EverQuest Next

Last year, SOE threw a new ingredient into its convention mix -- player panels. The result was such a hit that the studio is not only bringing them back this year, but extending their availability; Sunday has been added to the player panels schedule, and that means there are plenty of openings!

Do you have a subject involving any SOE game that you think would be of interest and benefit others? Maybe you are a whiz at livesteaming or you have primo tips and tricks on cosplay to dispense. What about sharing your fan site or holding a raid clinic? Whatever your idea, submit your proposal by 3:00 a.m EDT June 1st for consideration. If selected, you and up to three other panel members will receive All Access passes to SOE Live 2013 (no other expenses are covered, including food, travel, or add-ons). Panel selection -- which is not on a first-come, first-served basis -- will be completed mid-June.

What's the Storybricks team been up to lately? Oh, nothing much. A few tweaks here, an idea or two there, and a whole lot of vacationing in Norrath. What's that, you say? It turns out that Namaste Entertainment has been teaming up with SOE to work on EverQuest Next, of all things.

"After several months of working together with Sony Online," the team posted, "we can finally reveal that we are collaborating on EverQuest Next. EQNext is 'the biggest sandbox ever designed' and we are extremely happy to be working on the most innovative MMORPG under development."

The post couldn't go into specifics about the project, but it did say that the team is doing "remarkable things" with the game.

With last Wednesday's release of EverQuest II's latest prestige home, the totally awesome Hua Mein Retreat, I couldn't help but be focused on one of my favorite gaming features. I toured the new home, got to check out the break-out spots, and marveled at how pro SOE is with housing. Sure, there have been some misses when it comes to the prestige options, but things just keep getting better. Before long, my thoughts turned to the idea of housing in EverQuest Next.

Obviously, I am excited to play EverQuest Next. How could I not be? This studio has cornered the market on the most fun classes I have ever played (Dancer, Disciple, Fury, and Shaman) and the best housing systems I've personally had the pleasure to delve into (Star Wars Galaxies, Vanguard, and EverQuest II). And now it's making another sandbox.

But will EQN pull me permanently away from EQII, a game where I've earned my seven-year vet rewards? That, my friends, will depend in large part on the housing.

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Welcome to Massively's guide to MMO sandboxes in 2013 and beyond. I've collected the essential details on all the major sandbox titles releasing this year and in the near future in one easy-to-reference article. If you're wondering whether ArcheAge forces you to PvP, or if you can't tell The Repopulation from Origins of Malu, this is your post.

I'll be updating it as game features are added, removed, or revealed, so be sure to use the comments to let me know if I've overlooked a particularly noteworthy item. Finally, I want to point out that this isn't an exhaustive list because of the sheer number of sandbox projects ongoing. For now, I'm choosing to focus on the ones that will be playable in 2013/2014 as well as the projects that have a big-name developer attached.

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If you were even slightly luckier than I, you had the chance to traipse through the Chronoportals of EverQuest II's most recent event. The events inside these portals are a nod to the game's older sibling, the original EverQuest, and include landscapes, characters, and dialogue that reflect that first incarnation of Norrath. EQ vets understood the inside jokes and humor, who then had to explain it to us young EQII whippersnappers who'd never experienced the situations featured.

Even though I missed out on this year's event (I was too busy trying to weasel some EQ Next information out of folks at GDC for you), it got me thinking: If EQII has Chronoportals back to EQ, will EQ Next have some back to EQII? And if so, what iconic moments should be immortalized in the next incarnation of Norrath?

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If there's one pastime that MMO fans share, it's making predictions. Which games will succeed, and which ones will struggle? Which will go free-to-play, merge servers, or even shut down? And will there ever be an MMO that's crowned as the WoW-killer?

But what about the bigger picture of online gaming in general? We've seen it come a long way over the past decades, and it's not always easy to see where it's headed. SOE's director of development of the EverQuest franchise, Dave Georgeson, sat down with Massively at PAX East this year to prognosticate on the future of online gaming. And of course, part of that future includes EQ Next, and while he still can't talk specifics, he did shed some light on the philosophy behind the game's design, with some hints about what players might see when it's revealed at SOE Live this summer.

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Want a chance to rub elbows with some of the movers and shakers in the SOE world? Then head to the Westin Boston Waterfront Hotel on March 22nd for a meet and greet during PAX East. Don't worry if you don't have tickets for the convention itself; the event on Friday night from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. EDT is open to the public.

Representatives from a number of SOE's titles will be there to chat, share stories, and even answer questions about the various games. You could discuss PlanetSide 2 strategies with Community Rep Maggie Krohn, discuss EverQuest's latest expansion with Sr. Community Manger Eric Cleaver, or even corner EQ franchise director Dave Georgeson and see what news about EQ Next he might let slip! Dragon's Prophet Senior Producer Todd Carson will also be on hand to answer your questions about, well, dragons. And rumor has it that the drinks are on Brasse!

What's a con event without swag? Dragon's Prophet priority access beta keys as well as T-shirts will be given out on a first come, first served basis. EQ goodies might be had as well. Folks planning to drop by can RSVP on the official Facebook event page and follow updates on the various games' respective twitter accounts.

I was going to update you fine folk on my adventures in rolling my 17,000th EverQuest II alt for this week's Tattered Notebook, but SOE decided to drop a Fan Faire Live date on us, which sort of mucked up my nefarious plans.

Why do we care about SOE Live? Well, there are multiple reasons, but the most important one is that instead of having to wait until October, we now get to see (and touch!) EverQuest Next in early August!

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While we've known that SOE Live was moving location and dates this year to Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas from August 1st through the 4th, we now have official confirmation from the studio itself.

SOE Head of Global Relations Linda Carlson drafted up an accompanying post about the upcoming convention that includes several pictures from previous years. "We're all gamers too," she writes, "and can hardly wait to hang out with you again! Everyone at the company LOVES going to SOE Live, the one event each that focuses solely on our players. We have everything in common!"

Carlson explained that the change in venue was made for several reasons, primarily to keep costs down, have more flexible meeting space, and experience better air quality. She confirmed that, as in previous years, kids will get in free to the event.

This year's SOE Live (formerly Fan Faire) is coming a little early, at least compared to the 2012 incarnation. It's also coming to you from a new location. The annual convention is moving house from Bally's Las Vegas to Planet Hollywood Las Vegas, and it's also happening in August instead of October. The official dates are August 1 - 4, 2013, if you're in a calendar-marking mood.

SOE hasn't officially announced this as of yet, but some sharp eyes at EQ2Wire picked up on the company's Live-related tweeting and the tiny dates at the top of the SOE Live web page. The company also hasn't announced an official itinerary as of yet, though it is expected to show off EverQuest Next for the first time at the late summer event.

SOE CEO John Smedley recently talked to Gamasutra about his company's free-to-play business makeover and a new focus on players-as-content.

"Everybody is content for everyone else," Smedley said. "That's the core of our strategy moving forward. A simple way to put it is: By allowing players to interact with each other, we're providing tools. It's like we're building a gladiator arena and throwing in the swords... We might bust the tigers out or bring in new kinds of weapons, like a tank. In my opinion, the days when companies can make content [generation] the number one strategy, in the kinds of games we make, are over, because we can't win the war. Star Wars:The Old Republic proved that. Players bought it, loved it, and they played the game. Then they left."

Smedley also hinted that SOE's long-awaited EQNext project may be closer to fruition than many folks expect. While we've known for some time now to expect a playable demo of the fantasy sandbox at this fall's SOE Live convention, Smedley's comments to Gamasutra will probably invite plenty of speculation.

"Players will get their hands on an actual release version of what we're doing late [this] year -- and I don't mean a beta," he said.

Is this our first in-game glimpse of a revamped EverQuest Next? Take it with a grain of salt since it comes from an anonymous Joystiq tipster with a fishy timestamp, but regardless, it's awful purty.

Sony Online Entertainment originally teased some heavily stylized in-game assets over two years ago, but since then the company has announced that its next EverQuest title has been blown up and re-designed as a sandbox. We don't know whether this includes an artistic revamp as well, but we do know that the game will make use of the same proprietary Forgelight engine that powers PlanetSide 2.

Have a look at the full-size leaked image after the cut and tell us what you think. Legit? Fake? If fake, what game is it from?

[Update]: Well, SOE CEO John Smedley has officially burst our bubble and we're playing the sad trombone. That said, any guesses as to where the image is actually from?

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Are sandbox games making a comeback in the MMO space? That remains to be seen, but there are a handful of major titles in development that self-identify as either sandboxes or sandparks, and all of them will be playable to one degree or another in 2013.

First up is Age of Wushu, currently in a public beta and scheduled to officially debut in February. Next up is ArcheAge, which, while still in limbo for the western market, will certainly launch in Korea and probably China in 2013. Finally we have EverQuest Next, which SOE has said will be playable at its annual SOE Live event in the fall.

Assuming you're a sandbox fan, which of these three titles do you see yourself playing the most? Vote after the break!

Ever wish that you could put to rest a long-standing MMO debate once and for all? Then welcome to the battle royal of Massively's Leaderboard, where two sides enter the pit o' judgment -- and only one leaves. Vote to make your opinion known, and see whether your choice tops the Leaderboard!

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What a difference a year makes, amirite? This time twelve months ago, I was licking the wounds brought on by Star Wars Galaxies' unceremonious and premature departure from the MMO scene. It was bad enough that a profitable title was sacrificed in order to clear a path for one of 2012's biggest disappointments, but it was worse that said title was the premier sandbox in the genre's history.

Frankly, the last few years have been abysmal for fans of non-linear MMOs and player-generated content, but thankfully, 2012 righted the ship and gave us more than a bit of hope for 2013.

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John Smedley's MMO revival tour continues, with the latest stop being an interview at Polygon. The SOE CEO lends some context to impressive numbers recently released by the firm touting the success of its new business model intiative, and he also evangelized about the future of the company and EverQuest Next.

Since switching to F2P across its extensive MMO portfolio, SOE has seen DC Universe's daily revenue increase by 700%, EverQuest II's registration numbers triple, and EverQuest's registration numbers tick up by 350%. Oh, and PlanetSide 2? It's seen 1.6 million players registered thus far, 250,000 of whom log in daily. "Free-to-play is just too good of an idea," Smedley says. "The idea is just so simple. It democratizes and capitalizes, makes true capitalism out of the MMO gaming space."

He goes on to say that the MMO industry is stuck in a rut that SOE helped create via design choices made in the original EQ. "We need to change the way we do this," Smedley says. "We're building a sandbox and giving players the tools to help shape the world that they're in. That's the direction we're going in with EverQuest Next; trying to make a world that players create while being in a living, breathing world around them. It's not just a prop for them to walk around in, which is really what all of today's MMOs are. Their worlds are nothing more than a movie set."