This July, Enad Global 7-owned Daybreak Games posted a job listing on LinkedIn looking for a Creative Director for Darkpaw Games. Darkpaw is a subsidiary video game studio of Daybreak Games. Since Darkpaw was created specifically to maintain and propagate the EverQuest franchise, we can reasonably assume that a new EverQuest MMORPG is in the works.
The role of creative director is an on-site job which makes perfect sense. According to LinkedIn, at least 15 people have applied for this role.
Daybreak is wisely seeing outside talent for this important role. This is extremely important as Darkpaw Games in its current incarnation is a barebones, mediocre B-list studio. Anyone worth their salt would have left Darkpaw long ago and sought employment at other studios. Many have indeed migrated to Blizzard and Amazon over the years.
None of the current creatives at Darkpaw have the vision, talent, and work ethic to helm the creative direction of a new EverQuest. Most of the remaining skeletal staff at Darkpaw are dirty old barnacles that are welded to the helm of the long-neglected EverQuest. May they all go down bravely with the ship they pirated.
The problem with Darkpaw and SOE before them is that the staff has acquired many bad habits over the years because both EQ and EQ 2 are in maintenance mode and only appeal to an ever-dwindling base of loyal veterans.
In its current incarnation, Darkpaw are expert min/maxers; they exert the minimum amount of effort for the maximum amount of gain. This has made them fat, lazy, stupid, and oblivious to the needs of the EQ community. Other than cafeteria workers and janitors, I doubt if any of the existing people could even land jobs elsewhere in the video game industry.
Darkpaw Games will need a brand new facility that is separate from the current team, to house the big dev team that they’ll need to create EverQuest 3.
Conclusion
Since the creative director is the driving creative and visionary force behind every MMORPG, the success of EverQuest 3, or whatever they plan to call it, will be largely dependent on who this person is. The candidate will have to be charismatic, mercurial, and visionary, and they’ll need to know the lore and mechanics of EverQuest inside and out.
Many current game developers played EQ during its infancy. EQ was the gold standard and figurative king of the hill in the MMORPG genre from 1999-2004. Without EQ, there would be no World of Warcraft. The challenge for the creative director will be to distill the essence of EQ — a fantasy world of hardship and challenge, class interdependence, shared adversity, and social cohesion — and update it with modern graphics and quality-of-life refinements for a new generation of players with a wider demographic.
The creative director for this new MMORPG will have to present unique ideas that push the genre forward but remain faithful to the core design fundaments of EQ. The advent of AI will make previous wishlists like intelligent NPCs, dynamic quests, and dynamic content possible.
The new creative director will need to be able to merge all of these aforementioned elements into a live service MMO that also has a robust but respectful monetization system. This will not be an easy task. I think MMO studios like Zenimax with their Elder Scrolls Online, are good examples of monetization done properly
I believe that a creative director will need to involve the EQ community both past and present in the creative process. The failed EverQuest Next was on the right path. Collaboration via crowdfunding will most certainly be something to consider. Players need to have a sense of ownership in this new version of Norrath and that needs to happen as soon as possible after the title is released. They will be key in spreading word-of-mouth buzz to the greater gaming world.
The eventual candidate will most likely be a veteran MMO designer. In a perfect world, one of the old-guard Blizzard developers like Jeff Kaplan would fit the bill. Alex Afrasiabi would be a bold but controversial choice. But I doubt Alex will leave the paradise of Hawaii to return to SoCal. The injection of proven studio production methodologies like Blizzard 1.0 had will be critical. Scott Hartsman would be another terrific choice. It is quite possible that a dark horse candidate may arise as well. Whoever it is, I wish them the best of luck.
–Wolfshead
There are ongoing rumours about EverQuest, but maybe you are jumping to conclusions. Maybe they just need a Creative Director for ongoing minimal life support expansions for EverQuest.
I don’t know designers or graphics artists working for Daybreak anymore, it’s difficult to track as they split in so many studios like Standing Stones for LOTRO, Rogue Planet for Planetside, etc… and how their offices and stuff are organized by now.
How about Marc Jacobs. Camelot Unchained might never go out of endless Beta, I think he is experienced enough to helm and sink two ships at the same time. He could at least collect money from hopeful EverQuest fans for sure.
I do not see Enad pumping more money into Daybreak to create the next big MMO. Last I heard was Holly Longdale working on reviving EverQuest Next, but then she stepped down.
They would need more than one great creative director. They would need a great team. One could say an entirely new team.
I know you love EverQuest… but let go. There won’t be an EverQuest 3. Not by this studio. And if they even manage to make it, the chances that they can meet the bar and expectations set by EQ1 are very low.
For fun, here’s what ChatGPT gave me when I posed the question while writing the article:
As of my last training cut-off in September 2021, I don’t have real-time data. The MMO industry and its personnel can be quite dynamic, with many professionals frequently moving between studios or pursuing new opportunities. However, based on historical data, notable figures, and industry influence up to 2021, here are ten potential candidates Daybreak Games might consider for a Creative Director role for a new EverQuest MMORPG:
Raph Koster: Known for his work on “Ultima Online” and “Star Wars Galaxies”, Koster is a respected name in the MMO world. He possesses a deep understanding of virtual worlds and community dynamics.
Chris Metzen: Formerly with Blizzard Entertainment, Metzen played an instrumental role in shaping the lore and stories of games like “Warcraft”, “StarCraft”, and “World of Warcraft”. His world-building expertise could be valuable.
Mark Jacobs: As the co-founder of Mythic Entertainment, he was behind titles like “Dark Age of Camelot”. His extensive MMO experience could bring a fresh perspective to the EverQuest universe.
Jeff Kaplan: Though largely associated with “Overwatch” at Blizzard Entertainment, Kaplan worked on “World of Warcraft” during its early days. His leadership and design insights could be a potential fit.
J. Allen Brack: Another Blizzard veteran, Brack served as an executive producer on “World of Warcraft”. His tenure with WoW, one of the most successful MMOs ever, can bring valuable insights.
Brenda Romero: A veteran in the game industry, Brenda has worked on a vast number of titles and genres. Her design philosophy and understanding of player dynamics might be of value to an MMO project.
Richard Garriott (Lord British): Known for his “Ultima” series, particularly “Ultima Online”, Garriott is a pioneer in MMOs. If he’s interested in returning to mainstream MMO development, he could be a prime candidate.
Rob Pardo: As the former Chief Creative Officer at Blizzard and a key figure behind “World of Warcraft”, Pardo’s insights and leadership could be instrumental in shaping a new MMORPG.
John Smedley: Previously the CEO of Daybreak Games (formerly Sony Online Entertainment), Smedley was involved with the original “EverQuest”. His intimate knowledge of the franchise might be beneficial, even if he returns in a creative capacity rather than an executive one.
Mike O’Brien: As the co-founder of ArenaNet and a major figure behind “Guild Wars” and “Guild Wars 2”, O’Brien brings a wealth of experience in creating and managing MMORPGs.
It’s crucial to note that these professionals have their own ongoing projects, affiliations, and career goals. Whether or not they would be interested, available, or a fit for Daybreak and EverQuest’s specific needs would require careful consideration and outreach by the hiring team.
Note: I picked Kaplan before I did the ChatGPT query. I think he, Pardo, Koster, and Smedley are the ones I would pick from his list and in that order.
I would second Rob Pardo, for his ability to get things done. Raph Koster for his ideas and insights, I liked Ultima Online and Star Wars Galaxies. When it comes to the MMO thriving and surviving, I would rather bet on Pardo. In the end it will likely be neither of the two, I am afraid.
Mike O’Brien might be available, the not mentioned Jeff Strain unfortunately is now married to Microsoft via Undead Labs. Liked his work on WoW and Guild Wars.
I loved Guild Wars, Guild Wars 2 … I wanted to love it, but didn’t in the end. Lots of cool ideas. No idea whom to blame, also don’t want to fingerpoint at individuals. Sometimes things just don’t work out as intended, no matter what effort and money you throw at it. See Titan, see GW2.
But I would like some of these people to take another shot at that now degenerating and stagnating genre called MMO indeed.
The evidence is pretty solid for a new EverQuest. Read the entire job description:
https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/search/?currentJobId=3643286378
Provide visionary oversight and creative direction for an unannounced title within Darkpaw Games.
Darkpaw was set up to be the exclusive and only studio that develops the EQ IP. The rest of the listing is all about establishing game loops sn recruiting new talent, building a team, and establishing all the game loops. Basically creating a MMO dev team.
As to whether it will be called EQ3 who knows.
As to whether they can pull it off, who knows. Even if they pull it off, it might suck and be full of woke garbage. Both Daybreak and Darkpaw are sub-par studios that I have little confidence in. That goes for Enad Global 7 too.
So yes, there are a lot of hoops to jump before a new EQ can happen. EQ is close to my heart. I have an exceptionally high level of expertise on this subject. I would apply myself for the role but I will never move to SoCal. For me it’s fun to write about and a good intellectual exercise.
I am not remotely excited about EverQuest 3 or whatever it will be. I also don’t think it will be a full-blown MMORPG. Instead it will be something like Conan Exiles, or even worse – like Palia, which likes to describe itself as a “cosy life sim”, it would be more honest to describe it as a “walled off safe space echo chamber for the LHDTV+ woke cult”.
The reason I am not excited about EQ3 is because it will most likely not have genders in character creation, instead it will have Body Type 1, Body Type 2 and so forth. This is a first sign for me that I won’t touch a game. That is what turned me off the most from New World, aside from the overall lackluster experience and the inability to disable over-the-shoulder camera or just have sliders like ESO where you can use horizontal or vertical sliders to customize it however you see fit.
Same goes for Baldur’s Gate 3. It is so woke, it has bestiality, forced diversity, body types instead of genders, women running everything in the game, everyone is horny and wants to have sex and so forth… This game isn’t even worth pirating, playing it would cause severe and irreversible brain rot and soul decay.
Even if we assume EQ3 or whatever it is actually ends up being a full-blown MMORPG and it isn’t one bit woke, I still won’t be excited about it. Call me jaded or cynical, but I doubt any new MMORPG will amaze me enough to get me hooked. I believe I’ve seen all MMORPGs have to offer at this point. I doubt it will have some crazy and amazing gameplay or progression mechanics, like being classless or having a skill-based power system instead of level-based one or where you go out of your way to explore some unbeaten path or some nooks and crannies and discover secret skills you can learn.
No, I doubt that EQ3 or any upcoming MMORPG will ever try something risky or unique. MMORPGs and most other games are stuck in a rut where they are just entirely based on copy/paste templates and don’t take any risks, just try to improve graphics and increase system requirements (mostly storage space) while the games haven’t moved one centimeter from the age of 2004.
So far I haven’t seen a more advanced single player RPG than The Elder Scrolls III Morrowind (2002) and a more advanced MMORPG than Vanilla WoW (2004). For the simple reason that new games barely do anything to expand the gameplay or freedom of players. Maybe GTA5 is the only recent game where I’ve seen some progress compared to previous GTA games as it allows you to do more simple things, like enter more random buildings, interact more with random pedestrians and just do more random things.
Recently I’ve playing through some games on my bucket list, last one was The Sinking City, a Lovecraftian game that was so limited and stupid it was just painful – you have a whole arsenal of firearms, you use them to destroy padlocks on doors, but if you don’t have the key to a door, dumping a whole clip of a Thompson SMG into it doesn’t do a thing, or you can’t jump on surfaces that the developers did not program to be jumpable, only on the ones they did.
Now I’m playing Alan Wake and it’s the same idiocy as The Sinking City and some other games. The gameplay is so limited by the developers’ stunted imagination that unless you play the game they way they want you to, you can’t progress. I’ve seen obstacles so dumb that if it was me in real life, I could bypass half a level by just walking on some tight ledge, but the game wants you to take the longer route around, because it needs to feel longer.
It used to be like this in the early 2000s when I began playing PC games, it is the same in 2023 – nothing has changed except graphics and system requirements. Some has actually changed – some games were made dumbed-down than their prequels so they are more accessible and mainstream for a lot of imbeciles out there who come from Candy Crush Saga and Farmville and call themselves gamers.
Take any relatively new game and replace its graphics with those of a game from the early 2000s, here’s a few examples:
– The Witcher 3, replace its graphics with those of Gothic 1, what does Witcher 3 become gameplay-wise? nothing any different than Gothic 1 in terms of gameplay feature and dumb limitations
– The Elder Scrolls 5 Skysh*t (yeah I have a personal beef with how dumb that game is), replace its graphics with those of TES3 Morrowind, what do you get? surprise, surprise! A Morrowind that’s somehow more dumber and limited than the actual Morrowind
– Need for Speed Heat, replace the graphics with those of Need for Speed Underground 1, what is different? It only has day/night mode with different events and an open world and a more “filmic” story, but the actual gameplay has not evolved one bit and actually there is more limited customization
Maybe I’m really jaded and cynical and bored with new games and I play some old stuff like Heroes of Might and Magic 3, Age of Empires 2, Need for Speed 3 Hot Pursuit, Worms Armageddon and am only interested in playing Turtle WoW and Echoes of Angmar – a Vanilla WoW and LOTRO Classic private servers as the only MMORPGs that are remotely interesting to me. But that’s how I feel about this. Games just aren’t pushing up the bar anymore, last few times I was excited about MMORPGs or other games was around 2011-2015, after that I’ve slowly (and painfully) come to the realization that new games are a waste of time and getting excited about them is also a waste of time and emotions. Now that I stopped caring about them and just keep and handful of some old 1999-2004 era games, I feel much better and it has actually opened more time for me for some real life activities, like daily running, martial arts and spending more time reading the Bible and learning about our God and savior Jesus Christ.
I am trailrunning, but still love gaming, but you are right. The wokeness of by far too many games is awful and even without that, they are just worse and getting worse. No comparisons to great games of an age not so long past.
I wondered if I am nostalgic, but I also noticed that many games are struggling to be fun at all or coming close to their predecessors these days, it is terrible.
I wrote a bit about Baldur’s Gate 3, I have my doubts about it because I played the extremely praised Divinity Original Sin 2, and well, no, it has potential, but awful writing, quests and even the combat system reveals itself to be dumb in the end. I was disappointed and felt tricked.
Bioware went to the crapper, Blizzard as well, even the makers of Subnautica went woke and the sequel was basically a bit less with a lot wokeness.
Worst offender might be the Creative Assembly, Medieval Total War II and Rome Total War, then 3x basically the same Warhammer, oh well. Not very creative, and not getting better. They were in their prime already decades ago.
I remember the first Dragon Age fondly, but even there it already crept into game design that achievements were to have sex with every companion, male or female or beast… oh well.
Game design didn’t progress much, basically every generation starts from scratch these days and apes often terrible design, creative genius is even more rare than it has always been.
Let’s see how Starfield will be, but I will wait. Bethesda has and had a rep for bugs and needing a year or more, but also for their games being overhyped.
At this point, are you not concerned how woke Starfield will be? Because it has come to a point where having a game that’s remotely popular and mainstream and to not be woke has become something strange nowadays.
At first, I was thinking about TES 6 since that vague trailer about nothing appeared, my first concerns were “Will the game be dumbed-down even more?”, “Will they make it so dumb that you have one gear piece for your entire character?”, “Will the gameplay and quest indicators be so stupid that it will feel like an insult to my intelligence to play the game at all?”. That was before I began noticing all the woke in games and the fact that new games feel and play like games from 20 years ago with a new skin on top.
I wasn’t even very interested in Starfield as Sci-Fi is not very strong for me (I enjoyed a little of Star Wars games and some Mass Effect and barely any Star Trek TV series and beyond that I don’t care much about sci-fi). Now I’m thinking about Starfield and I’m mostly thinking “Where did they cut corners with the gameplay to focus on more woke propaganda?” Because knowing the game takes place in some technologically advanced future, surely they must have gone woke up the wazoo, surely that’s the true testament of progress… progressivity…
Now I’m starting to think about the same about TES 6, I first saw it in ESO, some small references, like some female character mentioning “her wife” and other similarly disgusting things. Now I have no doubt TES 6 will follow the same fate and while I was at one point excited to play it, my first concern about how dumbed-down the game will be so imbeciles can play it remains, but now combined with the concern of how tainted with woke it will be, I’m at a point where I’m unsure if I even want to play it whenever it releases.
Same with Starfield – how dumbed-down it will be for idiots to be able to play it and how woke it will be for the mentally ill purple haired freaks to praise it as modern and progressive?
With Starfield I noticed on the cover screenshot of the game the female blonde astronaut and on the other side of the flash of light a black male astronaut. So yeah, I see some wokeness warning signs there. But how woke it will be, they did not talk that much about the game among all the hype.
I have rather these concerns in mind. First concern, playing the more complex Bethesda games on release is usually a particularly buggy experience. The second is that I got “some Mass Effect with Skyrim and No Man’s Sky” vibes. Third concern is actually like the second, I don’t think they can still make a good game, sorry to say. The fourth concern is the art style. NASApunk, basically moon race retro era looks and then they put it in the future. Somehow it feels out of place. Fifth concern: Overhyped. Nowadays the hype even for small studio productions is incredible. Games magazines, the whole social media influencers… so much noise about ever less.
I fell for Larian’s Divinity Original Sin 2. It has great promise and they did a lot of cool things. Gameplay wise it got worse the more one progressed through the game, no joke. You see how mechanics fall apart and story and characters as well.
Now you see why I think of Baldur’s Gate 3 rather as DOS 3, because that is what it is. It isn’t a Baldur’s Gate style D&D game at all, despite the name and license.
I didn’t delve very deep in BG1 and BG2 when I played them recently. I was able to complete BG1, but BG2 I could not due to lack of attention. Not a bad game, I just couldn’t be bothered to even cheat my way through and see the story.
A lot of the basic mechanics in those games, including PoE1 and 2 (not Kiwi Diablo clone) were the reason I struggled with those games – navigation and figuring out where to go and what to do. I feel if the games were like Dragon Age Origins or even Mass Effect – full 3D, I would have had less trouble navigating through the world. I’ve played a lot of 2D old games, my top favorite games I still play are Age of Empires 2 and Heroes of Might and Magic 3 so 2D is not an issue for me, just BG1,2 and PoE1,2 that are an issue for me and maybe Icewind Dale, which I never played. It was the story in Pillars of Eternity 1 (not in 2 despite the pirate theme which I love in all games) that got me through the game, I wouldn’t have bothered otherwise, same with BG1. I wanted to see the culmination of all that buildup.
I could not finish Divinity Original Sin 1, I have tried the second one, but it was in a moment when I was really annoyed and lacking patience, I could not leave the first area, some ship or something, I can’t remember and out of frustration I uninstalled it. I’ve tried BG3 probably last year or the year before, when it was first playable and before I knew too much, I figured I should wait for it to release to play it, then I find out it’s woke and real D&D and BG fans are saying it doesn’t feel like BG or D&D at all, so now I can’t even be bothered to play it at all.
I won a free copy of Solasta a few months ago, the combat killed it for me. Maybe some love those turn-based combats, maybe I should love them too seeing as how Heroes of Might and Magic 3 is my most favorite game of all time and I’ve been playing it for 24 years already, but in those other games, the combat just turns me off, it feels more like a chore than anything else. Even HoMM3 got some mods that auto-resolve combat so you don’t have to deal with trivial encounters when you know the outcome even before you start.
I think those games should offer that option to skip combat too and only allow you to replay it if you don’t like the auto-outcome results.
I also think D&D with the turn-based combat works best as a tabletop game where people are sitting in person around a table or using some conference call program on the internet while looking at the same stream of the GM. Single player D&D games with turn-based combat for me personally feel like a far cry from the real thing, a but like TES 3 Morrowind’s attempt to make it’s combat feel like a tabletop and while I appreciate it and I like the game a lot, I always install mods for Accurate Attack so I don’t have to deal with the combat. It just doesn’t work for me.