Why would I want to play a brand new game that's exactly the same as the game I play now? If I want those zones, quests, mobs, etc. they already exist and I can go play them right now.
Nolrog, it is impressive, and good, that at least EQ is getting expansions/campaign..whatever the buzz word is now. Not sure how many other games in their portfolio get them. I don't play EQ2 (don't get me started on the 'wisdom' of splitting your player base in an MMO market...). and I stay as far away from H1Z1 (aka hacker/griefer central and micro-transaction focused) as possible. I did play Planetside 2 but the only development there FOR YEARS has been cut and paste weapons for sale and a nerf/buff cycle that shames all others in the marketplace. DBG seems to lack vision as a company (scattered development on new titles vs existing titles) and seems to lack understanding of their player base. No one has any idea if they want to be console, PC, MOBA, MMO, I just...I have no clue. I play EQ because I have played since it's release in 1999. DBG doesn't seem to understand that how they support their current games is how players today expect them to support any future game. For that reason alone I doubted that I would invest time and money into EQN even if it had seen the light of day. You can't put Christmas ornaments on a Christmas Tree if you never bothered to get the tree in the first place.
I really can't believe people paid money for EQ Minecraft. Since technically they did get something for their money I doubt they will get anything back.
IIRC people paid for EQ Landmark. Not Next. So no money will be given back (I say this because my husband and I paid ... >< )
Hmmm looking back at it now it was actually for landmark so probably no refunds. Could have sworn it was for eqnext but I guess they made some money offpeople not really knowing the difference back then. I still dont even know the difference. I do remember they were supposed to be for a limited time but then they scrapped the timelimit. https://www.landmarkthegame.com/founders-pack
There will be no refunds, which is not a bad thing. Buyer beware. But Founder's packs were, in my memory, clearly sold in relation to building the foundation of EverQuest Next. Landmark eventually became more than what was originally planned (and quickly became much less) but do not kid yourselves--SOE (at the time) clearly linked Landmark access to EverQuest Next. From here on it becomes semantics, therefore, let that inform your view on anything sold now.
Now they can move SKlug back here and he and JChan will go all Voltron and form the one coder to rule them all.
Landmark has been considered a separate game from EQNext for several years now, since even before Sony sold SOE to Columbus Nova. The playerbase shot down a horribly overcomplicated system which would have made the button smashing of today look like a walk in the park. Then the playerbase shot down a lazily done set of characters models based off an a new model which they had hated from its inception. Not at all a surprise that it did not fly. Had they instead based the new models off of the original or even Luclin models but made them smoother and more efficient; then really doubt that they would have gotten any push back at all. Once they were separate from Sony, they did say that they were interested in opening their games in production to more platforms. They already had planned to have all of them on PC and PS3, but now were considering things like adding other consoles. The HF stuff released by the company is rather lame, but the stuff released in the Player's studio (though limited to Robes, weapons, and such) is awesome. I would just clarify it was more like a group which was making threats against him and his family, and had gone to the lengths of causing delays on public flights which he was going to be on. Not exactly a twitter fight with some teenagers. I have less faith in Brad McQuaid making anything viable again than I do DBG. Don't get me wrong, he has great game ideas, just sucks at follow through. I don't get the impression that he is really open to anyone's ideas but his own. That would be nice!
I don't feel sorry for any of those people that bought it. I'm actually laughing at them for investing in anything SOE aka Daybreak (employee and social atmosphere hasn't change since the new name) would put out before it goes Gold. They have been scam artists for awhile now, look at last years pre-order for TBM, you had to buy TBM pre-order to beta it. The year before that, with TDS , they abolished the latest expansion from being playable on Test server when they expansion released, effectively killing of the Test server population because it forced Test players to buy it. Horrible mentality to make a quick buck of test server players forcing them to buy the TDS expansion. So if you haven't learned how these little games and scams they play with the playerbase/customers, I have no pity for you that you bought into it. You should have had better intuition by now on their practices. Its like Holly Longdale saying we won't release the TBM expansion till its fully functional on a twitch stream and people buying it up on her word. Surprised people still pre-order , but I'm glad a certain % of the playerbase is dumb enough too, at least we know how bad the product is from those goobers.
On the EQ Next Landmark ........ thing. They did offer money back if you wanted, mainly because by name they implied that EQ Next (the game everyone was actually interested in) was part of the signup. Once Landmark and Next were discovered to be separate games, the had to offer the refunds. Some of us had faith that Next would still arrive someday and did not opt for the refunds.... more the fool us I guess.
I think the abandoning of EverQuest Next is probably a good thing. EverQuest is never going to become a challenger to WoW, so I don't think it's worth trying. Rather we should accept what we are and try to make the best of it. I'd like to propose two goals for EQ: 1. Live longer than 20 years. 2. Live longer than Ultima Online.
Although I wouldn't want an exact copy of EQ just updated with new systems and graphics it MIGHT make things cheaper for them to develop. Keep some of it the same or close to it and create some new stuff... a brand new game is going to attract new players and all the quests etc will be new to them. Keeping quests the same makes some sense if they added a transfer as is option to the new game from EQ. Though that part is a pipe dream that I just like to pretend could happen
Well, they called it an expansion for now. What that actually looks like, is something we'll find out in the next few months or so. Hopefully it will be somewhat larger than the last one, which people were disappointed in.
Take the Next team and 1) Create a new server. 2) Flatten levels. Now more levels or classes. 3) Kills reward 'aa xxp' 4) AA XP goes toward open char skills. Pick what you like. 5) Scaling mobs to group encounter (Calc group skills, HP blah blah) 6) Keep all zones, makes them all playable again. Removes bottleneck. 7) Simplify stats on items. Maybe evolve them with AA XP. Char choice between skill, armor, aug, weap to spend. E.G Dev a rogue fashio char with shadowstep, weak HP but XP put into BS skill and pointy daggers. Just my thoughts. I'd love to hit the old zones again and still have relevancy.
We are pleased to announce 'Everquest Heroes'. A F2P MOBA with micro transactions and lots of pop up windows to remind you of the micro transactions.
You guys realize that by cancelling the game before its released, they get to write off the development costs as a loss on their taxes.... So question for a tax lawyer: since they took over SOE entirely, even though they didn't fund the development up to the take over date, isn't ALL the money spent on the game able to be written off? If so, doesn't make sense that the tax write off = more money than they would make from putting in more cash to continue develop and release?
Yes somewhat correct Abazz. But i am no lawyer. I would like to know, just because how much of those assets will be sold off, if there is any. Most firms i see today just buy and sell off assets, or write them off as losses. And if Sony wrote off SOE, then i wonder what the investment firm is planning with the rest of it. Its becoming a drama story!
That's a very interesting perspective. As Russia is not exactly known for its thriving MMO industry, I've been very cynical about Columbus Nova from day 1. I think they only want Daybreak for those sweet US dollars, but I doubt they really understand or care much what this EverQuest business is really all about. Of course ALL companies want to make money. Anything else would be suicidal. But I think there is a difference between making money off something you personally understand and love, and making money off something that you bought but actually have no clue about.
I'd be happy if it was actually tested, FIXED, and tweaked in beta, not in game for months after release.
