A new EQ in the works??

Discussion in 'The Veterans' Lounge' started by Darktide, Jun 8, 2021.

  1. Niskin Clockwork Arguer

    I mean that would be a nice tip for the public, but she said it in the context of discussing the future of the engine. She knows there is a line in the sand somewhere in the future if they don't do this, she wasn't just telling us that as a public service announcement.

    Yes, of course, ATM's still use WindowsXP or whatever. Closed systems are one thing, legacy systems work the same way. A game that is trying to continue to exist and bring in more revenue each year has to live with the realities that end users will have whatever their new computer came with for an OS. Some will linger on Windows 10, but eventually there will be a new version that has patchwork support for 32-bit, maybe that will be 11, maybe that will be 12, or whatever they are naming them now.

    That doesn't seem to be what they intend to do, my read is they want all their games profitable and stable going into the future. Only time will tell.

    Poorly, but those were different leaders in different times. Nobody is perfect, but their current leadership isn't clueless as to how the game works technically, she's a dev too. If anybody understands how to keep this thing working into the future it's going to be her and the team she surrounded herself with.


    So you're a glass half empty kind of guy, eh? I get it, Landmark was a disappointment in the end, and EQ has plenty of scars and blemishes to show the pains of the past. All we can do is tell them we want more, and hope they can deliver. I trust the team they have now to understand how to get there, and make their best effort to do so, but as you say, we will see.
  2. jeskola pheerie

    1.) Buy Pantheon
    2.) Rename everything to EQ/Norrath names
    3.) Actually release it
    Gyurika Godofwar likes this.
  3. Niskin Clockwork Arguer


    The Box <===========================================================> jeskola thinking
  4. MasterMagnus The Oracle of AllHigh


    We can only hope. I'm a realist first and optimist second. I was excited for Mischief server, I resubbed. I have since cancelled again, and have given up.

    I liked what you said above, because I do like what you said.

    Love JChan, love that a coder type is in charge.

    Love the game and have every reason to want it to succeed. If only to keep selling robes.

    But given the history of the studio, the philosophy they take as a 'development house' is really piss poor and has been for long before many of the current devs even worked there.

    I don't hold out hope for another owner, even if they did give them boatloads of resources (cash or otherwise), to change the culture there.

    After spending $300 million, I'm guessing they know just how to snap up properties and milk or develop. Which will EQ be? I'm not encouraged.

    But wishing all the best of luck with it.
    Niskin likes this.
  5. Niskin Clockwork Arguer


    I liked your post too, but not this part. What happened? These two new servers have been great so far.
    MasterMagnus likes this.
  6. MasterMagnus The Oracle of AllHigh


    Honestly they have (been great fun). It was great to see them 'think outside the box'.

    Even if that 'box' was only their complaint that "FV loot rules are toxic, nobody wants that on their server. And it's so much customer service for us!".

    And I didn't have high expectations for the random loot thing. Reference my prediction on the topic (most noteably "Mistakes will be made").

    In the end, the fact that I could predict with absolute certainty that mistakes would be made in their implementation of their own concept, just disappoints me.

    I've been modding games for so many years, through hex editing if nothing else. I'd love to have a go at my own server I could mod however I want.

    At this point I feel like they are just modding their own servers. Even the expansions having to support old tech of zone files and such, are limited in what they can mod.

    And they're not even good at it. I don't want to play P99, but the concept that they could reverse engineer the old client and have their own working, mod-able servers is like light years ahead of what Daybreak is doing.
  7. Niskin Clockwork Arguer


    Aside from the Hate mini's, did they really make many? I'd love for named mobs to be randomized instead of just rares, but that's what they advertised, and mostly delivered. CT/Splitpaw and those being excluded was sad, but with one month of Classic, and new CT/Splitpaws coming eventually, it will get better.

    Sounds like this is a sore spot for you though, but I wouldn't laud P99 as any kind of model to follow. They wrote a new backend to match up with client hooks. They have fresh code, not even sure if it's C++ which is very tricky to work with. In the end DPG has to deal with what they have, and I think they do well enough, nobody is perfect. But then having deployed code and been on their end of things, some good will, even when it's not deserved, is pretty nice.

    P99 has to deal with Classic and a few expansions, I'd like to see them write the backend for Call of The Forsaken. Props for what they did, but it's a much smaller pond with much simpler boats to deal with.
    MasterMagnus likes this.
  8. Atomos Augur


    10 months ago is not over 18 months ago...

    It's pretty obvious that the announced MMO that is "part of one of the biggest IPs in the world" is DC Universe. The only other IP that would fit that critique that DBG has ever had any relation with is Star Wars, but I don't think DBG still has a license for Star Wars, and the last Star Wars game they had, Clone Wars Adventures, was developed and shut down by SOE anyway, not DBG.
    MasterMagnus likes this.
  9. Accipiter Old Timer


    Agree. I think they'll do the latter.
  10. Accipiter Old Timer


    How else are you going to get COVID immunity?
    I_Love_My_Bandwidth likes this.
  11. Nennius Curmudgeon

    We dwarves have innate immunity.
  12. Accipiter Old Timer


    Plus now they have access to several (I assume) game engines from other EG7 companies.
  13. Accipiter Old Timer


    Most of us had pretty low expectations of it working perfectly right out of the box. There are just so many facets to it. They'll work it out.
    Skuz likes this.
  14. Accipiter Old Timer


    Ah, beer.
  15. Nennius Curmudgeon

    Ale to be exact. We drink it, bathe in it, wash our clothes in it, and so on. You could say that we are always "Aleing" and don't want the cure.
  16. Jumbur Improved Familiar

    Without knowing anything about the other EG7 game-engines, the Planetside2 engine has one advantage the others doesn't. It is, afaik, being maintained next door(literally). which makes communication between teams and integration so much easier.
    Sure, they could just get a consultant to work with Darkpaw for 6 months while they swap engines(or something), but plantside2 has the "in-house"-factor. It will also be an advantage when the dev-staff is learning the new tools.

    You are right though, the big idea with EG7 is sharing of technology and expertise between studios. So it is a possibility. :)
    Skuz likes this.
  17. Svann2 The Magnificent

    EQ may go to 64 bit, but probably not until MS stops supporting 32. But even if it were to happen next year it still doesnt mean a new eq. It doesnt even mean a revamped eq. It just means you would need a 64 bit system to run it.
    I_Love_My_Bandwidth likes this.
  18. I_Love_My_Bandwidth Mercslayer

    It also means the straightjacket of the 32-bit client addressable memory limitation is finally increased from 2GB to 17,179,869,184GB. :)
    Gyurika Godofwar and Jumbur like this.
  19. Skuz I am become Wrath, the Destroyer of Worlds.

    Daybreak have an as yet unused "Marvel" license, so I am expecting Dimensional Ink Studios (who are responsible for DCUO) to be crafting a game using the Marvel IP.

    I think Niskin is right, on the past two investor presentations they clearly indicate they want to invest in a revamp all of the games they now own to bring them up to modern gaming standards, on the video presentation this was repeated again - if they do not plan to revamp the games they own they are making all the wrong noises about it, that would be deliberately misleading and I don't think they want to do that.
    They specifically stated when the purchase of Daybreak was made that the graphics & system upgrades for DCUO & Lord of the Rings Online are in the works - adding that LoTRO is doing so to coincide with the Amazon TV show based on LoTR in production.
    Since that they stated that there are a bunch of Daybreak titles either getting revamps or new versions - basically all of them.

    I understand the pessimism, after all it has been 17 years since EQ last had any serious customer facing graphics updates, but I think EG7 recognises the game has a long history & the potential for a long future so it should be looked after. Getting EQ up to modern standards is a smart long term business plan, I think they have a better handle on GaaS than most companies do.
    Even if EQ isn't being pitched at new customers it has a relatively large "former player" audience to market the revamped game at.
    Gyurika Godofwar likes this.
  20. Jumbur Improved Familiar

    My guess, is that even if they only do the minimal amount of work needed for a 64bit upgrade, they will need to update memory handling and allocation of data structures, which will be an excellent opportunity to remove/increase various size-limitations for those data structures.

    Even if they don't change any algorithms for the render, that alone will allow them to make larger and more detailed zones. :)
    Ever wondered why Sepulcher and Heart of Fear is split up like that? Old engine-limits would be my guess.
    I_Love_My_Bandwidth likes this.