bristlebanes-day
Latest
Perfect Ten: My favorite MMO April Fools' pranks of all time
There are two types of people on April 1st: those who are annoyed and indifferent to the tomfoolery going on all around them, and those who gleefully embrace the zany antics and baldfaced lies. For the record, I am of the latter crowd. I love April Fools' Day and the humor and creativity that it inspires. While this day is by no means contained to our neck of the woods, MMOs have a long-running streak of trying to pull the wool over our eyes. I think a good goof has to have several qualities to make it truly memorable. It needs to be original. It needs to be actually amusing, whether or not you "fell for it." And it needs to tweak our expectations and understanding of how MMOs work. Sometimes there are even important ideas that emerge from these jokes that could, indeed, make these titles better. So let's go through my favorite MMO April Fools pranks of all time, as catalogued by yours truly!
The Tattered Notebook: The value of vanity
I always knew Gnomes were evil, but a Gnomish pirate?! This was too much. As much as I wanted that new horse of a different color mount from Bristlebane Day, I could barely stand the thought of having to go toe-to-toe with the cabbage-scented Captain Gnoggin. In a lopsided battle, I emerged victorious, and as I did my turn-in for the new Bristlebane Day quest, I was reminded that EverQuest II offers an enormous variety of unique house items and appearance clothing. Cosmetic items might not offer any real advantage in progression, but they speak to the depth of content in the game and the quality of life that players enjoy. Being able to create an amazing home or make yourself stand out with a unique look is a real luxury for players. In this week's Tattered Notebook, we'll look back at the evolution of vanity items in game and take a look at a few easy ways that players of all levels can add a little bling to their lives.
Celebrate a tricksy halfling for April Fool's Day in EQII
If there's anything we know for sure about halfings, it's their love of devious tricks. The Norrathian god Bristlebane is no exception, being the deity of pranks, foolishness, and lighthearted deception. So when April Fools Day comes around and Bristlebane's power is at its yearly peak, expect all of Norrath to fall for his hysterical tricks! This year's Bristlebane Day is going to be filled with festivities, pranks, and even a few new items for you to add to your inventory! While the yearly mainstay quests have returned (like Ratical, The Impossibly Rare Objects, and Gigglegibber Scavenger Hunt) a new quest has appeared in the Enchanted Lands! This quest will only be available on April 1st, in addition to some "other" festivities that will appear in the zone on that day as well. Play your cards right, and you might just be the owner of The World's Worst Colored Armor Set (TM)! Exciting? We think so.
The Daily Grind: Your favorite spring holiday event?
For many people this weekend will be a time of chocolate and seeing family. For others, this may well prove the nice and quiet time (and days off from work or school, depending) to get in some extra MMO time. Lord of the Rings Online has the Spring Festival, World of Warcraft has Noblegarden. We've recently had Bristlebane's Day in EverQuest II, and there were St. Patrick's events in everything from FusionFall onwards. That said, all of these events are vying for you to log in and enjoy - to give you a bit of spring-tinged cheer; but which one has consistently proven to be your favorite? Which game do you think has the most awesome, well-scripted, fun spring events?
April Fools 09: SOE gets silly
The fun thing about checking out the different pranks and events in SOE's various titles is just trying to chase all of them down. Sure, some of them are patently obvious like the class name changes in EverQuest, but others were a bit more subtle and took some looking to notice. Curious as to the various things we noticed? Have something you'd like to add to the mix of all the SOE April Fools' hilarity? Join us after the break for a quick run-down of what we found.
Bristlebane's Day told in pictures
It's Bristlebane's Day in Everquest II until April 2!The god of tricks and pranks has a special job for someone (maybe you!). Look for Blat Berisen outside the gates of your home city... The gods are sending evil thoughts into his brain, and only you can retrieve the tinfoil cap he needs to block them out. Will you accept the challenge? Check out our exclusive gallery for hints to help the quest along -- including amazing shots of the tin cap itself!%Gallery-19394%
