So, based on this, it looks like Everquest Next - if it ever comes out - will be little more than Everquest I with a facelift. Just another theme park with some sandbox elements and token innovations that will be overhyped, overpromised and underdelivered.
Look I know if you went and looked at the Storybricks site there was a lot of that there, but I remember Dave Georgeson et al saying several times that they were not using Storybricks for NPCs they were using it for MOBs only.
NPCs, I'm presuming you're understanding the term, as opposed to "creeps"? NPCs are mobs.
edit: Any mobile/interactable part of the ai, i.e. not scenery or database "loot" are mobs. Quest givers are mobs. A dancing sword can be a mob if you interact with it. Generally, when you say "npc", its to distinguish a "friendly mob", but it's still a mob.
Technically you are correct a MOB is a Mobile OBject. But the usage I have seen over and over again for the last 16 years is that MOB refers to something you engage in combat with, and an NPC is part of the narrative structure. If you go back and look at a lot of NanFoodle's posts it seems to me he is using the same definition.
Thanks that is exactly what I was asking NanFoodle for and substantiates what he has been saying. There is still a disconnect in my mind between what is explained in the video and what Georgeson was saying (prior to this) at events. But that is water under the bridge.
The most interesting part of EQN is gone now. The game probably will turn into generic mmo.
Still the time will tell but...
/sigh
Time is a problem though, and i don't think the game has it, imo its only a matter of time before its announced that the game is 'cancelled' its so early in the development cycle that i seriously doubt that given CN's 'objectives' that they will be happy to fund a game with so much development time needed, particularly in view of the huge number of layoff's that DBG's already experienced, if not still experiencing.
The most interesting part of EQN is gone now. The game probably will turn into generic mmo.
Still the time will tell but...
/sigh
Time is a problem though, and i don't think the game has it, imo its only a matter of time before its announced that the game is 'cancelled' its so early in the development cycle that i seriously doubt that given CN's 'objectives' that they will be happy to fund a game with so much development time needed, particularly in view of the huge number of layoff's that DBG's already experienced, if not still experiencing.
On the other hand, EQ is the THE major piece of IP that SOE owned. It is one of the most well-known brands in MMORPG's.
Given that thousands of lines of code and tons of artwork must have been produced during the years of development that have gone into EQ:N so far (including earlier iterations), it's highly unlikely that the investment company is simply going to discard all that.
I imagine the word from above will be to salvage what can be used and produce a playable MMORPG in the shortest possible time. Cut or reduce all aspects that can complicate things (e.g. Storybricks and voxels ?) and just get the game to market. Get that Cash Shop running !
The most interesting part of EQN is gone now. The game probably will turn into generic mmo.
Still the time will tell but...
/sigh
Time is a problem though, and i don't think the game has it, imo its only a matter of time before its announced that the game is 'cancelled' its so early in the development cycle that i seriously doubt that given CN's 'objectives' that they will be happy to fund a game with so much development time needed, particularly in view of the huge number of layoff's that DBG's already experienced, if not still experiencing.
Without eqn I don't see a future for dbg. CN could possibly try to milk the last money out of the products but I find it more likely that CN will try sell off all assets and shut down the company.
Iselin: And the next person who says "but it's a business, they need to make money" can just go fuck yourself.
The most interesting part of EQN is gone now. The game probably will turn into generic mmo.
Still the time will tell but...
/sigh
Time is a problem though, and i don't think the game has it, imo its only a matter of time before its announced that the game is 'cancelled' its so early in the development cycle that i seriously doubt that given CN's 'objectives' that they will be happy to fund a game with so much development time needed, particularly in view of the huge number of layoff's that DBG's already experienced, if not still experiencing.
On the other hand, EQ is the THE major piece of IP that SOE owned. It is one of the most well-known brands in MMORPG's.
Given that thousands of lines of code and tons of artwork must have been produced during the years of development that have gone into EQ:N so far (including earlier iterations), it's highly unlikely that the investment company is simply going to discard all that.
I imagine the word from above will be to salvage what can be used and produce a playable MMORPG in the shortest possible time. Cut or reduce all aspects that can complicate things (e.g. Storybricks and voxels ?) and just get the game to market. Get that Cash Shop running !
And this is even worst then freezing the project. If this happen we will see an unfinished, unsatisfying game. Similar to so many already existing. This will bury the franchise.
I think what the EQNext team did was learn everything that Storybricks could do and how to do it and will now make their own version of it that does the same thing called by something else. At that point, they didn't need Storybricks anymore.
Time is a problem though, and i don't think the game has it, imo its only a matter of time before its announced that the game is 'cancelled' its so early in the development cycle that i seriously doubt that given CN's 'objectives' that they will be happy to fund a game with so much development time needed, particularly in view of the huge number of layoff's that DBG's already experienced, if not still experiencing.
Without eqn I don't see a future for dbg. CN could possibly try to milk the last money out of the products but I find it more likely that CN will try sell off all assets and shut down the company.
Time is almost certainly limited. A budget will have been set and the budget is going to determine the release date. This year from what has been said. Maybe if the released games do a lot better than expected a bit more money might be found but essentially something is being released this year.
And sure they have the work that was done but so what. Lets try another analogy. You decide to build a house, sit don with architects and builders to come up with a plan and start to buy the materials. Then you sack the builder and declare that you are going to build the house yourself. You still have the plans and the material ..... you just lack the specialist skills to build the house and all the power tools that the builders were going to use.
I was managing a "repair" contract once; we worked with the customers and designed a scheme to repair the first batch of items, refining the method as we went. We then gave them a price for the rest which we justified. The customer decided it was to high and hired some cheaper - less qualified - staff. They couldn't hack it. We started being asked to explain the method. It was all spelt out but staff of a given level of training. We tried but think: measure A to B we got asked to explain how to use a ruler. A year later - having ruined many assets, they called us back in. We hired a new team of trained staff. gave - with the right qualifications - gave then the exact same instructions and they finished the job with no problems. On the ruined stuff - well we managed to do a mix-and-match and recovered the equivalent of about half the assets. At the end of the day the customer was out over $100M.
So - yes - they have all the wok that was done ... and?
Next question: when EQN launches what happens to the existing developers? Lots of expansions? I am sure this thought has occurred to the remaining devs.
I wouldn't be surprised if the existing games are just run until they close.
Originally posted by koboldfodder EQ Next will be cancelled. Just a matter of time.
Yup
I don't think it will be canceled. Too much past time and money has been spent on it. *Something* will be released. It might be awful. Might be bland. If it's canceled, what does Daybreak really have for new things? Not much...
Originally posted by koboldfodder EQ Next will be cancelled. Just a matter of time.
Yup
I don't think it will be canceled. Too much past time and money has been spent on it. *Something* will be released. It might be awful. Might be bland. If it's canceled, what does Daybreak really have for new things? Not much...
Nothing kills a game company faster than delivering a bomb. It's sink or swim time over at DBG... if they don't pull a rabbit out of their hat soon, there won't be a hat left.
Originally posted by koboldfodder EQ Next will be cancelled. Just a matter of time.
Yup
I don't think it will be canceled. Too much past time and money has been spent on it. *Something* will be released. It might be awful. Might be bland. If it's canceled, what does Daybreak really have for new things? Not much...
Nothing kills a game company faster than delivering a bomb. It's sink or swim time over at DBG... if they don't pull a rabbit out of their hat soon, there won't be a hat left.
Everyone loves a hail marry be it epic win or epic fail lol I have no doubt DGC will throw the ball. There is no other direction for them at the moment.
I find it hilarious that people would go on about EQN being cancelled and lowering it on the ratings list and yet Star Citizen, despite all the money it's raised, could turn to vaporware tomorrow.
Folks, we get to tinker with Landmark. We have something in hand that allows us to try certain aspects of EQN out, more so than any other game on the list.
I find it hilarious that people would go on about EQN being cancelled and lowering it on the ratings list and yet Star Citizen, despite all the money it's raised, could turn to vaporware tomorrow.
The first half of your sentence about EQN has nothing to do with Star Citizen.
The greatest lights will lose it's flame, and smoke comes forth from it... however new smaller lights will grow and sooner or later as a new era dawns in our future.
What I am basically saying is that the greatest mmorpg games can fade and die out like a industry crash... however dispite the death of these games, a new spark of life in the industry will come forth and could become the next big thing...
just think of indie games when the biggest AAA studios failed to deliver, they will be more popular then the AAA games you used to play.
EVERYTHING SB had to offer has andis already been done in all games,all it was is a simple platform/menu system/spreadsheet design to keep things tidier and neater ,therefore easier.
I personally can't stand the massive amount of assembly line content we see in games,I want a quest to feel hand designed from the ground up,not a chance to trigger in three different directions,i witnessed that in SWTOR and it is totally meaningless.
Every good game designer creates that menu system anyhow,keyword was GOOD game designer.It allows them to give npc's a sort of smallish mind to favor one player over another or to lead a quest in 1 of 2/3 different directions.None the less t is still scripted just imo a cheesey way to say it offers a tad bit of variety/difference.
If a developer has not figured it out yet,players couldn't give two cahoots about your quest,they ONLY do it because it is the only way to get xp or some reward.So imo SB would have done absolutely nothing to improve the game play and the REASON players do quests.
Questing in games needs to carry more value,i would like to see EVERY spell and ability need to be quested and with NO HAND holding.I would like to see secrets within quests and there are many ways to do that as well,it opens up a whole new game of discovery and fun.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
This saddens me, as I hadn't heard that storybricks was done because God knows MMO developers don't go out of their way to improve AI , so having a company out there that was going to help them do so was freaking sweet.
It is a little disheartening seeing the company change hands first of all and now storybricks(which I honestly dont know what they even did) go to wayside. Its never good to see people get fired and then a piece of the puzzle get removed(storybricks) The thing I'm seeing is kind of a repeat of Blizzard and their Titan project. Titan was scrapped and restarted and then cancelled. EQNext was scrapped, restarted and now all this is happening... Is it heading the same direction? Hopefully not but only time will tell.
I find it hilarious that people would go on about EQN being cancelled and lowering it on the ratings list and yet Star Citizen, despite all the money it's raised, could turn to vaporware tomorrow.
Folks, we get to tinker with Landmark. We have something in hand that allows us to try certain aspects of EQN out, more so than any other game on the list.
Star Citizen has the Arena Commander and soon FPS (in 2-3 weeks) and social modules to tinker with. There is even a pre-alpha PU that any of the alpha testers can access if they want (it is super buggy). The studios working on it also give a lot more information about what they are doing and where they are going than Daybreak are doing for any of them games via the Monthly reports and other news report on the official website.
Comments
So, based on this, it looks like Everquest Next - if it ever comes out - will be little more than Everquest I with a facelift. Just another theme park with some sandbox elements and token innovations that will be overhyped, overpromised and underdelivered.
Just stick to Landmark.
Technically you are correct a MOB is a Mobile OBject. But the usage I have seen over and over again for the last 16 years is that MOB refers to something you engage in combat with, and an NPC is part of the narrative structure. If you go back and look at a lot of NanFoodle's posts it seems to me he is using the same definition.
Thanks that is exactly what I was asking NanFoodle for and substantiates what he has been saying. There is still a disconnect in my mind between what is explained in the video and what Georgeson was saying (prior to this) at events. But that is water under the bridge.
The most interesting part of EQN is gone now. The game probably will turn into generic mmo.
Still the time will tell but...
/sigh
Time is a problem though, and i don't think the game has it, imo its only a matter of time before its announced that the game is 'cancelled' its so early in the development cycle that i seriously doubt that given CN's 'objectives' that they will be happy to fund a game with so much development time needed, particularly in view of the huge number of layoff's that DBG's already experienced, if not still experiencing.
On the other hand, EQ is the THE major piece of IP that SOE owned. It is one of the most well-known brands in MMORPG's.
Given that thousands of lines of code and tons of artwork must have been produced during the years of development that have gone into EQ:N so far (including earlier iterations), it's highly unlikely that the investment company is simply going to discard all that.
I imagine the word from above will be to salvage what can be used and produce a playable MMORPG in the shortest possible time. Cut or reduce all aspects that can complicate things (e.g. Storybricks and voxels ?) and just get the game to market. Get that Cash Shop running !
Without eqn I don't see a future for dbg. CN could possibly try to milk the last money out of the products but I find it more likely that CN will try sell off all assets and shut down the company.
And this is even worst then freezing the project. If this happen we will see an unfinished, unsatisfying game. Similar to so many already existing. This will bury the franchise.
Agreed
Time is almost certainly limited. A budget will have been set and the budget is going to determine the release date. This year from what has been said. Maybe if the released games do a lot better than expected a bit more money might be found but essentially something is being released this year.
And sure they have the work that was done but so what. Lets try another analogy. You decide to build a house, sit don with architects and builders to come up with a plan and start to buy the materials. Then you sack the builder and declare that you are going to build the house yourself. You still have the plans and the material ..... you just lack the specialist skills to build the house and all the power tools that the builders were going to use.
I was managing a "repair" contract once; we worked with the customers and designed a scheme to repair the first batch of items, refining the method as we went. We then gave them a price for the rest which we justified. The customer decided it was to high and hired some cheaper - less qualified - staff. They couldn't hack it. We started being asked to explain the method. It was all spelt out but staff of a given level of training. We tried but think: measure A to B we got asked to explain how to use a ruler. A year later - having ruined many assets, they called us back in. We hired a new team of trained staff. gave - with the right qualifications - gave then the exact same instructions and they finished the job with no problems. On the ruined stuff - well we managed to do a mix-and-match and recovered the equivalent of about half the assets. At the end of the day the customer was out over $100M.
So - yes - they have all the wok that was done ... and?
Next question: when EQN launches what happens to the existing developers? Lots of expansions? I am sure this thought has occurred to the remaining devs.
I wouldn't be surprised if the existing games are just run until they close.
I don't think it will be canceled. Too much past time and money has been spent on it. *Something* will be released. It might be awful. Might be bland. If it's canceled, what does Daybreak really have for new things? Not much...
Nothing kills a game company faster than delivering a bomb. It's sink or swim time over at DBG... if they don't pull a rabbit out of their hat soon, there won't be a hat left.
Everyone loves a hail marry be it epic win or epic fail lol I have no doubt DGC will throw the ball. There is no other direction for them at the moment.
I find it hilarious that people would go on about EQN being cancelled and lowering it on the ratings list and yet Star Citizen, despite all the money it's raised, could turn to vaporware tomorrow.
Folks, we get to tinker with Landmark. We have something in hand that allows us to try certain aspects of EQN out, more so than any other game on the list.
The first half of your sentence about EQN has nothing to do with Star Citizen.
The greatest lights will lose it's flame, and smoke comes forth from it... however new smaller lights will grow and sooner or later as a new era dawns in our future.
What I am basically saying is that the greatest mmorpg games can fade and die out like a industry crash... however dispite the death of these games, a new spark of life in the industry will come forth and could become the next big thing...
just think of indie games when the biggest AAA studios failed to deliver, they will be more popular then the AAA games you used to play.
EVERYTHING SB had to offer has andis already been done in all games,all it was is a simple platform/menu system/spreadsheet design to keep things tidier and neater ,therefore easier.
I personally can't stand the massive amount of assembly line content we see in games,I want a quest to feel hand designed from the ground up,not a chance to trigger in three different directions,i witnessed that in SWTOR and it is totally meaningless.
Every good game designer creates that menu system anyhow,keyword was GOOD game designer.It allows them to give npc's a sort of smallish mind to favor one player over another or to lead a quest in 1 of 2/3 different directions.None the less t is still scripted just imo a cheesey way to say it offers a tad bit of variety/difference.
If a developer has not figured it out yet,players couldn't give two cahoots about your quest,they ONLY do it because it is the only way to get xp or some reward.So imo SB would have done absolutely nothing to improve the game play and the REASON players do quests.
Questing in games needs to carry more value,i would like to see EVERY spell and ability need to be quested and with NO HAND holding.I would like to see secrets within quests and there are many ways to do that as well,it opens up a whole new game of discovery and fun.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Some of these fine people have a home in virginia i bet if they want one with CSE. From their website, they are still hiring.
Star Citizen has the Arena Commander and soon FPS (in 2-3 weeks) and social modules to tinker with. There is even a pre-alpha PU that any of the alpha testers can access if they want (it is super buggy). The studios working on it also give a lot more information about what they are doing and where they are going than Daybreak are doing for any of them games via the Monthly reports and other news report on the official website.