EverQuest Next
Sony Online Entertainment have unveiled two new and very ambitious products: EverQuest Next and EverQuest Next Landmark. Yes, two different games. We took all the nuggets of information and compiled them right here for you, and as it turns out, things are looking really promising. After some hands on time with EQ Next Landmark, we can easily say it's way more than just a simple block building tool. And good news, you can play it right now! Confused? We'll clear that up.
The world is highly destructible
When you think fully destructible environments, games like Red Faction and Battlefield come to mind--get ready to add EverQuest Next to that list. The entire world of Norrath has been rebuilt from the ground up with a voxel based system--which is to say, everything is now made up of tiny little chunks. Much like Minecraft you can now burrow your way downward and end up in a subterranean cave lit by bio-luminance crystals. Delve deeper and you could uncover a magma chamber filled with baddies.
...but not fully destructible
Giving a child the destructive power of the Hammer of Thor would be a rude awakening for everyone involved. Now while the world is fully made up in the voxel system, not every building or piece of earth will be combustible. SOE hasn't fully explained yet what won't be breakable but they have stated that major set pieces and central hubs will not be destroyed by power hungry players. They also mentioned that the land will not remain a pot-holed, battle worn deathscape--new earth will "grow" back in after a certain amount of time.
Norrath is new again...sort of
EverQuest Next will take place back in the high-fantasy continent of Norrath. Players who are familiar with the world will find most of the major set pieces exactly where they left them. There was a strong emphasis on making players feel at home but tell new and exciting stories from their favorite cities.
Many familiar faces and races
As it stands in EQ2, there are 20 different playable races. It remains to be seen how many of those will find their way into EQN, but the current cast includes Humans, Dwarves, Elves, Dark Elves, Ogres, and Kerra. All have gone through a certain amount of design changes to fully utilize the powerful new engine and to make sure we see all the dings and dents in their armor.
It looks absolutely beautiful
The first thing you will notice about EverQuest Next is the stunning visuals. This aint your grandma's Norrath. SOE has brought EQ to the sleek and shiny modern age of video games with the Forgelight engine. Planetside 2 showcased the power of the new engine and it looks like EQN is gonna make it dance for you. Theres a day-night cycle that goes through the whole spectrum of colors and moods associated with a bright sunny day, a dark spooky night, and a warm comforting sunset.
There will be eight classes at launch, as well as the ability to multiclass
Only two of the original eight classes were announced at SOE Live this year, the Wizard and the Warrior. They showcased the human wizards powers against a gang of unlucky Orcs, and as you would expect, she called down lightning and pushed them around with magic spells. A particularly interesting ability was call Vortex, in which the wizard created a black hole, teleported away, and watched from afar as the poor Orcs were sucked into the rift. The Kerra was all decked out in armor, showing off the Warrior class. He stomped his way through hordes of enemies and slammed his shield down to create an AOE ring of death.
It'll support SOEMote at launch for absurdly expressive faces
SOE wants players to emotionally connect with their characters, and one way of doing that is through the emotions expressed on their avatars' faces. For each race, there are several built-in facial animations the player can trigger to let everyone know how they are feeling right at that moment. These animations are diverse, and with slightly exaggerated eyes and mouths, you can even tell what a player is feeling from a distance.
Its just a hop, skip, and a jump
The way players get around the world has been completely overhauled. Gone are the days of wishing you could summit a just-out-of-reach ledge. Its 2013 and EQN knows it. Theres now a parkour system that allows you to freely run and vault over obstacles, climb ledges, and slide down hillsides. You can double jump over a gap once thought too far and laugh in the face of a narrow canyon. They also showcased a special pair of boots that allow you to glide effortlessly over long distances.
The AI is one smart cookie
Every group of NPCs is now governed by their races' traits, dictated by sophisticated AI programming. Take, for instance, Ogres. In original EQ days, the developers would place an Ogre camp beside a long-underused road, and that's where they'd stay. But now, the Ogres will do what they will, based on player-driven circumstances. They will stay by that lonely road until something forces them to change. It could be your character went to the city guard and told them to patrol there more often. Or if too many players started using that road or having fights nearby, the Ogres will pack up their camp and move to a more secluded place to wait and ambush passerbys.
EverQuest Landmark is a separate tool designed to spur user-generated content
SOE is leaning heavily on its community to create user-generated content for EQN, and its primary tool for doing so is EverQuest Landmark. Available this winter, the stand-alone tool will give players access to a simple and powerful way to create in-game structures. Within Landmark, you are given a piece of land in a world that is shared with others. All of the worlds are procedurally generated and unique, made all the more so by the Minecraft-esque block-based building mechanic. Expect more than just a Minecraft knock-off, as Landmark allows you to change the sizes of blocks, bevel edges, and in other ways smooth hard corners. Players will have access to every texture and surface the EQN design team does.
...and you can play it right now, for a price
EverQuest Next Landmark is making a very concerted effort to include its fans in the creation of the game. Normally, studios wait until beta to open up the floodgates, but Landmark is taking it one step further by inviting fans in it's alpha state. They're making it very clear what to expect from the alpha build as well, stating that about 60% of the game is in place and that crashes and bugs are fully expected. Sony Online Entertainment is attempting to move to a new level of transparency for their more hardcore fans, and you would have to be hardcore to want to participate at this stage.
You can build anything, but everything must be mined and crafted
So you may be thinking to yourself, "what is the first thing am I going to build right when I get in?" Maybe an enormous castle with a moat of pure gold? Or maybe a treetop fortress with steps leading to the skies? You're going to want to curb your enthusiasm a bit, because once you realize just the amount of materials it's going to take to make your dreams a reality, it can seem a little daunting.
You can stake your claim basically anywhere
When traveling out into the wilderness of EverQuest Next Landmark you're going to want to find the perfect place to call your own; Maybe you want to set up shop in the middle of a dense forest or on the peak of a mountain. In order for you to start building anything, you're going to need to claim a piece of land, and to do that you need a Claim Flag. Once you have acquired and planted your flag, you will see the border of your new zone. You can build anything you want inside it and nobody can come in and mess with your things unless you give them permission.
There will eventually be PvP
EverQuest Next Landmark may just seem like a fun creation tool, and that's exactly what it is right now, but SOE has plans to shake all the up. Franchise Director Dave Georgeson, tipped his hat at some features that will change the way you play EQNL. Further down the line and closer to release they have plans to implement Player vs Player zones along with weapon and armor crafting. Up until now you have been plodding away, digging materials, chopping trees and making your home look superb. But now you and your friends are building a castle together, strengthening it with durable materials, adding layers to the walls because soon another group of people are going to try and knock it down.
Time to re-up?
SOE has made an excellent first impression with EQN--makes you wonder what the first two versions that they scrapped looked like. Will they be able to pull off these lofty promises? From the looks of it, they are well on their way. With no release date yet and a lot more development to be done, EverQuest Next will be one to keep your eye on.
