Very early hints...

[Titia]

At last, a few hints and early concepts of what's called for now Everquest Next

http://www.massively.com/2010/08/07/fan-faire-2010-john-smedley-and-the-soe-crew-talk-everquest-nex/

[Namae Nai]

Also, from EQ2 Traders Fan Faire 2010 Summary

Expansion - Destiny of Velious

The next expansion for EQ2 will be Destiny of Velious, which will be Part 1 of the Velious saga. (They've yet to finalize how/when Part 2 will be presented.)

They did not give us a firm release date, other than "sometime in the winter". (My impression was late-winter.) Because they were giving this presentation this early in the development phase, the below is only a very rough overview. Many details have yet to be decided, so there wasn't a lot that they could/would commit to at this point.

What we do know so far:

•      (at least) 10 instanced dungeons
•      (at least) 4 Heritage quests, including the first-ever tradeskill HQ, for the Coldain Prayer Shawl
•      Kael Drakkel will be a contested zone
•      (at least) 2 overland zones
•      (at least) 6 raid zones
•      The "Ages End" prophecy will unfold - the twin swords of destiny have been drained and need to be restored
•      Thurgadin and the othmir will return
•      An interesting feature in The Ascent zone will be how the zone will change based on your progress in the questline
•      there will flying mounts, which will be able to fly through every overland zone
•      There will not be mounted combat
•      Mounts will have a level limit, and at least the first mount will be available via a quest
•      Siren's Grotto, Plane of Growth, and Plane of Mischief will not be part of the expansion release (folks specifically asked about those zones)
•      There will not be any increase in the level cap, though there will be an increase in AA of some sort
•      Othmir will not be a playable race
•      The expansion will be aimed at the level 86+ crowd
•      They can't tell us what token/factioning/etc system will be put in, as it has not yet been finalized
•      Current hovering mounts (carpets, hoverpads, flying disks, etc.) are likely to continue to hover not fly
•      Someone requested an increase in the number of items you can put in the trade window at one time be increased. They will look into it
•      There was a request for more female dress clothing with different looks. They indicated that there were plans for such, but did not provide details in the expansion panel. (I missed the art panel)

[Jasyn]

They did not give us a firm release date, other than "sometime in the winter".

Curious.  The Denmum must have missed that a release date has, in fact, been announced: February 8, 2011.

From my point of view, more than ever, there's been quite a lot of underwhelming news and decision-making oozing from EQ2 HQ in recent weeks, so I was keeping my eyes on the Fan Faire grapevine this past weekend, and despite a few glimmers of hope, I was still left wanting... something... anything... more satisfying.

Frankly, I actually found the "Everquest Next" news to be more intriguing than anything coming from the EQ2 camp.  It's nice to finally have a few of the shadows lifted away from this secret project, lifting it beyond its just-a-notch-above-rumor status during the past year.  Don't get me wrong, I love me my EQ2 past and present, but so far it sounds like the direction for this project might be more along the lines of what I was hoping for EQ2 when it was still in development.  Sticking to the basics.  Keeping things simple.  But enriching the world and story in more current, visually, and mentally stimulating ways with less frastration than the original without losing the immersion.  From a RP perspective, while some mechanics encourage RP more here in EQ2 than in EQ1 in some respects, EQ2 also does a great deal to suck those RP opportunities away.  While the lore has been great, for the most part, there have been so many occasions in which lore took a backseat to mechanics and was only shoehorned in after the mechanics had been decided upon.  I look forward to following the news as it evolves.

Denny already linked to a site with Fan Faire videos from the 2nd "Everquest Next" panel, so I'll toss in some links to videos from the 1st panel if only because the voice of my other guild's leader makes a cameo.  The lighting in the room is too dark to really see him, but I'd recognize that voice anywhere.   

Everquest Next Panel 1 - Part 1
Everquest Next Panel 1 - Part 2
Everquest Next Panel 1 - Part 2

Now, I have to wonder if EQ2 is once again selling itself short now that expansions are being released in February versus November.  We were spoiled for so many years by titillating tidbits released around Fan Faire time when Fan Faire would hit in the summer months and the next EQ2 expansion release would only be two or so months away.  Now that the expansion release is 6 months after Fan Faire, it just feels like there's so much more "we can't comment," "we don't know," "it's still being discussed," "we haven't worked out the details yet," etc. since we're not as close to the end of the expansion development cycle anymore.

I do find it an interesting departure (in an expansion without a level cap increase) that there will be new Velious-specific recipes and harvests.  That and the Coldain Prayer Shawl Heritage Quest sounds like some fun for the TS-ers.

Putting that all aside, though, I must admit that once I finally saw the first video preview flyover of Velious (much like Kunark in EQ1, I have fond memories of certain places, but never got the opportunity to experience all of the popular content on those two continents), what I saw was encouraging.  The final two scenes in particular gave me a little goosebumpy chill...

Destiny of Velious Preview Video

[Titia]

From the viseo Jasyn linked, Destiny of Velious looks nice, I hope the content will match this. At least the Tower of frozen Shadows apparently still exists (seen in the background of the last seconds of the clip).

Otherwise I agree with you Jasyn, EQ Next looks like what many of us hoped for EQ2... We'll see as more info is released what direction it takes.

[Jasyn]

Oh yeah, I forgot one more thing... it would so totally rawk if there's still some gnomish pirates in the Iceclad Ocean when Destiny of Velious debuts.