It's official.  I've broken SOE's code!  Using my vast knowledge of steganalysis, which has only come in handy when trying to decode Kubrick films, has finally payed off.  After careful study of the released EQNext wallpaper image, I've found startling new info that needs to be released to the masses.  Let's begin.

1:  The forearm plate armor on the Kerran clearly shows a (5 2).  This obviously indicates that beta for the game with begin May 2nd of next year which will last through the summer before the eventual release that August.

2:  You'll also notice 5 swords and 2 hammers in the picture, again hinting towards a May 2nd beta date.  You may be saying to yourselves that you see at least 1 or 2 more swords but those are obviously daggers.  An easy mistake to make to the untrained eye.

3:  Staying on the same path, Firiona Vie has 5 arrows in her quiver and is holding 2 weapons.  See the pattern?  It doesn't take a rocket surgeon to see everything's been right in front of us the entire time.

4:  Firiona Vie is also tipping us off  to the use of a multi-class system.  It's clear that we'll be able to shoot swords with our bows and possibly melee with our arrows once we're out of sword ammo.

5:  The female mage using a 2-handed hammer also shows off the use of the multi-class system.  At first it appears she's wearing pants, which would be a direct violation of EQ code according to this post.  Fear not though, they are actually thigh high leggings!

6:  Everyone in the picture is running around willy-nilly which leads me to believe that the rumor of the trinity being gone is true.  We can distinctly see a depiction of a zerg based clusterfuck goin on.

7:  Clearly every server will have FFA open world PVP, according to the image.  Nestled around the map will be dragon statue safe spots that you can see 2 players taking advantage of right before the scrum ensues.  This is evident in the fact that the Kerran has nothing in his right hand while wielding only a sword in his left, which would normally be weird.  He's obviously been defeated in a battle nearby and lost his main hand weapon to another adversary.

8:  Finally, and most importantly, we can deduce that all these players are basic FTP'ers.  I see no signs of world building or destruction which can only mean that the option to do either is for cash shop purchasers or premium members.  This should keep the riffraffs at bay for a while.

I hope I've opened a few peoples eyes today.  This is meant to be taken absolutely 100% serious and in no way a stab at all the nutjobs out there coming to their own conclusions with little to no info to back them up.  Well done SOE, well done.

I've been waiting on the reveal of EQ Next, much like everyone else, since the news of it restarting as a sandbox.  I was excited mostly because i was interested in what SOE had up their sleeves and not so much because of the IP.  I never really got into the franchise mostly because i was a hardcore FFXI player.  That game was essentially the Japanese version of EQ with better art and class system, so i never felt the need to venture into Norrath.  I did however play EQ2 briefly, which i enjoyed for what it was.

I do also admit that the other reason for my excitement was because i absolutely knew the reaction old school EQ players would have if anything diverted from their personal expectation of what this game should be.  It's the same exact players that I'm used to from FFXI.  They're extremely loyal, unwilling to change, extremely stubborn, but also community driven.  Now some of those qualities are great and some get in the way of progress.  It's a daily discussion we have on TS where we compare how things used to be and how similar players and situations from both those MMO's really were and still are.  

None of us were surprised that as soon as the art was revealed, the cries of "cartoon art - this game is dead to me" started pouring in.  I could only imagine what kind of backlash we'd get if Square decided to change things like that in FFXIV.  It would be a complete catastrophe.  I absolutely understand because it was that exact reason that i couldn't make it past level 5 in WoW.  If i don't like what I'm looking at, no matter how great the combat or content is, I'm not going to bother spending time there.

Here lies the problem i have with this thinking for this game, and keep in mind it's all my opinion.  EQ and EQ2 had not only terrible character models but also really bad art style.  If you go look at FFXI today,  you'll be blown away that it's an 11 year old MMO.  It still looks great.  What I'm trying to say is, i feel the art direction is a huge improvement over the old one in the EQ world.  I know this won't be a popular opinion, but it is what it is.  I think it's a perfect middle ground between the terrible WoW art and something like Black Desert.  At the same time, i understand all the hate it's getting.  You really can't win when you're creating something new for die-hard fans.