MMO Year in Review: Landmark is wiped off the map (January 2017)

By
Bree Royce
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December’s many article roundups and awards always remind us that it’s hard to remember what happened last month, let alone what happened way back at the beginning, so this year (as in 2015 and 2016), we decided to poke through our MMO coverage, month by month, to hit the highlights and frame our journey before we launch into 2018.

If you were still reeling from the devastating loss of EverQuest Next in 2016, the announcement in January of this year that Landmark was being kicked the curb too was salt in the wound. In fact, the beginning of 2017 was a dark spot for MMOs, with Firefall in limbo, Marvel Heroes rolling out an unwelcome patch, The Repopulation being sold to the company that almost snuffed it out, and the Asheron’s Call series on the chopping block. Even Nostalrius had regrets! We did, however, see the launch of Conan Exiles and get our first whisper of Elder Scrolls Online’s Morrowind.

Read on for the whole list from January of this past year.

TOP NEWS STORIES OF JANUARY 2017
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Jeremiah Ratican

I just can’t forgive Daybreak, maybe someday, but not any time soon.

3 
1 year ago
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IronSalamander8 .

I enjoyed Landmark despite it still feeling like very early access right up to the end. It really could have been a great launch point for EQN.

And of course EQN being killed was depressing. I’m actually glad I had art of my planned characters made even if I can’t play them.

0 
1 year ago
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peor togs

Eqn and landmark was the hope for mmorpgs. Giving means for players to create content, plus an amazing game world.

I hope blizzard or amazon has picked up on those ideas… Those concepts are next level concepts IMO.

2 
1 year ago
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Amorey

*sobs quietly* Landmark was very special and I will never forget my time in game and a really wonderful community <3

My last memory of Landmark , the last few seconds before sunset :*(

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7 
1 year ago
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Wilhelm Arcturus

“reeling from the devastating loss of EverQuest Next in 2016”

I had my hopes pinned on that as much as anybody, but when the company itself says it sucks it might be time to let go. And when I heard that every fan fest presentation was faked up, well… there was never anything there to lose really.

Meanwhile Landmark is a lesson in early access. When you let people in early and charge them money, the transition from there to launch ceases to be noticeable. When it went live there was nobody waiting to get in. If you were interested, you’d already played.

We’re going to see this over and over going forward with early access games failing to make any splash when they “launch” because they’ve effectively been live for years in some cases.

1 
1 year ago
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mike foster

God I really liked Landmark. Losing Next was a blow — it really felt like they were doing something special.

4 
1 year ago