EverQuest Next, the next installment in the revolutionary MMORPG series, will be mostly focused on a PC release, with a possible PlayStation 4 version at some point in the future, according to Sony producer, David Georgeson.
“Now, you’re dumb not to explore other options with a business of this type, but we’re very serious about developing for the PC. You know the company knows a lot about the PlayStation 4 – look at DC Universe Online and Planetside 2 – so we have a lot of people becoming extraordinarily knowledgeable with that box. We’re not adverse to the idea, but we’re not going down that path yet.”
Georgeson also spoke to how their servers will work relative to those of other MMORPGs, and how the team plans to deal with the quieter realms that will result from the more individually oriented game play.
“Every world will be unique from the others in that players will be advancing the story in different ways at different times. And so, obviously, different worlds will be different to other ones. A lot of players will stick with their current community and friends, hang out that way and make it work. Some will want to flip from server to server, and we intend to make that a lot easier than it has been in the past – although we’re not committed to details on that yet.
We want to make it really easy for players to move back and forth between the worlds so they can experiment and see different things. For instance, if you roll up a new world, it might start all the way back at the beginning of the storyline. One other thing to mention is that Rallying Calls are very forgiving with regards to population. If half your server population is not interested in Rallying Calls, you’ll still move apace.”
EQN Senior producer, Terry Michaels spoke a bt about EverQuest Next Landmark, the Minecraft-esque crafting and exploration sister game of EverQuest Next.
“The idea is that while everything can be destructible, it doesn’t mean we’re going to let everything be destructible. We’re going to use permission systems and tools to make sure the game is enjoyable for everyone who’s playing it. We probably wouldn’t let someone come in and destroy the newbie area, that’s a more protected area. But maybe NPCs, for instance, can destroy part of that area, because it’s part of the content going on in there.
Without a doubt there are lots of griefing opportunities we haven’t seen in this kind of game before. There’s visual griefing in Landmark, where the idea of creativity is so important. People could actually try to impede other people’s ability to see your stuff. We have to think about these things and tackle these things that are unique to our game. We did it to EverQuest and the things people could do there, and we’ll do it again in EverQuest Next and make sure players have an enjoyable experience.”
By all accounts it sounds as though EverQuest next will be a highly enjoyable, and totally unique MMO experience.
Via: Eurogamer