Next Everquest installment: Everquest "Next".

[Convo]

Wonder how long before Brad is involved?

[Ham n Cheese]

Just do both instancing and world mobs (a god that walks around or something ala shadow of colossus). EQ has gone the way of instancing a long time ago and it's worked just fine. I used to hate instancing, loving the race, but it can still be just as competitive with instancing. You know who has killed what and both guilds getting to try it makes it fair.

Make the combat closer to EQ1 than EQ2, keep exp loss for death and get someone who knows what they're doing to do your animations.

[Hatorade]

Why do I feel like this is going to go the route of DFO, first person combat to keep with the roots of EQ. I imagine it will have classes right out the door via EQ as well.

Doesn't matter what they do I will check it out, I just hope they keep the EQ spell names going "Garrison's Superior Sundering" etc. Spells alone taught me names for setting shit on fire I never even heard of. The thought of Shadowbolt rank IX makes me sad.

[Vilgan]

Originally Posted by Vorph

Wtf? There aren't even any WoW classes that you can get away with so few hotkeys unless you're only talking about abilities that actually go in a rotation.

Huh? Every class I ever played in WoW had like 1 hotbar of stuff I used a lot and 1 hotbar for occasional things. Rogue, druid, warrior, priest, mage... nothing took that terribly many. Druid had more but the hotbar autoswitched when I shapeshifted so it worked out the same. EQ2 I have 3 hotbars of shit I press fucking constantly along with another hotbar (and a bit) of stuff I don't use terribly often. Hell my new berserker is lvl 15 and already can't fit his shit on 2 hotbars... what kind of whacked up nonsense is that?

As for the instancing debate: I really really want public dungeons. They should still be instanced ala EQ2 to help with overload.. like 50 in a dungeon and it makes another, etc. I love actually running into other people. It feels like an actual fucking world instead of a guildwars setup where you meet in towns then go off to your private little instanced adventure. I'm not saying "omg no instancing". I think 50/50 is about right.

As for the "ooh some contested up around the world". Meh. whoopty fucking do. I want to do shit where I run into people on a regular basis, not a "oh xxx is up lets go kill them, and look other people are in the area too!" thing. I was in KC in EQ2 yesterday and there were 3 different groups moving around as well as a few people soloing named. It felt like I was actually part of a world, which is nice. Both public dungeons and instanced "your special adventure!" dungeons are nice and BOTH should have a place in EQ3 imo.

[Vorph]

Originally Posted by Alarion

I think the point is, in EQ2 you actually use all three hotbars most of the time.

I think the rogues (and maybe warrior types, never played one) could have used some trimming of the fat in EQ2, but I never saw it with other classes, especially not my main (Defiler). Defiler healing was no more hotkey-intensive than a holy paladin.

I think most of it is the difference in UI's between the two games. Even with all the restrictions on LUA added since release, you can still automate far more shit in WoW than in practically any other game. EQ2's UI was pretty much cosmetic-only from what I remember.

[Araxen]

I predict a Free Realms clone.

[Rayne]

I don't know. Maybe its just me, but I think the genre is ready for something more (yes, even the WoW kids who never played anything else). Right now, the genre is basically split in two. Those who prefer the older games (with thier various levels of "challenge"), and those who prefer the newer games, whose levels of challenge often conflict with the older viewpoint.

Personally, I think the genre is ready for something thats more "middle of the road". Everything from death penalties to "free epix" is in vigorous debate right now. The common denominator, regardless of which end of the spectrum you reside in, is that a good portion of the genre's population is feeling stagnant, and its ready for something not just new, but something "more" (and each of us could likely relate that to many different things).

Theres no telling if this could be the game that provides it, but it'll be cool if they can find that "sweet spot" that really narrows the spectrum.

[Zehn - Vhex]

Originally Posted by Vilgan

I was in KC in EQ2 yesterday and there were 3 different groups moving around as well as a few people soloing named. It felt like I was actually part of a world, which is nice. Both public dungeons and instanced "your special adventure!" dungeons are nice and BOTH should have a place in EQ3 imo.

It always seemed odd to me that dungeons in EQ might as well have had a coat room and a bar so people could get drunk while they waited for a table to become available in the main dining room. But then again I preferred taking my groups to shit like Chardok or HS since we'd be the only ones in the zone and have free reign over where we went and what we killed. The loot sucked but it felt more 'dungeony' to me then going to Karnor's Pug and Grill.

[Genjiro]

Originally Posted by Vorph

I think the rogues (and maybe warrior types, never played one) could have used some trimming of the fat in EQ2, but I never saw it with other classes, especially not my main (Defiler). Defiler healing was no more hotkey-intensive than a holy paladin.

Healers were the exception in EQ2.

[Zehn - Vhex]

Originally Posted by Genjiro

Healers were the exception in EQ2.

Hunters in WoW need a serious hotkey readjustment. Fuck. Never has so simple a class required so many buttons to do so little. I only ~need~ like 4 buttons to dps but goddamn if I want to pvp I need to print out a special keyboard overlay just to remember what all my buttons do.

[Lyenae]

There will be only 2 possibilities for this: Total failure or total success.

If they actually use their station access IP collection (aka MMO graveyard) as a research tool as to what works/what doesn't, capitalize upon why EQ2 failed and EQ succeeded, and give this project as much time and $ as needed, this will be an epic MMO.

If they shoot shots in the dark, or fall short of anything mentioned in success, this will drop like a stone and kill SOE off completely.

[kedwyn]

If they want any sort of success they will put a hybrid system in with most of these ideas.


Instancing is here to stay, get over it because any successful game will have some version of it.

Static dungeons do not have to go away just because there are instancing. Stick a bad ass in there with some nice loot and people are still going to fight over it and race. The entire world shouldn't be built on cock blocking but that isn't to say there can't be world bosses that can be fought over.

EQ2 class system was one of the worst things I've ever seen in a MMO. Even games like Vanguard got it better. WoW had too few classes IMO. Something between WoW, Vanguard or Warhammer feels about right.

Leveling through quests to max is the new norm. I also feel that grind content should be provided. Meaning a real dungeon or two / or elite mob areas (similar to AION) for each level range that is actually worth going through. Seed some quests in there and give some really nice loot to encourage people to still go through even after the game is out for awhile. Not only that but make it worth your wild just fighting in there. Throw some challenging mobs and make the group xp worth your while.

I should enter a dungeon because of some quests and nice loot rewards. I should stay because the mobs in there drop decent shit to wear, including spells or augments and I should also want to stay because the XP is very good even in a group. Fuck this trend of building content to blow through it and never return. Reward people for staying in there not just with one thing. Make them want to do it and stay for a bit.

You should be able to solo to max but a good group should be able to do it a little faster. This bullshit of cutting xp by 1/6 because you can kill faster is just that bull shit. encourage people to group and they will. Don't make solo play a total kick in the balls though.

[Genjiro]

Originally Posted by Zehn - Vhex

Hunters in WoW need a serious hotkey readjustment. Fuck. Never has so simple a class required so many buttons to do so little. I only ~need~ like 4 buttons to dps but goddamn if I want to pvp I need to print out a special keyboard overlay just to remember what all my buttons do.

Heh, yea I was talking strictly pve. I know how bad it was, I played a hunter in arena and through wotlk beta etc. In fact, I still remember this pic because this pretty much summed up arena pvp from then(no idea how it is now, havent played WoW in 9 months or so).

[Jait]

It sounds like a Soda. Or the Soup Nazi.

"Everquest: Next!"

[Valishar]

I always had the same feeling about social dungeons, especially when every position was filled in it and you ended up camping the entrance. As far as my experience goes, crawling is better than camping from a gameplay prespective, maybe for a social one not so much, since when you're camping you have nothing better to do than chat with your group as you wait for respawns.

I'm not sure if what they're reminiscing about is social dungeons or sprawling dungeons though. Sprawling huge, multi-level dungeons with separate wings, are kinda rare, most of 'em are glorified hallways now. But even those huge ones are usually viewed with rose colored glasses as well. Yes, you get the sense of awe from the scale, but on the flipside it's harder to find groups for them because they require a time investment and tend to be more challenging. BRD and Old Seb were huge, Old Seb sometimes you were stuck at the entrance because all the camps were filled and BRD you had to clear all the low level trash nobody wanted to get where you wanted to go, especially if you didn't have a key.