EverQuest Next is "largest sandbox MMO ever designed," says SOE's John Smedley

Sony Online Entertainment President John Smedley took the stage at the studio's annual SOE Live convention to talk about the scope of EverQuest Next, the working title of the next MMO in the EverQuest franchise. As part of a "blowing up" of the preliminary concept images and sketches released last year, Smedley claimed Next will be the "largest sandbox MMO" created to date, according to EQ2 Wire .

"We didn't want more 'kill 10 rats' quests. We didn't want more of the same. If you look at the MMOs out there, they're delivering the same content over and over again. So are we. We need to change that. When we released EverQuest, we changed the world. We want to do that again with a different type of game."

Smedley also promised a playable build by next year's convention for fans to try out and mentioned the involvement of previous EverQuest designers Dave Georgeson and Terry Michaels in Next's formation.

Omri Petitte is a former PC Gamer associate editor and long-time freelance writer covering news and reviews. If you spot his name, it probably means you're reading about some kind of first-person shooter. Why yes, he would like to talk to you about Battlefield. Do you have a few days?