P games are Pay2Win even though they're actually few and far between, especially in the NA/EU markets. They also automatically assume that because it's F2P that it cannot be a good game for whatever reason. Needless to say, the most played games in the world right now are F2P and of very high quality with absolutely zero P2W aspects (LoL, Dota 2, World of Tanks, TF2). There's negative connotations that come with the F2P model, however, judging the entire model based off of a very select few games is ignorant to say the least. Hell, the F2P MMO market is not only larger from a playerbase standpoint, but it makes more money than the P2P market and is growing YoY. When you drop the barrier of entry, you get people playing your game and potentially giving you money that may have never played your game otherwise.
I spent $1000 on Path of Exile and never got enhanced stats or items :lol
 

Wallach

Member
Can't wait!!!!! I played EQ from original launch until somewhere in the middle of Luclin. Tons of great memories like every other EQ player. I'm not expecting EQN to resemble EQ1, but I do hope some aspects remain. It would be nice to have a revival of actual DANGER. Walking through Kithicor Forest at night in EQ1 was fucking scary. You couldn't see shit, the forest was full of baddies, and if you died, not only would you lose hard earned XP, you might not get your corpse back without the help of others.

I want that sense of danger back. It makes overcoming obstacles so much more rewarding. If EQN goes soft on death penalties I'm going to be sad.

This is definitely something I'm feeling too. There's such a lack of consequence in the genre anymore. So many goals implemented in MMOs use persistence as the sole determining factor of whether you're able to achieve something. I understand why, but I also feel it's made a lot of games in the genre deathly boring.
 

Ashodin

Member
Thank you sir, gonna do some research now!

I spent $1000 on Path of Exile and never got enhanced stats or items :lol

Good luck on the research, there's not a whole lot. The game has been black box'd for years.

The only thing I recommend taking a look at is Storybricks. It's the enhanced AI they're using in the game to interact with NPCs on an individual basis.
 

Jira

Member
This is definitely something I'm feeling too. There's such a lack of consequence in the genre anymore. So many goals implemented in MMOs use persistence as the sole determining factor of whether you're able to achieve something. I understand why, but I also feel it's made a lot of games in the genre deathly boring.

All I'm asking for is a massive world, a robust crafting system, and the ability to build a cabin or house out in a secluded area on a hillside. One of the things they've said is they're building a world that is larger than the player, everyone isn't going to be the hero this time and you're just another cog in the machine.

Oh also, still to this day the greatest inventory system in gaming is UO...if they replicated that ohhhh man...sadly it won't happen. :(
 

Ashodin

Member
All I'm asking for is a massive world, a robust crafting system, and the ability to build a cabin or house out in a secluded area on a hillside. One of the things they've said is they're building a world that is larger than the player, everyone isn't going to be the hero this time and you're just another cog in the machine.

Yep, I want to be a local hero, I want to save a village and have them come to rely on me. If I want to be a goddamn logger out in the middle of nowhere and supply a town with firewood, let me do it!
 
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