phlo·gis·ton flōˈjistən/ noun noun: phlogiston a substance supposed by 18th-century chemists to exist in all combustible bodies, and to be released in combustion. This theory has been proven incorrect, but I still find it interesting.
More like 18th century chemistry. And this is not the first. The research stuff borrows quite liberally from older alchemical terminology. I.e. Oil of Vitrol = sulphuric acid, Aqua Fortis = nitric acid etc.
I always crack up when I see the new items/spells in each expansion. I can just imagine the developers asking librarians for different, more archaic thesaurus every year. I don't know what other long-term games are out there that have dug deeper and searched harder for new ways to say "fireball" but I feel like other game devs can just borrow from EQ for all their verbiageneeds.
They probably talk like that, when coding the game too... Dev#1: This arcane sequence of mystic algorithmic instructions needs untangling on the semantic level... Dev#2: Huh? Dev#1: Erhm, I mean "debugging"...
<-- Dev responsible. Assistance responsible: https://www.onelook.com/thesaurus/ Click the "Show filters" button and use them and you get interesting words. I don't remember what exact combo got me phlogiston, but I couldn't pass it up once I found it.
I just saw the "phlogiston" and added paradise to it. I know it's not exactly correct, but it is close enough to trigger the association.
I can't tell you how many times over the last 17 years, I've suprised people when I know some obscure word they use, or ask me about, and then they're even MORE suprised when they ask how I know that word, and I tell them from playing EQ Thanks, Ngreth!
oh! OH! Next expansion can we get Aetheric flying machines? Or am I too late to toss that one out (been done)? We all know how them gnomes are into recycling good stuff into clutter....
Nope, not nearly enough moving parts and things that can go wrong with it. Plus that is an individual transport device not something you can crew for Aethship to Aethership combat! We could raid ancient vaults and tombs for fragments of Aether in order to build Dreadnaughts, or to cut of the Evil Orverlords supply chain. Tinkering would be the new black, and having a gnome in group would be more than a decision on catering menu.
I've always liked the terms employed in EQ's rich history. From items like Al'Kabor's Proplyon of the Nexus to general spell names, that's been one of the most endearing parts of EverQuest. Everything has been named very well, it seems alot of thought and care went into naming things. It's not just Power Spell III and so on. Carry on.
