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tentonhammer news/opinions on EQNext
Nadia
Member UncommonPosts: 11,798
http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/3171
i liked this article
EverQuest Next: The Ties That Bind - Player Reputations
http://www.tentonhammer.com/everquest-next/opinions/player-reputations
Comments
I don't think any MMO that has come out has purposely denied anyone of making the same bonds that they had made back in the days of old. The players just aren't interested in doing so. You say the quests are too solo friendly or don't require groups... what if quests back in the day didn't? Would you have bothered to group up with anyone then? Perhaps forced grouping forced you into something you really didn't want to do? I'm grouping up with you out of necessity, not because I want to.
Why not make really small servers? Instead of massive ones? If getting to know your fellow man is the end goal, wouldn't it make more sense that you'd get to know them if they weren't one of one of thousands running around? But you want more people to play with, so you instinctively create your characters on the server most likely to be full on release day. Do you end up knowing more people because of this? No.
Developers can't poke you with a pitchfork and make you a socialite... you expect them to. Just as you expect them to put in features to make your gaming experience more "fun". Isn't that exactly what they've been doing but now your saying that isn't what you want at all... I want it the way it was... hard, slow, difficult... I don't think so, if you did, those old games would be the top dog and unchanged unlike what we have today.
I think if they built the game people claim they want, it would end up on the dung heap just as fast as all the others... people just refuse to admit that they've changed and everyone around them has changed. I bet none of the people you played with back then would even cross paths with you today in a new game... well maybe you'd pass each other, but you wouldn't say a word to one another when you did. Perhaps, just perhaps, all the wall flowers were forced to talk to people and in reality, if they weren't forced to do so, never would have... and the face of MMOs would probably look vastly similar as they do today.
Whenever you say, they should do it they way they used to... the odds are very high, it's not going to turn out the same the second time around... in other words, you place greater faith in it being a success than in it's ability to actually be one.
EQ didnt have quest hubs
but some of the larger quests that existed were Epic Weapon quests for all classes
the Epic quests took *months* of questing and assistance from other players
there were also quests like the Solstice Earring quest that required assistance from other players
or the Coldain Ring / Coldain Shawl quest series in Velious
----
EQ2 carried on the tradition of multiplayer quests with their Heritage and Signature quests
http://eq2.wikia.com/wiki/Heritage_Quests_Timeline
http://eq2.wikia.com/wiki/Signature_Quests_Timeline
i think its a safe bet that EQN will have something similar
EQ2 fan sites
I never played EQ1 but I did play EQ2 and absolutely love the Heritage and signature quest lines. They were long, challenging and extremely rewarding and also hope they bring these into EQN
Part of the problem I see now too is that it's way too quick and easy to max another character out these days. Got a bad rep on your main? Not a problem! Take a week or two to get an alt to max level and start over! Picked the wrong faction in your RvR game? Forget about it! Make another alt on the opposite faction and join in on the facerolling of your former faction in no time.
WIth EQ, it took so long to level, many people either did not want to level an alt to take over for their main or else would be exposed as the asshat they were long before reaching max level. Requiring to spend more time developing your character to max level and requiring group play for a good portion of that would help tremendously I believe. I would be fine with EQ's harsh leveling curve again, although I wouldn't mind if they smoothed it out just a tad through the first few levels or so. It won't be the cure all, but it does reduce or eliminate one big thing that people do to get a fresh start too easy just to do it all over again and be total asshats again once they get what they want.
Played: EQ1 (10 Years), Guild Wars, Rift, TERA
Tried: EQ2, Vanguard, Lord of the Rings Online, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Runes of Magic and countless others...
Currently Playing: GW2
Nytlok Sylas
80 Sylvari Ranger
I don't think anything EQ1 or EQ2 had is a safe bet to have in EQNext. It may not even have quests as we know them.
i cant deny that
EQ2 fan sites
Wll Tentonhammer must not have been there at the launch of EQ2.They tried to carry over some meaning to group and your player but soon dished it all out the door because there were too many complaints.
Personally i enjoy the old school way ,of a long tough journey with grouping,corpse runs and being accountable to each other.However the fact that SOE dumped it all tells me they are not going to go back down that road again.If anything they are constantly dumbing down their games even further,looking to easily stream line the design for ease of manufacturing the game.
They started with crafting mats,corpse runs,everyone gets xp loss for a death,it was all tossed away.Geesh i remember accidentally falling off the side of a cliff and dying and losing all my valuable gear and i had no money to replace it.Also the spot were i fell,could not be reached ,so i lost all that gear,i was not angry,frustrated yes,but i was happy with that design.
I think too many people are trying to think outside the box,SOE is not known for outside thinking,i truly believe,the entire design will not be based on a grand gaming scheme but more so to engulf cash shop.I hope i am wrong,i do have some faith in SOE bringing me a playable game,i play many of their games but my gut tells me a weak design with RMT.
One thing thatg does give me really big hope,is Brad works for these guys,he brought VG above and beyond EQ or EQ2,he just didn't have the marketing clout or money to finish his dream game.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
There is no way this game is coming out this year.
I tend to think you are correct but we could be in for a big surprise come august
People thought that about Planetside 2 last year, but they rolled that out very quickly after not talking about it much.
There is no way you know that the game is not coming out this year.
=P notice the "if" in my post lol
I really hope it doesnt get released on consoles too.
It pretty much ensures it being a 5 skill dodge etc style game that weve been getting lately.
And I personally cant stand them.
The problem with EQ for me is the graphics and gameplay feel. The graphics are terrible. The third person mode is terrible, you are dead center on the screen instead of being two thirds down like every other MMO. I know this stems from EQ starting as a first person game, but it makes it difficult to play and frustrating as a tank to not be able to feel like I can see all around me, even when moving the mouse.
As far as mechanics go, i love it, i love the AA system and the the difficulty in leveling, even tho they now have mercenaries, I still die all the time at level 41 as a newer player because i fall back on my unfortunate WoW thought process and pull level 45 mob when I am level 41 and I simply die.
As a tank, my very existence in every MMO has been forced grouping in order to level at a reasonable comparable pace. This whole idea of people being mad that they have to group when they do not want to is ridiculous.
I will say it before and I will say it again. WoWs greatest growth was during BC from 4.5 million players to 11 million players. During that time there was very difficult dungeons(heroic) flags and keys to get "attuned" and linear raid progression. You also chose your lot. Sure you could be a bad ass quester and know the lore and get the cool quest items and be happy. You could be a badass heroic dungeon runner and have the reputations and get the epic gear and you could be a raider that progressed through the game.
The problem with the current system is not of forced grouping but of entitlement to experience all of the content, regardless of effort and time put in, we are not even talking skill but time and effort.
That is how you go from 11 million players that have to do a long quest chain and are "forced" to group with players to get flagged and quest updates to get "attuned" and finally raid Hyjal and Black Temple, down to 8 million players that queue up to "get theirs" while never even having to speak to another player.
And guess what, they are still "forced" to group with other players. Blizzard simply took the time and effort out of the equation.
The middle of Wrath of the Lich king is when my server first guild lead by ex Death and Taxes raid leader saw the first problems with this system. We were not able to vett players out because everyone had the gear handed to them and keys and flags and "attunements" were gone. How did we know who was serious and who was an entitled jerk and who knew what they were doing? That was the fall of WoW right there in a nutshell and the fall of the industry as a whole.
It has nothing to do with "forced" grouping and everything to do with lazy people that want their soccer mom, everyone is a winner trophies.
At any rate, no serious attempt has been made to have stepping stones like flags and keys since, outside of EQ/EQ2/VG, not after WoW abandoned them.
At this point I doubt we will ever see this type of social gameplay develop ever again because it is exclusionary, as it should be, and the developers stand to make too much money from entitled players that simply do not care about the health of the game let alone if other players are happy or interacting.
We have all beat this horse to death.
I will say if they made a remake of EQ with better graphics and moved the character center down to 2/3 of the screen I would be playing there a LOT more. Also people do not play it now because everyone is max level and there is 14 years of gameplay to get caught up on it is daunting.
No one has started from scratch and had these systems implemented, with great graphics. EQ2 had many more issues, mainly bleeding subs to WoW, and it had little to do with EQ2 as a game and more about SOE as a company. Basically everyone was more or less told EQ was being shut down, and why invest into EQ2 when you will just lose your toon, that is what happened, along with the terrible reputation SOE had, new players made a choice between this terrible reputation SOE company or Blizzard which had WC3. The choice was easy for the uninitiated.
I expect a ton of surprises in August, but none of them includeing a release date anywhere before late 2014.
I just feel they want to explode it onto the scene at their own show and combine it with a sooner than expected launch window.
Agreed - PS2 came out of nowhere for the most part. They say that it will be playable at the Live event in August and that it won't be just like alpha or beta, but more polished. I bet March 2014 at the latest.
That would be awesome if it turns out to be true!
I'm dying to see the Karanas, Mistmoore, and Lower Guk again!