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A look at crafting updates in EQII's Game Update 52
It's not just new dungeons and adventuring quests that will be hitting EverQuest II in the next big patch, Game Update 52; there'll be plenty for those with a crafting bent as well. Niami Denmother of EQ2 Traders Corner had an early look at some of what will be available and has shared her impressions with the community. We already found out that the player-written books in GU52 will come from crafters, and Niami's preview includes screenshots of a variety of different bindings that can be made (by Sages level 50+, by the way).There will also be some revamping of crafted hex dolls and ranged items, and the new stats should please most. Existing hex-dolls will be upgraded to the new stats upon logging in after GU52's release, but the ranged items will not, just in case some people like the stat distribution of their current gear. The last thing we get to see in Niami's sneak peek is a screenshot of some player-crafted furniture. SOE was quick to mention that this is not all the new furniture that GU52 holds, but the preview should be enough to get people to dust off their crafting equipment ahead of time. Make sure to check out the screenshots of the other goodies that will be available.
New EQII zone Kurn's Tower: Breaching the Void preview
We heard last week that there are going to be a few new zones in EverQuest II's Game Update 52, and now the EQ2 Players community site has a preview of one of them for us to wrap our eyeballs around. The zone in question is Kurn's Tower: Breaching the Void. It's one of the two single-group instances from GU52 and not the x2 raid instance (although the raid instance is also part of Kurn's Tower). In terms of how difficult Breaching the Void will be, the preview tells us that "adventurers who can tackle Miragul's Phylactery: The Crucible should find that Kurn's Tower: Breaching the Void is a good test of their skill."So what's actually inside? "There are three levels that will need to be conquered and along the way, there will be puppet strings to be cut as well as some other pitfalls. Be sure to bring your parachutes! This is just the beginning of a monumental story, so expect a twist at the end of this dungeon that will lead you onwards and upwards." It sounds like groups will need to work with the Burynai to progress through the dungeon too. There are a few screenshots of the instance available for viewing at the EQ2 Players preview page.
Froech's last EQII Producer's Letter addresses item procs in TSO
As we found out earlier, Bruce "Froech" Ferguson is no longer the producer for EverQuest II. Before he left though, he penned one last Producer's Letter to the community to discuss some changes to item procs that will be coming with Game Update 52. It seems that items from The Shadow Odyssey that proc damage were getting a little out of hand, and a few nerfs will be applied to keep things under control. There are two main changes that will be made: firstly, critical damage will be removed from an item's base proc; secondly, the values of procs will not be subject to most modifications any more, meaning that generic bonuses will not make the procs bigger. Ferguson says that if these things are fixed, then items can be introduced later with intentionally large procs without fear of them growing too big through the aforementioned mechanics. In relation to these changes, some Predator spells will also be adjusted.Aside from item proc issues, the letter still does not tell us where Froech will be headed next, apart from confirming that he will remain in the SOE family.
Alan "Brenlo" Crosby moves into EQII's Senior Producer role
It looks like it's not just EverQuest that is getting a new producer -- Alan "Brenlo" Crosby, formerly in charge of the Community Relations team, will be assuming the role of Senior Producer for EverQuest II. He made this fact known himself on the official forums, which is fitting considering his previous title. His introductory post explained that, although his current and former jobs technically differ quite a lot, the underlying skills required for both fall under the area of management, so the move wasn't as strange as it might seem to some. He's chuffed about what's coming up in Game Update 52, and he mentioned that Game Update 53 is just as exciting -- but we probably won't see anything about that one for a while yet.Brenlo will be taking over for Bruce "Froech" Ferguson, who was in the senior producer role for about a year and a half. The forum post does mention that Froech will still be with SOE, but it doesn't reveal where. As for the Community Relations team, Richard "Greeblen" Schmelter will be filling Brenlo's old position.
Features announced for EQII's Game Update 52
EverQuest II's Game Update 52: Monument and Might is almost ready to roll out on the Test server, and the official community site has put up a preview of some of the highlights of the patch. There seems to be a focus on the Rise of Kunark areas for this update. Here's what the preview tells us is coming: The player-written books we had a look at last month A new zone called the Emperor's Athenaeum in Charasis A group instance called Kurn's Tower: Breaching the Void A x2 raid zone also based on Kurn's Tower Research Assistants that can upgrade spells and combat arts Over 80 new quests in the overland zones of RoK We spotted a post from Kiara on the forums saying that these things are planned to be on Test next week if possible, so it won't be long until we know a lot more.
Everquest II lets you become an in-game author
In terms of in-game originality, EverQuest II should probably win a prize. They're implementing a new feature in GU52 which will let players pen their own stories and distribute the books to other players. Think Lulu but with an EQII twist. Granted we're not talking War and Peace here but for anyone who has dabbled in fantasy fiction or would love nothing more than to pen tales of their character's exploits then this is definitely a feature for you.Rothgar (aka dev Greg Spence) has put up a post explaining how the whole thing works - as well as sharing the first page of his masterpiece, Death of a Dragon. Essentially the process is simple: nip to your local crafter and buy a blank book. Once you start writing, that book becomes tied to you the author. According to Rothgar, there's no limit to pages but there is to words. For example, this screenshot shows 16% of the book has been used up which probably means around four pages of text.
