The Tattered Notebook What I Need To See In EverQuest Next
I was going to replace you positive folks on my adventures in rolling my 17,000th EverQuest II alt for this week's Tattered Notebook, however SOE determined to drop a Fan Faire Reside date on us, which kind of mucked up my nefarious plans.
Why can we care about SOE Dwell? Well, there are multiple reasons, but crucial one is that instead of having to attend until October, we now get to see (and contact!) EverQuest Subsequent in early August!
This information threw me for a little bit of a loop, I don't thoughts telling you. I mean, I knew that SOE's John Smedley flat-out assured a playable EQNext demo at SOE Dwell 2013. And that i knew that it is in truth 2013 already, so palms-on time with what might be the subsequent nice sandbox will happen inside of a calendar yr. It nonetheless seemed actually far off for some purpose, though, I assume as a result of it was simply three months ago that we were ending up SOE Stay 2012. August 1st goes to be here earlier than we comprehend it, so it's excessive time we begin prognosticating about EQNext, wouldn't you agree?
Hopefully it goes with out saying that I would wish to see this stuff along with the same old high-quality PvE questing, dungeon, raid, and development content material.
Heritage quests
Regardless that I performed the original EverQuest for only a few month, I really like love love EverQuest II's heritage strains. In a franchise that already units the standard for MMO lore, it was a genius idea to tie the 2 video games collectively and throw EQ vets a nostalgia-drenched bone by offering up extended epic quests with EQ-centric merchandise rewards.
Extra like that in EQNext, please.
Housing
You realize SOE is going to put housing in EQNext, as the corporate does the feature higher than some other MMO developer (sorry Trion -- great effort, though). The question is how can it ever be as good as EQII's implementation. Realistically I don't think it may possibly, at the least not at launch. It's actually a recreation-inside-the-game that has extra in widespread with Minecraft than typical MMO afterthought design, so if it takes SOE some time to suit it into EQNext's framework, I'm Ok with that. While we're dreaming, I'd also be greater than Ok with SOE discovering a solution to do EQII's housing in an open-world surroundings.
And sure, I know, Mr. Hardcore Gamer, housing and non-combat options are for Barbie lovers and casuals and nobody uses them. Apart from the tens of tens of millions of gamers who have made the Sims franchise the most popular in the historical past of the private computer.
A crafter-driven economic system
This is going to be tough for SOE to drag off, notably given the loot-drop legacy of themeparks like EQ and EQII. My definition of sandbox is constructed on an precise participant economic system, though, and considered one of my frustrations with EQII is the vast, intricate, and fun crafting system that is nearly totally wasted on a game where many of the gear is mob-dropped and bind-on-equip.
I do not envy the designers here because along with the balancing challenges inherent in making and sustaining a sandbox economy, they've additionally obtained to deal with the psyche of the new-faculty MMO player who doesn't need to be bothered with crafters and who wants to distant public sale his gear with a minimum of effort and participant interaction. At the same time, the agency has minced no phrases about the truth that EQNext is a player-pushed sandbox, so the way it navigates this potential minefield might be attention-grabbing to watch.
Good guild tools
Copy EQII's guild instruments. FUN GALLERY Anything much less makes Jef cry. The end.
Issues I don't wish to see
Before I knock off for the day, let me spend a few paragraphs on issues I don't wish to see. Firstly, in-sport VOIP. Look, I understand it makes for a superb again-of-the-field (do we nonetheless have sport containers?) bullet level, but the reality is that it is a waste of growth resources even if it is shoe-horned in there by a 3rd get together.
I imply, really, what guild with a clue does not use Ventrilo, TeamSpeak, or Mumble today? These are all free apps -- except you're the guild chief paying for the server, and even then it's normally much cheaper than a traditional MMO sub -- and so they dwarf the functionality present in present in-sport options. In-sport VOIP is going to be laggy, it'll sound like crap, and the only individuals who would possibly use it for more than five minutes are the poor saps in pickup dungeon groups.
Secondly, let's not have any of that dev-generated private story foolishness or the related voice-performing. This is a massively multiplayer sandbox, in spite of everything, and that i can consider at the least two recent AAA titles that have achieved greater than sufficient to justify tossing these concepts onto the proverbial pile of MMO fail. I'm probably preaching to the choir here, as Smedley has given multiple interviews over the past few months that illustrate the company's "the gamers are the content material" motto. But, nonetheless. MMORPG. Sandbox. Please do not with the only-player savior-of-the-cosmos nonsense. Thanks.
What's in a reputation?
Whew. This is not an exhaustive record of course, and I am fairly curious to see what some of you would like to see in EQNext. Rest assured that we'll be revisiting this subject typically as SOE ramps as much as its August reveal and past.
And with that, let's convey this week's subject of The Tattered Notebook to an in depth. Oh, that jogs my memory! With EQNext in our near future, MJ and i are probably going to rename the column sooner or later, each as a solution to freshen things up and to higher seize the spirit of the franchise going ahead. And we would love your assist! Feel free to put up your recommendations within the comments or contact us directly by way of [email protected] or [email protected].
EverQuest II is so massive that it takes two authors to make sense of all of it! Be part of Jef Reahard and MJ Guthrie as they discover Norrathian nooks and crannies from the Overrealm to Timorous Deep. Running each Saturday, The Tattered Notebook is your useful resource for all issues EQII and EQNext -- and catch MJ every 'EverQuest Two-sday' on Massively Television!
