Episode #102 - EQ & Rift's Scott Hartsman Talks EQ vs. WoW + The Future of MMORPG's, Progressive Itemization News Discussed, & Kevin Jordan

Countdown To Classic calls in the big guns as the show welcomes a very special guest, and an MMORPG heavy hitter in Scott Hartsman. Scott shares stories about competing against WoW as the technical director for Everquest and Everquest 2, as well as trying to trying to break away from the pack during his time as CEO of Trion Worlds with Rift.  He also gives some great thoughts on WoW Classic and the potential future of the MMORPG genre as a whole. The great chat keeps coming as the episode also hits on the big news we got recently about Blizzard's stance on progressive itemization in Classic with Nano (Nostalrius Core) & the listeners, as well as going through the design history and thought process behind making Priests in vanilla WoW with former class designer, Kevin Jordan. Highlights Below: Calling Countdown #1 - Progressive itemization news with Nano, Fredmunroe & Ante - 5:10 Calling Countdown #2 - A History of Everquest vs. WoW & the future of MMORPG's with Scott Hartsman (EQ/EQ2/Rift) - 35:20 Calling Countdown #3 - Kevin Jordan on Priest Design with Fahq - 1:59:55   Find Scott Hartsman on Twitter @ https://twitter.com/hartsman?lang=en Find Kevin Jordan @ Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/kevinjordan Find Nano on Twitter @ https://twitter.com/Nano_Warcraft?lang=en Countdown Advertising Survey – https://survey.libsyn.com/countdowntoclassic Also listen @ Spotify here (Spotify takes a couple of hours to upload after posting, check back later if not there): https://open.spotify.com/show/38mHWjscNorJr7OFeNu8X5?si=c6JKxJeSRCeLQPSIlKJL8w Or @ iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/countdown-to-classic/id1352967778 Or @ Stitcher: http://stitcher.com/s?fid=174762&refid=stpr Join the Countdown To Classic Discord here: https://discord.gg/2xJAwNf Pick up awesome Countdown To Classic show rewards @ Patreon: patreon.com/countdowntoclassic Or grab some awesome Countdown To Classic merch @ Red Bubble: https://www.redbubble.com/people/joshcorbo82?ref=artist_title_name&asc=u Or support the show with a tip @ Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/Y8Y3D2TT Or simply show your support by leaving the show a review at iTunes or by telling a friend! Send your Memory Lane stories, Anger Management rants or just say hello to Josh at feedback@countdowntoclassic.com or get in touch on social media: Follow Josh on Twitter @ https://twitter.com/count2classic?lang=en And on FB @ https://www.facebook.com/countdowntoclassic/ Subscribe on YouTube @ https://www.youtube.com/countdowntoclassic Find Josh's movie podcast, The Sinner Files @ https://www.sinnerfiles.com/