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Is EQNext Vaporware?
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Isn't always about what is "better" but what people actually enjoy and want to play.
SOE has had some bright spots in the dark, but overall they haven't really nailed the execution, at least not long term.
At this point, EQN has as much chance to be great as it does to be a total pieces of garbage. Only time will tell, but as a gamer and fan of a good time, I want it to be the best product possible. The more quality options we have the better.
Sure many are curious to know how far along they are but unless they actively need to promote their game for the purpose of crowd fundraising, isn't it always better to keep development moving behind the curtains?
It's fine for landscapes but not for Objects.
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That aside, I can't help but feel that even if it is released, it will not be anything close to what we were told it was going to be in 2013. I wouldn't blame SOE/DBG for this, but the company that purchased them. It's a Venture Capital firm, while they aren't entirely risk averse, they aren't exactly run by people who are too interested in "out there" ideas.
Believe me, i dont want to play EQ1 (been playing it for a year enjoy the crap out of it) forever but it seems like theres NO games following trend besides swtor for a little bit than maybe Crowfall. Thats why Crowfall is so popular you and i know that. But developers want to make a game that millions play for 6 months max rather than make a game that 100k people play for 10 years...The latter is what i want. That means this company is dedicated! SOE has taken a lot of crap but you cannot beat their dedication. 21 expansions woohoo. They even lose money but they still want to give their fans what they want. Which is very admirable after all these years and not making 10 billion that WoW has made...
Me, im addicted to EQN info, so its been the hardest on me but i never said anything when people were declaritively writing this off. I want to get posting privileges so i can talk about EQN stuff like Rohsong, the lore, class discussion and i hoped Daybreak would have had a fanfaire to discuss these topics. It kinda makes me hopeful that H1Z1 is so popular that because they pool their money into one pot cause of all access. So EQN is being funded and i heard somewhere in reddit that the developement team is still 100 people different working on the game. SO its down to world building and combat and ive posted the combat video in the last page and that looks good. With more polish and nothing "game-breaking" i hope, EQN might be the next big mmorpg. 40 designed classes and 7 years in developement, could be 10 years in developement this is a huge gamble but something like that is already in time because they already made the next gen steps needed to stay in the times.
I don't think Daybreak-SOE is the company that other companies keep tabs on to see where the market is going to trend or to steal ideas from for their games. Nor do I think they are a company that has valued its customers desires to the point they prioritize them over profits. Most of their actions speak to the contrary of that and pretty much caused the situations they are currently in.
Aside from that I think everyone would love more EQN news or see how the game is progressing.
Profits is what keeps the games going. You think they work for free? If anything they are generous to keep the two Everquest games running with expansions and Vanguard and Freerealms up so long while writing of 60 million dollars at the bottom line...They even kept people in positions way longer than they should have. Its like a family company and thats good. Loyal employees should be kept for 20 years or so. good for the economy too.
EQN's AI is supposed to take on a life of its own and in combat react somewhat like a player within limitations of course.
Beyond the AI, I'm not sure what other companies would "copy" from the EQN design that aren't already available in some form in other games. What attracted me to EQN is the combination of features and what a game with them all could be like.
Not sure what "devs" you speak of that want a huge spike and then bleeding population. Again, looking at almost all the upcoming games, they are shooting for low numbers, but much more dedicated and long term fans.
It's great that EQ has kept going, but it died for me very early on (SOL/POP) as it did for the majority of fans of the original design. At least looking at the numbers. WoW did a similar thing after Vanilla, but it luckily increased by crazy numbers for quite a while with it becoming more and more accessible. Both are very grindy/timesink focused and not what I want to play anymore. Don't see many Western games copying that. Seems most are focused on the "emergent" design of players being the content for other players, be it PVP, building, crafting, or whatever social mechanics.
I highly doubt there be another "next big" mmo. There might be more GW2/ESO/SWTOR types that get a million or whatever, but nothing WoW sized. Seems most aren't even shooting for a million at this point. A few hundred thousand or whatever is enough apparently to keep a small company funded.
EQN has a lot of potential from the paper design, but the only thing that counts is what they get out the door.
Something like Chronicles of Elyria sounds much more immersive and engaging from a RPG stand point and I wouldn't be surprised that if "EQ fans" were attracted to it more so than EQN. Games are starting to really branch out and becoming less and less like what is out or will be.
Being an addict to EQN news must have you in some nasty withdrawals
And EQ basically took the generic MUD concept and gave it visuals, which came from PnP (D&D), which came from literature and larpers...or however the story goes.
I honestly don't care who came up with it first, but who did it better. I'm not a SOE/EQ die hard, I'm a gamer.
What I actually find funny is several of the "stolen" features seem like ways to deal with decreasing player numbers. Much of those are ways to keep a smaller player base together, be it across servers, factions, levels, skill levels, etc. To me it is a sign that most of those games are heading in the direction that EQ/EQ2 have been holding down for a long time...the bottom.
The hype train and transparency were their original marketing strat. But from the outside looking in, it seems like a bunch of speed bumps caused them to knock that out. Loss of team members internal and external, tech being harder to nail than planned, being sold, etc which causes set backs and plans to change. Highly doubt they were like "Okay so we will hype this game up and tell everyone we'll be open and then a year or two in, just go silent on everything but door sizes for Barbarians" "Oh ya great plan, lets do it."
As for why did Crowfall use Voxel Farm? Because it is pretty sweet tech that works very well with Unity 5 unlike Forgelight. Landmark might have been first to try and use it, but the tech was already public for a while. Doubt ACE is trying to "steal" anything from Daybreak.
Don't let the hype get the best of you. Rally Calls are basically more elaborate public quests that may or may not have a "permanent" outcome. WoW's AQ even sounds similar back from Vanilla days. Rohsong sounds like a "better" quest log along with other themepark elements mixed in. Permanent Change isn't very permanent when the world heals physically and Rally Calls can be "reset" or whatever if devs deem it so. The AI is really the only mystery feature that could set EQN a part and or ahead of the pack.
Again, no clue what Black Desert's is like, but EQN's is supposed to be a lot more than just faction territory control.
Logic, my dear, merely enables one to be wrong with great authority.
I think if you research a bit you may find most/all of those features were not originated at SOE.
Though all games borrow concepts from other games, there are two flaws with your logic. ONe, SOE-Daybreak has not been a leader in the MMO field for a long time. More often than not they are the ones following/emulating others ideas. Second, SOE has been pretty open about theirs "secrets sauce" concepts going into EQN. They dont seem worried about competition stealing anything.
I assume by 'black tape' you ean why they have become so quiet about the games development.
Here is why I think they have gotten so silent overall about the game
The feedback from the media events showing the game was bad.
The feedback from Landmark has been bad.
The company was sold to new ownership
They lost a lot of employees and resources (storybrick support, etc)
They just do not have much more than Landmark at this point.
Most of EQN is still just a concept at this point.
I don't think they are being secretive due to competitive reasons. Instead I think they are being secretive due to most of the game not existing yet and they are faced with some very choices of what the can achieve with their existing resources and what they can't.
Hard to show off a game that isn't built yet..
A poster above suggested that EQN needed some PR; sorry the PR / marketing / community staff were probably laid off this year, and in 2013 and or 2011 etc.
Everybody left will be very focused on their job and only their job. Communication for released games has, almost certainly, been left to the individual teams. Their mission: make money for the game they are working on. Their choice going forward how much resource they use on development, how much on promotion.
Communication for EQN? I suspect Smed picked that task up. Now? Everyone left will have "a full time job" so no one will "find time / volunteer". Development leads might end up doing it but they will have development deadlines and every hour spent doing a webcast is an hour not spent developing. The lowest cost strategy will be to focus on development, ignore communication. As and when EQN bears fruit - assuming it does - then and only then will someone look at the big picture as far as communication goes. Until then snippets only.
I wish what you say is true, but I really think you are letting your enthusiasm make leaps of faith and misrepresent information.
For example, people were not let go to reallocate resources as a good thing for EQN. People were let go to eliminate resources and overhead in the company.
I’m curious why you think the project being ‘black boxed’ means that it is really something special they are hiding?
How do you know EQN is more interesting, deep and better looking?If I want a world in which people can purchase success and power with cash, I'll play Real Life. Keep Virtual Worlds Virtual!
I don't think anyone is arguing that if all those concepts pan out that EQN will be great and maybe influence many games to come..... but enthusiasm isn't a replacement for reason.
There are many gaping holes in your theories, but Ill ask you this.
Do you think it is possible that the plan Columbus Nova might have for EQN was to release it in any condition they think will earn them the most money for the least risk? Seems to explain everything that is happening without making assumptions that contradict available information.
I think you are right that Columbus Nova has a new vision, but it isn't the same vision.