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Norrathian Notebook: EQII's new Frostfell experience
There's no place like Frostfell. No matter how long you've been absent from EverQuest II, and no matter how many expansions come and go, you've known that there was always one thing you could be sure would stay the same year in and year out: Frostfell's Wonderland Village. Well, no more! Like Freeport and Qeynos before it, the staple of Frostfell celebration has undergone quite the transformation. So stepping through the Magic Closet now might be a bit of a shock in a going-back-home-and-finding-your-parents-converted-your-bedroom-into-an-office kind of way. But unlike the parental remodeling, this renovation is meant to make the place more inviting for your return. With a beautiful new setting to go with the year's new quests and achievements, EQII's Frostfell experience is better than ever.
Norrathian Notebook: EverQuest Next Round Table roundup, round three
Quick on the heels of our second Round Table roundup for EverQuest Next and EQN Landmark comes the third, filled with the next bushel of questions! In these (lucky) seven queries, devs asked players to give their opinions on starter zones, modding the UI, length of the day and night cycle, grouping, preferred Landmark building styles, and the role of NPC merchants. And of course, devs also offered their personal opinions on these topics. Did you participate in all the polls the first time through? If not, we've got them all right here for you. Go ahead and join in the discussions; it is never too late to voice your opinions! You never know when your comment might be the one that turns the tide of thinking or offers a new solution no one had considered before.
Norrathian Notebook: The EverQuest franchise through the ages
Our notebook is tattered no longer! We've filled so many pages over the years that it is time to set the dog-eared, fraying sheets aside and take up a fresh new notebook with plenty of room for all the upcoming adventures. And on this fresh new slate, you will see a slightly different focus from that of its predecessor. As you may have noticed, over the past few months, The Tattered Notebook dipped into coverage of more than just EverQuest II. As of this moment, it is official: Our notebook now chronicles Norrath, in all its shapes and forms. These pages will fill with all things EverQuest, from the original game to the next incarnations. On top of the franchise focus that includes four major titles, the notebook is moving back to a weekly time slot every Saturday, so you'll get your Norrathian news more frequently. To kick things off, let's a look at the history of Norrath, from start to sequel to sandboxes, and everything in between.
The Tattered Notebook: EverQuest Next roundtable roundup, take two
Back in September, The Tattered Notebook gathered together the first 10 roundtable questions that EverQuest Next and EQN Landmark devs posed to fans, with their accompanying community thoughts, developer opinions, and video clip answers. However, that was only the tip of the iceberg. The Round Table discussions were not just an introductory fad; they are a permanent part of the development process. As such, new polls are put up every week for fans to vote on and to post their own feedback and thoughts about on the forum. So now that a couple of months have passed, it's time to round up the next wave of questions in one central location, focusing this time on the six questions with dev responses. Maybe there is a query or two that you missed as the weeks rolled by, or maybe you just want to see what direction the community is leaning. Got some strong opinions about death penalties or fast travel in EverQuest Next? What about in-game holidays? This is definitely the time to share them!
The Tattered Notebook: The EQN Landmark founders pack fallout
You might have heard about a little piece of EverQuest Next Landmark news about how interested players have the opportunity to purchase Founders Packs. If you haven't (or you missed the resulting maelstrom of responses), the basic gist of it is this: SOE is offering three levels of pre-launch bundles for the upcoming sandbox game, with prices ranging from $19.99 to $99.99. Besides in-game goodies, each pack also adds alpha or beta access to EQN Landmark. Therein lies the rub. That one little bit of intel set off quite a flurry of comments, from valid concerns to some head-scratching claims. Some folks had questions as to whether these packs have anything to do with EverQuest Next (they do not); there seems to be some overall confusion and misinformation mixed in among legitimate points and vitriol alike, so today I'm going to address some of the concerns that cropped up.
The Tattered Notebook: Dishing out memories for EverQuest II's ninth birthday
Like its older sibling before it, EverQuest II doesn't show any signs of slipping quietly into the night as it ages. Another year has come and gone for the middle child in the EverQuest franchise, and plenty has transpired in those 52 weeks. You'd think after all the goings on of the game's eighth year that things might slow down a bit; after all, how do you top monumental occasions like going free-to-play? But no, the content train just kept rolling in. If you thought that there was already too much to do in EverQuest II when the ninth year started, I'm sorry to say that it just got worse -- or better, depending on how you look at it. That's not to say it was all rainbows and kittens and unicorns (although there were those, too!), but there were definitely plenty of positive happenings throughout the year. From demonstrations of great community spirit to updates galore, the past 12 months have been filled with things both big and small. Take a stroll with me down memory lane as we celebrate EQII's ninth anniversary.
The Tattered Notebook: Navigating EQII's Nights of the Dead
Halloween is by far my favorite holiday, and EverQuest II is easily one of my favorite games of all time. So when the two combine, it's a match made in heaven. But just like the game itself, the Nights of the Dead live event has so much to it and so much to do that it is easy to become overwhelmed. Cue The Tattered Notebook! I know what it's like to want to participate fully in an event but not know where to start. And now with so many more new players (thanks in large part to the Heroic Characters), it's not even a matter of finding the little changes to this year's event. Let's be honest: Even those of us who have taken part previously can't remember every detail from year to year, especially when more is added each holiday season! So today I'm going to provide a guide to introduce you to all things Nights of the Dead.
The Tattered Notebook: What to do with your new level 85 in EverQuest II
It occurred to me as I was crafting up an EverQuest II leveling guide that a score of folks would be popping into the game on newly minted level 85s as soon as Heroic Characters go live next week. You might even be one of those who are taking advantage of this opportunity to see all of the upper content echelons. If so, let's be honest: You aren't necessarily going to care where the best place to go at level 38 is. You need to know what's happening in those later levels. So I switched gears; today I am offering a guide for life in the 80s and beyond instead. Whether you have played EQII before in the lower levels and are bumping up your first character or you are diving in for the first time and finally giving the game a go, here's what you need to know to acclimate to life in the upper tiers of Norrath.
The Tattered Notebook: EverQuest Next Round Table roundup
Back when EverQuest Next and EverQuest Landmark were announced, SOE President John Smedley made it clear that the two games were henceforth in "open development." That meant that the company would be soliciting feedback and opinions from players about myriad design decisions for the two games. Since then, EQ Next devs have thrown out new questions each week for players to vote on and discuss. Utilizing polls and forum discussions in a special section of the main site labeled Round Table, important topics like bearded female dwarves and armor appearance customization are delved into and player desires and feedback are gathered. After collecting the data, the devs respond, sometimes in video form. Today, The Tattered Notebook is going to round up all those roundtables, giving you a summary of which way the community is leaning on these different topics as well as the dev input. I'll even throw in snippets of their opinions as well! Of course, if you haven't added your thoughts to the mix and you'd like to, you still have time to do so as all the polls are still active.
The Tattered Notebook: Will EQ Next bolster or break EQII?
Doom! Gloom! Kaboom! As is wont to happen, the recent news about SOE's layoffs sparked a flurry of speculation about the fate of the various games in the studio's portfolio. In fact, it's not terribly unlike the the speculation after the unveiling of EverQuest Next. Will EQ Next/SOE layoffs kill off my beloved *insert game title here*? In the case of EverQuest II, I feel fairly confident that the answer is a resounding no. I've even said as much before. Unfortunately, I can't confidently say the same for other titles, even though I'm pulling for the success of them all. If anything, I get the impression that SOE is circling the wagons around its flagship IP, solidifying its attention on the franchise that started it all. Where do I get that idea? Well, keep reading to find out!
The Tattered Notebook: Quips, quotes, and EQ Next tidbits from SOE Live
It's official: I survived SOE Live! (I'd have included "with my sanity intact," but we all know I didn't have any going into it.) It's not that I seriously doubted this conclusion; I did successfully survive my inaugural visit after all. But with so much to see and hear and do, there was bound to be a casualty of some sort. In this case, it was sleep. Even sacrificing that, there was still no way to experience it all -- and I tried! If you haven't been to SOE's annual "family reunion" in a while, you might not realize just how big it has grown. And adding EverQuest Next and EverQuest Next Landmark to the already expanded portfolio of games represented made for more news than could reasonably be condensed into nice little packages. That's where The Tattered Notebook comes in! I'm going to share an assortment of hidden gems and hilarious moments from the convention, including plenty of EQ Next intel from various developer interviews.
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.
SOE Live 2013: EverQuest Next explained
With that pesky SOE Live embargo out of the way, we can finally stop speculating and start talking about EverQuest Next! And if you're a sandbox fan, you're going to love it because when SOE declared last year that it was doing something really, truly different with EQ Next, it wasn't kidding. EQ Next is set in the realm of Norrath, but this is a rebooted version of those lands. Veteran players will find familiar places and names in the lore and setting, but they won't have a monopoly on the knowledge of this world; players new to the franchise can be equally comfortable because everyone is discovering this new world at the same time. On two separate occasions over the last few weeks, I got to sit down with Franchise Director Dave Georgeson to learn even more details about the game in preparation for today's SOE Live reveal. Want to see what all the fuss is about? Then join me for a tour through some of the key aspects and features of the upcoming sandbox.%Gallery-195288%
The Tattered Notebook: Speculation's last stand for EverQuest Next
I found myself in an interesting predicament this week. Today's Tattered Notebook was slated to be my last big speculation about EverQuest Next before I learned the real scoop at SOE Live 2013. However, as many of you know, I actually got the goods in a special preview a couple of weeks back! So until I can talk about what I know, my speculation days are done... at least on the features front, that is. What I can still ruminate on is the hype surrounding the game. After all, who needs concrete information when hype is involved? Hype is a powerful tool, able to work people into quite a frenzy. As often as we've been burned by unfulfilled promises, you'd think we we'd skip the hype boat, but that's not the case; we often book a ticket and hop on anyway. We just can't help but feel our heart strings pulled and hope renewed when a new title comes out flashing our favorite buzzwords. And EQ Next has offered a few: emergent gameplay, sandbox, innovation. From there, every little morsel of news -- no matter how few and far between -- has been like a drop of fuel to the fire, elevating our hopes and building expectations. Is the hype justified? We'll all have a better idea of that soon, though not soon enough. Until then, here's a recap of what we do know to chew on until the main course is served in two weeks. Then you can let your speculation run wild, even if I can't!
Tattered Notebook: Are EQII mercenaries a solo-savior or group-killer?
A couple of events this past week brought my mind back to a subject I have pondered off and on since EverQuest II's standalone expansion Age of Discovery launched back in December 2011. The first came when a Massively TV viewer expressed amazement at how our little group could decimate the triple-up heroics (a con system designation meaning hard) in a dungeon. The second came when a colleague was lamenting the difficulty of finding a group to get into a dungeon. How are these two situations tied to Age of Discovery? By the tethers of mercenaries. Mercenaries, or mercs as they are more generally referred to, are available to all players who have purchased that particular expansion regardless of their level. Plenty of Norrathians, including me, are running around with these for-hire companions. But the question on my mind is, are mercenaries a boon or a bane to EQII? The answer depends heavily on your playstyle.
The Tattered Notebook: EQII's housing update makes feet obsolete
Life in EverQuest II just got lazier thanks to the housing system part of the this week's update. Wait... what? If you've ever delved deeply into decorating in Norrath, you'd know that one thing this housing system can not be accused of is fostering laziness. With the countless number of items (seriously, I gave up trying) and the limitless ways of using them, players have been lost for weeks, even months, on decorating projects. Just take a stroll through the EQII housing leaderboards to see the amazing detail -- and therefore time and attention -- that goes into these abodes. So how on earth can I equate housing with lazy? The lazy part comes not in relation to the actual decorating (which did become easier thanks to another recent update, by the way) but in travel. Indeed, now all Norrathians may never have to walk home through city streets again! Join me for a look at what could rightfully be billed as the new Norrathian transportation system. Oh, and the spiffy house management features, too.
Tattered Notebook: There's too much to do in EverQuest II!
For this latest Tattered Notebook, I'd already planned -- and in fact was in the middle of -- writing impressions of Scars of the Awakened, EverQuest II's most recent meaty update. I've collected a slew of notes taken from the adventurer and crafter questlines, including some tips and time-saving tricks. But amidst all that intense update research (I gladly sacrifice myself for you guys!), I got distracted. And no, it wasn't by a shiny! You see, although the land of Cobalt Scar opened up just over a month ago, I've been pulled away and unable to complete everything I want to in that zone. Why? Because in that same time, there have been multiple city festivals, a round of Moonlight Enchantments (with new quests and brand-new housing items that were a must have), a double XP weekend that just begged for some serious crafting advancement, a commissioned housing project to complete, personal houses to decorate, old quests to finally finish up... and that was just to start! As the guilt for not finishing the entirety of GU66 settled in, friends who weren't as high-level as I wanted to play together in areas they had access to, which coincidentally did not include the latest update. So off I ran through older zones and dungeons with lower-leveled friends. Needless to say, my in-game adventures of late have stretched all over the map of Norrath. Sounds busy, no? It was during all this that I had to finally lay my delusions of finishing everything I have planned before EverQuest Next to rest; there's just too much to do in EQII!
The Tattered Notebook: EQ Next scoops up Emily 'Domino' Taylor
A curious thing happened as I was strolling through EverQuest II this past week. It seems there was a bit of commotion in the Norrathian community, with races good and evil cheering and dancing in the streets. Personally, I didn't even know Sarnak could move like that! What was the catalyst of this celebration? Why, didn't you hear -- there was news about EverQuest Next! And with the scarcity of that kind of treasure, it's understandable that folks went a'frolicking. But this wasn't just any old news, either. This week, fans learned that Emily "Domino" Taylor, also known as Pentapod, was returning to the EverQuest franchise as the producer for EQ Next. Can the presence of just one person really send prospective players into a tizzy of anticipation? Yes, it can. I watched as a number of EQII players, once ambivalent or on the fence about EQN, not only look twice at the upcoming sandbox but hop right on over into the newest Norrath's camp. More eyes than ever are watching the development of this game (even though there is scant little to watch at the moment). And this is why.
Tattered Notebook: A guide to EQII's Moonlight Enchantments (with new stuff!)
Lately, there have been a number of topics all vying for my attention here in Tattered Notebook. In a couple of instances, some of them got a little rough and started pushing the others around to try for a better place in line. Yet all the while, EverQuest II's Moonlight Enchantments has been patiently waiting. So as a reward (we do like to reward good behavior here!), that quiet little topic is getting the spotlight in a special bonus edition. And the timing couldn't be more perfect! You see, initially this guide was just going to focus on speed to help you get through that short two-day event that comes but once a month on the 20th and 21st in EQII. Now, however, we get to delve into the changes and new things coming to the Enchanted Grottoes, from even more housing items (yes, that's on top of the new additions in March) to two new repeatable quests to earn the tokens to buy the items. And with this month's festival right around the corner, having a game plan ready to get the most out of those two days will benefit new and old players alike.
Tattered Notebook: It's the little things that count in EQII updates
It's like they know me! You'd think with all the bag functionalities that SOE has introduced to EverQuest II this year that the devs have watched my livestreams and taken pity on me and my storage predicament. And it didn't stop with just one new addition; even after one set of sorting capabilities was released, another set came along. With all these new organizational tools, there is a chance even I might actually find something in my oft-overstuffed bags. (Clean bags, however, is another matter entirely and not likely to be resolved!) Now bag sorting in and of itself really doesn't sound like a big deal, the kind complete with flashing lights and a ticker-tape parade. It's not. In fact, it's pretty much a little thing... well, except for micro-managers and packrats, of course. So why in heavens would I be spending time talking about piddly updates in EQII when such an expansive one recently released? Because getting the little things (and getting them with regularity) is big. The subject of minor updates warrants just as much attention as a named one like Scars of the Awakened, both for what the updates are and for what they portend. And those updates bode well for everyone.
