The alpha of Everquest Next Landmark has been running for a while now. The Chief Developer of Sony Online Entertainment, Dave Gregson, has now presented the roadmap for the coming months in the official forum of Everquest Next.
In Phase One, which will cover the next four weeks, the focus will primarily be on improving gameplay comfort. The developers want to make it easier for players to build and communicate with each other through chat channels. Additionally, the world is expected to grow and expand further.
SOE particularly values the “togetherness” at Everquest Next Landmark. Many of the features are designed to ensure that players can realize larger projects together and do not feel like they are in constant competition for space and resources with other players.
The predictions for the second and third phases are still quite vague. In the second phase, the combat system is to be further developed. Players will finally be able to die (Yay!). But don’t worry, the resurrection system will naturally be introduced as well (hopefully at the same time). Additionally, during this phase, significant adjustments will be made to the crafting system, the world will continue to grow, and new gameplay mechanics will be introduced.
For example, in the second phase, there will also be loot for expanding caves. The second phase will be rolled out all at once in about eight weeks.
Everything beyond this second phase is presently summarized by SOE in the rather nebulous block “third phase”.
Important for players: Depending on when a phase is completed, it may well be possible that SOE will transition from alpha to a closed beta. Although the information on this is not exactly water-tight, with a bit of goodwill and imagination, one can read between the lines something like: “If everything goes well, we can start the closed beta in 2-3 months.”
