I agree. Make EQ3, that's what the fans want, IMO - high fantasy old school classic high quality PvE group focused MMO etc.
Problem is... fans does not make up a big enough pool of potential customers to make anything bigger then a mobile game.
To get any money back on EQ:N it need to hit the market as broadly as it can. That is probably why it is taking so long, they have to readjust to the market over and over again to avoid doing a SW:ToR or WildStar.
This is pretty much pointless speculation until we hear something solid from DBG. At least they're not feeding us any meaningless "we're well on our way in development and almost ready to publish something nearly ready to show to you" garbage.
But yeah, complete radio silence very, very rarely means anything good in game development. Most likely we're just waiting for a cancellation announcement and closing of LM service.
IMO this project had missed it's window. Once a product starts to feel like a failure before it's even released, you've lost half the battle already. It would be very hard at this point to generate interest/confidence in EQN from the at-large gaming community (not the EQ fanbois) which probably make the cost to get a product to market completely unreasonable.
Obviously Daybreak will try to recoup money how they can, maybe they force out a subpar product with a ton of cuts but my money is on just selling the assets like they have been doing with the same 40k MMO assets for a decade.
When you only have 40k subscribers to EQNext on youtube i mean that tells the producers that people just aren't that interested in EQN. There isn't much exposure beyond people who've played the franchise already and those people aren't going to get something that is familiar to them anyway. This project could have been something because the ideas are good and they are releasing 2 games that are similar but vastly different in game type.
I would not doubt for one minute that the production has halted again for some fast cash grab. It is super easy to take what assets LM made for them and just have 1 person jot them around to form a semi respectable world but all the other assets take a team and i just don't see that happening ever or they would have most certainly shown something. So imo the team and effort going into this game is like a snails pace,maybe max 10 people when in full swing,likely 1-3 people most fo the time with the rest working on H1z1 maybe 1 person on PS2 i doubt anything happening with that game or perhaps they are making some fast expack for it who knows.
I just know the trends of developers,there is a reason you see meaningless threads started by this site,developers feel the need to make their game relevant in the media.Also we have already seen them hype of LM right away and even EQN was marketed early on so yeah if they had something we would know about it.
So Daybreak consists of ~20 employees?
There are more than this between EQ, EQ2 and H1Z1, if you count code writers, data entry, receptionist, etc. EQN and Landmark "might" still have 15-20 of their own. DCUO has their own. Include a handful of IT guys. Unless they're complete dummies, they still have some people backstage in R&D.
Drove by their building the other day, looked like more than 20 cars, but maybe they are going broke and rent spaces to nearby companies?
This is San Diego or Austin? Austin had about 40 after the layoffs as of last May.
But you have to know how the industry is. They hire people to work on their game at times less than a month or two then decide if they want to hire them full time. Many of the artists work on an asset for the game than thats all they are needed for. I know this because one of my best friends is a game developer for EA. He said it isn't wise for companies to retain lots of the employees that have worked on the game and basically told me that shlip. So EQN having an 80 developer working team in 2013-14 is most likely not going to be sticking around that long. And it would be smart for the company to let those people go. Unless you want to overpay them. It helps that way so that many new artists and devs get to work on multiple aspects of the game and create a more fuller game then before.
While we have no idea what they kept or didn't as a place to start "new" versions, what do you think they kept?
I'm not concerned with much they kept or not as I don't think it really changes much of what is happening. It is what it is, if you will.
On an interesting note, here you say we have "no idea" what they kept or didn't, but in the next few sentences you start speaking about what was and wasn't kept.
I know you've brought this up before, but I'm yet to understand why you focus on it so much.
because it is relevant to the discussion.
I don't know of one thing they appear to have "kept" in a useful form.
Art assets, combat, story/history/lore, class design, progression appear to have been completely changed.
Either we know or we don't know. Can't have it both ways. Not that it really matters. This isn't the only project that has thrown out work.
This company/team has a history of retooling their projects to fit sweeping design changes into their games. No real history of them throwing out projects and starting from scratch.
If they had actually kept a lot of work, why were they adding mechanics into Landmark in such early forms? You'd think after 4+ years of previous work that it would be much further along.
If this were just about any other company then yes I would expect a game to be much further along after 4+ years. I do not have those same expectations for this team. Is there a reason anyone should?
Highly doubt they are going to literally copy paste the 2010 designs into the game now... Voxel Farm pretty much erased anything they had built previously as it is new tech. Again, can't copy paste a castle they built previously into the new version. The pillars or whatever big picture stuff doesn't line up either.
Obviously they could of kept some of the basic concept principles and what not, but brainstorming and white board scribbles aren't something you can paste either. They have most likely done a lot of work that has ended up in the trash can more than once.
Lots of specualtion on possible things that may have caused delays.
Looking beyond all the excuses: what is left is a project that seems to have unrealistic goals, several years behind schedule and is in chaos.
I agree that the game as a whole has been in development for a long time, but the current team/design hasn't been there for 8 years.
Every company has turnover in their development team. That does not mean there is a "new team" or that this is a "new game".
How does firing half of the staff and promoting a underlings results in a "new team".
How does constantly changing designs and throwing out work result in resetting the clock on how long this project has been trying to make one game?
Claiming things like that just seems like making excuses for the train wreck the project currently is.
Regardless, it could take another 8 years and be amazing or garbage, time doesn't really matter beyond people being annoyed with having to wait.
Theoretically you are right.
Realistically game projects that go on this long have overwhelmingly been trash or cancelled. That isn't even factoring in all the other problems surrounding the team, company and project. It is a very relevant point to consider.
If my team was brought in to build a project basically from scratch where another team had failed to produce, I'd hope I wouldn't be held accountable for their shortcomings, but rather what I do.
Again, what makes you think there is a "new" team that is working on a project "from scratch".
With that said, I believe they won't live up to their own hype as it seems pretty obvious that much of their vision was just that and not actually real world tested. As in, they were starting new and not working with previous tech/assets very much.
AI is the center point for EQN in my eyes and it is still hiding in the shadows. Without it, 5-10-20 years of development isn't going to make anything exciting beyond another meh mmo with some sparkly features.
I can't disagree with the low chance of the game living up to any claims that have been made.
However I will point out that actions tend to speak louder than words.
Daybreak has stoppped talking about EQN and all they have really shown in the last year could be done by an intern in a few days.
They are however releasing DCUniverse for the Xbox
More than likely Planetside will be next.
Some want to speculate that EQNext was somehow the prize in the SOE purchase, but it doesn't appear to be that way as Daybreak is putting real effort into other projects.
As they told us over a year ago. If the plan changes, we will let you know. Not much to talk about till that happens.
What makes you think the developers are beholden to tell us anything that changes? because they said so?
They also said there would be more resources for the company as a result of SOE being boughtout. Then 2 days later they fired half the company.
They also went on about how we were going to be blown away, because 2015 is going to be the year of EQNext!!! and then they stopped talking about the game development.
There is zero reason to believe this company will tell any outsider anything about yet more changes, delays or even cancellation until the very last minute.
Not to mention they already changed the game twice previously and didn't tell anyone until well after the fact.
So I take if you have no reason why the developers have to tell anyone anything before they do it.
Instead you want people to believe that the developers can't make changes without first telling the few remaining fans of the game... because this time they made a some sort of promise to you and anyone not believing that must be the crazy ones.
Good luck with that.
Maybe 2016 is the year of EQN and when the developers start communucating again. /tinfoil
So I take if you have no reason why the developers have to tell anyone anything before they do it.
Instead you want people to believe that the developers can't make changes without first telling the few remaining fans of the game... because this time they made a some sort of promise to you and anyone not believing that must be the crazy ones.
Good luck with that.
Maybe 2016 is the year of EQN and when the developers start communucating again. /tinfoil
Of course they are going to have a game plan before they tell us anything. You ask just to much and think because you hold out your hand they should jump. Like your new to MMOing or something. When they are ready to tell us if they do or dont have a new plan, they will let us know when they start heading in that direction. Till then there is not much to talk about. For now they have put a seal back on the black box. So like all MMOs that have come before it, we wait for news. Making up crap like you do does not do anything. Put the tin foil away no one is out to do you harm. Its just a video game. lol
Of course they are going to have a game plan before they tell us anything. You ask just to much and think because you hold out your hand they should jump. Like your new to MMOing or something. When they are ready to tell us if they do or dont have a new plan, they will let us know when they start heading in that direction. Till then there is not much to talk about. For now they have put a seal back on the black box. So like all MMOs that have come before it, we wait for news. Making up crap like you do does not do anything. Put the tin foil away no one is out to do you harm. Its just a video game. lol
Things that are facts (IE not made up crap) 1) Daybreak said 2015 would be the year of EQN 2) 2015 is the year Daybreak stopped communicating about the game 3) Daybreak claimed the buyout would result in more resources 4) 2 days later, Daybreak fired half of the company 5) The development of this company and mmo are nothing like "other mmos before it". Not even close.
Things that are made up crap 1) Daybreak is "black boxing" the game, because they are working on cool and secret things 2) I expect Daybreak to tell me, you or anyone else anything.
3) Nothing has changed, because Daybreak would tell us if it did.
Just because you dont like the thing sbeing talked about, doesn't make them untrue.
Of course they are going to have a game plan before they tell us anything. You ask just to much and think because you hold out your hand they should jump. Like your new to MMOing or something. When they are ready to tell us if they do or dont have a new plan, they will let us know when they start heading in that direction. Till then there is not much to talk about. For now they have put a seal back on the black box. So like all MMOs that have come before it, we wait for news. Making up crap like you do does not do anything. Put the tin foil away no one is out to do you harm. Its just a video game. lol
Things that are facts (IE not made up crap) 1) Daybreak said 2015 would be the year of EQN 2) 2015 is the year Daybreak stopped communicating about the game 3) Daybreak claimed the buyout would result in more resources 4) 2 days later, Daybreak fired half of the company 5) The development of this company and mmo are nothing like "other mmos before it". Not even close.
Things that are made up crap 1) Daybreak is "black boxing" the game, because they are working on cool and secret things 2) I expect Daybreak to tell me, you or anyone else anything.
3) Nothing has changed, because Daybreak would tell us if it did.
Just because you dont like the thing sbeing talked about, doesn't make them untrue.
Tin foil is strong with this one. I will wait for DGC to tell me whats up before I jump to conclusions. You can have the roll all to your self =-) Myself, I will not pretend to know what they are planing. All we know is that for 3-4 months we have not heard anything from them directly. What does it mean? Anyones guess. Im not making any but you can make up crap and posting them as facts. Its always worth a laugh to read. I do thank you for that.
Nanfoodle you gotta be kidding me with this stuff. The "we've heard nothing so its not good or bad" card is well past its use by date. This game is toast. At best its going to be morphed into a low cost mobile game so they can try to recoup some of their investment.
"The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently."
Nanfoodle you gotta be kidding me with this stuff. The "we've heard nothing so its not good or bad" card is well past its use by date. This game is toast. At best its going to be morphed into a low cost mobile game so they can try to recoup some of their investment.
Could be, but again, guessing. Some MMOs have taken longer then this to make and we have heard less about other games till they get close to release. Its no different, we have to wait for the devs to get the ok from marketing to say anything. They will tell us when its best for their business. My point, why get upset about it or make up crap just to stir the pot? These devs have stuck out their necks trying to build something new and expand what the term MMO is. Fail or win they should be applauded, not smack talked.
Tin foil is strong with this one. I will wait for DGC to tell me whats up before I jump to conclusions. You can have the roll all to your self =-) Myself, I will not pretend to know what they are planing. All we know is that for 3-4 months we have not heard anything from them directly. What does it mean? Anyones guess. Im not making any but you can make up crap and posting them as facts. Its always worth a laugh to read. I do thank you for that.
But you do pretend to know what Daybreak is planning, doing
or won’t do based on select snippets they make.
How many times have you used Daybreaks claim about not changing
anything with the game unless they tell us in some effort to refute people who
don’t think the game is going well and you do it pretty frequently.
When people said Smedley was fired and would not return,
when people were talking about 50% of the company being fired, when people did
not believe 2015 was the year of EQN, when people were discussing that EQN and
Landmark were just one code base, etc. Again you called people liars, conspiracy theorites, claimed they were making things up, said the developers are the only source of real information and defended their claims.
Yet time and time again you were proven 100% wrong and the
people you were attacking were proven right.
I am genuinely interested if you really have something that
might lend some credibility to the claims you are making.So why do you think that this time anything will be any different?
Nanfoodle you gotta be kidding me with this stuff. The "we've heard nothing so its not good or bad" card is well past its use by date. This game is toast. At best its going to be morphed into a low cost mobile game so they can try to recoup some of their investment.
Could be, but again, guessing. Some MMOs have taken longer then this to make and we have heard less about other games till they get close to release. Its no different, we have to wait for the devs to get the ok from marketing to say anything. They will tell us when its best for their business. My point, why get upset about it or make up crap just to stir the pot? These devs have stuck out their necks trying to build something new and expand what the term MMO is. Fail or win they should be applauded, not smack talked.
The difference is in those games you heard nothing or little to nothing the entire time.
This is a unique case because it was a healthy amount of information and updates, and then a sudden complete and utter stop on any info, at all. I'm sorry but that simply doesn't bode well.
"The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently."
Nanfoodle you gotta be kidding me with this stuff. The "we've heard nothing so its not good or bad" card is well past its use by date. This game is toast. At best its going to be morphed into a low cost mobile game so they can try to recoup some of their investment.
Could be, but again, guessing. Some MMOs have taken longer then this to make and we have heard less about other games till they get close to release. Its no different, we have to wait for the devs to get the ok from marketing to say anything. They will tell us when its best for their business. My point, why get upset about it or make up crap just to stir the pot? These devs have stuck out their necks trying to build something new and expand what the term MMO is. Fail or win they should be applauded, not smack talked.
The difference is in those games you heard nothing or little to nothing the entire time.
This is a unique case because it was a healthy amount of information and updates, and then a sudden complete and utter stop on any info, at all. I'm sorry but that simply doesn't bode well.
Could be but like I have always said. I would rather wait to see what the devs say before I jump to conclusions. They are the only real source of info. Guesses is just that. I could give you my guess but like I always say, I would rather wait for word from the devs. They said 2015 would be the year of EQN, where EQN was their main focus. Right now I am waiting for the next update to find out if this is the case or if they failed. As I said above either way. I wont hate on them. They have tried to take MMOs in a new direction and expand what MMOs can do. Win or fail, they are heroes in my books. I have been MMOing for 17 year, I am used to this and its normal. Wait and see has always been the game. Sometimes you get info and sometimes you hear nothing.
Nanfoodle you gotta be kidding me with this stuff. The "we've heard nothing so its not good or bad" card is well past its use by date. This game is toast. At best its going to be morphed into a low cost mobile game so they can try to recoup some of their investment.
Could be, but again, guessing. Some MMOs have taken longer then this to make and we have heard less about other games till they get close to release. Its no different, we have to wait for the devs to get the ok from marketing to say anything. They will tell us when its best for their business. My point, why get upset about it or make up crap just to stir the pot? These devs have stuck out their necks trying to build something new and expand what the term MMO is. Fail or win they should be applauded, not smack talked.
The difference is in those games you heard nothing or little to nothing the entire time.
This is a unique case because it was a healthy amount of information and updates, and then a sudden complete and utter stop on any info, at all. I'm sorry but that simply doesn't bode well.
A stop in the flow of information after the company transferred owners, the community management team was gutted and the guys who talked the most about the game left a few months earlier (Omeed) and the other was fired (Dave). I don't find the silence that surprising.
Also, the real 100% silence started when Jens Andersen was named Executive Creative Director last Fall. Right after Terry mentioned they had their first company-wide EQNext server test. Going by how all the other game teams at Daybreak became silent around the same time, it looks more like it was a company wide policy that changed.
Nanfoodle you gotta be kidding me with this stuff. The "we've heard nothing so its not good or bad" card is well past its use by date. This game is toast. At best its going to be morphed into a low cost mobile game so they can try to recoup some of their investment.
Could be, but again, guessing. Some MMOs have taken longer then this to make and we have heard less about other games till they get close to release. Its no different, we have to wait for the devs to get the ok from marketing to say anything. They will tell us when its best for their business. My point, why get upset about it or make up crap just to stir the pot? These devs have stuck out their necks trying to build something new and expand what the term MMO is. Fail or win they should be applauded, not smack talked.
The difference is in those games you heard nothing or little to nothing the entire time.
This is a unique case because it was a healthy amount of information and updates, and then a sudden complete and utter stop on any info, at all. I'm sorry but that simply doesn't bode well.
A stop in the flow of information after the company transferred owners, the community management team was gutted and the guys who talked the most about the game left a few months earlier (Omeed) and the other was fired (Dave). I don't find the silence that surprising.
Also, the real 100% silence started when Jens Andersen was named Executive Creative Director last Fall. Right after Terry mentioned they had their first company-wide EQNext server test. Going by how all the other game teams at Daybreak became silent around the same time, it looks more like it was a company wide policy that changed.
They also moved the company 3 months ago when things went dark. In the last week we are starting to see some things pop up from the staff, like a live stream they did about a week ago about some builds. New hire for H1Z1. So I would hope we start to see the EQN streams start up again soon. Again, we know nothing till they tell us.
Also, the real 100% silence started when Jens Andersen was named Executive Creative Director last Fall. Right after Terry mentioned they had their first company-wide EQNext server test. Going by how all the other game teams at Daybreak became silent around the same time, it looks more like it was a company wide policy that changed.
I really like Jens. Guy shows some genuine passion. At least from what I've seen.
Guys, when CN took over they changed the community relations of the company to the public forever. Meaning their new policy is that they aren't going to say anything unless they are 100% sure its going to happen. The community manager of DBG tweeted that its so they "own up" to what they say or promise. I mean, look how hush they are concerning the new Landmark update they were supposed to have in January. One of the bigger impacts of the CN aquisition or rather the one that impacts us. Under SOE, we had SOE live, anniversary livestreams and in game items. Under Smed really. CN was a factor that pushed Smed out the door. What used to be a "family oriented" company one which retains its loyal employees even at a lost is now a smaller corporate profit based endeavor. We lost open development when they took over last Feb we have to realize. H1Z1 doesn't spout the same community appreciation that it had before. There is no Planetside 2 livestreams and there is no DCUO streams either. Last year Planetside 2 had weekly livestreams and DCUO used to stream once or twice a month. Now the CM is enforcing a Sun Tzus Art of War style modding on public forums to deal with possible trolls instead of ignoring them and countering with showing substance otherwise. This has been a nightmare in a community standpoint. We've weathered long enough, We walked too far to ignore it now its destination or bust. Maybe thats the whole plan from Daybreak's marketing plan in the first place...
Guys, when CN took over they changed the community relations of the company to the public forever. Meaning their new policy is that they aren't going to say anything unless they are 100% sure its going to happen. The community manager of DBG tweeted that its so they "own up" to what they say or promise. I mean, look how hush they are concerning the new Landmark update they were supposed to have in January. One of the bigger impacts of the CN aquisition or rather the one that impacts us. Under SOE, we had SOE live, anniversary livestreams and in game items. Under Smed really. CN was a factor that pushed Smed out the door. What used to be a "family oriented" company one which retains its loyal employees even at a lost is now a smaller corporate profit based endeavor. We lost open development when they took over last Feb we have to realize. H1Z1 doesn't spout the same community appreciation that it had before. There is no Planetside 2 livestreams and there is no DCUO streams either. Last year Planetside 2 had weekly livestreams and DCUO used to stream once or twice a month. Now the CM is enforcing a Sun Tzus Art of War style modding on public forums to deal with possible trolls instead of ignoring them and countering with showing substance otherwise. This has been a nightmare in a community standpoint. We've weathered long enough, We walked too far to ignore it now its destination or bust. Maybe thats the whole plan from Daybreak's marketing plan in the first place...
Which just proves (by their own words) that the silence means they got nuthin
Nanfoodle you gotta be kidding me with this stuff. The "we've heard nothing so its not good or bad" card is well past its use by date. This game is toast. At best its going to be morphed into a low cost mobile game so they can try to recoup some of their investment.
Could be, but again, guessing. Some MMOs have taken longer then this to make and we have heard less about other games till they get close to release. Its no different, we have to wait for the devs to get the ok from marketing to say anything. They will tell us when its best for their business. My point, why get upset about it or make up crap just to stir the pot? These devs have stuck out their necks trying to build something new and expand what the term MMO is. Fail or win they should be applauded, not smack talked.
The difference is in those games you heard nothing or little to nothing the entire time.
This is a unique case because it was a healthy amount of information and updates, and then a sudden complete and utter stop on any info, at all. I'm sorry but that simply doesn't bode well.
A stop in the flow of information after the company transferred owners, the community management team was gutted and the guys who talked the most about the game left a few months earlier (Omeed) and the other was fired (Dave). I don't find the silence that surprising.
Also, the real 100% silence started when Jens Andersen was named Executive Creative Director last Fall. Right after Terry mentioned they had their first company-wide EQNext server test. Going by how all the other game teams at Daybreak became silent around the same time, it looks more like it was a company wide policy that changed.
They also moved the company 3 months ago when things went dark. In the last week we are starting to see some things pop up from the staff, like a live stream they did about a week ago about some builds. New hire for H1Z1. So I would hope we start to see the EQN streams start up again soon. Again, we know nothing till they tell us.
I don't think the move had much to do with it. I think Terry was just too busy to do community interactions when Emily was sent over to EQ2 to speed up the expac release (probably along a few other devs). She just came back this week (she had some work visa paper issues earlier in the month, she technically came back on the team in December), she already posted a January wrap up and answered some questions in the Landmark forums.
Look lets not be blind to reality here. MMORPG games ARE built on hype. They will never recover development costs with a low impact "surprise" launch. They need to keep people interested, keep people salivating over it, keep it in peoples minds or they'll never notice when they decide to start communicating.
They have already wasted the immense hype sony had for the game game, and now must rebuild on that, which is absolutely stupid to do if things are going well, it doesn't cost money to have a few devs or office workers post a few twitters or reddit posts or AMA's or picture or short clips.
Silence from devs is a sign of death, it always was, it always will be.
I honestly think all resources at daybreak are now devoted to H1Z1 the only thing they have that is actually making some form of money. It would be stupid for a company run by financial investors (not gamers) to take resources away from the ONLY (I'm sure planet side 2 makes some money still) thing making them money and put it on EQN which I don't believe is nearly as good as it was made out to be (Sony would have kept it if it was)
I honestly think the silence, in this case, is a sign of a pending financial transaction.
I'm calling right now. EQN, and the storied IP getting sold. Daybreak can focus on making money with something that is slightly successful and focus, which makes investors happy, and they get a big pop of money, which makes investors happy (mitigating whatever amount they paid for picking SOE's bones)
I am certain that within the next 8-12 months youll get some communication from daybreak about some third party publisher (I'm betting Asian as the Asian publishers are flush with cash) acquiring the game (tencent or perfect world is my bet) or you wont hear anything, but some news outlet will report that the everquest IP and EQN game was sold.
So I'm calling it now. The cause for the sudden silence and cessation of media/communication/hype has to be pending negotiations for sale of the product and IP. The talent that made EQN and would have made it special is long gone. Doesn't make sense to hire a whole new team (or work with half staff) bring them up to speed, then hope they can carry the torch...and if they were doing that, they could easily communicate and keep the hype train rolling for a solid two years. No, the silence in this case is a sale, the EQ name and its IP (and the old games in maintenance mode) are probably in process of being sold, as they are worth something in name alone I believe (plus whoever buys gets a whole boatload of EQN code they could use to make whatever they wanted)
Comments
To get any money back on EQ:N it need to hit the market as broadly as it can. That is probably why it is taking so long, they have to readjust to the market over and over again to avoid doing a SW:ToR or WildStar.
This have been a good conversation
But yeah, complete radio silence very, very rarely means anything good in game development. Most likely we're just waiting for a cancellation announcement and closing of LM service.
Obviously Daybreak will try to recoup money how they can, maybe they force out a subpar product with a ton of cuts but my money is on just selling the assets like they have been doing with the same 40k MMO assets for a decade.
What makes you think the developers are beholden to tell us anything that changes? because they said so?
They also said there would be more resources for the company as a result of SOE being boughtout. Then 2 days later they fired half the company.
They also went on about how we were going to be blown away, because 2015 is going to be the year of EQNext!!! and then they stopped talking about the game development.
There is zero reason to believe this company will tell any outsider anything about yet more changes, delays or even cancellation until the very last minute.
Not to mention they already changed the game twice previously and didn't tell anyone until well after the fact.
^^
So I take if you have no reason why the developers have to tell anyone anything before they do it.
Instead you want people to believe that the developers can't make changes without first telling the few remaining fans of the game... because this time they made a some sort of promise to you and anyone not believing that must be the crazy ones.
Good luck with that.
Maybe 2016 is the year of EQN and when the developers start communucating again. /tinfoil
Things that are facts (IE not made up crap)
1) Daybreak said 2015 would be the year of EQN
2) 2015 is the year Daybreak stopped communicating about the game
3) Daybreak claimed the buyout would result in more resources
4) 2 days later, Daybreak fired half of the company
5) The development of this company and mmo are nothing like "other mmos before it". Not even close.
Things that are made up crap
1) Daybreak is "black boxing" the game, because they are working on cool and secret things
2) I expect Daybreak to tell me, you or anyone else anything.
3) Nothing has changed, because Daybreak would tell us if it did.
Just because you dont like the thing sbeing talked about, doesn't make them untrue.
Nanfoodle you gotta be kidding me with this stuff. The "we've heard nothing so its not good or bad" card is well past its use by date. This game is toast. At best its going to be morphed into a low cost mobile game so they can try to recoup some of their investment.
"The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently."
- Friedrich Nietzsche
But you do pretend to know what Daybreak is planning, doing or won’t do based on select snippets they make.
How many times have you used Daybreaks claim about not changing anything with the game unless they tell us in some effort to refute people who don’t think the game is going well and you do it pretty frequently.
When people said Smedley was fired and would not return, when people were talking about 50% of the company being fired, when people did not believe 2015 was the year of EQN, when people were discussing that EQN and Landmark were just one code base, etc. Again you called people liars, conspiracy theorites, claimed they were making things up, said the developers are the only source of real information and defended their claims.
Yet time and time again you were proven 100% wrong and the people you were attacking were proven right.
I am genuinely interested if you really have something that might lend some credibility to the claims you are making. So why do you think that this time anything will be any different?The difference is in those games you heard nothing or little to nothing the entire time.
This is a unique case because it was a healthy amount of information and updates, and then a sudden complete and utter stop on any info, at all. I'm sorry but that simply doesn't bode well.
"The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently."
- Friedrich Nietzsche
Also, the real 100% silence started when Jens Andersen was named Executive Creative Director last Fall. Right after Terry mentioned they had their first company-wide EQNext server test. Going by how all the other game teams at Daybreak became silent around the same time, it looks more like it was a company wide policy that changed.
Look lets not be blind to reality here. MMORPG games ARE built on hype. They will never recover development costs with a low impact "surprise" launch. They need to keep people interested, keep people salivating over it, keep it in peoples minds or they'll never notice when they decide to start communicating.
They have already wasted the immense hype sony had for the game game, and now must rebuild on that, which is absolutely stupid to do if things are going well, it doesn't cost money to have a few devs or office workers post a few twitters or reddit posts or AMA's or picture or short clips.
Silence from devs is a sign of death, it always was, it always will be.
I honestly think all resources at daybreak are now devoted to H1Z1 the only thing they have that is actually making some form of money. It would be stupid for a company run by financial investors (not gamers) to take resources away from the ONLY (I'm sure planet side 2 makes some money still) thing making them money and put it on EQN which I don't believe is nearly as good as it was made out to be (Sony would have kept it if it was)
I honestly think the silence, in this case, is a sign of a pending financial transaction.
I'm calling right now. EQN, and the storied IP getting sold. Daybreak can focus on making money with something that is slightly successful and focus, which makes investors happy, and they get a big pop of money, which makes investors happy (mitigating whatever amount they paid for picking SOE's bones)
I am certain that within the next 8-12 months youll get some communication from daybreak about some third party publisher (I'm betting Asian as the Asian publishers are flush with cash) acquiring the game (tencent or perfect world is my bet) or you wont hear anything, but some news outlet will report that the everquest IP and EQN game was sold.
So I'm calling it now. The cause for the sudden silence and cessation of media/communication/hype has to be pending negotiations for sale of the product and IP. The talent that made EQN and would have made it special is long gone. Doesn't make sense to hire a whole new team (or work with half staff) bring them up to speed, then hope they can carry the torch...and if they were doing that, they could easily communicate and keep the hype train rolling for a solid two years. No, the silence in this case is a sale, the EQ name and its IP (and the old games in maintenance mode) are probably in process of being sold, as they are worth something in name alone I believe (plus whoever buys gets a whole boatload of EQN code they could use to make whatever they wanted)