EQ2 Into the Future Panel (Fan Faire 2007)
Into the Future Panel
SOE Fan Faire 2007===
Fan Faire Panel
This panel was originally scheduled for two hours, but there was such a crowd they did two one-hour sessions instead. Just about every developer was present. The development team started by presenting projects in development, then opened the floor to questions. It should be noted that because there were two sessions for this panel, other reports may have additional information.
EQ2 Developers in Attendance:
Scott "Gallenite" Hartsman, Producer; Chad "Lotus" Haley, Character Art Lead; Akil "Lyndro" Hoooper, Lead Content Designer; Don "Silverfrost" Newfield, Technical Director; CatNeri, Audio Lead; Greg "Rothgar" Spence, Programmer; Josh "Autenil" Kriegshauser, Associate Technical Director; Jen "Kirstie" Gerull, Associate Producer; Ellery "Saerkin" Jones, Game Designer; Steve "Saavedra" Kramer, Game Designer; Emily "Domino" Taylor, Tradeskill Developer; Chris "Archonix" Junior, Designer; Liz "Feconix" Sigmund, Raid Designer; Noel "Illucide" Walling, Design Supervisor; Chris "Aeralik" Kozak, Mechanics Programmer/Designer; Jared "Lockeye" Sweatt, Spells, Combat, and Achievements Designer; Nathan "Kaitheel" McCall, Associate Designer.
Projects in Development:
WARNING: some of these projects are just in the initial phase of development. We were given no timelines. It was stated repeatedly that they are rushing nothing, as they'd rather get it right the first time. I would warn against expecting any of these projects in the near future; in fact I got the impression that on most of these projects we're looking at a year or more before we see them.
1. Layered clothing: they are working on a system of layered clothing. Think of it as literally wearing two layers of clothes. The bottom layer would be for stats and the top layer would be for looks, allowing one to customize one's appearance and eliminating the "harlequin", "patchwork", and "Christmas tree" looks.
2. A new map system: we saw a very early prototype of a full screen map that would work in conjunction with a full-time mini-map. They'd like a search system which stores POI and other information outside the map, with a dynamic search that would allow what you're looking for to be displayed on demand instead of having a map full of colored dots. It was asked if it would work with EQ2 Maps, and the response was (I'm paraphrasing) "We'd like it to, we love EQ2 Maps!"
3. Guild Halls: finally we get news on guild halls. We saw concept art of evil and good guild halls. The art is being developed by SOGA, and at the moment there are just two designs. The halls will be accessible from the coasts of Commonlands and Antonica and will be instanced. They'd like them to have an early entry level, under guild level 10, and have the guild earn rooms and features as they level. For example, a level 10 guild might only be able to earn a courtyard where they can meet. They are throwing around lots of ideas for the rewards: Themed rooms, courtyards, NPCs, banners, teleport NPCs, access to water travel, brokers, merchants, menders, bankers, maybe guild vaults that offer more than the guild bank, perhaps a room you can bind in, house access. They are planning the halls to have 40 rooms.
Players with ideas for guild hall rewards have specifically been asked to post them on the official forums, as the developers are very interested in hearing them. (There is a lovely thread with suggestions going here: http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/posts/list.m?topic_id=375503)
It was strongly emphasized that there is no eta; we were told the art alone might take a year.
4. There are two new zones in development: Shard of Fear, a single group zone, and Shard of Hate, a raid zone.
5. A new god will appear before Kunark: Bristlebane.
6. Combat music revamp: This is very cool. It's an adaptive music system. No more having a random track picked and looped until something dies. The music is Tier based (so smacking rats in Antonica and battling Mayong have different music). It's entirely adaptive to the battle, so it not only changes with the outcome, but will also react to how difficult the encounter is and how the battle is going. We were treated to two demos recorded live in game, and the crowd was impressed.
7. Character skeleton revamp: this is still ongoing in the background. We are starting to see results in game, like human males having access to SOGA hairstyles, and the Sarnak use the new system. This project will be ongoing until it is right.
Q&A:
- Since we're getting a new race, will we get another character slot? Scott Hartsman says they'd like to, but that decision involves the Station and it gets into lawyers and contracts. It's not that it's impossible, but it's time consuming and prohibitive.
- Will environmental blending (a new way to design extremely large zones discussed in the Kunark panel) be spread throughout the game? They have no plans to combine zones, as from a workload standpoint it's the same as designing a new zone from scratch, but we eventually might see some of the art effects in existing zones.
- Will the new Avatars be on their own spawn? All Avatars EVER will be on the same spawn ALWAYS, Lyndro emphatically stated.
- What's the future of Weaponsmiths? Domino would like to review all existing stats on weapons for diversification. She'd like more weapons that were designed for specific classes. She'd love to get some new weapon appearances.
- Will HO's be revamped? Heroic Opportunity revamps are on the long-term to-do list, and have been for some time. It's a matter of having the time to do them right instead of just doing half-assed fixes.
- Will you be adding new classes? Lyndro gives a very emphatic NO. Scott is more diplomatic, saying "Yes, as soon as the first 24 are happy."
- Someone asked about the Legends of Norrath special in-game rewards. You will get a drop that can be redeemed in the LoN client for a booster pack. Cards are additional loot, on a separate loot table, a separate roll, and are a chest drop.
- Will there finally be an Iksar city? We are told, "Bad things have happened to Cabilis."
- Will there ever be a Vampire Lore and Legend? We are told it's already in game.
- Is there a Tik-Tok language quest? No, for reasons that were probably very good at the time but no one seems to be able to remember.
- When can we sit in chairs and lie in beds? Apparently the mechanisms in SWG which allow characters to interact with furniture were built into the architecture of SWG. EQ2 was not built that way, and to go back and add them would be very time prohibitive.
- Will the EOF style loot that knows what classes are in your raid be implemented in other zones? EOF "Smart Loot" will not be back-implemented at this time.
Many thanks to Cyberlink for the perspective and color correction on the guild hall images!
| Converted from Guides | |
|---|---|
| Created: | 2007-08-07 09:22:38 |
| Last Changed: | 2007-08-08 15:43:39 |
| Author: | Calthine |
| Category: | Event Coverage |
| Last Edited | 1383528 |
| Score: | 5.00 |
| Note: | None |
| Guide ID: | 1049 |
| Last Changed: | Unknown |
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