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Free for All: Three trends that need to go away in 2011
You know what? I hate geek memes. Heck, I hate the word meme. I generally will not support any term or phrase that was made popular in the last 10 years and mainly through the use of the internet. If it was made popular in programming circles in the early days of BBS (whatever that means) or if it was lovingly crafted during the great internet bubble of the '90s, I will avoid its use. Most of the time, I do not want to use someone else's words to support my own. You will never see the following sentence coming out of my virtual mouth: "Oh, hai! >.< All your base are belong to pedo bear! O.o Angry writer is angry!" The worst of the worst has got to be "die in a fire." Yes, I know you are a geek. I get it -- you are using a term that, I am sure, qualifies you as a socially awkward individual, as someone who simply must say the most inappropriate thing at the most inappropriate times (such as during a developer chat with developers who had almost lost their lives to recent wildfires -- I am not kidding). But I will not wear that badge of geek cred. Until now. These practices that I am about to list to you after the cut can, you know, die in a fire.
The Tattered Notebook: EverQuest II's year in review
EverQuest II may be the ripe old age of six, but it certainly isn't showing signs of slowing down. With 2010 coming to a close, it's time to look back on the past year, which was marked with several major changes to the game. Read on for The Tattered Notebook's year in review, and then share your memories of the past year in EverQuest II.
EverQuest II offering bonus experience
Once all the presents have been opened, the fruitcake has been eaten (or relegated to the duty of propping open a nearby door), and many folks are back to work, it might seem a bit glum after the weekend's festivities. Thankfully, if you're an EverQuest II or EverQuest II Extended player, you'll have something to look forward to. Sony Online Entertainment has decided to offer up a great late present to its loyal players in the form of four days of bonus experience! From 12:01 a.m. PST on Monday, December 27th until 11:59 p.m. PST on Thursday, December 30th, players will be treated to a whopping 100% bonus on experience. According to the EverQuest II site, that covers all AA, tradeskill, and adventuring experience gained during that period and will cross to the French, German, Japanese and test servers as well as the main EverQuest II and EverQuest II Extended servers. So get ready to celebrate the last week of 2010 with some free epic extra experience in Norrath.
EverQuest II reveals new Freeblood race lore
There's a brand new race coming to EverQuest II this winter, and SOE has all the juicy lore details in a post on the game's official website. Freeblood vampires will be available to EQII Live subscribers and EQ2X gold and platinum members beginning in February as part of the Velious Winter Rewards program. A quick read-through of the fine print reveals that players must qualify for both the December and January rewards to be eligible for the Freeblood race (and ice wolf mount) that make up the February rewards. Both prerequisites require an active subscription and an account in good standing. If you're having trouble waiting until February, the Freebloods will be available for purchase via the Station Store later this month. In the meantime, SOE has provided some fairly meaty lore for you to sink your teeth into, and it's available at the official website.
The Tattered Notebook: An Interview with Dave "SmokeJumper" Georgeson
This past autumn has been a busy one for EverQuest II, with the unveiling of EverQuest II Extended and upcoming server mergers. In contrast, players haven't heard much about Destiny of Velious, the upcoming expansion due to release on February 8th, 2011. But even though news of the expansion has been quiet of late, the team has been hard at work getting things ready for beta and launch. This week, I had a chance to talk to Senior Producer Dave "SmokeJumper" Georgeson about EverQuest II's upcoming expansion, Destiny of Velious, as well as a progress report on EverQuest II Extended. Curious about what role factions will play in Velious or what Georgeson's favorite instance might be? Read on to find out!
SOE's super offers for super fans
Sony Online Entertainment wants to give the superfans more reasons to log in to their favorite games this Cyber Monday. Most of the SOE titles, like EverQuest, EverQuest II, Everquest II Extended, Clone Wars Adventures, Free Realms, and Pox Nora, are offering discounts on Station Cash as well as other special offers starting November 29th and ending December 3rd. Just $37.50 US buys you 5,000 Station Cash, while $65 US buys you 10,000. That means you can finally purchase that sparkle pony cat you always wanted. In addition to these offers, each SOE title has its own daily deal. Free Realms is giving triple member discount on items. EverQuest, EverQuest II, and EverQuest II Extended have 50% off a daily featured item. Clone Wars Adventures is giving away special discounts to members. And PoxNora will not be left behind with offers ranging up to 50% off game items. Log in to your Station account for more information on these offers or visit the games' respective websites.
SOE details EQ2X free Gold membership weekend
Curious about the Gold membership level in Sony Online Entertainment's new EverQuest II Extended service? Make sure you're around from November 19th to November 21st, as EQ2X is putting on its first Free Gold Membership Weekend. All EQ2X accounts will be granted full access to Gold membership perks including higher spell tiers, equipment grades, extra bag, bank, and character slots, and relaxed restrictions on coin and journal quests. What happens to your extra characters and higher level spells after the free trial weekend? They'll be off-limits if you revert back to the F2P Silver or Bronze access levels, or available immediately if you upgrade to Gold. Check out all the membership details on SOE's matrix, as well as a detailed overview of the game itself. Finally, the free weekend discussion thread contains plenty of good information as well.
The Tattered Notebook: Station cash, server merges, and musings from the community
Welcome to another chapter of The Tattered Notebook. There's a ton to talk about this week, as our favorite game has been making news left and right, in both its traditional and free-to-play flavors. Pull up a chair and grab a cup of your favorite beverage as we delve into our semi-monthly look at what's turning heads and generating discussion in the EverQuest II community. As it turns out, nothing stirs the pot more than server merges (and maybe Station Cash), and in this week's edition we'll highlight a few noteworthy conversations you may have missed. Turn the page for more.
Free for All: How will F2P fare at GDC?
GDC Online is one awesome event. Although I attended the event in the name of a different site last year, I remember it well. It was a mass of my favorite developers and inside-thinkers, clumping together to discuss customers, design and community. Of course, there were some panels and talks that, frankly, bored me to tears. Then there were many that were so exciting that they strengthened my resolve to be a games writer. In fact, it was around this time that dreams of design began to take a back seat to visions of writing. That's the power of attending such events. On the other hand, these events have the ability to convince writers of almost anything. When attending, we must promise to always stay skeptical -- no matter what anyone says to us. Let the information sink in for a while before we take it as gospel. Let the varying ideas of the various speakers blend together a bit -- then let's form our opinions. I am most excited to see how the last year's wave of free-to-play games and switch-overs will affect the chats. In '09, social gaming was the whipping boy (everyone said he/she hated it, yet everyone seemed to be planning some sort of social game), so will free-to-play receive the same treatment?
The Tattered Notebook: Land of the lost
It's been quite a while since I trekked through EverQuest II's Darklight Wood with a newly minted shadowknight, and the time seems right to take another look at one of the game's grand adventuring zones. Between the influx of newbs flocking to SOE servers thanks to EQ2X and the Norrathian expatriates returning to possibly rekindle their former flame, a tour of one of the game's more noteworthy locales is in order. Join me (and my ratonga alter-ego) after the cut as we adventure through the Enchanted Lands. %Gallery-104101%
Free for All: How much for a ten-spot?
In this week's Free for All, I decided to check out some cash-shop games to see what I might get for 10 U.S. dollars. For the record, some games can be subscription-based and still have cash shops, and some games can have cash shops that have been redesigned and tweaked so that they do not fit into the same old "cash-shop" model. For clarity, I stuck to cash shops that normally pop up while you're in-game -- usually inside their own window. Sometimes, though, the cash shops might be accessed or found on the games' main websites, as well. It was hard to choose, being that I generally don't buy from cash shops any more. It takes a very special product (like Wurm Online's currency) to get me to pay, namely because I do not spend as much time in a single game as I used to. Actually, let me rephrase that before someone starts to write a comment based on that statement: I still spend a lot of time in certain games, like anyone else, but my pace has slowed. Most of the cash-shop items out there are convenience items -- simply time-travel devices that allow the player to speed up his experience. Since I have all the time in the world because of the free nature of these games, speeding up is not something I am interested in. So, let's look at a few cash shops to see what piqued my interest!
Unlimited EQII character slots coming October 5th
If you're anything like us, you're a raging altoholic with an EQII character select screen crammed full of ratonga wizards, barbarian monks, froglok swashbucklers, and any number of other funky race/class permutations. One of the great joys of SOE's long-running EverQuest sequel is the huge number of races and classes available for play and now, courtesy of an update coming your way October 5th, Norrathians will no longer be limited to a select number of character slots. EQII producer Dave "Smokejumper" Georgeson announced the good news in a post on the official forums. "We've solved some technical issues recently and we can now offer character slots for sale," he writes. Each additional slot will be permanently tied to your account after a one-time purchasing fee of 1000 Station Cash ($10.00), and there is no limit to the number of additional slots you can buy. The service will also be available on both the Live and F2P servers.
Go for the gold: Win a 30 day gold subscription to EverQuest II Extended
It's official: free-to-play EverQuest II is live and out of beta. While we just got done catching up with Dave "Smokejumper" Georgeson, we have one more EverQuest II related piece of news up our sleeve. We have 30-day gold subscriptions to give away to EverQuest II Extended! If you've been considering trying out EverQuest II or EQ2X but didn't want to pay a subscription fee or purchase items from the marketplace, then why not take a shot at winning one of the 15 gold subscriptions in today's contest? It only takes a minute (and a Massively.com commenting account) to enter, and you might just walk away with a code for a free month! Interested in entering or learning more? Then skip along after the break!
EQII's Georgeson on LotRO comparisons, class manifestos, and more
With all the folks popping into the newly free-to-play world of Norrath lately, it's easy to forget that EQ2X has been a beta product up to this point. Now, with the testing tag gone away for good, Massively has taken the opportunity to sit down with SOE producer Dave "Smokejumper" Georgeson to get his take on how the grand experiment is going. Join us after the cut for a revealing discussion about Everquest II's new F2P flavor, the state of the Live servers, comparisons with Lord of the Rings Online's recent business model conversion, class manifestos, and a possible dungeon finder.
Free for All: Five popular cash-shop item types
Over the next few weeks, I would like to take a look at cash shops. Despite many good experiences I have had with them, even my referring to a cash shop can conjure up not-so-happy images for many players. For myself, a cash shop gives me a sense similar to a visit to a toy store -- a toy store where everything is dirt cheap. Good cash shops can not only make you want to spend money, but give you an item or experience that was well worth your cash. Before getting into the heavy-lifting topics, I will go over five of my favorite cash-shop item "types." Bear in mind that there is always some game that features some variant of each of these types. Also remember that there are always more categories, but that these represent what I think are the most popular and make the most money. Feel free to suggest any categories that you think do something similar, or correct me where you think I'm wrong.
The Tattered Notebook: Community rumblings
Ah, the Everquest II community. A fascinating melting pot of cynical veterans, middle-of-the-road types, and now (thanks to EQ2X), fresh-faced new bloods. While there is no shortage of informational destinations about the world of Norrath to be found around the web, the best is still the official boards when you're looking for up-to-the-minute anecdotes about the game (courtesy of its most passionate players). In this week's Tattered Notebook, I break down a few of the more interesting discussions from the past couple of weeks, many of them dealing with the recently released GU57, EQ2X, and of course the future of Norrath in both Live and F2P flavors. Turn the page for more.
The Daily Grind: EQ2X or LOTRO?
EverQuest II's free-flavored server has been available to the public for a few weeks now, and yours truly finally found the time to check it out several days ago. While last week's major MMO news centered around Turbine's Lord of the Rings Online going free-to-try (as well as its cleverly blasphemous use of Gandalf in a television ad), EQ2X beat the land of hobbits and Haradrim to market by the better part of a month. It's not much of a stretch to say that the two games compete for a similar audience, and while both focus on stellar PvE content, there are marked differences between them. One rides the coattails of the most renowned fantasy license in history, while the other owes its existence to one of the massive genre's granddaddy titles. One features fugly character models and beautiful environments, while the other is starting to act its age when it comes to visuals. There are more differences (and similarities) of course, and listing them all would take the better part of a feature column, so let's get to the meat of today's question. EQ2X or LOTRO? Or both?
The Tattered Notebook: Behind enemy lines
"My boy, we're pilgrims in an unholy land," said Professor Henry Jones to his son Indiana as the duo warily watched a parade of goose-stepping Nazi soldiers (and throngs of their fervent admirers) in the 1989 film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. I spent many a summer day watching the classic action flick as a kid, and the line inadvertently sprang to mind as I logged into SOE's free-to-play EverQuest II server this past week. Now, I know what some of the politically correct types are thinking at this point: did he really just compare F2P to the Nazi party? The answer is no, not directly, but I do feel an increasing sense of isolation as seemingly everyone around me drinks the Kool-Aid, and it conjures that empty/hopeless feeling of being stuck behind enemy lines. Turn the page for more.
One Shots: Fear the frog
There's no doubt that a bunch of people have stampeded over into the lands of EverQuest II Extended to see what the experience is like. We know we've heard some interesting tales back from those first intrepid explorers. Apparently somewhere along the way they're running across a frog (likely a Froglok) who seems to be rather, shall we say, forgetful when it comes to things he wants you to do. You know the type: NPCs who send you somewhere, only to have them send you right back, leaving you to wonder why they didn't just give you a shopping list in the first place. Today's tale of forgetful frog frustration comes to us from Mike, who writes in to tell us a bit about his experience: "Hey! Just thought I'd share this shot of my new experiences in Norrath. Since EQ2 went F2P I decided I'd give it a try. To show my appreciation I threw them a few bucks and got the Silver account. Here is my MMO alter-ego Ocholivis standing atop a local peak overlooking the starting area below, contemplating his adventure thus far and wondering why that frog guy from the camp has sent him up here on yet another ridiculous errand. So it goes." Have you found a forgetful NPC? Would you like to show off what you're doing? We love to hear about our reader's travels. Email your picture and travel tale to us here at oneshots@massively.com along with your name and the name of the game. We'll post it out here and give you the credit for sending it in. Couldn't be easier! %Gallery-85937%
The Tattered Notebook: GU57 reactions and a sad ratonga
Hoo boy. Well, GU57 is upon us, and if you haven't heard the cries of SOE devs as they're burned at the stake on the official forums, you're not paying attention. After a brief day's delay, the patch hit last Wednesday and proceeded to generate what passes for an uproar in the veteran EverQuest II community. What's the big deal? It looks to be a UI update, a few new quests, and the usual tweaks, fixes, and improvements, right? Well yes and no, depending on whom you talk to. Many people on the boards are convinced the sky is falling; most people in-game are convinced the former are taking things a little too seriously and everything is just hunky-dory; and a few (such as your humble author) think the reality is somewhere in the middle. Turn the page for more.
