Do you think it would be possible to remaster eq similar to how they totally rebuilt and remastered resident evil 2? I'm not talking about the entire back catalogue of expansions I'm thinking starting with pre kunark classic eq. Up scaling everything in size, buildings, cities, dungeons, zones, new engine, graphics, animations basically modernising it but keeping the core layout and design of the game so everything is where and how it should be, I think this would be great, niche but great.
Remastered EQ: Original EQ: But seriously, some folks are doing this on their own. It'll go no where.
That importing eq into unreal video is super cool and well worth the time it took to make this thread, thanks
Of course it is possible. Just have many millions of dollars, buy EQ from the current owner, and pay some people to do it. If you mean the current owner, I doubt they will invest that much into EQ. That ship sailed long ago when SOE decided to spend all the money they were making on EQ (it was a lot back then) on creating new games (which all failed) instead of reinvesting in their flagship product.
While I disagree with your premise (implying earnings have not been reinvested into EQ), the end result is pointedly accurate. Every venture outside of EQ has failed or was met with limited success.
Fanra's premise is a fact, which Sony even admitted. More money made from EQ at its height was spent on creating new and spinoff products than was reinvested into EQ. EQ has gotten a higher % of its earnings during Daybreak's time than it did for most of Sony's time.
I don't dispute that much of the profit from EQ was siphoned into other project. But SOME profit was reinvested.
I don't dispute that I exaggerate some times. I mean, not ALL of their other games failed. Of these SOE games: PlanetSide Arena EverQuest Next Z1 Battle Royale Landmark Just Survive PlanetSide 2 Dragon's Prophet Legends of Norrath Bullet Run Payday: The Heist Magic: The Gathering – Tactics DC Universe Online Fortune League Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures Free Realms Pirates of the Burning Sea Vanguard: Saga of Heroes PoxNora The Matrix Online EverQuest II Star Chamber: The Harbinger Saga EverQuest Online Adventures: Frontiers Star Wars Galaxies PlanetSide EverQuest Online Adventures Cosmic Rift Infantry Tanarus ---------------------------------------------- Z1 Battle Royale, PlanetSide 2, Payday: The Heist, DC Universe Online, Pirates of the Burning Sea, and EverQuest II are still around.
Some of those games made considerable amounts of money. You write like EQ1 is the only game making any money. Sure, it's the oldest IP DBG has. But that doesn't mean it was the only source of revenue through the years.
I'd still suspicious about LoN shutting down right before Bethesda launched their own product labeled 'Legends', I think DBG shut it down to sell its name https://www.polygon.com/2019/12/7/2...led-cancelled-pc-ps4-nintendo-switch-xbox-one What would be cool is a card game using multiple franchises IP, EQ vs Wow vs Elder Scrolls... like Smash Bros.
It's not only money from EQ that was spread around to the other games. We know for fact that EQ devs where regularly pulled off EQ work for other projects. Or reassigned completely. Then progressively moved and/or laid off. It has not only robbed Peter to pay Paul, but left the entire team a hollowed out shell, we now call 'Skeleton Crew'. The 'considerable amounts of money' made by the other games didn't keep the lights on, so were they actually making a profit? Or were they millstones around Daybreak's neck, at a time when they were just learning to hold their head up and walk? One way or another I think they made the calculation; EQ can't last forever, DCUO depends on ongoing licensing of a famous IP. "If we want to survive into the future we have to try new things". <shrug> I think we are all seeing a turn around from those days. My personal indication of 'how much' (money and mind share) they are putting into EQ versus other games is their efforts to scale back and close down some of the 'wasted fluff', like Planetside: Arena, and laying off more than 50% of the staff associated with any of the Planetside games. Lately they seem to be shoring up EQs code base, hoping to make it last longer. A lot of the changes I may not like personally, but it's an indication they are thinking about where their bread is buttered. EQ was and is the butter to the (multiple) pieces of bread they supply.
What would be neat is if someone with a red name who spoke for the money came on these boards and told us the bottom line. Holly is probably the closest we got right now, but I bet even she doesn't know the full extent of the business calculations that go into the decisions to allot money and resources to EQ.
Part of the charm of EQ is that its graphics are dated. You will lose some of that charm if you upgrade graphics, kind of like putting modern furniture in an old castle. If EQ Next had just been EQ with updated graphics there wouldn't have been the same type of excitement I think. Revamped EQ zones have never been that well received.
In that FoH forum Q&A they straight up said it won't happen and they'd rather put that time and money into an all new EQ game. Which sounds like it's being worked on but I'm sure it's years and years away from even being announced, much less released. https://www.firesofheaven.org/threads/everquest-ama-answered.10980/ "3. Over the years many members of this board and the community in general have expressed the desire to see EQ simply re-released with better graphics and gameplay, any interest from the studio in EQ: Remastered? This popped up on your forums a few years ago but still get's people excited just from the idea. Jonathan: I don’t think anyone will disagree with the concept, but the reality comes down to time and resources. Ed: The trouble with remastering EQ is that making “better graphics and gameplay” means a different thing to literally every person you ask. If we were to make a new EQ with the same graphics but better gameplay we’d only be cannibalizing our own player base, and making a new one with better graphics but the same gameplay is just as much work as making a modern MMO, but without the advantage of learning from 20 years of game development. That doesn’t mean I don’t want one. I want the Qeynos from my imagination SO BAD, you guys. Holly: We’d reserve that effort and cost for a new game."
From the Ars Technica story: “We’re basically stunned by it ourselves,” says Holly “Windstalker” Longdale, executive producer of EverQuest at Daybreak Games. “I’ve played them all. The majority are gone now. But we’ve been making more money year over year since I started working on this game. Our special sauce at this point has been nostalgia and reaching out to people who want to play it again.” ----- Windstalker has been with DBG since 2003.
Just because a game has shut down doesn't mean it failed. Star Wars Galaxies was shut down because they lost the licensing deal so that a newer game could be made. Others did well enough during their time but eventually it came to an end. Not many online games can be said to last as long as EQ has.