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Legends of Norrath TCG Thanksgiving Tournament Marathon Weekend
Die hard fans of Legends of Norrath -- EQ2's in-game trading card game -- get your decks ready. From the EQ2 Players site, there will be a Thanksgiving Tournament Marathon Weekend running from 5pm PST November 21st, until 12am PST November 26th. Any tournaments you enter during this period will net you points, even if you lose (3 points for a win and 1 for a loss), and the top two scorers at the conclusion of the marathon will be able to choose any loot card -- a card which will grant an in-game Everquest II item -- as their prize. Keep in mind that this is points-based, and while winning more will get you more points, it doesn't mean you'll need to maintain a 100% record to take out the final prize. While this sounds skewed for the hardcore, there are prizes and incentives simply for participating as well. As long as you enter one tournament during the marathon's duration, you will receive an Oathbreaker booster pack of cards, and every tournament will have better prizes than usual up for grabs. So even if you know you won't be sitting in the top position, it is worthwhile if you enjoy the game to get your free booster pack and be in the running for some beefed up tournament rewards. There have been quite a few feature tournaments and promotions from the LoN team as of late, and it certainly seems like a good time to be involved.
And the first EQ2 player to reach level 80 is...
Stratics reports that the first player to reach level 80 on EverQuest II's live servers is the Monk Taucher of the guild Second Dawn on the Najena server. The word is that Taucher reached level 80 at 7:37 AM EST on Thursday the 15th of November; that's approximately 36 hours after Rise of Kunark -- the expansion that raised the level cap from 70 to 80 -- went live.Taucher won a $100 reward from the community for being the first to level 80. He wrote a couple of brief posts in the contest's stickied thread at the EQ2Flames forum. He said in his post announcing his accomplishment, "I'm sure I'll have a lot to say when I wake up at some point, but right now I've been playing for pretty much 39 hours straight and I just want to go to bed."This is not the first time a power gamer has blown everyone away with a marathon play session to reach a new level cap. Back when The Burning Crusade expansion for World of Warcraft came out, a 24-year-old Frenchman progressed from level 60 to level 70 in just 28 hours with the help of his guild mates.
Scott Hartsman of EQ2 gets profiled
Now that EverQuest II's latest expansion Rise of Kunark has been released, you'd hope that Senior Producer and Creative Director Scott Hartsman would be able to take a bit of a break -- but you can be sure it won't be too long, because its obvious that he really digs his job. TenTonHammer has a two-page interview with Hartsman that isn't so much about EQ2 as it is about the man himself.In the article, Hartsman discusses how he broke in to the industry -- his first industry job was with a text-based online RPG at the age of 15! -- his favorite games of the past and ones that influenced him, things that he does outside of work, and even some tips for anyone that would like to get involved in the gaming business. On this, he mentions that being competent with algebra comes in very handy, something that not everyone may realize.Even if you've never heard of Scott Hartsman, its a worthwhile read to hear what things are like on the other side of your favorite pastime. The link below will take you through to TTH's full developer profile.
The Daily Grind: So many games, not much time - What are you playing?
It's a good week to have a habit -- a gaming habit. *twitches* Over a bazillion games launched last week on various gaming devices and contraptions. Button mashers everywhere basked in a new shiny flickering game glow, getting a jump start on that lustrous pale skin reflection. I'm already transparent. This Gamingpalooza most likely prevented thousands from functioning in work society at some point during the week -- at least some of you admitted it! Is it a strange coincidence that so many games and patches released on November the 13th? Normally, I would chalk-up World of Warcraft's patch dropping on the same day as two EverQuest expansions as cruel and evil; albeit, one hell of a marketing maneuver to get players that were possibly thinking about flipping to EverQuest II to check out the tasty patch changes instead. But, so many games launched this week, so I'll crumple up my tin-foil hat until my next crack-pot theory emerges. I'm still piecing my head back together over all this MMOG craziness, patches, expansions, console goodness. Maybe, you aren't interested in any MMOGs right now, and you are dabbling in those nefarious console titles like Mario Galaxy or Mass Effect. Maybe you aren't interested in anything at all and waiting patiently for AoC or WAR! So, what's up with you? Go ahead and tell us what games you are playing and perhaps what you are focusing on, that alt, beating the game, crafting? Maybe you are like me and one MMOG is never enough, I'll be busy doing some pew-pew space joobie off angels in EVE (piloting a brand-spanking new ship today), and I'll do some plundering in PotBS. I might hit up some EQ2, but I doubt there will be enough time -- never is.
EQ2's producer responds to expansion grouping concerns
One of the greatest things about Massively Multiplayer Games is that the dialogue about them isn't a one-way street. With most games, fans wait for the word from on high, and discussion about single-player games tends towards fighting over scraps. With MMOGs, the considered commentary of players make for interesting reading in and of itself. That's the case we find ourselves in today, just a few days after the release of Sony Online Entertainment's Rise of Kunark expansion. Mostly the buzz seems to be positive, but a pair of bloggers have given voice to players feeling a bit put out by the pack's core leveling mechanic: questing. Yesterday Tipa (of the West Karana blog) and Kendricke (currently writing at the Clockwork Gamer site) took issue with the fact that group grinding isn't as profitable as it has been in previous expansions.Specifically they're raising this objection as it relates to the famed Karnor's Castle, a bastion of EverQuest Live lore and newly revised for SOE's new vision of Kunark. Tipa sums their issue up on her site: "Just doing quests and killing in a risk-free, outdoor zone, beats hunting in a semi-risky dungeon. How is that even possible. Dungeons are supposed to give you superior benefits for the trouble of grouping - better experience, better loot. Somehow that got lost ... When word of this gets around, KC will become a ghost town. People will do the Kylong Plains/Teren's Grasp quest lines, then move to the Fens and just skip Karnor's. SOE, it's not too early to consider tuning this zone. Grouping in KC should be more rewarding than questing outside."Scott Hartsman, the senior producer of EverQuest 2, took a few minutes today to answer their concerns for us. Read on to see further discussion from the player's POV and Mr. Hartsman's response.
Rise of Kunark pets prove productive
Lets face it, there are lots of pets in MMOs that serve as little more than trophies for players who have happened upon some lucky achievement or who were willing to dish out some extra cash to get the prize in the proverbial cereal box. Lassie, these pets are not. At first glance the Burynai Digger house pet in EQ2 Rise of Kunark appeared to be more of the same - just an interactive trinket for people who preordered the expansion. According to elquinjena at the Legion of Kithicor website, that assumption is quite misguided.Evidently, you can feed your Burynai Digger various food items and he'll occasionally spit back collection items. From her description, there didn't seem to be much rhyme or reason to the goodies that came out of his mouth -- he just procured what he felt like. According to the official website, the little buggers go to bury the trash you give them and discover shinies within your home and bring them back to you. How nice of them! They're still ugly little buggers though, if you ask me.
EverQuest II's senior producer explains the Kunark Epics delay
Massively's Rise of Kunark Beta Tour from early last week had a bevy of details on the just-released expansion. One of the hot-button items among the EverQuest 2 community, it seems, is the absence of the promised Epic weapons from Kunark's launch, a detail we first reported here on the site. TenTonHammer has followed up on player concerns in this area, speaking with EQ2's Senior Producer Scott Hartsman on the issue. Hartsman reveals that, unfortunately, the Kunark Epics are yet another victim of the recent San Diego fires. "What we were faced with was a bug count in which nothing had been touched in a week. When we are in our bug fix mode, the team is capable of fixing anywhere between 13 to 17 hundred bugs in a week, so losing a week is a big thing. At the end of the day it came down to well, we obviously need to focus on the overall launch of our expansion first. Epic weapons are something that yes, we've got a number of them in the bag, but the choice we had to make was, do we launch a game with 1500 bugs and epics that are 75% awesome and 25% less than awesome, or do we launch a game that's going to be as clean as we can make it and then push the epics out on an update? " Folks looking forward to tackling the weapons need not worry, though. Hartsman states that the Epics update will likely be coming just after the holiday season ends. This will give the team time to give the important items the polish they need ... and likely will let designers have a few moments with their families as well.
The Daily Grind: Good tutorial zones
One of the things we've noticed in jumping from game to game lately is how common tutorial zones have become. From EQ to Tabula Rasa, it seems common to have a tutorial now. As such, we thought it would be nice to touch on a few of the better tutorials for people new to MMOs.Probably one of my personal favorite tutorial zones is the one in EverQuest II -- now. The tutorial zones in EQ2 can get you into the swing of things fairly easily if you're not familiar with the game. Not only are there myriad quests designed to teach you what you need to know, but there are also tons of NPCs whose sole purpose is to give you tips and tricks about how things work in game. While the tutorial in other games such as EVE and CoX could be said to be roughly as good about telling you how things are, I simply don't think they're quite as much fun, or as chock full of quests to keep you engaged. (Although I will give props to CoH for having the Isolator badge in the tutorial.) A close runner up is the tutorial in LotRO, which drops you smack into the middle of the lore and story that people play that game for while doing a good job of explaining the game. On the other hand, there's the problem of believability when it occurs to you that any low-level character wouldn't likely come out of a brush with a Ringwraith alive. While WoW may be the 800-pound-gorilla of MMOs right now, I do honestly think their newbie zones could stand to be instanced like many other games are. Why? Because if you're new, there's nothing that will turn you off quite a quickly as being ganked and corpse-camped in a noob area when you're level 3 and you're dealing with players who are easily ten times your level. (Yes, I've been corpse camped in WoW's new-player areas by opposite-faction griefers.) Games with distinct, separate tutorial areas save new players from this hassle while they're getting used to just what those shiny new buttons do. There are many other things that we love and hate about tutorials in MMOs, but we'll skip off those for now or this will quickly become a novel. Instead we're curious what you think. What do you love about the tutorial zones in the games you play? What do you absolutely hate? Is there something an older game did better than the newer games you've experienced? Which is your favorite? Let us know!
Everquest I and II expansions launch today
For those inhabiting swank digs under rocks, or those uninitiated in the ways of the Everquest, you may not realize that two major expansions launched today: EQI: Secrets of Faydwer and EQII: Rise of Kunark. We've been following both expansions extensively, so thought we'd round up some of the more notable features for those about to Everquest (we, of course, salute you): Beta tours Everquest Secrets of Faydwer beta tour Everquest II Rise of Kunark beta tour Guides Sarnak starter quest guide Sarnak character creation how-to Rise of Kunark mega information link overload Video Sarnak character creation how-to Sarnak dance movie Sarnak fire breathing movie Galleries Secrets of Fawydwer gallery Rise of Kunark gallery Sarnak starter guide gallery %Gallery-9857%%Gallery-9771%%Gallery-10174%
EQ2 Sarnak dance movie
With every new playable race comes the most important element of them all: the new dance. For the Sarnak introduced in today's EverQuest II: Rise of Kunark expansion, that dance is a little different than what we've seen before.The Sarnak are a race of creatures magically bred from dragons. But the exact origins of their species is unknown, driving them on a quest to learn the truth about their people.SoE has reflected their ancient struggle with identity by giving them a tribal themed dance. My beta tour guide felt that the dance was also something popular among the Rugby crowd. Can anyone verify that?For the latest EQ2: RoK info, keep your browser on Massively today and the rest of the week.
EQII site is cooler than it was 48 hours ago
The official community site of EverQuest II has been updated in preparation for the Rise of Kunark expansion. The update adds new guild roster features, new art for forum signatures, lots of little fixes and additions, and of course support for all the new Rise of Kunark stuff like post-70 player characters and the Iksar race. You can read all the details on the site's news page.The update responds to a lot of user requests. It was due earlier but was pushed back so the expansion-related updates could be included in the same package. The EQII players website is an exemplary MMO community hub, and all this just makes it better. Check out the site and hang out on the forums during the agonizing wait until Rise of Kunark goes live today!
Massively Sarnak starter quest guide
Let's face it. At some point after EverQuest II receives its Rise of Kunark expansion, you'll be making a Sarnak. Sure, you may not stick with it, or even take it very far at all, but you'll want to at least see what they're like and check out their newbie area. With that in mind, we present to you this sneak peek at beginning life as a Sarnak, including a detailed walk-through of the quests, and the characters and monsters found in this first snippet of Kunark. Whether you want to use the guide to blast through the early quests, or simply check out some screenshots in our quest-guide gallery, click on through for more.%Gallery-10174%
EQ2 Sarnak fire breathing movie
One of the racial traits that all Sarnaks receive is the ability to breathe fire. Literally. The new race in EverQuest II: Rise of Kunark are magically created beings based on dragons after all.While I was poking around in the Beta (for your benefit) I took a video of my level 80 Sarnak Bruiser using his new trait on an unsuspecting Drachnid in the Kylong Plains. As you can see, the effect is rather dramatic and the extra damage doesn't hurt either.The ability is on a 30 minute timer so use it wisely. And if any of your group members gets lazy, you'll now have a simple way to light a fire under their ass.Check back with us today as we have one more video coming that shows off the Sarnak's awesome new dance moves. And check out all our EQ2: RoK coverage.
EQ2 Sarnak character creation video how-to
Servers are down for the EverQuest II: Rise of Kunark expansion patch and you can't wait to make your new Sarnak. Now you don't have to wait. Almost.Massively knows you dream of how your new toon is going to look so we are giving you a head start. This 8+ minute video shows all the options in creating a Sarnak at the character creation screen.Horn length, horn angle, head horns, scale patterns, scale colors, nose, chin and jaw shape. You name it, we covered it. Watch it a few times and when the servers come back up, you'll already know what options you want and you'll be ready to play.Keep checking in on Massively for the latest news on EQ2: RoK as well as two more videos spotlighting the unique characteristics of the Sarnak coming your way today.
Today on Massively: November 12, 2007
Broken Toys has mentioned that we put up 40 new posts an hour over here on Massively -- and while I think that's a slight exaggeration, there's certainly enough happening every day that it's easy to get lost. So without further ado, I present our very first daily wrap-up post, compiling all of the days news and information into a single easily-clickable reference. Contests Massively's massive giveaways: EQ2 Rise of Kunark, redux Massively's massive giveaways: EQ Secrets of Faydwer, part 2 Massively's massive giveaways: EQ2 Rise of Kunark Massively's massive giveaways: EQ Secrets of Faydwer EverQuest 2: Rise of Kunark EverQuest 2: Rise of Kunark -- mega information link overload EQ2 Rise of Kunark tradeskilling: Armor EQ2 Rise of Kunark tradeskilling: Furniture EQ2 Rise of Kunark tradeskilling: Harvested resources
EverQuest 2: Rise of Kunark - mega information link overload
Over this past weekend the EverQuest 2: Rise of Kunark NDA was taken out back and shot to death with erasers, mere days before the expansion launches tomorrow. Unfortunately, I only had access for a little over a week (QQ) and haven't had much time to play. This means any in-depth coverage coming from my brain is nil until I patch my sheepish brain later with more played time, but I do have some first thoughts. My first thought: I really should have played more. My second thought: I feel like I owe our readers a bit more than that, so, I ventured out and tracked down information dumps, thoughts, opinions, and screenshots from various sources who really delved in the RoK beta. The consolidated roundup is after the jump. In no particular order and without further ado:[Last Updated 11/12/07 10:30PM PST]
EQ2 Rise of Kunark tradeskilling: armor
We have one last link to share with you from EQ2 Traders Corner tonight. Previously, in their blitz on EQ2 Rise of Kunark tradeskill coverage, we featured their new harvested resources and furniture showcase pages. This final page has to do with pimping out your character's appearance (and undoubtedly stats, though we don't see that just yet) in the expansion, with a large gallery of the different kinds of crafted armor.This gallery has front and back shots of males and females wearing what looks like every kind of new armor. As with the furniture catalogue, it contains items of both the common and rare variety. There is one set of chain armor that has been updated in-game and not yet on their page, but apart from that, you should be able to determine what your avatar will look like once you've been kitted out by your local crafter after RoK hits.Have a browse of the armor shots, and stay tuned to Massively for more Rise of Kunark coverage both leading up to and after the anticipated release.
Massively's Massive Giveaways: EQ2 - Rise of Kunark, redux
Fear the mighty Sarnak, new race for the Everquest II: Rise of Kunark expansion. As mentioned previously, we managed to land some hands-on time with the beta for EQ2. Some of the things we noticed (other than some really nice customization options for your Sarnak -- we love the horns) are how the male Sarnak are smaller than the female Sarnak, and how well matched the speaking animations for this race are when paying attention to the vocal emotes/NPC dialogue. For those who haven't been in on the full scoop of what all this expansion entails, we have a fantastic EQ2: RoK beta walk-through that's just chock full of juicy details.But for now, we need to focus on giving out these three last copies of the Rise of Kunark expansion! Yes, three lucky winners will be able to make their very own Sarnaks to engage in fierce battles like the one above. Being a rampaging dragonkin sound like your idea of fun? Then if you're 18+, a resident of the U.S., and are otherwise clear according to the official rules, leave a comment below before tomorrow at 8:15 PM Eastern, and you may wind up with a shiny new copy of Everquest II: Rise of Kunark. Raar!
EQ2 Rise of Kunark tradeskilling: furniture
Earlier today we linked to EQ2 Traders Corner's article on harvested resources found in EverQuest II's upcoming Rise of Kunark expansion. This wasn't the only hard work that they did to document their creative journeys in Kunark, as we now bring you their tier 8 furniture showcase.There are nearly 60 screenshots in this gallery of brand new crafted furniture, from the expected lighting, bed, table and bookshelf items, to other more unique things such as weighing scales and hourglasses. Some of the paintings that can be made look particularly nice, and will surely be a popular choice for those wanting to shake up the aesthetics of their housing.If you're less concerned with what these items look like, and more with what they can actually do for you, the page also tells us that the common items will reduce rent status by 125, and the rare items by 1100. Have a window shop for things you'd like to buy in the expansion via the related story link, and there is more still to come from EQ2 Traders Corner later on.
Massively's Massive Giveaway: EQ2 - Rise of Kunark
This just in: we've actually been contacted by the fine folks at Sony Online Entertainment, who have given us a veritable plethora of copies of both of their new expansions launching today! This means that we've changed the original prizes from just the one copy we had, to 3 copies -- as well as the prizes for the rest of the day! That said, for EQ2 we couldn't be more excited about this, as some of us were lucky enough to get into the beta for Rise of Kunark. You can trust us when we say that the Sarnak are a wickedly fun addition to the Everquest II stable. The attention to even the little details of the starting area in Timorous Deep on up will impress both old and new players alike. But enough gushing about Everquest II and Rise of Kunark -- for now, anyway. Let's get on with giving you a chance to win your own copy!This hour we're offering three copies of the EverQuest II expansion, which actually includes the core game and all expansions up to this point! So those new to EQ2 and those who've been around alike will be able to use this prize. Full of win, no? All you need to do is leave a comment below and you could be one of the lucky people who walks away with your very own copy -- and the ability to create your very own snarling Sarnak! You must be 18+, a resident of the U.S. and all the rest of the hoopla from the official rules. Good luck!
