tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-826986957606858027.post7957083843498104270..comments2023-06-19T10:45:56.724-04:00Comments on Player Versus Developer: Reviewing New HalasGreen Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15564045048380177626noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-826986957606858027.post-83238216275129334932010-06-14T18:45:42.864-04:002010-06-14T18:45:42.864-04:00Green Armidillo wrote:
You just can't start in...Green Armidillo wrote:<br /><i>You just can't start in the old cities.</i><br /><br />Which practically means that people won't be likely to go the cities. Logging on my account the other day, I noticed that Freeport was a ghost town. It wasn't exactly overflowing with people before, but it's really empty feeling now. I only saw one other person, and that was someone running to their housing right near mine.<br /><br />As has been pointed out, yeah, this is probably an issue that would take a lot more effort to fix. Still, it seems a bit silly to not even offer the option to people who want it. Perhaps not showing the old cities to people unless they have a character that's made it out of the starting areas might be more appropriate?<br /><br />Change happens, I guess.Brian 'Psychochild' Greenhttp://www.psychochild.org/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-826986957606858027.post-22616590848549339072010-06-14T13:41:56.396-04:002010-06-14T13:41:56.396-04:00From the interview you linked previously:
"I...From the interview you linked previously:<br /><br />"I want the beginning of the game to be such stupid fun that no one ever quits."<br /><br />No sure that they have really nailed this with New Halas based on your review and Pete's.<br /><br />I think it's actually a good thing that it's hard to get to the old starter cities. The quests there are a lot harder than those in the newer starting zones, and the loot you get from the quests is simply horrible. The itemization could be improved pretty easily (it puzzles me that every starting zone doesn't have quest rewards on par with TD), but the structural problems you mention with the areas would likely demand way too many resources to be worth fixing.Yeebohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08028940396189544294noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-826986957606858027.post-56991029970897379732010-06-14T11:49:05.250-04:002010-06-14T11:49:05.250-04:00@Stillwater: This is true, I forget about the rewa...@Stillwater: This is true, I forget about the rewards because I have enough crafter alts to gift my new characters with a full set of handcrafted gear+jewelry+weapons. There actually were a few quest rewards from Frostfang that I wore from levels 10-19, before replacing them all with level 20 handcrafts. <br /><br />@Psychochild: The old cities are still there, and appropriate-aligned characters can still do the quests in the actual cities (i.e. after the starter island) if they're willing to travel over from the zone that they started in. It's also relatively easy to change your citizenship within your faction if you want the old housing. You just can't start in the old cities. <br /><br />That said, the biggest issue with Qeynos and Freeport is that they're broken up into so many subzones that it's impossible to find anything, as the guards won't tell you which zone to head to for crucial city services. Unfortunately, that's not an easy fix. <br /><br />@Ferrel: The irony is that EQ2 now has the most extensive point-to-point teleportation network I can think of, with as many as three separate landing points per zone and sometimes internal auto-AFK travel besides. If there's any game that COULD be making large expanses of relatively empty spaces, it would be EQ2. That said, it sounds to me like the biggest issue the team has right now is lack of resources, and that problem may not be solvable.Green Armadillohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15564045048380177626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-826986957606858027.post-43594339388981654212010-06-14T07:24:27.079-04:002010-06-14T07:24:27.079-04:00I'm with you on the part about moving out of t...I'm with you on the part about moving out of the new zones. I started in Gfay a few times and took off. I don't understand how Antonica is "sub-par." I think it is great but perhaps they mean "it isn't on rails and abundantly clear about where to go." I never saw that as a problem.<br /><br />I also think that the smaller zones is just the nature of EQ2 now. Kunark was huge but beyond that, think of how small every expansion has been. The focus shifting from worlds to games is partly to blame. I think developers are afraid of exploration and afraid that large empty areas will seem negative to players.Ferrelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02533610055473304965noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-826986957606858027.post-90223682258965236472010-06-14T02:05:06.358-04:002010-06-14T02:05:06.358-04:00Hmm, it does seem strange that they're complet...Hmm, it does seem strange that they're completely disallowing new players to start in the older areas. Changing the default and giving a warning would be enough. As you point out, some people who have fond memories of the older areas might want to go play there.<br /><br />Admittedly, the older zones are the weakest. As a friend of mine commented when we were playing EQ2, you kind of expected NPCs to be eating babies in Freeport and for the sun in Qeynos to have a smiley face drawn in crayon given how stupidly stereotypical those areas were. I did some of the quests around Freeport just because I wanted to experience the content, but it was not exactly great content.<br /><br />Ah, well. I guess nobody will ever visit my house in Freeport that I sometimes log on and visit just for nostalgia's sake. :PBrian 'Psychochild' Greenhttp://www.psychochild.org/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-826986957606858027.post-44963775998171552952010-06-14T00:41:45.853-04:002010-06-14T00:41:45.853-04:00That's a great write-up. :)
Personally, as so...That's a great write-up. :)<br /><br />Personally, as someone who has trouble dealing with too much freedom (as opposed to not enough freedom), I like New Halas for what it offers.<br /><br />It has quite a few named enemies for people to kill, a lot of quest, with some that give me insight as to what happened to the world since I know nothing about it, and the loot is competitive with Timorous Deep in terms of stats. :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com