Want to see the funniest interview in 2019?

EverQuest Next failed to clear its ‘technical hurdle,’ but Daybreak hasn’t given up on a sequel

 

Comments on the article are gold. Thanks for the link.

 

>>“It’s all reacquisition,” Longdale explains. “That’s our play. It’s all reacquisition. We’re not trying to get new people, we’re trying to charm and get in touch with those people who played in the past or play with their families or saw a friend play in college.”

Are they really braindead?

>> “Of the team that exists now, we spent two and a half years defining what the franchise really is, going to our archives and retconning some stuff to prepare it for a really strong future...


And in 2,5 years the found only P2W... they are braindead...

 

If I was a politician or a zombie, I would be insulted in being in the same category as DBG employees...

 

Lol. That woman is pure entertainment. Really top notch.

I'm lazy, so just gonna paste what I posted on Massively:

"Every time Holly Longdale speaks to the media, I literally lol, because she really does believe her audience is stupid enough to be manipulated by what she says.

EQN failed because Smed put Georgeson in charge of it.

"The interview mentions that over the past few years, the team has “been evaluating what makes EverQuest EverQuest....”

Sounds legit. Goes a long way to explaining why they have turned EQ2 into a small map focused almost entirely on grinding a handful of the same instances over and over and over, and with layers of game design that incentivize p2w cash shop sales.

The next "evolution" of Everquest is most likely the Nantworks mobile version. She's just dangling an imaginary carrot; hoping to keep interest, subs, and cash shop revenue going until the mobile goes live.

It is interesting to note, that a recent "we want you back" email I got (their re-acquisition strategy) pitched the Kaladim TLE server and the Nagafen PVP seasonal event server - A complete admission that what they are producing today is junk, and their only hope is to sell an opportunity to re-experience the old game."

 

The more Longdale talks, the more I am glad that I am not playing DBG's games.

 

she is SO far distanced from reality - one truly should call a doctor.

 

Always love to translate Longdale into English:

"Steam is kicking us to the curb because we are costing them more money than we bring in. Plus, we arrogant.

They need us, but we don't need them. They should market our game for free."

Does any one expect Longdale would treat steam any differently than she treats fan sites or the gaming media?

Actually, the fact that she's all of a sudden talking to the media again tells me she's getting desperate.

In theory, the eq franchise should be able to leverage a huge database of former customers. What she seems to forget is that those customers left because they found something better.

Edit: Here is the article Feldon referenced:

https://www.pcgamesn.com/everquest/everquest-epic-games-store

Sure has been sounding an awful lot like she's looking to ditch eq2 and focus on eq1, selling nothing more than the nostalgia of playing an old game to a relatively small customer base.

It is worth noting though, I just did a check of the servers for EQ and EQ2. EQ has 26 servers, and nearly all of them are at, at least medium load status. EQ2 has 12 servers, Kaladim is the only servers at "high" status. Around 3 at "medium", and all the rest at "low". This is at 1:10 pm mst.

 

Imo the load status of servers is total bullshit at all times.

There is practically nothing to decipher from it other than random word DBG wants to give you.

 

No doubt, we don't even know what values they measure, and how they measure them.

I was struck more by the number of servers up at EQ vs. EQ2.

 

I don't understand why they aren't promoting this 20 year anniversary situation more. She could probably go on a interview streak with various youtubers, mmo websites, start an AMA on the r/mmo section.

Sure, a lot of comments would be like "why is your game terrible?" but think about how many haven't thought about everquest or played it in years. Could probably generate a little bit of traffic for the game.

 

Where DBG cannot control the commentary, the replies are usually more negative than positive.

 

I don't think DBG wants to open themselves up to any platform where they don't have some control over the commentary. That really limits their ability to promote things.

Also, just go to someplace like the MMORP sub on reddit and read what people have said about the company or specific games. There's doesn't seem to be much love or respect for SOE and less for DBG from a lot of people in a lot of places online. It makes me a bit sad, but it isn't necessarily undeserved.

 

You reap what you sow...

 

It seems like DBG wants as much money as they can get and not spend any money at all. Im surprised the employees still get paid, but im thinking pay cuts are looming in the future for them... at least the ones who actually work there... we all know the office drones and upper management don't get pay cuts... they get bonuses!

Added: They seem to be almost in a financial worry mode but trying not to be obvious about it. At least it seems that way to me. They haven't laid off lots of staff or raised prices yet, but those may be coming... even if it puts them slightly costly more than other games... their addicted customers will pay it with some grumbling, though some will quit playing. And most of the returning players will soon remember why they left in the first place... and leave for a final time.

 

My opinionation:

After her first meeting with her new DBG bosses, Longdale was more than happy to run EQ2 into the ground, milking its customers for piles of money along the way. Things are going according to plan.

EQ1 is what she knows and understands, and, that game fits well with how DBG likes to operate. It's grindy and slow, and as a result, relatively cheap to produce. Original EQ customers are the old school customers. Just let them spend 12 hours grinding trash mobs, making 30 minute corpse runs, and taking three hours to kill a raid mob, and they're perfectly content. When she says stuff like, "We've spent the last two and a half years examining what makes Everquest, Everquest..." I'm highly confident she means, slow, grindy, and cheap to produce. This is what she's been out there selling.

EQ2 customers are a different kind of customer. You aren't going to satisfy what they want with 4 designers and 2 engineers (ala EQ). For me, the fact that she has sat back and let certain members of the EQ2 design team crap all over customers tells me she just doesn't care about the title. EQ1 customers aren't treated that way.

As long as the cash shop remains profitable, EQ2 will keep chugging along. However, customer defections continue to grossly exceed acquisition/re-acquisition. The current game is crap, and they know it. The focus has now shifted to marketing TLE concepts, and they will keep doing it until the game is shuttered, which is not a matter of if, but when.

EQ3 was never a serious consideration. I doubt she was ever going to be given a sufficient development budget to create anything meaningful. I have no doubt they dinked around with BR ideas, because well, they like to follow fads that are old and dated.

The next evolution of Everquest will be the Nantg mobile game.

So....at the end of the day, we're going to have original Everquest and mobile.

Yes, yes, all speculation. Still, if we want to know what someone is really up to, ignore what the say and watch what they do.

 

Not really sure what "Steve" would have to say and share, but I'm sure "Scott Hartsman" has a lot of background in the world of Everquest...