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The Tattered Notebook: It's OK if EverQuest Next is a niche game
I'd like to open today's column with my favorite quote from SOE's EverQuest Next reveal: "Enough is enough. Enough of the same game already. It's time to get some new ideas into the genre." Now, you would think that this sort of unambiguous mission statement would be picked up on and understood by everyone who has even a passing interest in EverQuest Next. After all, the quote rolled off franchise director Dave Georgeson's tongue during the first two minutes of the EQN reveal speech. And if it wasn't clear from that opening monologue that EQN isn't going to be your daddy's combat lobby, the rest of the reveals that focused largely on the game world, the building tools, and a wee bit of the ol' ultraviolence should have been the second clue.
The Tattered Notebook: What I want to see in EverQuest Next
I was going to update you fine folk on my adventures in rolling my 17,000th EverQuest II alt for this week's Tattered Notebook, but SOE decided to drop a Fan Faire Live date on us, which sort of mucked up my nefarious plans. Why do we care about SOE Live? Well, there are multiple reasons, but the most important one is that instead of having to wait until October, we now get to see (and touch!) EverQuest Next in early August!
The Tattered Notebook: Decisional paralysis in EverQuest II
So the last time we talked EverQuest II, I confessed that coming back to the game felt a lot like coming home. That's still true, in more ways than I first realized. I don't know about you, but when I return after a lengthy absence I have an overwhelming urge to get things done. As I look around the place and figure out what's changed, what needs fixing, and what seems like fun, I tend to get overwhelmed, too, because there's just a lot of stuff that needs doing. That's exactly what happened to me in Norrath over the past two weeks. I logged in with my 92 Sage and my 92 Shadowknight, surveyed their vast array of abilities and possibilities, and promptly threw up my hands.
The Tattered Notebook: Why I came back to EverQuest II
When I log into EverQuest II after a long absence, I feel a little bit like a world-weary vagabond who's finally earned a rest. I see myself -- or my avatar, at least -- dropping his luggage on a familiar front porch and surveying the surroundings he vividly remembers despite months (sometimes years) of travel abroad. There's a fine coating of dust on the furniture. The neighborhood has a bunch of new rules and as many new neighbors. All in all, though, the spires of Freeport and its refurbished waterfront are a welcome sight. EQII has always been the one MMO that I return to without fail; it's also the one that I've played the most, now that Star Wars Galaxies is gone. This time around, I'm coming back not for an expansion or a new feature (although there are plenty of both in the world's deepest themepark) but rather for the need for a little MMO stability. And hey, I'd be lying if I said I'm not partly motivated by the promise of EQNext.
The Tattered Notebook: Home sweet home
When I sat down to brainstorm this week's column topic, the thought occurred to me that I've never really spent much time expounding on my absolute favorite feature of SOE's EverQuest II. Sure, the progression is pretty well done, the crafting is awfully good, and the large and varied zones are an explorer's paradise. However, all of that pales in comparison to the simple fact that my adventurers can go home at the end of a lengthy dungeon crawl or an evening at the forge. Yes, I'm a fan of player housing, and if you're one of those unimaginative souls who thinks housing has no place in MMORPGs, well, you're wrong. I've touched on housing here and there, mentioned it in passing, and certainly written a few news articles about it when patch notes have warranted a mention, but The Tattered Notebook has thus far lacked a proper discussion of housing in the world of Norrath. Turn the page to remedy that fact.
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.
The Tattered Notebook: GU58 reactions and a happy ratonga
So the yin/yang monster has caught up with me this week, and it's taken the form of EverQuest II's latest game update. A few weeks ago, my Ratonga alter-ego was positively crushed under the weight of the awful spell effect changes wrought by EQII's Game Update 57. He was so upset, in fact, that he called me during a meeting and insisted I write a rather ranty column about it, complete with sidebar pictures depicting the gruesome before-and-after details. Happily, GU58 has arrived to right that horrible wrong (as well as add some other cool stuff). Turn the page to see what else the folks at SOE have stirred into the pot for the denizens of Norrath.
The Tattered Notebook: Harsh language(s)
So a few days ago I posted an image of Jules Winnfield (the incomparable Samuel L. Jackson) doing his thing atop the early-morning discussion-starting post that we here at Massively like to refer to as The Daily Grind. Little did I know that said image would set my mind to quoting Pulp Fiction for the better part of a week, and I remembered why Quentin Tarantino's 1994 crime epic is a marvel of snappy dialogue and the clever use of language. Before this edition of The Tattered Notebook turns into an impromptu film review (or an ode to four-letter words), allow me to segue as smoothly as possible into my point, which is that language can also have a profoundly nifty effect on MMORPGs if properly utilized. EverQuest II provides a few examples of what I'm talking about, so turn the page for a bit of an explanation.
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%
The Tattered Notebook: A newbie look at alternate advancement
So my little ratonga wizard is fast approaching level 50, and I figured it's high time I started worrying about his AAs. Actually, it's probably past time (he's got a paltry 29 at this point), as I've been too busy running willy-nilly around the world of Norrath flinging fireballs, exploring, and collecting junk for my South Qeynos rat hole. Yes, I've been terribly remiss about properly planning out an alternate advancement strategy so that my furry friend isn't horribly gimped upon his eventual arrival at endgame, but thankfully it's not too late (in fact, it's never too late, thanks to the awesome sauce that is chronomagic). EverQuest II vets may be rolling their eyes at the prospect of an AA article, but for newbs on both the Live and F2P shards, alternate advancement can be a tad confusing if you're averse to reading a lot of tooltips. In this week's chapter of The Tattered Notebook, I'll break down EQII's AA system to give you a baseline of knowledge and a starting point for thinking about your own builds.
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 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.
The Tattered Notebook: The dual nature of double experience
Once upon a time I used to write about a grindy game. That game was called Aion. Eventually I dumped... er, gracefully handed off coverage of said game to the lovely and talented MJ. It wasn't that it was a bad game; I actually played it for over six months and enjoyed most of my time there, so much so that I still log in every few weeks. The grind did me in though, and it was only on those occasions when the double XP fairy left her intoxicating present under my pillow that I was ever really happy in the world of Atreia. Fast forward a few months to EverQuest II, and the first double XP weekend on my watch has just concluded, leaving me bleary-eyed and wasted due to chasing those dings all Labor Day weekend long. Once upon a time I wrote a column praising the virtues of double XP in that other game, but now I'm here to tell you that in the world of Norrath, it's not all it's cracked up to be.
The Tattered Notebook: Finding the right guild
So I've been back in the world of Norrath for several weeks now, immersing myself in not only the game but the various forums that make up the far-flung community. Class discussions, mechanics, quest guides, the incredible EverQuest II wiki, all of them have flashed across my browser window with regularity over the last little while. I've found anything and everything I ever wanted with regard to information about how to play and enjoy the game, as well as more than a few interesting resources that I can't quite find a use for but enjoy reading nonetheless. The one thing I can't seem to find, and the one thing that seems to be the first and foremost requirement for getting the most out of EverQuest II, is a good guild. Turn the page for more.
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.
The Tattered Notebook: Flying mounts and what's Next
Well, it's been quite the week and a half for EverQuest fans, with not one but two expansion announcements, a few more details on the upcoming EQII Extended service courtesy of various Fan Faire panels, and of course the speculation supernova surrounding the pseudo-reveal of EQNext (is it really a reveal though if we know virtually nothing about it?). You might think that here at the Tattered Notebook, we'd be quivering with excitement for more EQNext info, or salivating at the prospect of a return to Velious as well as gearing up to visit the House of Thule. You'd be right, but all of that pales in comparison to two very special words (no, not Station Cash): Flying frickin' mounts.
The Tattered Notebook: Player-generated content please
Ahhh. You hear that? That is the sound of relief, as the obligatory free-to-play reaction column is safely in the rearview mirror. It feels great to be talking about EverQuest II again as opposed to its payment model. MMORPGs are of course big business, and I don't begrudge developers and executives from trying to take their products to the next level, but damn am I ever tired of reading (and thinking) about subs versus RMT and yada yada blah blah. It sometimes seems as if the industry is putting all of its considerable talent and brainpower behind payment model innovations rather than gameplay innovations, and I for one would love to see stakeholders actually improving and expanding their products rather than devising new ways for people to pay for their products. Speaking of improving products, let's move forward. As my ratonga wizard makes his way slowly but surely towards level 40, I'm starting to feel more comfortable in the world of Norrath. So comfortable, in fact, that I can safely start talking about what the game lacks and what would potentially make it even more awesome (because, the following mini-rant notwithstanding, EverQuest II is a pretty awesome MMO). Turn the page for more.
The Tattered Notebook: F2P bombs and views from the fallout shelter
Well, this week takes the proverbial cake when it comes to the least amount of time spent head-scratching over a column topic. Thanks to Dave Georgeson and the executives at Sony Online Entertainment, I pretty much had this little opus sketched out by dinner-time last Tuesday. Anywho... a week ago tomorrow the bomb dropped. It wasn't a stink bomb, a 50-yard bomb, or even an F-bomb (though there were no doubt plenty of those uttered in some circles), but rather a Hiroshima/Nagasaki type of bomb that changed the world and effectively ended the war between P2P and F2P, at least as far as Norrath is concerned. Or did it? Turn the page to find out.
The Tattered Notebook: Mask of the betrayer
You know, there's something decidedly ironic about playing a rat in an MMORPG, particularly in a themepark grinder like EverQuest II (and before anyone burns me at the stake, it's a good themepark grinder, I'm positively in love with it). The parallels are almost too perfect. Rats chase cheese and players chase digital carrots, running around a pre-defined maze with numerous boundaries, roadblocks, and invisible walls just like your average lab rodent. Luckily EQII camouflages these minor irritations better than most games, even on fairly grinderific content like the city betrayal quest series. Yes, I've returned to playing my ratonga after a week of cheating on him with a shiny new shadowknight, and I've finally managed to move his furry little butt away from the abusive stylings of Freeport to a comfy little four-room rat hole off the side streets of South Qeynos. Turn the page for more on his journey and thumb through his gallery below. %Gallery-98135%
The Tattered Notebook: Through the Darklight
Welcome, wandering adventurers, to another chapter of The Tattered Notebook. This week, we'll take a crack at our first guide for Sony Online Entertainment's EverQuest II. Actually guide is probably a strong term; this will be more along the lines of a chronicle, since we'll examine the path I traveled through one of the game's many starting zones and offer a bit of commentary along the way. Why the change in direction, you may be wondering, and whatever happened to my exiled ratonga wizard? Well, I've spent the last couple of weeks betraying him and have hit something of a roadblock, both on his betrayal quest and with regard to his leveling pace. Consequently, I figured, what better time to roll up what is likely to be the first of many alts and take a small break from my main? Character attention spans have never been my strong point, I'm afraid. Never fear, though; more ratty adventures are in the offing. For now, your captain (and mine) as we navigate the treacherous terrain of newbville is a dark elf shadowknight. Not the most original combination, I'll grant you, but he sure looks cool. Without further ado, turn the page and let us dive deep into the Darklight Wood.
