Currently Daybreak

John Smedley co-founded EverQuest developer Verant Interactive, which morphed into Sony Online Entertainment following EverQuest's huge success. He even hung on after Sony sold SOE earlier this year, turning it into Daybreak Game Company and laying off some SOE employees.

Smedley, however, has now stepp?ed down as president and chief execut??ive officer of Daybreak.

"I can confirm that John Smedley will be taking some time off from the company for the near-term and transitioning to a different role to be determined," a spokesperson for Daybreak told GamesBeat. "Upon?? finalization of his plans, further communication will be provided."

Chief creative operating officer Russ??ell Shanks? will take over for Smedley.

Smedley recently threatened to sue one of the hackers who took down Xbox Live and PSN during Christmas. Julius "zeekill" Kivimaki, 17, was found guilty of 50,700 charges and got two years probation. The group Kivimaki was apart of is the one responsible for intentionally diverting and lan??ding one of Smedley's flights by calling in a bomb threat.

"I've also been swatted (multiple times) and had over 50 false credit applications submitted in my name and had to deal with the ramifications?? of what happens to your credit when this kind of thing happens, Smedley said. "It's not good. And to top it all off they decided to submit false tax returns."

After Smedley, upset at the lenient sentencing, threatened to sue Kivimaki, remaining members of the group took Daybreak games (H1Z1, PlanetSide 2, etc.) offline with a distr?ibuted denial-of-service (DDoS) att??ack

Daybreak Game Company’s ?John Smedley steps down? as chief executive officer [VentureBeat]

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Columbus Nova wastes no time turning the asshole knob to 11

Last Monday, venerable MMO studio Sony Online Entertainment was sold to Columbus Nova investment firm as part of Sony's on going restructuring. Not even two weeks later, an unknown number of employees have reportedly been laid off, including EverQuest director David Georgeson and community m??anager Linda Carlson. 

This isn't odd behavior for Columbus Nova, which pulled the same stunt when it acquired Rhapsody in 2013. For investment firms, reducing overhead while maintaining profits is usually the?? first order of business, and t??hat typically means layoffs are the first course of action.

??Daybreak released the following statement concerning the layoffs: 

“As part of a strategic decision to rationalize the business, Daybreak Game Company announced today that it will eliminate positions in both its San Diego and Austin studios. This alignment of resources better positions the newly independent studio for future growth opportunities and developments, including delivering on its legacy of making top online games and establishing a solid foundation for future mult??i-platform success. These reductions will not affect the operation of current games and the company will continue on its mission to partner with its player community to drive the future and push the boundaries of online gaming.”

While all games under development before the sale seem to still be in production, who knows where Columbus Nova will look to trim costs next. While the firm may be able to increase revenue in the short-term with these brutal job-slashing tactics, I have doubt about any company that gets rid of experienced and proven employees so it can make its numbers look a little prettier on ?paper. It speaks of a lack of long-term investment and,?? for me, casts doubt on quality and support for its future products.

H1Z1, EverQuest publisher Daybreak cuts jobs as i?t transitions to new? owners [VentureBeat]

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Sounds like plans for Xbox are in the works

Sony Online Entertainment -- developer of popular MMOs such as PlanetSide 2, Everquest, and H1Z1 -- is no longer a part of Sony's stable of studios. After 20 ??years, SOE has been offloaded.

Sony recently sold its subsidiary off to New York-based investment firm Columbus Nova. As a result of the acquisition, SOE ?has been rebranded as Daybreak Game Company. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. However, it has been said that all of SOE/Daybreak's existing titles will stay on the same path of development and operation.

Daybreak's new-found independence likely means that the studio will start developing games for Xbox and other platforms for the first time in its history. In a press release, company president John Smedley said "We will continue to focus on delivering exceptional games to players around the ?world, as well as bringing our portfolio to new platforms, fully embracing the multi-platform world in which we all live."

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'No questions asked'

H1Z1, Sony Online Entertainment's bizarrely-named version of DayZ, was the center of a kerfuffle over the weekend that didn't even have to do with the game not working at its Early Access launch.

Rather, the community leveled "pay to win" complaints following the glut of "our game won't be pay-to-win" claims that always precede releases of games that have micro transactions (H1Z1's Early Access is not free-to-play). They have to do with concrete studio claims that you can't buy resources like guns, ammunition, and food, followed by fans learning that those items can indeed be found in paid airdrop events. SOE's thinking is that these server-wide events, wherein someone ca??n poach your paid-for drop, are different from being able to just click "buy" and get a gun in your i?nventory with real life cash, but folks are still upset.

SOE president John Smedley took to the game's sub reddit on Friday to offer "no questions asked" refunds over the weekend, "till Monday." These refunds are not through Steam, but direct through Sony Online. Should you try to get a Steam refund, you'd get money back in your Steam wallet rather than however you paid for it. 

By Friday evening Smedley seemed satisfied that only, ".5% of the people that have bought are taking us up on the refund," but it'd be nice to know what the final numbers are. Plus, I doubt every H1Z1 buyer--it was Steam's top-seller despite not working--is jacked in to a sub reddit. Some people like to go get pizza across the bay on weekends, or crawl into hot tub holes and then get ramen. Of the vocal and jacked in fans, they seem to want fixes rather than refunds and Smedley notes that the team is, "making adjustments to the airdrops that are ??appropriate."

No questions asked refund policy [Reddit]

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The developers refute the claims

H1Z1, Sony Online Enterta??inment's zombie apocalypse survival simulator, has rece?ntly come under fire from its own community. On the day of its Early Access launch, many who had eagerly tracked the game's development for months suddenly felt as though they'd been duped all along. And, predictably, they're not happy about it.

The controversy stems from SOE's long-running insistence that H1Z1 would not be "pay-to-win." The developer told various outlets and message boards this since the game's inception. Redditor teckademics collected a collage of some of the statements published.

However, many felt that the airdrops included in today's Early Access version directly opposed this. Airdrops, which can be purchased with real money, can contain any variation of supplies including but not limited ??to: guns, ammun??ition, backpacks, and first-aid kits.

In a game where scavenging for resources is paramount, H1Z1's community (many of whom have already pai?d $20 or $40 in advance for it) largely saw airdrops as indication that SOE had gone back on its word that monetization wouldn't change a player's chances for success. Many felt that they had been led to believe that the only benefit of paying real-world currency in-game would be for character customization.

The outrage prompted SOE developers to take to reddit to offer a rebuttal. In the lengthy explanation, SOE insists that there are several components to airdrops that keep them from being pay-to-win. Among them, airdrops attract several zom??bies, any player on a server can swoop in and take supplies, airdrops aren't available until the server is one-quarter full, and there could be nothing of value in any given airdrop. This, in SOE's eyes, justifies their existence as a paid event.

Obviously there's quite a disparity between the feelings of SOE and a loud portion of the H1Z1 community. Regardless of anyone's position on this particular instance, it serves as a fine reminder of the peri??ls of Early Access. Always be cautious when you're investing in a game that's still in development; you never know what you'll actually end up getting.

Streamer just called in an airdrop. It dropped right above him with weapons, ammo and a backpa??ck. This game is pay2win [reddit], Airdrops [reddit]

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Log in issues

H1Z1, Sony Online Entertainment's bizarrely-named version of DayZ, is out on Steam today in Early Access. Not just out; it's atop the "top sellers" list on the Steam store, above freshly discounted, free-to-play-for-the-weekend Saint's Row and Civilization: Beyond Earth.

It is also currently unplayable. And not just because it's kind of broke, like when Brett played it last year (or because it's kind of janky, like when I played it later last year).

Rather, it i??s more literally unplayable as players are reportedly having issues connecting to the login server (game error G99). One such player is jbsgame.com Features Editor Steven Hansen, who has been trying to log on for over an hour now to stream the game. "It's a bit disappointing that new games drop, people pony up their $20 or sometimes $60 to be there minute one, and the dang thing doesn't work," Hansen said.

To be fair, this is an Early Access game, the express? purpose of which is to get games balanced and working on time for their official release. I?t's not like they didn't test it beforehand. This is the trial period. A long one. I'm more surprised it cracked the Steam top-sellers, showing people haven't lost interest in open world zombie survival sims.

"Maybe I'll finally buy The Long Dark," Hansen added.

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Bad name or memorable name?

I stopped tallying at ten counts of the word "iteration" in the early goings of the SOE Live 2014 presentation for SOE's upcoming (PC, PS4) survival zombie sim H1Z1. Okay. I get it. That's why the game wasn't so hot when it was first shown off and why there's still work to do ??before it comes to Steam Early Access ??"soon."

"It kicked us in the butt," I was told of initial previews, which were not all that kind to the project (our own Wett Brett Makedonski called it "almost unplayable").

But "iteration" is one of the (appropriate enough) buzzwords floating around H1Z1. The team wants to "treat it like an indie project," with open development. So it's all going to be iteration, tweaking, tuning. And this needs to be bas??ed on feedback (and backed up by data) -- it "requires a lot of people to help [them] test it."

What's the right amount of players per server? Can players get permanent locks for their abodes, or is everything raidable with enough brute force? What's the active cap for ??sniper rifles on a single server? That's why it will hit Early Access, why it's been shown so early, versus a traditional, years behind closed doors cycle.

Maybe releasing during the open-world survival zeitgeist was important, ?too, rather than showing up late as an also-ran.

A lot of people don't mind that much, if both Rust and DayZ's millions of sales are any indication. DayZ, incidentally, just got announced for PS4, but the team doesn't see it as too much competition, especially since they'll have an easier time getting onto PS4 because H1Z1 is based on existing PlanetSide 2 tech.

H1Z1 isn't on Early Access yet because it doesn't have a base level of doneness that the team is happy with, which kind of explains the best reason to choose H1Z1 over its ilk. It has a much less obtuse UI and controls than closest competitor DayZ. What you're going to get is likely someth??ing more polished, more complete, and a bit easier to just play it.

Otherwis??e, you're getting a similar open-world zombie survival game, conceptually. It already plays a lot smoother than when Wett Brett checked it out. Its world is also filthy with deer. Like, in herds of 12 plus at times. They're everywhere. And recipes, which, once unlocked, are basically all you'll hang onto after death, there's a recipe that involves mixing a deer's gallbladder with cloth to give you deer scent. This makes it easier to go up and kill them without needing to craft a bow.

It will probably be useful when there aren't so many deer. There are also horrible bears and wolves running about at the moment that are much more dangerous than zombies, perhaps less dangerous than other players. I quite like the game at night, illuminated only by a full moon and a flashlight. The team also showed off one new idea during the panel, Air Supply Drops. You'll see trunks obviously parachuting in from the sky, and you'll have ??to make a mad scramble to get to it before anyone else in your game (or, maybe, team up with some people to get there first, then kill your darlings).

An Early Access version of H1Z1 is bound to have some technical problems, but it should gener??ally be smoother than its contemporaries, if you want to finally test the genre.

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Also, giant bunny mounts

EverQuest II is approaching its 10th anniversary. It originally released in 2004, the same year that Kanye West's genius debut College Dropout dropped.

Altar of Malice brings with it a new playable race, the Areakyn. They offer some extra aesthetic ??customization (custom horns, wings, scale pattern color) and their wings actually develop over time so when you hit level 85 and achieve flight, its on?? your own homegrown wings.

The expansion is one of the series' largest, with 14 heroic zones, 6 raids, 6 advanced solo zones, 2 contested zones, and 2 overlands (first built on new terrain tools). You've also got weirdos in the Ossuary of Malevolence ??trying to get close to undead without dying, Pygmies worshiping the dinosaurs that? eat them as gods, and a wild area that is upside down.

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Dinosaurs, player robes, level cap increase

EverQuest has been going strong since 1999. That's when the Slim Shady LP and "Thong Song" released. Or, much better, Black on Both Sides. It will be getting its 21st expansion, The Darkened Sea, on October 28 for All-Access Members (SOE's subscription program), November 11 for free-to-play players.

The Darkened Sea, which pays homage to the 2007 expansion The Buried Sea, features eight zones, including: Arx Mentis, Caverns of Endless Song, Combine Dredge, Thuliasaur Island, Tempest Temple and Degmar, The Lost Castle. The one that ends with "saur" is where you'll f?ind the above dinos, naturally.

Aside from a new place to play, you can also expect a level cap raise (100 to 105) and a mount keyring to clear up inventory space. Upcoming updates before the D?LC drops add the ability to make custom robe textures in PlayerStudio and a loot system rework (including an automatic "never loot" and "always loot" for certain items).

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PC and PS4 updates from SOE Live

The wait for PlanetSide 2 on PS4, since delayed from early 2014, will end late 2014. Details from SOE Live 2014 remain similar to what we learned last SOE Live. PlanetSide 2 on PS4 is equivalent to the PC version on Ultra settings. It will remain completely free-to-p?lay (no PlayStation Plus membership required). PS4 players will not be able to play w??ith PC players.

The difference, I guess, is that it's running on PS4 now. We were shown a live PS4 demo during a presentation from PlanetSide 2 senior art director Tramell Isaac, lead designer Luke Sigmund, and creative director Matt Higby, who explained, simply, that getting everything running on consoles well took som??e time.

In order to have other folks to play with for demo purposes, they actually were playing against PC players, which supports their emphasis on parity between versions: "we haven't stripped anything from the PC version." The problem is that, "on the PlayStation, we're going to be on a different update cadence," whereas "[they] determine when [they] patch to PC," thanks to extra levels of QA from PlayStation. Instead of holding back PC updates for a few days (or, in possible circumstances, longer than a week), the team is leaving them separate for the time being. A future mel??d is possible, but not particularly likely.

That said, the game looked great runni?ng on the PS4 (and better than when I last played a year o??r so ago) and was running between 30 and 50 frames per second before optimization. There's still no mini-map or store, but the loadout screens and other parts of the UI are complete. You can toggle aim assist off and on. The touch pad on the DualShock 4 will allow you to map certain commands to different areas (if you've gotten the hang of that giant button).

The PC version is also continuing to get new content, which will wind up in the PS4 version as well. ??A new four-man aircraft, the Valkyrie, has two seats for a dedicated pilot and gunner, two seats where players will be able to shoot whichever weapons they have on hand.

The team explained how it "needed to do more to encourage people to? join squads and outfits," and is adding squad mentoring and leadership awards, which confer benefits to outfits that pick up and level up new players. It could prove a helpful s??tep, because the large scale combat is a bit overwhelming when you first dive it. On the other hand, they are working on "battle islands" for smaller affairs (say 40 on 40), with added objective play beyond captures, which could also help ease people into it.

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Two premium passes up for grabs

[Update:? Contest over! Winners a?re Gargantor and Devoured!]

Our friends at SOE have given us two premium passes to SOE Live in Las Vegas to hand out to lucky Dtoiders! SOE Live is a celebration of SOE games and the gamers who love them, and this year's event takes place August 14 through 17 at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. See the latest SOE game?s, hang out with friends and cosplayers, and more!

Included with the premium pass are two tickets to the event, an SOE Live t-shirt, SOE Live goody bag, exclusive SOE Live in-game items, access to the exhibitor showroom, access to panels and roundtables, option to attend brunch with the dev team, complimentary copies of the upcoming EverQuest and EverQuest II expansions, and a ton more! (For full details, click here.)

To win, we want you to draw something SOE-inspired in MS Paint and then post it in the comments! Any SOE game is eligible, so go as wild as you want. The best tw??o drawings (as chosen by Destructoid staff) will earn their artists each a premium pass to see SOE Live in Las Vegas! Limit one entry per person, and the cont?est is open to anyone willing to make the trek to Vegas next week (travel expenses are not included). You have until this Friday, August 8 at 11:59pm Pacific to enter.

Good luck!

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Go play in the sandbox

[Update: Codes all gone!]

Our friends at Sony Online Entertainment have given us 10,000 codes for the Landmark closed beta to share with the Dtoid community!

Landmark is a free-to-play, next-generation online sandbox game where you can go just about anywhere and build just about? anything. (Seriously, check out the screenshots in the gallery below.) And from today until July 24th, you can take part in the closed beta and see for yourself wha?t all the fuss is about!

To claim your beta key, just click here! (Huge members, your reserved keys can be foun?d right here!) Then just follow the instruction??s below to redeem.

Have fun! And if you missed out on the general giveaway, think about becoming a Huge member! They get reserved codes ?for betas like this, plus a whole lot more!

Seven-Day Landmark Closed Beta Key Redemption Instructions

1. Copy your key from Dtoid's giveaways page.
2. Visit the official Landmark website and enter your key in the field provided at the top left of the front page.
3. If you do not already have a Station Account, you will be prompted to create one. You can also log into your existing Station Account (or create one) via the handy links found at the top of the official Landmark website.
4. Your seven-day closed beta access begins as soon as your key is registered. Game client download instructions will be given once you've registered your key.

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Introducing Hossin

The scale of PlanetSide 2 was already p??retty impressive. Three massive and unique continents ensured that thousands of players were vying for control of territories all over the place. Now, there's a new continent in the mix.

Sony Online Entertainment added Hossin to PlanetSide 2 today, a swampland with low-hanging trees and boggy terrain. SOE states that the environment will change the way players have to approach combat, placing more emphasis on infantry units ??than ever before.

Play space isn't the only thing that SOE's improving. With the addition of Hossin, alterations were also made to outfit recruitment, base capturing, and continent locking. These updates are all available for free for PC users, and the PlayStation 4 version of PlanetSide 2 is still sch??eduled for later ??this year. 

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Excellent free-to-play shooter

PlanetSide 2 is a free-to-play first-person shooter. And it'll remain a totally free-to-play shooter once it arrives on the PlayStation 4 as the game won?'t require PlayStation Plus to play online.

We'll be getting hands-on with PS2 on PS4 (heh) at E3, but the pub??lic will also get a chance with the game at MLG Anaheim from June 20-22.

As for the PC ??version, players can soon expect the new 64sqkm continent Hossin, an advanced achievement system, player-drive?? continent conquest/locking, and expansions to the Outfits system. All these features will also be available on the PlayStation 4 version too.

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At some point!

#PS2onPS4 is a confusing hashtag.

PlanetSide 2 is no longer coming to PS4 this month, but it'll still show up sometime this year. And if you can get some friends to play, it's pretty good fun, what with the large scale battles unfolding in front of you. It's like the stuff from the background in most games, but real people are?? flying the ships and exploding things.

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Not a great first impression

As I was given an introductory overview of H1Z1 before some hands-on time, the development team emphasized how quickly the game was evolving. As it was the latest hardcore zombie survival MMO with open/transparent development, the designers explained that by the time the press saw H1Z1 again, it'd probably be a vastly different game. Cross your fingers that that's the case, because what was shown ?to me on PC wasn't very presentable.

H1Z1 randomly drops the player directly into an open, yet somewhat forested setting. It's technically eastern Oregon, but it's supposed to feel more like smalltown America. Going into the demo, I was told that surviving the?? first day would be the goal -- a very difficult goal, at that. Equipped with only an?? axe and a torch, I was left to fend for myself.

Upo??n spawning, a mass of zombies that rendered within one another made quick work of me.

To be honest, it was kind of amusing. "Alright, that's kind of a quirky instance," I thought to myself. It was less cute by the fifth time in a row that it happened. That was about half of the typical H1Z1 experience for me; the other half ??was not be?ing able to find anything at all.

Many of the times that I spawned, there was nothing on the horizon in any direction apart from a smattering of trees. I'd run one way, hoping I'd encounter something, anything really. At one point, I was sitting next to Polygon's Michael McWhertor and got legitimately jealous that he found a shack. I felt like I somehow wasn't playing H1Z1 right be?cause this dude had a shack and I just had more hills.

My shack-envy quickly melted away ?when a small horde of zombies spotted me from across the map and mercilessly pursued me. That was about t??he time that a developer came around and regretfully sighed and remarked "Yeah, I think we made them a little too aggressive for this demo."

As nighttime rolled around, I got a taste of my favorite part of H1Z1, which is ironic because it should be the most dreaded aspect. The hues that the moon and darkness cast on the surroundings made it look like a first-person view of Limbo. It was so pretty that I almost didn't want to build a campfire and provide any sort of illumination. Of course, I did anyway. Even if s?urvival was futile, I fe?lt compelled to put my best foot forward.

I had one life that seemed like a perfect storm of circumstances. I wandered across a small community that had a grocery store with a few zombies ??mulling about outside. I was able to go through a few of the houses unimpeded. Unfortunately, I only found some beets and water, which served as instant gratification, but nothing to help survive in the long-term. Upon trying to get into the grocery store, well, those pesky zombies screwed up that plan.

That was the pinnacle of my time with H1Z1, the effort where it felt like I actually got something out of the game, even as fleeting as it was. It didn't feel like much of a peak. Apart from the several crashes and general unresponsiveness of commands, it just isn't in a state to ?be shown to anyone -- especially a crowd whose job it is to play games and report on their findings. Hopefully it really is a game that's always changing, because right now, it needs to change.

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ANTI-VOXELS!

Sony Online Entertainment has shared a video highlighting some of the cool things users have made in Everquest Next Landmark. On top of cool looking structures, users have been bending the rules by cre??ating micro-voxels and anti-voxels to create whatever their heart desires.

SOE also announced their Landmarks of Landmark competition, where the best creations will be prominently featured as permanent additions to Landmark.

The post See all the cool things users have made in E??verquest Next Landmark appeared first on Destructoid.

Replaces existing individual game plans

Sony Online Entertainment is launching a new membership plan today that will give subscriber??s access to its games -- all of the majo?r ones, essentially -- for $14.99 per month.

That's EverQuest, EverQuest II, DC Universe Online PC, PlanetSide 2 PC, and Vanguard: Saga of Heroes right now. And upcoming games, too: EverQuest Next, Landmark, and H1Z1. Current subscribers for any of these titles will have their plan upgraded to all-ac?cess automatically.

P?retty good way to make sure people don't cancel, I'd say. For super detailed information about the plan and how individual games are affected, click the link below.

The Revised SOE ALL ACCESS PROGRAM FAQ! [Sony Online Entertainment]

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Cosmetic items, mostly

Following its big gameplay reveal of H1Z1, Sony Online Entertainment has detailed what the developers have come up with so far for the PS4 and PC open-world zombie survival game's monetization strategy. SOE president John Smedley gave a breakdown on reddit:

• Wearables will be sold, but players can "find and craft a lot of stuff." If someone kills and loots another player's gear, they'll be able to wear it for a few deaths. "Station Cash wearables won't degrade at all."
• Guns, ammo, food, water, and boosts impacting these won't be sold.
• Extra emotes beyond "the basics," which will be free.
• Character slots.
• Crates containing "random cool stuff from the store" can be found in H1Z1. "We're considering letting you see what's in them before you buy a key (ala Dota 2.). This idea isn't fully locked yet."

These concepts are of course subject to change and the team is taking feedback. So far, so good. Even if I'm not interested in playing existing open-world zombie games right now -- much less new titles along the lines of H1Z1 -- I can appreciate the transparency shown here.

We had our first monetization meeting yesterday [reddit]

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H1Z1 is a horrible name

Sony Online Entertainment is making an open world zombie survival game called H1Z1. Yeah, it's blatantly going for the whole DayZ approach. You can't really blame them though. It's a genre people are really craving for, as evidence by how well DayZ and Rust have been selling.

Game designer Jimmy Whisenhunt and technical director Tom Schenck from the SOE team took to Twitch recently and showed off 50 minutes of H1Z1. There's a lot of walking, some ??driving, axes,?? zombies, and well nothing all that out of the ordinary. What do you think?

Also I'm not really a fan of the name H1Z1. I purpose we just refer to this as Hizi, pronounced like hizzy.

The post Let’s watch 50 minutes of H1Z1, AKA Sony’s version of DayZ appeared first on Destructoid.

Feeling flu-ish?

Sony Online Entertainment boss John Smedley said on Twitter that a new post-apocalyptic MMO called H1Z1 will be coming "soon." A new episode of the Game Talk Live podcast, set to show at 8 p.m. Eastern will reveal some early gameplay footage, says Polygon. 

Smedley says that you'll play as an apocalypse survivor stuck in a world filled of zombies. He also teased that following this evening's reveal, H1Z1 will be playable soon. He said on Twitter that "you can play it yourself soon. and b??y play I mean play fully."

Expect a day/night cycle, ?the ability? to light things (and zombies) on fire, and fort building. 

We'll be following along with the Game Talk Live podcast tonight. Stay tuned.

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Including games like PlanetSide 2 and EverQuest Next

Writing to PlanetSide 2 players about future plans for subscriptions, Sony Online Entertainment president John Smedley teased the possibility of ?one sub that would span all of the company's games on PC. "We are considering (and are likely going to move forward with) a plan that means if you subscribe to one of our games you are a subscriber to all our games (this ap??plies to PC titles only btw).. all for the current $14.99 a month," he wrote.

"The goal would be to let you pick an item in each game you play. Some of you might say 'well who cares..I only play PlanetSide 2. How is that a benefit to me?' My answer is simple -- we've got a great lineup of games, some of which aren't announced yet that cater to a lot of players. We have [EverQuest Next] and [EverQuest Next Landmark] coming along with other..... games... that PS2 players might just like."

For me, this all still falls under the same old problem of not having enough time to play one online game, much less multiple online games, without fee?ling as?? if I'm wasting money. There's a sense of urgency I can't keep up with -- at least not long term. That said, I think for a certain type of player this subscription offering would hold a lot of value. Just not me, sadly.

Regarding the changes to our subscription plans [reddit]

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Online sandbox game

Sony Online Entertainment president John Smedley has pinned the EverQuest Next Landmark alpha as happening next month. "It's looking like [the alpha] is going to start sometime in the last half of J?anuary," he tweeted. ?That's naturally subject to change, but, fingers crossed.

"He warned us. Sorta. Not a surprise to see this. :)" responded director of development for EverQuest David Georgeson.

Now that I know what Landmark entails, I'm so down for this. The creation tools appear quick enough -- and the end results pretty enough -- that I actually want to build stuff for onc??e.

@j_smedley [Twitter via Massively]

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And it looks awesome

SOE just released a quick video that answers the question, "what is EverQuest Next Landmark?" Well, it's a game of expl?oration, monsters to fight, and building just about anything you want. The video shows off building a house and a tower, how archways and angles are easy to create, terrain alteration, and inside decoration and furnishing.

I can't wait to try this out for myself. The alpha for EverQuest Next Landmark is supposed to be starting soon, and hopefully it's a??ctually as fun as it looks in thes?e videos.

The post SOE explains what EverQuest Next ??Landmark actually is appeared first on Destructoid.

Here's what's next in EQ Next

The Christmas issue of PC Gamer UK dives into some details on the upcoming EverQuest Next. ??One of those details is a list of known classes, which includes Cleric,?? Necromancer, Beast Lord, and Tempest.

Here are the descriptions as provided by EQNexus:

Cleric - Wields either a two-handed hammer or a hammer and shield. Buffing and protecting allies is the typical Clerical duty, but these magic men and women do it with the power of fire, which gives them some killi?ng power, too.

Necromancer - W??ielding a tome or a dagger and focus object, the Necromancer summons destructive chaotic energies and comes with a companion: a Monstrosity that grows in power with its master.

Beast Lord - If you’re a fan of ‘trampling’ and ‘savaging,’ the Beast Lord’s furry friends make excellent companions. You can do your own savagin, too, with a f?lail and shield combination, or a spear for medium range attacks.

Tempest - With t??wo blades or one two-handed blade, the Tempest ‘dances across the battlefield’ and unleashes powerful winds and blasts of lightning. Ought to? appeal to fans of action RPGs.

What's interesting about all of these classes is t?hat they all use melee weapons, at least they will have the option to. Hopefully they figure out a good way to break up the normal tank, healer, and DPS? triangle that most games have come to rely on.

PC Gamer UK December 2013 via EQNexus

The post Here are the fo?ur known classes from EverQuest Next appeared first on Destructoid.

Evercraft

Watch live video from EverQuestNext on TwitchTV

Some of the developers from Sony Online Entertainment sat down and livestreamed about EverQuest Next for almost an hour. If you have any interest in this game, this is a great place to learn a lot. They dive into details, like how it will be PC only for now, how your character will transition from Landmark into Next, how building will work, and tons of other details on how the game will play. They also showed off so??me gameplay, and it's one of the first really good looks at ??the game that we have had.

One neat thing they mentioned was that players will have lots of options for what outfits they want to wear, and they won't be stuck with just fantasy clothing in Landmark. They showed off some nice looking sci-fi outfits, and hinted at wild-west and historical settings, which has ??me even more excited for the gam??e.

Everything I have seen about EverQuest Next and Landmark looks amazing, and it seems like it cou?ld be the first MMO to break away from the current?? repetitive mold.

EQN Landmark Livestream: November 13, 2013 [Twitch]

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Don't count out character transfers

While the PlayStation 4 version of PlanetSide 2 will be visually similar to its currently-available PC counterpart, the way post-release updates are going to roll out on the platform means the player base will be divided. Creative director Matt Higby explained the unfortunate but understandable situation Sony Online Entertainment is in to Eurogamer:

"Because of the update cadence, and the additional steps you have to go through to be able to release an upda??te on the PlayStation Network, we're not going to be able to keep our servers in sync, so you won't be able to just play with the same people," he said. "They might be a week behind in terms of patching, or a day behind or whatever it ends up being, and we can't really have that."

It's not a total loss, though. The team is looking into character portability which would mean that as "a PC character, you could transfer it to PlayStation 4, and then back. The character format's the same on both, it's just purely a matter of the server update?s." That would be greatly appreciated given the time-sink nature of these free-to-play games.

Sony explains lack of Planetside 2 PC and PS4 cross-platform play, teases character transfers [Eurogamer]

The post Here’s why PlanetSide 2 can’t do cross-platform play appeared first on Destructoid.

The Destructoid Show sleeps through its alarm sometimes

?Hey everybody! I'm wearing a really stupid shi??rt, it must be Friday!

Suddenly, there are two new Everquest Next games on the horizon, and they look really cool. Quakecon is happening right now, and there's some Bethesda news out of that, including Wolfenstein: The New Order being delayed and The Elder Scrolls anthology. In spite of underwhelming sales, Square Enix is still gonna keep making AAA video games, and another Tomb Raider is in development for next gen. Batman: Arkham Origins has multiplayer, but it won't be coming to Wii U. Player reputation and behavior will factor into Xbox One's matchmaking system, and the GPU's being tweaked a bit, for whatever reason. Finally, Obsidian talks about the Star Wars: KOTOR III that could've been, and we've got a release window for Star Wars Battlefront. 

The post Everquest Next, Arkham Multiplayer & Xbox GPU Upgrade appeared first on Destructoid.

Watch the livestream to see what it's all about

Sony Online Entertainment's SOE Live event has just begun in Las Vegas. The big reveal for this event is Everquest Next, and it's an MMO the world "has never seen before" according to SOE President John Sme?dley. What exactly are we going to see? Watch the? livestream and find out!

Other news on games we can expect from the show include DC Universe Online, Planetside 2, Dragon's Prophet, Everquest 2, and more. Here's the live schedule for the entire we??ekend of events that you can watch all below.

Watch li??ve video from sonyo?nlinetv on www.twitch.tv

The post SOE reveals Everquest Next appeared first on Destructoid.

Look for user-made items in the marketplace

While item creation doesn't necessarily fit with every game, I look forward to a future where more online games adopt the Team Fortress 2 model or some approximation of it. Let users create assets that can be sold in a marketplace -- it m?akes them happy, obviously, and it gives us what is often professional-quality, creative stuff. The developer gets a nice cut of the revenue, too.

It's for these reasons and more that I'm glad to see Sony Online Entertainment add support for Player Studio to its massively multiplayer first-person shooter PlanetSide 2. You'll be? able to create decals, hood ornaments, camo patterns, vehicle canopy overlays, and helmets under the system. For?? those lucky items that do get featured on the marketplace, SOE will take a 60 percent cut of revenues earned, with checks going out every quarter to the creator.

There's a dedicated site over here that?? explains the basics, if you're keen to break out the modelin??g software.

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