Reimagining EQ and what Sony should have done

[Sadre Spinegnawer]

The eq2 emulator the p99 guys are halfway done with - p2004 - is gonna be awesome too. Basically addresses all the issues the OP mentioned about SOE and shit.

Red is probably your best bet till then.

[Mentathiel]

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

I will concede your point, Verant contracted for Sony, still doesn't change the fact Sony sux

Verant was just Smedley's RedEye team under a new name, the same RedEye which was created by Sony when they turned SISA into 989 and cut the Everquest team loose so that 989 could focus on sports sims.

Sony apparently thought Everquest would bomb, but Smedley believed in it and they agreed to publish. When it succeeded, Sony bought it back. Early EQ was given a little more creative freedom, since it was never expected to be a huge success, but nothing would have happened without someone in Sony allowing it and the core team was built by Sony anyway and strongly influenced by Sony's development culture, so to act like SOE was ever in any way not Sony would be naive.

[triad]

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

Verant was just Smedley's RedEye team under a new name, the same RedEye which was created by Sony when they turned SISA into 989 and cut the Everquest team loose so that 989 could focus on sports sims.

Sony apparently thought Everquest would bomb, but Smedley believed in it and they agreed to publish. When it succeeded, Sony bought it back. Early EQ was given a little more creative freedom, since it was never expected to be a huge success, but nothing would have happened without someone in Sony allowing it and the core team was built by Sony anyway and strongly influenced by Sony's development culture, so to act like SOE was ever in any way not Sony would be naive.

Smedley got turned down by the boss his first attempt .. after that boss got fired he asked the new one and he loved the idea and pretty much let them do whatever they wanted

[Mandalore93]

They took a huge creative risk by trying an unheard of direction with Luclin and taking an unconventional twist on the usual dungeons and dragons stuff. Sure to create an embittered minority but if it had been completely unpopular then their sub numbers wouldn't have kept increasing. Kind of got to cut the team some slack because they were dealing with problems that no one had yet dealt with. Kind of seems like they were successful since both the idea of the bazaar and plane of knowledge have been in pretty much every mmo with some small variation.

[HallyVee]

The only thing I would change, ever, is raising the definition of the terrain height map and textures. Even if they kept the actual geometry the same and just tessellated it a bit. Smooth over the edges, etc.

[Spud]

Holly windstalker

No, really I think itemization and planning for future expansions is where they went wrong

[maskedmelon]

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

Verant launched EQ through Sony. Sony was involved from the start. This thread makes no sense.

Without Sony, EQ may have never launched so you should be thanking them.

I'd link proof but a simple google search will net you the results. I'll just leave you with Qeynos spelled backwards.

SonyEQ

This ^ I am glad someone knows the history of EQ <3. As Samwise points out here EQ Was developed by 989 Studios a division of SoE's, subsequently spun-off into Verant Interactive as a separate online-game only development studio and then re-integrated under the SoE conglomerate. The idea that Verant was its own thing and Sony ruined it is a myth. What did happen is that Senor McQuaid left SoE with his bags of money and some talent to start work on VSoH, hence the rather rapid departure from original gameplay.

EQ2 was a fantastic game at launch, but too many people were enamored with the every-game-they-make-is-a-hit Blizzard alternative to recognize it. It was significantly more complex, engaging and better looking that the trivialized model presented by Blizzard.


Boo Blizzard :P


^^

[Swish]

They were stupid to go as high end as they did with EQ2. I think what put a lot of people off was that they wanted to play it but struggled with the high spec PC required to run it.

I did get to play but my PC struggled with it, and they nerfed the shit out of the difficulty on some quests/mobs fairly soon after it launched. Overall I didn't like that weird teamwork wheel where people could combine abilities to do more damage or some crap like that.

Gave it a month and quit.

WoW on the other hand was new, original and the poorest man in China had a PC that could run it.

[Mentathiel]

I remember playing EQ2 more or less at launch, starting out on a boat with no class and slowly (over the course of 20 levels) gaining the class-defining features for my swashbuckler.

I remember betraying Freeport, coming face to face with Lucan D'Lere and being executed as a traitor. I remember waking up in the Commonlands and having to make my way to Qeynos while still KoS to the guards. I remember the 1,000 gnolls I had to kill to earn my ring of citizenship and the right to a house in the city, the right to train beyond 19th level.

And I remember coming back years later to a game which I did not recognise...

[maskedmelon]

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

I remember playing EQ2 more or less at launch, starting out on a boat with no class and slowly (over the course of 20 levels) gaining the class-defining features for my swashbuckler.

I remember betraying Freeport, coming face to face with Lucan D'Lere and being executed as a traitor. I remember waking up in the Commonlands and having to make my way to Qeynos while still KoS to the guards. I remember the 1,000 gnolls I had to kill to earn my ring of citizenship and the right to a house in the city, the right to train beyond 19th level.

And I remember coming back years later to a game which I did not recognise...

Not to mention making your way through Nektulos at L11/12, unable to simply hug a zone wall like you can in EQ ^^. I loved the betrayal quests, they were epic. I checked back in a few years later and was disappointed to find those quests and the associated factions had been removed =/