This is my first post here and Ive had almost 2 decades to think about it. Representing more than one subject, but what seems the whole game revolves around, yet simple and preexisting solutions are not being acted on. The tools are already in the hands of the devs, at least as much as devs have their hands on the existing game code, to add hundreds of amazing spell effects without bogging peoples computers down or requiring high resolution textures, new scripting methods, or expensive artists. I'm sure it has been talked about but I wonder how much distraction by dreaming bigger and in turn inaction all failing to realize there is existing solutions ready to go. I do not mean to sound condescending, but I see great tweaks over the years and realize the fact is whom ever is working on this game just cannot see a very important detail. One of the things that gets stale for myself and one of the things i hear when bringing new people I've met to EverQuest isn't a put down on the "low graphics", yet the visuals becomes the number one reason for players leaving i found even when other things were looked at to make excuse. Those players themselves falling for overlooking a central feature being neglected. Spell and ability visuals. My game back before this now 12 year old computer, that handles Everquest accounts on the current version of max settings just fine, was lagged out not by the huge bull animation from some shaman buff, but by the number of multicolor dots. Fixes were added to the game, but the game experience was still not considered properly. A computer that can handle Everquest graphics to the extreme costs roughly $300 and so I hope it is no longer a issue of individuals with poor priorities and life choices are dictating how the rest of us experience the game. Anyone with legit disability or need I'll buy them a upgraded computer, meanwhile added effects should not have an effect on even these players. Adding simple animations, symbols, weapons, image of a martial attack move, to primary attacks is the basic way of putting what I think will best maintain and draw players. multi color particles are exercised well, but when you could name 60% of the common attacks as "Cancer Rays" then you probably are lacking creative details with the visuals. As well as the effects lasting a long time can be good to add diversity, but I want to turn my bard spells off exclusively because of it looks like fart chunks in the air that wont go away. A small symbol like found with the cosmetic items that can be purchased that flows behind or over the shoulder of a player would be a great thing to add for bard spells. NOT removing the value of the store bought visuals, but doing a world of good for making it engaging and less messy and honestly seem less lazy while playing. The depth of what this game can display is not just throw back appeal, but true eye catching details other games struggle to grasp. Details such as line of sight, target tracking, and again spell animations that have been removed from the game and replaced with text and spell descriptions and meaningless spell graphics. Which at first the game as is looks cool, until you play it for a while and discover what can feel like the same 20, or late game even seem like 4, visual effects. With no hope of seeing more in your adventures to come. Sending a message in the back of the mind, quit playing sooner rather otherwise you may be a saddist. Some of this i believe stems from devs who do and dont consider the memorized spells that will be commonly loaded. Or maybe it was decided that these spells will be the most mundane; requiring strong leadership to tell them that is like making a zone mundane so stop making excuses. Leveling really is not that bad, but I realize the allure of " YAY I HAVE MAGICAL POWERS" goes away quickly despite great areas to explore. The personal character feels like the majority of her or his powers could all be called "cancer rays" or " invisible intention that became real" with awesome spells like the mage spell that shoots a magical flare light out and could easily be recycled for the spell effect with a ground placed AE spell. When you see a cool bull pop up during a buff.. and no other animals or neat image. It hits you the devs dont care about what looks cool or somehow do not know how to make more of that. Many spells like the SK spear could use a simple faded organic looking spear that as you level through the expansions it is given little add ons. When you see the particles and think, " wow these are simple but effective", but realize your main damage spells were more impressive 15 years ago and was not just a spray of the most simple pixels... it makes the entire game feel unreliable and numbs appreciation for all the great many efforts being made with the game. The promise of adventure when using the same largely visual texture between most of your spells carries a constant distraction that your character is boring and in future expansions may be worse. It is the noticeable lack of capitalizing on very simple preexisting graphics, already existing visual tools, with spells and abilities that brought me here to speak up. My ability to put fire into someone's face should feel special, so the excuse of making certain things feel unique is a proven failure, as well as when those unique feeling spells tend to be secondary and possibly only used for a narrow range of levels before never being used again. Much can be said by stealing concepts from money sink holes like slot machines and various apps that simply use colorful potion bottles, simple but clear lines of geometry that allow the player to guess what magic it holds and does not require the bottle to have sparkles or a glow. I have seen some changes to jewels and appreciate it. It is not difficult to find artists putting on slot machines and in some apps great eye catching images that could easily be used for icons and spells. For some reason however goes overlooked despite it being the core of what makes a spell feel magical.
That's a well thought out post. The reality is that is is far more difficult and resource demanding then I think you realize.
While I appreciate the work that goes into them, I disable spell effects because if they're enabled (especially in a raid) I can't see what's actually going on.
I learned this game on a terrible rig... and I tend to leave half the stuff shut off and set towards that even though my current computer could probably run everything full jam. I appreciate the OP's thought-out post. Intriguing spell effects could be nice, but I'm not sure it truly would be a draw to new players. It's possibly the best draw is just to be "clunky old EQ" which actually means decluttering and streamlining even more of what was added Luclin and later. You can be sneaky and hide most of it in AA and by making various things all be a benefit of heroic stats rather than a stat-sheet on an item that is pages long. The community and sandbox of EQ is the unique flavor... the more it is an old game and not just another modern game the better I think... if looking years ahead. Simpler gear, hotkey options (i.e., too many combat abilities) and a move away from every other game's bursty-twitch playstyle back towards more of old EQ's tactical [i.e., necro can solo this is 4 min, scrub group can take it down in 2 min, elite group can take it down in 1 min] play in a lore-rich and connected world.
The core game engine was written over 20 years ago. Nothing is easy about it. We're talking Windows 95-era computing. It's the reason why EQ is still CPU-heavy rather than GPU-heavy and why even a small amount of particles or shadows can slow EQ down to a crawl. Virtually nothing about EQ is optimized for modern computer hardware.
I actually enable the old spell graphics in my batch file which launches the game, and run with old pre-luclin models. That being said, I also set spell effects down to a minimum density (for me only), so that I can see what's going on in challenging situations (adds sneaking up from behind, casters getting hit, etc). You can't really do that with dense, cool looking particle effects.
I would personally prefer a character-models facelift over spell graphics, because as some have pointed out, during large events, the player graphics can become "too much," distracting from important raid mechanics. In group settings, I can see spell graphics as more important. I too have had new people try to enter but cant climb the summit of "ancient graphics," but their feedback, typically, is a frustration against the "unrealistic" character models and the general look of terrain. I dont pretend to understand what the Devs go through, but my pipe dream would to have three graphics options: "Classic" "Planes" and "Modern" which would affect character models - in fact make this a DB store purchase! (I was very sad that the orcs look "bad" again in the Fay.)
Agree, the classic particles look drastically cleaner in my opinion. It's a stark improvement for example when you go to older zones with NPC spells that were never updated, or see someone use an old item that casts certain non-player spells. Doesn't particle size also scale with mob hitbox? I'm sure that would add to everyone's misery. Honestly, certain classic models with Velious textures look about a hundred times better than their equivalents fitted in hero's forge, because HF is simply turd polish. The crooked postures, obstructive armor layering and awkward animations of many Luclin models are the problem here. EQ being 20 years old, it went through phases where newer technology didn't necessarily produce a better result. It's like Star Wars models vs Babylon 5 CG. The latter aged much faster.
What they need to do, is make EQ, as it exists now, in a modern engine. That way we could have very customizable characters with detailed graphics, movement animations, and all the modern tweaks that go along with new tech. Current, but not Cutting Edge. I think what was done with EQ2 was ok, and fun, but it is not EQ1. Even what was going to be EQNext was not EQ, not even close IMO. I think that when EQ2 was made and when EQ Next/Landmark was being made, they started out being a modernization of EQ, but evolved, or devolved (depending on your point of view), into something un-EQ. An Idea I had, and I think that DBG should seriously consider (If they are not already), is make the New EQ as an extention of the existing EQ. Have things function the same way basically, and Lore remains the same. Where characters created and developed in old EQ can evolve into the new EQ. The new EQ would start after the current expansion, or as a branch path off of current expansion, such as PoP, DoN, TSS or VoA. There could be multiple branch paths that you could take from multiple current expansions, into the new EQ. That way you are really developing a new expansion, but in a new Engine (Yeah I know, it is more complex than that). Existing characters above a certain level and/or achievement can migrate to the new expansion. EQ gets to complex in the later game. I think keeping the game simple, as Snailish stated, is what people would like about a new EQ. EQ gets to complex in the later game, with all the spells, abilities, and AA, IMO. "Simpler gear, hotkey options (i.e., too many combat abilities) and a move away from every other game's bursty-twitch playstyle back towards more of old EQ's tactical [i.e., necro can solo this is 4 min, scrub group can take it down in 2 min, elite group can take it down in 1 min] play in a lore-rich and connected world."Keep EQ as EQ in the New EQ. That would be unique in the game world.
I'm sure switching to a new game engine and updating visuals would make for good resume filler for the dev team. However, I'd prefer they focus on game play and improving it. That's less resource intensive and ultimately, it doesn't matter how cool looking a game is if game play sucks. Shiny graphics might help bring in new players, but a game this age is more about keeping existing players (and luring back former) than trying to find new ones. The wow factor only lasts so long. You need the game to suck you in and keep you engaged. It needs to be fun above all else.
Maybe if they upped the sub rate a bit so they could hire staff, someone could be assigned to work on it during the next 3 years.
