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It’s been a while since we’ve had any solid news on EverQuest Next, the next installment of SOE’s EverQuest series. SOE revealed at this year’s SOE Live event that EverQuest Next was being completely rebuilt from the ground up but didn’t elaborate too much on what was in the works.

In a new interview with PC Gamer, Smedley discussed a bit about what SOE is trying to accomplish with the game by trying something new while at the same taking note of what has kept players playing EverQuest for well over a decade. This week Smedley had the chance to show off the current iteration of EverQuest Next to the SOE staff for feedback.

“We showed it to them on Monday, and I couldn’t sleep on Sunday night because I was scared. We’ve thrown out two previous designs of the game to go with something pretty crazy and… well, it’s awesome. When the team saw it I could barely breathe when they were watching it. But when I’d finished they were clapping and cheering – and these guys are gamers, so they’re not afraid to call bullsh#$ when they see us make a mistake.”

Whatever it is that SOE has cooking is still under tight wraps, Smed did make one other thing clear about EverQuest Next.

“We’re not trying to make WOW2 or Everquest 2.5 – we’re making something that we think will define the next generation of MMOs.”

SOE certainly managed to do that with the help of Verant in EverQuest. Countless MMOs have emulated the EverQuest design for years, including WoW, which people often tend to use the phrase “WoW clones” to describe other games while seemingly forgetting that WoW itself is a clone of sorts by those standards.

What are your thoughts on EverQuest Next? Can SOE do something that has eluded many developers and create something fresh, fun and new for a genre that is getting oversaturated and pretty stale? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.

The full interview with Smedley will be available on PC Gamer at a later time.

Source: PC Gamer