[EverQuest Next] Details revealed. Press embargo ended. Beta registration open.

Nathrak

Signup for beta here

Details for the revealing:

Join John Smedley, Dave Georgeson and members of the development team for the reveal of EverQuest Next! You won't want to miss this!

Friday August 2nd at noon PST will be the EverQuest Next Debut live streamed at the Official EverQuest Next Stream.

Reveal over Video of reveal presentation.
Video of Class panel up. [Part 1] [Part 2]
Video of Q&A panel up. [Part 1] [Part 2]
Video of Lore panel up. [Part 1] [Part 2]

Liveblog for stream. (Warning: Embedded Twitch stream)

Actual info now that embargo is over!
Real info article with screenshots now that embargo is over!
MMORPG.com article with screenshots and info!
EQHammer Q&A, answers to community questions about EQNext
PC Gamer EverQuest Next reveal article.
PC Gamer interview with most class info so far.
Short MTV article on EQNext.
Zam article.
Shacknews article.
Eurogamer
Desctuctoid
VentureBeat
Rock Paper Shotgun
Curse video interview. Some info on grouping/raiding.
Questions from Reddit Answered First person is in.


Other panels related to EverQuest Next though probably not live streamed:
August 2nd 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM EverQuest Next: The World of EverQuest Next Find out what the world looks like and how players will experience it.
August 3rd 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM EverQuest Next: Showing Off Your Creativity What avenues will our players have to participate in the more creative parts of an MMO?
August 3rd 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM EverQuest Next: The Classes of EverQuest Next A discussion about one of the most important features of any MMO: the classes!
August 3rd 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EverQuest Next: The Lore of EverQuest Next What's new? What's different? How many familiar faces will there be? Does your favorite character feature prominently in the story? Join us and find out!
August 3rd 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM EverQuest Next: Creating a World Come learn about how we go about making the world of a brand new MMO!
August 3rd 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM EverQuest Next: Q&A You have many, many questions. We have answers to at least some of them. We should hang out.
August 4th 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM EverQuest Next: Writers' Panel Come meet some of the writers that are adding amazing lore to EverQuest Next.

Game Info: (Not much yet)
EverQuest Next is NOT EverQuest 3 or a direct continuation of the gameplay style of any EverQuest title. It uses EverQuest lore and a setting that will be familiar.
The official site is everquestnext.com/
It is farther along in development than the lack of info would indicate, they're being very secretive.

wrote:

Everquest Next has a lot of what I like to call “completely original ideas” in it.And that’s why we’re not really tipping off our competitors to what we’re doing right now.

We want a nice big comfortable lead before we tell people what we’re doing and that’s why we’re in a black box right now. Dave Georgeson, Curse Interview

It uses the Forgelight Engine like Planetside 2.
It incorporates Storybricks AI who go on to call EverQuest Next “the biggest sandbox ever designed.” Storybricks Presentation
A good collection of info known so far is at EverQuest Next - The Story So Far
Also EQNWire for any news that sneaks out.
Most likely(Definitely?) some method of Free 2 Play.

Even vaguer info:(Grain of salt)
"Wait until you see spellweaving in the next EverQuest," Georgeson teased. "I've said too much but you've never played a game like it. I can promise you that.

"Players will get their hands on an actual release version of what we're doing late [this] year - and I don't mean a beta," says Smedley.

"you have no idea just how far we are going to make them important. Oh yeah. You will both be very happy." Smedley regarding factions

"if they want linear and coddled then they can play a lot of other games." Smedley on sandboxiness

The end result is "an MMO you've never played before," he told me. "It's a completely different critter." Georgeson


So has anyone seen it, is it all hype?

EverQuest Next was at E3 though it was behind closed doors and only shown under NDA. Some people seemed impressed enough to give it best of show.

MMORPG.COM

Say what? You thought this one wasn’t at E3? Well, really... it wasn’t in any official capacity. But we were treated to an early look at what SOE has planned for the game’s unveiling in August and we were quite simply blown away by every little detail we saw. This is going to sound like a cop-out, but we can't say why we are choosing EQN as our Best of Show because we've been sworn to secrecy until the big debut in August. What we can say is that we saw grand plans for the world's largest sandbox and it was more than enough to stand head and shoulders above any game we saw at E3. When Sony pulls back the curtain later this summer, you will not be disappointed. EverQuest Next is this year's E3 Best of Show, and in just a couple months you'll all understand why. We promise.

TenTonHammer

We’ve been looking forward to EverQuest Next for quite some time now. Even though our expectations heading into our private viewing during E3 were high, EverQuest Next exceeded those expectations on all fronts.

While we are sworn to secrecy on exactly what we were shown, what we can say is that EverQuest Next was hands-down the best game we had the pleasure of seeing during E3 2013. Franchise fans and MMO gamers across the globe will be able to learn exactly why that’s the case on August 2nd during SOE Live when EQNext is given its grand unveiling.

Trust us when we say that you’ll want to mark that date on your calendar, and be prepared to bask in the warm glow of EverQuest Next in all its glory. In the meantime, kudos to the folks over at SOE for winning our Best of Show award; we’re as excited as you are to witness the impact EverQuest Next is surely going to have on gamers this August!

What's it look like!?
Who knows! A little dragon concept art.

And they hired an artist to redo the Original EverQuest artwork, it is not from anyone working on the game so not representative of how it will look necessarily.

One teaser image as well

Nathrak

I don't know what I'm doing, but I've been hoping a thread for this would show up and it never did! My curiosity is vast and someone else must be interested as well.

Kid Presentable

Very nice OP, glad somebody made a post.

Hype hype hype hype hype.

Is there anything more awesome than an MMO that has absolutely no solid details, and is just nothing but potential? There isn't. Will it possibly be as good as I am imagining and hoping it will be? Of course not. But maybe, just maybe, this time it will be! I am definitely ready for a sandbox MMO, can't wait for the reveal.

Subby

Have to admit I was wondering if a thread would pop up for this. Even drug me out of the lurker mode.

Time to break out the popcorn and see how this goes.

p.s. Well done on the OP

Darmak

I'm actually really, really excited about EQ Next. I haven't really been able to get into an MMO since Guild Wars, and even then I was just wanting more of the same feeling I got playing EQ1. I really hope this turns out to be great, I'll be there Day 1.

drunkenpandaren

But will there be doors?

JediNight

Wonder if spellweaving has anything to do with crafting your own unique abilities, basically. Which is rare, but not completely undone in MMOs before if its what I'm thinking of. A niche MMO called Ryzom allowed you to heavily tweak your skills. Could make a spell single target or AOE, DD or DoT. And tradeoffs included cast time, MP use, or even HP drain to cast.

Invisible

My expectations are low until I find out what kind of pay wall it will be using. I'm assuming it'll be F2P, but if it is good I hope it's more of a sensible pay structure and not a Facebook game pay structure.

Axen

Well I am excited.

Smedley earned a fair bit of stock with me because of PS2.

Plus EQ1 was my first MMO and I did enjoy EQ2 after they patched out the whole no class->base class->advanced class progression they had at release.

Nothing sucked more then spending all that time getting to level 30(?) to finally become a Paladin only to realize that I hated it.

edit- Oh another thing that gave Smedley some bonus points was when he talked about EQ Next awhile back. He basically said they had been working on the game for a few months to a year and realized all they were doing was making EQ III. They didn't want that so they had to scrap the project and start fresh.

Noizlanif

Well, this has my interest Piqued for sure, having played EQ1 for too many years. I wonder if spellweaving might be some sort of combo system that works with other players. No idea.

Axen

Invisible wrote: »

My expectations are low until I find out what kind of pay wall it will be using. I'm assuming it'll be F2P, but if it is good I hope it's more of a sensible pay structure and not a Facebook game pay structure.

Smedley has said SOE is becoming a F2P company, but I believe EQ Next has been either confirmed F2P or strongly hinted at.

If PS2 is an indication then their F2P system should be pretty solid. It was mostly cosmetic stuff and a few guns. Though IMHO your choice of firearm in that game comes down to personal preference as opposed to stats. Hell, one of the best guns in the game is one you can start off with.


On a different note.

I really, really, really want to see The Secret World's gear system used in another MMO. Seriously.

For those not in the know it worked liked this; You had clothing and talismans.

Clothing was just that, clothes. It added zero stats and there were dozens and dozens of shirts, jackets, pants, shoes, accessories, and so forth. You could dress however you wanted to.

Talismans are what gave you your stats. They had their own separate gear slots from clothing and never showed up on your character. They pretty much worked identically to how armor works in most MMOs.


I wish to see that in other games. Mages in plate mail, Warriors in leather armor. Just let the player dress their characters however they wish and have something separate for stats. If I want to be a warrior wearing a fur loin cloth and boots who just wants to smash heads then let me! :P



edit- Oh also, one thing I'd love to see in EQ Next is fully developed first-person perspective with the added bonus of Oculus support. Mm Mmm!

badpoet

I like the F2P system on EQ, where you have Gold Subscriptions that give you added benefits for the normal monthly payment and you use SC (get 500 for having a gold sub) to buy things like bonus XP pots, etc. Once they changed it to allow you to play any class, that is. Prior to the changes, it was kind of bullshit.

It's possible (but maybe doubtful) we'll see a gear system like that Axen. EQ has gone away from having very recognizable gear for each class to a more homogenized loot system. I'd like to think they could have a system where each class has an ultimate gear that has a certain look, but allow players to buy different items to stylize their character to meet their wants.

Kid Presentable

Let people make their own gear models and implement them like community made hats and weapons on the steam marketplace for TF2. You're welcome, SOE's wallets.

GONG-00

Kid Presentable wrote: »

Let people make their own gear models and implement them like community made hats and weapons on the steam marketplace for TF2. You're welcome, SOE's wallets.

I think SOE is already chasing that particular rabbit.

Kid Presentable

Sooo you're saying I should return that yacht I just purchased with money borrowed against future lawsuit settlements with SOE for stealing my idea?

GONG-00

That is up to you and the hourly rate of your chosen legal representative.

Joiry

Hmmm, still have mixed feelings about SOE from my years in SWG.

A well done sandbox MMO would be welcome. Tho EQ is too generic fantasy world imo, this supposed original game play could overcome that.

mojojoeo

Sandbox....

Tell me some more....

Axen

Joiry wrote: »

Hmmm, still have mixed feelings about SOE from my years in SWG.

A well done sandbox MMO would be welcome. Tho EQ is too generic fantasy world imo, this supposed original game play could overcome that.

Heh, honestly for me some good old-fashioned generic fantasy might just be right up my alley.

GONG-00

Is training spectres onto the asshats that stole Lockjaw from my group in Oasis sandbox gameplay?

Kid Presentable

GONG-00 wrote: »

Is training spectres onto the asshats that stole Lockjaw from my group in Oasis sandbox gameplay?

Compared to all the theme-park MMOs that have come out since EQ1, yes, absolutely. The game gave you those spectres and said "do what you want with them!" Memories were created.

Darmak

Oh Fansy, you will be missed

Noizlanif

He'll be back.. Heheh. Along with Rigoberto, and Reevex.

Noizlanif

Let's not also forget Genial Puresong, the bard.

Roe

I've never played EQ in any iteration, but I am looking forward to watching this game be unveiled.

Otaking

I liked hearing about factions being important, I remember killing plenty of dwarves that dared to sully our dark elf territories with their greedy, corpulent presence in one of EQ 1 faction-pvp servers.

I got that feeling of really being the race/faction I was playing as again in DAOC and a little bit in Warhammer Online but never as strongly as it felt in EQ 1. MMOs really lose something when everyone gets along and the races are just models.

gjaustin

Otaking wrote: »

I liked hearing about factions being important, I remember killing plenty of dwarves that dared to sully our dark elf territories with their greedy, corpulent presence in one of EQ 1 faction-pvp servers.

I got that feeling of really being the race/faction I was playing as again in DAOC and a little bit in Warhammer Online but never as strongly as it felt in EQ 1. MMOs really lose something when everyone gets along and the races are just models.

Factions are about 90% of why I look back on Everquest fondly.

To be important, factions need to be opposed to each other. If you want to be friendly with the Dark Elves, it needs to hurt your High Elf faction.

Darmak

I agree. I didn't do much faction stuff in EQ like farming dark elf guards and all that jazz (I was only ever a wood elf druid), but I thought it was a really cool aspect of the game. I also liked how the Iksar were universally hated and for one of them to enter another race's town or vice versa you really had to work at it.

Otaking

So, did anyone watch and fully assimilate the Storybricks AI stuff? I tried to fast forward through to relevant bits but the presentation left a lot to beZZzzz.

I got the impression of stories...and bricks...but no maybe some procedurally generated quests with randomized plot elements based on tropes?

Or maybe the tavern wench just has a randomly colored skirt...

JediNight

I don't mind if they want to call it F2P, as long as they still offer a "gold account" or whatever that is basically a_monthly_fee that lets you bypass all the bullshit. I'd rather just pay my $15 and be done with it.

drunkenpandaren

Betrayal quests and learning languages by committing genocide on a local populace were my favorite things in EQ2. Oh yeah, also wearing a pretty dress on my zerker.

Nathrak

Hype from Original EQ creator.

Saw a preview of the EQNext intro yesterday. I think EQ and VG players are going to love it! Brad McQuaid

It has features that Jeff & I wanted to put in EQ & VG (& a bunch of other great ideas) but the tech wasn't there yet. Well, it's there now! Brad McQuaid

Arthil

Features you say... Like owning your own ship and sailing around to various lands?

Seidkona

I am tentatively and suspiciously interested. If some of the teasers turn out to be true and they puill off more user generated content than one could want I could see this being the next mmo I drop a ton of time into.

Dac

What I remember most from Everquest was how ridiculously long it took to get anywhere, the first-person perspective, and how immersive they made the experience.

Maybe I'd think differently today. It was a long, long time ago, after all. But one of my fondest memories from that game is falling off the boat for the first time when heading from Freeport to the elven lands. I was just... stuck out there. In the middle of the ocean zone. With no way to know where I was or where I was heading. No fancy 'press M for Map' buttons, here. No Hearthstones. I had to pick a direction and GO and hope I hit land.

I eventually stumbled upon some rocks where some dude was chilling out in a boat. Not an NPC. Just some... dude... player, I think a human conjurer, who had been out there for god knows how long. I hopped in his canoe and we set sail. We must've spent fucking HOURS meandering our way across that ocean, fleeing from sirens when they showed up, to eventually stumble upon the midway island that allowed you to re-board the ship. Some time later (boats took a WHILE to make the circuit) we were able to get on the boat, and made the journey back to land together.

It's like the dumbest shit ever and it would probably infuriate me today but it was great.

Garthor

Ah yes, I remember the boats in Everquest. They're such a fantastic example of "Hey we partially implemented some random-ass idea that serves no real purpose... fuck it just throw it in."

There were seriously just boats sitting around in some places, and you could get in (by which I mean stand on them) and move them. That's it.

I feel they serve as a metaphor for the game as a whole.

rts

That was the type of thing which made EQ feel like an adventure. No fast travel, and pretty severe punishment for death made it much more exciting I felt. Because when you wanted to go somewhere you had to walk there through dangerous shit and if you died on the way it hurt. Though, you could always try to find a druid or a wizard and pay them to teleport you, but even then the druid and wizard stones were usually in the middle of nowhere so you still had a long dangerous walk to get where you were going.

I hope it doesn't have mounts too. Though I am sure it will. Did EQ2 have mounts? Anyways mounts are retarded. They suck what little immersion MMORPGs have these days right out. I loved the DAoC system though of buying a ticket to ride and then having a horse just carry you through the wilderness to your destination. I know that sounds just like WoW or something but it was very different, being on the ground able to get off at any time to explore something that you were riding past. Plus the clacking of the hooves just made it feel better.

I miss games that feel like an adventure. But I can't tell if they don't feel like an adventure anymore because they have all become so casual (I don't like this word but I don't know how else to describe it) or focused on things I don't care about... or if it's because I am older and I just experience things differently now. Probably some combination of the two.

Arthil

EQ2 had ALL the mounts, and honestly? I think them not including them into EQ Next would be a sad thing. Mainly because they had some awesome variants. While I might not want the flying mounts, they had types of mounts that let you LEAP by amazing bounds. They had gliding mounts, and if I remember also mounts that could climb up walls.

Darmak

I started playing Everquest 1 again last night (my 13 year old druid is only level 67, lol) and I was revisiting all the old zones I used to hang out in and some I had never visited. In Butcherblock I went to the docks and I was amazed that they put the boats back into the game! You can still talk to the transporter people and travel instantly if you want, but I absolutely loved riding on the boats and I took a trip over the Freeport, then one back for old time's sake. It was nice and relaxing and let me catch back up on using the interface and look at what my spells do.

Scosglen

I am really curious to see what Sony has cooked up.

I think there are things that would be nice to recapture about the original EQ experience, but the reality is I don't want to play that game again. Because as "exciting" as it is to wander through some unholy backwater with no map and every monster conning red and aggressive to you, I am not willing to put up with the stress that is required to generate that kind of emotional drama. EQ felt vast and dangerous because the game threatened to hit you in the face with a brick every time you worked up the courage to do anything remotely risky. I think I would prefer developers come up with some way to keep their games mysterious other than "Yeah, go explore the world. If you die we will shoot you in the nuts".

I'm not a game designer, I'm not sure what those solutions are. Maybe EQN is so outside of the box that this whole WoW vs EQ school of design comparison is totally irrelevant. If the only way to not be "casual" is to create a game as unflinchingly punishing and time consuming as EQ was, well, maybe I don't care if things are too friendly.

Dac

Fippy darkpaw was Leeroy Jenkins before Leeroy Jenkins.