West Karana

Just a taste of the new low level crafted outfits. They add bunches of colors for all tiers, and some real choices for leather and cloth wearers — up there are some of the choices, including some vest styles for even more options. You won’t have to be look boring if you’re a caster.

Lots, lots more!

On the way to the EQ2 expansion panel, stopped by the room to upload some pics.

Attended the Living Legacy feedback panel, more notes later, but it sounds like it or something like it will be coming in the future, perhaps as soon as the tenth anniversary celebration next spring. A new progression server is a possibility (for EQ).

Talked with a guy from Matrox for awhile, angered some VG players, and ate lunch at Quarks.More later!

Oh yes, Kirk-bear and Picard-bear are now mine.

I’ll be seeing these live hopefully later today, but here’s my first reactions to the expansions.

EQ2: The Shadow Odyssey

So, we’re getting Lost Dungeons of Norrath, EQ2 style. I don’t know if this means the return of the Wayfarers, but I kind of hope it doesn’t, as the Wayfarer’s led into the ugly Gates of Discord and Omens of War expansions, which kinda broke the whole fantasy feel of EQ with their SciFi aliens from across the 8th dimension, a mistake finally corrected with Dragons of Norrath.

Anyway, expect a single gorup focus, the reurn of Innothule Swamp and its signature dungeon, Guk.

Also returning is the dungeon of Befallen, which is a little odd, since we all kinda thought Stormhold was Befallen, given the NPCs like Gynok Moltar who spawn there, the heritage quests like the Bone Bladed Claymore that go through there, etc. and now, here’s Befallen.

It won’t really feel like Befallen unless you can fall into a deep hole, die, lose all your stuff and have to start over.

Ah, Befallen memories.

Remember how much people hated that whole aliens from across the 8th dimension thing in GoD and OoW? Well, they’re BACK.

They are adding Guild wars-style hirelings in case you need someone for your group. This can work out one of two ways. Either the hirelings are awesome, removing the need to find a real human for their spot and removing the need for clerics outside of raids entirely; or they are weaker than players and useless. Guild Wars does it th first way. I expect EQ will be going with the second/ Shrouded characters are far weaker than the equivalent player; I expect the same for hirelings.

But, if you could have a full group of competent hirelings to help you, then perhaps new players would be able to level up to their fifties, where grouping begins, without having to two box or get powerleveled.

Anyway, time to get ready for a fun day :)

Long,LONG day. Son wakes up with an ear infection. Go to work. Do some work. Find doctor. Take son to doctor’s.Wait forever. Doc says, hey, ear infection. I /sigh. Go to pharmacy. Wait there forever. Go home, give son meds. He goes to sleep. It’s 1PM. I opt to do some laundry before we leave. Give the cat a huge bowl of water that scares her,it’s so huge she may drown. Go to airport. Remember in the security line that I brought a full sized tube of toothpaste. Expect to be arrested immediately, but they let it through. TSA, my teeth thank you. Thunderstorms in Hartford delay the flight an hour and a half. We barely make the connection in Cincinnati. Try to sleep on plane, but it is SRO. Get to Vegas Slots everywhere. Shuttle to Hotel. Registration guy wants to talk about EQ and WAR for fifteen minutes, which is weird. He’s in the WAR closed beta Lucky.

Get to room. Hook up my Eee to the internet and get to reading all the EQ and EQ2 announcements. Start downloading all the videos and pictures and stuff. Go to Massively and see that all possible things I might have written about have been written. No idea what I will do tomorrow.

Went downstairs to take picture of Quarks to prove I have been there. Forgot there are places people still smoke indoors. Looked at all the casino games and realized I had no idea how to play any of them. I’d just be handing the casino money.

This is why I hate Las Vegas. Smoking, gambling and drinking.

Anyway, not sure what there is to do here that doesn’t involve smoking, drinking or gambling. 4AM by my body clock so…. bedtime.