To Anyone Who Loved Everquest- or Challenging MMO's

[laezyre]

Brad McQuaid, the creator of Everquest and Vanguard, is working on a new MMO that he considers to be the next Everquest. It's called Pantheon: The Rise of the Fallen. It looks really nice to me, a former long time EQ player and former p1999 player.
Please see this link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1588672538/pantheon-rise-of-the-fallen

He's working with a bunch of veteren MMO creators from EQ and other great MMO's, but they need a little help on kickstarter. Please check it out and consider a small pledge to keep the design team going.
The dev team answers questions every day and is very receptive to feedback. This game sound different then the typical WoW clone and other MMO's out today. Brad and his team will have a live discussion this weekend for anyone who wants to join. Check out the link at the p1999 website: http://www.project1999.com/ and click on the Pantheon banner.

I hope there are more EQ fans out there that are excited as I am about this new game.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

I'd love to back this however it is simply too far out for me to even think about it, isn't it an expected 2017 release date?

 

[Zanovar]

ripe tomatoes nvm

 

[laezyre]

It's about 3 years out from what I've read. However, after reading about the dev group and their plans, it looks like the type of MMO I've been missing since EQ. It is designed to by harder and force people to cooperate to succeed. Check out the resumes of the team, it's pretty impressive. My fear is that we won't get these types of games(and we haven't), if we don't show some kind of support.
I pledged $250, and it won't get used unless the game is a go. They also have a lot of rewards for pledging. My $250 pledge will get me $1/year game play. So it pays for itself. You can be an alpha, beta, bug tester. You can even help name objects, add to lore, or even design a dungeon if you pledge a certain amount.
Anyway, I want to support this type of game and don't want anymore WoW clones. Here's hoping they can keep up the pace with donations.

 

[clok1966]

not to rain on the parade but Brad got his chance to make "his vision" it was Vanguard, not a real great 2nd try. Brad was a HUGE part of EQ, but he was only part of it. EQ was and will always be my favorite as it was the one I really loved. I would love to see something that instilled that feeling again. The are focusing on groups, great idea, never works... take a look at the largest one out there.. it has the most robust grouping system in gaming and you still cant find a group some times for 30-60 minutes. We all say we want groups, but 90% just go grind tradeskills or farm .. the simple fact is the MMORPG landscape has changed. Making a game like is 1999 is going to have so small an player base its not going to make it.. heck half the old school EQ players couldn't put 2 hours in today a week, kids, work, etc.. the new players wont "work" for anything.. again take the largest game out there and the "epic" runs.. heheh, wouldn't have lasted 30 seconds in old EQ epic stuff, but nobody wants to fail 30 times .. then succeed, they want to read/watch on youtube how to beat the boss, do it till everybody has a Helm of Ubercool and move on.

I pledged, only for the Idea, the end result wont work, but its sure a nice idea. (this is just an opinion.. from an OLD jaded MMORPG player).

 

[Red Storm]

Rise of the Fallen?

Did they spend all of two minutes coming up with that title?

 

[Dumac]

Do you remember Vanguard?

It didn't do that well....

 

[Markbnj]

I don't think any gaming experience I ever have will compare with the feeling of logging in to EQ for the first time in the Faydark. It happened to be night, and it was actually dark. There were characters moving in and around the circles of firelight, orcs grunting off in the woods. I had no idea where to go for my first quest (to the wood-elf city of Kelethin), but a kind player offered to take me there. Running through that forest in darkness, seeing and hearing stuff moving around (Orc patrols from Crushbone I learned later). Finally getting to Kelethin and seeing the city in the trees.

I can still remember every detail of that experience, even the smell of the room I was in. I had played muds but that was my first graphical online rpg. It was amazing, and I agree that it probably can't ever be recreated. It wasn't just the raw nature of the game; it was the type of people who played back then.

 

[Feneant2]

I'll definitely play it on release (assuming I'm not dead or something) considering it's Brad McQuaid, but with a 2017 release I won't bother supporting until later on if they get desperate (I've no doubt they'll make their goal).

 

[Bateluer]

Those comparing this to Vanguard, remember VG got fucked over hard. First by Microsoft, then again by SOE.

 

[maniacalpha1-1]

HEre's what I'd want to know:

1. EQ style combat?
2. Gear and level progression?
3. Armor progression and raiding that's semi-unavailable to casuals or family-only players? (I'm saying this from a standpoint wanting it that way, not that I don't)

 

[pontifex]

someone already posted about this awhile ago

 

[clok1966]

Those comparing this to Vanguard, remember VG got fucked over hard. First by Microsoft, then again by SOE.

the alpha (before Sony) and end result at launch where very much the same, the biggest changes where (yes really) less bugs, but considering it launched with more then enough it was hardly noticeable... most the the dumbing down came after it failed, it kept less then 1/5th the first months subscribers. The game was put in crisis mode and only bug fixes where made.. this all a month after launch. The original vision didn't work. the game was slowly gimped to the current EASY standards and it built a very small following.

Brad had full creative control, even when SONY took over, they took away the wierd forums, but said NO expansions till bugs where fixed.. if that is fooking them, well maybe.. Sigil even let some more of the old EQ guys in (Smedly Trost, clover). MS was a marketing rep, not a dev, and they bailed before the game was released (almost a year before) Sigil acquired all marketing rights back from MS about a year before launch. Quit frankly without Sony stepping in they might not have released at all after MS bailed. SONY marketed, and ran servers.. all the rest was up to Sigil.

its easy to put the blame on somebody else, but its His baby.. I have no doubt when MS bailed it put him under a bunch of pressure to release to soon.. which he admitted.. but he said 3 months more would have helped (he competed with the BIG BOY on the blocks first expansion pack). its simply not true. the game was EQ with slightly better graphics, a questionable diplomacy mini game, otherwise there was little to make it stand out. It was far to buggy at release, and the real problem is some race area's where simply not done.. let alone the power hungry levelers found nothing to do.. Same old , same old, "Whoa is me, i max leveled in 3 days, now what?" problem was in other game there was content, not alot but some, Vanguard had almost none. other games you did the same 10 things over and over, Vanguard you did the same 1 thing over an over end game.

the good news, the game is quite arguably better then EQ2, and if it hadn't been such crap at release might not have been marked terminal. its not a bad game, its just to little way to late.. (and that was in 2007)

again just an jaded old school gamers Opinion.. I played Vanguard just a few weeks ago.. and have visited with some regularity for the last few years.

 

[Markbnj]

the good news, the game is quite arguably better then EQ2, and if it hadn't been such crap at release might not have been marked terminal. its not a bad game, its just to little way to late.. (and that was in 2007)

You might be right, but it's still way too buggy, and the many of the performance issues were never addressed. That said, EQ2 runs like crap on my system too.

 

[akugami]

I don't think any gaming experience I ever have will compare with the feeling of logging in to EQ for the first time in the Faydark. It happened to be night, and it was actually dark. There were characters moving in and around the circles of firelight, orcs grunting off in the woods. I had no idea where to go for my first quest (to the wood-elf city of Kelethin), but a kind player offered to take me there. Running through that forest in darkness, seeing and hearing stuff moving around (Orc patrols from Crushbone I learned later). Finally getting to Kelethin and seeing the city in the trees.

I can still remember every detail of that experience, even the smell of the room I was in. I had played muds but that was my first graphical online rpg. It was amazing, and I agree that it probably can't ever be recreated. It wasn't just the raw nature of the game; it was the type of people who played back then.

Strangely enough that was my initial experience with EQ. My first character was a High Elf and not knowing what I was doing, I chose an Enchanter cause it sounded cool. Logged in and I'm adventuring in Faydark at night. Little did I know the Enchanter (before it was nerfed to hell) was an absolute joy to play. Challenging to play but so powerful if played with skill.


This game sounds interesting. I think a hard group based MMORPG is sorely missing. In the process of reading through the game updates and stuff before deciding if I want to help fund this. Initial reaction to some of the updates that I've read so far have me concerned that it's too much like EQ, the thing that will make it rise or fall is combat and questing. EQ1 is fine and all but the combat is hopelessly outdated at this point. The $5mil stretch goal is highly interesting...

 

[Ventanni]

I wouldn't mind playing a hard-based MMO if it weren't for the awful, overdone, huge-boobed lightly clothed bimbos as the center for the art style. I just don't care for the anime art style at all.

I was a huge fan of EQ way back in the day, and I pretty much played it hardcore for about 4 years there. I was a halfling warrior MT, and I loved every bit of it. Even dual boxed a cleric, too! There were a lot of things in EQ that were absolutely awesome, but I just don't think that kind of atmosphere can be re-created again in the same way. I also think a lot of the atmosphere had to do with most of the known world being largely inaccessible unless you were willing to slug it out. Unlike WoW where everything could be accessed by flying directly to it, zones or at least specific areas might go untouched for days. This had a huge effect on your sense of exploration.

EQ also had some pretty freaking memorable raid content, not gonna lie. Unlike WoW where raid content was only relevant up until the latest patch, EQ had relevant raid content for several expansions on end. Yeah, you could argue the world mobs got a little out of hand with 100-200 people competing for them, but instanced zones did spawn as a result of it (making the game a lot better imho). Ntov was freaking epic. Plane of Time was freaking epic. Vex Thal was NOT fun, but it was satisfying to finally get to the end and enjoy the loot. Emperor Ssraeshza was probably one of the best fights ever though, and Lord Inquisitor Seru was a lot of fun too. I'm probably one of the very few who thought Gates of Discord was a pretty awesome raid expansion with the exception of the redundant art style.

EQ1 is free to play now though. I loaded it up not too long ago and played it for all but about a few minutes. There's no way I could ever play that game again. To try and recreate that experience though? Probably not going to ever happen. You'd have to take EQ1 and completely refine the experience for that to ever work, and I just don't trust Brad McQuaid to be capable of doing that.

 

[laezyre]

I've heard a lot of people talk about their first EQ experience like that. I had the same feeling, and probably never will get it again. I'm sure Brad knows that he can't just remake EQ and win people back. I think the game will be different, and hopefully much better then what we have now. It's worth a little donation to me for that chance. I also want the industry to try new things and not be afraid to be different.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

I've had the same thought. EQ1 is kind of like you're first love others are good but its never the first. Also we all stopped playing EQ for a reason and does it make sense to play the exact same game again?
I am all for a game that encourages team work, meeting new people, has a large exciting world you can get lost in and have adventures in

 

[TechAZ]

If anyone's looking to get into an old school, non instanced, crafter/player economy, city building and sieging MMO, check out The Repopulation. Scheduled to ship this year. It doesn't have the backing of a big time developer, but looking at the videos and monthly updates it's apparent that the game is impressive.

www.therepopulation.com

 

[maniacalpha1-1]

We don't need the exact same game, but similar. Make it based on similar spell casting, similar combat, but make improvements here and there. Don't recreate hell levels, don't reuse insane experience loss on death, don't have extremely long times to next level. But don't make it 2 weeks to max level, either.

And, one thing EQ really did well was class abilities for example...enchanters mezzing, FD classes pulling (two different takes on crowd control). Seems like more recent games don't go into crowd control so much, you're expected to win with brute force.

 

[ksheets]

And if you're a caster...please don't make us stare at our spellbooks until level 30

 

[Markbnj]

I am all for a game that encourages team work, meeting new people, has a large exciting world you can get lost in and have adventures in

I remember running across... West Commons I think... as a newbie wizard trying to go see Freeport, or something. I don't recall exactly what my goal was. I had stopped off at EC tunnel and chatted with a few people, and then headed west. There was this really powerful wizard mob in some trees sort of in the middle of that zone, and of course I had no idea he was there. I'm just running along, look for mobs and all of a sudden BOOM I'm dead, and I see this caster walking back to the trees. People today would consider that a pain in the ass, because I had to respawn in Feydark, beg a port or take a long boat, and then run back to my corpse. But that stuff absolutely made EQ1 a thrill.

Another awesome moment in the same vein. There was some boat route where you could change ships in the middle, and I fell off the one I tried to get on and ended up swimming way the hell out in the middle of the ocean. I had no map. I had no idea where I was, and there were high level aquatic mobs all over. I got on one of the chat channels and some nice people told me how to get my coords, and then directed me south to an island where I could get a boat. It took me over an hour to swim there, dodging mobs the whole way. It was freaking awesome, and I remember it to this day when I have forgotten most of what happened in most of the games I've played since (DAoC is a major exception, and the only other game that ever gave me the same feel as EQ1).

 

[Jovec]

I understand that KS doesn't take your money unless the goal is met, but even still if you don't know your BMcQ/VG history I'd check it out before opening my wallet. It's almost as bad as Schilling's 38 Studios/GMG story. Possibly worse depending on your view of drug addiction.

I loved EQ and I do not want to go back to that style of MMO. Nostalgia is nostalgia.

 

[JeffMD]

I will never be excited about an MMO that is in production. To many of them come out as turds.

 

[Craig234]

I remember running across... West Commons I think... as a newbie wizard trying to go see Freeport, or something. I don't recall exactly what my goal was. I had stopped off at EC tunnel and chatted with a few people, and then headed west. There was this really powerful wizard mob in some trees sort of in the middle of that zone, and of course I had no idea he was there. I'm just running along, look for mobs and all of a sudden BOOM I'm dead, and I see this caster walking back to the trees. People today would consider that a pain in the ass, because I had to respawn in Feydark, beg a port or take a long boat, and then run back to my corpse. But that stuff absolutely made EQ1 a thrill.

Since you mention that, I'll add an early West Commons story.

You're out in the trees hunting, and have to watch out for the high level griffons that slowly fly around and kill you in one hit.

Suddenly you hear it, fap fap wings flapping, you and other players around you panic, and see a hut with a door - you all rush in and shut the door hiding together.

Seconds later, you're all killed. Griffons see right through walls.