EverQuest Producer's Letter July 2022

Its not, the ui improvements is after 2022 according to that roadmap

• Beyond 2022:
  • New UI Engine

. The windowed mode is apparently to fix some kind of bug.

New shirts with plus sizes for those of us who don't fit the typical XS to XL shirt size standard would be great.

1XLT please. And not some cheap, shoddy, gnome made shirt. I want something made by the finest of dwarven craftsmen that will last being bathed in the blood of halflings.

As Mangler nears RoF at the start of 2023, I have been looking forward to heroic characters unlocking. Are we going to get screwed out this and have to wait further to get heroic characters?

How about taking 5 seconds to assure the players this ridiculous client always starts in windowed mode patch is going to be addressed?

Could we get a /claims window update? It would be great if we know when the /claim item unlocks.
Item Name//Unlocks/Amount
It would be even better if we could see the difference between unlocked claims and locked claims. White and dull White text is extremely difficult to read for me and I assume many players.
Maybe even a check box for show all/show claimable.

So you're saying all the original EQ devs were gone after Classic? Sounds like they didn't like their own game very much.

lmao, I don't think you understand what critical means. The game has been around for 23 years, and for a whopping 1 of those they had GMs running events?

No they weren't.

Then why did say that DBG gives more attention to Everquest 2? You are aware that in the numbers EG7 gave us 2 years ago, EQ2's population is around 1/3 of EQ1s, correct? Not sure where you got your assumption from.

Uh yes any streamer with a reasonable audience is HIRED AND PAID by studios to play their game. I hope you're not under the impression some 100 viewer streamer is going to help Everquest. Or even a 1000 viewer streamer. Most of the people who watch streams are younger. Younger players aren't interested in Everquest.

Blizzard says hello. EA says hello. Square Enix says hello. Bioware says hello. Bethesda says hello. Shall I go on?

I thought you said you read the patch notes? You think the amount of stuff (or lack thereof, and that's no offense to DBG, they are only working within their means) in these monthly patches is worth making dev video over? Yeah man, I'm sure watching EQ devs talk about creating Achievements is going to rack in the views...

It's 100% relevant. It's showing that those videos are doing NOTHING for them. Just like it will do NOTHING for Everquest. You don't waste time on monthly videos for games that are not popular, especially games that are mostly played by older players.

Yes tell us about all those democracies where 1 person's vote counts more times than someone else's... EQ has survived a large majority of its life with no voting system. I think that would imply the forums are working just fine.

There's a reason that not a single old school MMO has done all these things you're asking for like exploding social media ads and monthly dev videos. It's because none of these old school games are catered to new players. They are catered to their current players, the players that have been playing since the start, the players that keep coming back for nostalgia. And mostly importantly they all know what a waste of time it would be any way. You need to accept that fact that Everquest will never be as popular as it was back in the first several years after its release. The only way it can come back in a big way is with either a new game or a remake, and we've seen no hint that those are coming and frankly, don't see how it would be possible anyway. DBG has only released one game since Planetside 2 in 2012, H1Z1 or whatever it's called now. With 5 cancelled projects since 2012. Thus far it doesn't seem like EG7 is helping that situation much.

Seems to me both the players and the devs are pretty content with what Everquest is here. If you want EQ to move forward in drastic ways, you are probably gonna have to get that from elsewhere.

I disagree 100%. I don't believe promoting EverQuest to a new generation of players is a waste of time. I refuse to buy into an attitude of defeatism. I refuse to be an apologist for mediocrity. The lack of tolerance by a few gatekeepers and white knights for anyone that challenges the status quo on these forums is astounding.

It's presumptuous for you to to speak for the devs or the players. Read my original post, what I'm asking for is that EverQuest go back to the things that made it magical and unique. I volunteered for thousand of hours as guide in EQ in the first 3 years and I played hardcore as well as being a soloer and a RPer. The EQ of today feels completely different because over the years incremental changes that fundamentally changed the nature of EQ were allowed to transpire.

I never said or implied that EQ should move forward in drastic ways.

However, there is nothing wrong with using modern social media techniques to promote EQ. Blizzard has been promoting Classic WoW which came out 5 years after EQ and have been using modern techniques to do so and has been enjoying a great amount of success. In fact, many former EQ devs are now working on WoW.

I'm bullish about the EverQuest franchise. I want new generations to experience the amazing adventures and camaraderie in Norrath. That's why I'm here.

As I stated in the original post, churn is a fact of life in MMOs. If you fail to replace the players that no longer play with new players, your MMO is going to eventually die.

What's wrong with more people playing EQ?

Is everyone welcome in Norrath, or just a few old-timers?

What's wrong with Daybreak making more money because more people are playing?

I'm sure Jen Chan would agree that everyone is welcome in Norrath!

Thank you for
Celebrating the Eq anniversary like each and every single years.
Providing 2 progression servers like each and every year.
…..: like each and every years.

Everything in this letter is part of BAU work.
Given the new mount, we can expect yet one more luclin expansion.
Thanks for being so predictable!
I am really hopping the next expansion will have more than a handful of missions and a dozen quests.

This letter is emphasizing so much the BAU tasks that it is very worrying.

Then you have no idea what video games are actually like now. You understand that mobile gaming is 60% of the gaming market now, right? And you know what most mobile games are like? You don't even play them, the games play themselves. That's what a lot of "gamers" want these days, games they don't even have to play. You want to see EQ brought to a younger generation? Make an EQ mobile game where you hardly even play, fill it full of paywalls and microtransactions and P2W, and don't forget the scantily clad women with gigantic chests.

You know what most of the other 40% of the gaming market is? Casual experiences. Get on, play a round or 2, get off.

I've heard so many people say they've tried to get their kids into EQ and it is a VERY rare occasion that I hear about that being successful. You just don't seem to understand how different it is to grow up playing something like EQ vs. growing up playing modern games. We dealt with all the stuff we had to back then because we were used to dealing with it, and because there were hardly any other options for the type of gameplay EQ provides. That's no longer the case. We don't have to stand around with our LFG tags on or waiting for guildies and friends to log in, we can just queue for a dungeon and be instantly teleported straight into content and be done in 15-20 minutes, and probably get an upgrade every time you run one. That's what younger people grow up in these days. And even EQ has headed in that direction. Because the players wanted it to. Because the devs wanted it to. Because it had to. Because it should. Games should never be as time consuming as they were back then ever again. Thank God for TLP.

Perhaps you need to reread? I said it SEEMS TO ME. I make that assumption based on the amount of people playing the game compared to the number of people using the forums. 80K MAUs yet it's the same small group of people who post. Know why? Cause everyone else is enjoying the game. That's what people who enjoy a game do, they don't get on the forums and make demands. Because they are content.

As for the devs, EQN says hi. It's been ~6 and a half years since it was cancelled. That's a pretty long time to not have at least announced some sort of new project in the EQ universe. Cause it ain't happening.

Yes yes, I know, you want to go back to a time when a GM would spawn Cazic-Thule in East Commonlands, like a teenager running a private server would do. I really cannot fathom what you see in this, it's cool like once.

The EQ of today isn't the way it is today only because of the devs. It's that way because of the players, too. You remind me of the guy who argued with me about level 1 races being "very important" to the community. Yet those races always had such a very tiny tiny portion of the playerbase at them. Why do you think that is?

Why not host your own RP events if you want them so badly? Or are you afraid no one would show up?

No one said there was anything wrong with it, it's just that we know that it won't amount up to much. The best part about all of this is that you're getting what you want - you asked why there are no ads for EQ, but like I told you, there are - but seem oblivious to what sort of difference they make.

Former EQ devs have been working on WoW since before it launched, lol. You really are out of the loop, aren't you?

No one is disagreeing with that, however, you should be more grateful that EQ is in the state it is in when compared to most other MMOs released back then. EQ is doing a lot better than most of them. You also need to accept the fact that the game probably will die some day. It's nowhere close to that right now, though.

No one has said otherwise. Of course everyone is welcome in Norrath. Of course we'd all like more people to be playing. But you're not getting it. Companies weigh costs vs. return. They obviously know the things you're asking for aren't worth the cost (and that's not just monetary), why do you think they aren't doing them?

What is stopping you from advertising the game yourself? What is stopping you from streaming the game? What is stopping you from making videos talking about every update? You say you want these things but seems like you think they're as pointless as I do.

The video game industry as a whole is like 5x bigger than it was in the 90s and the main reason is that more types of people are playing games and that it's more socially acceptable to do so. The people that only play mobiles games today are definitely not the same people that would have been playing EQ1 when it was released.

The important thing is that the PC video game market is a good 3x bigger than it was back then and that MMORPGs are still fairly popular. Plus considering the recent resurgence of indie games and that fact that old school/retro games have been popular for a while... It doesn't need to look amazing or be perfect to get new players. EQ1 just needs a niche that separates it from the others and most importantly it needs to be GOOD as in no major bugs and no bad lag problems and some unique/fun gameplay. The main thing I imagine keeping anyone from stream EQ1 is that it just isn't good enough right now.

The EQ IP has a gargantuan amount of potential because of the popularity of retro games. I believe the problem is that the owners don’t have enough faith, confidence, and vision for their own product to adequately re-invest in it to meet that potential.

The development of a new AAA title in this day and age costs at least $300 million. Cyberpunk 2077 development cost $316 million (announced 2012). Despite the hype and large following, CD Projekt Red's stock has fallen 75% since the game's launch.

Even if there was political will to develop a new title (a sketchy proposition in the context of problems from Cyberpunk 2077 to Pantheon MMO), the current economic climate is not conducive to large, unproven investments.

I think many players here believe that EQ1 is not "unproven", it has very much stood the test of time.

Even if the investment was only bugfixes and optimizations, to the extent that it seemed polished enough compared to other "modern" retro-games, it would still be worth it imo. In its current shape it would fail as a "relaunch". It is too technological neglected for that.

With a new UI and 3d-engine and lots of bugfixes and polish, it might work however.

To be clear, I state "unproven investment" to mean a new title (EQ3 or EQNext 2.0) or a major revamp. There are many new and returning players on the forums who expect Daybreak to fulfill their "Pantheon dream."

With today's news of the interest rate hike and rumors of a looming recession, I see no major change in investment in the foreseeable future. The gaming industry performs better than other sectors in tight economic times but I don't see the kind of risk taking from this studio (which has been conservative to even jettison Planetside Arena and an undisclosed MMO title).

Irrelevant. We're talking PC games here. Blizzard is marketing their classic WoW experience to PC gamers both young and old and spending a considerable amount of time and resources to achieve this. Opening off a reply with "you have no idea..." and claiming I'm ignorant of something that is irrelevant is uncalled for. Try that line in real life and see how people react to you.

Nice rant and I don't disagree. However, it's not about kids, it's about teens and young adults and anyone who has not played EverQuest. This is why I advocated for Darkpaw revamping the user interface and for them keeping their promise that they would do so. They also need to revamp the ugly character models as well. There is much that could be done to modernize EQ and to be honest, it should have been done years ago.

You made a wild presumption and I called you out on it. Next time, don't make unfounded presumptions and have the audacity to claim to speak for the devs and the players.

So now we get to the heart of why you've been relentlessly attacking me: according to you, I made "demands". I dared to rock the boat. I upset the apple cart. I rustled your jimmies. These forums are your favorite rocking chair and you don't want any outsiders coming in and spoiling your fun.

I made suggestions not demands. This is the strawman logical fallacy.

Also, you are decrying people who get on the forums and claiming they are not representative of players who are playing EQ but here you are on the forums doing exactly what you decry. You just got hoisted by your own petard.

Do you have some inside knowledge that you'd like to share with the EQ community as to why a new EQ is not happening? Darkpaw was partly formed to expand on the EQ universe.

Here's the mission statement of Darkpaw Games from the official press release as undeniable proof:

https://www.daybreakgames.com/news/...uces-three-new-franchise-studios-january-2020

Darkpaw Games will be focusing on EverQuest, one of the most legendary MMORPG IPs recognized worldwide. Holly Longdale will continue to lead the studio as its Executive Producer. Darkpaw’s mission is to continue to expand upon the unique and amazing fantasy adventure that is EverQuest and EverQuest II and develop the next innovation for the franchise.

Part of Darkpaw's purpose is to "develop the next innovation for the franchise."

Maybe you know more about what Darkpaw's intentions than Darkpaw?

So only teenagers like running dynamic content? There was no need to make this silly insult. I worked with many GMs that ran live invasions. They were not teenagers.

Doing the VP key was "cool like once" in fact most of the EQ experience is series of repetitive actions, kill mobs, take their stuff, rinse repeat. Your mocking the idea of a rare live event because it was only cool once but defending the current state of a MMO that is based on mindless series of repetitive actions and Groundhog Day scripting? At least try to show some consistency in your thinking.

Another mean-spirited jibe. I authored and ran countless live events on live EQ servers. There were very popular and well received by the player base. Hundreds of players stopped what they were doing and participated in them. My team of guides brought EQ to life and we created unforgettable experiences and good memories. SOE got many emails of praise and support for our live events on our server.

Another needless, petty insult.

I'm not going to be grateful for mediocrity, nor will I accept the status quo as defined by you and other forum gatekeepers. These forums exist so players can help improve the EQ experience by sharing their thoughts and opinions in a respectful and civilized manner.

You are assuming that Daybreak and Enad Global 7 are investing enough of their profits back into the EQ franchise. Sancus and others have shown that this is clearly not the case and I agree. Again you are defending the status quo which is a common theme in your arguments.

It is the responsibility of the company to market and advertise their products and/or services; it's not the job of customers to advertise for them. However, excellent products and servers will always get free advertising from word of mouth.

If you want to have a productive conversation with someone, be respectful, kind, and charitable. Treat others how you wish to be treated. Due to your mean-spired and confrontational attitude exhibited in a series of replies, I won't be replying to any more of your comments in this thread. I was hoping that at least in the Announcements Sub-Forum, players could express their opinions free from hectoring and without being subject to the usual argumentative forum quest shenanigans from other posters.

I am ill ATM, so I won't try to respond to your entire post. Nor do I intend to join in a conversation that will perhaps be ongoing for quite some time and also unlikely to bring a resolution of any significance.

Having spouted that drivel, I COMPLETELY agree that SOE, Daybreak, et al have failed to promote this game. But, how do you promote a nearly 23 year-old game in a crowded market? I'm not trying to be at all snide or sarcastic in asking that, but since the powers that be for this year seem to be out of ideas, perhaps we could supply some. I'll jump in first and suggest Facebook. Personally I loathe Facebook, but there are lots of social lemmings who do seem to rely on it. I also hear that it's pretty cheap to use.

So, any other ideas. Keep them simple and cheap and maybe , maybe it might catch on.

Now back to COVID x3. Ain't life grand.

Tiktok, Instagram, and Youtube are the ways to attract gamers. While the older EQ base may disagree since they may not likely use these platforms - younger people do.

Perhaps update this.

rofl what? You don't get to disregard the mobile market just because it makes you feel better. And it is really shameful of you to be comparing DBG to Blizzard. Very very few companies, especially MMO companies, can be compared to Blizzard or WoW. That silly comparison is what's irrelevant. If you don't want to be ignorant of something, then don't be, that is entirely up to you, but sure as hell don't blame the person trying to educate you.

When people say "my kids," it could be anything from a toddler to a college student. I see you don't have kids, that's not surprising considering your oblivion to what gaming is like today. This is why I say only playing 1 game all the time is unhealthy, you've become way too obsessed with EQ and that dilutes your perception of anything else. Nothing else matters. You start to believe things like DBG should be making monthly videos about the game, and that they should hire streamers to play EQ. You are living in a completely different reality.

No, you wish that I had been trying to speak for the players and devs because it helps make me the enemy. As I just said, you live in a different reality. It's rich though coming from someone with the audacity to make demands of the devs.

As I said above, you are making things up to make me the enemy, so you can feel better about your warped reality of what you believe Everquest is. You can pretend you've been attacked all you like, I'm not speaking any differently to you than you were speaking to the devs and to me. If you can't deal with the truths I bring, then use the block feature, and continue living in your little fantasy.

You made asinine demands and you got called out on it. If you can't handle being criticized for that, then maybe don't do it?

You understand that expansions expand the EQ universe... right?

Dear God he thinks spawning CT in EC is dynamic content. You really have never played a game other than EQ have you?

What do you mean the current state? EQ is the same it's always been. It's what MMOs have always been, even the most casual ones: grind. Doing the same things, over and over and over. It has been this way since the 90s. It's still that way today in 2022.

How is mocking a rare live event and defending repetitiveness (which I didn't even do but as stated, you can't really argue with someone living in their own world) not consistent? lol...

Going by the rest of your dialogue, there were probably 2 people there but you believed in your mind there were 200. Sorry, this didn't happen. But just to give you the obvious pampering you need, I'll pretend to concede: if these events had so many people there (not sure you comprehend what a small percentage a few hundred players is of the playerbase, but whatever), why did you stop doing them? Why did SOE stop doing them?

If I were running a game that operated a system like this, and I shut that system down, it would only be for one reason: lack of participation.

In reality, facts aren't insults. You have no one to blame but yourself for not being informed and cultured.

So first you make demands of the devs and now you insult them! Gotta love those people that spaz out when they think someone has insulted them but are eager to do it to others.

I haven't seen these posts, because unlike what you believe, I barely come to these forums. Because I am too busy enjoying the game, and I have a life outside of it.

And a common theme in your arguments is a complete disregard for any sort of logic when it comes to operating an online service game. I asked you to make a budget for EQ. EQ makes $11m a year. Go on, do it. Manage every salary (probably more people than you assume), pay upkeep costs for servers and hardware, create an expansion every year, pay for advertising (every expansion and new TLP is advertised on Facebook for both EQ1 and EQ2). And hey! Since you believe a new EQ game is being developed, don't forget to add that to the budget!

And they do advertise. But for someone who claims to love EQ so much, you don't seem to care enough to spread the word yourself. Instead you're on the forums where only other EQ players will hear you.

You can act like I'm some forum tyrant all you like, stating facts and educating you is as respectful, kind, and charitable as it gets. No one has forced you to come and reply to the criticisms of your posts, you choose to do that on your own. It's not my fault you are unable to accept that criticism.

For someone playing a 23 year old game, you'd think you'd have learned by now that when you post on the internet, you are openly putting yourself in a position to be criticized by a pretty hefty amount of people. You don't get to just say whatever you want with no one else getting to respond.

And if you think educating someone isn't productive, then I feel truly sorry for you.

You are talking about a launch of a game that was extremely buggy and overall poorly received becuase of all the issues it had at launch. They even went as far as to issue refunds to those who bought it which should say something about the quality of that game.

That's my point.

Game development isn't what it used to be even with a big budget and soaring ambition.

On one end of the spectrum we have small but middling products (compact games - console franchises and mobile games), in the middle you have ambitious but bugged products (Cyberpunk 2077), on the other end you have total vaporware (Star Citizen, Pantheon MMO).

The applicable lesson is that any ambitious take for EQ won't pan out.