MMORPG publisher prepping all-new, alternate history
installment in long-running fantasy universe; Fan Faire 2010 highlights
offer first concept art.


Over the weekend, Sony Online Entertainment held its annual Fan Faire,
a meet-and-greet for those interested in finding out everything that's
going on with EverQuest, EverQuest II, DC Universe Online, The Agency,
and more. However, that's not all that SOE had in store, as the
massively multiplayer online role-playing game company also took the
opportunity to announce its latest evolution of the EverQuest franchise,
tentatively titled "EverQuest Next."



Kelethin appears to be in for a facelift.

As detailed in a panel posted to SOE's official Facebook
page, EverQuest Next will be an all-new MMORPG effort from the storied
developer. However, unlike 2004's EverQuest II, the new title will not
be a continuation of the events that began in the 12-year-old original.
Instead, the studio is positioning EverQuest Next as a "reimagining of
the EverQuest universe," one that will have "familiar faces, races, and
places" but operate as an alternate dimension and with a "clean slate."
Those statements were supported by a batch of concept art that
accompanied SOE's EverQuest Next panel. The shots showed a variety of
familiar environments, including the human town of Freeport and the
elven forest of Faydark. Other shots showed detailed images of familiar
races and monsters, including dark elves, ogres, and ghouls.
The design panel also noted that the next EQ will include a range of
classes more in line with the original rather than the more specialized
slate available in EQ2.
"We wanted to make the next EverQuest be something that still keeps the
flavor the original and the lore and core tenants of it, but we wanted
to make something that is truly next generation," said SOE president
John Smedley of the game's direction. Smedley also said that SOE plans
to provide a wide range of scalability for the game, noting that
EverQuest Next will accommodate cutting-edge tech right down to
minimalist laptops.
EverQuest Next remains in the early development phase, and SOE did not offer an expected release window or platforms.

The collective fan gasp didn't completely wreck Las Vegas when SOE unveiled EverQuest Next (working title) at its recent Fan Faire event, but the fact that the publisher couldn't manage to do what Obsidian is planning to do in the next Fallout title shouldn't discount what SOE did: it unveiled a brand new game based in the EQ universe.

At a panel dedicated to the game, SOE president John Smedley was careful not to divulge any critical details. But EQ2 Wire (via Massively)
did manage to catch the boss laying out a few central ideas. Smedley
suggested that EQ next is "harkening back" to the original EQ. It will
not be, however, a direct sequel to either. Smedley called it a
"re-imagining," some sort of creative bridge between the two that
is being built with PVP in mind and narrative sans text boxes.






Two
bits of concept art were passed around to the crowd in attendance, one
of which you can see above. SOE is calling the images "in-game art," and
refuting the claim that they are "concept art." With that in mind, I
guess it's possible EQ Next will feature hand-drawn art throughout. But
that makes you wonder what this successor to the series will actually
play like. I'll note that no platforms or release dates were mentioned.

Here's the other bit of art, which is definitely hand-drawn. Again, what will this game be?

if they dont mess up i may play this for my pvp mmo since i miss the EQ train long ago and EQ does have pvp content heh