Everquest Next officially cancelled.

[PinkRose]

https://www.daybreakgames.com/news/daybreak-president-community-letter-everquest-next-2016

I am heartbroken.
We will have to consider what this means for Saga in the coming days.

[Gith]

Wow, that sucks.

[Mixxi]

It means nothing for Saga except a huge round of "f**k Daybreak" drinks. We are far more than EQNext. We've got another Saga wedding coming up and we're having a blast in Black Desert. We are a family. Where we play is irrelevant.

[Jasyn]

Heartbreaking is a good word.  Now, it's back to square zero when it comes to recapturing the spark of the EQ/FV days, and I'm not being Saga-centric here.  I'm speaking of the community at large.  This was certainly poised to be the best shot we've had at it.

Annoyance is another word. For having allowed myself to be strung along for years just to reach this exciting conclusion.  For not having heard a peep up to this point from this Russell Shanks dude since EQN went dark and we were told development focus would shift from Landmark to EQN (which essentially makes for two games that saw progress reports in the few to none realm).  For keeping the faith in spite of losing beloved cheerleaders Ohmeed and Dave "Smokejumper" Georgeson, in spite of losing Loremaster Steve "Moorgard" Danuser, in spite of SOE becoming Daybreak after its sale.  The interview Shanks gave to MMORPG.com puts a slightly different tint on his President's letter, if you ask me. 

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/952/feature/10656/Russell-Shanks-on-the-Cancellation-and-Future-of-the-EverQuest-Franchise.html

Relief is a different word.  I feel more open to experimentation without risk of having something tickle my fancy so much that I wouldn't want to abandon it for EQN at some later, undisclosed time.  Long term, Lyrima's discovery of Chronicles of Elyria has definitely piqued my interest.  I may pay more attention to the development of Pantheon now.  Short term, I have no clue.  I've pondered Black Desert Online, but my past experiences with ArcheAge leave me somewhat hesitant to dabble in the Korean MMO genre again.  Aside from that I mostly just ping pong between SWTOR and GW2 depending on my mood.

Concern is one more word that comes to mind.  What becomes of the team that devoted their lives to the dream of EQN for all of these years?  Does Landmark go down with the ship, or will it finally become a fully fleshed out title, giving the resources that overlapped development of both titles a single game to focus on at last?

So, yeah.  Sucks is the word that sums it all up.  Daybreak may accept the gift of my middle finger, and they may employ it with unimaginative, utilitarian fervor for the application of sun-starved anatomical itch relief for the low price of 5 JasynCash per scratch.

[Wayena]

On the plus side, for those that liked Landmark, it's going to be it's own continuing thing now.

To Our Loyal Landmark Community,

You read the title right: Landmark is LAUNCHING this spring and I'm thrilled to be on this adventure with you!

For those of you who don't know me, I'm Holly "Windstalker" Longdale. I'm the executive producer of both EverQuest and EverQuest II. I care passionately about the EverQuest franchise and have been involved with it for much of my career now, starting out as a player and game designer. Why am I here? I'm now the executive producer for Landmark and have been working with the amazing team for a few months!

As the community has grown and designs have flourished, we no longer view Landmark as just a building tool. We've been toiling away making Landmark into a wonder unto itself. While the look of our world was inspired by what was intended to be the voxel world of EverQuest Next, Landmark has evolved into its own game with its own unique identity and purpose. If you missed the news on EverQuest Next there's a letter from Russell Shanks, Daybreak Games president, here.

The creativity of the Landmark community and the potential for telling stories in this digital world is beyond what we imagined. Our vision for Landmark is to provide a place where you can create ANYTHING, tell your own stories, and share your creativity with other players. We are wrapping up a HUGE game update for Landmark with LOTS of new additions and improvements, some of which you've already seen in sneak preview posts from Emily "Domino" Taylor on the forums. We are excited about what's to come for Landmark and we can't wait to see what you think.

The Landmark team has a lot to do before launch this spring and we'll continue to keep you informed! For starters, here's an FAQ if you have any questions after reading this letter.

We're grateful for your continued support and are looking forward to the coming weeks as we prepare to launch Landmark!

Holly Longdale
Executive Producer

[Rumze]

To be honest, I wasn't overly surprised. I am saddened a bit by what could have been but ah well. Lots of other stuff to play and so on.
I'm looking forward to crowfall more now to some extent as well.

Edit: Also don't be discouraged. In a way, it seems the industry is growing out of the mmo glut phase. Whats left is catering to smaller crowds and more niche but its doing so with more focus and better games. I mean ff14 is an example of just how a company learned from its mistake and remade a game that is amazing. Elder scrolls online and swtor have changed for the better. Black Desert Online is a fun and such a complexly deep game its intimidating.
Hopefully Wildstar will learn and become better although they did lay off staff and aren't launching in China. Hopefully that hiccup will be minor and they can refocus~

[Lyrima]

I'm with Mixxi on what it means for Saga We ARE a family and we will find a way. 

I also see what Pinkie means - what game will we all coalesce  around now?

If I'd been excited for EQN, I would have better appreciated Jasyn's list of emotions - and I'm sorry for those of you who have lost money and/or are disappointed. 

It's also a good reminder about Chronicles of Elyria - to whom I'm thinking of offering a bit of coin.  The gaming industry is hard...from players to CEOs and everyone in between.

I so miss having a game in which to find friends.  It just seems, from my personal experience, that the games I end up loving are not the same games everyone else loves.

I've wanted to go back to Elder Scrolls but I'm worried I'll be completely alone and with all the changes it will be like starting anew - alone.

I so loved Elder Scrolls. 

[PinkRose]

Thanks for dropping that in here, Wayena.
That does seem to solidify that they should have gone that way in the beginning.
EQNext was such a departure, with its class-less characters, and console controls.
Landmark is a combination of what EQN was promised and what Landmark was developing into.
That's a good thing for those people that enjoy it.
It also frees up the name Everquest to proceed in a more EQ direction.

[Vilidius]

Hey all

Yeah, this sucks. Doesn't really need to be repeated a lot, does it? Just wanted to drop in and say ... I still do drop in. Life and work got very busy for the past few years. Mainly in good ways. I haven't had time for seriously immersive gaming in quite some time as a result, but somehow I always imagined I'd return to it, and EQNext was always my target for that. Now that it's not happening, I'll probably have to make some effort to do something else.

So, here's my vague but sincere promise. Within my very real limitations, and my equally real (though subjective) gaming preferences, I'll try to join Saga in someplace where Saga is in the near term future. Because really, it's been too long.

Cheers y'all. Or, rather, "Hail!"

[Scrib]

 

[Lyrima]

So, here's my vague but sincere promise. Within my very real limitations, and my equally real (though subjective) gaming preferences, I'll try to join Saga in someplace where Saga is in the near term future. Because really, it's been too long.

Yeah. What he said.

[Pedekele]

So many bad decisions, so little content... it was obvious that this would happen.
I've seen this kind of stuff with other not game related companies - it's always the same.

It's not that bad though, "voxel technology" is still young much like 3D during the nintendo/playstation era. the game would have focused too much on that new undeveloped technology instead of other mechanics resulting in a underwhelming game most likely. Either way it wouldn't have been a worthy EQ sequel.

Our next "EQ" will be a different franchise made by different fresh people with innovative ideas, it will probably also be a different genre...
Maybe Saga will have a Server of some kind instead of MassMultiplayer... which means more customization to make the game more nostalgic etc...

Only one thing is certain - at some point there will be a game that Saga can play. it will bi glorious! 

[PinkRose]

Pedekele, as someone who has never actually gotten to play with Saga, you make me so happy.
I'm so glad that what we have here, what Saga is, is so much more than a gaming group.
That goes for all of you.
All y'all are Saga, and I love Saga.

[Syllestrae]

Now, it's back to square zero when it comes to recapturing the spark of the EQ/FV days

*a forum cicada appears*



Speaking of going back to square one.  I just re-made Syllestrae on Phinigel (the latest time locked progression server for Everquest 1.  It's on Kunark now with Velious opening next week).

I was just curious if any of you were playing there so I can stick you on my friends list

[Jasyn]

OMG, Syll!!!  No, I'm not there, but OMG, it's Syll!!! 

[Syllestrae]

Heya Jas, how goes it?  What are you playing these days?

[Menemas]

Hey Syll!  No Phinny server for me.  I play Project 1999 pretty regularly.  I find its more true to what we loved way back when. 

[Jasyn]

Heya Jas, how goes it?  What are you playing these days?

A little GW2 or SWTOR here and there when I have the time, which hasn't been much.  Waiting on something shiny that includes gravity and glue. 

It's good to see you!

[Syllestrae]

Hey Syll!  No Phinny server for me.  I play Project 1999 pretty regularly.  I find its more true to what we loved way back when.

Heya   I haven't seen anything about that shard.  How's the activity level in the lower level areas (if someone were to start fresh, are there still lots of newbies running around, or is it mostly Velious crowd?)

[Mixxi]

Syll!

I've given the old EQ days a try again, but it just didn't work for me.

Several of us have been feeling the old spark for the first time since those days, though. Black Desert Online. People have a lot to say about it, but most of what I have read is so incredibly different from my own experience that it's hard to believe they play the same game. I absolutely love it. It's weird. It's definitely not intuitive. But it's as close to the feeling of my old EQ days as I've ever found.

If you decide to give it a try, we're on North American Orwen server, Calpheon 2 channel (that's the home of the RP community).

It's really good to see you're still alive and kicking. I just flew back last night from a visit with Tuppen. We had a blast, but then, how can two halflings not have fun when they get together?

Miss you a ton, Syll. Always have.