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Everquest Next, ya dead 'mon?
Basically no videos, no real screenshots and no real discussion on it.. for an ENTIRE year. When they showed that original footage of destroying the world and stuff, I thought "awesome, this game can't be far from release!"
We've had some developer videos which sometimes show a flash of EQN, a few pieces of concept art and a very slow-progressing Landmark.. you have to wonder what's going on.
Just where the hell is EQN?
If you look at how average both ESO and WS did (games that had huge budgets and were pegged to be hugely successful), Blizzard cancelling its next MMO and a complete lack of new announcements in the MMO space.. I'm starting to wonder if this game is on hold and they haven't bothered to tell people yet.
Simply put: if the big heavyweight companies couldn't make it happen and he biggest heavyweight of all cancelled their $50 million investment on Titan.. as a company I would be scared as hell with my half-finished F2P title.
Couple that with Sony as a whole not doing so great and suddenly you got a situation where investing in your new MMO isn't that favorable.
It's almost like Landmark is living off the money it's making from cash-shop/founder pack sales and has become their sole budget. (Probably not a huge budget..)
Even if the above is 100% wrong and they do start upping their development, at this stage not even 2015 looks likely for EQN, if ever.
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They've shot. They've Missed. They know it. Now they are figuring out how to play test the crap out of a lame idea until they let out how stupid they really were.
When you do see it next it will appear fairly complete I expect. Cause they had to re-work, re-work, integrate, and re-work. Cause they missed. They crapped all over what folks wanted. They are just hoping they can pile enough crap on it to make it look less like the crap it is.
That's my guess.
Who knows what's up with SOE but they have been acting strange lately with information being released about games they have in development.
If you look at H1Z1, they were on a whole "transparency" kick where they were big about community input then all of a sudden went dark and the fate of that game is now also in question.
EQNext is the only title coming from them I feel can be a real winner and they definitely shouldn't let the hype fizzle out.
Landmark is its own game now. It's not even called "EQ Landmark" anymore like it once was.
Sure, both games are sharing the engine but H1Z1 is also sharing the EQN/Landmark engine - does that mean what's going on in H1Z1 shows me what's going on in Everquest Next? Well, not really.
The limited footage and screenshots we've seen of EQN show that it is a very different game to Landmark. I think the whole "Landmark will be directly connected to EQN" was some original concept of the developers that just got sacked somewhere along the way. I remember the original talks where Landmark was discussed as the player housing portion of EQN.
Will assets and systems get shared between both games? Sure, but as I said above, that's no different from Planetside 2 or H1Z1, which recently seen dynamic water and weather systems added to them both.
I work in a completely different kind of industry. I work in mechanical design and prototyping. I started my apprenticeship almost 35 years ago. I've been a journeyman for over 28 years. My specialty is in metal forming and I am an expert in my field. Whenever you're trying something that is new, there are problems and issues that you don't foresee, things don't work out exactly as planned and you have to refine, change and sometimes scrap things. You learn a lot in the process, things that can be built upon in the future.
I'm quite sure they're working hard on it. The longer it takes, the more innovation I invision. I really hope they don't have to rush things.
"Be water my friend" - Bruce Lee
I guess the silence is what is bothersome. Maybe they are taking their time, maybe not? It's the lack of anything that bemuses me.
Surely a project they're confident in that is making real progress would be doing far more than its current nothing, especially given the fact that getting your community bought in and on board with the game as early as you can gives you MUCH more potential for success later on.
I wouldnt be surprised if Landmark was mainly put out to bring in funds for both games. They probably overestimated how much money would come in and now updates have been really slow for months. Building tools still need a ton of work , no PvE ( supposed to have been in game months ago ) , lakes and streams continue to be pushed back , even after a month of optimizations the game still doesnt run all that well with shadows..etc. They are already talking about open beta even with the game in just a raw state .. Open Beta = More people = more cash shop purchases.
Just read their website if you want info, better then racking your brain for answers
"First off, a bit of housekeeping. We are changing the name of the game… literally. The game is no longer called EverQuest Next Landmark. We are now just Landmark. You may be asking, “Why the change?” Answer: To a lot of people, having EverQuest in the name immediately implies a fantasy game. Landmark is anything you can imagine. Removing EverQuest Next seemed the best. This doesn’t change anything we’ve said about Landmark or EverQuest Next. All the details of the games are still the same. We’re still using Landmark to build EverQuest Next – and we’ll still have areas dedicated to EQN. We’re just simplifying the name and making it easier to understand that the games are different from one another."
Sure, both games are sharing the engine but H1Z1 is also sharing the EQN/Landmark engine - does that mean what's going on in H1Z1 shows me what's going on in Everquest Next? Well, not really.
The limited footage and screenshots we've seen of EQN show that it is a very different game to Landmark. I think the whole "Landmark will be directly connected to EQN" was some original concept of the developers that just got sacked somewhere along the way. I remember the original talks where Landmark was discussed as the player housing portion of EQN.
Will assets and systems get shared between both games? Sure, but as I said above, that's no different from Planetside 2 or H1Z1, which recently seen dynamic water and weather systems added to them both.
If you have been listening to the devs Landmark is the progress they have been making EQN systems. or in other words Landmark IS EQN with a different type of content.
Take out all the building aspects of Landmark and you have the current progress on EQN. Minus the internal builds that they are working on like as AI, Story bricks ect.
Once they have all the systems in place (or developed concurrently) they can basically make Biomes seamless and start populating the world of EQN with npcs and props.
TSW - AoC - Aion - WOW - EVE - Fallen Earth - Co - Rift - || XNA C# Java Development
I think the pinnacle of optimization for EQN would be where PS2 is at.
That game has been out for years and has had several optimization passes.
TSW - AoC - Aion - WOW - EVE - Fallen Earth - Co - Rift - || XNA C# Java Development
I've listened to them (skimmed past some parts) and really at no point have I heard much of anything beyond "we will use Landmark to test some core systems like combat" (almost a direct quote if memory serves me).
Still, if the above is true then EQN really is a long, long way off and would explain the lack of any real exposure on it.
Alas, I still wonder though. The safe choice would be finish up work on Landmark (at least to a reasonable degree..), scrap EQN and focus on the better potentials.. given how unstable the MMO space is really right now.
Here's to hoping my skepticism doesn't come true. :P
To bad for you I have been in Landmark recently and I have seen how slow and un-engaging it is. The combat is terrible, the game chokes the shit out of my machine, and there are usually about 5 people on when I check it.
There had better be a whole other game going on in a project area that is not connected to Landmark, because landmark is pretty much nothing unless you want to build for the sake of building, or you want to hit your mouse buttons while hopping in circles around someone in duels.
Landmark isn't doing EQNext any favors at this point, whether it's just a test platform, or the nascent game itself.
Why don't the characters in H1Z1 look like Disney Turds then?
This is about it here. OP, you weren't seeing in game footage of EQN you were seeing cgi I believe. If you want to know how EQN is progressing, look at Landmark. It's progressing slow. I'm sure internal builds are ahead, but they probably arn't much ahead.
Why would it be cgi?....
Every instance of EQN demos ive seen is entirely plausible with landmarks current systems + limited prototype systems like basic AI scripting.
But yeah, If you were under the impression that EQN was relatively close to completion that i would say you had very unrealistic expectations.
To bad for you I have been in Landmark recently and I have seen how slow and un-engaging it is. The combat is terrible, the game chokes the shit out of my machine, and there are usually about 5 people on when I check it.There had better be a whole other game going on in a project area that is not connected to Landmark, because landmark is pretty much nothing unless you want to build for the sake of building, or you want to hit your mouse buttons while hopping in circles around someone in duels.
I don't even know what to say about posts like these.
I guess people just don't look at it from a systems perspective.
TSW - AoC - Aion - WOW - EVE - Fallen Earth - Co - Rift - || XNA C# Java Development
I don't blame blizzard for cancelling Titan. They couldn't have anticipated every other company failing so completely for 10 years straight now they're confident they can remain on top for another 5 with horribly outdated graphics.
As for EQN, they're biding their time hoping they can use EQLandmark to build the game for them. It doesn't really matter, since they released combat interest in this game has all but vanished, as it's so far gone from the original vision. Welcome to 5 more years of WoW folks.
EQ1 was set with the trinity and a lot of cc, now these companies think that to make the most money they need to have everybody be the same. It is a bore fest, well for me it is. WoW started out with the same thing, it had a starting city and guild area for each class and race. This got you connected to your char and alliance. It felt like a world.
Now to maximize money, they need to make it so everybody is the same, and how do we get people to spend money in our cash shop. The days of these company's caring if it is a solid game is gone, it has to be a solid cash shop. They follow what they think is current game statics but in the end development is only about the cash shop period.
Single player games and these first person shooters have more depth to them then this genre anymore. At least they are creating dlc content that they think people will fork over some money for. Mmo's have become a sad money grab!