If EverQuest was remade, what would you change/leave the same?

[stormlord]

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

I know the Classic community varies a lot. Still, I would like to get an idea of where people stand in general. Say, for the sake of argument, that Sony got wise and made a proper sequel or remake of EverQuest. What points would you concede need to be changed for a modern adaptation, and what would you firmly stand your ground on - knowing so and so thing would kill what EverQuest was (Classic-Velious)?

Here are some changes I would be for:
-Graphics, modern great, but not over-done
-In game map, but not GPS (even if people can download custom maps, we all have used atlas anyways)
-Modern UI response times and customization
-Group info: health, mana, energy, and debuffs shown
-Pet bars
-Zones in the same spirit, but not "exact" replicas (I would be okay with a seem-less world, but would not want to concede much on mob leashes)
-Raid instances (hear me out - all bosses exist in the world, but there should be instanced versions of those boss fights too so all guilds can raid - world version should be an extra loot for that boss for the guilds that tag and kill each week). Aside from raids, I would not condone instances.
-XP modifiers for classes (I am ok with modifiers for races, but I think the class modifiers are pointless, aside from a bonus for classes that absolutely cannot solo well rogue/war)

Pretty much everything else I would leave in tact, untouched.

However, I would also be in favor of two server ruletypes. One that plays more like WoW for the people that don't enjoy the challenges we enjoy, and the other with everything that makes classic great in-tact. I won't make a list of those variances, but I think it should be an option.

My response could go on forever. There's so much.

Here're some things off the top of my head:

- Travel: Binds, Gates

..... The travel system in classic Eq (and in the more modern version) is not stimulating. What I'd like is for there to be more bind spots in the different zones and multiple binds per player and for the ability to choose whichever one you want to spawn at after you gate or die. I'd also like for there to be the ability to buy bind potions in towns so you can bind yourself without other players. This doesn't mean that getting a bind from other players won't be beneficial. It all depends on circumstances. If you design it right then players can buy bind potions AND receive binds from other players. Players have to think. This is a lot of work right here, excluding anything else. But it's worth it, in my opinion. Games that have interesting travel systems that make you get involved are -better- games. The key is that they make you think and this is critical to it being fun.

- Non-Player Characters: Interaction and Conversation

..... One thing I like about classic Eq is that the cities have many scripted non-players that will roam around the city from one place to another. There're even wandering merchants or some that will close shop at particular times. It's very interesting to find out all the things the non-players know about each other. There're so many little things you can learn about places and things that make it special. And this is above and beyond the lore that you might learn too. Classic EQ non-players act more like they're -in- that world.

..... That's all good and great, but it's not enough. It was just a stab in the dark long ago pre-21st century; back before we twittered; back when party like it's 1999 was still in swing; back before Bieber.

..... First of all, the non-players that move around don't pause long enough when you're talking to them. At least, this is how it was on p1999 when I tried it. I had to constantly Hail them to read through what they say and respond and sometimes I had to chase them down. There're probably other examples of how roaming non-players or non-players that close shop and do other things will act too quickly or inflexibly.

...... Second of all, and most importantly, the developers of EQ never really added to the experience. They just left it alone and it got old and dry. That's too bad. Maybe their excuse was the content was old so they ignored it, but the fact of the matter is they did worse and worse with NEW non-players. They used more and more Task Windows and dummy NPCs. Instead of NPCs that were part of the environment and roamed around and were halfway interesting and had unique names and family histories, the NPCs seemed to either become item dispensers or quest dispensers and in both cases they almost never moved around. Even in EQ2, the NPCs that move around are just dummy NPCs that don't really do anything other than move around and look pretty. So it's not that the developers saw no worth in working on old content to expand on it, but it's that the very nature of their thoughts pertaining to non-player characters changed over the years and lost its potential depth.

...... Lastly, I'd like to see the whole interaction with non-players be more involved. I'd like it to matter HOW I speak to them and WHAT I speak about and WHEN (even). I want it to be more like a game of chess where I have to think more carefully. I'd also like there to be some form of natural language. Too many games go the dialog window route and everything is hardcoded with preset questions/responses. While those things are nice and should be part of the game, I think that a natural language engine should also be present and that non-players need a more general intelligence to facilitate natural language interaction. I'd go so far as to say that a game which only uses natural language would be a very worthwhile experiment. I don't think we're at that stage yet, but it's a worthy pursuit. This is obviously not something that's easy and is not the wise choice for somebody who's going to add a complex conversation engine that plays like a game of chess. The reason I say this is that preset questions/responses lend themselves to chess-type games. Natural language questions/responses are more tricky because in order to fit into the scheme they have to be understood exactly. For example, the difference between "Give me your friendship, a**hole!" and "I ask for your friendship, sir." is important, but a natural language engine might be unable to discriminate on details this fine.

..... PS: If the future of gaming is this blank-faced dummy non-player then I want no part of it. I think that if I were on a beach I'd draw a line in the sand and stand on one side of it; proudly; boldly.

I could go on and on and on and on.

Will stop for now. Maybe make some more posts and put them here.