Back from E3!

by **Gninja** » Sun May 22, 2005 5:00 pm

Well we were there for about a week and we are got some very good info on the upcoming expansion, Desert of Flames. The first few days were kind of dry and dull as it took us a while to get our media passes due to some power issues the convention center was having in the rooms that were being used to print the passes. So the facilities were moved outdoors in the area behind the convention center. By the time the facilities were moved enough people had been waiting to get their passes that it took roughly 3 hours of standing in line to get the passes we could actually use to get into E3. But having gotten them through the long wait it was toward the end of the day so we decided we would just get info on DoF the next day. We finally made it to the SOE Booth which was made to look like a giant castle (very well done) There we got to not only see a demo movie of Desert of Flames but also got to get into the game and see it being played live as well as directing the character to different parts of the game world.

The DoF will be based on the extended storyline from Everquest 1Ã¢â¬â¢s Oasis of Marr and the surrounding Deserts of Ro. But over the 500 years between EQ1 and EQ2 this area has been expanded quite a bit so the lay of the land reaches over lots of land now. We got to see a lot of things that were familiar from Everquest1 such as the Spectre tower surrounded by floating spectres with very detailed character models that do actually top the skeleton graphics we are familiar with already in EQ2. We then moved down the sand to an area full of lots of dune spiders as well as getting a glimpse of the infamous Terrorantula. We also got to see Lockjaw who is definitely back and as bad as ever. We then followed the tall red mountains for a while till we got to an area very much resembling Orc Highway with many orcs roaming over what looked to be supply lines for whatever operations the orcs were up to. At the end of a large canyon these orcs controlled there was an Orc stronghold that looked to enter a dungeonous area.

From the Oasis area we climbed a mountainside, Yes climbedÃ¢â¬Â¦ We actually scaled a wall much in a rock climbing look. We were able to climb up move side to side while climbing as well as even leap from the wall and grab back onto the wall mid-jump. As explained there will be many dungeons and well as outdoors zones which will use this type of movement to gain strategic positions in certain areas. You wonÃ¢â¬â¢t be able to climb just any wall. Certain walls that are climbable will be obvious where you can see paths others have climbed and some will be less obvious depending on the traffic the wall has had.

When we reached the top we saw a few NPCs roaming around and a Flying Carpet which looked to be the Ã¢â¬ÅGriffon ridesÃ¢â¬ï¿¾ of the Desert. We saw some Sand Giants in the distance and the Arabian Nights themed city that will be used as the hub for the expansion.

The city was full of life from the Fire breathers entertaining the citizens of the city and passers by to wild Spider Monkeys much like Apu from DisneyÃ¢â¬â¢s Aladdin. The Monkeys will be able to be owned as pets as well but just how you get them wasnÃ¢â¬â¢t revealed. We were then shown down the streets where we could see a guards flying over head on flying carpets. This is where PVP was explained as well as shown to us. EQ2: DoF will have a very unique PVP system in which the entire city will be attackable meaning you arenÃ¢â¬â¢t as safe as you were in Dulac (Qeynos) or in the Ghetto (Freeport) The roaming guards are there to keep the peace however and if you are caught fighting anything or any other player in the city the guards will port you to the Arenas where you are forced to settle the dispute in a variety of different ways. Such as you can fight each other one on one or group on group or you can transform yourself and your party into creatures where you can square off like that. You can also be ported to different style maps. Maps such as a 1 room close combat map or a Labyrinth when you can play a Ã¢â¬Åcapture the flagÃ¢â¬ï¿¾ type game. They explained this to us like thisÃ¢â¬Â¦

Imagine having a full group of players in an arenaÃ¢â¬Â¦ One is turned into a goblin and set loose. The rest of the party has to hunt this goblin until someone kills itÃ¢â¬Â¦ once killed the person who killed it is transformed into the goblin and the person killed is transformed back into his normal form. Thus the being the goblin is the flag.

As you can see there are several different options for people who like to PVP but it wonÃ¢â¬â¢t be something that is forced on anyone nor should it affect the game-play of anyone else not wanting to PVP. The system as is will not affect in anyway the spell lists or ability lists of any class because if it is deemed that a spell is too powerful in PVP they can change how the spell effects in PVP only but it will not change it in PVE combat. Thus solo-ability and group tactics in the regular game world are not affected.

Another topic discussed was the addition of Guild Halls as well as Guild Vaults. The guild halls will be purchased much in the way that homes are purchased. Guild Vaults will be included in the guild houses where guild members will be able to donate things to the guild vault and take stuff out based on permissions set by the guild leader or appointed person in the guild by the guild leader. There wasnÃ¢â¬â¢t a lot of talk about the specifics of this as it is still in the design process. We can expect to see more over the next few months.

Either way this expansion is looking to be full of a lot of really cool content as well as some very much needed game enhancements that will help EQ2 to keep going strong in the MMPORPG market. My hat is definitely off to the Devs. I must also add that they are very cool guys as we partied with them one night at a bar in downtown LA. Pictures coming soon :p

If you guys have any questions on the expansion feel free to post them and I will talk to the guys at SOE and get an answer for ya.

I will be adding pictures and some small videos asap

by **Gninja** » Sun May 22, 2005 6:05 pm

by **Debillus** » Mon May 23, 2005 6:10 am

Friggin' amazing :crazy:

I can't wait to get my digital hands on the digital download.

It looks like you had a great time. Who's the brunette covering the entire midsection of the picture gallery btw :grin:

Captions on the rest of them would be cool. I can recognize Blackguard and Gallenite from the karaoke pic's ... and yourself on one of them also, but the rest of them, I have no clue about.

/Deb

by **Gninja** » Mon May 23, 2005 1:10 pm

the chick is Sassee the person in charge of EQ2Vault. She was alot of fun so we tried to cature her stages of drunkenness :p

by **Escolano** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 6:07 pm

Oh, geeze, memory lane. Who knew I looked drunk my whole time at E3? :p

by **Gninja** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 7:12 pm

you weren't drunk the whole time at E3?

Back from E3!

Back from E3!

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