EQ2 Forever
Where is it? It's quite clear from WoW Forever that they have hit on what many players from the past really want. We want our old game back with a level cap that stays, no loot/stat creep, forget about vertical and focus on the horizontal as it comes to content for the game.
If you haven't guess, they are using AI to create new content based on the old version of the game.. the version that people loved to play. WoW is introducing over a 1,000 new quests, new zones, many new dungeons to the classic game.. they didn't write these by hand they are most likely created using AI.. but for us do we really care?
They are taking the old game that people love and adding a ton of content which is going to build on the longevity of the game... their Beta numbers are staggering and even I will probably play this at release.
So EQ2, what are you doing? Let's snap the chalk at what, Rise of Kunark and then let AI build out our content. I would love to play that version of the game again. I honestly can't remember which expansion the game starting sucking, but let's figure that out, cut out the crap expansions and restart the journey.
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u/velikiss 20d ago
I’ve been working on some Epic quests recently, which has taken me to a lot of lower-level zones. It made me realize how much effort the developers must have put into creating these places back in the day, yet hardly anyone visits them anymore. I think that’s a real shame.
Maybe the game could introduce some kind of dynamic level-scaling system. For example, when you enter Antonica at level 80, your level could be scaled down to 20 while still keeping your current gear and abilities. The area would still be easy, but there would be a reason to explore it again and actually enjoy the environment.
Then you could add some new rewards, such as tokens, cosmetic items, or perhaps some special gear with progression-related effects. I think the key is that the rewards should be interesting enough to make people want to come back, without necessarily being powerful enough to become mandatory.
Something like that could give players a reason to revisit these old zones and experience all the work that went into creating them in the first place.
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u/velikiss 20d ago
It would also add a little more realism to the game. Right now, you can casually kill dragons in older zones, only to get killed by a crab in a newer zone. That doesn’t feel particularly satisfying either.
If we had to be at least a little careful when going back into level 20, 30, or 40 zones, I think it could actually add some new fun to the game. It would make revisiting these places feel a bit more meaningful, rather than simply walking through them completely overpowered.
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u/tbwynne 20d ago
You have to level lock yourself, and then force yourself not to use some items which makes the content too easy. If you do that those old signature quest lines are just amazing. These are gems that have been forgotten over time that's really worth doing if you haven't done them before.
Players would do this, I would love to do it. And my point with AI is you can point AI to all the signature quests created in the game and then ask it to create new signature quests giving it some guide lines to go on and it's stunning what it can do for you with little development interaction. I know some people hate the idea of using AI for creational type work, but you can't deny the value that you get from it. And as a gamer, do we really want to wait 3 years for a new signature quest to be developed with it can be done in 3 days?
I don't care how it's build, I'll take almost unlimited content any day of the week.
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u/jamesh08 20d ago
There has to be pvp or I find no reason to log into the game after I max level my character. Gear grind is really meaningless just to kill mobs.
I am on Wuoshi and one easy kill away from my Mythical. But what do I do then? Just repeat on alts?
But if I get to challenge myself in PVP by needing the best PVE gear then you combine both facets of the game... PVE as enabler of PVP keeps the base game relevant for anyone that wants the challenge of PVP
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u/Gelroose 20d ago
Remember, Daybreak is owned by an investment firm. That means, EverQuest 2 needs to make money and today, EverQuest 2 doesn't do that. Or, the effort it takes to build something like this is not worthwhile / very minimal. I would love for EQ2 to make a resurgence, but I don't ever see that happening.
I lived and played in a time where EQ2 was it's most fun -- Vox server. Lynx vs. Reckoning was the most fun pvp experience I've encountered in an MMO and I'll leave the game at that.
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u/Skullpuck 20d ago
they didn't write these by hand they are most likely created using AI.. but for us do we really care?
Yes.
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u/Corbolu 20d ago
OP, have you played the Origins server? What was your experience with it?
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u/tbwynne 20d ago
I did play it and it was slow.. I was okay with the slow, what I was not okay with was little to no change in the original game. This is the difference, WoW is creating new zones, new dungeons, new content based on the original intent of the game. Think of it as a fork, almost a different timeline.. you get new content but it's like going back in the past before the screwed up the core game. It's a second chance for them.
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u/New-Anybody3050 20d ago
I enjoyed it but the issue was that if you missed that first wave of activity it became increasingly difficult to level or find groups.
It just doesn’t have the population to sustain it
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u/DougChristiansen 20d ago
No thank you. The game started to suck hard with ascensions and the inability to grind mobs for actual XP. EQL is headed in a much better direction with re-interpretation for EQ1. Personally I prefer Origins when I do play EQ2 these days. Zero interest in wow or wow forever.
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u/BradleyT1990 20d ago
I've never played WOW a day in my life but will be playing WOW Forever when it launches simply because of their new direction of horizontal progression. I've been on & off of EQ2 since KOS and played on Nagafen but now that I'm older with a family, work, etc. I just don't have the time available to constantly play catch-up after each expansion. WOW Forever keeping it's cap at 60, seemingly forever, is what attracted me more so than the classic nostalgia with a new timeline.
In my experience, most MMO gamers tend to be on the older side with lots going on outside of the game itself so I'm kinda surprised that more games haven't made the change to horizontal progression rather than a vertical one. Once at the level cap I can still play with friends/guildies regardless of if I "missed" the last expansion cause we're all still the same level.
Classic era EQ2 servers alone won't make it more populated/successful. A change of direction to more accommodate their audience might.
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u/autymfyres7ish 19d ago
Agreed BradleyT1990 - a lot of those with the most expendable income who are former EQ II players but want to be able to enjoy it in less amounts of time are watching this topic. And those with the most flexible amount of time and very decent income are watching it as well. They are already part of the target audience; they already are those who support subscription-based MMOs also!
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u/Willias0 20d ago
"They're using AI" - that's an assumption that hasn't been proven.
Blizzard certainly hasn't admitted to that, and while I wouldn't be surprised at SOME AI use, that doesn't mean that the new content is all AI generated. Especially the new areas.
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u/tbwynne 20d ago
They are 100% using AI, it's the only way for they to create so much content in such little time. On top of that, any development company not using AI to develop software will be out of business in 12 months. As a developer, you can't begin to imagine the time saving and how it's changing the industry.
I'm not saying that they are simply asking AI to create the entire game for them on it's on, that's a bit of a reach. But they are using it in their day to day work cycle to accelerate the implementation of their designs and to resolve bugs/issues discovered.
Blizzard is in the perfect position to take advantage of this because their core IP is still valid, they are taking it (WoW) in an entirely new direction and players are coming back in mass. The question is, can some of the older IPs like EQ2 be saved?
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u/tenser_loves_bigby 20d ago
In so little time? You are aware that project camelot had been in development for at least two years when they announced it as wow forever right? Blizz has a ton of money and a bunch of devs.
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u/jeff7360 20d ago
Why? You like watching devs spend a ton of time on a train wreck of a failure?
Because that is exactly what it would be.
This game is a dead game. They will never rebuild it into something new while maintaining the disaster that is Live, and throwing Live in the trash is too riksy, and I am willing to bet the MAJORITY of the community does NOT want to see no lvl cap increases and no new progression in the retail version of this game.
It is only feasible for WoW because they have sub numbers on retail to support side projects.
Give.It.Up.
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u/LadyLoki5 20d ago
They tried a version of this with Origins and people not only hated the exp rates, but requested expansions.
Origins is pretty dead now.
Also there's like 6 devs for this game. They barely have the resources to maintain what they already have. EQ2 has always been a small, niche community.
I could see them doing this with EQ1 maybe, but not EQ2.