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Q&A WITH THE VERANT REPS
Throughout the day, the Verant reps were up and about, often being swarmed with questions (and complaints). The closest thing to a formal Q&A session occurred when Brad McQuaid took up a chair, and about one-fourth of the attendees gathered around him. Brad, a common target for flames by the online EQ community, was very laxed and professional with his comments, answering every question or comment he could with a rational explanation or opinion. In regard to one of the hotter topics, camping, Brad stated several solutions that are being considered, including breaking quests up into several parts and revamping zones that are currently under-populated. He made it clear that the game wasn't perfect, but that everything they have done in the last three years has been a tremendous learning experience, and things are only going to get better. Brad also expressed a great appreciation for the players, dubbing them as the reason for EverQuest becoming a huge success.
We also managed to catch Geoff Zatkin (GZ), who designed the EQ spell database among other things, talking in-depth about current issues and upcoming features. He was given a particularly hard time by a certain attendee who felt that the Wizard class was underpowered. Despite this person's repeated complaints and attacks, not once did Geoff lose his cool, tactfully addressing each and every point with a rational explanation. His dialogue was a real testament to the professionalism and expertise of the Verant staff. When asked if the EQ development team played and learned from other titles, such as Ultima Online, Geoff replied "absolutely… Verant is a team gamers… we play everything".
"Geoff Zatkin knows his stuff."
Although the Verant reps would not make official statements on many of the new features, they did hint to several. One of these is the new level cap, which is currently speculated to be 60. Although they wouldn't confirm this, they did say that every level after 50 would be the equivalent of a "hell level". Currently, the "hell levels" are 30, 35, 40, and 45, which take considerably longer to advance through than the other levels. There will be completely new types of spells, as well as continuations of some the current lines of spells. Wizards will have new fire and energy based spells that will be equal to or more powerful than the Ice Comet, as well as new teleportation spells. For PvP, they are working on area-of-effect spells that will not cause a problem with damaging party members. Clerics will have a new, higher XP-return resurrection spell among others. Again, no specifics, but "expect plenty of great new toys".
THE CLOSE
And the end of the evening, the winners of the Real-Life Quest and the Trivia Challenge were awarded with free copies of the Ruins of Kunark expansion pack. A few other, more fanatic attendees, were awarded the expansion as well. Being that the software isn't completed yet, the winners didn't actually take home a CD-ROM, but rather provided information that would allow Verant to send the expansion free of charge once it's completed.
Finally, after the awards presentation, Kevin Scott gave some final words, thanking Verant and everyone else for coming. He then unveiled a cart full of posters and stickers, with the new Ruins of Kunark artwork, for everyone to take home. Since it was a pleasant Saturday evening and Mardi Gras was commencing in St. Louis, a lot of the folks stuck around to go bar hopping, or just hang out and shoot the breeze with the other attendees.
A great experience it was to actually meet the game designers face-to-face, as well as all those players whom we see everyday in-game. On behalf of all who showed up, we'd like to thank Kevin, Cindy, the Verant Staff, and all who worked to get this thing off the ground. I'm sure that it is the beginning of what may become a tradition in persistent world gaming. Cheers.
Rob "RJCombo" Garrett
Table of Contents:
Introduction | The Demo | Q/A with Verant
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