EverquestNext Concept Art

[Taluvill]

We need to make a guild there, and storm it day one of release.

We'll call it "The Transcending Dark Basterds of Divine Project99 Remedy."

We'll roll in there and "wafflecrush" errything. = P

PS: Apologies if your guild was not named in the list. those are just the oldest/biggest guilds around.

[mixxit]

'We have been linked by Massively, Joystiq, and other sites for our breaking news coverage of EQNext including in-game screen shots. My notes during these panels have been quick, and as a result, there was some confusion about whether these were in-game screen shots and whether this would be both a PC and PS3 game. I can tell you there were 2 in-game screen shots shown each day, and this will be both a PC and PS3 game built on a new engine that scales depending on the power of your computer.'

[Toony]

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

'I can tell you there were 2 in-game screen shots shown each day, and this will be both a PC and PS3 game built on a new engine that scales depending on the power of your computer.'

Well that's unfortunate, if they try and deliver the same graphic quality for both platforms it'll hamstring the PC version.

[mixxit]

This was addressed. They are concerned that people will not be able to enjoy the game if they are running on say a laptop and another person is running on a high end rig. Similar to EQ2 the game will scale depending on platform and performance. (Smed uses his own pc as an example)

Watch the full video of the EQNext Panel here:

http://www.facebook.com/SOEFanFaire?ref=ts

[Toony]

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

This was addressed. They are concerned that people will not be able to enjoy the game if they are running on say a laptop and another person is running on a high end rig. Similar to EQ2 the game will scale depending on platform and performance. (Smed uses his own pc as an example)

Watch the full video of the EQNext Panel here:

http://www.facebook.com/SOEFanFaire?ref=ts

Saw all that, watched all three videos, it wasn't really addressed though. If the PS3 is in the loop that will forever be the weakest link in the chain. That is unless they are willing to let the graphics lag behind on the PS3.

[Malrubius]

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

http://eq2wire.com/2010/08/06/eq-nex...t-concept-art/

From the fanfaire

Where are the things that you click on to get an insta-rez?

[Lanvaren]

I'd imagine that with graphics that good, they're planning on compensating for something. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[mixxit]

I'm pretty happy to see EQ1 reimaged :-) It's what we all wanted let's face it!

[cured]

It's SoE so they'll introduce some revolutionary new dynamic into the game that everyone will hate.

Maybe they'll try to make a WoW/EQ hybrid but I'm not a fan of having a game be for console, as well, unless they plan on putting those people on seperate servers.

[Qaedain]

The days of truly difficult MMOs are dead. They don't make money, because they turn away the largest demographic willing to pay money for an MMO: casuals.

This demographic is why WoW is so successful, and why the difficulty curve is constantly slipping further in favor of the reward side of the risk:reward balance. It's simple, really. An easier game entices more players.

This success is also why so many MMOs have failed in WoW's wake. They, too, attempt to drum up a mass appeal through easy progression and/or content, but they fail because they are trying to replicate a model that has already been perfected through five years of polish and an enormous amount of content. The barrier to entry is simply too high.

WoW's success was also timely, as it was initially challenging enough to attract a much-needed nucleus of disillusioned EverQuest players. These fervent players, fans of the MMO genre itself, told their friends, who told their friends and so on, and the devs responded by scaling the difficulty curve back as little sisters and mommies signed onto the game in droves.

WoW is a masterstroke because it was timed correctly, offered shelter to a massive population of players no longer satisfied with the management of the incumbent MMO and has evolved to appeal to a larger demographic than EverQuest ever could with its difficult nature.

Despite this, you'll notice that EVE Online continues to have a very loyal fanbase with a very large server, an active and responsive dev team and continuous (not to mention excellent) expansions. It achieves these goals precisely because it does not attempt to appeal to everyone.

EVE has never been watered down. It has a very steep learning curve and, like EverQuest was in its heyday, intimidates new players with complicated politicking, social interaction, gameplay and mechanics.

By deliberately refusing to pander to the lowest common denominator, EVE has continued to slowly increase its subscribers, boast low turnover and a high satisfaction rate.

You will, however, note that I said that the days of truly difficult MMOs are dead. How, then, can a difficult MMO like EVE survive?

After doing some research, you begin to notice that many MMOs close shop noting that "the number of subscribers were less than anticipated." Tabula Rasa is a notable entry in this regard.

To put it simply, these bland and generic MMOs are hoping to execute on WoW's design better than Blizzard. As a result, they invest a correspondingly high amount of money with the belief that they will recoup the cost with a large number of subscribers. They don't, and they fail.

EVE survives because the cost of development was based on reasonable population estimates, and that plan has born fruit. They did not shoot for the moon in the way NCSoft, Sony and other developers do.

In short, we can only hope that SoE carves EQ3's niche in such a way that it can thrive on a loyal fanbase of satisfied users, but after the increasingly bland debacle that has become of both EverQuest and EverQuest II, I have very dim hopes.