SOE and EverQuest Next

Okay, the SOE reveal of Everquest Next wasn't what I was expecting, and I don't think that it was what most people were expecting. I think that SOE did a dis-service to themselves with this because a lot of people have been waiting for this for a long time and it was expected to be a lot farther along than it actually appears to be. The result is that they have taken a very excited group of people ... showed them some really cool stuff ... and then said 'but you can't have it.'

We're at a point where what is out there is in a down swing and both titles that were expected to pick that up and be the 'next big thing' (Elder Scrolls Online and EverQuest Next) have both pushed off at least until next year. The result is that a lot of people in feeling the let down of not getting the game they wanted to play are now focusing their disappointment on what was shown when really it was over the lack of a beta/release announcement.

Add to this the fact that EQ:N is currently 9 years removed from EQII and the fact that the EQ Fan base have been looking for a re-made EQ, and now they're being told 'wait an undefined time longer.' The fans have known that EQN has been in the works for a while now (this is currently the 3rd 'version' of EQN that they're building). So a lot of those fans are kind of going '10 years and you're not ready for prime time?'

I want to take a moment and take a look at what we did find out ....

Graphics -

I love the look, something of a painted feel to it. I've seen people describe it as 'Disney' or 'Dragon's Lair' like. Both are reasonably good comparisons. The look and atmosphere that they've created is wonderful with both richness and depth. Moving through the areas in the fly-overs that they did felt natural and the day/night cycle is very nice (though I expected that given the day/night cycle in PS2 which uses the same engine). The graphics will certainly create a world in which a player can feel immersed. I suspect that to play on the settings used for what was shown will require some serious system specs, but SOE has generally done a good job with graphics scaling in the past (and with PS2) so while things may not be AS pretty they will still look pretty amazing.

Those of you that know me, however, know that I don't put a whole lot of stock in graphics. Graphics are eye candy and are great for getting 'oooh's and 'ahhh's but long term eye candy doesn't stay sweet. That is to say, if all the game has is good graphics it's not going to last.

So what else grabbed my attention -

Multi-classing -

A lot of people weren't keen on this aspect, I like it in concept but I'll need more information about the mechanics of it before I can really say if it's a good system or not. The concept of being able to collect different classes and mix/match abilities to create the class you want is something that I really like. The idea that you can customize the abilities of your character to suit your style of play, or the situation at hand, is great. It is, in the end, nothing new. Rift has a similar system (at least on the surface though in Rift you're limited by your archtype) as does The Secret World, just from the MMOs that I've played.

People frequently complain that 'people just find the best combos and everyone just uses those' ... well that's a problem with people, not the system. I have also found that, more often than not, those 'best combos' aren't that much better than other combos, if at all, it's just someone said on a forum somewhere 'you have to play this combo or your going to be gimp' and people bought it, often without checking it out in any way. Non-traditional groups worked in EQ and I'm willing to bet that 'non-traditional' ability combos can work in EQN.

Destructible World -

I think this is going to be bigger than a lot of people think. No, the destruction isn't permanent (in most cases at least) but it does add tactics (and dangers) to the mix that have never existed in MMOs before (blasting out the bridge to stop the mobs from getting to you or falling down the hole that you just blew in the floor.)

Procedurally Generated Content -

The idea that the world has caverns that can be dug into (or blasted into) and explored and that those caverns can change over time is huge for people that like exploration and 'adventuring'. Details on this were a sparse, but I suspect that this will also be a means of gathering certain crafting materials and the like. I also suspect that these areas will not be free of dangers, both from the environment as well as hostile mobs. Which brings us to ....

Emergent AI -

The idea of mobs that know what they like and what they don't and will move and adapt to changes to the environment to find what they want (and avoid what they want to avoid) is, frankly, amazing. That you can (for a time at least) actually get those orc camps to pull up and move out of the commonlands or that they'll move off into a corner where people aren't traveling as much, and the idea that pushing them out of an area may cause other consequences (such as pissing off Emperor Crush so that he starts sending raiding parties out). This is something that players and developers have wanted in MMOs for AGES ... the idea of a dynamic world ... a world that changes in responce to the actions of the players.

Can they pull it off, and to what extent remains to be seen of course, but I'm willing to believe that if they're willing to stick their neck out on this that they feel that they have a pretty solid base for it.

Rally Calls -

 Large quests that are community wide (that is everyone on the server is on the quest) span months and permanently change the game world. This concept (particularly combined with some of the other stuff) is huge. People are shrugging and going 'whatever', but I think this is a result of a SOE misstep again. They called them 'public quests' and I think most people just filed them away as that and didn't really pay attention or think about the rest of what was said.

These are events that are procedurally generated (like parts of the world) and PERMANENTLY change the world (now this doesn't mean that another Rally Call may not come along and undo that change ... but that's life like ... over time nothing is really permanent). Also, these events are server specific ... meaning each server is going to develop uniquely .... and my experience on server A won't be the same as yours on server B.

More so, from the description given, there is going to be several different ways to participate in these events (and remember they're intended to take months to complete by the population of the server) including crafting, adventuring and potentially raiding. These have a potential to draw a community together more so than some other ideas that I've seen. And in the end community will make a MMO more than any other aspect of the game.

 Roleplay -

They did say that they want to create a 'rich roleplay environment', and from character expressions and in game atmosphere I think they have a strong start on this. Until we get more information on the lore and game itself, however, this will ultimately remain an unknown.

Now ... to be fair ... I did see things that disappoint and concern me as well.

Movement -

Okay, the movement looks fantastic, don't get me wrong here. But the focus on fast, fluid movement means that they expect you to be doing a lot of it. This worries me that they intend for the party to be moving around and being very active. By nature this limits socialization, or at the least segregates the player base into 'voice' and 'non-voice' players. I'm not fond of socializing through voice ... voice chat has it's place in a combat situation where I can say 'behind you' a lot faster than I can type it. But I'm old school and I prefer text chat for 'every day' socializing ... and DEFINITELY for RP as voice in a RP situation is often immersion breaking (players rarely sound like their characters) and/or uncomfortable.

Early Hype / Lack of Information -

While the general lack of information is something that time will likely fix ...I can't help but feel that they've started the hype machine on this too soon. Had they not hyped the 'big announcement' for EQN players would have still wanted it, not been 'disappointed', and they wouldn't have to try and keep the hype going for the next year or more until we actually get to the point of launch. I could be wrong and they may be closer to launch than I think, but the lack of info like 'playable races', 'starting classes', and the only showing 2(?) zones and preliminary music mixes (mind you it sounds great and given who's composing it I expect it to be epic) lead me to believe that we are still a good way off from seeing this launch ready.

Holding hype for a long period of time will wear the fans down and/or build their expectations up to unreachable levels (to the point of if it doesn't cure cancer and bring world peace they'll call it a complete failure). Now they are going to release 'Landmark' winter 2013 ... this will be a world building game where they are inviting the community to take part in developing some of the things that will ultimately be found in EQN when it finally launches. This will buy them some time and allow them to get some feedback about things without being full on Beta and without the leaks inherent in a beta. It will also give them material to post shots and get the community involved in an evolving world and that will help keep people interested.

Some people, in their disappointment in the fact that EQN isn't launching as anticipated this year, are going cynical and saying things like 'It's just going to be EverCraft' or 'They just want us to do their job' ... but I think they're looking at things the wrong way around. They are giving us the opportunity to help create and define some of the things in EQN ... they are giving us a chance to make it 'our' world.

EQN has the makings of a revolutionary game. Maybe most of the individual pieces aren't earth shattering, but putting them together and in a MMO is game changing. They are offering us, at long last, a world that we can change, build, destroy and live in. A game where our actions can matter more so than they have ever been able to matter in the past. A world in which we CAN make our mark ... I for one will be eagerly awaiting more information and the game itself .... I look forward to stepping into this new Norrath and leading the Scales into a new Era both in EQN: Landmark and, when it is time, into EQN itself.

Klikhizz Grimscale,
Master of the Scales of Pain
Scales.Guildlaunch.com
@ScalesofPain on twitter
ScalesofPain on Facebook