EQNext Discussion

[Laugher]

but really, I'd accept this as new freeport:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbuFAODiHhc

lol, but personally I think new graphics just throw me off for whatever reason. Call it WoW syndrome [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] I'm sure I'll give it a try at some pt, appd for beta before I got home n saw the youtube today

[t0lkien]

EverQuest was/is epic. Nothing about EQN appears or feels epic (with a proviso below). They have gone for technological "advances" without any of the broad unifying sweeps of the original EQ. Notice how no-one cheered at the concept art or flybys until they were asked to do so? It's because we've all seen it before. It's all tight, small, and intensely detailed while looking careful controlled and contrived - just like every other modern console shooter. The style? How much more like Blizzard/Warhammer can everyone go and keep a straight face about it. Really, it's perplexing. Good grief, even the Dark Forces/Jedi Knight games from 10+ years ago felt more epic than this.

The multi-class thing? This was all tried and failed in paper systems before computer games existed. The only game to get it anywhere near right was Daggerfall/Obsidian franchise, and it was/is a *single player game*. Anyone building a new RPG should at least be aware of what has gone before it so it doesn't try to go down all the already disproven dry gullies that looked good initially but didn't work in the end. Class distinction is lost when you can be anything. The gameplay as a result is blurred and unsatisfying. Limitations are what makes great gameplay, not the lack of them. RPGing 101. And anyway, as has been said, everyone will figure out the optimal build and use it. Remember D3's "billions of builds"? Yeah. I'm wondering how many times this lesson has to be learned.

The animation system is nice. I don't mind the touches of Disney in the character facials. But these things do not make a game. We are here playing a 15 year old square-limbed game because it looks great, right? Gameplay. Gameplay is king. That does not mean a Diablo-esque combat system with lots of noise and action, and single player focus. Destructibility - the only way this can work in an MMO is where everything is instanced (so the world doesn't end up a pile of ash within the first day). Goodbye MMO; hello MO.

The usual journalistic sycophantism aside, even the crowd was underwhelmed. It's a mish-mash of secondhand ideas and "cool tech" thrown together. It's a game built around potential "tent pegs" of hyperbole and marketing, and hyped into absurdity before even this small reveal. What they did show was carefully constructed tech demos, nothing more. Lots of it will change before launch as they try to build the thing and find out why certain ideas don't work (again), and when it ships it will be smaller than even this presentation promises. EQN is a business idea before it's a game.

So the writing's on the wall. If anyone is going to make the game many of us are waiting for, it's going to have to come from the indie/kickstarter crowd, because the established companies are now officially out of ideas and out of touch with their roots.

Addendum: Rallying Call and the idea of a minecraft-esque physical depth to the world, along with emergent AI are solid ideas IMO. They will still revolve around set pieces (you'll dig down to discover another encounter piece precisely the same as you have encountered previously, with some level/power changes etc.) It won't be as "emergent" as they are selling it to be, but the procedural aspects of it that they do pull off could be compelling. You lose as much as you gain with this direction, but it has the potential to create a new type of experience i.e. a different type of game. Not better, different.

[Oppie]

It's cool to see MMO's try new and innovative things that haven't been tried out in other games. No one has played the game yet, and doesn't know how good/bad it will be. I'm skeptical about interactive environment and how that could be abused by the players.

I'm still going to save all my judgments for when i actually play the game.

[Breeziyo]

Originally Posted by webrunner5 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Oh yeah, you will be able to build a house anywhere you want. And guess the hell what. They will be WILLING to sell you online with your Visa Card a picture to hang on the wall. Oh, you want a birdbath in the yard, a fence, a sofa inside. Need I go on. It will be the same old crap over again. Mark my word.

The tinfoil hat is so strong it's actually restricting your ability to form coherent thoughts. Has science gone too far?

[webrunner5]

Originally Posted by Breeziyo [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

The tinfoil hat is so strong it's actually restricting your ability to form coherent thoughts. Has science gone too far?

We are talking Sony here. Did you even go to the damn EQn Homepage?? Bottom of the page.


"Free to Play. Your Way.®

Our philosophy is simple. Free games. No commitment. And if you want to buy, it's on your terms."

Do you even have a CLUE what that means??

[Lord Traxor]

This Voxel tech is a big change, if it keeps growing in trend it will force blizzard into adapting.

[Treefall]

This is what I think is going to happen with this pile of shit.

You're not limited to your class variation.

Everyone will be DPS/tank/healer/CC on one character.

"We still have the trinity..."

Pure healers and CC will be gone because everyone will be expected to heal while they're DPS, fml.

Please, some indie company...somewhere...remake EverQuest.

[Sloth]

Originally Posted by webrunner5 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Because the game will suck Whale Shit is why. They are just out to make money, not make a good game. It is geared towards kids. If Sony gave a shit they would not have all the stupid as hell Armour that you can buy now. They want your F'ing money. It is ALL about money.

Oh yeah, you will be able to build a house anywhere you want. And guess the hell what. They will be WILLING to sell you online with your Visa Card a picture to hang on the wall. Oh, you want a birdbath in the yard, a fence, a sofa inside. Need I go on. It will be the same old crap over again. Mark my word. We have all waited for years for a game that is just going to be a glorified WoW.

then simply don't play it. Why sit here and whine and try to convince others? I'll give it a shot either way. OK won't try to sit here and convince you otherwise. The blind hating is just as bad as the super fanboys...the antithesis. We still don't know how the game will play. I assume it will be awhile before we do.

[Karkona]

Hmm.. I'm fine with inspiration or plagiarizing aspects from other good games.
Public quests are great, glad they got it.
Minecraft is great, glad they have that spin and everything is voxelized.

I see some hate on Multiclass, but the way they represented it, I interpreted it was more like specializing upon the class you chose in the beginning? Similar to D&D, you start as a warrior and then down the road pick something that is more specialized amiright or wrong there?

I tweeted McPherson a few weeks ago, told him to make sure he puts in Centaurs from classic EQ as a playable race, he basically told me to dream on. Oh well goddamn.

[webrunner5]

Originally Posted by Sloth [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

then simply don't play it. Why sit here and whine and try to convince others? I'll give it a shot either way. OK won't try to sit here and convince you otherwise. The blind hating is just as bad as the super fanboys...the antithesis. We still don't know how the game will play. I assume it will be awhile before we do.

If you are playing THIS game and can tell me you will play THAT game you really are crazy as hell. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]