The Everquest Next Landmark closed beta will start in less than a week on March 26.
The alpha mode will end on March 23 (the last day).
Everything, except your character name, your templates and any items you purchased (Founder’s Pack items or marketplace purchases), will be wiped, reported Slash Gear.
The potential of the game’s tools are being realized, according to SOE’s head of franchise development David Georgeson.
“It’s working really, really well right now,” Georgeson told PC Gamer. “Alpha’s been working fantastic. The whole idea of, we'll be open, you can be part of the dev team, that was courageous, let’s put it that way. But it’s exactly what we hoped. We tell them everything...they’re being extremely helpful, they’re trying to make things better and they’re literally using our tools in ways we did not know could be done.”
The claims system, which is basically plots of land where players make their mark in the world, was used by Georgeson and the team to learn about what players wanted and how to tweak the game moving forward.
The team added shared claims to, letting players build together and collaborate.
The Lethality guild, for instance, combined 21 claims to build a town.
“They were kind of worried that what they were doing might break the game. They were abusing a bug, but we allowed it because what they were doing [created] great data for us. They found a way to jam 21 claims together and they’re building this massive town, and it has attracted the attention of the community, so all of these really good builders are coming out of the woodwork.” Georgeson mentions the gate design they debuted this week with moving gears and chains - while they can’t animate it yet, the detail alone has taken SOE aback. “Our artists are going to have to work hard to keep up!”
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