It is official now, Scott Hartsman is leaving EQ2/SOE, and he left the community a farewell letter on the forums. As I've said already in a previous post this is really a shame, and quite upsetting for many in the EQ2 community. Scott has certainly lined himself up a nice replacement who goes by the name of Bruce "Froech" Ferguson, who has been involved with the Everquest2 team for quite sometime as a producer. Bruce is the best candidate from within the team and I wish him the best of luck. And good luck to Scott Harstman wherever he may end up. I will by virtue of his reputation surely check whatever he gets involved in.
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Cheston
Showing posts with label eq2. Show all posts
Showing posts with label eq2. Show all posts
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
RoK, The Honeymoon is Over.
I think it happened over the weekend or maybe just earlier this week, but undoubtedly the honeymoon period is over with EQ2's latest expansion Rise of Kunark. Ogre among others are reporting the raid content is too easy, Kendricke claims it is the lack of story. Massively is reporting on both of these stories lending their credibility to the rumors that RoK isn't all it was last week.
This is a trend that occurs with nearly every expansion and it is something I like to think of as the "Laporte curve" based on a well known tech journalist/podcast-overlord Leo Laporte. Leo has this nasty habit of once a product is released lavishing praise upon it regardless of the documented flaws, only to later come back and say it wasn't that great, and give a negative review. This is common amongst tech journalists but Leo is a good example. The time period between when journalists write a positive impression, and later a negative review is the Laporte Curve(this is not really a curve at all, but everything great has a curve associated with it, so why not). And this Laporte curve certainly applies to MMOs. Not weeks ago I was reading rave reviews and gushing first person accounts of how awesome RoK is. So what happened in a week? Well in short people sat down with it, got in depth, and found the flaws, no big deal, it doesn't mean it is a bad expansion. Only after a few months will we really understand the full impact of RoK, but for now it seems we are having a bit of RoK hangover.
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Cheston
(Side Note: Is it just me or does it feel like Massively is turning into the Valleywag of the MMO world?)
P.S.:
To clarify it was not my intention to paint Ogre or Kendricke as anti-RoK, just that we are now coming into the sober realities of the post-RoK game and gripes are popping up which is natural.
This is a trend that occurs with nearly every expansion and it is something I like to think of as the "Laporte curve" based on a well known tech journalist/podcast-overlord Leo Laporte. Leo has this nasty habit of once a product is released lavishing praise upon it regardless of the documented flaws, only to later come back and say it wasn't that great, and give a negative review. This is common amongst tech journalists but Leo is a good example. The time period between when journalists write a positive impression, and later a negative review is the Laporte Curve(this is not really a curve at all, but everything great has a curve associated with it, so why not). And this Laporte curve certainly applies to MMOs. Not weeks ago I was reading rave reviews and gushing first person accounts of how awesome RoK is. So what happened in a week? Well in short people sat down with it, got in depth, and found the flaws, no big deal, it doesn't mean it is a bad expansion. Only after a few months will we really understand the full impact of RoK, but for now it seems we are having a bit of RoK hangover.
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Cheston
(Side Note: Is it just me or does it feel like Massively is turning into the Valleywag of the MMO world?)
P.S.:
To clarify it was not my intention to paint Ogre or Kendricke as anti-RoK, just that we are now coming into the sober realities of the post-RoK game and gripes are popping up which is natural.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Hartsman jumps ship?
/rumor_monger on
There is a heated rumor going around the MMO circles about the revered Scott Hartsman(the proclaimed jesus of eq2) has left SOE and headed for parts unknown. As Ogre said in his post, this makes sense in that if one were looking for an opportunity to move on, after shipping a successful product is ideal. Massively is also reporting on this rumor started by the head admin over at EQ2Flames forums in this post.
Now I don't really enjoy commenting on rumors(actually it is kinda fun, especially since I have none of that so-called "integrity"), but it does seem to have some weight to it. Now Hartsman is a stand up guy and in many players minds he has played a major role in rescuing EverQuest2 from mediocrity. Hartsman(aka Gallenite) I remember very well from this years FanFaire for being a straight talker, that really leveled with players. Hartsman always made me feel like he really played the game, that he understood the concerns of the player base and could articulate those concerns very well, and in what must be a first for MMO devs he sees things through the users eyes. While I sincerely hope that this rumor is false for all of use EQ2 players, a part of me does hope that Hartsman can move on to an up and coming title that he can get in on the ground floor of. Whatever his fate I hope that Hartsman stays in the MMO industry for the benefit of all of the players out there. We love ya Scott!
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Cheston
There is a heated rumor going around the MMO circles about the revered Scott Hartsman(the proclaimed jesus of eq2) has left SOE and headed for parts unknown. As Ogre said in his post, this makes sense in that if one were looking for an opportunity to move on, after shipping a successful product is ideal. Massively is also reporting on this rumor started by the head admin over at EQ2Flames forums in this post.
Now I don't really enjoy commenting on rumors(actually it is kinda fun, especially since I have none of that so-called "integrity"), but it does seem to have some weight to it. Now Hartsman is a stand up guy and in many players minds he has played a major role in rescuing EverQuest2 from mediocrity. Hartsman(aka Gallenite) I remember very well from this years FanFaire for being a straight talker, that really leveled with players. Hartsman always made me feel like he really played the game, that he understood the concerns of the player base and could articulate those concerns very well, and in what must be a first for MMO devs he sees things through the users eyes. While I sincerely hope that this rumor is false for all of use EQ2 players, a part of me does hope that Hartsman can move on to an up and coming title that he can get in on the ground floor of. Whatever his fate I hope that Hartsman stays in the MMO industry for the benefit of all of the players out there. We love ya Scott!
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Cheston
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Sarnak Growing Pains
Well I've managed to get Boourn my Sarnak Brigand up to level 24 the other day. And let me tell you it has been a challenge with all of the downtime the Antonia Bayle server has been experiencing lately. Now I'm not really upset with SOE as it is my understanding the AB along with Nagafen are the two most highly populated servers around, but its still a frustration for me on my vacation.
Anyways downtime is not something I wanted to talk about right now. My primary irritation(and it is most certainly not just me) is that once out of Timorous Deep I get pretty darn lonely. There is a nice flight path from Gorowyn to ButcherBlock Mountains, but really it just isn't the same experience. The transition is bumpy and though there is a nice small quest hub at the landing point, afterwards there is this gap between RoK content and EoF content. EoF introduced a lot of great content, and I really like some of it, but it just doesn't flow well. I felt pulled out of the context and reinserted into a new and slightly confusing world. EQ2 really does feel at least to me as three parts for the new player, Original World, EoF/post, and RoK. They do not blend well together right now, and that is something I fear will not be addressed anytime soon.
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Cheston
Anyways downtime is not something I wanted to talk about right now. My primary irritation(and it is most certainly not just me) is that once out of Timorous Deep I get pretty darn lonely. There is a nice flight path from Gorowyn to ButcherBlock Mountains, but really it just isn't the same experience. The transition is bumpy and though there is a nice small quest hub at the landing point, afterwards there is this gap between RoK content and EoF content. EoF introduced a lot of great content, and I really like some of it, but it just doesn't flow well. I felt pulled out of the context and reinserted into a new and slightly confusing world. EQ2 really does feel at least to me as three parts for the new player, Original World, EoF/post, and RoK. They do not blend well together right now, and that is something I fear will not be addressed anytime soon.
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Cheston
Saturday, November 17, 2007
End Class, Begin RoK
Well finally classes are over for the Fall Quarter at RIT and I've been able to sink my teeth back into Norrath. On release day like many I spent watching the patcher crawl as RoK was being downloaded. Then finally at around six pm I was able to log in and create one of them fancy new Sarnaks. At first I created a Shadowknight which I played up to level 16 or so when I realized that half of the other Sarnaks that I've been seeing around are also SKs. So I rerolled as a Brigand, as people say it is indeed a fun class. My Brigand's name is Boourn and is now level 17 and almost finished with the Mok Rent series of quests. I am having a ton of fun in Timorous Deep, which is incredibly well designed and polished(mmo word of the year!) with a very Warcraft like solo quest progression. Which for me is fun, I enjoy always having a full quest log to plow through and it makes me feel like I'm accomplishing things at a very fast pace. Also the quest rewards are incredibly compared to the old world or even GFay and Darklight. They are keeping new players at a very fast gear replacement rate as opposed to prior newbie zones. I have to say after experiencing TD, I don't think I'll want to start a character in any other zone.
So all in all RoK is a very nice package for the new player or even if you are just re-rolling a new Sarnak. I can't say anything about the higher end instances as I have no characters above level 37, but it seems people are out enjoying it as there were something like 7 instances of Kylong Plains on release night on AB, and I see more people everyday. Well I'm going to head back into Norrath to finish up some quests, if you are on AB and want to friend me, my name is Boourn and right now I'm level 17. See you guys around Kunark!
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Cheston
So all in all RoK is a very nice package for the new player or even if you are just re-rolling a new Sarnak. I can't say anything about the higher end instances as I have no characters above level 37, but it seems people are out enjoying it as there were something like 7 instances of Kylong Plains on release night on AB, and I see more people everyday. Well I'm going to head back into Norrath to finish up some quests, if you are on AB and want to friend me, my name is Boourn and right now I'm level 17. See you guys around Kunark!
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Cheston
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Happy Birthday EQ2!
Well a few days ago EverQuest2 celebrated its third birthday! Its hard to believe it has been so long since the game first hit the shelves. Alas time has a way of getting away from us. Anyways to celebrate there were many a blog post and a cake. Also with the celebration came the drop of the NDA for Rise of Kunark, which is fantastic as I've been avoiding playing the beta, but just wanted a glimpse of what I will be digging into come Tuesday. For some awesome screenshots and other info check out Ogrebear, who has been doing a series of posts about Kunark.
Well I must get back to work, group project due Monday. Oh the stresses of higher education. See you guys in two days.
Well I must get back to work, group project due Monday. Oh the stresses of higher education. See you guys in two days.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Things that make you go Oh!(GU #39)
Well this week brought upon the release of GU #39 in EverQuest2(release notes here). And with it comes the ominous "Shard of Fear", which is essentially a small portion of the larger Plane of Fear that we are all so familiar with from EQ1.
Just looking at this screenshot I get goosebumps. The blood red rain, and the wall of fire, it all brings back such fond memories of my first real raiding experiences. It really makes me wish Chestone was level 70 and actually in a guild, just to experience what looks to be a pretty amazing zone. Alas Chestone will have to wait his turn, as he is only level 35.
Still there were other things in the patch aside from new zones. One thing I noticed last night as I was tearing it up in Crushbone Keep, was that they had finally separated out buffs and debuffs out into their own windows. This is certainly a welcome change as it sort of annoyed me for awhile. There were many other changes in the patch, guild banks, and all sorts of things that I havn't really gotten to play with yet, see the patch notes for official details. Well back to work for me, I have to have this form working and a whole bunch of other things by five this afternoon, later everyone.
P.S. Over at MMOQuests there is a great write up of their first time in the zone. I also stole the screenshot from there, just wanted to give credit.
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Chestone
Just looking at this screenshot I get goosebumps. The blood red rain, and the wall of fire, it all brings back such fond memories of my first real raiding experiences. It really makes me wish Chestone was level 70 and actually in a guild, just to experience what looks to be a pretty amazing zone. Alas Chestone will have to wait his turn, as he is only level 35.
Still there were other things in the patch aside from new zones. One thing I noticed last night as I was tearing it up in Crushbone Keep, was that they had finally separated out buffs and debuffs out into their own windows. This is certainly a welcome change as it sort of annoyed me for awhile. There were many other changes in the patch, guild banks, and all sorts of things that I havn't really gotten to play with yet, see the patch notes for official details. Well back to work for me, I have to have this form working and a whole bunch of other things by five this afternoon, later everyone.
P.S. Over at MMOQuests there is a great write up of their first time in the zone. I also stole the screenshot from there, just wanted to give credit.
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Chestone
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Wait, which instance are you in?
I have to complain about the seriously irritating problem in EQ2, where you are grouped with other members and when you enter a city not via physically walking into the zone(aka recalling, instance zoning, like houses) and if the city exists in multiple instances your group has a roll of the dice to see if it is broken up or not, without any pop-up dialog to choose which the user would like to enter. This has happened to me and my groups many times where I'm in Neriak instance one and they are in Neriak instance two after recalling or zoning from our houses back out to the city. While entering a city via just walking in you are given a dialog to choose. This is very frustrating and though you can deal with it, you shouldn't have to. Meeting up with other players in town shouldn't be this frustrating especially if you are already in a group. If you are in a group I'd like to think that the game would intelligently place you both in the same instance as that would probably be a good idea and is a pretty reasonable expectation on the part of the user.
/rant_off
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Cheston
/rant_off
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Cheston
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Legends of Norrath, I weep for what could have been.
Now this isn't about an overpowered card combo, or a rule misstep, it is that the biggest problem as I see it with Legends of Norrath(The recently released in-game card game from SOE) is that I can't play it! Well I should be more specific, I have to jump through hoops to play what should be a universally accessible card game.
There are two ways to play LoN:
Now this probably covers 90% of those who wish to play LoN, but I am in the minority here. I'm a mac user. And its safe to say that SOE will never release a mac client(especially after their half attempt at EQ mac development). So what you are cutting out the mac users, oh well. Well really it is much more than that, you are cutting anyone who doesn't have admin on their machine(aka the working public), this is a serious chunk of folks who on their lunch break or downtime might play a game or two. Oh and those "linux" users out there, whoever they are...(internet sarcasm, I run linux on a few boxes).
This is a problem, both for SOE and for the potential users, what oh what could solve this catastrophe? Well in today's day and age we have this thing called "Internet" and the "Web" oh and "Standards complaint browsers"(the last one sort of). And with all of that fancy "Web 2.0" out there, why can't we just use a little bit of that black magic and have a web client for Legends of Norrath? I sincerely wish they would, I understand with the web comes a whole load of issues that are a pain in the neck, but SOE would seriously open up their possible customers by doing this, and in turn please me. Well I can just BootCamp it up to play, but really who wants to reboot their computer just to play a card game? Especially if you are just a casual player. So please SOE, just think about it, besides its what all of the cool kids are doing, web clients that is.
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Cheston
There are two ways to play LoN:
- While inside of EverQuest or EverQuest2 you can launch the LoN client software and play from within the game.
- From stand alone client software that must be installed and run on a Windows PC
Now this probably covers 90% of those who wish to play LoN, but I am in the minority here. I'm a mac user. And its safe to say that SOE will never release a mac client(especially after their half attempt at EQ mac development). So what you are cutting out the mac users, oh well. Well really it is much more than that, you are cutting anyone who doesn't have admin on their machine(aka the working public), this is a serious chunk of folks who on their lunch break or downtime might play a game or two. Oh and those "linux" users out there, whoever they are...(internet sarcasm, I run linux on a few boxes).
This is a problem, both for SOE and for the potential users, what oh what could solve this catastrophe? Well in today's day and age we have this thing called "Internet" and the "Web" oh and "Standards complaint browsers"(the last one sort of). And with all of that fancy "Web 2.0" out there, why can't we just use a little bit of that black magic and have a web client for Legends of Norrath? I sincerely wish they would, I understand with the web comes a whole load of issues that are a pain in the neck, but SOE would seriously open up their possible customers by doing this, and in turn please me. Well I can just BootCamp it up to play, but really who wants to reboot their computer just to play a card game? Especially if you are just a casual player. So please SOE, just think about it, besides its what all of the cool kids are doing, web clients that is.
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Cheston
Thursday, October 4, 2007
RoK Box Art, Shard of Fear, what news!
Well it has been quite a busy week in the EQ2 world(aka Norrath). With the new box art for their all in one retail box, and the GU39 going live to test, including the Shard of Fear!
First the box art:
What can I say? Bad fucking ass! As a huge Dark Elf fan I can say that I almost wish I waited to pick up the box, I just love it. Though I think it is an interesting departure from their previous "all in one" box art which generally focused on the latest expansion(i.e. Echos of Faydwer, Kingdom of Sky). But this is an all in one box(meaning all expansions are included with the game), so it is a lot less about the latest expansion and more about the entire game itself, so I don't see a big issue with it, all in all good job SOE.
What can you really say about the Shard of Fear, except it looks amazing from these screens(Oh and these too!). All in all, I think the zone in context is pretty amazing(keeping in mind it is supposed to be a mini Plane of Fear from EQ1). The flesh colored dragon definetly looks a little weak, though I like the direction they are going with the decaying flesh thing(maybe draco got a skin graft?), it is something I really hope will change before release as I can just hear the bitching from the haters now. Shard of Fear(soon to be abbreviated to SoF) is a persistent instance just like Emerald Halls and Unrest currently, and will be a single level 70 group zone. And though it seems the Amygedons went on a diet, I am still pleased with how they look even if they had to downsize the temple a bit along the way. All of this just gets me more excited about EQ2 and its direction. I just hope that once the nostalgia trip is over we can expect some more original content in the far future, not to say I'm upset with the direction, I just hope it doesn't become a crutch.
Well back to school work again, it seems as if I'll never get to 70 before the expansion. Maybe someday...
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Cheston
First the box art:
What can I say? Bad fucking ass! As a huge Dark Elf fan I can say that I almost wish I waited to pick up the box, I just love it. Though I think it is an interesting departure from their previous "all in one" box art which generally focused on the latest expansion(i.e. Echos of Faydwer, Kingdom of Sky). But this is an all in one box(meaning all expansions are included with the game), so it is a lot less about the latest expansion and more about the entire game itself, so I don't see a big issue with it, all in all good job SOE.
What can you really say about the Shard of Fear, except it looks amazing from these screens(Oh and these too!). All in all, I think the zone in context is pretty amazing(keeping in mind it is supposed to be a mini Plane of Fear from EQ1). The flesh colored dragon definetly looks a little weak, though I like the direction they are going with the decaying flesh thing(maybe draco got a skin graft?), it is something I really hope will change before release as I can just hear the bitching from the haters now. Shard of Fear(soon to be abbreviated to SoF) is a persistent instance just like Emerald Halls and Unrest currently, and will be a single level 70 group zone. And though it seems the Amygedons went on a diet, I am still pleased with how they look even if they had to downsize the temple a bit along the way. All of this just gets me more excited about EQ2 and its direction. I just hope that once the nostalgia trip is over we can expect some more original content in the far future, not to say I'm upset with the direction, I just hope it doesn't become a crutch.
Well back to school work again, it seems as if I'll never get to 70 before the expansion. Maybe someday...
--
Cheston
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Hook, Line and Sinker..
Well I have to commend SOE for successfully suckering me into a full subscription to EQ2. Earlier this summer SOE offered two free months, including all three expansions, and all three adventure packs.
And at the time being in a post-LOTRO MMO slump I figured I'd take the plunge and re-check out EQ2. I was pleasantly surprised with a lot of things, including a good ol' helping of nostalgia. I need not repeat the advances of EQ2 since its launch(Ten Ton Hammer does a great job here), there were a few "wow!" moments, but quite a few "oooo!"'s. And now I've got a level 30 Wizard with a pretty nice house and a snazzy new 24% mount(thanks to a Legends of Norrath booster dropping in a newbie zone) and I'm having a lot of fun exploring the world. The one thing I find a double edged sword is that there is so much content at every level I feel as if I'm constantly missing out on something. But I don't want to get into a real review just yet.
Well anyways Sunday rolled around and I had completely forgotten that my EQ2 free loading was over, and so at around 10am in the middle of zoning no less I was booted and not allowed to enter the game from the character selection screen. This drove me nuts, until I exited the game entirely and it yelled about not being a subscriber, so after a few thoughts about my meager funds I decided to go with it and am still having as much fun now(if not more) than I did when I fired up the client in July. So kudos to SOE marketing, you've got one more customer(actually two, I was able to convince my very anti EQ roommate to join me after showing off to him the new hotness that is EQ2).
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Cheston
And at the time being in a post-LOTRO MMO slump I figured I'd take the plunge and re-check out EQ2. I was pleasantly surprised with a lot of things, including a good ol' helping of nostalgia. I need not repeat the advances of EQ2 since its launch(Ten Ton Hammer does a great job here), there were a few "wow!" moments, but quite a few "oooo!"'s. And now I've got a level 30 Wizard with a pretty nice house and a snazzy new 24% mount(thanks to a Legends of Norrath booster dropping in a newbie zone) and I'm having a lot of fun exploring the world. The one thing I find a double edged sword is that there is so much content at every level I feel as if I'm constantly missing out on something. But I don't want to get into a real review just yet.
Well anyways Sunday rolled around and I had completely forgotten that my EQ2 free loading was over, and so at around 10am in the middle of zoning no less I was booted and not allowed to enter the game from the character selection screen. This drove me nuts, until I exited the game entirely and it yelled about not being a subscriber, so after a few thoughts about my meager funds I decided to go with it and am still having as much fun now(if not more) than I did when I fired up the client in July. So kudos to SOE marketing, you've got one more customer(actually two, I was able to convince my very anti EQ roommate to join me after showing off to him the new hotness that is EQ2).
--
Cheston
Thursday, September 6, 2007
My god... its filled with bobbleheads....
I find it hard to believe that somehow I missed out on this.
It is called "cutemode" in EverQuest2 and it makes every PC and NPC alike have a huuuuge head!(Invader Zim reference! "my head is not big!") It really freaked me out last night after someone mentioned it in general chat and I typed the command "/cutemode" and all of a sudden I was in the land of bobbleheads. This was a really cute addition to the game that made me laugh hysterically. I am probably the last one to the party on this one but I still felt the need to post about it for those that might not be in the know.
In other news, as you can tell I am still playing EQ2, I just created a Dark Elf Inquisitor, named Nasteratu(the name of my original EQ main) on AB and am having a great time so far(only level 10 so take this for what it is worth). I bought my self a little shanty and decorated it to the nines(more like the ones) and am looking forward to joining a guild and healing the day away. I just found it too lonely as a Wizard and really kind of missed the excitement of healing. That is about it for now, off to Norrath yet again.
--
Cheston
It is called "cutemode" in EverQuest2 and it makes every PC and NPC alike have a huuuuge head!(Invader Zim reference! "my head is not big!") It really freaked me out last night after someone mentioned it in general chat and I typed the command "/cutemode" and all of a sudden I was in the land of bobbleheads. This was a really cute addition to the game that made me laugh hysterically. I am probably the last one to the party on this one but I still felt the need to post about it for those that might not be in the know.
In other news, as you can tell I am still playing EQ2, I just created a Dark Elf Inquisitor, named Nasteratu(the name of my original EQ main) on AB and am having a great time so far(only level 10 so take this for what it is worth). I bought my self a little shanty and decorated it to the nines(more like the ones) and am looking forward to joining a guild and healing the day away. I just found it too lonely as a Wizard and really kind of missed the excitement of healing. That is about it for now, off to Norrath yet again.
--
Cheston
Friday, August 10, 2007
FanFaire Recap!
Yes, its true, though limited I did make an FanFaire appearance!
Proof:
I have to say I only attended for one day, and half a day at that(curse you Vegas hangovers). But I was impressed, there was a much larger crowd than I was anticipating, and the setup SOE had was pretty snazzy, especially for the cost of admission which wasn't all that much for the event and panel list. So I only attended a few panels, they were held in very tiny rooms with chairs for about thirty people. It was a very personal experience, unlike DefCon whose talks were given in huge lecture rooms fit to hold hundreds. I wasn't able to hang around as much as I wanted to, mostly because of the hangover, but I chilled out in the vendor/game/etc.. area for a bit and wrote blog posts meeting a few people along the way.
The crowd was certainly a mix bag, spanning all ages and professions, with a few costumed folks running around. The panels though were great, very informative, and the speakers were very open to answering any questions. I really enjoyed the level of detail some of the questions received it really gave me an idea of how things happen behind the scenes and the relationship different departments have with each other. All in all, coming out of FanFaire I have a very positive view of SOE and their upcoming releases and cannot wait until next year(hopefully it will not conflict with DefCon as it did this year) where I will be able to attend without having to split my time, because although I did get quite a lot out of FanFaire, I feel like I really missed out on some good times and good people.
P.S. Sorry Cuppy for not getting in touch, my phone battery died the second day in Vegas and I forgot my charger at home(note to all travelers, don't leave your charger behind it will plague you throughout your vacation) .
--
Cheston
Proof:
I have to say I only attended for one day, and half a day at that(curse you Vegas hangovers). But I was impressed, there was a much larger crowd than I was anticipating, and the setup SOE had was pretty snazzy, especially for the cost of admission which wasn't all that much for the event and panel list. So I only attended a few panels, they were held in very tiny rooms with chairs for about thirty people. It was a very personal experience, unlike DefCon whose talks were given in huge lecture rooms fit to hold hundreds. I wasn't able to hang around as much as I wanted to, mostly because of the hangover, but I chilled out in the vendor/game/etc.. area for a bit and wrote blog posts meeting a few people along the way.
The crowd was certainly a mix bag, spanning all ages and professions, with a few costumed folks running around. The panels though were great, very informative, and the speakers were very open to answering any questions. I really enjoyed the level of detail some of the questions received it really gave me an idea of how things happen behind the scenes and the relationship different departments have with each other. All in all, coming out of FanFaire I have a very positive view of SOE and their upcoming releases and cannot wait until next year(hopefully it will not conflict with DefCon as it did this year) where I will be able to attend without having to split my time, because although I did get quite a lot out of FanFaire, I feel like I really missed out on some good times and good people.
P.S. Sorry Cuppy for not getting in touch, my phone battery died the second day in Vegas and I forgot my charger at home(note to all travelers, don't leave your charger behind it will plague you throughout your vacation) .
--
Cheston
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
FanFaire Post: Anatomy of an Update
Note: This post was written right after attending the "Anatomy of and Update" Panel at FanFaire 2007. I'll have a FanFaire recap soon(I know I'm late but you are already I'm sure inundated with "FanFaire Recap" posts, so check mine out later.
So I finally got to FanFaire after much delay, hit up the "Anatomy of an Update" EQ2 panel. Which was quite good, Scott Hartsman is just as nice and personable as people have said. The panel overall was informative and really gave an in detail idea of how the update cycle works and how the fallout is handled bugwise. The panel rooms are much smaller than I thought, though it does give the participants a very close/personal feeling. I tried to get into the "EQ2: Into the Future" panel but it was packed, fortunetly though they will be breaking the panel into three 45 minute sessions for those that could not attend the previous. So I am looking forward to that along with a VG panel on game design, after that though it seems like it is already over! I have to say I really wish FanFaire were a bit longer, as it is only two days and DefCon is three. I have to say though they content of the panels seems pretty impressive, and I wish I had the chance to just do FanFaire instead of having to split my time between the two.
One cool thing that came out of the "Anatomy of an Update" panel was the revelation that there will most likely be another zone added before RoK is released(I missed the RoK panel and for that I am quite sad). Which is great, Scott and the group also gave insight into how these zones are created and I was surprised as the words "quality of the content" came up, it really gave me the feeling that quality was paramount, if a particular zone did not meet the benchmarks it is scrapped and either dumped or redone entirely. This kind of embodies the new EQ2 attitude, where broken content doesn't make it, adopting Blizzard's "when its ready" stance on content(though I can't say they are even close to perfection with regard to that statement(especially with regard to high end raid bosses)).
Also the panel talked a bit about the new and for coming "persistent instances" and how they work in terms of saving an instance and players being booted from instances. Basically the big thing is that players in a raid can be spread out amongst physical boxes and if one box goes down only those players will be booted and the players on the other box will remain in the instance. Also with that the instance is hard saved every time a "noteable mob" is killed, which means if a crash occurs you will most likely have to re-clear trash, which isn't the end of the world except if you are currently engaging a boss and the whole thing blows up, that wouldn't be a fun night. But still it is a decent system for such a complex environment, I have yet to have any real experience in these new zones so I can't comment from personal experience about it but I can assume raid leaders can force a save, or that before you leave the zone it saves the current progress.
Anyways great talk, time to go walk around!
--
Cheston
So I finally got to FanFaire after much delay, hit up the "Anatomy of an Update" EQ2 panel. Which was quite good, Scott Hartsman is just as nice and personable as people have said. The panel overall was informative and really gave an in detail idea of how the update cycle works and how the fallout is handled bugwise. The panel rooms are much smaller than I thought, though it does give the participants a very close/personal feeling. I tried to get into the "EQ2: Into the Future" panel but it was packed, fortunetly though they will be breaking the panel into three 45 minute sessions for those that could not attend the previous. So I am looking forward to that along with a VG panel on game design, after that though it seems like it is already over! I have to say I really wish FanFaire were a bit longer, as it is only two days and DefCon is three. I have to say though they content of the panels seems pretty impressive, and I wish I had the chance to just do FanFaire instead of having to split my time between the two.
One cool thing that came out of the "Anatomy of an Update" panel was the revelation that there will most likely be another zone added before RoK is released(I missed the RoK panel and for that I am quite sad). Which is great, Scott and the group also gave insight into how these zones are created and I was surprised as the words "quality of the content" came up, it really gave me the feeling that quality was paramount, if a particular zone did not meet the benchmarks it is scrapped and either dumped or redone entirely. This kind of embodies the new EQ2 attitude, where broken content doesn't make it, adopting Blizzard's "when its ready" stance on content(though I can't say they are even close to perfection with regard to that statement(especially with regard to high end raid bosses)).
Also the panel talked a bit about the new and for coming "persistent instances" and how they work in terms of saving an instance and players being booted from instances. Basically the big thing is that players in a raid can be spread out amongst physical boxes and if one box goes down only those players will be booted and the players on the other box will remain in the instance. Also with that the instance is hard saved every time a "noteable mob" is killed, which means if a crash occurs you will most likely have to re-clear trash, which isn't the end of the world except if you are currently engaging a boss and the whole thing blows up, that wouldn't be a fun night. But still it is a decent system for such a complex environment, I have yet to have any real experience in these new zones so I can't comment from personal experience about it but I can assume raid leaders can force a save, or that before you leave the zone it saves the current progress.
Anyways great talk, time to go walk around!
--
Cheston
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Pushing GUs Like Weights
Now I hate being an echo chamber of a blog but I felt since I now play EverQuest2 that I should make a post and have my say. So GU 37 was released, here are the official notes, with commentary here, here, and here. Now I'm not going to go on about this because I'm new to the game and frankly a lot of issues addressed in this update don't overly concern me as a newbie. Though one thing I have to say the new furniture is fabulous, I just love it(check out pictures here, since I don't much like deeplinking).
One thing I am concerned about is vendor buyback and its effect on overall game immersion. It really seems to me that the ability to buy back the last ten items you sold to ANY vendor is a little ridiculous. Say I sold to Johnny McFriendly and we are good buddies, I have a positive faction with his people then sure I can see him selling me back things I might not have wanted to sell because we are buddies. Now if I were say selling to the Shady Swashbuckler(nostalgia kick!) and he is a unscrupulous character with whom I had rather poor relations, now I wouldn't expect him to sell me anything back at anything but an increased cost. The idea that this guy would hold my items and sell them back to me at the price that I purchased them seems ridiculous to me. Of course this is another move toward convenience over immersion, and another "Warcraft's done it" feature. This is fine and all as I'm sure I'll use the system and enjoy it, but I felt the need to get out a little bitching about immersion.
Anyways, time to go enjoy some GU37 goodness.
Edit: I didn't realize this at the time of writing but EQ2 has added in a "smart loot" system that frankly blows my mind. The mob intelligently drops epic/fabled loots based upon the inventory of the raid members. I had no idea this was going into the game and am dumbfounded that none has as far as I know introduced this system. A great discussion is going on over at FoH, so check it out.
--
Cheston
One thing I am concerned about is vendor buyback and its effect on overall game immersion. It really seems to me that the ability to buy back the last ten items you sold to ANY vendor is a little ridiculous. Say I sold to Johnny McFriendly and we are good buddies, I have a positive faction with his people then sure I can see him selling me back things I might not have wanted to sell because we are buddies. Now if I were say selling to the Shady Swashbuckler(nostalgia kick!) and he is a unscrupulous character with whom I had rather poor relations, now I wouldn't expect him to sell me anything back at anything but an increased cost. The idea that this guy would hold my items and sell them back to me at the price that I purchased them seems ridiculous to me. Of course this is another move toward convenience over immersion, and another "Warcraft's done it" feature. This is fine and all as I'm sure I'll use the system and enjoy it, but I felt the need to get out a little bitching about immersion.
Anyways, time to go enjoy some GU37 goodness.
Edit: I didn't realize this at the time of writing but EQ2 has added in a "smart loot" system that frankly blows my mind. The mob intelligently drops epic/fabled loots based upon the inventory of the raid members. I had no idea this was going into the game and am dumbfounded that none has as far as I know introduced this system. A great discussion is going on over at FoH, so check it out.
--
Cheston
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Viva Las Vegas!
Only days away is SOE's annual Fan Faire and I've pretty much settled on trying to attend both Defcon and Fan Faire, which will certainly be difficult but I'll see if I can't make it work, as I'd really like to attend talks at both events and I just can't settle for recaps or powerpoint slides. Anyways I'm getting in Thursday afternoon and staying until Monday so if anyone is around drop a comment and maybe we'll run into each other. Anyways I have much business to attend to(EQ2), see ya at Fan Faire!(I'll make a post before I leave as I've been meaning to.
--
Cheston
--
Cheston
Saturday, July 21, 2007
I'm back and slightly more blue.
So as I stated in the previous post I've started playing EverQuest2 and so far I've been loving it, but I am not ready to render judgment just yet as it has only been a day or two, but I am having a great time. I have a level 10 Dark Elf Wizard named "Chestone" on Antonia Bayle and a level 11 Dark Elf Brigand on Nagafen(PvP). I should say I am not a huge PvP kinda guy and normally wouldn't think of rolling on the notorious Nagafen, but my roommate is one of those die-hard PvP folks and has a 70 necromancer on the server and wants to play together, so I figured I'd be risky and check out the action.
Now on Nagafen you have the grace period of levels 1-10 to stay PvP free, once you hit 10 you are free game to the opposing faction. Now during the morning hours there didn't seem to be any PvPers out in Darklight Woods, but as we moved into prime time(the 7 - 11pm block) the numbers grew to the point where questing was just a hassle. So right now I'm a bit torn, I think I will spend more time on AB than Nag right now, but who knows. Also I'm not really getting into the Wizard so I think I might re-roll. Anyone have any good suggestions?
--
Cheston
Now on Nagafen you have the grace period of levels 1-10 to stay PvP free, once you hit 10 you are free game to the opposing faction. Now during the morning hours there didn't seem to be any PvPers out in Darklight Woods, but as we moved into prime time(the 7 - 11pm block) the numbers grew to the point where questing was just a hassle. So right now I'm a bit torn, I think I will spend more time on AB than Nag right now, but who knows. Also I'm not really getting into the Wizard so I think I might re-roll. Anyone have any good suggestions?
--
Cheston
Friday, July 20, 2007
What a week!
This week has been absolutely crazy, first was the trip to Rochester, then when I got back home the Internets were out for two days and then a big test in my XML class. So again come the apologies for the lack of posting.
But I come bearing good news! I have finally installed Vista and am currently patching EQ2! So finally I can see what all the fuss is about, now this patching will take another half-hour so I figured I'd make a post and scour the Internets for news and the like. In sadder news I believe I am going to leave LOTRO for the time being, I just can't get excited about the game anymore, the epic quest is incredibly fun but the rest just seem uninspired and run of the mill.
In other news, MMOpinionated will have a new home soon, in the next month I am going to migrate all of my posts to a privately hosted site, which I will post a link to when I am near complete. Blogger is great but it really makes me feel amateurish and just isn't what I want it to be yet.
--
Cheston
But I come bearing good news! I have finally installed Vista and am currently patching EQ2! So finally I can see what all the fuss is about, now this patching will take another half-hour so I figured I'd make a post and scour the Internets for news and the like. In sadder news I believe I am going to leave LOTRO for the time being, I just can't get excited about the game anymore, the epic quest is incredibly fun but the rest just seem uninspired and run of the mill.
In other news, MMOpinionated will have a new home soon, in the next month I am going to migrate all of my posts to a privately hosted site, which I will post a link to when I am near complete. Blogger is great but it really makes me feel amateurish and just isn't what I want it to be yet.
--
Cheston
Saturday, July 7, 2007
LOST
No, I'm not going to ramble on about smoke monsters, and "others". I am lost in the MMO world, I have no game I am seriously into. I'm still trying to set off that spark with LOTRO, the game is great don't get me wrong. It is beautiful, cute, and pretty fun, but I just can't get into it. I'm sure other gamers are the same way where you feel that spark when playing a game for the first time, where you stay up until four in the morning playing and just don't want to stop. Now I used to feel this spark with the release of almost every MMO years ago, and now a days it seems I wade through the sea of MMOs and just can't muster at least one all nighter. And as an old break up line once said "you can't force love baby", and that is certainly true for games. No matter how pretty or how much content there exists in the game sometimes it just doesn't ignite that gamer fuel that we all use to power through those late night raids and get that next level.
Of course I mentioned LOTRO, but I've been in this MMO lull since I really fell out of love with WoW. I've gone back to EQ, SWG, EVE, and others that just havn't done it for me, now part of the reason I think going back to old games just doesn't do it for me, is that I am a social gamer. I love to chat it up with friends and the guild but all of my friends have moved on from these older games, and it seems the only people I know playing MMOs anymore are the WoW devotees and a few out there in EQ2 land. Really friends make the game so much easier, just for chatting, grouping, etc... I really find it tough to play a game where I have no friends. So why not go back to WoW? Well because boyfriend is a hardcore WoW player and so I know what the bleeding edge raid game consists of and frankly it doesn't look all that appealing to me, neither does their PvP, or constantly farming mats. Also really I just don't know how much more of that world I can take right now. I'm currently in a couple of closed betas right now which are pretty fun but not as we say in the software world "feature complete" meaning they are lacking several components that will be in the finished product, and these are pretty big components. And really the beta has a deadline and the fun can't last all that long, so why try and stick around for a character wipe when I'm really not sucked in yet. Now as a note I'd love to get into EQ2, but unfortunately I am having technical issues, that could only be resolved by an upgrade from XP to Vista. Who knows maybe I'll make the jump, I am just worried that I will end up disappointed after having put in all that time to upgrade.
Of course I am waiting on a few new games coming out, namely Age of Conan:Hyborian Adventures, and Warhammer Online:Age of Reckoning. But in the interim I have no idea what I am going to do with myself when I've got that gaming itch, especially during the summer where I actually have free time. Anyways please let me know what you guys out on that interweb think? What are you playing? and should I be playing it?
--
Cheston
Of course I mentioned LOTRO, but I've been in this MMO lull since I really fell out of love with WoW. I've gone back to EQ, SWG, EVE, and others that just havn't done it for me, now part of the reason I think going back to old games just doesn't do it for me, is that I am a social gamer. I love to chat it up with friends and the guild but all of my friends have moved on from these older games, and it seems the only people I know playing MMOs anymore are the WoW devotees and a few out there in EQ2 land. Really friends make the game so much easier, just for chatting, grouping, etc... I really find it tough to play a game where I have no friends. So why not go back to WoW? Well because boyfriend is a hardcore WoW player and so I know what the bleeding edge raid game consists of and frankly it doesn't look all that appealing to me, neither does their PvP, or constantly farming mats. Also really I just don't know how much more of that world I can take right now. I'm currently in a couple of closed betas right now which are pretty fun but not as we say in the software world "feature complete" meaning they are lacking several components that will be in the finished product, and these are pretty big components. And really the beta has a deadline and the fun can't last all that long, so why try and stick around for a character wipe when I'm really not sucked in yet. Now as a note I'd love to get into EQ2, but unfortunately I am having technical issues, that could only be resolved by an upgrade from XP to Vista. Who knows maybe I'll make the jump, I am just worried that I will end up disappointed after having put in all that time to upgrade.
Of course I am waiting on a few new games coming out, namely Age of Conan:Hyborian Adventures, and Warhammer Online:Age of Reckoning. But in the interim I have no idea what I am going to do with myself when I've got that gaming itch, especially during the summer where I actually have free time. Anyways please let me know what you guys out on that interweb think? What are you playing? and should I be playing it?
--
Cheston
Monday, June 18, 2007
So what is going on these days?
As a proper post-first post I'm just going to talk a little bit about what I am playing right now. I'll get into in depth discussion later, this is just "where I stand" sort of post.
Anyways, what am I playing?
Lately I've been into the new hotness Lord of the Rings Online(lotro for short). I have a level 21 Human Captain on Gladden, which I don't play all that much anymore, and a level 17 Hobbit Burgler on Silverlode. I switched servers not because of any fault of the community, but because I had a few friends on Silverlode and wanted to see how things went with them. So far things have been great, I've been enjoying the game quite a bit, and though it lacks many features I'd consider a must, it certainly makes up for in eye candy, and general fun.
Now I know a lot of MMO bloggers out there are hot for EverQuest2(EQ2), and honestly I'm interested greatly. As an ex-EQ junkie I can safely say that EQ2 provides a very attractive package at its current stage. Unfortunately I've run into some technical issues that have yet to be resolved, to be specific, as my main gaming machine I have a Macbook Pro. Now of course I run all of my games under Windows XP using Bootcamp, but there seems to be some hardware issue with the MBPs that causes EQ2 to crash after about a minute of playtime. The only solution is to upgrade to Vista, something I havn't really gotten around to doing. So when I do I'll let you all know how it works out, but I just wanted to clarify that I harbor no ill will against EQ2, I just havn't gotten the chance to really explore it in its current state. I did play it a year or so ago, but due to the large changes made I don't think I really have much room to talk about the current state of the game.
Anyways, that is what I am up to. If I have any readers, please share what you are currently playing, I'd be interested to hear what you internet peoples are up to.
Anyways, what am I playing?
Lately I've been into the new hotness Lord of the Rings Online(lotro for short). I have a level 21 Human Captain on Gladden, which I don't play all that much anymore, and a level 17 Hobbit Burgler on Silverlode. I switched servers not because of any fault of the community, but because I had a few friends on Silverlode and wanted to see how things went with them. So far things have been great, I've been enjoying the game quite a bit, and though it lacks many features I'd consider a must, it certainly makes up for in eye candy, and general fun.
Now I know a lot of MMO bloggers out there are hot for EverQuest2(EQ2), and honestly I'm interested greatly. As an ex-EQ junkie I can safely say that EQ2 provides a very attractive package at its current stage. Unfortunately I've run into some technical issues that have yet to be resolved, to be specific, as my main gaming machine I have a Macbook Pro. Now of course I run all of my games under Windows XP using Bootcamp, but there seems to be some hardware issue with the MBPs that causes EQ2 to crash after about a minute of playtime. The only solution is to upgrade to Vista, something I havn't really gotten around to doing. So when I do I'll let you all know how it works out, but I just wanted to clarify that I harbor no ill will against EQ2, I just havn't gotten the chance to really explore it in its current state. I did play it a year or so ago, but due to the large changes made I don't think I really have much room to talk about the current state of the game.
Anyways, that is what I am up to. If I have any readers, please share what you are currently playing, I'd be interested to hear what you internet peoples are up to.
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