Refugee island house spotted on beta! ^_^

It's almost intact, but the treehouse interior is closed off, and the back path with the goblin tents are not there. The treehouse itself is there, but it has a closed door.
They wanted to reduce the polygon count, but still give us as much of the island as possible.. but >.> If any one here loved the tree house as much as I did, please /feedback and ask as politely as possible, with biiiig saaaaaad puppy eyes, if they'd be willing to add that back in before it goes live? ^_^

I'd be thrilled to see the back path added back in too since I was hoping they'd pretty much leave it untouched, but I'm reallllly happy with what they did manage to leave for us from the original island.
The crafting "zone" under the tower is ours to toy with. ^_^ The first experience of a heroic mob is also a zone-in area through the door near the stream. The bridge is there, the waterfall, the hut on the raised platform near where the heroic shark used to spawn, that beautiful beach view of the ocean.. all there! <3 and the music is the same!!! <3 <3 Oh! And the boat is there too. ^_^

But yah. XD Maybe if we ask super nicely, they'll put one or 2 things back in before release. ^_^

I'll have to post pictures. Screenshots are disabled on beta server. There is no NDA, so I'm sure they won't mind if I find a work around. ^_^ For that matter... I didn't even check to see if I could take video.

I am so excited and bummed at the same time. For one; all these things you describe seem like they would have been wonderful to experience in the game. However: I started playing after they stopped using the starter isle so am not familiar with it as you are as I started out in Halas.

I was excited for a minute when they announced this would be released until I heard it was only going to be a 10 or 11 year vet reward (depending who explains it) but sadly; I am five or six years away from that anyway.

The only hope I have are rumors from someone that attended SOE Live that asked Holly Windstalker about a non vet option and she said they'd consider making a another version of it that might be obtainable. So I am looking forward to that version someday; hopefully in less than five years from now Until then those that are eligible now have a great new house option and I am totally jealous

Aye. There's a rumor that SOE may sell the house without the plushies that the vet reward will come with. I hope they do. I hate seeing people get left out of good things. /..\

Well, the video capture is disabled, but print screen and pastes are working. ^_^
And I gotta say, it is absolutely the most beautiful house and my favorite so far! ^_^ (Ok, ok, so I'm biased from being hooked on the place from 2004 till the day it was completely removed.. and I mean, I made a toon there before it was disabled as a starter zone, and I continued to log in there just to see it again till I started getting a "That zone is unavailable" message on the toon i has squirreled away there. lol
They did update the sky with those beautiful clouds that (IIRC) first appeared in the house that was brought to live servers last Frostfell. (I could be wrong on the first use of those lovely clouds.) Any way, enjoy the screenshots, and come to Beta server when you get a chance! ^_^ Every bug report there is hopefully a bit-o-help for the devs to make release day go smoother for the expansion in less than a month! ^_^

This is one of the missing spots. The archway leading to the back pathway with the goblins and undead. The whole section of goblins, tents, wolves, and undead is gone all the way over to the big area with the heroic zone in, tree house, cemetery, etc...






And here is another missing spot. /..\ I was running up the ramp to see the interior or the tree house annnnnd theres a non-functional door. /cry This is the one thing I'd love to see change before going live, but totally understandable if they do not, since that would be a lot of polygons. >.> but ya know... if any one else would like to see this opened up, join me in my polite begging? ^_~




This is the other end of the missing section. On the bright side, it makes a nice little nook for a custom built cottage. ^_^


Zone through this door to the room in the next picture. Verrrry awesome! ^_^

Oh, and I watched a couple youtube videos of the Colony island I had bookmarked (to be sure I was remembering things right) as I ran through the island, and they cleaned up some rocks and a bit of texture here and there to help with the polygons, but I was like, OMG almost every little tree and plant is right where it is in the video. XD
And might I say, it is soooo nice to hear that music and those crickets and birds again. XD

Gah, does this bring back memories!

And yeah, amen, I would totally like to see it be made available for newer folks, somehow. As far as the plushies are concerned, while they're nice, we do have a lot of plushies and Actors and what-not available in-game, we could probably fill in the slack (even replace the shark with our own collection reward!). ;->

It's strange that they kept the interior of the first real "dungeon instance" a lot of us ever saw, and walled off the tree house...sigh. If it had been me, I'd've done it the other way around (best to have both, though!)...do the water features work as water, at least? If so, that should be kept in both the Vet and other versions.

Uwk
who really doesn't miss the goblins and undead areas, and agree those now box canyon areas would be great as house lots! ;->

Hey, so how does one go about getting into Beta? I've never done it before, but heard about it...

Uwk

It sure does

Try this Uwk http://eq2wire.com/2014/10/07/altar-of-malice-beta-is-now-up/ and gl.

Now I'm even more bummed!!!!!! I just took a tour. Love the music and the feel of the place. I can see why those that were able to play in it loved it!. My only critique is that they have a couple of structures with doors that you can't get into and they have the crafting hut area already decorated. That's all I can think of for now.

What is the best way to provide feedback for this on Beta?

If you are in beta, /feedback (or bug if it's something that is a problem, not just feedback). If you are not in beta, or can't fit it on your computer (My old computer didn't have room for 2 full EQ2 files >.>) I'm hoping this thread will get read by someone in SOE that can make a difference if possible, but just in case, I'm thinking they wouldn't mind if we individually contact them, as long as we are polite and understanding. ^_^ I know it's a fact that people contacted them to beg for the Colony Island as a house more than a few times over the years. =P

Oh the crafting area is actually through the basement door in the tower. ^_^ it's its own little zone! I'm just ecstatic that they left that and the cave door that leads to the heroic room in the island. XD The hut was a bit of a quest hub with a few NPCs in it. It would make a nice crafting area though. ^_^ A couple of the crafting tables are solid enough to cover the existing furniture, if you like. Personally though, on my oldest character, I'm going to be saving up crabs, sharks, the fake shinies, goblin plushies, deer plushies, etc... to try and recreate every detail I can. XD I actually imagined I saw a shiny at the slope to the gate above the cove. XD

...I wonder how I can fabricate the glow that the little deer had at night? o.0

XD I love this house! It's like my house burned down with all my childhood memories attached to it, and someone made an almost exact replica of it. <3 /crosses finger that the tree house will be opened before it hits live, due to best memories there. XD

So we get this beautiful island, finally. But included is a tower that has access to only the first floor small room, with a portal in the floor to another room. Then an awesome looking tree house with no access into. Battlements, and tents for no apparent reason, thus restricting ability to decorate in those places. A hut on the lagoon already with items and furniture instead of a blank space to decorate. And what could have been a cool little hide-away cave setting filled with trash restricting almost any kind of decorating I can imagine.
Does that cover it? Other than these " minor "( sarcasm ) complaints; It would still be the most beautiful " home " in the game.
IMO, not worth the 10 year wait, but still worth getting at least one.

*giggles* I saw that "I"M HOME" dance!

Can't wait for this . . . . .

Those of us who were there remember why the battlements and tents are there ;p
It's not supposed to be a blank slate - it's supposed to be the Isle of Refuge.

Looks awesome. If you've got an external video recorder I'd love to see a video of what it's like.
This may actually get me to install the beta version.

" Those of us who were there remember why the battlements and tents are there ;p
It's not supposed to be a blank slate - it's supposed to be the Isle of Refuge. "

I've been playing since Jan 2005, I was there.
It's supposed to be a replica, and not duplicate. If it were supposed to be the actual IoR, then where are the goblins attacking said battlements? Were are the goblins in the tree house? It is Now supposed to be a HOME. Just like all the other homes, it should be more a blank slate. How am I supposed to make a nice Froglok cave with a burning brazier in the middle of the cave with weapons strewn all over? Why have a tree house for my rangers hideaway if he can't get inside? Why have a tower where you only have access to one small room instead of multi-storied rooms? I'm just saying some thing there should be taken out for more creativity on the part of the " Home " owners. and that these are restricting said creativity.
If someone wants to recreate the battle scene with the goblins, then let them make their own, or leave it so they can build something different. I personally don't want a " battle scene " in my yard. Maybe I was hoping to put a big farm scene, or make it the perfect spot for a log cabin, or whatever. I'm just saying they have put things in that are restrictive to player creativity, and from other's comments, some things left out that would be better for the overall creativity. Like I was trying to say; It would be the most beautiful home put in game, BUT since there are thing in it that should not have been left in, and things not in that should have been , It has become another semi-failure IMO, and I do plan on purchasing one.

To be fair, it hasn't "become" anything yet since it's still only an idea in beta dreamland.

I'd like more places open, too. And yes, I'd love for all those goblins and other mobs to still be around It would be like back in Kingdom of Sky, when all the cool kids got houses in Maj'dul and were kill on sight to two thirds of the town.

Thank goodness for Housing and Leaderboards! My one Maj character doesn't have to worry about that! ;->

Uwk

What you are describing is the Tenebrous Tangle island. It's already there, feel free to buy it and do anything you please with it. Would be nice if the attitude can stay there as well.
That island WAS home and has been inaccessible for years. It was badly missed. What you are suggesting would be as if I built a statue of your most beloved pet or relative without a face and said "Here! Draw it as best you can! With what there is.". -.- You seem to have missed the whole point of the refugee/colony island becoming available. Also, not sure if you took the actual tour or not, but there is quite a bit of space with nothing in it, and if you are truly creative, you can put things over/around the items already in the cave and it'll look perfect and natural. Add a false floor to cover the weapons. Make an inaccessible room with a false door, or a fireplace, or an aquarium to cover the brazier in the center of the cave.
And FYI, replica is a synonym for copy, replication, duplicate.... Also, lucky for you you don't purchase them any way. they are FREE. Maybe that buyable version will be stripped down to empty space, if they make an SC version. Send some /feedback , start a thread.
This house is the closest we can get to seeing the first zone any of us saw for the first few years of the game. I was honestly disappointed that it wasn't an exact duplicate, down to the rock by the fenced wall by the front beach. I was actually pretty excited just to see the books on the table beside the door to the tree house. XD I do understand that the fewer polygons used in the making of the house itself = more item count for us to play with.