Beta Reward

Discussion in 'The Veterans' Lounge' started by Naugrin, Jan 15, 2015.

  1. Absor Developer

    Woah there!

    Top hats, sure. There are no aliens, but they sure look like them. I give you those two.

    Pirates? Flying carpets? Gnomish flying machines? Sorry, but if you think those aren't in character for EQ, you're playing a different EQ than I'm building. Are you actually suggesting that pirates and flying carpets don't belong in a fantasy game?

    A
  2. Iila Augur

    I didn't have the beta reward when I checked yesterday.

    Normally, yeah, the devs spam raid beta stones. But Dzarn only gave out one the night we tested Vitio and I wasn't able to make it to the other dev testing nights.
  3. Yinla Ye Ol' Dragon

    Iila said 1 wasn't enough
  4. segap Augur


    I still in enjoy the game play aspect. The immersive aspect is well gone. And by looking at a lot of people's screenshots that are 80% hotbars, maybe no one cares about what the world looks like.

    Look at the artwork that surrounds these forums and then look at the the current game visuals. I understand after 16 years, there needs to be evolution and change to keep things fresh. Just wish it had maintained a true fantasy world look and feel. Not a merge of things from the 1600-1800s slapped on to gnomes, halflings and elves. For me there's little cohesion from the original EQ world to today's. Based on all the hideous (to me at least) outfits people are running around in, there's at least a significant audience for the current direction leaving me in the minority.
  5. Elricvonclief Augur

    I like the hat, it makes my barbarian berzerker look like a pirate!:p
    Lisandra likes this.
  6. Prathun Developer

    Top hats are definitely more 1800s than medieval. That said, the guards in Rivervale appear to be wearing wide-brimmed hats, which are 1800s era, and the Othmir have tall be-tassled fezzes, which I believe also originate from the 1800s, showing that EQ has a history of headgear styles outside the realm of what you'd consider to be standard fantasy and this is true going back to the original launch. Someone with more of a background in hats or more time to research this feel free to poke holes in this assertion.

    Flying carpets are part of Arabian mythology, which EQ borrows heavily from. For example, there are many Efreeti / Djinni in the original release, like the one that drops the Golden Efreeti Boots.

    As far as helicopter thingies, clockwork technology has been part of EverQuest since the original game, though it wasn't until perhaps Secrets of Faydwer that there was evidence that steam-powered metal things (like the rotocopters or Meldrath's entire fortress) could fly using propellers.

    Severed hands have been in the game since launch. The "Hand room" in Lower Guk was given that name because of the reanimated hand that spawns there.

    Pirates have been in Ocean of Tears since the launch of the game and have been featured in several expansions, as far back as Legacy of Ykesha in early 2003.

    We weren't happy with the bulky armor look either, which was originally necessary to completely cover up the character model in all circumstances to prevent clipping, which is why we revamped the system and provided Hero's Forge: Reforged armor that is a much cleaner, tighter fit on characters.

    As far as the aliens... yeah. Point to you. :)
  7. Fenudir Augur

    You forgot the natives of Luclin (Shak Dratha, Gor Taku, etc.) . As a moon, it's an other-worldly body and it's inhabitants could rightfully be called aliens.

    So... you get to keep the point. ;)
    PrathunEQ likes this.
  8. Badname3245 Lorekeeper

    What about the spaceship in qeynos?
  9. segap Augur


    Thanks for your response. It's good to see the dev team is in tune with a lot of the ancient oddities. Gives me hope for future stewardship.

    Some of those examples you give are things that I either saw as isolated humor (Rivervale sheriff) or out of place. I do enjoy the occasional humor or references that add flavor without being overboard. Even as a gnome, I had problems accepting all the crazy clockworks wandering around AkAon. Never seemed to fit the world. But you're right, they did create lore for gnomes from the games onset.
    PrathunEQ and Zujilli like this.
  10. Kaenneth [You require Gold access to view this title]

    Unfortunately, the 'Flying Carpet' doesn't actually fly; if you go off a ledge with it, you can fall to your death.
  11. Rhandom Journeyman


    Seeing people comparing Everquest's High Fantasy setting with a medieval setting is disturbing and upsetting.

    Medieval is defined as :

    1- of,pertainingto,characteristicof,orinthestyleoftheMiddleAge
    2- Informal - extremely old-fashioned; primitive

    The Middle Ages on Earth started out as a period of growth, but eventually collapsed in upon itself under the wight of famine plagues, and wars. The technology, while improving was still very primitive, literacy was not a going concern, and is generally regarded as not a very pleasant place to take you kids on vacation to.

    Everquest does not seem to be even remotely modeled on the medieval era, it seems much closer to post modern pastoral idealism with magic replacing technology, with benevolent monarchies on the good sides generally mirrored by "evil tyrannies" on the bad sides.

    Funny thing about technology and magic---

    Arthur C. Clarke had a very interesting take on this- he had 3 "Laws of prediction" that are very astute observations on technology and progress, the third of which states "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic".

    I submit, therefore, that Norrath could be (and perhaps is) an Ultra High Tech civilization.
  12. Kaenneth [You require Gold access to view this title]

    I like the derived statement; Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
  13. Bigstomp Augur

    I think the hat is pretty cool. I've enjoyed heros forge hats. The beer day bowler hat, the rabbit ear hats, lately the bear hat cause a guildie gave it to me. I like the hats. Now I'm wearing the beta hat (until my fancy moves to another hat)
    Elricvonclief, Zujilli and Yinla like this.
  14. Melanippe Augur

    "Fantasy" covers a huge spectrum. You might begin with the Epic of Gilgamesh, the oldest known written story on Earth dating to somewhere around 2750-2500 B.C.E. The Iliad, The Odyssey, around 800 B.C.E, Dante Alighieri's 14th century Inferno, Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote (1605), the list is endless.

    Descriptions of rainment varied widely. Demons, dragons, flying mechanical machines in ancient Indian poetry such as the Hindu epic Ramayana, which describes ancient flying machines or “mechanical birds” that could travel through air, earth and even fly into outer space fill hundreds upon thousands of pages throughout history. In The Republic by Plato, Gyges was a Lydian shepherd who found a ring that could make him invisible. Norse, Greek and Roman mythologies are filled to overflowing with the fantastical. Teleportation isn't a new concept neither are talking animals, half-humanoids or head gear that towers over someone's cranium.

    Attempting to pin EverQuest down to a specific genre or some kind of specific time frame such as the Dark Ages, the Medieval, or the 19th century or the 7th century B.C.E. and sticking into a pigeon-hole is a stifling concept. One may be better served by releasing their imaginations into wild flights of fantasy. Let it soar!
    Rhandom likes this.
  15. Battleaxe Augur

    I've been living in, or at least have tried to live in, a somewhat different world than is being created for a decade or so now. Although, the creator/s seem to have a lot of power in deciding which way the rivers flow.

    The place is overrun by hedge wizards - I play a class that has it's power mostly supplied and limited by steel and muscle. As long as there are traditional horned Dwarven helms I don't care what out of their minds others choose to wear (oh wait - we don't actually have proper Dwarf headgear). I've a tricorne hat for a souveneir? Maybe I'll wear it the first week of July or on Talk Like a Pirate Day.

    Thanks for the hat. <Looks a little concerned> It doesn't turn into a bug or anything does it?
  16. Bigstomp Augur


    Man, looking at your magelo you're drinking tea, scarfing donuts, have a heart shaped box, and are beating a broken drum.
    Elricvonclief likes this.
  17. Silv Augur

    Hmm... Everquest 2 received the 'Desert of Flames' expansion, not EQ. Flying carpets are still a stretch despite the presence of Djin or Sphinx... both of which share almost no info with the residents of Norrath. So the *thought* of them sharing the magic of a Flying Carpet is definitely hard to believe. Justifying the existence of one item due to the presence of another is flawed logic.

    The 'hands' have existed in EQ from the start. I agree. They were creepy and disturbing fighting them back then because of how abstract they were but it still fit in perfectly. That doesn't mean having a severed hand mount makes any sense and it certainly does break immersion.

    TDS beta reward makes 'sense' for the xpac despite how stupid it may look IMO. However, most of the other items the devs are trying to justify are marketplace or pre-order reward items (ie. No one thought about the lore behind them, they thought about how many they could sell). If they did consider EQ lore, then... actually nevermind... the COTF expansion demonstrated that lore isn't sacred or needs to make any sense.
  18. RPoo Augur

    I've had three compliments on my hat since putting it on... I kind of expected the non hat ornament version to be a placeable item for those without hero's forge to be able to do SOMETHING with it.
  19. JChan Developer

    Those without Hero's Forge can wear the non-ornament version. Click the button in the inspect window to convert between the two items.
  20. Fenudir Augur

    So our choice is buy Hero's Forge or lose one item worth of stats?