I know you have all been waiting with baited breath for my personal thoughts about the Rise of Kunark newbie experience.  I’m sure you’ve seen both Keen and Cuppy’s experiences in the new content, and I have to say I’ve enjoyed it as much as they both have.  So with a solid week to let the gameplay sink in and my mind grasp what I want to say, here are my impressions and thoughts regarding the level 1-20 newbie experience in the RoK expansion.

1. Launch Day:  It was a smooth as a baby’s bottom, at least for me in the newbie zone on Kithicor.  No lag, no server crashes, and not the 1000 Sarnaks that I thought might be crowding the place.  It was like…almost any other day in EQ2 except for the fact that I was piloting a really cool Sarnak character and exploring the new vistas of Timorous Deep.  I have to really applaud the SOE team on how smoothly the expansion launch went.  Not even a hiccup as far as I could tell.  So that really freed me up to focus on the game and enjoy myself rather than spend the evening wishing the servers were up or surfing a technical forum to resolve some new glitch. 

2. The Sarnak:  Cool race!  I had fun in the character creation process for quite awhile before deciding on my final look (I made a Brigand and then later a Defiler).  I like the various options you can select, from various horn styles to scale patterns to colors.  I did wonder for a bit how they would wear a helmet until I finally put one on - it basically lays over your snout, but preserves the unique look of your head and horns.  Good move.  The only thing I had to get used to was constantly seeing my Sarnak hunched over as he ran around.  It’s like they all have scoliosis or something!

3.  Graphics:  The graphics of EQII continue to impress and delight me.  I know that in some areas they need some work (character models of some races), but overall the art direction and style has been a welcome change from my almost 2 years of WoW.  Timorous Deep boasts ocean spray on the rocks, huge cliffs filled with colorful and dangerous fowl (!!), sweeping vistas from atop mountains, huge broken bridges over chasms, ancient temples and much more.  Yes, that’s just the newbie zone hehe.  It was definitely a fun zone to explore from a visual perspective - completely different feel than anything I’d seen to date.

4.  Quests and Leveling Up:  Timorous Deep is designed to take a character from level 1-20 in a story-driven series of quests that explains some of the backstory and conflict between the Sarnak and the Spirroc.  I found the quests to be somewhat easy to moderatly challenging given my level - so all in all I think they were appropriately focused at the right level.  I don’t think I ran across one quest where I thought, “Man, this is tough!”.  That may be because I was playing through the content as a trio vs. solo.  The quest stories are interesting if time is taken to read them, and I ended my journey through Timorous at Level 19, 98.6% to level.  So it was right on target to get me ready to face Butcherblock.  My one complaint is that it had to end at level 20 - you have a 50 level gap before you can really go back and experience the rest of RoK content.  So that’s a bummer, but it does provide some incentive to level up.

5.  RoK Gear:  I must say that the one thing I wasn’t expecting, and was completely amazed by, is the gear that you get out of Timorous Deep.  You get a TON of items from completing all the quests - from armor to weapons to jewelry.  And these items aren’t just your run of the mill newbie items.  These are top of the line stuff for their level - they are loaded with stats, health/power and resists in a lot of cases.  They are so good in fact, that even in the lower to mid 20s we were hard pressed to find any upgrades via Butcherblock quests or even via the auction house.  Now that’s saying something when you are 27 and still using level 16 or 17 items because you can’t get quest rewards that are any better (and in most cases worse).  I’d really expect that more at the higher level, but at the newbie level?  I was pleasantly surprised.  Now I just wonder if newbie gear in EoF and the old world will be revamped at all (a huge task I’m sure).

Overall, I found the RoK newbie experience to be the best one yet - better than Greater Faydark, Darklight Woods and certainly the old world (Antonica).  I continue to enjoy EQII and this expansion just proved to me that SOE is doing a lot of things right.  I plan to enjoy the world of Norrath for many months to come, and I encourage you to give RoK a try.  I’m telling ya, it’s good to be a Sarnak. 

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If you play EQII and have a house, you  may be like me - it’s crowded in the extreme!  I have so many pets running all over the furniture, up onto pedastals and globes, tables and beds, boxes and books.  Weapons and paintings hang on the wall and every once in awhile my clockwork scans the room.  Although it’s a mish-mash of Legend & Lore quests, /claim items and a few things bought from the broker, it feels like home.  :) 

However, if you are still looking for some items for your home, or pride yourself on having everything unique and possible in the game, this announcement is for you:

Exclusive EQ2 Offer in Beckett Massive Online Gamer

Limited Edition In-Game Item Only Available Though Magazine

Dallas, TX - November 12, 2007 - Fans of the new EverQuest II (EQII) expansion, Rise of Kunark, have something else to be excited about as Sony Online Entertainment and Beckett’s Massive Online Gamer (MOG) magazine are offering a once in a lifetime opportunity to EQII players and MOG readers. A secret access code has been added to the latest issue of Massive Online Gamer magazine available on newsstands the week of November 28th that will provide all readers with a limited edition portrait of the infamous warlord Venril Sathir. For fans who cannot wait for the magazine to hit the newsstand, the first 1000 people to subscribe to Massive Online Gamer will receive a unique code via email that can be redeemed for the in-game item.

“We have set up a subscription service that will allow new subscribers to get the code almost instantaneously. EQII players can either wait for the magazine to hit the newsstands or get the code now. When you subscribe, you’ll get the code as well as a great discount on our annual subscription,” said Doug Kale, editor of Massive Online Gamer.

Fans of EQII will want to nab this exclusive Venril Sathir in-game item as quickly as possible since it is a limited edition item. This marks the first time that Sony Online Entertainment, the makers of EQII, has offered an item of this level through a magazine.

“We are excited that Sony has partnered with Massive Online Gamer. Our readers are interested in every angle of the massive online community, so rewarding both existing as well as new readers is a tremendous opportunity for everyone,” added Kale.

To subscribe, click here http://www.beckett.com/subscriptions/subs.asp?promotion=294 and for more information about Massive Online Gamer, click here http://www.beckett.com/beckettmog/default.osi.

I will probably be burned at the stake, but I have to admit I have no idea who Venril Sathir is in terms of EQ lore.  But if the magazine looks interesting enough, I might subscribe for that content and get the painting as a side item.  I’d suggest that if this sounds like something you want, that you act quickly.  I imagine they will go fast.

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It’s official.  The servers went live about 3:30 p.m. central time today.  I’m about to hop in and see if I can get into the game along with the hordes of others wanting to see the Sarnak for the first time.  We’ll see how server stability is tonight. 

EverQuest II – Rise of Kunark is now live on all U.S. servers. The sum of many months of hard work by dozens of people on multiple teams comes to fruition today with the release of the fourth expansion to EverQuest II. On behalf of the entire team here at SOE, we would like to welcome you to the Rise of Kunark! Thank you for your patience during the expansion downtime today.

Look for an announcement regarding the international servers shortly.

I’ll definitely be writing up my own reactions and thoughts on the expansion probably next week after I’ve had a chance to play with it for a bit.  But for now it kinda feels like Christmas morning hehe. 

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Well the second bonus xp Sunday is over and done with, and we’re now on the eve of the Rise of Kunark expansion.  My gaming group had a good time again over the weekend, knocking out Runnyeye and several quests in the Enchanted Lands, trying to level up to a decent minimum to attempt Klak Anon.  Currently we’re all sitting in the 40 - 42 range, so I think in maybe 3-4 more levels we’ll be good to start working our way into the dungeon.  And just for the record, the SK/Necro combo is a nasty duo!!  They burn through mobs and content much easier than what I saw with the Berserker/Fury combo.

I had the opportunity to chat today with a fellow blogger who is also heavily invested in EQII and has been playing a lot longer than I have.  As we chatted, we talked about a lot of things - the RoK expansion, the graphics of EQII, general gameplay, and raiding.  One of the things we talked about were some of the early statements from the EQII team at launch about the graphics engine.  At the time, it had very high system requirements and most people had to play the game on very low settings.  The one thing the team said is that they were essentially future-proofing the graphics so that systems in the next several years could run the game at max settings and see the world in all its glory.  Well, I got to experience that over the weekend as I played for a good chunk of time at what you’d consider “screenshot” settings (I normally play on the equivalent of “quality” or so).  Wow, talk about some cool effects and visuals when you really crank those settings up.  Whether it’s minute detail on armor, the heat shimmers off of a fire, or the realistic textures on things like the canyon walls, it was clear that the graphics have held up well.

But more than that, I think EQII itself has really held up well.  Brandon Reinhart over at Madness & Games wrote an article recently expressing his view that people need to give this game a second look.  In reading it, I think he summarizes well what the game experience was like at release - it meshes up with my memory of what it was like to play during those initial few months and some of the problems that were present.  But as he notes, I think EQII really has evolved and developed into one of the best MMOs out there today.  Maybe it’s done so quietly, and with a few million less subscribers than WoW, but it doesn’t make it any less true.  With several expansion packs to its credit, not counting the one releasing tomorrow, the world of EQII is absolutely huge and full of interesting content.  But don’t take my word for it.  There are bloggers out there that know way more than me, and can give you far more info on the game.

With the Rise of Kunark expansion releasing tomorrow, the players of EQII are brimming with excitement.  And I think it’s an excitement that should be shared with a broader MMO audience.  This game is clearly a different (and imo much better) game than it was when launched in 2004, and people need to know that.  I think SOE is consistently building up a very solid base of content, making changes to game mechanics and systems where it makes sense, adding value for the players.   I think more than just Kunark may be rising - I think SOE and EQII have caught their stride and are rising as well.

Finally, for those of you anticipating RoK tomorrow and want to know when you’ll be able to get in the game, Gnobrin over at the official forums had this to say:

 At approximately 5:00am PST (1pm GMT), all servers (US, test and international) shall be brought down for the expansion update! The downtime is expected to be until 1:00pm PST (9:00pm GMT). During that time, please remember that we’ll be regularly updating EQIIPlayers as well as the official EQII Forums with update information as it comes! The official EQII Forums will also be hosting games and entertainment, brought to you by your crazy admins!If that’s not enough, that there are planned mini-events and games in the stand alone client for Legends of Norrath! You can learn more of those Legends of Norrath events HERE as well as how to get that stand-alone client, if you’re not already set!Get ready… the Rise of Kunark’s is on its way!

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Three years ago today EQII launched to a huge amount of fanfaire and anticipation by a legion of veteran EQ players.  At the time, a friend of mine and I had formed our own guild and were gunning to get into the guild status race quickly.  We ramped up our guild on the Guk server and were swept away by the experience for the first few weeks.  But then the performance problems and bugs started to wear us down.  And the constant grind to slowly level.  And the sameness of the armor.  And the xp debt when you died.  Etc. etc.  In short, we only lasted three months in the original incarnation of the game because it had become something completely not fun for us.

However, today EQII is a completely different game, as pointed out by Kendricke today over at Clockwork Gamer.  It is actually quite a good MMO.  It was great when I played again last year for a few months, and I would say it’s even better today.  It’s hard to believe it’s been three years since the game launched, and WoW will be hitting that milestone soon as well.  How time flies!

I’ve been really enjoying my time back in EQII.  I’ve mostly been focused on the Faydwer expansion zones as I had done the old world zones a few times (especially Qeynos/Antonica/Thundering Steppes).  It’s been great to see things completely new, but so reminiscent of the original EQ zones.  My friends and I that are playing are anxiously awaiting the RoK expansion next week, and I’m really glad to see the NDA finally lift today.  I hope to read some nice beta reviews before the game hits. 

I really do hope that someday there will be an EQIII, but with EQII going so strong that day may be years and years away.  I really think right now that EQII has at least 5 more years of life in it, especially if they continue to release the quality of expansions they have.  There is a TON of content out there, and it can be a bit overwhelming, but it also means there’s always someplace to go and explore that you’ve never been.

So Happy Birthday EQII - may you live to see another three and many more!

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Wow…it’s hard to believe the weekend is already over including the “bonus xp” Sunday for EQII.  I got in plenty of hours in the game this past weekend with my gaming buddies and we took full advantage of it.  As I noted last week, we are really enjoying the Faydwer content that none of us had seen before.  Having finished up all the Greater Faydark quests last week, and most of Butcherblock, we decided to go ahead and knock out Crushbone. 

Saturday night we headed in and knocked out 4-5 quests we had for the place, clearing the entire fortress up to the instanced D’Vinn Throne Room.  On Sunday, we came back and picked up a few trusted pug members.  [In addition, we picked up another member for the group who turned out to be a fellow blogger!!  We had no idea until she saw our names and said “Are you guys kidding me or did you really not know who I was??”.  It was pretty funny].  We ventured back to Crushbone and into the instance.  Some time later, we were victorious, having slain the Crushbone Champion and picking up a nice set of vambraces for my Berserker.  I must say, as cool as the final guy looked, it was pretty anti-climactic.  I thought the trash mobs we had to clear in the instance were tougher fights than the final boss fight.  But overall, it was a really fun dungeon.

Sunday night we wrapped up BB quests and dove into the Steamfont mountains.  We were able to do probably 10 quests or so before we had to call it a night.  It was a nice change to be in a zone that had a lot of sunlight after the dimness of Greater Faydark and BB.  It was like the first time I went into the Nagrand zone in Outlands after spending all my time in hellish and murky zones before that.  The sunlight was blinding!  It was great seeing the giant gears laying on the ground, clockworks whirring in the distance, and seeing the minotaurs!!  I absolutely loved this zone in EQ and spent many an hour there killing minos and venturing into Ak’Anon.  Since the zone is rated 30-55, we have plenty of content left to do there.

By the end of the weekend, I had gained 5 levels and landed at 36.  My two buddies are 35 and 34 respectively, and we’ve added a “trusted pug” member who we’re starting to group with regularly - a 36 dirge.  The bonus xp was nice as we played on Sunday, and as always, the levels just seem to roll in as a very secondary aspect of the gameplay.  It’s just hard to believe that we’re almost to 40 in just two weeks of playtime!! Holy cow.

In an effort to see more content, one of my buddies and I have started another pair of characters to duo with from time to time - a necro (him) and a shadownight (me).  We’ve worked them up to about level 13 or so and started in Neriak.  It’s been nice to see the evil side of things, but man, Neriak makes you claustrophobic!!  We literally ran around in there for a couple of hours exploring the city and doing around 10 city centric quests.  By the time we were done, I was desperate to be in the outdoors again.

Overall, another really fun weekend of EQII.  I have yet to make a deity decision but I think Marr is probably it for a good aligned tank.  Although part of me wants to wait and see which three deities come in the RoK expansion.  Any advice would be appreciated! 

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Looking forward to the new EQ2 expansion pack?  Want to level a bit more before it hits?  Well, things just got easier as announced by SOE over on the official site:

The Race to Kunark has begun! To help you prepare we’re offering “Bonus Experience Sundays” on November 4th and November 11th, 2007! From midnight to midnight pacific time, experience gain will increase by 50% for adventurers and tradeskillers alike. Get your friends together and plan your attack, Rise of Kunark is coming…

Wow…a 50% xp increase for essentially 48 hours?  Nice!  I know this will bode well for me and my buddies who recently started playing again.  My only worry is now we may outlevel quests and content even faster!  Just in the last two days I think I’ve gained 5 levels, and that’s from playing maybe a combined 6 hours doing quests and killing mobs as part of those.  Things seems to be flying by pretty quickly already, and that’s hard because I’m a “completist”.  I like to do every quest and check them all off the list, and I know that’s impossible in EQ2 for the most part.

 On another note, I’m usually not a crafter in MMOs, but with this kind of xp gain, I wonder if I shouldn’t research tradeskils quickly and maybe spend some time getting one of those up in levels while the xp gain is boosted.  Hrm…decisions, decisions.

Also - for anyone playing EQ2 who is close to the level cap, be sure to take a look at Clockwork Gamer’s most recent article on vitality and the expansion.  Solid advice on parking your character right before 70 in order to take advantage of the vitality mechanic for RoK.

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So I’ve been back in EQ2 for a whole week now.  I started last weekend with just getting the game reinstalled and searching for a UI I liked.  I really got into playing on Monday night and had chosen a Gnome Illusionist to play.  I decided to start in Greater Faydark because all of it was new to me.  So I mess around for a night or two and get my Illusionist up to 13 or so.  Around mid-week an MMO gaming buddy of mine from my WoW guild messages me.  He was keeping tabs on me via the blog, and decided he was burnt out a bit on WoW raiding.  So we joined up and made some new level one characters.

Now you have to understand, I traditionally play a healer type in every MMO.  But considering that I have two mid-level healers on Guk, I wasn’t too keen on starting another one on Kithicor.  Since my friend had opted to start a Fury, I decided that I would go with a fighter type since we’d be duoing mostly.  So I now have my first Berserker!  My friend and I played on Thurs through the weekend, and ended last night right at level 22.  We’ve put in a fair amount of hours, but we’ve played at what I consider a more “casual” pace.  We’re enjoying the quests, running around exploring and seeing things, and spending time in the city at the broker and our inn rooms.  The levels just seem to be rolling in and that’s great.  And as of tonight, another friend is joining us so we’ll now have a trio:  Berserker, Fury and Warlock.  It will be interesting to see how well those three work together.

So what do I think of EQ2 after having been out of it for the last 14 or so months?  Well, it brought back a lot of memories from playing in the summer of 2006.  The things I enjoyed then are still around, and I actually can’t wait to get back to some of the zones I spent a lot of time in (Enchanted Lands, Zek, Feerrott, Sinking Sands, and Everfrost).  Here are just my quick, first week impressions of being back in EQ2:

1.  Graphics:  wow!  I had forgotten how nice the game really looks.  I can play the game on “Quality” settings without really any impact on performance, and it’s nice to jump up to “Screenshot” settings now and again to really see the eye candy.  I did that just last night and went to look at some non-aggro mobs up close.  Boy, the detail level was just incredible.  There are apparently newer models for player characters now which is nice, as the original ones weren’t great at all.  From spell effects to mobs to dungeons and armor, I can really say I’m just impressed again by the quality of the design and look of the game.

2.  Quests:  they call this EverQUEST for a reason.  I definitely did tons of quests last summer when I played - probably several hundred on my main templar although I’d have to check the exact number.  And this time is no different.  Everwhere you look there are quests.  However, there don’t seem to be quite as many in the Faydark as there were in old-world Qeynos.  Between the Qeynos sub-districts, the dungeons underneath, the city, and  Antonica - there were so many quests you could never hope to do them all (believe me I tried!).  The quest progression through the Faydark is nice - you are lead through the starter area and out to an outpost near Kelethin.  We quested up to around level 17 or so, but then there seemed to be about a 3 level gap in quests.  We were left looking at some red Crushbone quests (25-28), or having to venture to Butcherblock and start level 20 and 21 quests.  So we did some collections for a bit to give us an xp boost, and were able to head on in to Butcherblock.  All in all - nice quests and plenty to keep you busy.

3.  Combat:  I got back into the combat system much more quickly this time than I did last summer.  It’s about the same as I remember, and it wasn’t long before I was back in the rhythm of things.  Mobs sometimes still seem ultra-fast, and there is still a bit of that “everything on rubber bands” kind of feel, but overall it’s been good.  We haven’t gotten into HOs much (since with two you are very limited), but I can remember those being pretty nice when we played last year with 4-5 people of the different archtypes.

4.  Overall Atmosphere:  I really like the “feel” of EQ2 being high fantasy.  WoW is a fun game and I had a blast playing it, but the feeling and atmosphere of EQ2 is completely different.  So it’s been a nice change and strangely enough, I felt like I had come home a bit.  The community has been nice (if a bit sparce in my area of the world) and we’re having fun enjoying a more laid back approach.  Overall this rates close to 5 stars for the overall experience in the first week.

Well, those are my impressions and thoughts after having been back in for a week.  I have a feeling I may be in EQ2 for the next few months for sure, and that’s a good thing!  I’m off to log in and see what trouble we can get into in Crushbone tonight. 

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Well, as I wrote a couple of weeks ago, SOE was trying to lure me back into EQ2.  I put the postcard on my desk, and there it sat for a few days.  Then a week.  Then it started to talk to me:  “Hey man…you’re not playing an MMO at the moment, right?  So why not come back and try an old friend?  You know you want to!!” 

We had a good conversation, but I declined and went to watch some college football.  Sometime during a commercial I wandered in to surf a bit and lo and behold, somehow I was downloading the game!  How did that happen??  I tried to remember.  I figured heck, as long as it’s downloading I might as well let it finish, right? 

So I did.  And I patched.  And I found a UI I like (ProfitUI Reborn).  And I logged in and found my old characters waiting for me.  So now I’m at that decision point of, “Do I really want to get back into playing EQII?”  You have to understand, I created my original character in EQ2 on the first day you could, on the Guk server.  I played for three months while leading a guild, and the game at the time just wasn’t for me.  I tried, I really did.  Fast forward 18 months after that - I jump back into the game during the summer of 2006 with a few friends.  Man - the game had totally changed, and for the better!   We played for another three months and had a lot of fun, then RL got ahold of me and I fell off the wagon again.

So here we are today, another 14 months or so after I last stopped playing.  And I’m staring at two mid-level characters on Guk (lvl 40 and 50), and have just created a couple of new characters on Kithicor (Fae Wizard and Gnome Illusionist).  So the inevitable questions - how much am I going to play this?  Casual?  Hardcore?  Do I want to play through the new content or go back to my higher level characters?  What about people to play with - join a guild?  Am I planning to stick with this long enough to raid?  What server do I play on?

Decisions decisions…but I am having fun with my lowbie characters at the moment.  The Fae are pretty cool and I love the Greater Faydark zone so far.  I think I’ll probably get into Kelethin a bit tonight.  It’s definitely bringing back a lot of memories from a year ago - everything from the level sound and effects, to the “bloop” sound of getting a new spell, to the character and monster models.  And man…how can I ever forget the sheer amount of quests!  Tons of em. 

So if you see a Gnome Illusionist or Fae Wizard running around on Kithicor, give them a wave.  It may just be me out there playing.

P.S.  I actually did see “Pixiestyx” in chat last night hehe. 

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“This is what Everquest II was Meant to Be!” 

“Call Norrath ‘Home’ Again…For Free!”

“Your Account Has Been Reactivated For A Limited Time”

Those are the phrases emblazoned on the postcard sized flyer I received in my mailbox today.  It’s a nice flyer, it really is.  There’s the great artwork, the “Legends of Norrath” logo with card pictures, even a “T for Teen” rating on the postcard.  By the way, if you glance at the rating text really quickly, it appears to read, “Use of Alcohol and Violence Suggested”.  Advice to live by?

Yes, SOE found it in their heart to specifically send me a personalized postcard in the mail, telling me that I need to come home, for free, at least through Nov. 4.  After which presumably I’ll cough up the subscription money because I’m overwhelmed by all the changes and having a lot of fun with the game.  They even list all the great stuff that’s going to lure me back and make me stay including:  All live expansions to date, LoN trading card game, LoN starter deck, a special win back reward item (Pouch of the Well Traveled).  As far as the game goes, there are things like GU 39 going live, the Shard of Fear included, a new starting zone (Neriak) and race (Arasai), LoN, expanded gameplay and quests for all levels, persistent raid and group isntances, one extra character slot and a new LFG tool.

I think I posted this on one of Darren’s posts the other day, but I tend to look forward, not back, when dealing with MMOs.  In other words, I (typically) quit cold turkey and never go back.  At least I used to.  The past 18 months or so has seen me break that twice - I went back to EQII last summer after an 18 month break or so, and last Dec. I went back to WoW after about a six month break.  In both instances I had a great time and enjoyed the games.  With WoW, I just got burnt out again by virtue of playing so darn much and just pushing like all get out to get through Karazhan.  With EQII, I didn’t get burned out, I actually got distracted by other RL interests and just never went back (and then TBC hit).

I’ve currently been MMO-free for a tad over four months now, VG being my last jaunt.  With no hope of a War beta invite this fall, and TR only mildly interesting me, I’m left to either not play anything or go back to a former game.  If I went back to a former game, I think EQII might top my list, especially with the Rise of Kunark expac coming out.  Plus I’ve never seen any of the Faydwer material, so there would be a lot to see and do.  The downside is I’d probably have to start from scratch on a new server, or go back to my two higher level characters on Guk, where I’m currently homeless and have no former buddies to really game with there.  So the question is, do I just want to start fresh on a new server and just dork around, not really caring if I ever hit top end and can raid, etc.  Realistically, I’d only be playing it for three months or so anyhow in all likelihood, so dorking around and taking it easy would be just about right.

The game was much better a year ago than it was at launch, and it’s probably even better now.  I just don’t know if that’s enough, even with this nice, shiny post card, to lure me back in for a bit.  Decisions, decisions.  Got any suggestions?  Anyone out there that would really recommend me giving EQII another shot, perhaps with a new character?  

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