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Odyssey Now 18 Times More Useful December 11, 2007

Posted by Kendricke in Everquest 2.
2 comments

I never saw it in any patch notes (and a quick search on SOE’s Game Update Notes forum shows nothing listed, either), but apparently the recast time on the cleric spell Odyssey has been reduced from 3 minutes to just 10 seconds.

If intended (and it certainly may be, considered that the conjuror spell Call of the Hero had its own recast cut from 8 minutes to 3), this could certainly be seen as a boon to clerics who have long complained about the lack of usefullness of the spell.

What does this actually mean?  Odyssey  effectively acts as a duplicate to a Call of X spell.  Whether or not you’re trying to get back home to Qeynos, Kelethin, Freeport, Neriak, or Gorrowyn, any cleric who is level 13 or higher (and who has at least one “Odyssey Stone” in his or her inventory) can cast the spell on you and you’ll be zipped back home (instead of waiting for the 60 minute timer on your Call of X).

By reducing the recast timer from 3 minutes to just 10 seconds, entire groups can be sent back home in less than 2 minutes.

Now all that’s needed is a high level upgrade to the spell which sends entire groups home at once…

Kunark: Boon or Bane for Casual Guilds? December 11, 2007

Posted by Kendricke in Everquest 2, Rise of Kunark.
8 comments

It seems that there’s some kind of nasty bug spreading from guild to guild since the release of Rise of Kunark:

“It’s got to stop, soon, I hope. How did things go from being fine and having 24 people easily one day, to having maybe maybe 5 people log in now. Officers who are off completing major quest lines with other guilds and leaving their own behind. The theory of “every man for himself” is just so much clearer now and I dislike it immensely. This game wasn’t supposed to be WoW. That’s why I liked it.” - Stargrace, MMOQuests.com

“Want a group to clean out some of your quests from the Rise of Kunark expansion? Go play another game, because Everquest II is not your home for group play anymore. Nooone wants to help you, unless they are on the exact same step as you are on a quest. Sat in a guild group we threw together and for 30 minutes we sat there trying to decide on what quest we all had in common. This quest oriented expansion is the most dissapointing pieces of junk I have ever seen.” -AverageJoe, Average Joe Gamer

“I think my guild’s reluctance to group together or to help on quests aside from a core group of early adopters, at least partially explains why people just don’t log on anymore. My son gave up leveling at 75 because it got too dull and now just plays on Xbox Live all the time. The former MT of our guild has been in and out of the guild many times in the last couple of weeks because he can’t find anyone to group with him in RoK.” - Tipa, WestKarana.com

Now, I could start posting links from the official forums for Everquest II to continue to show complaints, but suffice it to say that there certainly seems to be something in the Kunark water that appears to be giving a lot of guildmasters headaches these days.  Unfortunately, for the near future at least, there doesn’t seem to be any real relief in sight

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A Quick Overview of Test Update 41 December 10, 2007

Posted by Kendricke in Patches.
1 comment so far

Well, Update 41 is now on Test server.

For the first post-Kunark update to the game, it’s not a very dramatic build.  There’s certainly some expected fixes within this update, and of course we’re all in for another year’s Frostfell.  It seems the Achievement Shard (which was supposed to release with Rise of Kunark) is making its way to a living room near you, and there’s a nice little function being added to Quest Journals to allow you to filter out completed collections.

However, it would seem that Update 41 is more notable for what’s not there…rather than what is.  It would seem that we’re going to have to hold out till at least Update 42 for Epic Quests.  In fact, there’s no mention at all of any additional questlines for this update (a disappointment to anyone who feels there’s a lack of Heroic quest options between levels 70-75).  Frostfell seems to add little to nothing new this year save for a few carpentry recipes (we’ll give it a look-see to find out if there’s actually anything different this time around).

Of course, it wouldn’t be a patch without potential hot button issues being addressed.

For anyone who was harvesting in Kylong Plains at a lower level, you better be watch out and you’d better not cry, because soon the Tier 8 nodes there are going to require the appropriate skill level of 340 (as opposed to the much lower 240+ it’s required since launch).

Of course, the real test of who’s going to be naughty andd who’s going to be nice will come with the feedback related to the massive change coming to PVP servers.  If this update goes live as is, all PVP characters will gain experience for every PVP kill - whether or not they have adventure locked experience turned off.  Let me repeat that in lauguage us “bluebie carebears” can understand:  PVP characters who were able to essentially level-lock themselves before are no longer going to be able to keep racking up level 14 kills for all of eternity.

Full notes after the break…

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The Magic of 24 December 10, 2007

Posted by Kendricke in Everquest 2, General Game Concepts.
7 comments

The Magic of 24

10:31:32…10:31:33…10:31:34…

The number 24 is particularly significant in Everquest II.  The original cap for the patron system stopped with 24.  There are 24 “subclasses”.  Raid forces can consist of no more than 24 members.

There’s enough instances of “24″ within Everquest II that a lesser person might start to wonder about conspiracies.  What is it about the number 24 that is so special for this game’s design.  Are any of those reasons no longer valid?

I think the concept might have a bit more meat than most people realize…

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Skill in a Multiplayer Game December 1, 2007

Posted by Xeavn in Character Development, General Game Concepts, Out of Character.
Tags: , ,
3 comments

I am sure that anyone who has played a massive multiplayer online game has at one point in time ended up in a group with someone who played the game horribly. It may have just been an off night for them, or perhaps they didn’t know what they should be doing, or they were wearing the wrong gear, or just maybe they did not have the skill to play well.

I want to take a look at something that in the past I have overlooked. Player skill level. MMOG’s are not like your typical first person shooter, or even a real time strategy game where sheer dexterity, reaction speed, and quickness will often determine how good the player is. At the same point in time skill does make a difference in how well a player does. How quickly I can react to a situation that is going bad, and correctly heal the right person can make the difference between the group wiping, and narrowly surviving.

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