Whether EQN sees the light of day or not is largely irrelevant, at this point, it would make absolutely no difference one way or the other, too little is really known about the game, and beyond Landmark, which imo, barely made any impression at all on the genre as a whole, its questionable whether the game (EQN) would have done that well even if it did release.
With Sony selling off SOE, probably due to SOE being a loss leader, its inevitable that some games will be cut, and development/game support reassigned to make the 'company' profitable, things will change, and it may well be that EQN will be shelved, either temporarily or permanently.
Rather than worry about the possible effect of EQN on the MMO genre, it might be best to look at the existing games that were in the now renamed SOE's catalogue, games will need to be profitable, which means inevitably that some will be axed, and some will undoubtedly have their monetisation models, 'adjusted' probably through pay gates and other cash shop options. But even this will only affect the rest of the MMO market if its successful.
At this point, there is not a single game in 'SOE's catalogue that can be considered 'safe', and that is probably the only thing that can affect the MMO genre as a whole, it might even indicate the beginning of the end for F2P, which SOE was increasingly pioneering.
You know I thought the same several months ago - that there were no AAA MMORPGs in the works by any western company - and I was wrong.
There are 2 yet announced AAA MMORPGS in the works by 2 major studios.
won't say more for obvious reasons, and no I don't have any written proof so its simply my word at this point - due to policy here at MMORPG - please treat this as unsubstantiated rumor.
I am just putting that disclaimer so I don't get locked/deleted boss
OK, now you have to give us some more info. Genre, developer, or at least something to spark our imagination.
Now it looks like EQ:N might be either cancelled before release, or turned into something else, much more casual oriented.
What do you mean now? It's already gone through, what, at least 2 direction changes already?
The initial reaction from forum posters upon hearing of this new direction the first time around was one of possibly going back to EQ1's roots and creating a virtual world filled with danger and interdependence. With the struggles of every other themepark release recently, it seemed like an actual possibility.
Instead what it looks like we're getting, if we get it at all, is a super casual mish-mosh of GW2 and MOBA's. If that indeed is the direction this MMO is going, then for the sake of the genre, i hope it does meet its inevitable death.
Really? May be now I will spend 15 min to check it out instead of ignoring it. It is f2p, right?
Is it solo-able, with instances, and that I don't have to depend on others for my fun?
Originally posted by Kyleran It means the end of game hopping, players can (and should) pick a title and stick with it for the long haul, and quit always looking over the horizon for the next great savior of the genre.
Really? Players "should" do this or that? We are talking about entertainment here .. i don't see why players shouldn't enjoy games the way they see fit.
And I think EQN is f2p, so certainly it is "hoppable". I may even spend 15 min checking it out if it is solo-friendly, and have enough free content.
Of course, because a game that is PvP focused is a niche. If it was FFA only PvP, I'd be in agreement, but they're attempting something new, and that includes RvR & faction-based PvP as well. We can't really state how a market reacts to a game that attempts to bring all the PvP types under a single system yet.
Of course, because a game that is PvP focused is a niche. If it was FFA only PvP, I'd be in agreement, but they're attempting something new, and that includes RvR & faction-based PvP as well.
They called themselves niche, they are shooting for a small market of players who want things most gamers dont want. Looting players as one such feature. EQN is not going to be cancelled. May see the project change at best but they were not bought out to shut things down. Many places quote the new owners talking about expanding Daybreak. If anything is slated to be shut down, the older titles should be the worry if they are not making money.
Everyone keeps saying this, but there isn't really anything to base any hope on it other than words and a few youtube glimpses. I would love to see something new and exciting, but until I see extensive gameplay footage I am hardly going to get my hopes up. Sometimes being silent can cause more hype than coming right out and showing a product. Perhaps this is the developers strategy. /shrug
They were saying the same thing about AA and look what happened to that. I also feel its time to pick a game and stop hopping from one to another because of hype. The only new game to come that's improving is ESO. And it really sucked when it came out. As far as i see it this Crowfall is being hyped just like every other game that turned out crappy. Sick all the false promising these game companies put out. All mmo's are still basic. Kill stuff lvl up get new gear rinse and repeat. So its just time to pick one and play it.
Some of you guys who think that no announcements for EQN means "business as usual" for EQN really have no idea what it means to be acquired by an investment firm.
Some of you guys who think that no announcements for EQN means "business as usual" for EQN really have no idea what it means to be acquired by an investment firm.
Logically it is extremely silly to think that new company will kill EQ NEXT, one of the biggest and most anticipated MMO by SOE in years since EQ.
There is no sense in that. What else SOE got anyways worth investing money into?
The real issue currently that all AAA studios are trying to get a grasp on is - how to make a AAA MMORPG that doesn't cost $100mil and 6 years to make.
Build it faster and cheaper without sacrificing quality is the holy grail right now.
Open world full fledged "virtual world" MMORPG?
Not possible. Yeah I've read about several ideas how to achieve that, but my opinion is : not possible. Those new cost-cutting ideas if lucky will barely be able to keep with offsetting ever increasing cost due to better graphics, better AI, more complex and/or engaging gameplay, etc requirements from consumers.
So again : not possible. At least until we get true Artifical Intelligence build that will do most of the work
Only way is to make diffrent type of game, slap MMORPG label on it and market is like it. That was tried already many times during last decade vith varying success though.
Originally posted by Kyleran It means the end of game hopping, players can (and should) pick a title and stick with it for the long haul, and quit always looking over the horizon for the next great savior of the genre.
Should give a number of smaller devs the opportunity to get their games off the ground and players may stick with them long enough to see them grow.
It also likely will see the exodus of players who never should have been targeted for in this genre, and we have a chance to see the return of proper MMORPGs.
Actually, things are finally looking up again, I am not looking for EQN to save anything.
One problem with this. Its not the players' fault for the game hopping. The industry has done this to itself due to its cash grab business model of releasing unfinished, buggy mmos, and faux cash rape alphas and betas, with nothing more than basic beginner game content out at launch.
If companies continue with this unethical business model, I don't see how the game hopping and short shelf life of 3 months on most of today's mmos is going to magically go away.
SOE changes name to Daybreak games, cause dey break games.
So in retrospect: TESO, Wildstar and to some extent AA (I guess it falls under your Asian catergory OP) had a pretty nice timing for release... no new major titles = no exodus coz of new releases. And they failed (ok, debatable here what fail is, but I think all 3 could easily be much much better and more populated as they are now) miserably.
I think you shouldn't exclude Asian games though...Sony was from Asia the last time I looked
Some of you guys who think that no announcements for EQN means "business as usual" for EQN really have no idea what it means to be acquired by an investment firm.
Logically it is extremely silly to think that new company will kill EQ NEXT, one of the biggest and most anticipated MMO by SOE in years since EQ.
There is no sense in that. What else SOE got anyways worth investing money into?
Agreed. The "sunk costs" related to the past years of EQ:N development are not an issue for the new owners. Those were costs already absorbed by Sony during the years that they were incurred.
I doubt SOE was bought for their existing MMO stable only. The "in development" products would have been a major feature.
And as for buying SOE to use them to make mobile and console games ? Which fool would do that ? If that's what you want, then buy a company that at least has expertise and a proven track-record in that area.
Some of you guys who think that no announcements for EQN means "business as usual" for EQN really have no idea what it means to be acquired by an investment firm.
Logically it is extremely silly to think that new company will kill EQ NEXT, one of the biggest and most anticipated MMO by SOE in years since EQ.
There is no sense in that. What else SOE got anyways worth investing money into?
Agreed. The "sunk costs" related to the past years of EQ:N development are not an issue for the new owners. Those were costs already absorbed by Sony during the years that they were incurred.
I doubt SOE was bought for their existing MMO stable only. The "in development" products would have been a major feature.
And as for buying SOE to use them to make mobile and console games ? Which fool would do that ? If that's what you want, then buy a company that at least has expertise and a proven track-record in that area.
Some of you guys who think that no announcements for EQN means "business as usual" for EQN really have no idea what it means to be acquired by an investment firm.
Anyone who thinks everything will stay the same is nuts, from what I gamther SoE Live is cancelled for 2015. But scrapping EQN would be like chucking out money. #1 anticipated MMO of 2015. That may change with other games coming out but as it stands EQN = Money. Lots of if done right.
List all AAA MMORPGs that are in open development right now with release window of next 2 years.
But filter it by : Not developed by Chinese or Asian company , must be true mmorpg and not lobby mini mmo.
Let me answer this for you, the list is not very long : Everquest Next
Thats it... Except of that one MMO, nothing else is planned or will come in long time from now, by any company that actually has experience or resources to produce massive MMO game.
Remember we used to have 2-3 AAA MMOs being released each year.
Now it looks like EQ:N might be either cancelled before release, or turned into something else, much more casual oriented. And nothing else is on horizon, not even in development.
I never dreamed mmorpg genre will hit the rock bottom like this ...
* warhammer 40k online (bEhavior)
* camelot unchained
* star citizen (RSI, a budget of 80 million is surely AAA)
* lineage eternal (ncsoft)
* h1z1 (even tho i dont like it. still gonna be released by sony)
hmm... maybe not only one eh?
"I'll never grow up, never grow up, never grow up! Not me!"
Some of you guys who think that no announcements for EQN means "business as usual" for EQN really have no idea what it means to be acquired by an investment firm.
Logically it is extremely silly to think that new company will kill EQ NEXT, one of the biggest and most anticipated MMO by SOE in years since EQ.
There is no sense in that. What else SOE got anyways worth investing money into?
Agreed. The "sunk costs" related to the past years of EQ:N development are not an issue for the new owners. Those were costs already absorbed by Sony during the years that they were incurred.
I doubt SOE was bought for their existing MMO stable only. The "in development" products would have been a major feature.
And as for buying SOE to use them to make mobile and console games ? Which fool would do that ? If that's what you want, then buy a company that at least has expertise and a proven track-record in that area.
Emphasis on this 'It also means new exciting developments for our existing IP and games as we can now fully embrace the multi-platform world we are living in.'
That's not the first time I have read that. They are making it clear they are focusing on multi-platform gaming from here on out.
I've edited your title and the post so that it doesn't make people think that any sort of announcement had been made. It's obviously confused a few people already.
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Comments
SOE was bought by another company. The details should be on the main page. They are now owned by 'Daybreak' instead of Sony.
Whether EQN sees the light of day or not is largely irrelevant, at this point, it would make absolutely no difference one way or the other, too little is really known about the game, and beyond Landmark, which imo, barely made any impression at all on the genre as a whole, its questionable whether the game (EQN) would have done that well even if it did release.
With Sony selling off SOE, probably due to SOE being a loss leader, its inevitable that some games will be cut, and development/game support reassigned to make the 'company' profitable, things will change, and it may well be that EQN will be shelved, either temporarily or permanently.
Rather than worry about the possible effect of EQN on the MMO genre, it might be best to look at the existing games that were in the now renamed SOE's catalogue, games will need to be profitable, which means inevitably that some will be axed, and some will undoubtedly have their monetisation models, 'adjusted' probably through pay gates and other cash shop options. But even this will only affect the rest of the MMO market if its successful.
At this point, there is not a single game in 'SOE's catalogue that can be considered 'safe', and that is probably the only thing that can affect the MMO genre as a whole, it might even indicate the beginning of the end for F2P, which SOE was increasingly pioneering.
OK, now you have to give us some more info. Genre, developer, or at least something to spark our imagination.
Really? May be now I will spend 15 min to check it out instead of ignoring it. It is f2p, right?
Is it solo-able, with instances, and that I don't have to depend on others for my fun?
Really? Players "should" do this or that? We are talking about entertainment here .. i don't see why players shouldn't enjoy games the way they see fit.
And I think EQN is f2p, so certainly it is "hoppable". I may even spend 15 min checking it out if it is solo-friendly, and have enough free content.
Of course, because a game that is PvP focused is a niche. If it was FFA only PvP, I'd be in agreement, but they're attempting something new, and that includes RvR & faction-based PvP as well. We can't really state how a market reacts to a game that attempts to bring all the PvP types under a single system yet.
They called themselves niche, they are shooting for a small market of players who want things most gamers dont want. Looting players as one such feature. EQN is not going to be cancelled. May see the project change at best but they were not bought out to shut things down. Many places quote the new owners talking about expanding Daybreak. If anything is slated to be shut down, the older titles should be the worry if they are not making money.
and even Blizz, which has all the money it needs, scrapped Titan. I wonder if SOE .. i mean Daybreak .. is learning anything from that.
They were saying the same thing about AA and look what happened to that. I also feel its time to pick a game and stop hopping from one to another because of hype. The only new game to come that's improving is ESO. And it really sucked when it came out. As far as i see it this Crowfall is being hyped just like every other game that turned out crappy. Sick all the false promising these game companies put out. All mmo's are still basic. Kill stuff lvl up get new gear rinse and repeat. So its just time to pick one and play it.
Some of you guys who think that no announcements for EQN means "business as usual" for EQN really have no idea what it means to be acquired by an investment firm.
Logically it is extremely silly to think that new company will kill EQ NEXT, one of the biggest and most anticipated MMO by SOE in years since EQ.
There is no sense in that. What else SOE got anyways worth investing money into?
Open world full fledged "virtual world" MMORPG?
Not possible. Yeah I've read about several ideas how to achieve that, but my opinion is : not possible. Those new cost-cutting ideas if lucky will barely be able to keep with offsetting ever increasing cost due to better graphics, better AI, more complex and/or engaging gameplay, etc requirements from consumers.
So again : not possible. At least until we get true Artifical Intelligence build that will do most of the work
Only way is to make diffrent type of game, slap MMORPG label on it and market is like it. That was tried already many times during last decade vith varying success though.
One problem with this. Its not the players' fault for the game hopping. The industry has done this to itself due to its cash grab business model of releasing unfinished, buggy mmos, and faux cash rape alphas and betas, with nothing more than basic beginner game content out at launch.
If companies continue with this unethical business model, I don't see how the game hopping and short shelf life of 3 months on most of today's mmos is going to magically go away.
So in retrospect: TESO, Wildstar and to some extent AA (I guess it falls under your Asian catergory OP) had a pretty nice timing for release... no new major titles = no exodus coz of new releases. And they failed (ok, debatable here what fail is, but I think all 3 could easily be much much better and more populated as they are now) miserably.
I think you shouldn't exclude Asian games though...Sony was from Asia the last time I looked
Agreed. The "sunk costs" related to the past years of EQ:N development are not an issue for the new owners. Those were costs already absorbed by Sony during the years that they were incurred.
I doubt SOE was bought for their existing MMO stable only. The "in development" products would have been a major feature.
And as for buying SOE to use them to make mobile and console games ? Which fool would do that ? If that's what you want, then buy a company that at least has expertise and a proven track-record in that area.
Most of their MMO(RPG)s were made or acquired with Western Market in mind by western developer studios. Often sold only in West as well.
It is not about where is corporate HQ located.
Bingo. Exactly my point.
Anyone who thinks everything will stay the same is nuts, from what I gamther SoE Live is cancelled for 2015. But scrapping EQN would be like chucking out money. #1 anticipated MMO of 2015. That may change with other games coming out but as it stands EQN = Money. Lots of if done right.
* warhammer 40k online (bEhavior)
* camelot unchained
* star citizen (RSI, a budget of 80 million is surely AAA)
* lineage eternal (ncsoft)
* h1z1 (even tho i dont like it. still gonna be released by sony)
hmm... maybe not only one eh?
"I'll never grow up, never grow up, never grow up! Not me!"
https://forums.station.sony.com/soe/index.php?threads/sony-online-entertainment-becomes-daybreak-game-company.11500068269/
Emphasis on this 'It also means new exciting developments for our existing IP and games as we can now fully embrace the multi-platform world we are living in.'
That's not the first time I have read that. They are making it clear they are focusing on multi-platform gaming from here on out.
To give feedback on moderation, contact mikeb@mmorpg.com
https://forums.station.sony.com/soe/index.php?threads/sony-online-entertainment-becomes-daybreak-game-company.11500068269/page-3
https://twitter.com/j_smedley/status/562352848390733824
/Thread