After almost three years of being teased, Sony Online Entertainment has finally unveiled the first glimpses at not just their next-gen MMO EverQuest Next, but also the voxel building based title EverQuest Next Landmark.
As with their previous EverQuest titles, the two next-gen MMOs will both be free-to-play, however EverQuest Next won't be coming out for some time. Landmark on the other hand is expected to be available at the end of the year with an alpha sometime in the very near future.
Of course it isn't just the voxel-based engine that both MMOs utilise that is interesting. EverQuest Next and Landmark will offer no levels, and will allow players to mix and match classes through their weapons. Players will also find persistent AI that "remembers" what you have done, ensuring the world always remembers just what you did to that farmer's livestock. Enemies can also utilise the destructible environments, punching through the surface to creating a void that enemies and characters can fall down into a new sub-surface environment.
A press embargo on a fresh round of previews for both upcoming MMO's has lifted, bringing with it a bunch of hands on impressions from a multitude of international outlets, based on what appear to have been quite extensive gameplay sessions. Here's a few snips:
PC Gamer:EQ Next knows what areas are patrolled and populated, and how many adventurers have traveled any given stretch of road. So, rather than the designers plopping down static orc camps, orcs are created with these likes and dislikes and “released into the void.” They wander around looking for just the right stretch of road to camp near, and if guards start coming by, or players beat them back too often, they’ll move.
Eurogamer:SOE is at least going all in with this new EverQuest adventure, and it's a game that largely abandons a template still capable of drawing a convention's worth of fans together. It's a bold vision of what the company thinks a next-generation MMO should look like, and it begins with the world itself. Constructed using voxel technology - and layered on top of a heavily modified version of the engine powering PlanetSide 2 - the destruction and manipulation of your next home from home lies at the heart of almost every design decision.
ShackNews:Destruction promises not only to give combat an added sense of oomph, but it's central to the game's design. EverQuest Next encourages you to destroy the world around--and specifically, beneath--you, as there are multiple layers underneath the crust to explore. In a nod to Minecraft, you can break into the ground and explore the "thousands of years of archaeological lore" that SOE has developed for the world beneath the surface. You'll fall into caves, abandoned mines, and even lava-filled caverns--all offering dynamic quest opportunities, and most importantly, loot. And the world will be ever-changing: "we can occasionally have earthquakes that collapse caverns."
Hit the screenshots and videos below to see just what EverQuest Next and Landmark have in store for the MMO genre. Those wanting to try their luck can also signup for beta
over here.
Posted 11:17am 03/8/13
Wish those videos displayed the UI's. Also given the way the game play is described it sounds like its quite possible this is heading towards a console market.
Posted 11:23am 03/8/13
Still, that Iron Golem destroying the house looked pretty badass, and the dynamically spawning mobs that work out the best place to camp to kill players is very cool
Posted 11:27am 03/8/13
Honestly what is not to like about a free-to-play next-gen voxel-based sandbox MMO that has no levels, environment can be destroyed and rebuilt, trinity system, over 40 classes based on what weapon combinations you use, dynamic combat that can be affected by the landscape damage, parkour movement and some gorgeous graphics to boot.
Posted 11:35am 03/8/13
Posted 01:24pm 03/8/13
There's gobs and gobs of 'on rails' story-deiven MMOs out there, not sure why someone would be disappointed that people are trying new things... Such a crusty old c***! :P
Posted 01:45pm 03/8/13
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Posted 02:11pm 03/8/13
I'm not disappointed, I think it looks pretty cool, just not my cup of tea :)
Posted 02:18pm 03/8/13
Half cynical, half wondering how they'll pull off persistent destruction in an MMO.
If stuff stays broken then the majority of players would eventually just see ruins. If stuff doesn't stay broken then it's really just part of the instance smoke and mirrors.
Posted 02:25pm 03/8/13
Posted 02:29pm 03/8/13
I could imagine, and somewhat hope, that as part of someone elses motive/quest/job/whatever outcome driven scenario there is, that you rebuild those ruins using gathered materials or created materials.
In much the same way Eve works - miners mine, builders build, people buy goods, goods get destroyed, cycle starts again.
Posted 02:39pm 03/8/13
Do note the difference between the two MMOs. Landmark is being used as a "test" game, allowing players to see how EverQuest Next will actually work and also build the world that they want to live in. Each server will have different constructs due to the players building it, and there will also be "special servers being ‘lore locked’, meaning anything constructed needs to conform to the rules and lore of Norrath. From there, players have the opportunity to directly impact and contribute to what you might see in the full MMO."
Posted 03:01pm 03/8/13
I'd like to see an army of peons that work their way around a map rebuilding things and trees regrow rather than a simple now it's ruined, now it's not sort of scenario.
I can imaging things would turn to rubble quite quickly on a populated server, wonder what that would do to the lag.
Posted 05:26pm 03/8/13
It looks cool, but I think it's a bit weird they left their realism theme in previous titles for the cartoony one. Guess they thought wow did well in part to the art direction?
Posted 06:22pm 03/8/13
Curse also have a great interview that should explain some stuff as well
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Posted 05:50pm 03/8/13
From what I read new towns/settlements buildings are rebuilt using quests ect... it is quite possible for something to get damaged and never rebuilt.
Eg, settlement gets attacked on a regular basis, the npcs will offer quests to collect resources and then to eventually build a wall.
The majority of quests will be dynamic like this, the emphasis with this game is to make a lot of the content user generated.. Everquest next landmark is the next step in this.. it allows users to create structures and the devs can then import those structures with the users being paid for it. They don't expect a lot of content to be acceptable enough to be imported, but they figure if 50,000 people create content and only 100 people create decent content that thats 100 more designers than they previously had.
Posted 06:23pm 03/8/13
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Posted 12:07am 04/8/13
looking it up...
EDIT: Seems it was used in Everquest II and, based on some interviews with creative director Dave Georgeson, is getting some big upgrades for EQnext
Posted 06:18am 04/8/13
Posted 10:38am 04/8/13
Posted 11:06am 04/8/13
they reckon it will be playable on 4-5 year old PC's.
Posted 11:40am 04/8/13
I really like the no levelling idea, if done right. It seems like they'd rather have you go out and explore, with exploration being your levelling through advancing classes (like FF14 ARR).
Posted 03:38pm 04/8/13
I also love how GW2 tries to make questing feel more dynamic, which again, it sounds like this new EQ is taking even further. If they also tailor their combat to be more on the GW2 end of the scale and less like WoW, I'll be all over this.
Posted 04:56pm 04/8/13
Of course they do. I'm sure they will be fine solo, but a raid boss fight means effect everywhere. I remember way back my wow days staring at the floor during some raid bosses to get a decent framerate. The final boss of the Sunwell was pretty laggy, I had a mid range system at the time.
Posted 08:53am 05/8/13
Anti camp code!!!