Im as hyped as anyone about this game, but until they release more info on payment models (pay monthly is the only type i take seriously) and pvp (hoping for limited open world pvp with safe zones, and no arenas) im working hard to keep my hopes in check.
Im going to assume the worst so as to avoid dissapointment, and prevent myself becomeing one of the bitter tag alongs so many mmo's have these days.
Fingers crossed, because if this game is half as special as the original was were in for a treat!
After 18 months at San Diego State University, where he was studying computer science, Smedley dropped out to write games on contract for Alien Technology Group. In 1993 he finally took a full-time job at Sony. He needed the salary to support his own online habit: By then, Smedley was running up $600 monthly bills on CyberStrike, one of the first graphic action games played online against others.
He knew that CyberStrike, while primitive, was on the right track. If he was willing to pay to play, he reasoned, there were probably lots of other gamers out there who would be too. So in 1996, Smedley pitched his boss at a Sony-owned PlayStation development studio on the idea of an online role-playing game. It would involve thousands of players at a time, he said. It would be three-dimensional. It would make a fortune.
Smedley recalls, "I got three minutes into this huge presentation, and he just flat out said, 'No.'"
But a few months later, a new boss, Kelly Flock, arrived. Smedley tried his pitch again. He pointed out that programmers at other companies were already working on virtual-world games like Meridian 59. And while he didn't know it at the time, Electronic Arts was already working on Ultima Online. He got the green light: EverQuest was a go. Smedley hired McQuaid and Steve Clover, two ace game programmers who were slaving as corporate systems administrators. Within three years, the small San Diego skunk works grew into a team of 56 developers and one of Sony's most expensive game projects, with a development budget approaching $5 million.
It's amazing how people constantly hate on the very people and organization that has been around since the start of EQ without knowing the history.
I want the original EQ1 with updated graphics, and dont screw with improving anything. No game was ever as immersive as Everquest, even after years of playing the world just sucked you in and you became one with the character. The only time WoW felt like that was when you were flying.
Originally posted by Talemire I'd be satisfied with a Vanguard 2 really.
Ditto. There are a lot of things to be desired regarding VG but it does feel more like EQ than EQ2. I honestly think EQN will surprise a lot of people outside those already excited about it.
I have 100 (approx.) reasons that I am excited about EQN so I'll focus on the not so excited.
Monetization
As long as I can pay a sub and not feel the cash shop I am fine. The extent I am willing to tolerate or even play EQN will be on a sliding scale directly related to how many things have $ attached to them. If the game is what I think it can be I will be playing it for years. I hope they know what they are doing model wise.
Originally posted by quseio hate to burst your soe hate bubble but soe was in on eq from the very start, they started it verant split off from them took the project then merged back or some shit like that
as for houseing id like a modified form of what everquest1 uses instanced neighborhoods so u can have inside and outside and no clutter
id like to be able to have goblin helpers harvest some tradeskill supplys on my farm or from my pet spider// or fish from my pound, but if i am rude to them or dont pay theyll ransack the house
Qeynos-Sonyeq
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
Public dungeons the way of Asheron's Call were so much fun, and that was because there was so much risk involved. Knowing there is nowhere to hide from an oncoming enemy is so intense it sticks with you forever. Even though you'd go into an instanced area, that area was accessible to anyone, and so at any time you could be sharing the dungeon with a friend or foe.
Casual 'run into the portal past the gank squad to be safe' ruins a lot of fun imo. Challenge is what makes a game good.
Market studies and actual trending are two completely different things, hope this games good though.
I've played EQ2 and EQ1 for 10 years at the highest levels.
Successful launch=Successful game, get a good beta in...smooth launch, end-game competitive content from day one w/the long grind to max level (30 days played minimum) and you'll secure a vast majority of the mmo crowd.
Also needs the classic EQ sandbox feel, no point and click quest chain for dummies stuff. Get 5 of your buds and go explore a dungeon for hours<<<<<<<.
Will crafting be meaningful? I still think FFXI got it right with rare drops that needed crafted items to combine into elite gear.
What will housing be like? Will it be more than just storage space? Can we craft in there, will furnishings or other decor affect anything in the game - again, loved how ffxi did this.
Will there be gardening or other non-traditional (as in mining, chopping, harvesting) ways to create things, make money?
Will it take more than a few weeks for a casual gamer like me to level up to cap (however that is defined)? Nothing is more frustrating to me than to spend a month in a game - playing relatively little - and be completely leveled up with the best gear. If I can outpace - with a busy full-time job, a wife, house, and 3 year old daughter - expansions and updates, there is a problem.
Personally I'd like to see what Smed promised, "a reimagining of the original Everquest" - For some reason that game was magic.
Subscription PLEASE
F&#^ Cash Shops and FREE to Play BS - Nuff said
Dungeons
I personally loved sharing dungeons with other groups, screw instances - lets promote some form of community. Helping a complete stranger retrieve their corpse was part of the fun. Having to watch out for a train was again, more fun. The minor annoyances of "camping", etc. was far outweighed by the benefits in my opinion.
Leveling
Leveling should be like it was in the original I don't want to see someone running around with a max level character a week after the game launches.
Dying
Punish me for dying! Creating fear, tension, excitement, frustration and yes even rage was again part of what made EQ entertaining. Losing hours worth of experience because I made a mistake is plenty of motivation to create the atmosphere of danger and adventure that the original had. Bring it back!
Combat
Please, please, please do not make the combat action - oriented. Old turn-based button mashing has it's own appeal. I appreciated it because it made the game play more strategy-oriented you had to actually THINK about what skill to use, in what order, and manage the cool-downs. I can zone out playing Neverwinter or GW2 and still kill stuff, boooooooring.
Exploring
Make me have to run across a zone to get somewhere far away. Exploring the world, navigating through it's dangers and finally arriving at some far away destination - really added something to making EQ feel like a world, instead of a bunch of "levels" to go through.
Abilities!
This is a HUGE one. I haven't played a single MMO since Everquest where I could have a skill that would allow me to run 50 feet above the ground, in the form of a wolf at breakneck speed, or turn a mob into a skeleton - throw it 50 feet in the air and smash it into the ground repeatedly, or cast a spell that caused it to rain across the entire zone! EQ had a tremendous diversity to its skill sets, I looked forward to every few levels because I knew I was going to get an ability that would change the entire game for my character and my group.
Don't give me a map!
In EQ there were places you only heard of from friends or guildies - someone happen to "find" a dungeon somewhere. No one had a quest that directed them there. You went in only for the sake of adventure, to explore with the potential of getting some unique item. Some of these places were so well hidden that you had to use a potion or spell, - to get to. Entrances to small to get in without being shrunk, with such a drop without levitating in you'd die - etc.
Loots
My biggest pet-peeve with Neverwinter right now is the gear. Why the hell does my character look nearly identical to when he started? Almost all of the gear has the same dull model. Make it feel like it's worth my time to get that really cool looking sword, armor, etc. I don't want it right away but I should be able to tell by looking another character around what level they are solely based on their gear.
Disclaimer: This is all the opinion of an old old man. You may not share my opinion and that's cool. If SOE does this right though they are going to revamp the old game, maybe add some newer technologies / features but not stray to far from that model.
There are many features I'd like to see implemented with EQN. Here's a list of what a HARDCORE Vet loved about the original EQ I hope and pray will be featured in EQN..
1) Class Diversity.. Many MMO's these days have so many classes being able to do the same thing. In the original EQ, every class was different. You could tell a Druid from a Bard from a Warrior, from a Cleric apart easily because they looked different and had completely different abilities..
2) Open Dungeons.. I really hate instanced dungeons. WoW turned it into a traditional MMORPG feature, but It's really lame. Back in EQ, dungeons were MASSIVE and not restricted to just a group of people or raid group. One thing that people obviously didn't like was when monks or whomever would pull a uber powered boss, along with 30 mobs and "train" the entire dungeon, killing everyone in its path. Obviously it's funny to few, but most got really annoyed at that. Looking back at it now makes me laugh because the ones who wined back then are the ones who LOVE hold my hand, wipe my nose pew pew instanced dungeons now..
3) Meaningful Death Penalty/Corpse Runs. In EQ, you would get severely punished for dying. At a high level, you would lose roughly a half hour worth of nonstop grinding exp, give or take, and all your items would be on your original corpse, making you go on a fun naked corpse run. It was one of the only games where you could literally go down levels if you kept dying alot. One day, my dumbazz cousin followed me to "The Lake of Il Omen" He was only level 20, whereas I was 26. Anyway, he was "exploring" the area and came across one of the sarnak forts. He died no joke, like 50 times, each time trying desperately to get his corpse back. Long story short, he finally messaged me asking for help and flipping out over how dumb, stupid, and hard EQ is, lol. I used invisibility, buffed myself, turned into a wolf, and tracked him down. Anyway, when I saw all his corpses I laughed my AZZ off and took multiple pics. :P Me and my Monk friend Shinryu cleared a path so he could retrieve all his corpses. He was level 18, and lost 2 levels dying so many times, lol.. Those were the days when If you were stupid like my cousin, you would get severely punished.. He only played up until level 30 before quitting claiming, "The game was to hard" He eventually went on to play WoW and was one of those bad whiner gamers. He'd cry at a certain class being over powered when he'd die in pvp, "he played a Pally" he would die multiple times in Raids claiming it's everyone elses fault, and he was one of those high level moron gankers that would go around low lvl areas and gank you over and over.. Yea,, we don't need those types of gamers in EQN. If you bring back meaningful death penalties and corpse runs, it will help reduce alot of the very bad idiot ganker gamers, because most of them are illiterate. I never ganked anyone in WoW. I'd be doing archaeology quests or whatever, and see low level characters, they'd get all freaked out and I'd /wave or /smile at them and move along. It's not fun killing someone with one hit. I like the challenge. I never attack first and I was usually the one who won the fight.
4) Remove BOE and most level restricted gear altogether. Back in EQ, there was no such thing as Bind to Equip bullcrap! When you worked "HARD" to get a piece of gear, you wore it until your character out leveled it. Then you had a choice of selling the item for some good cash or putting it on a twink. The only items that were soulbound were end game raid items and rare quest items. I'd love this system to be implemented again. Every other game I played after EQ used a stupid handicapped BOE, BOP, NO TRADE, NODROP on EVERYTHING.. If you won that item from a dungeon and wore it, by the time you got an upgrade, you had to vendor sell the item. That's the dumbest thing I ever seen implemented in mmorpg's, and hopefully EQN goes back to it's roots with this..
Rallithon Oakthornn (Retired Heirophant of the 60th season)
I hope that the game has 0 instances, no random armor drops, xp loss on death, corpse runs eq classic style, for drops to be rare, for items feel like they are great when you get them instead of saying...ah cool another item. Make the game hard, make it fun, make me want to meet people, let me engage in the world...and lastly. Do not do class balancing, the classes should not be equal. A necromancer in EQ was extremely strong solo compared to say...a cleric. In a group situation the roles were reversed. Please bring back roles to a game. Currently every other game is just full of whiners that complain until their class is as strong as another class, then that class whines, etc. Also if you do level, please don't raise the cap. The Kunark to Velious expansion shows that no levels are needed for an amazing expansion. It just stops grinding for xp. Also, don't make gear pointless! Make it be the highlight, make it hard to get, make it all droppable after you wear it so you can pass it down.
As I level up, I do not need to get to level 50 in the first month.
I want our armor and our weapons to both look good and be effective with the stats on them. When using your weapon or skills, hopefully we will get better with use as we level.
I want to see the world, so I hope the traveling is meaningful.
An advanced crafting system, and economic system. I want a wonderful crafting system, with the ability to have boats, houses and jewelry,
If I am a druid, I want to be able to buff someone with out grouping. I do not mean I am going to be a buff bott. I loved the ability to help out others, it led to communicating with others I would not have normally.
I want to be helpful in aiding a fellow player that is going to die. Give him a helping hand, and get in there and fight with him/her.
I myself prefer monthly payments. It is more just to players all around. Apparently some prefer cash shops. I have seen these give other players more edge, and ruin games. No hidden costs, or misleading pay scale as Wizardly stated.
I hope you bring back utility spells, such as shrink, invisibility, sow and such.
Classes matter to me, my Paladin does not need to be as powerful as the Bard or whatever, but she does need to have effective skills. I want the Bard, or what ever class in my group to shine with their abilities as well as I do mine. I do not expect perfect balance, it’s just not going to happen.
I miss world chat. Unfortunately, there were jerks out there that ruined the communication for others. I would love to see it brought back, with penalties to the abusers of it.
Originally posted by Nique71 i don't remember being able to change UI's in Everquest. That ability I thought was started with WOW. I played Lineage 2 and FFXI inbetween Everquest and WOW and i don't remember those 2 games having that feature either.
There were absolutely custom UI's with EQ, before WoW..
In the summer of 2002, SOE opened up the ability to customize your EQ experience on the PC side. Allowing the use of XML and tga files to create your own "User Interface" look. Immediately web sites sprung to life to host and share others UI work.
Originally posted by akahdrin I hope that the game has 0 instances, no random armor drops, xp loss on death, corpse runs eq classic style, for drops to be rare, for items feel like they are great when you get them instead of saying...ah cool another item. Make the game hard, make it fun, make me want to meet people, let me engage in the world...and lastly. Do not do class balancing, the classes should not be equal. A necromancer in EQ was extremely strong solo compared to say...a cleric. In a group situation the roles were reversed. Please bring back roles to a game. Currently every other game is just full of whiners that complain until their class is as strong as another class, then that class whines, etc. Also if you do level, please don't raise the cap. The Kunark to Velious expansion shows that no levels are needed for an amazing expansion. It just stops grinding for xp. Also, don't make gear pointless! Make it be the highlight, make it hard to get, make it all droppable after you wear it so you can pass it down.
Though I like the idea of going "old school" withe the game rules. There are just some that should not be brought back like corpse runs. However I think progression should be long as possible and that that the increments are to big.
i think MMO's lately have doing progression increments backwards. For example, MMO's make a level 40 character almost god like to a level 30 character (in PvpP and/or PvE).
This problem is more common in gear based games like WoW and SWTOR. Its easier to develop a dungeon/pvp system around the progression with such clear cut lines.
EQNext will be very different to EQ1 or EQ2 in terms of the game. It will be similar insofar as being set in the same world, Norrath, with similarities probably ranging as far as beasts, species, notable npc's, towns, "zones" ( EQNext will have no zones as such the world is being built to be seamless ).
The interesting bit I thought, was the mention of "Ethernere" a realm or dimension where all of the EverQuest timelines or parallel worlds meet, if Ethernere were to make it into EQNext, it could allow for some interesting forays into the parallel Norrath's, would be even more interesting if some form of Ethernere also reached into the existing EQ2 & EQ games too.
Comments
Im as hyped as anyone about this game, but until they release more info on payment models (pay monthly is the only type i take seriously) and pvp (hoping for limited open world pvp with safe zones, and no arenas) im working hard to keep my hopes in check.
Im going to assume the worst so as to avoid dissapointment, and prevent myself becomeing one of the bitter tag alongs so many mmo's have these days.
Fingers crossed, because if this game is half as special as the original was were in for a treat!
It's amazing how people constantly hate on the very people and organization that has been around since the start of EQ without knowing the history.
Can you say Qeynos backwards?
twitch.tv/itpaladin
@ITPalg
YouTube: ITPalGame
Ditto. There are a lot of things to be desired regarding VG but it does feel more like EQ than EQ2. I honestly think EQN will surprise a lot of people outside those already excited about it.
I have 100 (approx.) reasons that I am excited about EQN so I'll focus on the not so excited.
Monetization
As long as I can pay a sub and not feel the cash shop I am fine. The extent I am willing to tolerate or even play EQN will be on a sliding scale directly related to how many things have $ attached to them. If the game is what I think it can be I will be playing it for years. I hope they know what they are doing model wise.
Qeynos-Sonyeq
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
Public dungeons the way of Asheron's Call were so much fun, and that was because there was so much risk involved. Knowing there is nowhere to hide from an oncoming enemy is so intense it sticks with you forever. Even though you'd go into an instanced area, that area was accessible to anyone, and so at any time you could be sharing the dungeon with a friend or foe.
Casual 'run into the portal past the gank squad to be safe' ruins a lot of fun imo. Challenge is what makes a game good.
Market studies and actual trending are two completely different things, hope this games good though.
I've played EQ2 and EQ1 for 10 years at the highest levels.
Successful launch=Successful game, get a good beta in...smooth launch, end-game competitive content from day one w/the long grind to max level (30 days played minimum) and you'll secure a vast majority of the mmo crowd.
Also needs the classic EQ sandbox feel, no point and click quest chain for dummies stuff. Get 5 of your buds and go explore a dungeon for hours<<<<<<<.
Will crafting be meaningful? I still think FFXI got it right with rare drops that needed crafted items to combine into elite gear.
What will housing be like? Will it be more than just storage space? Can we craft in there, will furnishings or other decor affect anything in the game - again, loved how ffxi did this.
Will there be gardening or other non-traditional (as in mining, chopping, harvesting) ways to create things, make money?
Will it take more than a few weeks for a casual gamer like me to level up to cap (however that is defined)? Nothing is more frustrating to me than to spend a month in a game - playing relatively little - and be completely leveled up with the best gear. If I can outpace - with a busy full-time job, a wife, house, and 3 year old daughter - expansions and updates, there is a problem.
Personally I'd like to see what Smed promised, "a reimagining of the original Everquest" - For some reason that game was magic.
Subscription PLEASE
F&#^ Cash Shops and FREE to Play BS - Nuff said
Dungeons
I personally loved sharing dungeons with other groups, screw instances - lets promote some form of community. Helping a complete stranger retrieve their corpse was part of the fun. Having to watch out for a train was again, more fun. The minor annoyances of "camping", etc. was far outweighed by the benefits in my opinion.
Leveling
Leveling should be like it was in the original I don't want to see someone running around with a max level character a week after the game launches.
Dying
Punish me for dying! Creating fear, tension, excitement, frustration and yes even rage was again part of what made EQ entertaining. Losing hours worth of experience because I made a mistake is plenty of motivation to create the atmosphere of danger and adventure that the original had. Bring it back!
Combat
Please, please, please do not make the combat action - oriented. Old turn-based button mashing has it's own appeal. I appreciated it because it made the game play more strategy-oriented you had to actually THINK about what skill to use, in what order, and manage the cool-downs. I can zone out playing Neverwinter or GW2 and still kill stuff, boooooooring.
Exploring
Make me have to run across a zone to get somewhere far away. Exploring the world, navigating through it's dangers and finally arriving at some far away destination - really added something to making EQ feel like a world, instead of a bunch of "levels" to go through.
Abilities!
This is a HUGE one. I haven't played a single MMO since Everquest where I could have a skill that would allow me to run 50 feet above the ground, in the form of a wolf at breakneck speed, or turn a mob into a skeleton - throw it 50 feet in the air and smash it into the ground repeatedly, or cast a spell that caused it to rain across the entire zone! EQ had a tremendous diversity to its skill sets, I looked forward to every few levels because I knew I was going to get an ability that would change the entire game for my character and my group.
Don't give me a map!
In EQ there were places you only heard of from friends or guildies - someone happen to "find" a dungeon somewhere. No one had a quest that directed them there. You went in only for the sake of adventure, to explore with the potential of getting some unique item. Some of these places were so well hidden that you had to use a potion or spell, - to get to. Entrances to small to get in without being shrunk, with such a drop without levitating in you'd die - etc.
Loots
My biggest pet-peeve with Neverwinter right now is the gear. Why the hell does my character look nearly identical to when he started? Almost all of the gear has the same dull model. Make it feel like it's worth my time to get that really cool looking sword, armor, etc. I don't want it right away but I should be able to tell by looking another character around what level they are solely based on their gear.
Disclaimer: This is all the opinion of an old old man. You may not share my opinion and that's cool. If SOE does this right though they are going to revamp the old game, maybe add some newer technologies / features but not stray to far from that model.
There are many features I'd like to see implemented with EQN. Here's a list of what a HARDCORE Vet loved about the original EQ I hope and pray will be featured in EQN..
1) Class Diversity.. Many MMO's these days have so many classes being able to do the same thing. In the original EQ, every class was different. You could tell a Druid from a Bard from a Warrior, from a Cleric apart easily because they looked different and had completely different abilities..
2) Open Dungeons.. I really hate instanced dungeons. WoW turned it into a traditional MMORPG feature, but It's really lame. Back in EQ, dungeons were MASSIVE and not restricted to just a group of people or raid group. One thing that people obviously didn't like was when monks or whomever would pull a uber powered boss, along with 30 mobs and "train" the entire dungeon, killing everyone in its path. Obviously it's funny to few, but most got really annoyed at that. Looking back at it now makes me laugh because the ones who wined back then are the ones who LOVE hold my hand, wipe my nose pew pew instanced dungeons now..
3) Meaningful Death Penalty/Corpse Runs. In EQ, you would get severely punished for dying. At a high level, you would lose roughly a half hour worth of nonstop grinding exp, give or take, and all your items would be on your original corpse, making you go on a fun naked corpse run. It was one of the only games where you could literally go down levels if you kept dying alot. One day, my dumbazz cousin followed me to "The Lake of Il Omen" He was only level 20, whereas I was 26. Anyway, he was "exploring" the area and came across one of the sarnak forts. He died no joke, like 50 times, each time trying desperately to get his corpse back. Long story short, he finally messaged me asking for help and flipping out over how dumb, stupid, and hard EQ is, lol. I used invisibility, buffed myself, turned into a wolf, and tracked him down. Anyway, when I saw all his corpses I laughed my AZZ off and took multiple pics. :P Me and my Monk friend Shinryu cleared a path so he could retrieve all his corpses. He was level 18, and lost 2 levels dying so many times, lol.. Those were the days when If you were stupid like my cousin, you would get severely punished.. He only played up until level 30 before quitting claiming, "The game was to hard" He eventually went on to play WoW and was one of those bad whiner gamers. He'd cry at a certain class being over powered when he'd die in pvp, "he played a Pally" he would die multiple times in Raids claiming it's everyone elses fault, and he was one of those high level moron gankers that would go around low lvl areas and gank you over and over.. Yea,, we don't need those types of gamers in EQN. If you bring back meaningful death penalties and corpse runs, it will help reduce alot of the very bad idiot ganker gamers, because most of them are illiterate. I never ganked anyone in WoW. I'd be doing archaeology quests or whatever, and see low level characters, they'd get all freaked out and I'd /wave or /smile at them and move along. It's not fun killing someone with one hit. I like the challenge. I never attack first and I was usually the one who won the fight.
4) Remove BOE and most level restricted gear altogether. Back in EQ, there was no such thing as Bind to Equip bullcrap! When you worked "HARD" to get a piece of gear, you wore it until your character out leveled it. Then you had a choice of selling the item for some good cash or putting it on a twink. The only items that were soulbound were end game raid items and rare quest items. I'd love this system to be implemented again. Every other game I played after EQ used a stupid handicapped BOE, BOP, NO TRADE, NODROP on EVERYTHING.. If you won that item from a dungeon and wore it, by the time you got an upgrade, you had to vendor sell the item. That's the dumbest thing I ever seen implemented in mmorpg's, and hopefully EQN goes back to it's roots with this..
Rallithon Oakthornn
(Retired Heirophant of the 60th season)
Currently playing Everquest on Project1999
As I level up, I do not need to get to level 50 in the first month.
I want our armor and our weapons to both look good and be effective with the stats on them. When using your weapon or skills, hopefully we will get better with use as we level.
I want to see the world, so I hope the traveling is meaningful.
An advanced crafting system, and economic system. I want a wonderful crafting system, with the ability to have boats, houses and jewelry,
If I am a druid, I want to be able to buff someone with out grouping. I do not mean I am going to be a buff bott. I loved the ability to help out others, it led to communicating with others I would not have normally.
I want to be helpful in aiding a fellow player that is going to die. Give him a helping hand, and get in there and fight with him/her.
I myself prefer monthly payments. It is more just to players all around. Apparently some prefer cash shops. I have seen these give other players more edge, and ruin games. No hidden costs, or misleading pay scale as Wizardly stated.
I hope you bring back utility spells, such as shrink, invisibility, sow and such.
Classes matter to me, my Paladin does not need to be as powerful as the Bard or whatever, but she does need to have effective skills. I want the Bard, or what ever class in my group to shine with their abilities as well as I do mine. I do not expect perfect balance, it’s just not going to happen.
I miss world chat. Unfortunately, there were jerks out there that ruined the communication for others. I would love to see it brought back, with penalties to the abusers of it.
http://s36.photobucket.com/user/mhoward48/media/OnwYv97.jpg.html
lies! We all know Blizzard was the first to do everything in MMO's!
Though I like the idea of going "old school" withe the game rules. There are just some that should not be brought back like corpse runs. However I think progression should be long as possible and that that the increments are to big.
i think MMO's lately have doing progression increments backwards. For example, MMO's make a level 40 character almost god like to a level 30 character (in PvpP and/or PvE).
This problem is more common in gear based games like WoW and SWTOR. Its easier to develop a dungeon/pvp system around the progression with such clear cut lines.
EQNext will be very different to EQ1 or EQ2 in terms of the game. It will be similar insofar as being set in the same world, Norrath, with similarities probably ranging as far as beasts, species, notable npc's, towns, "zones" ( EQNext will have no zones as such the world is being built to be seamless ).
The interesting bit I thought, was the mention of "Ethernere" a realm or dimension where all of the EverQuest timelines or parallel worlds meet, if Ethernere were to make it into EQNext, it could allow for some interesting forays into the parallel Norrath's, would be even more interesting if some form of Ethernere also reached into the existing EQ2 & EQ games too.
"The danger of course being balance for PVP's sake."
Would love some elaboration on this. What danger does balance for PvP's sake present?