Originally posted by GeezerGamer I fear the biggest flaw in companies making money on these games before they are officially released, is that they have all the incentive in the world to drag out development as long as they continue to make money. The drawback is going to be that the longer alpha and beta drag on for Lanmark and EQN, the more players will have already played out these games and have moved on. By the time EQN officially releases, no one will care.
You are grossly overestimating the amount of money they're making from people alpha testing their game and you're grossly overestimating the amount of players who are "getting their fill" from alphas/betas.
The population of people who won't even know about the game until launch, combined with the people who refuse to play alphas or betas, let alone the people who refuse to pay to get into an alpha or beta, is such a huge majority in comparison to the alpha/beta tester crowd.
I think a lot of this kind of resentment is stemming solely from selfish desire. Now now now me me me want want want. Players want it all, right meow..... but it better be bug free, feature rich and 100% complete. This mentality, though common, does not comform to the reality of any business, let alone games where you have to "find the fun" while developing them.
Game features that sound fun on paper may be terrible when you play test it.
Game features that sound easy to implement might cause a huge train-wreck of issues, or might end up being technically impossible or not practical once you start to code it.
Simply put, just be thankful SOE is taking their time with this game people. You'll get it when it's ready.
Funny, I don't recall posting any estimates.
As for the rest of your post........."Selfish desire"?
So you can make sweeping generalizations about the player base, but I can't say SOE has an incentive to continue making money?
Whatever.
Your post made it clear that you think that there's an actual and substantial profit to be made from their $20 alpha/beta access and little store trinkets for those alpha/beta players, when in reality it's basically there just for testing purposes and to keep out any player not serious about building items in the game and helping with the development. The amount of money they're making from the handful of testers is a tiny fraction in comparison to what they will make on release.
Also, I didn't make a generalize sweeping comment about the player base as a whole. I made a comment about people who have expressed the specific "me me me now now now want want want" attitude on these and other forums. That's not generalized, that's targeted. If the shoe fits.
Originally posted by GeezerGamer I fear the biggest flaw in companies making money on these games before they are officially released, is that they have all the incentive in the world to drag out development as long as they continue to make money. The drawback is going to be that the longer alpha and beta drag on for Lanmark and EQN, the more players will have already played out these games and have moved on. By the time EQN officially releases, no one will care.
You are grossly overestimating the amount of money they're making from people alpha testing their game and you're grossly overestimating the amount of players who are "getting their fill" from alphas/betas.
The population of people who won't even know about the game until launch, combined with the people who refuse to play alphas or betas, let alone the people who refuse to pay to get into an alpha or beta, is such a huge majority in comparison to the alpha/beta tester crowd.
I think a lot of this kind of resentment is stemming solely from selfish desire. Now now now me me me want want want. Players want it all, right meow..... but it better be bug free, feature rich and 100% complete. This mentality, though common, does not comform to the reality of any business, let alone games where you have to "find the fun" while developing them.
Game features that sound fun on paper may be terrible when you play test it.
Game features that sound easy to implement might cause a huge train-wreck of issues, or might end up being technically impossible or not practical once you start to code it.
Simply put, just be thankful SOE is taking their time with this game people. You'll get it when it's ready.
Funny, I don't recall posting any estimates.
As for the rest of your post........."Selfish desire"?
So you can make sweeping generalizations about the player base, but I can't say SOE has an incentive to continue making money?
Whatever.
Your post made it clear that you think that there's an actual and substantial profit to be made from their $20 alpha/beta access and little store trinkets for those alpha/beta players, when in reality it's basically there just for testing purposes and to keep out any player not serious about building items in the game and helping with the development. The amount of money they're making from the handful of testers is a tiny fraction in comparison to what they will make on release.
Also, I didn't make a generalize sweeping comment about the player base as a whole. I made a comment about people who have expressed the specific "me me me now now now want want want" attitude on these and other forums. That's not generalized, that's targeted. If the shoe fits.
Whatever indeed.
They are earning something...more than nothing. Which is the only "estimate" you can take away from my post. But I'll give you that maybe it was a simple case of not using the best words to make your point.....Which I do understand. Just not sure I entirely agree.
They are earning something...more than nothing. Which is the only "estimate" you can take away from my post. But I'll give you that maybe it was a simple case of not using the best words to make your point.....Which I do understand. Just not sure I entirely agree.
I chose my words adequately. In your mind you've estimated that they're making at least enough money to have some sort of motivation to drag out the beta/alpha.
I was just informing you that you're wrong. They're making pennies in comparison to what release would bring in.
I could offer to buy your computer from you for $1. It's something, which is more than nothing. Are you motivated to sell me your computer for $1 now that I've made the point that it's more than nothing?
Like i said in other threads i bet they are alot farther along with EQN than you think.
They even stated that they'll building EQN right in front of our eyes. Dont be surprised
you see founder packs for EQN for sale sometime this year for Alpha access.
My thoughts exactly. There will almost certainly be EQN alpha founders packs sometime late this year / early next year. It won't appease those who are looking for a solid, perfectly working, feature rich game right now, but it'll give players the chance to get in and give solid feedback as they develop the game.
I know that comment seems like common sense to some of you, but you can see that it's lost on others. Specifically the people who are constantly complaining about the lack of stuff to do in Landmark's Alpha/beta. This isn't the 4-weeks before release stress test beta on a nearly complete game. They wanted a real alpha/beta test for Landmark so they could get real player feedback and have time to incorporate the feedback into the game.
They will probably do the same with EQN, so expect the same kind of alpha/beta.
They are earning something...more than nothing. Which is the only "estimate" you can take away from my post. But I'll give you that maybe it was a simple case of not using the best words to make your point.....Which I do understand. Just not sure I entirely agree.
I chose perfectly fine words. In your mind you've estimated that they're making at least enough money to have some sort of motivation to drag out the beta/alpha.
I was just informing you that you're wrong. They're making pennies in comparison to what release would bring in.
I could offer to buy your computer from you for $1. It's something, which is more than nothing. Are you motivated to sell me your computer for $1 now that I've made the point that it's more than nothing?
Post Edit:
nevermind
We'll just go with that SOE's motivation is for the love of the game and the happiness of it's players.
If they dont have a working game you can realy expect another 2 years of development before you will even play EQN or buy acces for the alpha client like any studio seem to do these days.
I would have hoped a little more would be shown.....
But hey we cant judge what we cant see and maybe it will be a super dope mmo in the making ?
It's hard to believe it's almost a year later and we know about as much as we did last year. I'm surprised this game has held the number 1 spot on this site for so long with the lack of information. Maybe that is a good thing for keeping it number 1. :P It dropped of my radar ages ago.
They are earning something...more than nothing. Which is the only "estimate" you can take away from my post. But I'll give you that maybe it was a simple case of not using the best words to make your point.....Which I do understand. Just not sure I entirely agree.
I chose perfectly fine words. In your mind you've estimated that they're making at least enough money to have some sort of motivation to drag out the beta/alpha.
I was just informing you that you're wrong. They're making pennies in comparison to what release would bring in.
I could offer to buy your computer from you for $1. It's something, which is more than nothing. Are you motivated to sell me your computer for $1 now that I've made the point that it's more than nothing?
Post Edit:
nevermind
We'll just go with that SOE's motivation is for the love of the game and the happiness of it's players.
The devs working on the game are passionate gamers just like the rest of us. Yes, the company wants to earn money because money is what fuels development. People can't live off of love and happiness. But that doesn't mean that their only objective is to make some quick cash grab. SOE has proven time and time again that they're willing to take risks and innovate, while other companies stagnate and just reiterate.
But my point still stands. The amount of people who actually care about alpha/beta testing enough to buy into them is a tiny fraction when compared to the amount of people who will throw money at the game once it's released. Your assumption that they're earning enough money from alpha/beta players is enough to warrant dragging out alpha/beta simply for the sole purpose of racking in money is comically out of whack with reality.
There was a follow up to the first tweet (in the OP):
One: Dates are evil. Percentage-wise in the industry, noone is ever right. Especially if they're working with the players to build their game.
Two: Don't worry. We're not wandering in the forest. We have a plan and a schedule. But we want leeway to change based on feedback. Important!
In other Words, they still haven't exactly figured out what to do with EQNext and are still stuck in the early concept/design phase.
So Yeah... I have to agree With others. We won't see this game before 2016/17.
That's quite a wild assumption you've made there.
And no, they're way passed concept/design phase.
It's not a wild assumption at all.
If they were far into Development already, then they would have released actual tangable info by now, instead of just some early concept drawings.
As that's all we have seen so far.
They showed off a lot of stuff at SOE live last year. Actual characters, in game landscapes, SOEmote with an EQN character, destructible environments and other aspects of the game were already in and working and it's been a whole year since then. This means they are far from the concept/design phase. They actually have an engine, and had results to show us 12 months ago using that engine.
Also, they will show game play at SOE live this year. The reason they haven't yet is because they like SOE Live to be where they show off what they've got done. If they showed us some stuff like combat, Emergent AI, and other things they've done over the past year, then SOE live this year would just be full of videos and panels of stuff people had already seen on the internet a few months back.
So I would simply say to hold off on your comments until after SOE Live this year.
Originally posted by Greymantle4 It's hard to believe it's almost a year later and we know about as much as we did last year. I'm surprised this game has held the number 1 spot on this site for so long with the lack of information. Maybe that is a good thing for keeping it number 1. :P It dropped of my radar ages ago.
It's at the number one spot mainly because of what they've promised. Players are sick of all these iterative MMO releases that do nothing new or innovative. EQN is promising things that can actually be considered truly next-gen.
It remains to be seen if they will deliver on their proposed ideas, but it just shows that players are craving something new and EQN's "pillars" appear to be the right combination of concepts that players want to see in an MMO.
Here is something to consider. SOE Live includes in game items for attendees from various SOE games. If you check the in game items list this year, they are offering in game items from all the usual, as well as Landmark. They are also offering "something" in game for EQ Next...
It doesn't list what exactly the something will be, but to me that puts either the Pay-For-Alpha, the Closed Beta or maybe even the game release before next SOE Live, so within a year. My best guess, is we will see a similar time frame roll out as we did on Landmark. To me it is looking like we can expect a Pay-For-Alpha in early 2015.
Here is something to consider. SOE Live includes in game items for attendees from various SOE games. If you check the in game items list this year, they are offering in game items from all the usual, as well as Landmark. They are also offering "something" in game for EQ Next...
It doesn't list what exactly the something will be, but to me that puts either the Pay-For-Alpha, the Closed Beta or maybe even the game release before next SOE Live, so within a year. My best guess, is we will see a similar time frame roll out as we did on Landmark. To me it is looking like we can expect a Pay-For-Alpha in early 2015.
Very good point. I think a lot of people are far to pessimistic when it comes to SOE and EQN. People see things like "no dates will be announced" and automatically assume that EQN is years away. How quickly they forget that SOE last year revealed and then shortly after started alpha on a seperate and entirely different game (Landmark). "Surprise! Another whole game for you to enjoy soon that you didn't even know we were working on!" It was a pretty awesome surprise, but you know that they wanna 1-up that kinda stunt this year.
EQN Alpha is almost certainly coming soon. The lack of news and in game footage of EQN over this past year is because they want SOE Live this year to be a big deal with memorable moments for the fans. Revealing a ton of progress on EQN and then announcing alpha coming soon would fit that bill quite nicely.
I'm estimating a pay-for EQN alpha access sometime between November 2014 and February 2015). We'll see how close I am in a few days.
Here is something to consider. SOE Live includes in game items for attendees from various SOE games. If you check the in game items list this year, they are offering in game items from all the usual, as well as Landmark. They are also offering "something" in game for EQ Next...
It doesn't list what exactly the something will be, but to me that puts either the Pay-For-Alpha, the Closed Beta or maybe even the game release before next SOE Live, so within a year. My best guess, is we will see a similar time frame roll out as we did on Landmark. To me it is looking like we can expect a Pay-For-Alpha in early 2015.
Very good point. I think a lot of people are far to pessimistic when it comes to SOE and EQN. People see things like "no dates will be announced" and automatically assume that EQN is years away. How quickly they forget that SOE last year revealed and then shortly after started alpha on a seperate and entirely different game (Landmark). "Surprise! Another whole game for you to enjoy soon that you didn't even know we were working on!" It was a pretty awesome surprise, but you know that they wanna 1-up that kinda stunt this year.
EQN Alpha is almost certainly coming soon. The lack of news and in game footage of EQN over this past year is because they want SOE Live this year to be a big deal with memorable moments for the fans. Revealing a ton of progress on EQN and then announcing alpha coming soon would fit that bill quite nicely.
I'm estimating a pay-for EQN alpha access sometime between November 2014 and February 2015). We'll see how close I am in a few days.
I think people are pessimistic about SOE for a reason though, mostly historical. I also would not be surprised if the reason why they are unwilling to commit to a release date so far, is also due to Landmark, but rather than because of the games success, but because the game probably hasn't had as much appeal as SOE had envisaged. Landmarks primary purpose after all, may well have been to test the water, to see if EQN's format was a viable one.
In a way it reminds me of what happened with Blizzards 'Titan' where they decided to do over, rather than continue with their current build, it may be that the results of Landmark has forced SOE into a similar scenario
I think people are pessimistic about SOE for a reason though, mostly historical. I also would not be surprised if the reason why they are unwilling to commit to a release date so far, is also due to Landmark, but rather than because of the games success, but because the game probably hasn't had as much appeal as SOE had envisaged. Landmarks primary purpose after all, may well have been to test the water, to see if EQN's format was a viable one.
In a way it reminds me of what happened with Blizzards 'Titan' where they decided to do over, rather than continue with their current build, it may be that the results of Landmark has forced SOE into a similar scenario
What?
Landmark's goal has nothing in common with EQNext. You can't use it to determine if EQNext is going to be popular or not. Landmark isn't even feature complete, you can't even use the current sate of the game to say if Landmark is going to have appeal after release.
I think people are pessimistic about SOE for a reason though, mostly historical. I also would not be surprised if the reason why they are unwilling to commit to a release date so far, is also due to Landmark, but rather than because of the games success, but because the game probably hasn't had as much appeal as SOE had envisaged. Landmarks primary purpose after all, may well have been to test the water, to see if EQN's format was a viable one.
In a way it reminds me of what happened with Blizzards 'Titan' where they decided to do over, rather than continue with their current build, it may be that the results of Landmark has forced SOE into a similar scenario
What?
Landmark's goal has nothing in common with EQNext. You can't use it to determine if EQNext is going to be popular or not. Landmark isn't even feature complete, you can't even use the current sate of the game to say if Landmark is going to have appeal after release.
I was thinking the same thing Azarhal. Landmark is simply a building tool atm. The final Landmark product is going to be a procedurally generated sandbox, complete with Emergent AI, quest creator, dungeon creator, mobs, generated dungeons, loot, combat etc. Right now it's just a shell of that, giving the devs time to optimize the engine, clean up and add more building tools, and allowing players to help create structures for EQN.
There is no way to judge the success of Landmark right now because it's no where near complete and the end result of Landmark and it's success or failure is not indicative of EQN's appeal because they're 2 completely different games.
And SOE has a great track record historically.
EQ - Basically created the standard that other MMOs emulate to this day.
EQ2 - A better WoW for people who didn't have a shitty PC.
SWG - Amazing game and if it wasn't for LA forcing SOE's hand it would never have gotten such a bad wrap. I'm actually surprised that SOE continues to take the fall for LA's abuse and stupidity.
Vanguard - Fixed it up and saved the game from implosion for many years after Sigil screwed the development big time. If SOE hadn't come along and saved it, it would have been shut down in under 12 months after release. Some criticize what SOE did to the game after they took it over, but you can only polish a turd so much. I think their work on Vanguard and keeping it open even though it wasn't profitable is a testament to how SOE respects gamers and cares for it's community.
Planetside - Amazing, enough said.
Planetside 2 - Again, Amazing, and probably the best F2P model I've ever seen. A pure win.
So sure, there are some emotional kids out there that think SOE is a bad company, but I think their complaints and hatred are far from warranted. When compared to most other major game companies, SOE is saint-like in comparison.
Last year at SoE live the hype was all about eqnext and it's supposed launch that year, well as usual smed BS...it was and that turned into landmark. So I can't blame anyone for being skeptical, let alone another year gone by with nothing about eqnext...they are worst then Trion and XL games.
I was thinking the same thing Azarhal. Landmark is simply a building tool atm. The final Landmark product is going to be a procedurally generated sandbox, complete with Emergent AI, quest creator, dungeon creator, mobs, generated dungeons, loot, combat etc. Right now it's just a shell of that, giving the devs time to optimize the engine, clean up and add more building tools, and allowing players to help create structures for EQN.
There is no way to judge the success of Landmark right now because it's no where near complete and the end result of Landmark and it's success or failure is not indicative of EQN's appeal because they're 2 completely different games.
And SOE has a great track record historically.
EQ - Basically created the standard that other MMOs emulate to this day.
EQ2 - A better WoW for people who didn't have a shitty PC.
SWG - Amazing game and if it wasn't for LA forcing SOE's hand it would never have gotten such a bad wrap. I'm actually surprised that SOE continues to take the fall for LA's abuse and stupidity.
Vanguard - Fixed it up and saved the game from implosion for many years after Sigil screwed the development big time. If SOE hadn't come along and saved it, it would have been shut down in under 12 months after release. Some criticize what SOE did to the game after they took it over, but you can only polish a turd so much. I think their work on Vanguard and keeping it open even though it wasn't profitable is a testament to how SOE respects gamers and cares for it's community.
Planetside - Amazing, enough said.
Planetside 2 - Again, Amazing, and probably the best F2P model I've ever seen. A pure win.
So sure, there are some emotional kids out there that think SOE is a bad company, but I think their complaints and hatred are far from warranted. When compared to most other major game companies, SOE is saint-like in comparison.
That part in red.. where did you get that info from? That sounds like a complete game aka EQNext..
I was thinking the same thing Azarhal. Landmark is simply a building tool atm. The final Landmark product is going to be a procedurally generated sandbox, complete with Emergent AI, quest creator, dungeon creator, mobs, generated dungeons, loot, combat etc. Right now it's just a shell of that, giving the devs time to optimize the engine, clean up and add more building tools, and allowing players to help create structures for EQN.
That part in red.. where did you get that info from? That sounds like a complete game aka EQNext..
I really don't know how you came to the idea that EQNext was going to have quest and dungeon creators.
Landmark is going to be a game to make "games". That has been known since last year SOE Live when the game was announced. The only thing is has in commons with EQNext, is that EQNext is being build with Landmark internally by SOE.
Originally posted by Gallus85 I was thinking the same thing Azarhal. Landmark is simply a building tool atm. The final Landmark product is going to be a procedurally generated sandbox, complete with Emergent AI, quest creator, dungeon creator, mobs, generated dungeons, loot, combat etc. Right now it's just a shell of that, giving the devs time to optimize the engine, clean up and add more building tools, and allowing players to help create structures for EQN.
That part in red.. where did you get that info from? That sounds like a complete game aka EQNext..
I really don't know how you came to the idea that EQNext was going to have quest and dungeon creators.Landmark is going to be a game to make "games". That has been known since last year SOE Live when the game was announced. The only thing is has in commons with EQNext, is that EQNext is being build with Landmark internally by SOE.
True thought they haven't said what kinds of player generated content options will be in EQN other than the ability to import templates made in Landmark if you happen to get a plot in EQN.
In fact the intention for Landmark isn't just to host systems for EQN but other future SoE titles as well.
Comments
Your post made it clear that you think that there's an actual and substantial profit to be made from their $20 alpha/beta access and little store trinkets for those alpha/beta players, when in reality it's basically there just for testing purposes and to keep out any player not serious about building items in the game and helping with the development. The amount of money they're making from the handful of testers is a tiny fraction in comparison to what they will make on release.
Also, I didn't make a generalize sweeping comment about the player base as a whole. I made a comment about people who have expressed the specific "me me me now now now want want want" attitude on these and other forums. That's not generalized, that's targeted. If the shoe fits.
Whatever indeed.
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They are earning something...more than nothing. Which is the only "estimate" you can take away from my post. But I'll give you that maybe it was a simple case of not using the best words to make your point.....Which I do understand. Just not sure I entirely agree.
Like i said in other threads i bet they are alot farther along with EQN than you think.
They even stated that they'll building EQN right in front of our eyes. Dont be surprised
you see founder packs for EQN for sale sometime this year for Alpha access.
I chose my words adequately. In your mind you've estimated that they're making at least enough money to have some sort of motivation to drag out the beta/alpha.
I was just informing you that you're wrong. They're making pennies in comparison to what release would bring in.
I could offer to buy your computer from you for $1. It's something, which is more than nothing. Are you motivated to sell me your computer for $1 now that I've made the point that it's more than nothing?
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My thoughts exactly. There will almost certainly be EQN alpha founders packs sometime late this year / early next year. It won't appease those who are looking for a solid, perfectly working, feature rich game right now, but it'll give players the chance to get in and give solid feedback as they develop the game.
I know that comment seems like common sense to some of you, but you can see that it's lost on others. Specifically the people who are constantly complaining about the lack of stuff to do in Landmark's Alpha/beta. This isn't the 4-weeks before release stress test beta on a nearly complete game. They wanted a real alpha/beta test for Landmark so they could get real player feedback and have time to incorporate the feedback into the game.
They will probably do the same with EQN, so expect the same kind of alpha/beta.
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In other Words, they still haven't exactly figured out what to do with EQNext and are still stuck in the early concept/design phase.
So Yeah... I have to agree With others. We won't see this game before 2016/17.
That's quite a wild assumption you've made there.
And no, they're way passed concept/design phase.
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Post Edit:
nevermind
We'll just go with that SOE's motivation is for the love of the game and the happiness of it's players.
If they have a working game they will show it.
If they dont have a working game you can realy expect another 2 years of development before you will even play EQN or buy acces for the alpha client like any studio seem to do these days.
I would have hoped a little more would be shown.....
But hey we cant judge what we cant see and maybe it will be a super dope mmo in the making ?
It's not a wild assumption at all.
If they were far into Development already, then they would have released actual tangable info by now, instead of just some early concept drawings.
As that's all we have seen so far.
The devs working on the game are passionate gamers just like the rest of us. Yes, the company wants to earn money because money is what fuels development. People can't live off of love and happiness. But that doesn't mean that their only objective is to make some quick cash grab. SOE has proven time and time again that they're willing to take risks and innovate, while other companies stagnate and just reiterate.
But my point still stands. The amount of people who actually care about alpha/beta testing enough to buy into them is a tiny fraction when compared to the amount of people who will throw money at the game once it's released. Your assumption that they're earning enough money from alpha/beta players is enough to warrant dragging out alpha/beta simply for the sole purpose of racking in money is comically out of whack with reality.
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They showed off a lot of stuff at SOE live last year. Actual characters, in game landscapes, SOEmote with an EQN character, destructible environments and other aspects of the game were already in and working and it's been a whole year since then. This means they are far from the concept/design phase. They actually have an engine, and had results to show us 12 months ago using that engine.
Also, they will show game play at SOE live this year. The reason they haven't yet is because they like SOE Live to be where they show off what they've got done. If they showed us some stuff like combat, Emergent AI, and other things they've done over the past year, then SOE live this year would just be full of videos and panels of stuff people had already seen on the internet a few months back.
So I would simply say to hold off on your comments until after SOE Live this year.
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It's at the number one spot mainly because of what they've promised. Players are sick of all these iterative MMO releases that do nothing new or innovative. EQN is promising things that can actually be considered truly next-gen.
It remains to be seen if they will deliver on their proposed ideas, but it just shows that players are craving something new and EQN's "pillars" appear to be the right combination of concepts that players want to see in an MMO.
Legends of Kesmai, UO, EQ, AO, DAoC, AC, SB, RO, SWG, EVE, EQ2, CoH, GW, VG:SOH, WAR, Aion, DF, CO, MO, DN, Tera, SWTOR, RO2, DP, GW2, PS2, BnS, NW, FF:XIV, ESO, EQ:NL
Here is something to consider. SOE Live includes in game items for attendees from various SOE games. If you check the in game items list this year, they are offering in game items from all the usual, as well as Landmark. They are also offering "something" in game for EQ Next...
https://www.soe.com/soelive/news/soe-live-loot-card-2014
It doesn't list what exactly the something will be, but to me that puts either the Pay-For-Alpha, the Closed Beta or maybe even the game release before next SOE Live, so within a year. My best guess, is we will see a similar time frame roll out as we did on Landmark. To me it is looking like we can expect a Pay-For-Alpha in early 2015.
Very good point. I think a lot of people are far to pessimistic when it comes to SOE and EQN. People see things like "no dates will be announced" and automatically assume that EQN is years away. How quickly they forget that SOE last year revealed and then shortly after started alpha on a seperate and entirely different game (Landmark). "Surprise! Another whole game for you to enjoy soon that you didn't even know we were working on!" It was a pretty awesome surprise, but you know that they wanna 1-up that kinda stunt this year.
EQN Alpha is almost certainly coming soon. The lack of news and in game footage of EQN over this past year is because they want SOE Live this year to be a big deal with memorable moments for the fans. Revealing a ton of progress on EQN and then announcing alpha coming soon would fit that bill quite nicely.
I'm estimating a pay-for EQN alpha access sometime between November 2014 and February 2015). We'll see how close I am in a few days.
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I think people are pessimistic about SOE for a reason though, mostly historical. I also would not be surprised if the reason why they are unwilling to commit to a release date so far, is also due to Landmark, but rather than because of the games success, but because the game probably hasn't had as much appeal as SOE had envisaged. Landmarks primary purpose after all, may well have been to test the water, to see if EQN's format was a viable one.
In a way it reminds me of what happened with Blizzards 'Titan' where they decided to do over, rather than continue with their current build, it may be that the results of Landmark has forced SOE into a similar scenario
What?
Landmark's goal has nothing in common with EQNext. You can't use it to determine if EQNext is going to be popular or not. Landmark isn't even feature complete, you can't even use the current sate of the game to say if Landmark is going to have appeal after release.
I was thinking the same thing Azarhal. Landmark is simply a building tool atm. The final Landmark product is going to be a procedurally generated sandbox, complete with Emergent AI, quest creator, dungeon creator, mobs, generated dungeons, loot, combat etc. Right now it's just a shell of that, giving the devs time to optimize the engine, clean up and add more building tools, and allowing players to help create structures for EQN.
There is no way to judge the success of Landmark right now because it's no where near complete and the end result of Landmark and it's success or failure is not indicative of EQN's appeal because they're 2 completely different games.
And SOE has a great track record historically.
EQ - Basically created the standard that other MMOs emulate to this day.
EQ2 - A better WoW for people who didn't have a shitty PC.
SWG - Amazing game and if it wasn't for LA forcing SOE's hand it would never have gotten such a bad wrap. I'm actually surprised that SOE continues to take the fall for LA's abuse and stupidity.
Vanguard - Fixed it up and saved the game from implosion for many years after Sigil screwed the development big time. If SOE hadn't come along and saved it, it would have been shut down in under 12 months after release. Some criticize what SOE did to the game after they took it over, but you can only polish a turd so much. I think their work on Vanguard and keeping it open even though it wasn't profitable is a testament to how SOE respects gamers and cares for it's community.
Planetside - Amazing, enough said.
Planetside 2 - Again, Amazing, and probably the best F2P model I've ever seen. A pure win.
So sure, there are some emotional kids out there that think SOE is a bad company, but I think their complaints and hatred are far from warranted. When compared to most other major game companies, SOE is saint-like in comparison.
Legends of Kesmai, UO, EQ, AO, DAoC, AC, SB, RO, SWG, EVE, EQ2, CoH, GW, VG:SOH, WAR, Aion, DF, CO, MO, DN, Tera, SWTOR, RO2, DP, GW2, PS2, BnS, NW, FF:XIV, ESO, EQ:NL
That part in red.. where did you get that info from? That sounds like a complete game aka EQNext..
I really don't know how you came to the idea that EQNext was going to have quest and dungeon creators.
Landmark is going to be a game to make "games". That has been known since last year SOE Live when the game was announced. The only thing is has in commons with EQNext, is that EQNext is being build with Landmark internally by SOE.
True thought they haven't said what kinds of player generated content options will be in EQN other than the ability to import templates made in Landmark if you happen to get a plot in EQN.
In fact the intention for Landmark isn't just to host systems for EQN but other future SoE titles as well.
Landmark Livestream: Recap and Highlights
Fun times ahead for both titles!