The guys over at ZAM have uncovered an interesting little tidbit from the last chapter of the new EverQuest 10th Anniversary book.

The chapter, entitled "EverQuest Next" was written by EQ Creative Director Rich Waters, where he discusses the considerations SOE is taking into account when developing their next iteration of the EverQuest franchise for next generation gamers:

"As we contemplate future EverQuest games, we have to ask, what does the modern MMO player really want from today's games? What will they want four years from now? Current MMOs are still designed traditionally with a pen-and-paper game feel behind them-lots of stats and numbers, experience-based levels and a focus on auto-attack dice roll combat. Will that work for next-gen MMOs, or do we try something different?"

"So you can see there's a lot to wrestle with as we begin laying the foundation for EverQuest 'Next.' As I write this, we have concept artists and game designers working hard in our studio-taking the lessons of the past, the best parts of the present and the most promising ideas for the future-to bring the world of Norrath to a new generation of players, as well as the dedicated legions of fans who made the EverQuest franchise timeless. I hope we'll see you there."

Via ZAM.

What do you think the next EverQuest should be like? Let us know in the comments!

I can't imagine what they could do to make it next-gen ready. I just hope when its launched its ready to play!

after reading that article, I came away thinking it could be console based which would turn me off completely. Otherwise, I'd like to see another EQ, but cannot imagine what to expect let a lone when. 

Get rid of the hard core raiding and the next EQ would be so much better. I agree that materialistic things in the game is what everyone wants lately, but putting in the hard core grind is pushing away a lot of casual players. They really need to "look back" instead of looking forward. Because if they want numbers EQ back in its earlier years had the most subs compared to how its like now. It was a great game, it was all about the community being able to do simple things without a care about all the loot. They gotta stop it with all the uber loot and its tedious grind to acquire them.

EDIT: EQ 1 died when you were able to kill all the original gods. Every expansion after with its lore didn't make much difference anymore. The original lore was at its best.

How about this one: Stick with a design from the set go and don't change it, maybe even multiple times, while the game is live? Just a thought...

(And I'm not necessarily talking about SWG. Which is the or a prime example obviously.)

How about bringing back that sense of exploration from the first EQ, getting rid of zones, having a highly customizable interface like the current eq2 does (which I really like), a graphics engine which is stable, up-to-date. Keeping the movie like experience of EQ2, getting rid of instances or atleast stray away from the mindset of heavy instances, it makes the world feel like a single player game more then an mmo

basically they need to copy some stuff from vanguard, eq1/2

but do it good :)

Best thing to do is not make it like all the other MMo's out there today where any crack riddled 12 yr old can make top level in 3 weeks.

Make it like OLD EQ prior to Planes of Power where you had to achieve things with effort. Where you had to group. Where gaining a level felt like an achievement. Where traveling took longer than 10 seconds.

Want instant gratification and an MMO on easy mode. Play WOW with the rest of the kiddies and brain dead people. Want a real MMO like they used to make that drew you into it and grabbed you... than go old school.

EQ's Velious expansion to me was top notch. I loved everything about the epicness of it. The way guilds raced to epic mobs. No ignorant kiddie instancing. COMPETITION WAS THE FLAVOR. The drama it caused. The grinding.. oh yes.... I have killed MILLIONS of dwarfs and furbies out in the wastes.. and loved every bit of it.

I haven't found a good MMO since I left EQ and DAOC ( pre ToA ) and have longed for another like those. Vanguard had potential but alas.................. I've been lookin for roughly 6 years now. Played EVE for over 4 years but it never filled that void.

As much as some will disagree with this... hire Brad Mquaid to make the next EQ :) I'd buy a lifetime subscription at $300 a pop right now all day long. To me... he makes great MMo's. Although Vanguard got abit screwed up and had endless money issues.. the right concept for it was in place.

Not all of us want want easy mode kiddie MMO's like WOW and Aion. Some of us want real depth .

Originally posted by Archtype

Best thing to do is not make it like all the other MMo's out there today where any crack riddled 12 yr old can make top level in 3 weeks.

 

Make it like OLD EQ prior to Planes of Power where you had to achieve things with effort. Where you had to group. Where gaining a level felt like an achievement. Where traveling took longer than 10 seconds.

 

Want instant gratification and an MMO on easy mode. Play WOW with the rest of the kiddies and brain dead people. Want a real MMO like they used to make that drew you into it and grabbed you... than go old school.

 

EQ's Velious expansion to me was top notch. I loved everything about the epicness of it. The way guilds raced to epic mobs. No ignorant kiddie instancing. COMPETITION WAS THE FLAVOR. The drama it caused. The grinding.. oh yes.... I have killed MILLIONS of dwarfs and furbies out in the wastes.. and loved every bit of it.

 

I haven't found a good MMO since I left EQ and DAOC ( pre ToA ) and have longed for another like those. Vanguard had potential but alas.................. I've been lookin for roughly 6 years now. Played EVE for over 4 years but it never filled that void.

 

As much as some will disagree with this... hire Brad Mquaid to make the next EQ :) I'd buy a lifetime subscription at $300 a pop right now all day long. To me... he makes great MMo's. Although Vanguard got abit screwed up and had endless money issues.. the right concept for it was in place.

 

Not all of us want want easy mode kiddie MMO's like WOW and Aion. Some of us want real depth .

QFT

Brad Mcquaid with the proper resources would make the next wow killer

Pretty sure that's exactly what I just said.......... LOL

Sounds fishy and smells like Free Realms meets Everquest.

So long as Smed is involved nothing with integrity will emerge from SOE, and any team that think they wanna be a 'wow killer' will end up being another Vanguard/Silius cluster F*3ck.

Advice:  Just put Everquest in the title and I'll try it.

You don't think Smed's handling of SWG wasn't stellar?

The decisions he made as far as SWG were nothing short of monumental in gaming !!

/sarcasm off :)

Top Ten Things I'd like to see in a MMORPG;

1. A True Sandbox. (i.e. Skill based instead of level based).

2. Individualized. (i.e. make it more about the characters than the loot).

3. Customized out the wahzoo! (CoH/CoV are still unparalleled in this regard).

4. Actually includes realistic physics (again, CoH/CoV can teach them something here).

5. Include "tournaments" with archery, dueling, jousting, boxing, wrestling, etc. that characters can engage in just for fun.

6. Realistic tavern/bar atmosphere. Include background chatter, bar brawls, buxom beer wenches that will flirt for that extra coin. Put some freaking people in the taverns/bars!!! These places are supposed to be where the action is. Instead they are nothing more than a vendor exchange.

7. Realistic character combat animations. I want to watch the action, not miss it while I'm pounding away on all those "combo" attacks.  (When a character blocks a swing, show it. When a character ripostes, show it.)

8. Put in an option for sorcerous duels based on magical offensive/defensive/countering spells.  Why should tanks have all the glory? (even though I mostly play tanks)

9.  No more character "bound" items. Level basing is fine, but don't give me something I can't sell, pass to a friend, etc. It isn't realistic and it is just plain dumb.

10. Tie the crafting skills to an actual world economy. Vanguard actually did this with housing, boats, guild halls. Just don't make it such a grind like Vanguard did. Totally sucked.

My two cents.... Ok, 10 cents.

This might explain where Jeff Butler was sent when soe bought out sigil.  They sent him and a small team to a "new project".

However I don't think soe has what it takes to recapture the magic let alone create something ground breaking anymore.  Especially with Smedlys insane lust for RMT and money focused game design instead of focusing on fun gameplay design, but who knows.  Maybe they get lucky if they actually set out to make a game and not a product.

This is a great topic and there are a lot of new ideas that would be cool to discuss, but to be honest I would just like them to stick to what has worked in the past.  No more "next gen" efforts as those have not truned out to well for soe.  Stick to what works and see what happens. 

Originally posted by OoMpAlOmPaZ

Originally posted by Archtype
blah blah blah

 

QFT

Brad Mcquaid with the proper resources would make the next wow killer

AHAHAHAHAHA..Brad... AHAHAHAHAHA... McQuaid..AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.. WoW killer..AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

You guys crack me up.  The irony of all your posts is awesome.  This thread is seriously awesome comedy gold.  Keep up the good work!  

Originally posted by phosphoros

Originally posted by OoMpAlOmPaZ

Originally posted by Archtype
blah blah blah

 

QFT

Brad Mcquaid with the proper resources would make the next wow killer

 

AHAHAHAHAHA..Brad... AHAHAHAHAHA... McQuaid..AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.. WoW killer..AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

 

You guys crack me up.  The irony of all your posts is awesome.  This thread is seriously awesome comedy gold.  Keep up the good work!  

it's true man, if you got brad, richard garriot, and maybe a few devs from the original AC1 team, they would make one killer mmo imo, as long as they stick to the fun of the game, and make new fresh ideas and recapture that feeling of exploring the world, they could make one kickass game

Brad made Eq. Best MMO ever ( PVE wise ) to ME ... let me stress "ME"

I didn't think Vanguard was bad. I know the issues and the failure... but it's far from a bad game. Only thing sad as far as Vanguard goes is how good it could have been if not for Sigil running out of money well before game was ready to be launched.

So yeah... I can't wait for the enxt Mquaid game. I'd do a lifetime sub if they offered it in a heartbeat.

Some of us prefer games that don't appeal to the lemmings IE Wow, Aion, etc etc. I prefer something with depth... real gaming... not watered down drivel any crack riddled 12 yr old can max out in a matter of 2-4 weeks. Thanks but i'll pass !!

Perhaps this means DX10 and beyond.

EQ2 was the leading edge at the time and you can expect SOE to be the leader once again.Whatever they come up with ,i will probably play it,as far as i am concerned they make good games.Bug free?oh heck no ,i expect thir games to have some bugs,but when you are the leading edge developer,other games always shine by learning from you.

One area untapped in MMORPG's that has recently become the norm for other types of games is PHYSICS.there is a lot that can be done with it,no matter what SOE comes up with for their next installment,you can expect lag and glitches simlar to what happened with VG,it is to be expected when you push the envelope of gaming and i actually enjoy developers that move forward.

So basically, people in this thread want an korean grinder with EQ1 lore.

Got it.

They don't want it "easy mode", and since MMO's take about as much skill as clipping finger nails, that can only mean that "not easy mode" = "tedious as heck".

And skill based games are level based games...

And sandbox games are themepark games that weren't finished...

SoE needs to go away. I loved EQ1 and it seemed when Varent was bought out and SoE took full control it all went downhill from there. It slowly has become the worse MMO company out there. Its poor communication with the community and absolutely no morals or business ethics, makes any MMO that falls under their title an instant failure. I don't understand how at one point they were one of the biggest names and now everything they touch turns to crap. Fire SMED and hire someone with some business sense and maybe the "next" EQ won't suck. EQ2 at launch was horrible... now its a playable game, but still doesn't grab me... feels too much like a WoW ripoff now. EQ doesn't have much of a population to play it anymore, and don't even get me started on the rest of the MMO SoE lineup.

So, what should the "next" everquest be? Its simple... something innovative, and like the original everquest. Don't go rip off all the ideas of modern MMOs and put it in the game. Be bold and be diffrent when designing it. Hopefully this is what we will get, but i from the language they used, I have a feeling this will be a lot like another wow clone.

This is great news. I had hopes they would not let the franchise die.

I'd like skill, not level based abilities - i'd like classes to be suggested but not locked in - instead of 'a ranger' or 'a scout', let my character take the parts that i want - speed, stealth, tracking, animal affinity, archery - and not have to have the rest of the cobbled together rogue crap.  Same for wizards - if i want to specialize in teleportation yet be a pet based caster, let it be by the skills i pick, not by a 'class hat' i have to wear.  I'd probalby be the slow arse who'd have way too many skills and would be leveling at the speed of glaciation, but that would be my choice and you can pick your johnny 3 skills character and have just as much fun if thats your cup of tea.

I'd like more character customization.  Why can i make my nose tilt up or down but breasts are one size fits all?  why is everyone so *fit*?  can't we have scrawny or tubby gnomes? 

User Created Content: yes.  it would have to be donated.  however, if a user actually created a lot of viable and usable content, could they not potentially be hired and actually paid for it?  at the very least, User created content would open up character customization up somewhat - wigs! give us wigs!!!!!  personal tabbards, banners, think of the furniture and tapestries and rugs, the clothes... yeah, some of us are all about the appearance of things or who the hell would ever level a carpenter to 80?

I'd like competition to be optional.  I do not join MMO games to be in competition - i want to play cooperatively.  All the epeen waving really makes me sick - i don't raid.  Not because i don't enjoy the game or because i can't do as i'm told and follow cooperative orders - Im good at that - but because i can't stand 5% of the raiders -  incredibly obnoxious, overbearing and rude lootwhores who think that's what the game's all about.  Note.  5% ruin the rest of the experiance for me.

And yeah.  5% can ruin an entire experiance.  if you only had 5% rat urine in your drink of choice, would you still drink it?

Originally posted by megera

I'd like skill, not level based abilities - i'd like classes to be suggested but not locked in - instead of 'a ranger' or 'a scout', let my character take the parts that i want - speed, stealth, tracking, animal affinity, archery - and not have to have the rest of the cobbled together rogue crap.  Same for wizards - if i want to specialize in teleportation yet be a pet based caster, let it be by the skills i pick, not by a 'class hat' i have to wear.  I'd probalby be the slow arse who'd have way too many skills and would be leveling at the speed of glaciation, but that would be my choice and you can pick your johnny 3 skills character and have just as much fun if thats your cup of tea.

I'd like more character customization.  Why can i make my nose tilt up or down but breasts are one size fits all?  why is everyone so *fit*?  can't we have scrawny or tubby gnomes? 

User Created Content: yes.  it would have to be donated.  however, if a user actually created a lot of viable and usable content, could they not potentially be hired and actually paid for it?  at the very least, User created content would open up character customization up somewhat - wigs! give us wigs!!!!!  personal tabbards, banners, think of the furniture and tapestries and rugs, the clothes... yeah, some of us are all about the appearance of things or who the hell would ever level a carpenter to 80?

I'd like competition to be optional.  I do not join MMO games to be in competition - i want to play cooperatively.  All the epeen waving really makes me sick - i don't raid.  Not because i don't enjoy the game or because i can't do as i'm told and follow cooperative orders - Im good at that - but because i can't stand 5% of the raiders -  incredibly obnoxious, overbearing and rude lootwhores who think that's what the game's all about.  Note.  5% ruin the rest of the experiance for me.

And yeah.  5% can ruin an entire experiance.  if you only had 5% rat urine in your drink of choice, would you still drink it?

Skill levels = level based games, there's no two ways about it.  Templates are what you had in UO, and you had the problem known as "Template of the Month" and since people always want to "respec" due to the nerfing of said "Template of the Month", you lose immersion because the magic-user one month is suddenly a melee sword wielding barbarian the next. It also lead to the wonderful realm of "macroing" skills. Problem with the a-la-carte method is your glacially leveling wizard will complain that <ranger/mage combo or whatever> is better than you and you don't think that's right and you whine/complain, and the devs nerf, and the cycle continues. Lets let that die peacefully in SW:G and UO.  Allowing people to gimp themselves is *bad* for business.

Character customization in a lot of games coming out is much like you ask for, except for the "fat/tubby" part. This has been studied many times, and it basically comes down to "people like to play characters that DON'T look ugly/fat/slow." Sure there are exceptions, but it isn't worth their time to code it to allow the 1% of people who want to play a tubby character to do so. While more choices in CC is good, making the CC make ugly chars is *bad* for business.

User Created Content: What a legal nightmare. PotBS does a VERY limited amount (or did anyways) of this. A few others allow guild/tabard images... BUT, they have to have people approving them, and then there's the copyright violation claims... the legal complications of who owns stuff is one reason why the music stuff in LOTRO is so canned.... User Created Content: its typically *bad* for business.

Cooperation vs Competition: I'm with you on this one. EQ1 was very competitive when it came to boss spawns, and I hated the drama associated with it even when I was in the #1 guild on my server which could effectively ****block the #2/#3 guilds on any content. WoW is much less confrontational with VERY few world bosses. But alas, the "PvP" bug infected the MMO genre, and why I don't know because its utterly failed every time its been tried outside of the games specifically designed for it (and I wouldn't even call them glowing successes). RPG mechanics in particular do not lend themselves to good PvP experiences... wtfpwning mobs is fine, because they a) don't pay a subscription fee, and b) have no feelings, but when you allow a level 80 wizard to spawn camp newbies .... you lose subs, its *bad* for business...

They may as well stick to EQ it seems to be the only game they can get right.

 SOE sucks the life out of MMOs. SOE is a leech hungry to destroy any good game it can. SOE can only see ways of milking their playerbase with ridiculous payment schemes such as their 15/month subscription with RMT shop on top of that. Their lust for money making schemes blinds them from what makes a good game.

I would love a new Everquest but what they are describing isn't what made Everquest the original a hit.