Instanced Zone?!?

FrankyFish

The video Says that there will be instanced zone in Eq2!!!

http://www.gamespot.com/features/6098994/p-12.html

A big thumbs down for Sony Entertainement

Misti

Yes there will be some use of instanced zones in EQ2, thats not new news.  The devs of EQ2 were one of the first games to indicate they would be using instanced zones way back when they were being developed for EQ1.

Only certain encounters and quests will use instancing though, its not going to be the whole world by any means so most of the time everyone will be playing together in the same areas.

Seems like only a positive thing to me.  With a properly instanced zone you can make a much more immersive and amazing adventure.  They have indicated in fights with giants and dragons in instanced zones they can do things like have walls collapse, fires spread, and such that wouldnt be possible or would cause other players grief in non instanced environments.

FrankyFish

Ho, ok Thanks!

InfEagle

In one of the first videos for EQ2, the dev team said how not all of, but many dungeons and zones were going to be Instanced. They said that they wanted to give EQ2 sort of a dungeons and dragons module experience for dungeons, such as scripted events that happen while you explore the dungeon like traps and what not. Its also done so that one person or one group can experience all that there is to a zone, without interruption and feuds concerning camp rights.

The instanced method is by far a wise decision. Of course there will be many zones that are the standard "everyone can enter" type, but having instanced zones makes the game experience by far more hassle free and makes for an overall better game experience. Especially since all mobs that drop great loot are in an instanced area or in a raid instanced area.  I mean, how many of us wish that only we could have camped the hermit in South Karana? Or the other plethora of mobs that dropped something.

Also having instanced zones assures that everyone can enjoy the game without, again, waiting for their turn to fight somthing, for fearing the threat of kstealing an important quest mob.

An xp debt death  system like City of Heroes and xp death recovery of Dark age of Camelot with quest mobs and the majority of dungeons and zones being instanced and partially instanced...EQ2 is going to be too good to be true lol. 

Maximane

Instanced zones have also existed in other MMORPGs, such as Anarchy Online. It is nothing entirely new - it was just never really implemented in all MMORPGs.

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Alex "Maximane" De Line
- MMORPG.COM Staff -

ksmith2629

This might be a silly question, I think t hat I understand what instancing or Instant Zone is, but could someone please explain generally what this is?

Thanks

Tei

Misti

Instancing is when the game creates a copy of a location (like a dungeon or interior of a house) that only you, or you and your group can enter.  Each group entering the dungeon will have its own copy created so that they are alone to experience the zone by themselves.

Say out of the 3 thousand people playing on a server 60 of them are all trying to go to a dungeon called Befallen to kill a named monster at the end of the dungeon and get a quest item.  Without instancing they all will be in the same Befallen dungeon and will be fighting over the same monsters and rewards.

With instancing each group that enters Befallen would instead have its own copy of the dungeon to explore and fight through without interference from the others.  This allows the game designers to add more interactive elements then in a non instanced version.

As an example when venturing deeper into the dungeon a scripted event might occur that causes a cave in behind the group blocking their escape route and forcing them by surprise to find a new way out.  If this was done without instancing the other groups would be trapped above by the cave in and not able to explore more of the dungeon.

ksmith2629

Thanks Misti, that helped alot. Just wanted to make sure I was on the same track as everyone else on this subject.

 

Crestguard

I think what they are doing with housing is great!  Could use some minor tweeking though.  From what I hear everyone gets an inn room and goes to the same place to get to it, but it's instanced from an npc who can send you there.  From there you can make up keys to allow other people into your room and you can mark them as visitors to just look, friends who can look and move things, and equals who can move or even take items.  I hear these rooms are free, but then you can buy larger appartments, houses and guild halls.  I think thats nice but it woudl be nice if you had to run errands or quest for the room, something to make you earn it and such.  Either way, I look forward to instanced housing that everyone can enjoy without cluttering up the entire world and changing landscapes too much.  I just hope player purchased transportation works out this well.

Datcyde

FFXI has instanced zones when you fight bosses that go along with the story line. Its realy cool because you don have to wait. FFXI also has a mog house where you can store things in your chest, change jobd ect and when you go to other cities u can rent a room and its like having all your stuf at another city and only you can enter your house. Im glad to see eq 2 having instanced zones but i hope they make more cities outside of quesnos and freeport in the future.

|MaguS|

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Originally posted by Datcyde
FFXI has instanced zones when you fight bosses that go along with the story line. Its realy cool because you don have to wait. FFXI also has a mog house where you can store things in your chest, change jobd ect and when you go to other cities u can rent a room and its like having all your stuf at another city and only you can enter your house. Im glad to see eq 2 having instanced zones but i hope they make more cities outside of quesnos and freeport in the future.

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I wouldn't dout there are more once players discover them... They wont be player starting cities but NPC ones... Im happy for the two starting cities, fits the story very well and good immersion!

Misti

The problem with FFXI instanced housing is that it was next to pointless other then storage.  You could decorate it but what was the point when nobody else could enter your house?  In EQ2 you can give others access which doubles the fun imo.

As for only 2 cities thats a major limit to immersion imo and far from fits the lore of Norrath.

Ulster

Yeah I'm all for hosuing that other can walk into. It was really a pain in FFXI. I'd want to sell something and I'd have to run in my house, run out.. plus not being able to show off my mad decrating skillz lol

Aren't the 2 starting cities you refer two really starting countries ?
I thought Freeport and Qeynos both had 6 starting cites each.
Anyone know ?

Look at this page on the eq site:
EQ2 Locations

Ulster

Just found a table of starting cites. It seems there are more than 2

Anyways here is the chart...

Race/Archetypes/Town/Alignment Table

Mysk

There are two starting cities, Qeynos and Freeport. Within those two cities there are specific areas such as "Big Bend" and "Temple Street". It is within those specific areas that the various races start, yet those areas are still considered a part of either Freeport or Qeynos.

~Mysk

http://www.himysk.com/blog

Ulster

Ah got ya'
Thanks for clearing that up for me. So I will be able to walk to the other parts of the city then ?
Nettleview and Baubbleshire are both in Qeynos then ?
The EQ site says that Nettleview is a village adjacent to the city of Qeynos.

raptorfalcon

Yes.. plus if you follow the lore it says that basically communication was cut from the rest of the world.. so noone really knows whats out there unless you explore :P There will probably be many cities, etc.. and since the "noone knows" is still there they may add lots more in the future.

Bobiin

BIG THUMBS UP FOR SOE.  Now that they focus on the 6 man group instead of 85 man raids as in eq2, you dont have to do all the xp grinding and aa xp grinding to get into a uber guild that you have to raid EVERY night.  You can just do what you want, and instancing is awsome so you dont have to fight for the big mobs, you just do them when you want.  Sort of like LDON expansion for EQ.

--Nyture, Arc Convoker of fironia vie server (EQ) --Retired--

-Newbie monk - Nyture on FF11

Drakol

the instanced housing seems kinda generic to me, i would prefer a housing zone where you could place houses and actually look at it, or be able to place houses anywhere in the world you want which is what i would prefer.

Drakol
"you can't be right all the time. thats why i'm here."-Drakol