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Living Legacy: What it does and what it doesn't
Long-time players of Sony Online Entertainment's EverQuest will likely recall the name Loral Ciriclight. A fixture in the EQ community, he's written for years about the game at the Mobhunter site. Of late, the site has been dark. The Evil Agendas have been kept in the drawer, the thoughts on expansion cycles have been explained offline. In response to the recent hoopla around the Living Legacy event Ciriclight felt the need to offer his views on the initiative.From the commentator's point of view, the drive just doesn't address the real issues behind EverQuest's decline. While the toys are neat and free playtime is always welcome, Ciriclight notes that the many problems that persist throughout the game's design are still there. Players left EverQuest for a reason. It might have been the mandatory grouping, or the large raid size. Or something else entirely. Whatever they left the game for - it's probably still there. The Mobhunter offers a few ideas of how they could attract the attention of wayward players and make them stick, but ultimately he doesn't seem too hopeful.Says Ciriclight, "Without establishing new character baselines or changing the way the game is played, players are likely to leave for the same reason they left in the first place. At this time, other games are just more fun."
Going back to EQ or EQ2 but -- which server?
SOE's new Living Legacy event seeks to lure people back to their two main EverQuest games (EverQuest Online Adventures for the PS2 and EverQuest Macintosh Edition get no love here) by using shiny new armors and abilities and super-fast leveling. Both EverQuest and EverQuest II have changed in so many fundamental ways in recent years that SOE really wants you to come back and try the games again.Which server to play, though? Both games have many servers. Nothing like World of Warcraft's hundreds, but enough so that its not immediately obvious which one to choose. SOE has prepared a couple of pages that briefly list the servers and tell you what the odd letters next to their names mean, but in this article, we're going to try to examine servers a little more deeply, so that you can create your character knowing the sorts of people you'll find. More details -- LOTS more -- after the break.
The Daily Grind: How do you feel about Living Legacy?
The word on the blogosphere right now is that current subscribers are not happy with Sony Online Entertainment's Living Legacy marketing campaign. While former subscribers and trial account users are getting many perks to come back to EverQuest, many current subscribers are feeling a bit snubbed.Living Legacy is certainly offering a multitude of events and other exciting opportunities for current users, but the general feeling is that these offerings don't come close to what former subscribers are getting. What we here at Massively want to know is how do, the current subscriber of EverQuest or EverQuest II feel? Is Living Legacy pleasing you with what it currently has, or do you want the campaign to give back more to those who have been with EQ?
Unboxing EverQuest's Living Legacy
So you've decided to take SOE up on their Living Legacy promotion, with free two months of gameplay and all the goodies you can fit into your extra-large sized trick-or-treat bag, and are wondering just what you'll find in that bag when you open it. If you're finding yourself in EverQuest, you'll get quite a lot.Legacy Satchel - Your trick-or-treat bag itself is rather nice. The Legacy Satchel is a seven slot bag that can hold any item, no matter how large. Sturdy straps make it easy to find a good spot for this bag among the other nine knapsacks you're juggling. It includes smaller pockets for your PDA and cell phone, for when those get invented.More information on the armor, weapons, potions and other items you'll find in your Legacy Satchel -- after the break.
The Daily Grind: Going back to EverCrack?
For those of you who haven't heard, Sony Online Entertainment has handed out 60 day subscriptions to all former EverQuest and EverQuest II subscribers -- even trial accounts! The whole initiative is part of this summer's Living Legacy marketing campaign, which will be including events, items, Legends of Norrath cards, experience weekends, and much much more! This is all leading up to the new expansion pack that will be released for EverQuest II later on this year.So, this obviously begs the question, are you going to go back to your "EverCrack"? Is this aggressive marketing campaign enough to pull your hands away from the recently released Age of Conan, World of Warcraft, or other favorite MMO? With all of these incentives being offered, and so much to do inside of EverQuest each week this summer until August, will you find a need to go back to your old habits?
EverQuest II's senior producer on SOE's Living Legacy
Bruce Ferguson is both new to the EverQuest II team, and an old hand as well. Bruce was with the team back when the game first launched, and just a few months after his return we sat down to chat about the intriguing new Living Legacy program. Overlapping between the sequel and the original EverQuest, this ambitious recall program may be even more meaningful for EQ2 than the original game.Many players were thrown by the launch game's strange approach to design. Locked encounters, a confusing class system, and numerous idiosyncrasies plagued early EQ2 players. The EverQuest 2 of today, in contrast, is a study in listening to the needs of the players. Join us as Mr. Ferguson explains a bit of that philosophy, talks about the numerous bonus XP weekends coming up, and hints at the many live events that will tie the past into the future with the next EQ2 expansion.
EverQuest's senior producer and designer on SOE's Living Legacy
Last week we sat down with EverQuest lead designer Ryan Barker, and senior producer Clint Worley. They were both very enthused to talk about the Living Legacy program, the just-announced initiative to bring adventurers back to Norrath. With the game's amazing tenth anniversary just about a year away, it was very interesting to speak with these industry veterans on what the team has in store for us this summer.Join us as we chat about the game's future, the special competition raid encounters slated for the Legacy event, and even how these events are rolling along in the direction of the mysterious next expansion!
SOE's Living Legacy campaign gives you 2 free months in EQ and EQ2
Sony Online Entertainment has today unveiled the official site for a huge summer initiative. Called Living Legacy, it's their most ambitious enterprise to date aimed at getting players back into the game. Starting today (they've probably already done it, if you want to go look) SOE will reactive the account of every player who's ever set foot into EverQuest or EverQuest II. Accounts are open and free until July 31st for EQ2 players, and July 25th for EQ players. Better still, both games will be completely patched with all expansion content: returning players have been gifted with the Secrets of Faydwer and/or Rise of Kunark all-in-one packs.Not only are they offering a free pass back into Norrath, but a bevy of events and in-game items await the returning adventurer. EverQuest players are invited to "celebrate their hardcore heritage" with hot zones that give a 25% bonus to already-increased XP, free armor and weapons that will "get players up to speed" with their fellows, and even special trinkets if you convert to a paying customer. EQ2 players have as much, if not more, to look forward to with a full calendar of events ongoing throughout the summer. They've also got recruitment rewards, unique in-game items, and much more. Read below for the full details on both programs, and check back with Massively.com for interviews with EQ senior producer Clint Worley, EQ senior designer Ryan Barker, and EQ2 senior producer Bruce Ferguson on this momentous initiative. You can also see the full Living Legacy trailer embedded below the cut.
