I figure that somehow, somewhere The Nameless will make themselves known. The gods it created are out of control and destroying the very creation that brought The Nameless joy for the first time in its existence. Kerafyrm finally finds Veeshan and an absolute cataclysm/disaster of cosmic proportions takes place, thereby getting Nameless' attention. It all unfolds from there, and the possibilities are endless.
If I could do anything I wanted? I'd offer to bring back every player from every time period in the game for a final raid against Kerafyrm.
I don't think the EQ IP will ever completely die. When EQ and EQ2 are sunset there will be a new version that happens at some point. With that in mind I like the idea if a final Epoch ending battle (think LoTR) followed by a personal solo quest that gives your character a final ending. Maybe the death of Firiona Vie and her DE nemesis. This would give closure to the game, your character, and a final "end", but allow another everquest in the future with minimal retcons.
ok my idea is very weird, the expansion before the last will make everybody level up to be Gods, then the ending would be trying to figure out how to de-level your toon to level 1 again. Gary Gygax would be a NPC for both.
My plan for Sunsetting EQ would be getting Pantheon to beta so that I never have to worry about sunsetting EQ.
Oof. You're going to be waiting a long time. First, it'll never ship. Second, if it does manage to ship, it will be a huge disappointment for EQ players. Just my opinion.
You say, 'Hail, Zebuxoruk' Zebuxoruk says 'All has been restored; all that remains is the final merging of the tired shards of reality into a unified whole. Norrath, as you knew it, is [saved] . . . For now.' You say, 'It's saved' Zebuxoruk says 'There is no escape for either of us, however. The gods will never notice that I have served my eternal sentence of imprisonment many times over, so I will yet linger in my cage when Norrath is reconstituted. You, of course, will return to Norrath with your friends, and do the great things you do, live out your life, leave your [legacy], until at last you pass on. Then, the cycle will someday begin anew as the lamentable Discordians again dabble in time.' You say, 'What about our legacy?' Zebuxoruk says 'It is my fate to be punished for the endless eternities, for giving mortals the power you needed to save yourselves, to prevent the destruction of Norrath and the planar realities it touches. Your legacy will be to remember me, and to use the time you have gained to [prepare] for what is to come. Norrath cannot stand forever against its invaders.' You say, 'We will prepare' Zebuxoruk says 'Soon you will leave, and I will watch you go through the portal. Later, as the portal shimmers to show a different vista, I can see what I call the Thing's Eye . . . something which waits for the right moment to strike. Perhaps when the [weave] of time becomes too weak, it will come.' You say, 'The weave?' Zebuxoruk says 'There are many curious creatures beyond the shattered shards of time. The Discordians are aware of some of them; some they even created, others they evicted from the worlds they struck. Others are completely foreign and beyond your vaguest appreciation. Watch for them. They will sweep aside the very foundations of Norrath in the cosmos, and they will destroy me and all the other gods. I have [foreseen] this. I have spent eternities gazing through the portals, looking upon impossible visions.' You say, 'What have you foreseen?' Zebuxoruk says 'When the timeline is weak enough, a new assault will come to Norrath. By then your powers will be so great that both past and future will be evacuated, their peoples to make a last stand in the Now. What a magnificent effort that shall be, though it will be utterly futile. At the moment of your greatest despair, look up and see the Alabaster Tower which shall offer your [salvation].' You say, 'Our salvation?' Zebuxoruk says 'You ask too much of me. I saw what I saw, but can offer no evidence. It is but another path among ruined timelines, perhaps one that will yet not be taken. Go now, and savor your victories. I shall wait here in endless timelessness, here with this forlorn tree, for your unwitting return.' (Inside the Alabaster Tower we enter a portal and it logs us out for the last time and we escape to the real world).
Everquest will never truly end because there will always be the e-m-u community. We'd lose our official characters but there will always be a way to get your EQ fix. I would love EQ's server code to go open source and merge efforts with the e-m-u community someday.
I would be OK with a Stanley Parable conclusion, or, something of it having been a dream, a simulation, or just another world. Upon such awakening, being returned to reality, or some future alternate.