I want to test a point here. Like if you agree with me. "It can't be done" and "The player base wouldn't justify the expense" are excuses we see frequently to dismiss suggestions regarding the game. I want to push the suggestion situation to the extreme here and see IF there truly is a market for Everquest. That being how many of you would get excited for a "Remastered" version of the game. Here's what I envision: First, redo the game on the Unreal 4 engine with current level graphics. This would include straightening out the allegedly FUBAR code so we no longer hear the spaghetti code excuse due to several developers not following industry standard structured programming practices. Yes, that part is work but we're not debating that, we're debating IF you'd buy it IF that were done. Second, fix all the broken mechanics above level 100 that are simply copying WoW's worst game design practices. No hyper-inflated stats, leveling can be accomplished with the same number of options as lower levels, and the power curve is the same as the early game throughout all levels. Do away with things like mounts adding to stats. Make stats beyond Fervor and Potency matter again, etc... Third, Add hair and clothes physics, make hair actually hair, not a hat. Add a workable dye system also There's probably a dozen other minor things I could suggest, BUT, let's NOT make this thread strictly a wish list. It's more a question of "would you buy, play and subscribe to this?"
On my phone rn, falling asleep with my kids. So in short: Yes, I'd buy that for a dollar. https://giphy.com/gifs/meme-robocop-4LRkCWLi2MKOc I am already subbed and I will continue to sub no matter what engine is being used, but sure, doing what you said = make me very happy, if that means enhancing or upgrading this world for the better. That said, would also love if the powers that be could bring both Vanguard and SWG back to life and readd those games to All Access. EQ 1 and 2, DCUO, Vanguard, SWG: These are all games that I hold close to my gamer heart. Whatever the case, don't forget us Linux and Mac users
Agree with 95% of what you said there, including the Mac and Linux users. They're a growing percentage of the market with people less happy with M$ anymore. DCUO is a sore spot for me though. I'd go on a LONG rant here about what I think they did wrong, BUT it'd divert from the topic too much AND this isn't the DCUO forums. OH, and the Unity engine is garbage.
Yes, 100% I’d support that idea. So in your fantasy world *IF* it happened, I’d love it. Just one side note, as a software engineer, I can tell you outright Unreal 4 would not be a the best choice for EQ Remastered. But the spirit of your idea is something I would love. Unfortunately it’s impractical. The excuse you don’t like is correct. You don’t just “redo” a game on a new graphics engine. That’s just 1 of 10,000 things that needs to be done. A project like this would cost tens of millions of dollars at a minimum. Still, it’s fun to dream, so … yeah, I’ll dream with you! Let’s go EQ Remastered!
One more thing to note, even though the Mac client was sunset years ago, there are still ways to play on a Mac. I’m playing right now on my Mac.
The company that bought the franchise doesn't fund the studio enough to get the people needed to make any sort of venture like this possible.
Oh please do elaborate further ;D Sounds like you're really enjoying your Mac. Beautiful hard- and software, that's true. But yeah, consindering how much a char upgrade would cost, which ttobey said would be around 200k, and that's without the extras, so yeah, doing everything would most likely make us all burn in hell. Would be awesome though, no denying that.
They literally JUST spent the money to refactor to 64 bit. I doubt they would bother doing that and THEN also spend the money to rebuild it from the ground up on an entirely new engine, without a massive playerbase already ready to go. We don't have the WoW playerbase - Or even the EQLive playerbase. It's not impossible, but it's VERY unlikely.
Too many replies all the same, so not much point in individual replies. The thread was NOT about excuses why this couldn't happen. It was a hypothetical *IF* it happened, would you jump on board. Amazing how people are just determined to parrot the "can't be done" line no matter what. I swear somebody could ask for what the most recent patch included and there'd be ten people posting it's too difficult to post. I never said, for example, that upgrading to the Unreal Engine was as simple as just slapping the old code into it. Obviously with that kind of change, the old game becomes nothing but a design map for the new version. As far as the funding goes. Daybreak's new owners are still fairly new. It would be a good time to plead a case about what would be possible with increased funding and maybe a few electronic ads on the right gaming sites. There's a hard, cold business truth that nobody discusses with the "can't be done" line also: If I'm a CEO, I'm not allocating money to a division that does nothing but tell me things can't be done. I'm putting the company's money where people are telling me how and when things can be done.
EG7 already cancelled the marvel mmo daybreak was working on. Lotro is the mmo getting game upgrades.
You didn't answer the biggest question. How MUCH would you pay? Nearly anyone playing is going to answer 'yes' to the 'would you pay' question because they already are. That's lie asking me at a restaurant, would you be willing to pay for a delicious meal? The question then becomes, would you pay 5 times as much, if it increased the quality of the meal? Or, would you pay 5 rimes as much and wait for 3 hours, for a truly sensational meal. Then you'll get a better idea how many are truly committed to this idea.
This is exactly correct. Of course, everyone on these forums would play a new EQ game. In general we are the player base. Making quality MMO’s these days is often a losing financial proposition. I recently read that the average western mmo (not the quickly made Koren mmo’s) take 6 years to develop. That’s a long time to run a business without a profit. The upside of course is, you can potentially be the next WoW, or even the next Fortnite for that matter. Say what you will about those games, they made a ton of money. But more games fail then are successful. I would guess the risk/reward ratio seems daunting to a company like DayBreak. Look at New World, in the end the game was profitable because over 1 million bought the game in the first week. But it’s lost 90% of its player base. If Amazon hadn’t bankrolled that project it would have been impossible to pull off. I just don’t think DayBreak is in a position to do that. But I’ll say it again, YES.. I would buy 6 games and pay the subscription on all 6 accounts like I do now.
5 likes after approximately 2 days. With such intense demand for EQ2 Remastered, I can't imagine why the C-suite at Daybreak haven't done it already... Oh well, can't blame someone for daydreaming. But it is important to note that we're talking about a company that has never shown interest in reinvesting into EQ2. A company that couldn't implement Shader 3.0 successfully, and removed it. A company that hasn't been able to provide proper class balance for a very long time. Hoping for any of that to change is wishful thinking.
ya YA! impoov "bridge" to handell mor's while lookin' eben better?! ya YA! me'es would encourage dat!!! ya YA! me'es fullee support impooving fur benafit uhv ehbeebuddy!
Of course the replies are all telling you it almost certainly won't happen. Even if you got 10k people to SAY they would buy it, that doesn't mean the company would invest the *millions* to recreate the game entirely. Especially with your new concept of it not even actually being EQ2 remastered but essentially being EQ3, since you now say that EQ2 is just a roadmap for the new game. No matter how many people CLAIM they will buy something, the actual number is usually going to be half that, if you're lucky, at the start. That's why people like things like Kickstarter so much - they can get the money in advance and not worry about people saying they WOULD support it if it happened, they support you before it even comes close. Of course, then you don't get the payout when you finish development as much, but hopefully word-of-mouth gets other buyers in at that point. (And then again, look at Pantheon: How many people bought in to that and regret it now because it's been how long with no actual release or believable chance at release any more?) I get it. You want to have hope for longevity for the game. The world and lore of Norrath is fantastic, and the games are fun - there will almost certainly be SOMEONE who makes an EQ3 at some point, but a random forum post is not likely to be the impetus for it.
Hm, that sounds a bit harsh tbh. Sure, they didn't do shader 3, but they did add godrays, ambient occlusion, gpu shadows etc. - and they also upped their game from an artistic design point of view. Unlike other mmos, like Age of Conan for example, our world is still getting major content and technical updates (expacs, game updates, 64-bit client). Just look at the jungle in VoV and the vampire npc models we're using now; looks really good. Not bad for a game two decades old. For what it's worth, I still believe in SOE / DBG / DPG, no matter what mistakes have been made along the way. We're only human, we can and will make mistakes, no matter what position we're in, but we can also decide to fix said missteps and make the best out of it. I honestly feel like some ppl are forgetting that this was and still is the power house that delivered games like EQ1, EQ2, DCUO and SWG. EQ2 was a decade ahead of the competition on so many levels and the very same thing can be said about SWG, which was literally our version of "Star Citizen" back in 2003 and many years later. In addition, even though Everquest Next wasn't my cup of tea, there is no denying that what they were making looks a lot like something Pixar / Disney would do, and I mean that in a very good way (visuals, audio, gameplay, vision and ideas). Quality wise it looked good a few years ago and still looks great to this day. Pretty sure EQN would have been a good way to cater to the Fortnite, WoW and Minecraft generation of players, which in turn means a good cashflow. EQN looks like the perfect family game to play together with your kids too, and I have nothing against it if it's treated as a spin-off adventure to the first two original titles. Nathan Napalm tried SWG recently and he was mindblown by what SOE created all the way back in 2003. Many streamers have also been picking up on EQ2 recently and their feedback has been mostly positive, especially now that more and more peeps are moving in herds to other worlds (they do move in herds btw). There's a shift in power happening rn and this is the ideal moment to bring back Vanguard, SWG and make EQ2 shine as much as possible, without breaking a leg ofc. Guild Wars 2 just released on Steam, and if what I'm reading is correct, they launched with a strong 8k playerforce on Steam. That's really good for such an "old" game. IIRC, Final Fantasy 14 had a weaker start when it launched on Steam initially, and look at where it is now. Just look at it! *takes shirt off and shows you nipples* You know what, initially I wasn't going to do this, but seeing how so many other popular streamers are covering both Vanguard and SWG without getting set on fire from Youtube, I will follow suit and deliver my fair share to the mix. Introducing: Will be adding this to my EQ2 Relaxation series. First video should be up by tomorrow night. In addition, I will also be doing the same for DCUO, EQ1 and Vanguard as time goes on, but my main focus will remain EQ2 ofc. Might be a bit late for me to pay my respect to the ppl that created these adventurous worlds, but what was that saying again? Better late than never. @DBG / DPG: Consider this a tribute to what you're doing now and what you guys and gals have done in the past. Big fan of your virtual worlds. You can still go the distance, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Cheers
Wow, Kelathin is gorgeous and I love the music. I would very much love to see all of Norath like this.
