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The Guild Counsel: What I learned at the SOE Live player panels
It was easy to overlook, but hidden among the mountains of new announcements and game panels at this year's SOE Live were several panels that were organized and run by the players themselves. Players were asked to submit ideas for panels across a wide spectrum of game topics. They came up with some terrific ideas, and Linda "The Brasse" Carlson, SOE's Global Director of Community Relations, used every tool at her disposal to fit in as many as possible in the lineup. Thanks to my time-turner necklace, I was able to catch several of these player panels in addition to the regular game panels, and I've summed them up below. There were some great moments from each of these panels, and if you missed them, you'll want to check out the highlights below!
SOE responds to ProSiebenSat.1 fiasco, says it's not a done deal
Sony Online Entertainment has finally responded to the ProSiebenSat.1 brouhaha. Director of Global Community Relations Linda "Brasse" Carlson gave frustrated fans a faint glimmer of hope with a forum post last night that basically said the controversial deal isn't quite a done deal. In a nutshell, SOE plans to divide its long-time gaming community by region, with European player accounts handed off to ProSiebenSat.1 and Alaplaya. The announcement sent shockwaves through the EverQuest II community, as many guilds and sub-communities feature players from both sides of the Atlantic. The forced transfer of player accounts and personal information from SOE to Alaplaya also raised eyebrows, as some in the player community voiced concerns over security and convenience since Alaplaya reserves the right to delete inactive accounts after 90 days and has been accused of publishing real names on past-due accounts (the company has denied the latter). SOE's forums have been on fire over the past two days, with dozens of bans handed down by moderators (including one to noted community leader Morgan Feldon of EQ2Wire). Feldon's fansite is the place to go for info about the ongoing drama; it provides a wealth of opinion on why the proposed deal sucks for players as well as a collection of community reactions. Aside from Brasse's post, SOE has been silent about the deal, which comes on the heels of the firm's generating quite a bit of fan goodwill by reversing its decision to shelve the Mac version of EverQuest.
The Tattered Notebook: Build a better character with EQ2U
For years, EverQuest II fans have quietly suffered in silence as the EQ2Players site remained broken and buggy. We watched other games, with their Armories, Magelos, and extensive databases, and we pined for the day when we could once again look up things like characters, gear, stats, and guild rosters. The wait was worth it, though, and EQII players have gone from famine to feast. This past week, we got a glimpse of the newly refurbished EQ2Players site, but what's really exciting is that the EQII team has been working with fansites to provide the data feed and allow community figures to create their own resource sites. Morgan Feldon and Dethdlr, who do an amazing job with EQ2Wire, did just that, and on Friday, they officially launched EQ2U. It's a thorough and regularly updated database of things ranging from character stats, gear, and AAs to spell lists and warder pets. What's more, you can look up gear, track spells, and create your own wish list for your character. Feldon and Dethdlr have been working on this for the bulk of the past year, and Massively had a chance to talk with them about the project. Read on for a glimpse into the site's early beginnings and learn how EQ2U will help you get your characters up to snuff!
The Tattered Notebook: A wish list for EQII's 'phase two'
EverQuest II has had quite a year, but I was recently thinking about a comment that Executive Producer Dave "SmokeJumper" Georgeson made regarding the future of the game. In a recent interview, he discussed plans for "phase two," which is an ongoing list of things the team wants to do to improve the game but don't make it to live. With all of the new changes to the game, the team usually comes up with lots of extra ideas, and Georgeson said the focus going forward will be to knock out some of those ideas on the "phase two" list. I thought it would be fun to put together a list of things I'd like to see on the phase two list, and since it's the season for wish lists anyway, the timing is perfect. Read on for a look at a few things I'd like to see in EQII next year, and then share your ideas below!
The Tattered Notebook: Down but not out!
I was closely watching our Choose My Adventure poll last week and had a flashback to 1986, when I was torn between rooting for my two favorite teams, the Red Sox and the Mets. There I sat, staring at my Cabbage Patch Red Sox doll and my Cabbage Patch Mets doll, trying to decide which one I would embrace as I tuned in for the first pitch. Whom would I root for? Hurst or Darling? Dewey or Nails? Mookie or Billy Bucks? Carter or Geddy? Boggs or Ho-Jo? I chose the Red Sox, and I'm still trying to get over that memorable World Series. The CMA poll had me right back in that seat, as I found myself rooting for both frontrunners, RIFT and EverQuest II. For EQII fans, the vote tally ended up somewhere under Bill Buckner's cleat, and RIFT ended up winning. Take heart, EverQuest II fans: We have a great game, and like an aged wine, it's getting more buttery with a hint of raspberries and a taste of oak. So raise your glasses because it's time to toast the reasons EverQuest II is a great game!
EQII's Destiny of Velious expansion reviewed, sort of
Hey guess what? The EverQuest II Destiny of Velious expansion NDA is down! Not! That's basically how it went for EQII fansites recently as SOE pulled a fast one in regard to allowing info on the highly anticipated expansion into the wild. We were quite interested in a preliminary Velious review, and Feldon from EQ2Wire was all set to oblige us when... well, let's just say his hands were tied. "Really, when the 'NDA lifts,' all this means is you are allowed to talk about what you experienced in beta. The gag order is lifted. You get your voice back. But anything else is still off limits," he writes. Feldon goes on to say that EQ2Wire will still be publishing a couple of articles on the expansion, but nowhere near as many as had been planned. So how's the new Norrathian content itself? Pretty good, it seems. "The group and raid zones are some of the most impressive, well-built, engaging, interesting content designed yet for EQII," Feldon tells readers. He goes on to praise flying mounts and new art assets while saving a few unkind words for public quests, solo quests, and itemization. It's quite a lengthy write-up despite the lingering restrictions, so head over to EQ2Wire and check it out for yourself.
EQII Destiny of Velious beta in full swing
News of SOE's EverQuest II has been fairly sparse as of late. Aside from the recent server merges and a somewhat controversial vampire race, it's been pretty quiet relative to the deluge of information that followed last summer's free-to-play conversion. Presumably, the SOE gnomes have been too busy bustling about with the creation of EQII's next expansion to provide any headline fodder, and exhibit A is the fact that the Destiny of Velious beta is rolling right along. EQ2Wire's Feldon mentions community reports of the ongoing beta (which is under a strict NDA at this point), and he also provides a helpful sign-up link (viewing it requires SOE account credentials), as well as a link to producer Dave "Smokejumper" Georgeson's thoughts on the early closed beta process. "Depending on how many folks pile into the beta, and how many testers we need, we may authorize extra groups of people later this month. Stay tuned for more details," Georgeson writes.
Trading platinum for Station Cash items OK with EQII's Georgeson
EQ2Wire has an interesting tidbit regarding the exchange of platinum (EverQuest II's in-game currency) and items purchased with SOE's Station Cash. With players now able to gift Station Cash items, EQII vets wondered aloud on the game's official boards if trading some of their surplus plat for SC paraphernalia would lead to a ban. Surprisingly, EQII producer Dave "Smokejumper" Georgeson took a laissez faire approach to the discussion, in effect saying that players are welcome to the trades provided they're not facilitated by any third parties. "We really don't want to put a hard value on platinum to SC conversion rates, so we would probably only step in on this if we thought it was going to cause us legal headaches in the future. So...if kept on the low-down, it'll never cause problems. But if someone put up a website selling items officially with posted conversion rates, I have a feeling that legal might want to step in and stop it to avoid issues. Make sense? Keep it person-to-person and I don't think this will ever be an issue," he wrote. In addition to the exchange discussion, EQ2Wire's Feldon chimes in with a brief analysis of the game's economy and inflation troubles that's worth a read if you're thinking of heading back to the world of Norrath.
EQII devs brave class mechanics panel
Interesting tidbits continue to flood the web regarding last week's SOE Fan Faire in Las Vegas, with the latest coming courtesy of EQ2Wire. The Norrathian newshounds have posted a series of video captures from the EQII Mechanics panel, featuring (from left, above) developers Rich Waters, Greg "Rothgar" Spence, Paul "Frizznik" Carrico, and Mike "Xelgad" Ganz. The panel is divided into a series of six 10-minute clips, all of them informative if you're an EQII regular and concerned with any aspect of class and balance mechanics. The dev team fields a number of questions from the audience, including queries on ranger and other assorted class fixes, as well as a clarification of a Dave "Smokejumper" Georgeson forum post that some players incorrectly interpreted as foreshadowing major changes. "We're just trying to be more transparent in our design for the classes, not trying to redesign the classes at all," Spence explains. Most questions are answered with a necessarily vague "we'll look into it" and/or "soon," but the videos are nonetheless worth watching to get a glimpse at what your average developer deals with when subjected to a room full of min/max players. It's not quite an inquisition, but there is a palpable combative energy (and a few hecklers) present.
Persistent zones appear on EQII's test server
EQ2Wire draws some interesting conclusions from last week's Test Update Notes on Sony Online Entertainment's EverQuest II. The long-running fantasy MMORPG appears to be waffling on whether or not players should level rapidly. Last weekend marked a double XP smorgasbord, but now comes word of new persistent zones on the game's test servers. These zones include many instances in the Desert of Flames and Kingdom of Sky sections of the world of Norrath, and making them persistent will prevent players from zoning in and out for a fresh set of mobs. "This is the type of change that makes players the most negative about a game, these "yank the rug out from under you" changes which only serve to make players feel that their time is being intentionally wasted to maintain an artificial leveling pace. It only emphasizes the treadmill characteristic that all MMOs have, but usually try to conceal," writes EQ2Wire's Feldon. Check out the original article for more commentary, as well as the full patch notes.
