mysticalone wrote: I'll respectfully disagree that the current EQ2 models are terrible. Character customization is one of my favorite things about this game, and I have several amazing looking characters. The images posted of the vampires are most certainly NOT on "equal footing" with the other models in game.
Deverill wrote: so uhm erm... what your trying to say is that you buy the game/pre order it you have to wait for your free goodies whilst those that dont buy it can get one of them, lets face it the more interesting of the pair of in game items 2 months earlier, wasnt that exactly what me and illiam are trying to get across albeit with the omission of the loyal subscriber bit? i do agree though sony want to get their marketing sorted, i hope this isnt a case of more of the same to come with the expansion, i do hope they get that right speaking of which, i gave up trying to log on at about 11am this morning gmt, and ive just tried yet again to log on... guess what, games still down, nice one powers that be!
Streppoch@Guk wrote: Not for long! We just underwent a name change and my new siggy is in process! Edit to add: Aion really did take the cake on gaming character customization though - I never actually played Aion, just did a weekend beta thing like a year and a half ago, but was amazed at all the options. But here's a pic of my beautiful EQ2 character Aerfen...
I can sort of live with the low quality of the "not intended for release" released screenies. What I can't stand is the half-hearted approach to the lore. "Remember that nights of the dead thing, you know, in the cemetary, well, we're using that as the basis for a "new" "race". Nice copout. You had some of the best Vamp lore this side of Bram Stoker, and you ignored it for some costume party happenings? Brilliant. Now, not only do these walking diseases have appearantly NOTHING to do with velious, other than the "well WoW got werewolves so we'll do vampires let's ride the wave of twilight fanboi'ism", they have less lore behind them than the flies buzzing around the random corpses. Nice try...all we need now is the EQ2 version of the NGE and your demolition of the game will be complete. Awesome. But hey, on a side note, nice to see smedcash getting a boost to buy something we were "given" in the past.
SmokeJumper wrote: Thats good. The posted pictures really did not look as good as the current EQ2 Vampire models and did not fit into the realm of other races. Also I hope the real pictures that you put up are one male and one female atleast.
Boldac wrote: Well said, I can't stomach the idea of a Race being spawned by one of the 'oh yeah, it's Halloween.. here's some spoooooky stuff' events, either. Pretty weak. You think having them come from the Nights of the Dead is a racial equivalent to, say, Rallos Zek and his Ogres? Me either. I'm not against the Vamps, though I'm not a personal fan, but c'mon.. bring em into the game with a shred of dignity. We all know every third character we see for the next few months will be a Vampire (and that's being conservative), please give them some really detailed and in-depth background for Rp. Give them boundaries, give them meaning.. you don't want this one left to player discretion.
Deverill wrote: It's not really a reward for buying the expansion. If you read it, you have to qualify for both the December & January rewards (both subscription based rewards) AND by the expansion to get the race free. If you don't qualify for either of those, you are going to have to purchase it from the marketplace, apparently. I do agree that it really isn't much of a reward for being a loyal player/customer. I think that it should be the inverse. If you don't get it for free by doing the "promotions", then you should wait two-three months to get it on the marketplace. But, then again, I'm fully against new races/classes (not saying there's gonna be a new class, just stating a future possibility) being on the marketplace on the legacy servers. That's what X is for. Make them pay for it. Those of us who are on legacy servers should be getting new races and such free by default. We're the side of the coin that doesn't want things like that in our marketplace, remember? This is the kind of stuff that was promised we wouldn't see on the legacy servers.
Boldac wrote: I agree, so I wrote better. Sony can have it for free. I don't care at this point: http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/...topic_id=491718
Aerfen@Lucan DLere wrote: Ya I agree that most of our players want to have some freedom in customizing there characters. With the vampires I want there to be enough color options with eyes, hair and skin that players can get the unique look they want. When I make the color wheels for the custom colors I will have most of the color combos pointing to more of a dead look with greens and blues. But I dont want to take options from players that they might want. New screens should be up soon. Still dialing in some polish and hair combos. These are the first models that use normal maps instead of bump maps, the models are higher poly count then other character models but still within reason. The most time consuming task is getting outfits to fit on the new geo and the facial custom bone skinnning. But its all be worth the extra effort. I will give more info about the models when the new screens are up. They are near completion but still doing some tweaks. Dave
covic wrote: Thanks for the info, now the only negative thing (hopefully) is that it can be bought on live servers...
Well I have to say that I am a bit disapointed here. Now I may be way off but when I read the rewards for the loyal players I actually thought that thats what they meant. That those of us that sub to the game would be getting something that no one else would get. I thought well for once we are actually getting something for being a subscriber. Now to find out that its not really a reward for subscribers that not only will everyone be able to get it...they will be able to get it even sooner than the subscribers do. Wow SOE, I have been standing up for you guys lately but this is just shamefull. As for the graphic you showed, well would agree with everyone on that one. Its awful. You have such wonderfull vampire art already why recreate it. I guess thats not the final, and I am thankfull for that. Now how about some real rewards for subscribers. You know ones that are "only" for subscribers.
So, a few things: 1) Those screenshots are really angling towards the animalistic, drink your blood and rip your torso in half type of vampire. How about the noble, cultured, proper posture vampire? 2) Will the model on the vampire illusion (in game since Bloodlines Chronicles) change to match the new models? 3) If this really is a new race rather than a "transformation" of existing toons that would have been more befitting the NoTD lore, can we assume that the race change potion will work for "transforming" existing toons?
covic wrote: It sounds really cool that they're letting you work with some newer modeling and texturing methods. I'll reserve judgement on the result until I see the final product. "Facial custom bone"? Does that mean the new vampire models will have sliders that can actually change face geometry, so that a player could make the character look more SOGA-ish or more original-modelish if they choose? If so, expect ectatically happy praise! You probably can't give an answer to this question yet, but if these new vampire models work out, is there any possibility that the models for the other PC races might be revisited and improved?
