EQ Next
 

Trickyb [TOG] clued me in to an article that might interest a bunch of TOG, Gamasutra - News - MMO devs will lose the fight against content churn, says SOE's Smedley

Ok I know we all don't want to read the whole thing so let me give you one of the biggest hits...
To me that reads EQ Next has a strong chance of releasing this calendar year. SOE was pretty tight lipped on PS2 and within a year of them truely going to the media they had playable betas and it came out quickly. They seem to be holding things close to their chest and then dropping it quickly after announcing to maintain momentum.

Here is another article that basically covers some of the same ground SOE Live 2012: John Smedley on EQ Next and SOE's future | Massively . What has me interested is they are coming at this as a sandbox game. Now sandbox does not need to equal PvP (look at minecraft) but hopefully they go back to the crafting roots they made in previous titles that worked (SWG or housing in EQ2).

Personally I am more excited about this than even the confirmed beta's that have started or are accepting apps. EQ and EQ2 are both in my "Top 5 MMO's of All Time" list. Many people don't like SOE but I still look at many of their games fondly (EQ, EQ2, SWG, PS, PS2) and their model for free 2 play is better than most.

EQ next is on my watch list as I'm a avid fan of vanguard, but when they said just last year that they started again from scratch and now it's almost ready ?

Likely art and engine were kept. If they already had the assets created it would not take as long. Still I agree that it is something to keep in mind.

TOO MANY GAMES!

/sigh

So true.... something has to give.... not just for me personally but the market in general.

It will be good to see EQ make a comeback. I'd be interested to see the model. As its SOE im assuming F2P. Could give AAA games like Neverwinter (coming this year some time), GW2 and SWTOR some headaches.

EQ has, and will always be, my first love. EQ2 was a big disappointment. With SWTOR and GW2 behind me, two big MMOs that I had been dying to play, I really haven't had anything to look forward to, maybe ESO, but this is great news. Thanks for the info.

I'm hoping the bring classic raiding back in some shape or form. I miss leading a crew of 50-60 through months of raid content. It's not for everyone, but for those who have the time and desire nothing is more collaborative in an MMO.

Interesting. EQ has a place in my heart as well. I never played EQ2, but it didn't capture me. EQ is hard ass work. It's unfortunately, however, that with each new expansion, much like any other game, give less and less relevance to the old content; makes the old content obsolete. The one expansion I played got me to lvl 31 while I was within a few zones length. There was 0 reason to go to Pok. I believe you can rush up 60+ in this leveling continent and never really have a story, worry about gear, craft, player shop, etc. While you didn't have to play like that, there isn't much motivation to going back to an hour+ for a level and sorry drops in desolate areas.

I agree that EQ2 at release was a bit of a let down but damn did they make it better. The housing, crafting, and mentoring were some of the best in MMO's. The whole idea that a guild could set up NPC gatherers that would supply the guild with a small trickle of raw mats was nice but the whole guild mat storage was fricken awesome. Guild halls mattered and people would some nights just hang out at the fountain (or whatever) and say hi to people as they used the druid circle. I have not seen a game with a better guild hall. EQ2 in the end gave more tools to guilds than just about ever other game.

Heh I went back to EQ about 1 1/2-2 years ago and it had some nice graphic update but it was barren...no one. The only thing that was going on were a few handful of groups were doing end content raids like they did before. You know, the those raids that ruined marriages, jobs and caused homelessness? Yeah some people were still playing EQ.