Everquest Next Round Table: Building Styles in Landmark (A Pherephassa Rant!)

I actually hadn’t been intending on writing about this newest Round Table question: For EQN Landmark, which of the following styles will you be building in? Fantasy, SciFi/Futuristic, Real World, Historical Genres, Pop Culture/Fan Fiction. It seemed too cut and dried for discussion. Which style do you like? It’s not like a systems discussion, which is what I’m generally the most interested in writing about.

But then I took a look at what people are posting on the boards, and I couldn’t resist throwing up an Op Ed piece. Perhaps I should have titled this Pherephassa’s Acerbia, for what I have to say about some of the posts I’m seeing is definitely acerbic. This is definitely a bit of a rant. I’ll summarize what I’m responding to as “Go Fantasy or Go Home.” There’s commentary about how anything but fantasy somehow doesn’t belong. That sci fi will limit people’s enjoyment of the game, or even worse, will [insert horrified gasp here] ruin the game. There seems to be a desire for enforced server themes, and one person outright said that anyone who wants to build something other than things that fit within their definition of fantasy need to visit Wikipedia and look up a fantasy primer. (Actually, I believe he said a Pathfinder primer, but Pathfinder is just so horrifying I’ve paraphrased to fantasy.)

Do people not realize that a part of the appeal of Everquest Next: Landmark is in its very open nature? The entire point of Landmark seems – to me – to be giving people the ability to freely express their creativity. I personally don’t care for sci fi, and never have. I’ve never liked giant robots or space themes. My Tech Commander’s Gear? I’m never going to wear it. I’m not going to build myself a space station or an air craft carrier – I’m already sketching out plans for buildings based on ancient temples and ruins. But I am not going to tell people that their creative impulses will ruin the game, and they should leave if they build something that’s not to my tastes. I may not linger in someone’s Death Star, but having it there certainly won’t affect my ability to enjoy the overall game.

There will be a continent with an enforced Norrathian theme. That’s been stated. It’s definitive. It’s real. It will be there – if you want to be surrounded entirely by fantasy or Norrath, then you already have a place to go. From the looks of things thus far, it will be very crowded, so I hope it’s a large continent! But the game Everquest Next: Landmark itself is not Everquest. Expecting it to be solely filled with fantasy castles is as crazy as walking out into the streets of Chicago and telling people who own buildings that haven’t been designed by Frank Lloyd Wright that their building needs to be torn down. It’s as though people have been listening to all the dev commentary about how you can build a space station or a castle, and have only heard – you can build castles.

They give two sets of clothing with the Founders Packs for a reason.

I hate it when I mention a video, but can’t remember which one it is, but I do recall seeing one of the dev interviews wherein it was stated that you could pack up your stakes and move if someone builds a giant robot next to your fantasy castle and you hate it. That they are expecting mini-communities to form as people with like interests find each other and interact. There’s your solution, guys. Want to be around fantasy and nothing but fantasy? Build on the fantasy continent, or move near other people who want fantasy too. But Landmark is about the freedom to express creativity, not the freedom to express fantasy creativity, so expecting that all you’re going to get is Norrathian fantasy is, well, a fantasy. I can understand it if people building actually offensive things impinges upon someone’s enjoyment of the game, but if you’re in a social, open themed MMO and your enjoyment is ruined because someone somewhere builds something you don’t like, then I have to suggest you broaden your perspective or limit yourself to single player games, because we’re all going to be there to express ourselves, and we’ve all got our own tastes and preferences.

Thankfully, this does not seem to be the prevailing sentiment. The world is a wide, wonderful place, in large part because there are so very many different people and ideas out in it. I don’t agree with everyone on what is interesting and fun, and I think it would be pretty boring if I did! It would be a shame to so horribly limit what looks like it will be such an amazing place for creativity. I know many people who are planning on playing with their children entirely because of this possibility for creativity, and I personally can’t wait to see all of the interesting things that they make.

Everquest Next: Landmark is a game about creativity and imagination. Dave Georgeson said in the Landmark livestream that a good tagline might be fame and fortune. Fame and fortune is not gained by limiting those around you – it is earned through inspiration. If you want fantasy, make the people around you see the magic in fantasy. Show them what there is to love in your world. Build something so grand it awes those who see it, something so marvelous it evokes wonder and amazement, something so monumental it inspires people to follow your vision.

Make your mark.

About Pherephassa 213 Articles
Pherephassa has been creeping around the etherspace long enough to have remorted so often that not even she can recall her original form. She loves sandboxes, challenges, chain mail bikinis and dungeons so large they take weeks, months or even years to fully explore. Currently seeking an MMO home, she can often be found on the side of the road, begging game designers for death penalties and slow leveling curves.

28 Comments

  1. I’m still wondering what happens when someone builds a land bridge from the Norrathian continent to somewhere less… rigorously themed ;)

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  18. 10 yards,Charles right guard to DEN 11 for 2 yards (M. Sean WrightAttendance: 14, SG51-20-10-000010100+62,48130.690–18272.8 points. a second-year reserve forward added 17 points and 11 rebounds and had 16 points and a career-high eight assists for Orlando”That group in the other locker room (Nets) is very impressive they’re Hall of Famers” Magic coach Jacque Vaughn said referring to offseason acquisitions and and All-Star guard “If we played them one-on-one we’d lose If we come with a collective responsibility approach at both ends of the floor we have a chance and our guys did that at both ends of the floor”The Magic limited Brooklyn to 382 percent shooting (34 of 89) out-rebounded the Nets 54-42 and allowed only and Pierce to reach double figuresLopez had 21 points and Pierce added 16The Nets’ backcourt of Williams and were a combined 5 of 17 from the field and Garnett made just 3 of 11 shots Pierce was the top rebounder with seven”We wanted to dictate the game and I think we did that” Vaughn said “We made them take the shot we wanted we got a chance to rebound the basketball and we got a chance to push the ball up the floor which is what we wanted to do”Vucevic said the Magic played well on the defensive end”We know we’ve got to just keep being aggressive at that end” he saidKidd who was suspended for the first two games of the regular season because of a drunk driving charge didn’t like his team’s performance at either end of the court especially in the second half The Magic shot 50 percent in the second half while outscoring the Nets 68-48″We didn’t execute defensively when we needed to and we shot 30-something percent” Kidd said “We moved the ball Guys were touching it but we missed some wide-open looks and we made those last game (against Miami)”The Nets who defeated two-time defending NBA champion Miami on Friday night were embarrassed by their performance two days later”The win against Miami doesn’t mean a thing when you come here and lay an egg which is what we did” Williams said “We knew they were a young team and were going to play hard We had to be ready to match their intensity and we weren’t They looked like they wanted it more and that is unacceptable”The Magic (2-2) used a 17-4 run early in the third quarter to break open a close game They led by 15 points after three quarters then Oladipo scored six straight at the start of the fourthHis last basket was a steal off Williams and a breakaway dunk that put Orlando up 82-61 with 10:11 left The Nets never got closer than 16 points after thatThe Magic’s reserves outscored Brooklyn’s 45-30Neither team was able to sustain momentum for more than a few possessions in the first halfThe Magic started the game with a 5-0 run and that was the biggest lead of the first half for either team There were five ties and 12 lead changes in the first 24 minutes that ended with Orlando squeezing out a 41-28 lead started the second half with consecutive 3-pointers to propel Orlando on the 17-4 run that gave it a 58-42 lead with 7:10 left in the third quarter replaced Williams and the Nets temporarily came to life but couldn’t sustain it A dunk by Livingston a 17-foot jumper from Johnson his first basket of the game and an end-to-end drive and dunk by Pierce cut the deficit to 61-52 but the run ended thereOladipo scored eight straight Magic points and handed a no-look assist to Vucevic for a dunk that pushed Orlando’s lead back to 15 and the Magic finished the quarter with a 74-59 leadGame notesThe starting five for Brooklyn will make a combined $81 million this season Orlando’s starters will make a combined $22 million PENALTY on ARZ-D.Lewis pushed ob at JAX 38 for 9 yards (Y. He was specifically a headache for the Packers out of bunch formations (three skill players clustered together.

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