Taking on an Otyugh Over on Neverwinter, they’re spotlighting the various D&D critters who have made their way into that D&D-based game. But, EverQuest 2 is no slouch in the classic monster imagining, either – rust monsters and displacer beasts just two examples, and then there’s this Otyugh as one of the minions of Kira the Beastmaster in the Tavalan Abyss. It was awesome to finally see this beast in the flesh, and then to kill it. ...
Siren's Grotto: Tavalan Abyss Oh, so those mindflayer guys were Tavalan! Gotcha. They were called something different in EverQuest. But every single player knows that those are mind flayers. EverQuest and EverQuest 2 make some really amazing versions of standard D&D monsters, every ability implemented exactly, the art totally spot-on, but then tacks on some random name. Last night’s adventures really showed EQ2’s monsters at their finest. I swear I battled an Otyugh at one point. ...
Frog Wars It’s an issue whenever the EQ2 team brings back one of EverQuest’s classic zones: how close have they come to the original experience? And, secondly, does it mesh well with the “shattered lands” lore that backs EverQuest II? Game Update 66, AKA “Scars of the Awakened”, bring back Cobalt Scar and Siren’s Grotto. The original Cobalt Scar was the final outpost on the discovery tour all characters had to make through Velious before they earned full use of the druid rings. It opened up the Claws of Veeshan-faction areas, the third faction of Velious’ three-way war between the giants, dwarves and dragons. The completion of the gnomish expedition plotline – the gnomes who rediscovered Velious the FIRST time – awaited the crossing of the deadly open dungeon of Siren’s Grotto. ...
Passive Aggression in action Sure, EQ2 has its holidays and celebrations. But the events that REALLY bring Norrathians together are the Double XP Weekends. 72 hours (or so) of people finishing up old chores, dusting off alts, exploring dungeons off the beaten path… Anything can happen in a double xp weekend. What’d I do on mine? Tipa's Epic When I last posted about EQ2, I’d started a halfling swashbuckler to fill the empty space in my heart where a scout should be. I had Tipa, of course, but I really wanted someone more DPS-oriented than a troubadour. Of course, I could just betray to a dirge…. ...
This is NOT EQ Next. Obviously. Soooooo…. after a lot of hinting that something great was on the Storybricks horizon by Namaste’s Brian “Psychochild” Green, the news broke last night that Namaste is partnering with Sony Online Entertainment to bring their AI technology to EverQuest Next. We saw last year how this tech worked in Namaste’s “Kingdom of Default” demo, where players could interactively create NPCs with complex, rules-based logic that could dynamically change NPC behavior based on any number of factors – and changeable in game. After an unsuccessful Kickstarter, Storybricks’ fate was uncertain. But, now it’s going to be part of my next gaming obsession. ...
WoW Invaders in Darklight Woods The mood in EverQuest 2 is one of quiet anticipation as the world waits for Game Update 66 on April 30, which brings with it the modern rethinkings of the original EverQuest zones of Cobalt Scar and Siren’s Grotto. Cobalt Scar will be an open-world adventure zone with a strong story line, while Siren’s Grotto appears to be a series of instanced dungeons, likely in the quest/solo/heroic/raid variations we’ve come to expect. ...
Brainiac dailies Didn’t take any good screen shots in our Sunday game of DC Universe Online, which was kind of a downer, because it was a really good night. Kaptain KY said he was going to be a little late, so instead of starting with missions, we went to the Brainiac Incursion zone in Gotham City to try and find some Sub-Avatars to kill. I think Spode or Sting hadn’t yet done the dailies, so we just started killing everything we saw. ...
Camp Check! First step in spawning the Ancient Cyclops in EverQuest 2 is to go back in time about thirteen years and log in to the original EverQuest. Journeyman’s Boots, one of the most highly prized items in the game, would give characters a decent instant speed boost in a game where most characters could not get anywhere quickly. JBoots, combined with a snare spell or ability, could allow most classes to solo in a game focused on groups. ...
Chatting with Delahnus the Dauntless Playing this game would be like steering a fifteen year old girl through the mall while she’s shopping for crates. All-consuming and much missed gaming site Old Man Murray once famously wrote that all games could be judged by their Start-to-Crate (STC) time, the “shortest amount of time it takes a player to reach the first crate, which represents the point where the developers ran out of ideas.” ...
Haffer and Haffikin I was thinking that EverQuest II’s double xp days last weekend would be enough to push Arda up to level 95, the current level cap. I had xp potions running. I was working through the last of the Chains of Eternity signature quest. You’d think that finishing up the content for the latest expansion would leave you at the level cap. But, noooo…. I ended up at level 94. I hadn’t done as much xp grinding as Scatter had, you see, so I had a fair bit to go. These last levels are hell levels, taking vast amounts of experience – that’s problem #1. Problem #2 is that each kill in every expansion since Kunark gives only a very tiny amount of experience. Evidently, SOE thought they were being too generous in Kunark and decided to ramp things back a lot. ...