Everquest Next turns content creation over to players

[Jackolantern]

The next EQ game, Everquest Next, has opened up a pretty creative new program called EQ Next Landmark that essentially puts players into the alpha and beta of EQN, but also allows them to use the team's creation tools to create buildings, cities, and other things. They will then have contests, and the winners' creations will move into the permanent game.

It sounds like a pretty genius way to unload some content creation onto the community, while playing off of some players' desires to build the game world that they discovered they had in games like Minecraft.

[hallsofvallhalla]

wow yeah thats pretty awesome

[Callan S.]

Curiously I'm quite iffy about that.

Prize money? (never mind all the work hours of those who don't win, for now)

[Jackolantern]

I am not really feeling that they need to offer up anything beyond the creation being added to the game (which is pretty cool in itself). The only people going in to build and compete in this would be people who are interested in doing it and know the whole story at the outset.

[Callan S.]

It's a bit of a stretch, but what if the business who runs everquest said they needed someone who does your type of job, Jack, but wanted someone to do it for free. And the next time it comes to being paid or a raise, you get less or don't get one, because some people in the jobs market will do this stuff for free and that's had a ripple effect?

Level designer just seems a legitimate job to me.

[hallsofvallhalla]

qualified level designer yes. If random people can do a better job than you then yes they should. Best man for job not the guy who supposedly deserves it because that is his title. Maybe if the EQ level designers were more efficient, not so costly, whatever, this idea would not have come up. Maybe this will cause level designers to listen more to the players or challenge them more or may be more work taking and cleaning up other people creations.

Too many think they deserve their job. If there is a better way then there is a better way. No hard feelings. That is the way it should be. No point in trying to question me on if it was me in the same place because I have actually laid myself off before because the company was paying me too much for the work I was doing.


I wish hollywood would do the same thing. Fire the directors and listen to the audience. Amazon is already trying to do that. They are allowing people to vote on the shows they produce out of several.

[OldRod]

Actually, from what I read, you can make things in the game and then sell them to other players via an in-game store. So let's say I made a wooden gate. Now you come along and make a castle - you buy my wooden gate in the player store, and use it in your castle. I get real money (not in-game currency). Then you sell your castle in the player store. I get a cut of that sale because you used pieces I originally sold you. Not sure how that will all work out, but it really sounds intriguing. The really cool things that people make in EQ Landmark will be used in EQ Next, which is more of an MMO like people are expecting, but it's down the road a ways.

I was a total slave to Everquest for like 5 or 6 years. Everquest 2, I played for about a year. I can't wait for this next installment.

They are currently selling "founders packs" that let you get into the alpha/beta tests for EQ Landmark, along with getting some in-game items. It's a bit pricey for the full pack, and I really hate paying to alpha/beta test something, but this thing could be big.

[Callan S.]

Too many think they deserve their job. If there is a better way then there is a better way. No hard feelings. That is the way it should be. No point in trying to question me on if it was me in the same place because I have actually laid myself off before because the company was paying me too much for the work I was doing.

Sounds like nihilism. But not for the business, just for the workers.

[Jackolantern]

Too many think they deserve their job. If there is a better way then there is a better way. No hard feelings. That is the way it should be. No point in trying to question me on if it was me in the same place because I have actually laid myself off before because the company was paying me too much for the work I was doing.

Sounds like nihilism. But not for the business, just for the workers.

I have to say I agree with Halls here. It is simply the way the world works. How can I sell lawn clippings when you can mow your lawn and get them for free?

But I doubt this is a sign that the industry is changing. Rather, I think this is simply SOE not wanting to make the same mistake with EQN that they made with EQ2. At the time (and for years after), EQ2 was the highest budget game ever made. They spent tens of millions of dollars on NPC voice acting and content. And then...the game kind of floundered. If the budget had been smaller, it would have been considered a success. But the way they spent like drunken sailors on shore leave on EQ2, it took almost 6 years to get out of the red and to make a penny.

So they are just trying to be thrifty with EQ Next. In many ways I am amazed that Everquest is even getting another shot. The MMORPG landscape has changed, even since the couple of years after the release of EQ2. And EQ2 was a victim to the MMORPG world changing a few days after its release with the release of World of Warcraft.

Or at least that is one possible take on it. Another option, which is very possible, is that creating the end-user-friendly content creation tools cost more than creating the content in-house would have, and this is all designed to be a feature inspired by the massive success of building in Minecraft and not a way to get cheap content.

[OldRod]

Everquest2 would have done so much better if it had released 6 months later than it did. As it was, they rushed it out to try and keep a share of WoW's gaming crowd and the game was just frankly not ready.

I went back and played EQ2 a little this fall and it's a great game. The housing system alone is awesome.