What are /r/EQNext's favorite Products & Services?

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Lemme try to find it. :)

edit: done:

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/09/03/what-is-everquest-next-landmark

"EverQuest Next Landmark is a giant sandbox then, but it also has strong ties to EverQuest Next. One continent on every world of Landmark will be themed to represent an environment of Next. Michaels hopes that by encouraging competition between budding architects in these themed areas, Sony Online will be able to incentivise players to create content that’s of a high enough calibre to feature in its fully-fledged MMO, EverQuest Next."

This was said multiple times in the past.

This was something that was posted awhile back, looking at why they might have bought it. http://www.mmorpg.com/showFeature.cfm/loadFeature/9373/The-Best-Value-at-SOE-Daybreak-Game-Company-Might-not-be-MMOs.html

Virtual Communities: High-impact Strategies - What You Need to Know ...

Page 216

https://books.google.com/books?id=ckgQBwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

EverCracked!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtqG1u2hqUY

Start at 3:53

Keypoints at 4:27, 5:19, 5:51, 9:55

Article mentioned: http://www.mmorpg.com/showFeature.cfm/loadFeature/10196/Catching-Up-with-Dave-Georgeson.html

3rd hand hear say, even from him is still highly unreliable. Granted with everything that has happened there is bound to be changes in the game.
But i am not sure that it's changes to features that we are aware off since we know so little about what was planned.

3 more names for EQ: Ryan "Rytan" Barker (Former EverQuest Lead Designer) : https://twitter.com/goonie22 - Justin "jansan" Deeb (EQ Game Designer) : https://www.linkedin.com/pub/justin-deeb/4/28/535 and - Jason "Chandrok" Leo (EQ Dev) (can't find the source for that one, it was said on EQ boards)

People seem to forget that Brad was the lead designer and producer for the original Everquest. VG was just something too big for him to manage. I think Brad is much better suited for a smaller developed game (the game is called Pantheon in case anyone is interested).

FTP can work, but it depends on how it is implemented. There are successful games out right now (LoL and Dota for example) that have a ftp model and are profitable. I believe your concern is that ftp will ruin gameplay and become pay-to-win. It's a valid concern and we will see how they plan to monetize their game, but I'am sure they are well aware people don't want a pay to win game. GW2 has a subscription free model and a cash shop that is not pay-to-win and that game seems profitable. If your interested in the old model and looking for a game like the original eq or swg then you might want to check this out: Pantheon. Also, you would probably have a better chance of Smed seeing this by emailing him, its just going to be down-voted into oblivion here.

At this point I really wish they hadn't hyped up the AI so much. Maybe said it was going to be "better" or gone with all the buzzwords like dynamic/emergent, but the AI and how much they presented it as being real is what got me hooked.

With the recent comment at mmorpg.com can only assume the AI is one of the items not "ready" to be shown off. Calling it the "secret sauce," designing a game concept around it, and after ~3 years they still aren't "ready" to show it off on even a small scale is concerning.

Of course they could just be keeping it a secret waiting for the perfect moment to blow fans and competition away, but it is really going to need to be amazing, not just "better" at this point. If it isn't, they will be laughed at which to me is worse than people losing confidence and calling the project vapor.

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/952/view/news/read/36438/EverQuest-Next-Daybreak-says-When-were-ready-youll-know.html

F2p can be extremely transient, which can be detrimental to fostering communities in MMOs.
Only 6% of F2P MMO Players Remain After the First Year?

The mobs wouldn't attack you if they Want to do something else more than they Want to attack random strangers.

http://store.steampowered.com/news/posts/?feed=pcgamer&enddate=1375470121

"So there’s this barn burning up on the hill, and you can see humans running around screaming and orcs chasing them," says Georgeson with another example. "As a player in a normal MMO, you’d see the guy with the quest feather over his head, you’d click on him and he’d tell you what to go do. You ignore everything he said and you go do whatever gets you the reward, probably saving the humans.

"In our game, you’re going to decide as a player what you want to do. Ignore it, go put out the barn, help save the humans, or help the orcs slaughter the humans. We don’t care, because the game is going to remember everything you did. And then the world reacts to what you did."

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/952/feature/7640

In the example Dave gave us, an adventurer comes upon a farmer who’s being besieged by legions of orcs. He begs you for help. Or, if you prefer, you can help the orcs take control of the farm and do away with the farmer. If you help the poor guy out, maybe you’ll find out he’s actually a hedge Wizard and will teach you the art of magic. Or perhaps you help out the orcs instead (because orcs are awesome, that’s why) and they’re so impressed with your combat prowess that they’ll teach you how to become a mighty warrior.

Kobolds will have drives, just like other NPCs Likes/Dislikes, Suspicions, Wants, etc. There could indeed be a Kobold that wants to be High Archmage of the Combine. Just as Pikel wants to become a Doodad in the Cleric Quintet.

If players have a reputation for helping Kobolds, Kobolds may, indeed begin to ask those players for help and run up to help them. Depends on what the specific Kobolds Want and whether they think the players are willing to help achieve that objective.

Have you had a look at whether there's any places in Argentina / surrounding countries that sell the SOE Station Cash gift cards? They might be your way in. Buy a card online, get it in, redeem the code and you've got money on your account to buy things with.

https://www.soe.com/gamecards/info/?locale=es_AR

EDIT: Amazon US has em: http://www.amazon.com/Universal-Game-Card-Station-Cash-Pc/dp/B004O73EIK

I found the article in Forbes here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanholiday/2012/05/07/9-lessons-on-leadership-from-genghis-khan-yes-genghis-khan/#ac090ad6aa07 I think this is the one to which you refer. If I'm correct, then the book on which Radar is relying is this one: Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Weatherford. Since I haven't read that one yet, I will quote someone who has. H. Yang:

"As Strunk and White advise in the classic guide to writing, The Elements of Style, "Do not overstate. When you overstate, readers will be instantly on guard, and everything that has preceded your overstatement as well as everything that follows it will be suspect in their minds because they have lost confidence in your judgment or your poise."

I wanted to like this book, because I find Genghis Khan and his empire to be fascinating, and yet the author so completely overstates the significance of the Mongols that he loses all credibility, and pollutes an otherwise highly readable and interesting set of facts with so much fiction that it is often difficult to distinguish the two. For example, he claims in the introduction that the Mongols had founded the first unified nations of Korea and China, apparently ignorant of the fact that Korea had been unified since AD 668, and that China was first unified by the Qin dynasty in 221 BC. Similarly, he states on p. 237 that "[the Renaissance] was not the ancient world of Greece and Rome being reborn: It was the Mongol Empire, picked up, transferred, and adapted by the Europeans to their own needs and culture." Although the evidence for Greek and Roman influence on the Renaissance is overwhelming, the evidence for Mongol influence is flimsy at best. The more outsized the claim, the less evidence the author seems to provide."

So, if this is the book Radar built his lecture on, he's riding the wrong horse.

Its wrong in that his position is not CEO, but president. He is the highest ranking exec

https://www.linkedin.com/pub/russell-shanks/2/564/196

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daybreak_Game_Company

>Internet – Broadband (10Mbit/sec or higher)

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/everquest-next-landmark-alpha-system-requirements-revealed/1100-6417346/

They've lowered the low end to 3Mbit/sec but still recommend higher.

Here are two more :)
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/previews/10955-EverQuest-Next-Landmark-Preview-Constructing-Next?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=articles

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/you-decide-the-future-of-everquest-next-landmark/1100-6417446/

Have you read any of the information that has come to light since launch?

Here is a great interview (linked to relevant time) by Boogie2988 where he asks Brad point blank, "You made a lot of great promises today, what about the guy who says, 'but this guy made Vanguard.'"

And an article from IGN detailing how a regime change at Microsoft screwed the development of Vanguard, how Sony tried to bridge the gap, but ultimately forced the game out the door 6 months to a year before it was supposed to launch.

FFS need a 2nd degree LinkedIn contact to see his profile. I wanna know what he did at 3DO....

Edit: Found it: Crusaders of Might & Magic. http://www.mobygames.com/game/crusaders-of-might-and-magic No fuckin way, really? I wonder if he had eyes on the ill-fated Legends of Might & Magic product before he left... that was release in 2001, 8v8 fantasy Counterstrike wannabe, but the small community we had loved it...

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/1006/feature/8157/Pantheon-Rise-of-the-Fallen-Exclusive-MMORPGcom-QA-with-Brad-McQuaid.html

"We believe many players are looking for MMOs that are more of a sandbox and less of a game that makes you feel like you’re on rails, going from one quest or story and then to the next. Pantheon will certainly have quests, but these quests will be epic."

Right from Brad's own mouth....do your research first before claiming false facts then saying "wrong" when you are corrected.

While there probably isn't one magic source where they said XYZ, they said in multiple ways at multiple times that they would be "transparent" and would let fans into the dev process for EQN. Not just Landmark and not just Workshops which are basically "let us grade your homework."

Things like this: http://venturebeat.com/2013/08/05/sony-online-entertainment-teams-with-wikia-to-engage-gamers-for-everquest-next/

Along with the round tables, polls, and basically all forms of communication that they did for the 1st year or so that abruptly ended after SOE Live 2014.

Omeed said that he left due to disagreement with his bosses over the style of communication (marketing) to fans. Basically he was the transparency.

Despite all the drama and issues they've had, it is EXTREMELY easy to continue to do some of the things they had going earlier on. A piece of concept art here and there (not just buildings). Drop a class name or description once in a while. Describe a "quest" or normal encounter in the game. Etc etc.

None of that requires any real revealing of secrets or the game, nor does it require things even being created/working.

Obviously "transparency" and what they meant is subjective, but there is a very very clear difference between what they did early on and what they did now. What they said they would do early on is what they actually did, today we do not get that nor do we get much if any reasoning.

And now there is this:

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/952/view/news/read/36438/EverQuest-Next-Daybreak-says-When-were-ready-youll-know.html

http://www.mmorpg.com/showFeature.cfm/feature/9437/page/2

Quote from Dave "All of this comes from hindsight, of course. Hopefully this article helps someone avoid the landmines I found with my feet."

Start end of the article to find this quote fast.

I am happy the layoffs happend it will make better EQN

Since David Georgeson said this "All of this comes from hindsight, of course. Hopefully this article helps someone avoid the landmines I found with my feet."

In this article: http://www.mmorpg.com/showFeature.cfm/feature/9437/page/2 Bottom of the page.

(ʘ෴̴͜ʘ) Detective out.

It was Rohsong actually http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/952/feature/8804/EverQuest-Next-Say-Hello-to-the-Cleric-Elementalist-and-Tempest.html

I assume they will utilize storybricks emergent AI system to track what kind of quests / chores you like and then you can converse with your Rohsong and it will suggest you activities that it knows you like to perform springled with a bit of fantasy in it's speech to lure you toward next quest thus it has an actually name instead of being called a journal.

Everyone is telling you your view on sandboxes is very limited, stop being naive. Even you yourself are unclear on your own version of sandbox now. I have a really good question for you, that i bet you will answer incorrectly. Please explain why you believe Minecraft is considered a SANDBOX.

1. Read what i said. That is the thing, you cant even grasp what im saying. You know in real life, when you buy something from lets say amazon, you know a real person has to take that package and drive it in a vehicle to your house correct ? Ok good. EvE Online is like this. Items dont just magically teleport around the world.

2. Ultima Online(very limited looting now),Mortal Online and Darkfall pretty much the only playable titles(last two not that playable) with proper looting besides EVE.

3. Im saying the economy of the game is created by the players, I.E SANDBOX economy. MMOs like WoW are fulled with items that drop off NPCs with random or set stats. You can go through World of Warcraft from start to finish without ever touching a crafted item.

http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/300530/page/1

Good discussion about this exact topic that has taken place very often. Read through it. The general idea is that a sandbox game is a game where the player 'crafts' his own experience. Unlike World of Warcraft where the main point is more or less getting to 80 and doing raids to get the best items and PvE ranks.

In minecraft you craft your own experience. You start with no guidance at all and are expected to work everything out and do whatever you like. The same goes for nearly every game that calls itself a sandbox. The reason why GTA is considered a sandbox is because in theory you do not have to do the missions in GTA, you can just drive around and 'craft' your own experience.

It sounds great, but I don't think the end result will be anything like this. I'm going to quote myself, sorry.

>quasi-personalized market doesn't provide much that the auction house doesn't achieve more efficiently.

The players who don't care about immersion will only see such a method as more cumbersome than a global auction house.

As Mark Kern said from his time with World of Warcraft, the casual aspect has essentially ruined the public expectation of an MMO. Half-measures will upset both sides, and we who care about the game's integrity will be drown out by the massive voice that casual players bring. Their demand is ease-of-use and accessibility. I am hopeful that SOE does not cater to the casual crowd, but they bring in the most money.

While I think we all appreciate innovations within the genre, I think you also have to be careful about marching headlong towards a ProgressQuest end (a satire I hope we're all familiar with).

I do still want to have a game to play. I do want some tedium and some time sinks. I don't mind development blunting some of these MMO facets, but I'd rather have a tedious game than one that essentially plays itself.

Good aspects of gaming really find themselves circumvented or sacrificed altogether on the altar of convenience. Fast travel discounts the eye candy of the game world. Storytelling instances have an tangible impact on a non-linear, open-world, sandbox game. Global LFG tools and global auction houses do something to the social economy of a game.

You're right about things being on a case by case basis, but on all counts I think moderation is the key, and currently I believe almost the entire genre weighs in far too heavily on the convenience side of moderation. A little too ProgressQuest-y for me.

This is all subjective and I understand and accept that.

When I think about the core activities of mining and building, I remember playing Minecraft back in 2009/2010. I just fired up Minecraft Classic and built a house and dug a tunnel.

Building and tunneling in Landmark are miserable experiences (by comparison.)

I guess I don't see much innovation in Landmark, I see MMORPG-style cruft grafted onto a Minecraft clone which didn't receive enough iteration before the operation.