Could EverQuest Next Landmark revolutionize game design?

EverQuest Next Landmark is being released with features designed to help us build environments, but that is where this game starts, not where it ends. A host of additional features are in development, some confirmed, some teased, some read-between-the-lines, but we are starting to see Landmark for what it is.

One feature that has been confirmed is that there will be class based combat 'soon' after launch, we'll have a basic multiclassing system tied to the weapons we equip in addition to abilities via equipment or character progression. This is exciting to me, as we've seen sci-fi costumes for our characters I have my fingers crossed for all kinds of weaponry, and an answer to the age old question 'How awesome would quad-wielding nunchuks and wrist flamethrowers be?'. Maybe this is our chance to find out. Combat itself is obviously not a revolutionary feature, but it gives players another way to interact with their world and is a good first step to increase what will be possible in game.

Emergent AI has been touted as a core feature of EverQuest Next, and in Landmark players will be able to get into the back end (as it were) and see what makes this new technology tick as they create their own NPCs. Much like we have seen in The Sims series these characters will react to different situations and stimuli, reacting to and interacting with the world around them (it's even been hinted NPCs will be able to learn from events and remember them). We'll be able to use this feature to tell our own stories and design our own classic quests, or allow the system to play itself out while we sit back and see what happens. What a fantastic testing ground and source of inspiration this will be for SOE, being able to look at how the AI interacts with itself and other players on a large scale will help so much in designing EverQuest Next.

Using these assets players will be able to create their own quest type content with success parameters to share with the world; imagine these tools in the hands of a great D&D GM, or used as a tool to recreate moments in history as a teaching aid. Why stop at quests? Why not go big and relive the glory days of raiding with a hundred of your closest friends? The Hot Gates needed 300 of Sparta's finest to defend at the Battle of Thermopylae; perhaps those mega-guilds will have something they can all do together at last! This is the nerd in me getting excited, and by now I hope you are excited by the possibilities too, but there's more!

For those players not interested in tackling artificial enemies, there will be a PvP system introduced for players to clash in all manner of scenarios, from cyberpunk inspired bar brawls to castle sieges. PvP doesn't stop at fighting, why not subterranean parkour races or 'Demolish the Mountain'? The ability to create stand-alone activities will be a huge part of this game, and will be one area that I'm sure will help drive development of features for EverQuest Next. The best part is that as features are picked up they will increase what is possible within Landmark, letting players push their creations even further, which will drive development for EverQuest Next etc etc ad infinitum. It is this feedback loop that gets me so pumped for Landmark, and if SOE can keep letting players push the limits and open up more and more possibility space, this winter could be the start of something special. 

And now we start to see Landmark for what it really is. Landmark is not meant to be just a building tool, or even just a way for players to help create assets for EverQuest Next. Landmark is a game creation tool. SOE want us to have the tools that they have, to let us loose and see what happens when thousands or even millions of people come together to make something great, and I want to see that too.

When I think about Landmark, I don't think about what type of stone I'm going to use to make my Dwarven steakhouse or if I'll be able to find a group interested in post-apocalyptic cityscapes, I wonder what the first mega-hit will be spawned by it. What will be its DayZ, or its DOTA? What will the new genre invented that we'll all be watching pro players take on in live eSports events? Am I taking crazy pills, or could this be a revolution in the way games are designed?

I suppose only time and a good psychologist will tell, but for now, thanks for reading! Did any of my excitement rub off on you? Has this trip given you any new ideas for Landmark? Let me know in the comments so we can have a nice cup of tea and a chat.

LockSixTime

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