EverQuest Next Revealed, Tons of Screenshots and Details

Sony Online Entertainment has used this year’s SOE Live in Las Vegas as the perfect platform to premier EverQuest Next, its next MMORPG. It started its live stream at 12:00PM PDT to share the game with the world, and so far the feedback has been conclusive: this is a huge undertaking.

EverQuest is arguably the keystone of the MMO genre, and subsequently has influenced games for years now. Even Blizzard Entertainment took a lot of inspiration from the series with its successful World of Warcraft. However, SOE wants to be king of the jungle again. 

In an effort to fully modernize the series many ambitions are being put in play for EverQuest Next. First off, the game runs on the Forgelight Engine, the same product which powers the expansive universe of PlanetSide 2. The massive world is rich with detail and delivers realistic physics and a time of day system (a gallery is below).

Player interaction with the game world is also extremely important, and will be accomplished using what SOE calls Landmark. What it does is allow players to build structures, share creative work, and collaborate with other players to build in-game content.

It’ll also be free-to-play, allowing anyone interested to jump in and play whenever they feel like it. No more $15/month guilt.

Beyond that, EverQuest Next will have several enticing features, which SOE summarizes below:

Multi-Classing – EQN will offer players the ability to explore and interact with the world according to their individual style of play. There are no levels in EQN, but there will be more than 40 distinct classes (or professions) at launch, with multi-tiered abilities and specialized weapon skills to collect and master. Players will even mix and match abilities from each class, creating truly custom characters that feel distinct and powerful.

Destructible Environments – No modern MMO has successfully implemented destructible environments that stretch across an entire seamless game world — this changes forever with EQN. Every piece of the world is fully destructible and players will have the ability to manipulate almost all of it. They will interact with and explore the world in amazing ways; venturing down into the deep bedrock beneath the surface and using powerful combat abilities to blow gaping holes into the ground. The EQN world will extend far into the heavens and deep into the procedurally-generated earth through 10,000 years of known lore and history.  

 

Permanent Change – Players will also have the ability to cause the world to change around them, permanently, in dramatic ways. Through the concerted effort of the world’s inhabitants, including players, creatures, and non-player characters (NPCs), city walls will be built and destroyed, large-scale wars will be fought and won, and epic stories will unfold over months and years.

  

Emergent AI – In EQN, NPCs will have specific motivations and preferences that direct behavior in nuanced and unpredictable ways. Players will find themselves in a world where NPC decisions are based on core values, not dictated by static spawn points. For example, Orcs may attack opportunistically because they want an adventurer’s gold, not simply because a careless hero wanders into an attack radius.

 

A Life of Consequence – Finally, each character in EQN will have a unique story; they will not follow a predetermined path. Instead, they will seek out adventure, fame and fortune in a constantly changing sandbox world. The game will remember every choice and action that players make and will organically deliver increasing opportunities to do more of the things players like to do … from crafting armor and exploring the wilderness to purging goblins from the forests.

Curious how the game looks? The gallery below should give you a good idea.