EverQuest Landmark is closing down next month

EverQuest Next could have been the MMO to make me love MMOs. I didn't have a World of Warcraft phase or a City of Heroes phase, or even much of an Ultima Online phase, so these big multiplayer worlds have always been a bit of a mystery to me. The idea of existing alongside hundreds of other people is exciting, but I'm more interested in world simulation and AI than I am in fetch quests and emote spamming. Next looked like it'd bring adaptive AI and emergent storytelling into the massively multiplayer arena, and I was very excited about it. And then it was cancelled.

And now, after a prolonged beta launch and briefer full release, precursor title EverQuest Landmark [official site] is closing down.

This comes on the back of the cancellation of EverQuest co-creator John Smedley's Hero's Song, which looked to do something similar to Next, though in a completely different visual format, and on a different scale. Landmark was more about construction and creation, allowing players to claim parcels of land, and then to terraform them and create buildings and settlements. In the early days, there was the promise that the best of the creations would become part of Next, a world partially moulded by its inhabitants. For me, without Next as the next step, Landmark always seemed a little like a stack of blueprints for a building project that hadn't received planning permission. We looked at it way back when, and for all that the results sometimes impressed, the process was laborious.

The servers will close on February 21st and the game is no longer available to buy. In-game items are unavailable for purchase, unless they can be bought with the Daybreak currency (DBC) rather than real cash - all in-game currency items have been reduced to a value of 1 DBC.

With heavy hearts, we are writing today to inform you that after much review, we have decided to close Landmark game servers on February 21, 2017.

Since Landmark first entered Alpha, we have been impressed by the creative talents in this community. You pushed the boundaries of what Landmark could do, and we are grateful for the time and energy you shared through your creations in this game.

While there is still time to enjoy Lumeria and the many worlds you’ve built within Landmark, we wanted to let you know what you will be seeing happen between now and February. Beginning today, Player Studio items will no longer be available for listing or for purchase in the Landmark Marketplace. Landmark will also no longer be available for purchase. All items in the Marketplace with a Daybreak Cash price will have their price reduced to 1 DBC.

Along with the servers, the game's forums and social media channels will be closed, and there's currently no possibility of fan-run servers.

Daybreak Game Company will retain all of the code and data from Landmark. Daybreak Game Company will not license or authorize the operation of a Landmark emulator or a fan-operated Landmark server.

If you have any in-game currency left over, there won't be any refunds for that. You can spend it in other Daybreak games, most notable Planetside 2.