EQ 'Shadow of Luclin' -- Pretty Graphics, Ugly Release

ajs writes: "EverQuest isn't a book or a movie, but a work of fiction that's kept a 400,000 member audience enthralled for months is worth a closer look. The most recent update to EverQuest, Shadows of Luclin, is out and of course much of the subscriber base is flocking to be the first to kill the big bad ... whatevers that lurk in the long-lost moon of Norrath. My review touches more on the release than the software, since I think that's what's truely interesting about this industry right now. But to sum up: if you play EverQuest, wait a few days or weeks and then give this a spin ... it's a ride." Read on for the rest of his account.

For starters, everyone reading this should understand that persistant gaming of various forms is here to stay. EverQuest will likely be around for at least a few more years, and its successors will probably take over the gaming industry for several reasons: first, they offer a different and more lucrative revenue model; second, they offer some intriguing secondary revenue possibilities; oh, and third, there are the players who actually seem to enjoy adding more social elements to their gaming ;-)

EverQuest has been a rocky road since day one because the people developing it have never truly understood their market (this can be evidenced by how many customer service policies have been reversed over time). Now, on the eve of their most hyped release, they have done the unthinkable: They released a product which has substantial crash-to-desktop bugs and made the update process so painful as to be impossible for many players. Now, with Quake you'd say "that's awful, but they'll fix the bugs and players of the old version will be fine for now". With EverQuest, everyone gets patched at the same time, and no one can play until it's done and works.

To give some examples: every player is now required to run Microsoft's DirectX8; Minimum memory and processor specs have gone up, and if you dare to run the new expansion you will have to have at least 256MB of RAM just for the core functionality (they provide a way to back out most of the new UI stuff for those who have 128MB of RAM, but I'm told its almost unplayable); 512MB of RAM is suggested!

Ok, so what was the first day like? Well, the servers were down for most of the day, when they were supposed to just be down for a night. Then, when they came up, it seems that Sony did not provide enough network bandwidth for the patching storm that ensued, so no one could patch (and thus, no one could play) until a crittical mass of players gave up and went to bed.

Worse, the patching program was intolerant of the network failures and would leave droppings that would prevent subsequent attempts to patch. I required 2 reboots, 5 file deletions and 2.5 hours to finally patch and run.

"So, how is it?!" you ask? Well, it's a whole lot better than it was, but it's really still not there yet. The graphics are actually disorienting because of their quality and the new hardware T&L acceleration from DX8. Turning around makes you feel like you live in the land of smooth scroll. The facial feature selection for humans is very nice, but for the Iksar (the lizard race), it's rather sketchy, and not much different from before. Horses are cheaper than some had suggested (8,000 platinum minimun). New models for summoned pets and other character-related models like "wolf form" are very slick. The new zones seem to stress their size quite a lot (it's hard to accept that humans would build on such a scale).

I've yet to see the new race, as I assumed that everyone would be starting those characters and the server would be quite slow in those zones.

There are some problems, though, and I think Verant should have held off on the release until they were finished. First is the much anticipated Bazaar zone, where players will be able to become merchants (to some degree which is not yet clear) and sell their goods automatically. This functionallity is off, and still being worked on.

Second, there appear to be a number of bugs. Teleportation while in the new zones was supposed to take characters to a central zone ("The Nexus") from which they could then teleport to their destination. (Currently, that's not the way it works: 10-20 seconds after teleporting, everyone in our party except for the person who teleported crashed to the desktop with no warning!)

There are some problems with spells. Someone pointed out to me that low-level wizard spells do not animate at all, so its hard to tell that your wizard is actually doing anything in a fight.

Overall, I'm going to give this release a 4 on a scale of 1 to 10. It's pretty and in a month, it will likely be the best MMORPG on the market, but again -- it's just not there yet. This release hurt a lot of players who didn't even want to buy the expansion yet.

Some key resources for those who are trying out Luclin are:

• The zone connection map on eqatlas.com.
• Also, Allakhazam is adding items and quests as fast as possible to keep up.
• Expect lots of news on Everlore and the Everquest Realm on castersrealm.com.

Enjoy!"

Social Aspect

[sllort]

there are the players who actually seem to enjoy adding more social elements to their gaming

Hey, I have a suggestion. When I want to add a social element to my gaming, I call some friends and go play football. It's actually surprisingly warm outside today for December and all, especially out here on the east coast. Either way, football is fun in the cold too. Give it a try!

subscription software

[jd142]

So basically, what you are saying is that there's a downside to subscription based software when the user has no choice about the upgrade? That the manufacturer of the subscription software can put out a buggy update and force you to take it, which means the software is useless until the fix is in. And you can be forced to upgrade your hardware instead of using existing hardware and existing software.

Hmm. Why does this sound so very familiar.

And you thought there wouldn't be an M$ bashing post under the evercrack story. Shame on you! This is /.

UI MIA

[LightBender]

You forgot to mention their new interface is MIA! We are still stuck with the old dated rather poorly designed UI. This was one of my main reasons for purchasing SoL. (now I'm the one SOL)

So when does EQ the Orgy get released

[Anonymous Coward]

This is what I'm waiting for.

Turning around?

[Happy Monkey]

Turning around makes you feel like you live in the land of smooth scroll.

If you actually turn around, without using your computer's I/O peripherals, you'll get an even smoother scroll...

Re:Why give up because day 1 had problems?

[UnrefinedLayman]

Well, keep in mind that The Phantom Menace wouldn't crash and just project a desktop to the screen every time Obi Wan used a Jedi mind trick.

Re:Dark Age of Camelot

[Kragma]

I've been playing DAoC since beta 4 and it's so refreshingly different from Eq. Sure, you still level forever, but there's so else you can do if you want. Take up crafting and make weapons/armor, or get a party together for some realm vs realm combat. There's actually a reason to keep playing once you hit the level cap. In Eq you hit the level cap and then sell your character on Ebay.

Plus Mythic doesn't seem to absolutely loathe their customers like Verant does. Everquest is like an abusive family that won't ever let you leave.

EQ Nude Mode! Best client side bug yet!

[EvilBastard]

Best bug found so far - it seems all the new textures and models for clothing and armour are occasionally not being drawn. It is not known yet if this is the fabled "bonus" for signing up for the game early.

Boy those skinners really need to get out more.

On the bright side, if it's a bug, surely you could duplicate it with a simple client side memory resident program.

And, of course, once you have written said program,you could sell it on Ebay for only $139.99 and make yourself rich from 13 year old boys.

Topless Female Elven Paladin [earthlink.net]

Topless Female Barbarian Shaman [earthlink.net]

Naked Female Half Elf Warrior From Rear [tkagiro.com] and Front [tkagiro.com]

Naked Male Elven caster with carefully placed spellbook [tkagiro.com]

Re:MUDs will live forever

[squaretorus]

Actually in a weird way this keeps me away from everquest

Me too. If I want 'human interaction' I'll skip on over to the pub, or visit my family, or take my lady out for a meal - I won't sit and play a damn computer game!

/. is about killing your 15 minute breaks at work without having to talk to the dildos in the office - its not about human interaction - alhtough oddly there are community aspects to it. But these are similar to being part of the deaf, or blind community - you share a fundamental but you wouldn't necessarily want to shag any of your fellow members.

On a slight tangent, whenever driving games start getting too deep, adding plot elements, building complex season results to access courses, etc... I get bored and visit google with the old 'Toca cheat code' search. I don't have time to build up all that stuff - I just want to pretent I'm a big mean racing driver from time to time. I can be bothered to persevere with a manual shift - because thats more fun - but bugger forming a relationship with my manager!

Re:Crackheads, its payday!

[Bobo the Space Chimp]

> Star Wars Galaxies will be cool

Yeah, I can't wait until I'm a Jedi and get my light sabre, which can cut through steel and rock, and swing it at a "wamp rat" for 3 points of damage.