I was going to update you positive folks on my adventures in rolling my 17,000th EverQuest II alt for this week's Tattered Notebook, however SOE determined to drop a Fan Faire Reside date on us, which sort of mucked up my nefarious plans.
Why will we care about SOE Stay? Effectively, there are a number of reasons, however a very powerful one is that instead of getting to attend until October, we now get to see (and contact!) EverQuest Next in early August!
This information threw me for a little bit of a loop, I don't thoughts telling you. I mean, I knew that SOE's John Smedley flat-out guaranteed a playable EQNext demo at SOE Live 2013. And i knew that it is the truth is 2013 already, so hands-on time with what could be the following nice sandbox will happen inside of a calendar yr. It nonetheless appeared actually far off for some purpose, though, I assume as a result of it was just three months ago that we have been finishing up SOE Dwell 2012. August 1st is going to be right here earlier than we realize it, so it's excessive time we begin prognosticating about EQNext, would not you agree?
Hopefully it goes without saying that I would wish to see these items along with the same old excessive-high quality PvE questing, dungeon, raid, and development content.
Heritage quests
Even though I performed the unique EverQuest for less than about a month, I love love love EverQuest II's heritage lines. In a franchise that already sets the standard for MMO lore, it was a genius concept to tie the two games collectively and throw EQ vets a nostalgia-drenched bone by offering up prolonged epic quests with EQ-centric merchandise rewards.
More like that in EQNext, please. Adda bank
Housing
You recognize SOE goes to place housing in EQNext, as the company does the characteristic better than another MMO developer (sorry Trion -- great effort, though). The question is how can it ever be pretty much as good as EQII's implementation. Realistically I do not suppose it could actually, not less than not at release. It's actually a sport-inside-the-game that has extra in frequent with Minecraft than typical MMO afterthought design, so if it takes SOE a while to fit it into EQNext's framework, I'm Ok with that. Whereas we're dreaming, I might even be greater than Ok with SOE discovering a technique to do EQII's housing in an open-world atmosphere.
And yes, I do know, Mr. Hardcore Gamer, housing and non-combat options are for Barbie lovers and casuals and no one makes use of them. Apart from the tens of thousands and thousands of players who have made the Sims franchise the most well-liked in the history of the personal computer.
A crafter-pushed economy
This goes to be troublesome for SOE to drag off, notably given the loot-drop legacy of themeparks like EQ and EQII. My definition of sandbox is built on an actual participant economic system, though, and certainly one of my frustrations with EQII is the vast, intricate, and fun crafting system that is nearly completely wasted on a sport where a lot of the gear is mob-dropped and bind-on-equip. Minecraft Servers
I do not envy the designers here because along with the balancing challenges inherent in making and sustaining a sandbox economic system, they've additionally obtained to deal with the psyche of the new-school MMO player who would not need to be bothered with crafters and who wants to distant auction his gear with a minimum of effort and participant interaction. At the identical time, the firm has minced no words about the fact that EQNext is a participant-driven sandbox, so how it navigates this potential minefield might be fascinating to watch.
Good guild tools
Copy EQII's guild tools. Something less makes Jef cry. The top.
Things I don't want to see
Earlier than I knock off for the day, let me spend a few paragraphs on things I do not want to see. Firstly, in-sport VOIP. Look, I comprehend it makes for a great again-of-the-field (will we still have recreation containers?) bullet level, but the truth is that it is a waste of development sources even when it is shoe-horned in there by a third occasion.
I imply, really, what guild with a clue does not use Ventrilo, TeamSpeak, or Mumble these days? These are all free apps -- until you're the guild leader paying for the server, and even then it is often a lot cheaper than a conventional MMO sub -- they usually dwarf the functionality present in current in-sport options. In-game VOIP goes to be laggy, it may sound like crap, and the one individuals who might use it for greater than 5 minutes are the poor saps in pickup dungeon teams.
Secondly, let's not have any of that dev-generated private story foolishness or the related voice-performing. This can be a massively multiplayer sandbox, in spite of everything, and that i can think of not less than two latest AAA titles which have achieved more than sufficient to justify tossing these ideas onto the proverbial pile of MMO fail. I am most likely preaching to the choir right here, as Smedley has given multiple interviews over the past few months that illustrate the company's "the gamers are the content" motto. But, still. MMORPG. Sandbox. Please do not with the only-participant savior-of-the-cosmos nonsense. Thanks.
What's in a name?
Whew. This isn't an exhaustive list after all, and I'm fairly curious to see what some of you wish to see in EQNext. Relaxation assured that we'll be revisiting this subject typically as SOE ramps as much as its August reveal and past.
And with that, let's bring this week's subject of The Tattered Notebook to a close. Oh, that jogs my memory! With EQNext in our near future, MJ and i are probably going to rename the column in some unspecified time in the future, each as a option to freshen things up and to raised capture the spirit of the franchise going ahead. And we'd love your assist! Feel free to put up your ideas within the feedback or contact us directly via jef@massively.com or mj@massively.com.
EverQuest II is so massive that it takes two authors to make sense of all of it! Be a part of Jef Reahard and MJ Guthrie as they discover Norrathian nooks and crannies from the Overrealm to Timorous Deep. Working each Saturday, The Tattered Notebook is your useful resource for all things EQII and EQNext -- and catch MJ each 'EverQuest Two-sday' on Massively Television!
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