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The Daily Grind: Would you leave your current MMO for its sequel?
With Guild Wars 2 in the offing, long-time Guild Wars fans have an interesting dilemma on their hands. Trading up is probably a foregone conclusion in most cases, but abandoning Guild Wars altogether may sting a bit if you've invested a lot of time and energy into the original incarnation of Tyria. The same could be said for faithful EverQuest fans when EverQuest II rolled around in 2004, and perhaps again whenever Sony Online Entertainment formalizes its EverQuest Next project. For today's Daily Grind, then, we'd like to know how easily you could leave your current MMO if a sequel were to materialize. We know you'd check out the new shiny, but would you leave the older title for good? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Daily Grind: Do you think EverQuest 3 will be announced at E3?
It's June once more and E3 is again upon us. Several members of the Massively team have jetted off to cover the event and there's bound to be some fantastic announcement and this also includes MMOs. For the last couple of weeks the interweb has been abuzz with speculation that SOE might actually get around to announcing EverQuest 3. This is something we've talked about before and if you're going to announce any big new game, E3 is one of the biggest events to do it at. So, constant readers, what do you think? Is now the right time to expand Norrath? Do you think EQ3 will remain on PC or include other platforms like the PS3, a la Free Realms? Would you rather just stick with EQ2 for the time being or are you eager to see another incarnation of this classic franchise?
SOE hiring lead designer for new 'flagship' project
Sony Online Entertainment is in the market for a new lead game designer according to this Jobseeker post. The interesting thing about this particular job is that it's for a "New Flagship Project" Now, call us crazy but it's been a little while since EverQuest 2 came out and we know that SOE has no plans to let that franchise wither into the past. So could this be it? Our magic 9-ball (it's a new model) says future outlooks are hazy.Meaning that we couldn't really say either way. Still, isn't it exciting that something big this way comes? Well, at least something as big as a DC Universe MMO, a spy-focused action MMO or a staggeringly clever casual MMO. If only we could see what Mr. Mittens can see...[Thanks, George!]
Future of EverQuest bright and possibly console bound
Considering that Sony Online Entertainment president John Smedley has already stated he expects half of their business to manifest on the PlayStation 3, it's a no-brainer that future as-of-yet announced titles are looking at a console release. Until today we didn't have a single clue as to what game that would be, now it's looking like EverQuest is a strong candidate.Gamasutra's recent interview with the SOE prez reveals that not only has EverQuest continued to be a strong property for the developer, but that a PS3 release isn't out of the question. In fact, as far as SOE is concerned their first venture into console MMOs was simply a couple years too early -- oh the joys of using that PS2 network adapter. While we don't know the exact form a newly minted console EverQuest could take, our guess would be some kind of spin-off along the lines of EverQuest Online Adventures. The possibilities are certainly intriguing.
How would you design EverQuest 3?
At the ION '08 conference keynote, John Smedley hinted at another entry in SOE's long-running EverQuest franchise. Since EverQuest's 1999 release, the venerable fantasy game has been seen in such places as game consoles (EQ Online Adventures for the PS2), PDAs (The Pocket EverQuest trilogy for the Pocket PC), Real Time Strategy (Lords of EverQuest for the PC), online collectible card games (Legends of Norrath) and even versions for cell phones (EverQuest: Hero's Call). What could possibly be next for EverQuest?EverQuest on the PC has already split itself between the original game and its sequel, EverQuest II. Releasing a sequel to a still-viable game was a gutsy move, but it fragmented the player base substantially, to the point where neither game, by itself, can challenge newer games such as Lord of the Rings Online. It's this blogger's opinion that SOE won't make that mistake again -- any EverQuest 3 would not be for the PC. It's not a huge leap of faith to assume that the next version of EQ would run on the PlayStation 3. SOE recently shifted from Sony Pictures to Sony Computer Entertainment America, makers of the PS3 and publishers of its first-party software. Beyond that, when Smedley mentioned to the Seattle Times that the PS3 would be a strong platform for MMOs, he certainly very likely had this game (and others we don't know about) in mind.SOE has made some mistakes with EverQuest through the years, but has also had some huge successes and innovations. If you were an EQ3 designer, and all you had in front of you was a PS3 and a blank whiteboard, what features would you include to knock the socks off the players? Customizable quests and raids? A Steampunk theme? Faster, twitch-based gameplay? The ability to make your own cities? How would you make EQ a worthy competitor to today's great crop of MMOs?
On the subject of risky MMO sequels
One of the biggest problems an MMO developer faces -- after successfully launching their game and achieving a healthy bases of subscribers -- is keeping their game fresh. In some cases, developers have attempted a sequel, but the problem with that lies in getting the player base to move over. EverQuest 2, Asheron's Call 2 and Linage 2 all faced seemingly lower subscription numbers than their predecessors. It would seem that sequels -- while able to be successful -- don't live up to the same success that the original games had. It's possible there could be an exception to the rule someday, but so far there hasn't been.
How EQ3 could change Norrath forever
Reading this recent interview with SOE's John Hayase got me thinking about something quite interesting. It all came from the simple question, "Can we speculate on an EQ3?"I read the answer, which was the expected 'speculate away' response and got to thinking about such a notion right away. EverQuest as a brand is still fairly strong, it's only problem is that the fantasy genre is starting to become the World War II of massively games. Plus, one of the biggest criticisms given to EverQuest II is its lack of artistic inspiration. Not to say the game is ugly or anything -- it's just kind of bland. So what could put some 'oomph' behind a classic series that's gone a bit stale over the last decade? Steampunk, that's what.
