Vanguard: 1Up Interview

[Leoghan]

I still don't think, however, that the market is truly saturated...growth may have slowed a bit, but I also think we're waiting for another EverQuest-level hit. And, quite honestly, with EQ behind us, we can't really accept anything less. These games can't last forever, that's for sure. At some point, even players with multiple high level characters and tons of time invested will want to move on to something different and something better -- a new challenge.
Taken from 1Up.com (http://www.1up.com/article2/0,2053,1549991,00.asp)


I wonder how the hardcore EQ fans feel about this as they are clearly part of the target audience?

(A side-note: He doesn't think the market is truly saturated, I wonder if he would have canceled Mythica?)

[Moloch]

Now it's obvious that Sigil has one very significant advantage going for it – Brad McQuaid, a truly gifted man and one of the original creators of EQ. But behind that silver lining a darkening cloud may lie.

If you take the time to read through the Sigil FAQ, you'll get a broad idea of the design philosophies that underlie the game. And to me it seems absolutely clear that Sigil's game will be a direct descendant of its father. You can see it in the way that the FAQ uses EQ as the baseline for Sigil's game mechanics and features: like leveling, the interface, raids and loot – to name a few. You can also feel it in this quote from Brad, "Aradune existed long before EQ, will be part of Sigil's first game, and hopefully many more ... He belongs to me, and is me".

Now I'm not saying that this is a bad thing. EQ was a phenomenally successful game and continues to be near the top of the US market. But I think it's fair to say that it sounds very familiar and, more importantly, someone else is already doing EQ2.

May I suggest that Microsoft have just committed themselves to direct competition with Sony for Sony's subscribers. And may I suggest that the MMORPG market is not big enough for both EQ2 Version A and EQ 2 Version B to be successful.

Now given their pedigree, Sigil may very well produce a gem of a game, and I hope they do just that. But the competition will be fierce and only one company is going to end up as Coke, while the other will be Pepsi. And when you consider the likely juggernaut that will be World of Warcraft (WoW), someone may just end up being a generic Cola.

Or to put it another way, if you were worried about market share in the coming clash of titans, you should have been brewing a Dr Pepper.


If you can bear opening old wounds, you can read it all here (http://www.mythicahq.com/features/moloch/2004/02/16/open_letter.shtml)