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SOE soliciting EverQuest II class feedback
Feldon over at EQ2Wire has called our attention to an interesting dev post on the EverQuest II forums. In spite of the fact that SOE has spent a lot of time balancing the game's 25 classes over the past 18 months, there's still some work to be done. EQII mechanics lead Mike "Xelgad" Ganz put out a call for feedback designed to make each class more enjoyable to play. SOE is particularly keen on "improving tedious abilities to be more user-friendly," according to Ganz. "Balance issues are always a concern, but numbers tend to spotlight those issues, while it's easy to overlook problems that simply make the classes less fun than they should be," he says. Each of EQII's four archetypes got its own feedback thread, so click through to leave your thoughts regarding Priests, Mages, Scouts, and Fighters.
The Tattered Notebook: EQII pays attention to PvPers and fighters
This past week, we learned that not only are we a long way from hearing details about EverQuest Next, but the handful of screenshots we got at the 2010 Fan Faire don't really represent what the game looks like anymore. I'm as excited as can be about EQ Next, and I'm rooting for big things for the game, but you can't fault me for having the urge to reach for the Tums as I recall what happened to another SOE game that lingered in development this long (The Agency) and try to avoid comparing it to another recent title that generated buzz for this long without any tangible evidence of the project (Copernicus). I still have faith! And as I post up these screenshots one last time for posterity, my concerns over EQ Next were tempered by more details about the upcoming update in EverQuest II, including big PvP news, adjustments to the fighter classes, and some interesting changes to gear. Let's look at a few highlights from the recent SOE Webcast with SOE Executive Director of Development Dave "SmokeJumper" Georgeson, EQII Lead Designer Akil "Lyndro" Hooper, and Associate Designers Brian "Omougi" Ferguson and Mike "Xelgad" Ganz to see what impact the changes might have on the game.
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.
