What is the current planned future of Everquest

I'm not talking about expansions. I'm talking about the continuation of the Everquest license.

You can keep releasing expansions for EQ and EQ2, and that's just fine. But, the reality is that the EQ and EQ2 game clients and server code is 17 and 11 years old respectively. There's really only so much you can do.

Now that EQNEXT is cancelled, is that it? Are you going to just keep putting out expansions until there aren't enough customers left, and call it a day?

Surely DBG isn't betting their future on H1Z1 and Landmark.

There's got to be more than what we're being told.

I highly doubt anyone is going to give a solid answer on this one, other than they are going to continue the current games as long as they are profitable.

DBG sadly doesn't have the funding to make a new mmo. They are in a sense a very successful indie company now.
Perhaps kick starter would be a solution to any new plans.

I wonder what kind of game we would have if all that money for failed projects like EQ next and free Realms was used for EQ1/.

Don't forget the Agency, they pumped a lot of money into that one and it never made it out of alpha.

You know what would be awesome?

A revamped EQ sequel using some a totally new engine with newer code. You could remake classic and add in the modern touches like instanced raids/group boss fights <Sorta like Phinny/later EQ expansions>. You could make it so the models have at the start the old look but the ability to wear different looking armor <Bronze/plate basic would be a remade classic look while unique items follow a different style.

You could call it EQ Next or Norrath or something....

Or you could make EverMinecraft Online with SUPER DUPER AI and advanced minecrafting digging. That too...

I heard they were dedicating this entire summer to backend work on EQ1. So they are going to be cleaning up the code and updating it for future expansions.

They're announcing plans for their new game soon: Everquest Next: Next.

You dont know this? how could you know this.
The parent firm, has billions so if dbg had something good to announce it maybe funded or not. Otherwise it will be sold off like most investment firms do so well.

Actually during the anniversary stream Holly (in the side chat) said they were totally revamping the back end of EQ this year.. including finely getting rid of the flat file format of keeping character records. .. sounds like some pretty serious re-coding is going to be going on over the next 6 months or so in EQ.

My personal opinion is that they should stop trying to make NEW mmorpg's, and redo what has worked for 17 years.

Everquest 2.0 (not Everquest 2): The re-creation of what started it all.

• New up to date game client using one of the modern available game engines
• New server code utilizing the game rules from Everquest (new code / old rules)
• Recreate the Everquest zones in the new system with up to date graphics
• Recreate the ORIGINAL Everquest character models with up to date graphics
• Release it with Anotonica, Faydwer, Odus and Kunark in the initial release
• Year later release Velious
• Year later release Ykesha and the Buried Sea as the pirate expansion
• Year later release Luclin
• Year after that, branch off to a completely NEW story line that never goes to the Planes of Power, Gates of Discord, Omens of War, etc....

Everquest 1 has lasted 17 years for a reason. A new revamped Everquest could last another 17.

All I would like is challenging content for once. Underfoot type expansion would be awesome. Plenty of tiers that actually scale with difficulty. Would even be willing to help code/balance content/brain storm etc.

I def agree with the thought that EQ should have never started up EQ2, EQnext etc. Should of dumped all that money back into EQ like WoW did. I dont know anything about EQ2 but I wish there was a way to maybe combine them I dunno. Was such a bad idea to split it into another game like that.

Well, the EQNext engine may be viable, of course, that would probably mean new sys requirements. The thing is would there be new servers starting with original areas, and would there be servers that current characters could be transferred to?

What is the biggest difference between EQ 1 and EQ 2? I never played around with EQ 2. Is it more challenging than EQ 1 or less so? Anyone here know?

I agree with the general idea you have but I feel Everquest ended with Velious. In all honesty it feels like some of the later expansions could have been part of the original EQ by story (not based on how good or bad they were.)

One of the main issue with everquest that I have is instances and missions, as these took over the population shrunk. This to me goes hand and hand with why expansions by definition have destroyed EQ and that is the world gets bigger by zones or by instanced zones yet the player base shrinks. Instead of adding on to Velks or Keal, OS or Chardok, Castle Mistmore or even curshbone by making the zone larger and even bigger in level rage (mobs) they simply add a new expansion. New expansions and level increases kill the old world and in one way it has to but in another it creates an amazing amount of dead space.

Id rather see 60 people in a zone where many groups can be digging in deep and some duo or solo areas VS a zone with 20 people and 7 are afk and others are zoning in and out of missions... No talking, no community.

Basically, expansions should only exist if you actually need more space for players. You can deliver new content, even change zones dramatically with a patch and keep the game far more interesting. There is far to much room currently in eq with to few players.

Also to me there is a huge problem with class builds and what roles they represent. The holy trinity works in a board game but in a online computer game it's more than a little problematic. Any class with the role *utility* as a main staple is a class with far less value than a pure tank/healer/dps. The simple reason why is because outside of a bard all utility can be buffed onto a player/group for 1-2 hours while the DPS/tanking and healing must be produced inside of the group in the moment of activity. Bards are the only correctly done, or best done utility class as their songs fade quickly once exiting a group. Of course the other issue is too much utility has been made available to every single class through clicky, potion and even in Mercs.

Just some of my thoughts on if EQ were to "revamp" and do it all again.

Doing the same zone over and over is boring. Adding new zones is exciting.

Do you know what adps is? Thats what utility classes do. They arent less valuable than pure tanking/healer/dps classes. They add a ton. Shms have amazing heals but strongest giving adps to melee groups that spike their damage up a lot. Bards/chanters/druids are amazing as well. For a dps class to get to their max potential they need those utility classes.

Not if the original zones are constantly evolving. You may be in the same place, but it could look totally different.

For example, a war destroys a previously well established city, leaving behind ruins. Most of the npc population will leave that place and it would be replaced with different NPCs.

Player-driven in game/real time world changes would've been an extremely interesting twist into EQ lore. The chance for players to create their own fate and make their own decisions rather than "go there, complete X, Y, Z and you're done." Rinse and repeat.

Let's be serious, most MMOs - heck, most games - suffer from repetition. It doesn't make very much sense that after X amount of time once I killed something that it suddenly comes back to life and uses the same exact script as before.

We must play different games, because I understand the theory I just don't see it applied. I suppose unless you're talking about raiding and even still utility is sub par to dps in that you only need as many utility (adps) to the larger amount of DPS classes.

Anyways I'm sure I'm wrong despite this is how the game has been played for like ever and raids would be better off with 10 shaman, 10 rangers, 10 bards, 10 BL and then 1 or 2 war, maybe 3 clerics and a the rest random dps classes. I can see the future expansions shivering in fear of that force!

Anyways, no fighting needed... I highly disagree that expansions as we know them are needed seeing as historically the payer base ends up shrinking as a whole while adps classes are this amazing thing despite utility classes being few and far between passed "oh i have a shaman/chanter I can log in to buff us before we go!"

For people that want to re make everquest by adding new graphics and keeping the old systems you will find yourself in a very under populated world.

He gets it =)