I swear I have not heard a peep from Sony about EQ N for almost a year now. Is this project dead in the water or has anyone heard anything? It would really brighten my day.

Bump? We can't talk about how horrible SWTor and the lack of sandboxes all day now can we?

Project is in the works. There were no word about cancelling it. Propably still far from release.

I am not interested because if will be freemium or some kind of weird p2p + big microtransaction / rmt , since that is what Smeadley said lately that whole SOE is moving towards freemium models.  I am not interested.

Besides SOE screwed so much so many times that I really have no any trust left in them.

Originally posted by Cpt_Picard

Bump? We can't talk about how horrible SWTor and the lack of sandboxes all day now can we?

we could talk about how Next is going to be playable by the console and how some of us think that is a step backwards

They were hiring team members the latter part of last year so suspect we won't be seeing anything tangible until at least the end of this year.

Originally posted by fenistil

Project is in the works. There were no word about cancelling it. Propably still far from release.

 

I am not interested because if will be freemium or some kind of weird p2p + big microtransaction / rmt , since that is what Smeadley said lately that whole SOE is moving towards freemium models.  I am not interested.

 

Besides SOE screwed so much so many times that I really have no any trust left in them.

Yeah I have to agree. I've played EQ2 since 2005 when the game actually made sense and you had to work for stuff. Now you can even solo raid zones and the F2P model has turned it to crap. You shouldn't be able to buy gear... It should all be in game. But at the same time I'm not sure about the whole $15 a month either. The most I think you  should be charge anymore is a max of $5/mo and you better be getting something out of that.

As a 5 yr EQ gamer, I would think after all the mis steps Smed has taken over the years, they really need to keep hype down, and "take the world by storm" so to speak.

SOE pissed off hardcore raiders in EQ with PoP/GoD expansions, and totally stepped on their tally whackers with the SWG crowd.

I remember them doing a server wide announcement when Afterlife(from Mithaniel Marr server I was on) took down that last mob in PoP(Qwarm?), as it was the first time something like that was done. It was a huge FU to all the other raid guilds that spun their wheels trying to complete Time. The very same Time that wasnt even ready when the expansion launched.

Big guilds eventually started leaving for WoW(Including Afterlife), and that was all she wrote. EQ was no longer the untouchable juggernaught

In retrospect, I bet Smed wishes he had done more to keep the upper hand with EQ, rather than pumping all his money into EQ2.

Originally posted by fenistil

Project is in the works. There were no word about cancelling it. Propably still far from release.

 

I am not interested because if will be freemium or some kind of weird p2p + big microtransaction / rmt , since that is what Smeadley said lately that whole SOE is moving towards freemium models.  I am not interested.

 

Besides SOE screwed so much so many times that I really have no any trust left in them.

But is any model besides freemium even viable nowadays?

It's all up in wraps. But to be honest I'm not excited about it. There is of course the name, Everquest, but beyond that there is little left of the people who made EQ great. There were some very good people working for SoE a long time ago, but those have long moved on to other design studios like 38 studios, some to EA and the rest is spread out.

I'm not that gullible that I believe a name alone will carry a game, developers carry a game, and when you don't have any of the original developers left, you are just left with the name.

After what they did to EQ2, I don't think anyone is left to follow the new everquest games...

http://www.mmofringe.com/forum/2-Section-8/17114-the-latest-on-SOE-and-Everquest-Next

From this link here it sounds like it's done for they had a 100 million to make the game but it's going to be a Farmville type of game now =) Unless this joker is just making this up but I heard there were cuts at SOE so who really knows.

But your "source" has no link. Nothing to confirm its statements. Thus its nothing but very vague rumors.

Originally posted by Adamantine

But your "source" has no link. Nothing to confirm its statements. Thus its nothing but very vague rumors.

 

I have heard the same story through people in game. You will never get an official source because the origin is devs and contractors who have been Fired by SoE.

"Everquest Next had two pre-production builds proposed.

one build was extensive with a large budget

the other build proposal is extremely casual.

Basically the team that was working on the Everquest on Steroids build lost the contest and is being let go. yes, it was kinda considered a contest. the better build got the money, the loser build employees got fired essentially."

I am 99% sure this is what happened.

Originally posted by Novusod

Originally posted by Adamantine

But your "source" has no link. Nothing to confirm its statements. Thus its nothing but very vague rumors.

 

I have heard the same story through people in game. You will never get an official source because the origin is devs and contractors who have been Fired by SoE.

 

"Everquest Next had two pre-production builds proposed.

one build was extensive with a large budget

the other build proposal is extremely casual.

Basically the team that was working on the Everquest on Steroids build lost the contest and is being let go. yes, it was kinda considered a contest. the better build got the money, the loser build employees got fired essentially."

I am 99% sure this is what happened.

I've heard the same in a few other places now, as well as some downbeat testing groups.

While I'm bummed about it, the "extremely casual" comment doesn't worry me. After all, with crazy game spanning HQ's every tier, AA's and being able to max them out whenever you wanted to, Legend & Lore Quests, Ridiculous amount of raiid zones etc, EQ2 was anything but casual or simple.

The original leaks version of EQ on Steroids could have been a call back to the mechanics and flow of EQ1. And now... I'm 30, I don't have time for that. If it's polished, looks good and *feels* like an EverQuest game, I'll be happy to try it at the very least.

And honestly, so long as it's not Free Realms 2: Electric Boogaloo, I'll be happy; knowing that EQ is living on in the Next Gen world.

But is any model besides freemium even viable nowadays?

Probably not unless you are Blizzard or Bioware.

Originally posted by ZDPhoenix

Originally posted by Novusod

Originally posted by Adamantine

But your "source" has no link. Nothing to confirm its statements. Thus its nothing but very vague rumors.

 

I have heard the same story through people in game. You will never get an official source because the origin is devs and contractors who have been Fired by SoE.

 

"Everquest Next had two pre-production builds proposed.

one build was extensive with a large budget

the other build proposal is extremely casual.

Basically the team that was working on the Everquest on Steroids build lost the contest and is being let go. yes, it was kinda considered a contest. the better build got the money, the loser build employees got fired essentially."

I am 99% sure this is what happened.

 

I've heard the same in a few other places now, as well as some downbeat testing groups.

While I'm bummed about it, the "extremely casual" comment doesn't worry me. After all, with crazy game spanning HQ's every tier, AA's and being able to max them out whenever you wanted to, Legend & Lore Quests, Ridiculous amount of raiid zones etc, EQ2 was anything but casual or simple.

The original leaks version of EQ on Steroids could have been a call back to the mechanics and flow of EQ1. And now... I'm 30, I don't have time for that. If it's polished, looks good and *feels* like an EverQuest game, I'll be happy to try it at the very least.

 

And honestly, so long as it's not Free Realms 2: Electric Boogaloo, I'll be happy; knowing that EQ is living on in the Next Gen world.

so basically EQ3 (Next) will be more casual than EQ2?

this doesnt surprise me at all, its a trend in gaming that has been going on for a long time now.

Originally posted by ZDPhoenix

I've heard the same in a few other places now, as well as some downbeat testing groups.

While I'm bummed about it, the "extremely casual" comment doesn't worry me. After all, with crazy game spanning HQ's every tier, AA's and being able to max them out whenever you wanted to, Legend & Lore Quests, Ridiculous amount of raiid zones etc, EQ2 was anything but casual or simple.

The original leaks version of EQ on Steroids could have been a call back to the mechanics and flow of EQ1. And now... I'm 30, I don't have time for that. If it's polished, looks good and *feels* like an EverQuest game, I'll be happy to try it at the very least.

 

And honestly, so long as it's not Free Realms 2: Electric Boogaloo, I'll be happy; knowing that EQ is living on in the Next Gen world.

To be honest, it is up to Sony to convince me (and other potential players) that what is the new thing on this game. I am way more like to play MoP than this, unless they really have something special.

There are so many MMOs and f2p ones that it is not easy to catch the players' attention anymore. The EQ name has lost its luster long long time ago.

Originally posted by nariusseldon

Originally posted by ZDPhoenix

I've heard the same in a few other places now, as well as some downbeat testing groups.

While I'm bummed about it, the "extremely casual" comment doesn't worry me. After all, with crazy game spanning HQ's every tier, AA's and being able to max them out whenever you wanted to, Legend & Lore Quests, Ridiculous amount of raiid zones etc, EQ2 was anything but casual or simple.

The original leaks version of EQ on Steroids could have been a call back to the mechanics and flow of EQ1. And now... I'm 30, I don't have time for that. If it's polished, looks good and *feels* like an EverQuest game, I'll be happy to try it at the very least.

 

And honestly, so long as it's not Free Realms 2: Electric Boogaloo, I'll be happy; knowing that EQ is living on in the Next Gen world.

To be honest, it is up to Sony to convince me (and other potential players) that what is the new thing on this game. I am way more like to play MoP than this, unless they really have something special.

There are so many MMOs and f2p ones that it is not easy to catch the players' attention anymore. The EQ name has lost its luster long long time ago.

Maybe to you and folks who share your view. However, part of the joy of being human is choice. I've been a WoW'er since release and as of late started playing EQ2 while waiting for MoP.

I found out by playing with some die hards and newbies that Norrath's images, dieties and races still conjure images of what a fantasy world can be to people. And there's still many who enjoy the community.

Just like Azeroth, Nirn (TES) Telara and Tyria always will inspire these feelings.

Some people like Forgotten Realms Books; some people like Dragonlance.

They're not exclusive to eachother; yet you'll often meet someone who tries to say one is better than the other.

Originally posted by nariusseldon

But is any model besides freemium even viable nowadays?

Probably not unless you are Blizzard or Bioware.

 

I dunno. I think a lot of us would pay a sub if a game was worth the money. What scares me about the F2P / Freemium model is that the best ones were developed with P2P in mind and with higher standards. F2P games developed with that payment model in mind are lacking. At least ive not found one of the quality of a P2P game.