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PAX East 2013: SOE's Dave Georgeson on EQ Next and the future of online gaming
If there's one pastime that MMO fans share, it's making predictions. Which games will succeed, and which ones will struggle? Which will go free-to-play, merge servers, or even shut down? And will there ever be an MMO that's crowned as the WoW-killer? But what about the bigger picture of online gaming in general? We've seen it come a long way over the past decades, and it's not always easy to see where it's headed. SOE's director of development of the EverQuest franchise, Dave Georgeson, sat down with Massively at PAX East this year to prognosticate on the future of online gaming. And of course, part of that future includes EQ Next, and while he still can't talk specifics, he did shed some light on the philosophy behind the game's design, with some hints about what players might see when it's revealed at SOE Live this summer.
SOE trumpets EverQuest's F2P success
How's that free-to-play experiment working out for EverQuest? Pretty well, according to Sony Online Entertainment's latest press release. The company has just published a few facts and figures relating to the recent conversion of its long-running fantasy themepark. Some of the more interesting nuggets include a 125% spike in item sales, a 150% uptick in unique log-ins, and over three times as many account registrations when compared to the subscription model. SOE has also released a handy video recap for EverQuest newbs. The game has been around since 1999, after all, so have a look at the Living Legend clip after the break to catch up on 13 years of MMO history. [Source: SOE press release]
