EverQuest Next: Landmark might be more exciting than the main game

It's basically a Minecraft MMO

Sony Online Entertainment's announcement of EverQuest Next was sort of hard to follow, but even more confusing was EverQuest Next Landmark, a game(?) where you build stuff? We talked to the developers at PAX 2013, and after a discussion we don't just understand Landmark--we think it might be more exciting than EverQuest Next itself.

Though EQN is some ways away, Landmark will actually be coming before the end of the year, and it's an MMO in and of itself. When you first log in you make a character and are given a flag you can plot down to claim a location in the open world. Then you're sent off, pickaxe in-hand, to mine for resources. The developers hinted at complex crafting systems and a robust economy, even in Landmark, that will help you get the stuff you need to build well, anything. In that, it's a lot like Minecraft, except you're in a persistent world with thousands of other people.

We saw some time-lapse videos showing characters in Landmark constructing all sorts of crazy things, from buildings to lava pits (fun fact: Landmark will actually come with the tools to make time-lapse videos and post them to YouTube). You'll be able to take constructs and sell them for actual money in an in-game store. Oh, and you can join with others to create huge projects--the developers are expecting castles, and the community will undoubtedly deliver. And then, if SOE likes the castle, it might ask to put it into EQN.

Landmark is like the wild west--an open expanse where you're able to explore, mine, and build your own future. Originally, we didn't think we'd be able to wait for EverQuest Next to come out, but with Landmark on the horizon we think we'll be just fine.

Check out the following slides for additional images and more information.

Here's an area before players messed with building there...

...and after

Another area before...

...aaaaaand after.

Here's a basic area before being touched...

...and, once more, after.