 EQ2|IGN Artikel von der E3
Veröffentlicht von: Faeren am 14. 2004 um 00:47 Uhr
Der neue Artikel von IGN, berichtet zwar wenig Neues, aber dafür fasst er sehr viele der Bekannten Infos zusammen.
In dem Artikel wird erneut erwähnt, dass Everquest2 ein eigenständiges Spiel ist und mit dem Ureverquest (bis auf die Story und den ganzen Background) wenig gemein hat.
Es wird auch noch mal betont, dass EQ2 mehr auf die 6Mann Gruppen setzt als auf große Raidgruppen um ihre Ziele zu erreichen. Was aber nicht heißen soll, dass die Spieler keine Raids haben sollen, nein ganz im Gegenteil, die ersten Raids werden Spieler schon ab lvl5 sinnvoll machen können um ein Ziel zu erreichen (In EQlive waren Raids erst ab lvl 40-65 richtig interessant). Die so genannten ?instanced zones?, welche in EQ2 verstärkt zum Einsatz kommen sollen, werden ähnlich wie die von Lost Dungeons of Norrath sein, aber diesmal müssen die Spieler nicht unbedingt Quests holen um so eine Zone zu betreten, sondern können einfach in den Dungeon hineingehen um dort ungestört zu leveln oder um eben schnell mal ein Abenteuer zu erleben.
Ein Mob der angegriffen wird kann von keinem anderen Spieler getötet werden, sondern nur von dem, der den Kampf auch angefangen hat.
Was sehr interessant ist, ist, dass sich die Commonlands über 6 Kilometer erstrecken und mehr als 4000 Mobs verseht sind.
Eine sehr gute Änderung im Vergleich zu EQlive ist, dass wenn man von einem z.B. Hillgiant (Hügelriese) angegriffen wird und man sich in einem Haus versteckt, wo der Hügelriese nicht hinterher kann, dann wird dieser nach einer Weile das Interesse an einem verlieren und wieder zu seinem Ausgangspunkt zurückkehren.
Zum Thema Buffs: Diese können von nun an nicht mehr verschwinden, einmal in einer Gruppe gezaubert, halten sie, bis sich die Gruppe wieder auflöst.
In Everquest2 wird es auch nicht mehr möglich sein, das Highlevel Charaktere auf Itemfarming in low level Zonen gehen können.
Des Weiteren werden noch mal das Klassensystem und die beiden Fraktionen (Qeynos und Freeport) erwähnt.
Den Original Artikel findet ihr auch unter den Details dieser News und den Link zum Thread dieses Artikels gibt es hier.
Originaltext:
Veröffentlicht von: Faeren am 14. 2004 - 00:49 Uhr
May 12, 2004 - Do not make the mistake of viewing EverQuest II as simply EQ 2.0. It`s not an upgrade or a big fix to the game. Its essential nature is completely different, aimed at a different kind of player base and providing a different type of adventure. After listening to a lot of complaints from a grumbling fanbase (like me), Sony decided to make a completely different animal.
Since its release in May 1999, EverQuest has had seven expansions and countless free content added. Two million people have signed up for the game, less than 500,000 remain. That`s not the greatest satisfaction rating, is it?
Part of the problem is its dependence on heavy raid forces for many hours. For example, to fight The Rathe Council, a high-end encounter, requires a force of 50 or more and up to five hours, or more depending on how on the ball everyone is. Who has time for that?
Certainly not a busy DVD reviewer. Or family men. A friend recently quit cold turkey when his six-year-old walked up to him at the computer and said "Dad, you never play with me any more." That hit him where it hurts, and he`s joined the ranks of many retired gamers who wanted their real life back.
Six Angry Men/Women
EQ2 is for people who want to have an hour of fun and keep their lives. "EverQuest is where you go to be raid-focused," said Chris Cao, lead content designer for EverQuest II. "EverQuest II is more for the casual audience. We`re making a game that`s competitive, but not intended to replace the old game. It`s still meant to be tough but the resources required will be greatly reduced. The main focus is the six-man group."
But for the group of six, there will be instanced zones game-wide similar to Lost Dungeons of Norrath adventures, but you won`t need to get an adventure to do it, simply entering the zone, building or area will create the instance for the raid. These instances are short, so if you only want to play for an hour per night, that`s doable.
There`s streamlining in other areas, too. For starters, there are now two starting cities, rather than the 14 now. All existing classes, plus two new ones, the Kerran (good alignment) and the Rodent (evil alignment). Qeynos is the good-aligned city while Freeport is the evil-aligned city. Any race can play any class, after they level up beyond the basic archetype.
The four basic archetype classes are fighter, priest, magician and scout. As you advance, the classes branch and you can pick a specialty. Fighters can become a Warrior, Crusader or Brawler. A Scout can become a Predator, Bard or Rogue. Mages become Sorcerers, Enchanters or Summoners, and Priests become a Cleric, Druid or Shaman. You can also be an Artisan, which is focused on tradeskilling.
It is theoretically possible to be any class/race combinations, as opposed to EQ`s rather strict rules regarding what races can be what classes. So we could be treated to the lovely sight of an ogre bard or the truly strange sight of a high elf necromancer. To do so would require you to perform a quest of betrayal that makes your name mud in your starting city, and then you have the task of building faction in your new town.
There are serious class balancing problems in EverQuest, which are addressed here as well. EQ has its loved and unloved classes. Just ask any necromancer or magician how hard it is to find a group. EQ2 addresses this by giving comparable skills across all classes. For example, every class of caster will have some form of crowd control, not just enchanters. So you will want one from each of the four archetypes, and then the other two are at your discretion.
Keeping It To Yourself
The instanced encounters extend all the way down to the individual mobs themselves. Once you engage a creature, it`s yours. No one can kill steal you like they do so often in the original game, according to Cao. "Once you start, no one can jump in," he said.
Don`t worry about a lack of targets. The Commonlands, a merger of East Commonlands and West Commonlands from EQ, is now a six kilometer square zone with over 4,000 mobs, according to Cao.
However, there are other changes in store. For starters, no one can help you kill a monster, either. Once you engage it, other people can`t cast spells on it, or you. So the fine art of power leveling, so prevalent on EQ servers now (including by yours truly) is deader than 3DFx.
Also, if the monster never hits you, it forgets about you and resets, regaining all of its hitpoints and returning to its spawn spot. So the fine art of kiting and fear kiting that druids, bards, shadow knights and necromancers have perfected in EQ is gone, unless they are very skilled and make sure to get smacked on a regular basis.
But this is also a plus. If a giant is chasing you, simply running into a building where he can`t get in will make him forget about you and return to his old spot. You are wiped from its hate table and can go on your business.
The handling of character buffs is also very different from the original game. It`s a cottage industry in EverQuestto sell cleric and enchanter buffs. EQ2, however, restricts buffs to yourself and your group. There will be no sitting around by a bank and selling buffs for donations like people do now because you can`t buff anyone not in your group. And when you disband the group, there goes the buffs.
On the plus side, buffs are now permanent. Every EQ player knows the horror of watching the haste, Virtue or KEI buff icon starting to blink in mid-fight. That annoyance goes away. Once your group of six is formed and you buff up, the buffs are permanent until the group disbands.
Keeping Busy From The Start
Another problem with EQ is that it`s completely tilted in favor of the high-end of the game. You`re a "newb" for the first 59 levels, more or less. This has led to more than a little dissatisfaction.
Sony recognized this and tried to make the game an adventure from the beginning. Your first raid encounter will come at level five, according to Cao. Every five to 10 levels after that, there will be new raid-type encounters for players, so they can raid all the way up. Also, characters will get new skills and spell at every level. As it is now, casters and priests in EverQuest get new spells every four to five levels.
There will be three high-level outdoor and dungeons for players at the top levels (45-50), with two instanced encounters per zone, according to John Blakely, senior producer for EverQuest II.
One of the problems with the increase in power in EverQuest is that older zones are now a pushover. Veteran EQ players might remember Trakanon wiping out a raid of 40 or more players. Now, a single group with Plane of Time gear can bitchslap Trak all over Sebilis.
EQ2 has a fix for that. Trivial loot code, first introduced in The Warrens expansion dungeon but removed due to player protestations, will return, and no complaining will get rid of it this time. So level 50 characters, the highest level you can go, will not be able to go into low level zones and farm them for equipment.
EverQuest II will use the same level restriction/recommendation that`s been introduced in recent expansions on EverQuest. For players looking to buy and sell loot, the two starting cities will have consignment stores instead of the Bazaar zone in the current game. Rather than make a character and leave the game running to sell gear, you can sell your gear through a store in the city, and the store takes a cut of the action.
All told, it looks like Sony is taking the lessons learned and successful experiments from EQ and putting them all into the new game. Hopefully the game will be more stable, too. Sony is now taking applications for beta testers for EverQuest II, which should begin by summer. The game is expected to ship by year-end.
-- Andy Patrizio
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Innovation
