Feldon From EverQuest2.com:
We’ve got more info today about the new Freeblood playable vampire race that’s coming to EverQuest II! Read the initial lore story we shared yesterday at this link, then be sure to check back next week when we’ll have additional details and a new lore story that explains even more about this new race and its place in Norrath.
We also have some new screenshots to share, showing a variety of looks, and some of the special features available with the Freeblood. Because the nature of an MMO is ever-changing, we’re not necessarily done with the appearance of the vampires yet. There may be more adjustments and it’s still a work-in-progress, but we wanted to share a sample of the current state of the race’s female appearances.
One of the special features of the Freeblood is a Racial Trait, “Reveal Inner Self,” which lets the character change from attractive to demonic in appearance. Another Racial Trait, “Bloodletting,” grants a minor Lifetap spell to occasionally drain health from targeted enemies.
Editor’s Note: The highlighted section was added after publication.
Another feature of the Freeblood race is a new hand-to-hand combat animation set. In addition, it will include a special “invisible” appearance weapon that lets the character use these combat animations, even if they’re wielding a sword and shield.
Check EverQuest2.com again next week for more information about the Freeblood, how they react to sunlight, how they are treated by the citizens and guardians of Norrath, and how they live amongst the people.
They look better than they did…but their hair still looks disgusting. Will wait and see how they turn out.
What!!!! No Fangs
looks like they gave half elves a different set of ears and less restrictive eye colours. The “demonic” look probably will not show up on lower levels of character detail as all i can see are a few bump-maps/wrinkles on the forhead and cheeks.
wouldn’t mind getting my hands on those shoulder-pads though (dress itself is another reskin).
They said that they’re not using bump maps which is odd, I’d like to understand technically how this improves things performance vs looks (they have also said they’re higher polygon).
As for speed, buy something modern and enjoy high quality+, from experience a laptop 2.4Ghz core 2 duo runs high quality and a desktop PhenonII 3.2Ghz handles extreme.
I do like the look, the other pictures were of lower quality, but there it was possible to see the better hair, hands and facial detail (although the demonic look wasn’t shown).
So, emo elves?
For every slash do they also cut themselves?
Steve: Hahahaha, emo elves.
Murf,
Think of a normal map as a “3D” bump map. Google to see side by side comparisons. As for performance it means you can get much more detailed looking geometry on supported hardware with fewer polygons. That’s because for every “bump” you can define depth AND direction of the face. It’s a good improvement.