EQ1 Numbers Revealed

Discussion in 'The Veterans' Lounge' started by KrakenReality, Dec 2, 2020.

  1. Skuz I am become Wrath, the Destroyer of Worlds.

    I wonder if a 64-bit client alongside a graphics engine overhaul is affordable? For years the message has been it would just be too expensive on an old game but I've never been truly convinced about that and the recent hobbyist efforts I've seen transplanting raw EQ info into unreal engine were impressive enough to make me wonder what the pros could accomplish, though generally revamping old games with new engines is all but unheard of (it took Funcom almost a decade to do an engine upgrade with Anarchy Online).
  2. Skuz I am become Wrath, the Destroyer of Worlds.

    Well, it's about 35 minutes into the recording of the stream linked below:

    Was after Legacy of Ykesha rather than Luclin it was started so my memory of what was said on the stream was off by a bit, but I had the gist of it.

    https://www.twitch.tv/videos/699438840?collection=PPnhu9f-Fhab2A
    Nniki, Raptorjesus5 and IblisTheMage like this.
  3. Jumbur Improved Familiar

    Even if they don't update the graphic assets, they still need to fix the gfx-engine. Attracting nostalgic returnees can be successful without updated zones, but they will be disappointed to see that all the old bugs haven't been fixed. :(
    Have you guys seen any of the old zones recently? They can't even render fog correctly on plants/trees/water and zones have buggy depth-sorting of translucent-textures all over the place. And with modern optimizations, the game will feel much more responsive and smoother. Loosing control over mouse-turning every time a few frames are skipped, is another result of an ancient architecture, that is hard to forgive nowadays...


    When I get in a nostalgic mood and start playing old games, I always look for modern sourceports, because I don't miss the old bugs. EQ needs to fix the old bugs, and at the very least present the old zones as the nostalgic returnees remember them...without the bugs! Ideally with flawless performance to boot...and support for features people take for granted nowadays will go a long way too, scalable UI anyone?
    Stymie, Caell and Corwyhn Lionheart like this.
  4. Captain Video Augur

    DBG already has another engine, the one being used for DCUO. It isn't as fancy as Unreal 4, but it does support cross-platform builds, which is why DCUO runs on the PS4 and the Switch while EQ cannot. If they saw value in an engine upgrade for EQ, they've had plenty of chances to do it before now.

    The real obstacle to market growth of EQ, IMHO, is instead its reliance on the classic tank/healer/DPS/CC quad model for MMORPG combat, which is no longer popular among younger gamers. The MMO market has shifted to games where 90% of the content can be played solo without boxing, and even non-raid group content is limited pretty much to dungeons. Look at ESO, BDO, FFXIV, GW2 and SW:TOR as prime examples, all of which are successful. Look at all the arguments on the TLP forums about class imbalance at lower levels, and how some classes can easily solo and others, no chance. It would take a complete re-design of all classic content from the ground up to change that.

    Far more likely, again IMHO, is an actual EQ3 (it might not be called that) which is less ambitious than EQ Next was, but still constructs a new modern-era combat system with more ARPG elements, and also extends the lore somehow. And it would be fully cross-platform from the start. My hunch is that Holly was trying to get something like that going before she left, but the new money didn't come in fast enough, and in the meantime she got a better offer. It will be very interesting to see what happens next.
    Raptorjesus5 likes this.
  5. Corwyhn Lionheart Guild Leader, Lions of the Heart

    Can't speak for everyone but if I am looking at a game that I have never played graphics certainly are important. *shrugs*

    I see dated graphics and generally assume dated game mechanics. That sort of thing might draw in previous players but new folks? I think the draw for new players would be limited.

    Would it draw in some folks? Sure but will it be worth the cost of the advertising?
    Stymie likes this.
  6. jeskola pheerie

    And your assumption would be correct - you don't want to mislead the potentials, do you?
  7. Bronut Augur

    At it's height I was told eq had 4.7 million subs...


    We used to have a Chinese server, then it was chinese guilds, then there were just chinese players around... Now I never meet people from china..

    Asia I believe has a bigger gaming market than US and Canada witch is where most of us are from ..

    Would be nice to recruit new blood...

    Pay to play, people are really put off by...

    Recruitment benefits everyone.


    Alot of people quit when they nerfed beams swarms and headshot...

    Also alot of current members I hear say, that's what they miss the most, grinding for hours with a high compensation .. I know I loved making alts at the temples....

    Eq pvp could also use some attention, it's fantastic once you get the hang of it. No other part of the game offers the sort of excitement.
  8. yepmetoo Abazzagorath

    Less crack. But I've seen your posts on zerkers, so spitting into the wind on that one =P
    Stymie likes this.
  9. I_Love_My_Bandwidth Mercslayer

    EQ is still a profitable platform. Why fix what isn't broken?

    Also, I seriously doubt EQ players give a rats patoot about the "MMO market" at large. I reckon 90% of the MMOs still in operation are of little interest to EQ's core player.

    I do agree with you, though, that another EQ title is the most likely course of action.
    Nennius likes this.
  10. Szilent Augur

    The times you're nostalgic for there were 0 players able to log in at all without paying the subscription for cash. Chinese server? 100% paid subscriptions. NO free to play. Couldn't even log in to look at your characters or chat, let alone fight a monster or (as is now) have free access to 95% of content (Norrath+25/27 expansions, free)
  11. Captain Video Augur

    I don't believe there was ever an official Chinese server. If memory serves, there once was an official Russian server, briefly, but it was never visible from the English-language launcher. It had no marketplace either. Same thing was true for EQ2.

    Asian MMOs are a completely different kettle of fish, especially with so many of them emphasizing gacha mechanics. The majority of major Asian titles have never launched in the West. Recent Western spin-off launches of note: Genshin Impact, Phantasy Star Online 2, Tree of Savior, BDO.
  12. ikarinokamii Elder


    i agree with you, and funny enough i've tried all those games you listed, and i quit after about a month. but as long as they have TLPs with the old style, they can do anything they want with live, esp if it attracts a larger player base.
  13. Captain Video Augur


    It's a common code base. Any global changes they make to Live will equally affect TLPs, and vice versa. It's been that way since the first TLP launched. Devs have stated many times that it's counter-productive in terms of the work involved to split the code base.
  14. Slasher Augur

    EQ could of been a much bigger revenue generator if the game engine didn't go ignored the last 15 + years. I don't even want to know the actual lifetime revenue compared to lifetime expenses for EQ the lack of reinvesting the $ back into what is generating it will go down as the biggest failure for SOE/Daybreak.
    Mesc, Stymie and Caell like this.
  15. Xerzist Augur

    It's really not surprising that Daybreak was purchased for the cash cow and low maintenance that it has become. You see it with many titles. Arguably Planetside 2 has a better team. Look at ARK for example, great game, huge potential, they milk it like a dairy cow and watch as it dies. It literally blows my mind that executives look at the short term and not long term potential. If they wanted to make some genuine cash flow, they would re-invest heavily and make something great, stable, less bug-ridden, and more thought. New zones are cool and all and I am sure they are doing what they were told, but I don't like the idea of repeat content. It's already an old game, you already do progression servers, so really what they are saying is we aren't really creative enough to look to the future!
    Caell and Metanis like this.
  16. Szilent Augur

    see, you say that, but Gates: poorly received. TBM: poorly received. TBL: poorly received. EverQuest players are consistent as hell about loving what's familiar and punishing devs for branching out. Repeated locations, stories, and themes are flat out demanded by the real responses of players. It's seen in every year's beta: no one wants to talk about the new zones, new enemies, new stories. Participants are laser-focused on their character's powers instead. Folks sometimes have enough perspective to consider whether things are "too easy" (meaning "for them, as they should be") or "too hard" (meaning they can't personally do it without, like, trying. ew.) -- compared to the past years' content.
    IblisTheMage likes this.
  17. Jumbur Improved Familiar

    Gates was poorly received for being poorly tuned, TBM was poorly received for copy/pasting too many zones(and weird group itemization), TBL was poorly received for being hard, and having most zones locked.

    They were not poorly received for not being a classic remake. There have been many great expansions that took place at new and exciting locales, VoA and Underfoot(and the expansions you just mentioned), for example. People were not complaining about the zones being unfamiliar places.

    I honestly think people are getting tired of zone-remakes...
    Mesc, Stymie, Skuz and 5 others like this.
  18. KrakenReality Augur


    RoS was poorly received, while HoT was well received. The reception entirely depends on the execution and not the themes themselves.
    MasterMagnus, Caell and Jumbur like this.
  19. JimBob Elder Lorekeeper

    Was that Chinese server called Bristlebane? I swear we used to have a lot of Asians there during EQ's hayday when the bazaar launched, but they all just vanished... Let's see, we had Asianplatfarmer, Chineseplatfarmer, Chinaplatfarmer, Koreanplatfarmer, and a few others whose names I forget. Sadly it seems like the bazaar's "Platfarmer's corner" was replaced by "Ogre Row". But maybe this explains it :D
  20. IblisTheMage Augur

    btw, the swedish ceo said revenue increase is closely tied in to content release, I got the impression that it is their strategy to up that, as well as update look & feel.