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Everquest Next: CANCELED

Unfortunately, we see too many instances where promising games have been shelved indefinately or canceled outright.  We all know it's a sad fact of life in game development, So it's a sad time for the EQ Community to hear that Everquest Next has joined the ranks of all past vaporware and has been officially canceled.  I know many of us were looking forward to playing in a new branch of the Everquest franchise and held high the hopes of exploring a new Norrath. 

Given the transition to DBG and all of the changes that ensued, I suppose it's really not much of a surprise to anyone. It's hardly an unanticipated decision, but definitely a disappointing one to hear. 

Here is the company's official announcement:

To Our Daybreak Community,

I’m writing today to let you know that, after much review and consideration, Daybreak is discontinuing development of EverQuest Next.

For the past 20 years EverQuest has been a labor of love. What started as a deep passion of ours, as game creators, grew into a much larger passion shared by you, millions of players and Daybreakers alike. Watching EverQuest’s ability to entertain and bring people together has inspired and humbled us. It’s shaped our culture and has emboldened us to take aggressive risks with our game ideas and products. When we decided to create the next chapter in the EverQuest journey, we didn’t aim low. We set out to make something revolutionary.

For those familiar with the internals of game development, you know that cancellations are a reality we must face from time to time. Inherent to the creative process are dreaming big, pushing hard and being brutally honest with where you land. In the case of EverQuest Next, we accomplished incredible feats that astonished industry insiders. Unfortunately, as we put together the pieces, we found that it wasn’t fun. We know you have high standards when it comes to Norrath and we do too. In final review, we had to face the fact that EverQuest Next would not meet the expectations we – and all of you – have for the worlds of Norrath.

The future of the EverQuest franchise as a whole is important to us here at Daybreak. EverQuest in all its forms is near and dear to our hearts. EverQuest and EverQuest II are going strong. Rest assured that our passion to grow the world of EverQuest remains undiminished.

Yours truly,

Russell Shanks
President, Daybreak Games

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Minecraft Hype
# Mar 19 2016 at 2:43 PM Rating: Decent
5 posts
I'm actually curious... have you always had self-esteem issues or is this recent?

A: I don't care if you bash or not, I don't care what you bash about. You just need to at least CORRECTLY identify the thing you are bashing. Your unintelligent post about how EQNext was a MC knockoff; this reply here about how in your mind no one can say anything negative and that your point was made because you are too dumb to correctly identify the game you are talking about is truly pathetic.

B: Stop blaming other people for your stupidity.
Everquest NEXT ... NOT Everquest LANDMARK
# Mar 14 2016 at 9:06 PM Rating: Good
5 posts
I'd like to point out that... nekokirei and many others that posted comments here seem to be referring to Everquest LANDMARK. Which is in fact NOT the announced Everquest Next that has now been canceled. I think it's important to know the name of the game you are bashing if you are going to do that sort of thing.
Everquest NEXT ... NOT Everquest LANDMARK
# Mar 15 2016 at 6:09 PM Rating: Default
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362 posts
Reading comprehension isn't your friend, is it?

The article says "Everquest Next" everyone is talking "Everquest Next". So, what are you babbling on about, buttsore fanboi?
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Minecraft Hype
# Mar 14 2016 at 8:48 PM Rating: Excellent
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I see a lot of folks were stoked about Next, and, I'm not trying to pee on your Wheaties, but, I never saw it as anything other than a late entry into a fad that was destined to go the way of all fads like Minecraft. Nevermind I could never quite wrap my hands around what the hell it was supposed to be other than a MC knockoff with an EQ skin.
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Minecraft Hype
# Mar 14 2016 at 9:08 PM Rating: Decent
5 posts
I'd like to point out that... nekokirei and many others that posted comments here seem to be referring to Everquest LANDMARK. Which is in fact NOT the announced Everquest Next that has now been canceled. I think it's important to know the name of the game you are bashing if you are going to do that sort of thing.
Minecraft Hype
# Mar 15 2016 at 5:50 PM Rating: Decent
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362 posts
A. I wasn't bashing -- but if your butt is so sensitive that it gets sore because gawd ferbid anyone say anything negative, may I recommend some baby buttsore balm?

B. You make my point for me perfectly - I can't tell the difference between one or the other as the SOE kids when they were in charge never clearly expressed "The Vision(tm)" so as to make sense of this nonsense.

Edited, Mar 15th 2016 8:06pm by nekokirei
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Really disapointed
# Mar 14 2016 at 3:42 PM Rating: Decent
When EQ next was talked of, and closed beta started, I was so there.. while when it started it was clear it was going to be a bit EQ minecraft for a while because well, they wanted to make the tools to make the game in, and then grow.. but.. I never was into minecraft and I hung in there.. it soon became eq landmark and sure they made it clear this was going to be only landmark at this time, and landmark was just minecraft by eq.. and not going to be eq next.. but.. I hung in.. Id like to hope they would offer rebates to people like me who signed up and bit by bit the goals moved to now not going to happen.

I had really liked the plans for next, I liked the idea that mobs wouldnt stay in one place they'd move about, that the world would be destructible, that if you destroyed an area, it would change the world, I think its good its cancelled though if theres no way they feel they can live up to what the plans were. However, many zones could do with a revamp, even if its just bringing the graphics to more modern times without changing the actual zone (such a shame free port changed) maybe looking to upgrade the directx engine again, making it run better on todays computers..

there was always talk that a ton of items and recipies havent been found yet - help us find them, help us know our world better.

Blahs
# Mar 14 2016 at 2:31 PM Rating: Excellent
I really thought the concept behind the game was great. However, now that the development is now cancelled, I really hope they take those developers, artists, etc. and place them in EQ1 and EQ2. EQ1 already has a skeleton crew of people; having extra people on-hand would be great.
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little bursted bubble
# Mar 14 2016 at 9:49 AM Rating: Excellent
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Dang.

I agree with Snailish for the most part, but was kind of counting on EQ Next to lure me back to Norrath.

Also,

Quote:
EQ Next was sort of like buying a lottery ticket. It gives you that little bit of hope and the What If fantasy but you don't really expect to win


I agree with this, but it's a sad statement about the current state of game development.
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Happy it's gone
# Mar 14 2016 at 9:46 AM Rating: Excellent
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I am happy that it has been cancelled. Everything I saw or read didn't interest me in the slightest. I hope the saved resources go into EQ and EQII even if I don't play EQII.

If ever there was an EQIII, then I'm with snailish. The only part I don't agree with is having Freeport as the hub. I never liked any version of Freeport in EQ and almost never spent any time there. Having several distinct home cities based on race gives a "real world" flavour to the game.
Happy it's gone
# Mar 14 2016 at 12:58 PM Rating: Excellent
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KC13 wrote:
I am happy that it has been cancelled. Everything I saw or read didn't interest me in the slightest. I hope the saved resources go into EQ and EQII even if I don't play EQII.

If ever there was an EQIII, then I'm with snailish. The only part I don't agree with is having Freeport as the hub. I never liked any version of Freeport in EQ and almost never spent any time there. Having several distinct home cities based on race gives a "real world" flavour to the game.



I prefer what you say, but have seen quite a few games move their one hub around, or get into the static-development decay that is present day EQ home cities. Anticipating what will get development when the game is past that first rush of population... one main hub is far more sustainable. Lore-wise Freeport is probably the obvious choice. I'd be game for story development that made Thurgadin work... but really not wanting Plane of Knowledge or Crescent Reach if that makes sense.

This allows the other home cities to reflect dynamic world events. Example: Trolls align with Neriak and push war. Halflings go all-in with the leatherfoot invasion. Players participate to decide which way the war goes. Supposing the Halflings win and successfully lay siege to Neriak, then you have the next set of conditions for the playerbase to influence (i.e., Halflings invade Neriak, exiling the Dark elf race, or the Dark Elves push the halflings back out of Nektulos).

Or something more simple... all classic starting cities could now be raid zones in the manner of Kael or Skyshrine in that you can align with them and trade/quest in the city or you can go to war with them. Raiding Kaladim to plunder the secret caves below...
lottery
# Mar 14 2016 at 8:27 AM Rating: Good
12 posts
EQ Next was sort of like buying a lottery ticket. It gives you that little bit of hope and the What If fantasy but you don't really expect to win.
A different take
# Mar 13 2016 at 6:33 PM Rating: Excellent
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At the risk of stating a potentially unpopular opinion:

I think the cancellation of EQNext is a good thing.

The game was clearly in development limbo and high on promises with nothing really tangible delivered aside from "destructable environments". Not sure I want that. Many of the other dev promises and forecasting (i.e., super intelligent mob AI) seemed unreachable. Also, I really hated the thundercats version of the Vah Shir... EQNext didn't look nor sound like Everquest to me.

My hope (perhaps misguided) is that Daybreak will continue to support the currently ongoing and successful EQ titles in a meaningful way. I think there is room to grow the old games if one is mindful of the market. There are many examples of nostalgic style games being made new. Minecraft (which Landmark... aka the not-cancelled part of EQNext does a good job of luring that audience), sidescroller games have made a comeback for gaming consoles, and half the cell phone device based games look an awful lot like the "better" PC games of 20 years ago.

If I was in charge of EQ3 (which I clearly am not) I would be tempted to simply remake EQ with the lesson learned from 20 years of gaming (including other people's games). Since this is EQ I would plan on sandbox style play and not easy mode:

-Antonica as sole starting continent. Current EQ zones are the approximate geography for the new designs, with any areas missed from official lore (i.e., old cloth map and such) included. Freeport designed after a real Medieval city with a gate system and layout that makes sense. It should feel huge without feeling stupid. It should also be the one true hub in the game.
-basic D & D style stat sheet as game originally had. No heroic, mod2, focus effects added ever.
-era 1 gear would be small AC/HP/Mana/End and 1 stat in single digits less than 5. Gear progression would be anticipated for the next 20 years with very small, logical increments. So by the 4th expac you might be looking at 2 stats on a gear with 15 in each as top-end gear.
-All loot would be tradable
-Buff duration would be less, and some would be passive for being grouped with the character
-distinct classes (less than current EQ) with a clear toolbox. Tank, melee dps, range dps, caster burst dps, caster duration dps, healer.
-plan (and avoid) for ability/spell bloat
-valuable and lore drenched questing.
-hard and challenging dungeons requiring puzzling out stuff and exploration. Dungeon maps only from exploring the dungeon yourself. No in game mapping tool as we currently have it.
-not designed for super-twitchy combat. EQ is best with a sense of drama as combat unfolds

There's way more to flesh out the concept, but this post is already getting long. So I will stop.
A different take
# Mar 14 2016 at 7:18 AM Rating: Excellent
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snailish wrote:
At the risk of stating a potentially unpopular opinion:

I think the cancellation of EQNext is a good thing.

(blah blah blah)



Actually, Snailish, I agree with all the blah blah, as well as with your first statement. Fancy that! Smiley: boozing

In all seriousness, I agree that given the impetus, or lack of, that EQNext has had, this was inevitable. And to invest more scarce dev resources in a doomed project could only hurt the existing games, From a purely selfish point of view, but one surely shared with many players, I doubt I'd have the time, energy and motivation to start over in a new EQ world, abandoning all the investments I've made in the old one. Just like EQ2 never supplanted EQ1, I can't see EQNext really replacing EQ in the hearts of many old-time players, and the irony is most, or at least a very sizeable minority, of current EQ players today ARE old-time players.

Now will this mean any significant resources can now be diverted to EQ/EQ2? Only time will tell...
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A real shame
# Mar 13 2016 at 2:00 PM Rating: Good
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A real shame
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