Anyone tried EQLive with its 50 expansions?

[t0lkien]

I've done a bit of reading and listening about EverQuest Next and... it's going to be another cup of fail I think. The very big problem is that the people making these games no longer understand what made them great in the first place. They are designing them by committee via marketing, and it's a complete cluster of second guessing and ego driven mediocrity in the end. I say this as someone in the industry who has watched it all happen up close many times - so many times I just bail at the first smell of it now. People disdained Brad McQuaid for his at times infuriating and arrogant "vision", but he had one. And it shows.

EQ got it right in all the big ways (as did UO I hear, though I never played it). WoW, while starting off great, has destroyed the entire genre for a while. WoW did some very good things, but it's just visually, narratively, mechanically, and thematically a vile and vomitous mass now. I hesitate to say it's a game for people with no taste, a bloated sense of entitlement, and no experience of much else besides cheeseburgers, straight to DVD action movies, and miles and miles of inch deep, because that's probably not true. It just feels like it's true.

What they need to do is remake the original EQ with modern tech and some UI/functionality improvements, some mechanical improvements, and maybe some new extensions on old areas, but keep the feel the same. That is a game a large niche of dedicated players would upgrade their systems just to play. SoE have already talked themselves out of that idea with EQ Next, as was inevitable because they really don't understand it, and never did IMO. I believe it's individuals who make these things great, and EQ was lost as soon as Verant sold to Sony, and then Brad inevitably quit later on.

[TarukShmaruk]

Originally Posted by t0lkien [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I've done a bit of reading and listening about EverQuest Next and... it's going to be another cup of fail I think. The very big problem is that the people making these games no longer understand what made them great in the first place. They are designing them by committee via marketing, and it's a complete cluster of second guessing and ego driven mediocrity in the end.

I say this as someone in the industry who has watched it all happen many times. EQ got it right in all the big wasy (as did UO I hear, though I never played it). WoW, while starting off great, has just destroyed the entire genre for a while. WoW did some very good things, but it's just visually, narratively, mechanically, and thematically a vile and vomitous mass now. I hesitate to say it's a game for people with no taste or experience of much else, but that's probably not true. It just feels like it's true.

WoW is still AAA in a lot of ways - especially production values. It's just that the 'hold your hand theme park' has grown quite stale.

It's funny how things people want - including myself - ultimately end up sucking the life out of the game. Flying mounts mean everyone is just soaring through the sky. Raid Finder means I log in, do some ridiculously easy pug raid bosses, get bored and quit.

But, as to the rest of your post, I think SOE has proven it can still succeed with PS2.

You're right that EQ3 could just end up being a massive fail, and Smed/Brad egos play a huge factor. Yes, they learned a big lesson when they got their asses kicked by WoW, but that doesn't mean they won't find some other dumb game mechanic to staunchly say "you're in our world now" about

[RevengeofGio]

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

offline trading and agrometer were what finally did it for me. Some of the features were nice and i enjoying playing more then 1 toon just because it kept me busier but i didnt buy the latest xpac and never plan on it. I like it here to much and will like it even more once velious hits because that was the era i was more familiar with hunting and have more memories then kunark.

Yeah I spent a lot of time in Velious... I love snow areas too [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Lots of fond memories.

[mostbitter]

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

Welcome! Play Now! Enjoy Please Internet Game!



playing eq live is like clicking through an ad on a website. Or, just any random free game.

yeah this is definitely true, every few levels they try to sell you something else.

[RevengeofGio]

Originally Posted by t0lkien [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I've done a bit of reading and listening about EverQuest Next and... it's going to be another cup of fail I think. The very big problem is that the people making these games no longer understand what made them great in the first place. They are designing them by committee via marketing, and it's a complete cluster of second guessing and ego driven mediocrity in the end. I say this as someone in the industry who has watched it all happen up close many times - so many times I just bail at the first smell of it now. People disdained Brad McQuaid for his at times infuriating and arrogant "vision", but he had one. And it shows.

EQ got it right in all the big ways (as did UO I hear, though I never played it). WoW, while starting off great, has just destroyed the entire genre for a while. WoW did some very good things, but it's just visually, narratively, mechanically, and thematically a vile and vomitous mass now. I hesitate to say it's a game for people with no taste or experience of much else besides cheeseburgers and straight to DVD action movies, but that's probably not true. It just feels like it's true.

WoW pre BC was an amazingly fun experience. I hope in my heart of hearts that EQ Next does a great job.

[Droog007]

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

But it's time for an EQ3 - an EQ3 that captures the essence of EQ1 in a new engine and improves on it. Nostalgia is a very powerful sales driver - and IMO if they're smart they'll even try to recapture the cartoonish graphics from EQ1 rather than pursue the horrid plastic look they have in modern EQ and EQ2.

I mean how stoked would you be if you hopped into EQ3 and went to make an ogre/troll/dwarf/gnome/whatever and not only could you easily identify the EQ1 influence on the models, but they even had facial options that were similar to ones from EQ1?

^^^T^^^H^^^I^^^S^^^

I just had my first thisgasm...

[t0lkien]

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

WoW pre BC was an amazingly fun experience. I hope in my heart of hearts that EQ Next does a great job.

I agree for the most part. Beta and Vanilla were fantastic, and made a great contrast for me to the then dying and dreary mess of what EverQuest had become in Luclin and beyond.

[fadetree]

No large corporation will ever make a game that is not more of less like EQ now or WoW or Rift or blah blah blah <insert any modern mmo >.

The reason is that they don't care about a niche of gamers. They don't even care about the game, really, except as a vehicle to glue a bunch of eyeballs to the screens for a while for yet another chance to sell them crap. I'm starting to think its all about the money!

The only chance for an actual game is for a very small company to produce it. But, even then, it takes a LOT of cash to get it rolling. All that cash is afraid. That cash is afraid that mean people who want to add hard stuff to the game will make it actually difficult.

[Nune]

It's just "chasing the dragon" .. P99 will never be the Classic experience you remembered, and logging on live will never bring back the memories you want. EQnext is doomed I've always said. EQ2 was fun, the first MMO I neckbearded and was a "leet" dude in, but it just felt nothing like an EQ game. The purist crowd here only serves to get buttuhurt. We'll wait a few more years, and EQNext will launch, you'll run to some dock and get to click port somewhere and everyone will make posts about how lazy and not-EQ everything is.

[Vaildez]

From what I read about EQN they want the game to be more of a sandbox which I think is good and include a lot of elements from the original EQ. I thought EQ2 was a good game but it was nothing at all like the original. I think there are enough players like me that are sick of how current MMO's are built for those with ADD. I want to see the high risk/high reward back in games!