Currently I am not very invested in any SOE games. I pay some attention to changes in EverQuest, with occasional glaces towards EverQuest II, based mostly on nostalgia for the “good old days,” but otherwise there isn’t much in their current lineup that thrills me. Landmark has some potential once it gets closer to being feature complete. EverQuest Next has raised some enthusiasm, but exists only as a blur on the horizon at this point. And the other remaining titles aren’t really my thing.
But here it is, the week of SOE Live, the time for announcements big and small. Yes, whatever Smed says during the Thursday night keynote will likely be overwhelmed in the news cycle by Blizzard’s big Warlords of Draenor announcement planned for earlier in the day… I think the timing was more to head off the subscription numbers news than to stick it to SOE, but they seem to have gotten a threefer on that one if you include the SWTOR hit as well… plus there is Gamescom this week as well… but some of us will still be paying attention to SOE.
And because it is that time, I am asking myself what I would like to see and what I expect come out of the event. SOE Live can bring with it some very big news. Last year had a lot of people talking about EverQuest Next. What will we get year?
What I Expect
- Some firming up of the Landmark timeline, with some more details about specific features, but no real “go live” information
- Expansion announcements around EverQuest and EverQuest II, though as the F2P years roll along I am not sure expansions have all that much impact any more unless they raise the level cap or add new AA features
- An open/paid beta plan for H1Z1 with an estimated date for access that will be off by at least a month
- Something about fixing whatever woes are currently afflicting PlanetSide 2
- Some more screenshots and in-game video from EverQuest Next, but nothing playable and no concrete details
Things I Would Like to See
- A date for Landmark to be feature complete and generally available for those who didn’t pony up for a pay-to-test package. (Even if it is off by 3-6 months.)
- Something solid, tangible, and new about EverQuest Next
- Or just something that ignites some hope that EverQuest Next will be a game I want to play
Things I Fear Might Be Communicated
- Closing down PlanetSide… well, that might not be a fear for me, but I do wonder how it is still running
- Little or nothing about EverQuest Next
- A draw down of content for EverQuest, no more expansions, limited content updates on a vaguely expressed timeline
- That some new game is dedicated to the dispossessed players of another SOE title that has been shut down (e.g. The planned science fiction biome in Landmark is really dedicated to former players of Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures)
- Some new technological dead end like SOEmote or SOE Launcher to eat up dev cycles for no real benefit or follow through (cue Sony Olfactory Enhancements or some such)
Dreams Likely to be Unfulfilled
- Something about the next EverQuest nostalgia focused server, progression, classic, or otherwise
- An announcement that an EverQuest II nostalgia focused server… original content, steeper leveling curve, more difficult mobs, or whatever… is in the offing
- Something that might otherwise revive my interest in either EverQuest or EverQuest II… but I don’t know what… what is the “fix these games for Wilhelm” plan?
- An open/paid beta plan for EverQuest Next with an estimated date for access… this I might pay for… maybe
- Something about hats… no… wait…
From Left Field on Bizarro World Unlikely
- The Agency being revived on the PlanetSide 2 platform ala H1Z1
- The return of any dead SOE game
- A new game announcement
- The EverQuest Next plan being completely revised from last year’s announcement
- EverQuest Next being cancelled
- A ship date for EverQuest Next
So those are my various lists. What do you want to see, expect to see, or fear might come from this year’s SOE Live?