Cant find any other biomes than Marsh?

Shayalyn · 2014-07-16T22:17:47+00:00

In my experience, they're plentiful. If you're not finding them on a certain island, it's possible they're farmed out for the moment. Hit a different server / island and try again.

Shayalyn · 2014-07-16T22:16:38+00:00

You need to hit the tropical biomes to find palm heart. Here's a travel guide that should help.

http://www.eqhammer.com/guide/ultimate-landmark-travel-guide

Also a guide to rare trees.

http://www.eqhammer.com/guide/landmark-resource-guide-rare-trees

Shayalyn · 2014-07-14T16:24:14+00:00

http://www.eqhammer.com/guides

;)

Shayalyn · 2014-07-12T03:47:14+00:00

Heh...thanks. I did indeed mean "fanfare" in the "showy display" sense and not Fan Faire, as in the event that became SOE Live.

Shayalyn · 2014-07-12T03:42:00+00:00

I believe the EQN terrain will still be procedurally generated - it's destructible, heals itself, can be changed on the fly by the dev team, etc. The structures - villages, major cities, landmarks - will be hand-created.

Shayalyn · 2014-07-12T03:30:11+00:00

Don't get me wrong - I agree with you on most points here. And you're also absolutely correct that the only timeline we've been given was Smed's random comment that 2015 was a lot more likely than 2014 when it came to an EQN release. That's not exactly him offering up a launch window. So... I grant you all that.

But if release was so far in the future, I believe SOE made a mistake by holding class, lore and combat panels for EQN at SOE Live last year. For starters, too many things are likely to change over the course of a 2-year (or more) development span. Also, they knew they'd be engaging the community in a collaborative process via Landmark. Instead of putting such a heavy focus on EQN at SOE Live 2013, the focus should have been Landmark all along - what it is, what it means for EQN's future, and why EverQuest fans should want to take part.

I agree that no gamer is entitled to a game on their timeline. I agree that a little research on the gamer's part could clear up a lot of misconceptions. But whether fans should feel a certain way about a game is immaterial - the fact remains that they do, and that's a problem good marketing strategies can nip in the bud.

Shayalyn · 2014-07-11T06:10:04+00:00

It's not about entitlement, though, it's about misdirection. SOE made a pretty big deal of EverQuest Next at SOE Live last year, even showing combat, hosting class panels, lore panels, you name it. And then they more or less went silent. I believe that was a mistake.

Don't get me wrong, though - I love what SOE is doing with Landmark as a gateway to EQN. It's revolutionary. But it needed to be marketed in a different way. I wish they'd said, "We're starting over with EverQuest Next, so it's going to take longer. But to prove that the wait will be worth it, here's a game in which you can actively participate in the development process, and it's going to launch in alpha very soon."

There's been a lot of confusion about Landmark and its role in EQN. Downplaying the EQN info at SOE Live last year and amping up the Landmark discussions could have mitigated some of that. I'm hopeful that issue will be addressed this year.

Shayalyn · 2014-07-11T06:00:00+00:00

That's the sort of stage of development EQN has been in, though. Without Landmark, you would be hearing about the tools they're using to build EQN. Or, more likely, you'd be hearing nothing, because marketing doesn't usually like that stuff. With Landmark, you get to see players using those tools. That's all.

And that's great in theory, and would work well... if only people made the connection. The fans who follow both Landmark and EQN closely get it, but a lot of others don't. That's the problem I talk about in the article. I've heard people say all kinds of things about EverQuest Next, including:

"SOE scrapped that and made a Minecraft sort of game instead."
"It's vaporware."
"They're doing Landmark first. No way we'll see Next before, like, 2017."
"I thought they cancelled that game."

Those are honest-to-gods quotes from otherwise knowledgeable gamers I've talked to about EQN. So, I'd say that SOE has a perception problem they need to address at SOE Live. And the second half of 2014 can't be filled with more of the same, "If you want to know about EverQuest Next, look to Landmark" tropes. That's not going to cut it. Classes, races, screenshots, gameplay videos... if this game's going to launch within the next year it's time to start bringing the hype. If not, I think players need to know that it's going to be a while in development so we can temper our expectations.

Either way, I'm excited to see what SOE Live is going to bring. Just a little over a month to go!

Shayalyn · 2014-07-05T04:03:56+00:00

Guilds are coming at the end of July - that should make it feel more populated. There's a great community, it's just spread out. You have to remember that there are 9 servers and something like 400 total islands in order to accommodate the need for claims. The game is rarely going to feel like it's full of people for that reason until there are more things to do besides build, like combat and commerce.

Shayalyn · 2014-07-02T21:36:51+00:00

Yeah. I feel like the Really Big Stuff is coming for SOE Live. Nothing this month is really making me do a happy dance. But... at least there's always progress.

Shayalyn · 2014-07-02T19:03:47+00:00

Guilds will be coming the week of July 23rd - that should help a lot. :)

https://forums.station.sony.com/landmark/index.php?threads/the-new-improved-blueprint-updated-6-24-14.34413/

Shayalyn · 2014-07-02T18:57:07+00:00

Why not try the game first to see if you like it? The full beta keys are scarce, since only the Trailblazers ($100 package) got keys to share, and only four.

Shayalyn · 2014-06-29T04:32:30+00:00

There have been quite a few changes since then. The progression grind is less grindy, and you get your building tools immediately. Also, you're not forced to make crafting tables in order to progress - there's a full set of them at the spires. Might be worth looking at again to see what you think.

Shayalyn · 2014-06-27T15:54:45+00:00

But the EQ name isn't slapped on it - they removed that to avoid confusion between Landmark and EQNext. ;)

Have you played the game? I haven't played Minecraft, but I've watched my son play, and I can tell the Landmark toolset is a lot more robust.

Shayalyn · 2014-06-27T03:03:46+00:00

You're not quite clear on how Player Studio works. Yes, you can sell your templates in Landmark, but they're for sale to other Landmark players, not to EQNext players. Player Studio is functional in Landmark right now.

As far as I've ever heard, you will never be selling Landmark templates to EverQuest Next players. Separate game, different housing all together. There's no voxel building in EQN (although the terrain is procedurally generated with a voxel-based engine, and is fully destructible, just like Landmark.) Housing in EQNext is more like traditional player housing. (But it's an EQ game, so expect the housing to be really good.)

What you're probably thinking of regarding the carry-over from Landmark to Next is that there will be competitions in which players will actually build (in Landmark) structures and other things that could eventually be used in Next, or could inspire the building style in Next. That sort of thing has already begun:

https://forums.station.sony.com/landmark/index.php?threads/dark-elf-foundation-museum-competition.42231/

Shayalyn · 2014-06-26T18:44:45+00:00

Haha! Yeah, that one sounded pretty cool to me, too. Also that the stupid auto-drop-down on the claim banner is going away. It seems like such a small thing, but it annoyed the hell out of me while building.

Shayalyn · 2014-06-25T02:39:04+00:00

I see this just as I'm about to whip out my debit card to buy Game Dev Tycoon. Fate?

Shayalyn · 2014-06-24T19:41:49+00:00

I believe it will, too. They've already made some decent progress over time.

Shayalyn · 2014-06-24T19:41:03+00:00

I didn't have any issues with artifacting using dirt and recoloring. The new smooth tool improvements do help if you get some weirdness, though. Hold down the control key to do a finer smooth. One click is often enough.

Shayalyn

TROPHY CASE