If you happen to roam around the MMO blogosphere and news sites, you might have seen some hints and whispers about the possibility of Everquest 3 being a reality.  Some say that has been in production for years while others think it will never be made. People seem to be split on the idea of Everquest 3 seeing the light of day. Personally, I would welcome another Everquest title into the marketplace, but only if it was created in a certain way.

I have mentioned before that the original Everquest is and always will be my best gaming experience of my life. Be that as it may, I can’t see myself ever returning to Everquest, even though I have friends who would like to see me return. The reason is game mechanics. Back in 1999, Everquest was the best game you could play. During those early years, the game played mostly as you thought it should. Due to the lack of other MMO games on the market, we gamers did not have a large frame of reference as to how things could be done.

Other games did eventually come on the market, with Everquest 2 being one of them.  It met with lackluster success at best. It did improve many things over the original version, but it also left many things to be desired in gameplay and UI experience. It took World of Warcraft to show all of us how an MMO can be done right.

If Everquest 3 is indeed on the horizon, I would like to see it play like a cross between WoW and Lord of the Rings Online. Give us a UI that blows our socks off. One that is super simple to start using yet easy to delve into the deeper parts of what is possible. I would also like to see the game go in a much different art direction than current Everquest games. The environment does not need to always look super-realistic. I want the designers to use their imagination and surprise me. Show me something that has not been done before and let me see it without needing to buy a new computer to experience it.

Everquest 3 should take me back to its roots. Don’t take me to a future reality or magically transport me to a moon. Show me the “old west” of Norrath, one that I envisioned in my mind as the game taught me about the Combine Empire. A world more barbaric and yet more civilized at the same time. In other words, show me the lore I have only read about and never seen.

Is there room on the market for another Everquest game? It is difficult to envision three Everquest games operating at the same time. Original Everquest turned 10 years old this year. It obviously is still making a profit or Sony would not keep it running as long as it has. EQ 2 has more subscribers, which one would think brings in more money than EQ 1. Should Sony shut down EQ 1 to make room for EQ 3? It is a tough call, but as they say, it all comes down to money. Just how profitable are these older games? Would a new version generate more revenue?

I hope that Everquest 3 will be released. I also hope that they do it right. Only time will tell.

I have decided to start Vanguard: Saga of Heroes first. Everquest 2 will come a bit later. I suppose that I was one of the rare people who liked Vanguard during the beta test. I have read numerous reports that though the game still needs many improvements, it is still a much better game that what we saw during beta. That is something I want to see for myself and determine how worthwhile playing the game can be.

Vanguard has many races and classes, so the decision of what to play has been on my mind. I played a ranger almost exclusively during my main Everquest days. In fact, I have played a ranger/hunter style character in every MMO I have tried. The one exception is Lord of the Rings Online where I played a Champion, although I did dabble with the ranger a bit. So I naturally lean towards playing a ranger in Vanguard.

The thing is, I wouldn’t mind trying an MMO from a different perspective. The sorcerer and blood mage intrigue me. There’s something about a sorcerer simply sitting back and hitting the “BOOM” button every now and then that pulls at me. On the other hand, one of the roles of the blood mage is being a healer. As the byline of this blog states, I’m a hardened veteran noob and I’m not sure I can trust myself with healing duties. It is, however, a very interesting take on the typical mage class.

I suppose that I will have to try a few of them and see what sticks. I want some solo ability, which points to something like a sorcerer or druid. Necromancers are not my style. I do have a few days to ponder on this since my new computer won’t be here until sometime next week. Until then, I will keep posting my thoughts on various MMO things.

–Wolfen