[Megathread] Everquest Next

[zito]

He broke his ankle a while ago, so that is how he gets around for the time being.

ohhhh ok, I mean normal people use crutches but... whatever

[Edge-]

ohhhh ok, I mean normal people use crutches but... whatever

Gaming studios have a habit of attracting/hiring "less than normal" people : P

[zito]

Gaming studios have a habit of attracting/hiring "less than normal" people : P

Apparently he wants back surgery now or a hump, getting around like that.

[Bigtimmy]

For people who don't feel like watching the Landmark keynote video I posted above, here is a very basic summary (all credit to EQ Hammer, read the full article here).


August 27th patch introducing three new stats: Health, armor, energy. Armor protects health. Armor regenerates. Energy manages the use of all abilities and heroic combat. Tons of new ways to die coming!

• Three new weapons: Conjurer’s staff, soldier’s blade, marksman’s bow. Each weapon has two abilities: Left click - basic attack, and right click - alternate attack.

• Conjurer’s Staff: Left click, Energy Burst (nine shotgun style bolts isue out in a cone). Right click, Gravity Shock (A snare bubble AOE with mild damage).
• Soldier’s Blade: Left click is a slash that also destroys terrain. Right click is Battle Rush (run through opponent, staggering and damaging. Regens some of your armor).
• Marksman’s Bow: Left click, Quick Shot. Can be rapid-fired for damage. Right click, Sniper’s Mark (marks your target, causing double damage and a stagger effect when quickshot is used in combination).
• In the future, epic weaponry will be introduced as both craftable items and loot.

Upcoming salvage system will allow you to break down epic gear, to create even better epic gear.

• Multiple weapons can be equipped together if they are created as a set (for example fire sword and shield, rather than merely crafting fire sword alone).

Armor is coming. Basic armor will be craftable. Item imbuing system will allow it to be improved.


Robe-like armor increases ability ranges, and grants bonuses when abilities are executed that are harder to cast (combos, etc).


This armor improves heroic movement. It reduces energy cost for heroic movement and can also grant bonuses for specific kinds of movement combos.


Melee tech armor grants bonuses when you get hit a lot and are in melee range.


Check out these monster promos:









Landmark’s first monsters: PLAYERS. August 27th, PVP IS COMING! PvP is completely consensual and claim-based. You build a map on claim, and place “game set objects” which define the rules for the PvP battlefield.

• The Game Table object defines the rules.
• First 3 types: Deathmatch, team deathmatch, capture & hold.

[Remilia]

So yeah, when in doubt, just turn down shadow cause there's barely any change from low to highest while the performance gap is huuugee.

[RoninaThorstone]

So yeah, when in doubt, just turn down shadow cause there's barely any change from low to highest while the performance gap is huuugee.

Hahaha, shadows :P

So true...

[Collected]

So, a note about this.

Hrmm time to reinstall in that case. Sounds promising. The clunky FPS and movement just killed any enjoyment for me.

[Al Gorefiend]

I love a new game, but in the case of EQ, staying as close as possible to the style of EverQuest 2 is preferable to me. I'm glad they are easing the massive learning curve, but the game's complexity is what a D&D Pen-and-paper player like myself liked about it.

Also - considering the trailblazer pack. Who else has it? And is it worth it?

[Bigtimmy]

I love a new game, but in the case of EQ, staying as close as possible to the style of EverQuest 2 is preferable to me. I'm glad they are easing the massive learning curve, but the game's complexity is what a D&D Pen-and-paper player like myself liked about it.

Also - considering the trailblazer pack. Who else has it? And is it worth it?

I have a Trailblazer pack. It was worth it (to me) back when I bought it before the alpha came out because it gave me access to their pre-alpha forums and other things, plus day 1 alpha access. I got a lot of mileage out of it, however, I cannot recommend buying one at this point. The biggest selling point exclusive to the Trailblazer pack at this point is the Mastercraft Bracer (very small chance at crafting better items), and maybe the 4 closed beta keys if you have friends that would actually use them.

I would recommend the Settler pack. If you absolutely fall in love with the game after playing it, you can always pay the difference and upgrade to the top pack.

[Deleted]

EQ Next panel, interesting stuff starts from 20:00 and up, enjoy.

[Bigtimmy]

Everquest Next: Class Panel Discussion. (20 minute panel followed by a 30 minute Q&A).

The devs go into more detail about class mechanics, damage types, synergies, and itemization on gear.

[Deleted]

The multi classing system seems to really emphasize diversity, here's hoping they can really step away from the stat chasing treadmill.

[Remilia]

All the items seem to be synergistic so far. So wearing X will grant ____ bonus if doing ____ or using ____ element, but no direct stats.

[RoninaThorstone]

So... how about that combat?

It's pretty smooth for pre-alpha

Really like the sword charge.

You can use it as a double jump.

[Bigtimmy]

Yeah, the combat is obviously in a simplified state for right now; as you said, Landmark is essentially the EQN pre-alpha. The "feel" is good, though. The controls feel responsive and rewarding to use - I definitely think locking the camera to the mouse while in combat helps with this - and the attack animations seem connected to the action and not too "floaty" as you see in games like GW2. Having said that, I do hope they fix the "gliding" that happens when you strafe around while attacking with ranged weapons.

It is a solid foundation to build on, and though it obviously needs more iteration, I think they're headed in a good direction with it. I have to admit I wasn't sure this would be the case. With more abilities and more gear to modify those abilities, it should be pretty interesting.

My biggest criticism for the time being is it isn't always easy to find active PvP matches, but considering the stage of development the game is currently in I don't think it's a big deal yet.

[SodiumChloride]

New update,

TL;DR version



Full version



Ambitious. Nice to see someone try something new in a world of WoW clones. Whether they can pull it off or not ... Lets hope for the best. Even if they don't, at least they tried.

[RoninaThorstone]

Yeah, the combat is obviously in a simplified state for right now; as you said, Landmark is essentially the EQN pre-alpha. The "feel" is good, though. The controls feel responsive and rewarding to use - I definitely think locking the camera to the mouse while in combat helps with this - and the attack animations seem connected to the action and not too "floaty" as you see in games like GW2. Having said that, I do hope they fix the "gliding" that happens when you strafe around while attacking with ranged weapons.

It is a solid foundation to build on, and though it obviously needs more iteration, I think they're headed in a good direction with it. I have to admit I wasn't sure this would be the case. With more abilities and more gear to modify those abilities, it should be pretty interesting.

My biggest criticism for the time being is it isn't always easy to find active PvP matches, but considering the stage of development the game is currently in I don't think it's a big deal yet.

I agree on the 'feel'.

Combat is very rewarding and impactful right now. Solid second by second game play is a massive selling point for me so this bodes well for EQN (for me, at least)

[Collected]

Yeah, the combat is obviously in a simplified state for right now; as you said, Landmark is essentially the EQN pre-alpha. The "feel" is good, though.

For a while now I've been telling people that my biggest fear with EQN was that the engine just didn't feel like an MMO. I felt like the engine was asking too much and the world didn't feel right.. the character movement felt wrong.. everything was sluggish.. the character controls were weird. I wasn't optimistic. I logged in tonight and I've done a complete 180 in my mind. I think I get it now. Why?

Well the FPS has improved for me. It's still not very high but it's smooth enough that I don't feel like it's painful to play anymore. This has had a big impact on character movement. There are control adjustment options now so I can finally bind my strafe keys. Not sure how long ago that was patched in but it's a welcome addition.

But for me the biggest "Oh wow" moment was going to the Dark Elf Museum World (Video of it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17Kg_zj-g8k). First of all I had to swim across a small section of sea. The water in this game looks and feels amazing now. Better than Archeage. But for me the biggest eye opener was the world is starting to give me that original Everquest vibe. Way back when I first played EQ I was used to MMOs like Ultima Online.. cartoony type graphics that meant you were always aware you were playing a video game. Landmark is starting to give me the same feeling Everquest gave me of being part of a huge world and it feeling very real and very big.

The other part that blows me away is seeing what is possible with the voxel tech. Some of the builds on this island are incredible. I feel like I'm exploring EQ Next test buildings... which technically I am. The potential is mind blowing.EQ Next is going to have the most detailed world of any MMO. This much I am sure of. And my fears that it will grind PCs to a halt are starting to ease up. Exciting times. I feel lucky to be running around a world which is indeed the pre-alpha for EQN. And if EQN is as big as it could be.. that will be quite something.

[Remilia]

One of the things they're working on is better multi-core CPU support so it should ease up the FPS drops more.

That said lowering shadow made nearly no noticeable change to shadow and yet FPS sky rockets up to not slideshow and I'm getting 60FPS+ usually now.

[Deleted]

been down this road many times, devs always talk the talk but not many games can walk the walk.....always live in hope