The EQ2 rundown..

rathma

  Here's a few things you might want to know about the game...

 Quests

"One of the mechanisms we'll be using a lot early in the game is that NPCs will actually seek you out and offer you quests rather than waiting for you to walk up and randomly find them."

"To me, having a great story is key. I think we came up with an excellent tale of what happened over the last 500 years, plus we have multiple threads carrying forward that will hopefully be revealed bit by bit over several expansions. And because a game like this has all kinds of sub-plots going at the same time, there are a multitude of side stories that might not relate to the bigger picture but are nonetheless enthralling."

  So it looks like quests will be very thought out in this game.

 Immersion

The drunk effect

"Some of the team just spotted this thread and ran over to ask me if I'd seen the drunk effect yet. I said no. So they showed it to me.

I'm not exactly sure which designers came up with this, but they obviously know their booze. The drunk effect is literally nauseating.

Everything gets all blurry and moves in and out of focus. Not like it did in EQ; like it does when you're really, really wasted and the barstool suddenly feels like it's made of jello.

Maybe they consulted Anyuzer after his birthday--I dunno. But however they did it, the drunk effect is quite... unsettling. But somehow, I think you guys are gonna like it."

  Food

"actually our designers talked about it some more and decided that requiring food helps encourage social interaction between players, so we're putting the food/drink requirement back in.

Priests will be able to summon food and drink (feed the body and the soul will follow, after all) and there will be a variety of baking and brewing recipes in game. There will be stat food as well. "

- Also, there will be falling damage in the game.

- The weather system has not been fully done yet so can't give any details.

 Player Housing

"Player housing is something you buy or rent in cities, not something you construct out in the wilderness. We don't want the Commonlands turned into a housing project or anything.

Free-standing houses will be a finite resource, and there will be some prestige for the guilds that own them. Of course, the cost and upkeep will be considerable, and I don't just mean in a monetary (or even physical resource) sense.

Apartment-like housing will be much more affordable. Some of these facilities can be quite large, too.

So no, you won't have to worry about the people next door burning your place down. However, we make no promises about noisy neighbors."

 "There are structures that exist in Qeynos and Freeport that are "plot" housing. The buildings are already there; they can be purchased for use by guilds or other player social structures. There are a finite number of these, so not every guild will be able to have one--there is a prestige factor involved with owning such a facility. Guilds that don't have one (or can't afford one) can still make use of large inn-type rooms, so it's not like someone's guild won't be able to have a place to call their own.

Originally we did have an idea of allowing houses to be built by players in certain areas outside of towns or wilderness areas. We aren't going to do that anymore, at least not on initial release. Having certain places where you could do this is certainly something we'll consider for the future.

Remember, instanced housing allows us to provide *lots* of available places. It's just that we want to limit the number of free-standing buildings that guilds can own, at least at this time.

You don't have to worry that if your guild house is located in Qeynos then your evil-race members won't be able to get inside. Player housing will be located in sections of town that will provide means for residents of the other city to get to the guild house. And yes, those means will make sense with the lore of the cities and the feel of the world we're trying to create."

 "In our housing we don't really have limits on where you can put stuff (other than practical ones, such as tables and chairs and beds on the floor, chandeliers on the ceiling, etc.). I think the only real restriction is that most things can't overlap others, but there is no hard limit on the number of items you can have in your housing.

Even our smallest apartments can hold a bunch of people and furnishings comfortably. The larger apartments have multiple rooms and are very spacious."

 Graphics

"The screenshots you've seen so far are just the tip of the iceberg. One of my favorite things to do in game is just travel to various zones and see how incredibly unique they feel. Even something as simple as walking around in Qeynos and Freeport shows what I mean, because the cities each have a vastly different aura to them.

Then you have the various outdoor areas, some of which are calm and pretty and others of which are torn and devastated. You can have that rolling grassland feeling you get in the Karanas of EQ1 and then suddenly you come across something to remind you of the cataclysm that hit Norrath and changed the world.

Don't even get me started on the dungeons. From labyrinths of caves to winding passageways filled with ominous shadows, you *really* get that creepy feeling of something lurking just ahead. And that's because, more often than not, something is. 

I'm also very happy that we went with zones, because it does allow for that hand-crafted feel that EQ did so well. So I think those of you looking forward to that kind of experience will be immensely satisfied.

As for NPCs--if I may subvert a well-known phrase--this is their world, too. One of the things the team is keen on is having non-player characters that really belong in the game. This goes for merchants, mobs, quest NPCs, and everything else. So even the bad guys will have a raison d'etre that dictates where they are and how they react to you.

"Immersion" is one of the key words around here."

 There you have it. Everything in quotes is from Moorgard.

NVidia - The way it is meant to be played

ATI - The way it really plays