SOE shows us EQNext and EQNext Landmark footage

Earlier today SOE broadcast a live presentation with footage of EverQuest Next and EverQuest Next Landmark from Gamescom. I have to say I’m pretty impressed for knowing nothing about the EverQuest world outside the Champions of Norrath series.

EverQuest Next

This is the game everyone wants the info on. Some of the big news that I thought was pretty interesting was the emergent AI system. Monsters that decide where they want to be instead of the game placing the monsters in a set location. The example that was given in the live Twitch stream was the Ork. In EverQuest Next, Orks will pitch camp around open roads away from cities and guards where wandering adventurers might pass. If the conditions around the camp change, the Orks will move to a place that they find more suitable. This will make hunting specific monsters an adventure of it’s own.

We also got a glimpse at how players can drive the evolution of the game. Rally Calls task players with missions and leave the rest up to the players to advance from there is a highly intriguing concept. The example they showed involved building a tent city that over time becomes a keep that you have to defend. It’s a pretty immersive system going just by the information we were given.

EverQuest Next Landmark

This is what got my attention. Landmark is a completely different game apart from EverQuest Next that ties some things into the primary game. In Landmark you can create a character and go adventuring to claim a section of land for yourself. On this land you can create your own world basically, using the same tools the developers use making the game. It really looks like an advanced version of Minecraft in the EverQuest world.

They showed several different sceneries that two people working together could create in the world. Highlighting the changes with before and after pictures. The footage demonstrated the voxel concept as well as the smoothing tool. I must say that I’m more excited for Landmark than I am for the actual EverQuest Next.

For the full video from early today check out the official Twitch.tv channel. Let me know down below what you are looking forward to with EverQuest Next and EverQuest Next Landmark.