EverQuest was the beginning for many players journey into the MMO game world. While it may be discussed less now, it is still played by a faithful group of fans who continue the legacy began almost 10 years ago. RadarX returned this week and examined a few things that have changed over the years such as transportation and progression. Is EverQuest a good fit for you and your friends? Take a look inside to see our verdict.
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If there was one aspect of EverQuest which separated it from every other product on the market, the combat was certainly it. A little tricky compared to a modern game like Warhammer Online or World of Warcraft, you are required to pay attention to what was going on. You must face your target at all times and know what each of your abilities does and when to use them. If that wasn't enough, you get new abilities almost every level so keeping track of them can be challenging. The con mechanic also was a little misleading sometimes, but at least it shares similarities with what we find in other games. Red con apparently means able to pull out your spleen through your nose in any game.
I think that's a great idea. The people I talked to really enjoyed the early Progression servers where they phased in expansions but I also heard that not having those expansions broke a little content and removed some features. It would have to be done carefully but it sounds cool.
I find it interesting that it is such a widely based belief that an "accessible" and "easy" method of travel is a "must".
Sure, it's the current trend - but it's also a massive "world shrinker" that destroys much of the epic feel of your game.
It is simply odd that a game like Darkfall Online promotes itself as being a game with no convenience, no compassion, no easy transport, open pvp, open loot, and a myriad of other "pain in the ass" features and yet that game is currently getting more interest and support than they can handle with their current server load.
Of course - it's no World of Warcraft, but still.
I'd also note that there was a project for a while in which some guys were going to launch a server of Everquest + Ruins of Kunark and Velious. They were going to cut out all of the crap SOE made like Shadows of Luclin.
This project consisted of about 3 programmers and was basically running on zero dollars worth of budget. The entire project was supposedly free. So basically this is a "backwoods" type deal. It alone was supporting around 30-50 thousand people dedicated and watching/waiting for the launch.
Again - I find this odd since those 3 were the expansions before all of the "convenience" and "ease".
Maybe the struggle and conflict is part of the adventure? Maybe gamers are spoiled? Maybe....
__________________ The Highest Rep'd Troll - Ever.
Humanity continues to be the worst plague to ever desecrate this planet.
It is simply odd that a game like Darkfall Online promotes itself as being a game with no convenience, no compassion, no easy transport, open pvp, open loot, and a myriad of other "pain in the ass" features and yet that game is currently getting more interest and support than they can handle with their current server load.
I'm having Vanguard flashbacks. I'll be the first to admit I hope I'm wrong though. Vanguard kicks ass now, but the launch was so rough, it never recovered. A lot of the original ideas have also been changed to appease the masses in an attempt to garner more subscriptions.
However Vanguard suffered largely for the "way" they handled their game and its mechanics and not so much the mechanics and concepts they attempted.
With MMO's it's never so much the "mechanic" you choose it's just "how" you do it.
Vanguard has a TON of fantastic ideas and their game concept was wonderful. The execution of those ideas was just very poor upon launch.
But yes, I totally agree - I hope Darkfall is a success because it would go a long way to showing the industry that you don't have to be a WoW clone to make a good game.
__________________ The Highest Rep'd Troll - Ever.
Humanity continues to be the worst plague to ever desecrate this planet.
I'm sure Darkfall will stick to its guns unless the figures don't add up after the first three months of release. Though I think Darkfall's biggest challenge it will have to over come is the open PvP, it may be factional, but its still open and that could put off a lot of people, far more than would be put off by anything else in the game.
I find it interesting that it is such a widely based belief that an "accessible" and "easy" method of travel is a "must".
Sure, it's the current trend - but it's also a massive "world shrinker" that destroys much of the epic feel of your game.
It is simply odd that a game like Darkfall Online promotes itself as being a game with no convenience, no compassion, no easy transport, open pvp, open loot, and a myriad of other "pain in the ass" features and yet that game is currently getting more interest and support than they can handle with their current server load.
Of course - it's no World of Warcraft, but still.
I'd also note that there was a project for a while in which some guys were going to launch a server of Everquest + Ruins of Kunark and Velious. They were going to cut out all of the crap SOE made like Shadows of Luclin.
This project consisted of about 3 programmers and was basically running on zero dollars worth of budget. The entire project was supposedly free. So basically this is a "backwoods" type deal. It alone was supporting around 30-50 thousand people dedicated and watching/waiting for the launch.
Again - I find this odd since those 3 were the expansions before all of the "convenience" and "ease".
Maybe the struggle and conflict is part of the adventure? Maybe gamers are spoiled? Maybe....
Accessible travel in this day and age really is a must. Don't get me wrong, I made friends I still talk to sitting on boats from Kaladim to Freeport in EQ1. Part of the market expansions we've seen in MMO games I believe is due to the shorter gaming sessions required for progression. Exploration can be fun, but once you've explored an area it's not as much fun to keep running around the same environment unless you need to. Games are better served through progressive questing that take you through them but once you've completed everything, let's you optionally bypass it. I think that works.
At the end of the day, part of it is the preferences of the player.
As a man who was birthed in EQ1 - I have to agree with Radar.
Easy travel *IS* a must.
In the days of old when the world of MMOs were new, the "huge" and "epic" feel of long distance travel gave show to what a world could truly be like, online.
It was *really* a world.
But now? With a million and six MMOs coming out everyday, and all of them fighting for that core playerbase that will stay for longer than 4 months? Epic travel becomes two words that any pressed-for-play adventurer dreads.
"Time Sink"
Don't get me wrong, the first two or three times in a zone, you should be FORCED to run it in length. You should be FORCED to learn it, observe it, and know it. That builds depth, appreciation, and memory - making the zone a real place. Hell, I could still tell you every inch of the Karanas...
But after that? Extensive travel becomes a task, a chore, and a time sink. If it takes me 25 minutes to run to a zone to talk to an NPC who wants me to run BACK to the zone I just came from, pick something up, and run all the way back?
Chances are I'm skipping that quest, and / or killing that NPC and wearing his face as a loincloth.
EverQuest: A Return to Norrath
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