Every NPC in EQ2 will have voice overs

[daveNYC]

I can't think of anything that would put a serious dent in EQ's playerbase.  The time invested in their characters is just too much for many of them to just walk away from.

[Slayerik]

The real question is "how many of those same people you just mentioned will want to start all over again with EQ2?". There will always be those freaks that love the uber grind, but I think we may be surprised how many of them go "been there, done that". I think it is extremely important for EQ2 to come out first if they intend to fight off WoW.

Like Haemish said, WoW has a ton of the stuff current EQ players are looking for. SOE better get EQ2 out first to get their hooks into their own fanbase. Fuck voiceovers, get the thing on the market. I guess I really don't know a whole lot about the EQ fanbase though, as I never played it :)

[Venkman]

If anything can extract players from EQ, it'll be a game that follows the EQ formula with quest-based, quick advancement and plenty of immersiveness.

Been there and done that, with almost the exact same pre-release verbage.

SOE can do one of three things here. Rush it to be out a few months before WoW, do their typical aggressive launch-at-the-same-time or wait for the hype of the probably-incomplete WoW to die down after a few months. The games can definitely co-exist, but if they launch at the same time, yes, both SOE and Blizzard should be concerned.

"how many of those same people you just mentioned will want to start all over again with EQ2?".

EQ2 is less like EQLive than DAoC was. But the point is valid. People think EQ, they think raids and camps and five hour sessions or don't bother logging in. It's the message that must be adequately marketed. The game play itself should technically stand well under scrutiny if people are looking for how it's the same.

[Riley]

If anything can extract players from EQ, it'll be a game that follows the EQ formula with quest-based, quick advancement and plenty of immersiveness.

Hmm, I actually don't agree with this - trying to out-EQ the original is an exercise in futility.  Havn't we seen this tried over the past 5 years?  Have you really listened to what EQ players say?  Sure, there are plenty of disgruntled ones that leave for other things (and those make good targets).  But most of the current, and even many ex-players don't like things easy - many of them don't want things like maps, email, waypoints, soloing, short downtimes, easy quests, trival death penalties, even instancing to be the norm in a game.  Things that make the game easier also cheapen their accomplishments because any joe smoe can do them.  They like EQ because they can separate themselves from the casual gamer - any game that fails to offer that ability to separate the casual and the hardcore gamer will never live up to the kind of success that EQ and FFXI have.  

A good analogy is the explanation of the Matrix from the first movie... people REJECTED the first matrix because it was too perfect, too easy and not realistic enough.  They had to remake it with the pain and suffering of humanity as an integral part of it in order to keep people entrapped.  I think it is an ironic phenomenon, but if a game is too "fun", it breaks the immersiveness factor, its not addicting, and it gets boring quick.

The sad truth I think is that a lot of games are successful because they are simply too hard for the casual gamer to succeed at.  Advancing in these games is only partly about successfully accomplishing something yourself... the other half of the equation is watching someone else FAIL to accomplish the same thing.

[HaemishM]

WoW does have one thing those other me-too-EQ type games don't; they have a built-in fanbase that is accustomed to that type of online gameplay. Sure, SWG had a built-in fanbase, but with a game that was nothing like what the fanbase would expect.

I'm not saying "WoW WILL KILL EQ OMFG!" but I am saying they'll take a hit. EQ will be more successful than EQ2 and WoW will beat the pants off of EQ2. What remains to be seen is how much inertia keeps people in EQ if WoW actually does out-EQ it, as well as how much longer SOE wants to keep promoting EQ1 as their flagship title. I think the lack of success of EQ2 will force them to do it longer than they want.

[Venkman]

Here I agree. I think the lack of hype EQ2 has been able to generate thus far has compelled SOE to allow the EQLive team more latitude. In fact, that PC Gamer article also mentioned the "friendly competition" between the two teams, almost in the same breath as it said that as of a year ago, EQ2 was planned to replace EQLive. Ever since then, it's about winning back those players who have left.

However, I also don't think WoW is any stronger competition to EQ than DAoC. Back then, there was exactly one PvE centric fantasy-themed game coming, and so much of its positioning to the gaming commuting was plans to be EQ done right. MMOG #5 after the rather aborted attempt from Funcom, and after a two year stint where there was really just UO, EQ and AC.

WoW getting the hype now is probably the same reason SWG got their's: MMOG hopefuls from outside the current playerbase. Oh, there's the cadre of beta-jumpers who gotta be pumped in to add credence to relevance. But this is Blizzard's first foray into MMOGs, and they can fund it because of the strong name they've developed from outside of it.

[eldaec]

I can't think of anything that would put a serious dent in EQ's playerbase.  The time invested in their characters is just too much for many of them to just walk away from.

Equally, however, the time that current players have invested in EQ is what puts off new players joining the game.

I'd imagine EQ2 would aim to take those new players who reject EQ because the idea of starting as a noob in a mature game doesn't sound fun.

I'd agree however, that the development of EQ2 was intended to kill off EQ1, and the general perception that EQ1 players won't play EQ2 in great numbers must be scaring the hell out of SOE. Especially after the AC2 fiasco.

[daveNYC]

True, but then you're right back to the "EQ, but with more shiney and 25% of the content" product model.

I'm almost thinking that SOE would be better off re-packaging EQ2 as some monster upgrade to EQ1 and charge $50 bucks for that.

[El Gallo]

I have been playing EQ a long time, and I have never, ever seen anything like the amount of hype WoW is generating on the major EQ boards.  It isn't DAoC/SB/SWG/AO buzz.  It is several orders of magnitude greater than that.  And the drumbeats are coming both from the top end raiders and low end groupers, which spells trouble for both WoW and EQ  probably.

I don't believe that EQ2 was ever intended to replace EQ1, at least not for a long, long time.  I saw EQ2 as a way for them to grab a larger share of the new players (new graphics, plus it has probably really sucked to start new at EQ for quite some time now).

[Mesozoic]

MMOG sequels?  Meh.  Its a habit from other genres, where [Game] [X] gets replaced by [Game] [X+1] every few years.  Theres just no reason to do it with an MMORPG.  Update your graphics, add quests, fix bugs, release expansions.  If the basic systems of your old game are so borked that a complete re-write is needed, then make another game.  Why make The Sucking, Part Deux?

Getting the old playerbase into EQ2 will require a broad replication of EQ1, which brings into question the whole concept of a sequel.  Why pay expensive programmers to replicate content that you already have?

If getting new players into EQ2 is the aim, then call it something else.  Legions of people are turned off by the word Everquest.  Thats no way to start.  

SOE is not in a position to get either the old playerbase or the new.  Nor was Turbine.  Nor would Mythic be if they announced DAoC II.  

For this reason EQ2 is not really comparable to either WoW or FFXI.  Both of those are original MMOG efforts, capable of garnering new players AND fans of their respective franchises without having to directly mimic or canabalize older subscription games.  I suspect that EQ2 will do poorly, but for the reasons presented above, not just the presence of other new games.

[Alluvian]

I wonder how heavily SOE will go after television ads?  They seem to be investing a ton of money in a feature that will not translate at ALL to print advertising.  The only logical thing would be to target television and/or movie trailers.  Seeing a living breathing talking game could get some non-gamers interested, but only if they already have someone in the family who is computer saavy or is already playing it.

[HaemishM]

MMOG sequels?  Meh.  Its a habit from other genres, where [Game] [X] gets replaced by [Game] [X+1] every few years.  Theres just no reason to do it with an MMORPG.  Update your graphics, add quests, fix bugs, release expansions.  If the basic systems of your old game are so borked that a complete re-write is needed, then make another game.  Why make The Sucking, Part Deux?

Because like most corporations who spin on marketing, The Sucking is a BRAND. It's a brand that has made them lots of money. Granted, the only product that's made good bank has been the original product (and expansions), but they have shown that they want to make Everquest not just a single game, but a whole brand. You can tell by the fact that they've released games in other genres and platforms with the Everquest brand on it (Lords of EQ, EQ Online Adventures) as well as merchandised and licensed stuff (toys, EQ PNP RPG). Extending the brand in a sequel is the natural progression for a marketing-driven corporation.

Never mind that the brand doesn't necessarily "have legs" of its own.

EQ2 is meant to be an adjunct to the EQ brand, and they'll keep alive all the EQ brand products so long as the products make money.

[Sloth]

don't forget, EQ 2 is going to be part of SOE's All Access subscription. So for whatever it costs 25? You get EQ, PS, and EQ 2. Thats going to inflate subscription numbers for all 3 games.

[Alluvian]

Oh yeah, and SOE will not have to worry about their numbers quite as much.  They will get a boost to numbers, but nobody will know if they moved from EQ to EQ2, stayed with EQ, etc...  Internally they will know what games the people are playing and what they are logging into, but that is their information and won't be going out where competitors can see it.  That data has value on it's own, no reason to let competitors have it for free.