Feldon 
From EverQuest2.com:
With the Everquest II: Age of Discovery expansion just around the corner, it’s the perfect time to give players the inside scoop on what exactly is going on with the Freeport re-design. EverQuest II Community Relations Manager, Jennifer “Isulith” Bridges got the chance to sit down with Timothy Heydelaar, Senior Artist for EverQuest II. He was able to give a great overview of what to expect and why the changes to Freeport were made.
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The Freeport City revamp is coming winter 2011 with Game Update 62, which is coming out at the same time as the new expansion: Age of Discovery! It will be available to all players.
Read the rest of the interview at EverQuest2.com…
Going zone less for the city (and flyable) will be great.
But looking at the screenshots it seems to be very matt, details like metal work should catch the sun, I’m used to seeing the game in shader 3, these look like they were done in shader 1.0.
The veiled comments alluding towards new textures within player housing sounds very interesting.
Murfalad – those screen shots appear to just be the standard Freeport screen shots. Did they say in the article that those were of the new and improved Freeport?
Looking forward to the FP revamp 🙂 I do wish Qeynos was being revamped at the same time (instead of 6+ months later), but I guess there’s a limit to what can be accomplished with a skeleton staff.
@ Steve: those are definitely screens of the revamped FP. Notice the goblets on the top of the walls.
I’m looking foreword to it, but i just wish they would use better shaders. Like someone said earlier they look like 1.0. The bump mapping looks like something from EoF, which stuck out like a sore thumb back then. The grey and red they use now for fpt was ok IMO. I think gold is overdoing it for a place where trolls and ratongas live, but meh… The overlords back in town and his kidnapping may have made him feel like others don’t respect him as much so i can understand wanting a tighter grasp. 😀
I truly hope that some new updated housing is put it. I know many already have homes set up and would be upset to have them dismantled and start over. But it would be fun if there were lets say…the old quarter where the homes are as they have been since game inception and the new quarter where homes comparable to the nice housing in Halas could be obtained.
I’ve never been a Freeport fan, though do have evil toons who don’t spend much time in Lucan-land. I have great hopes for the re-vamp as someplace I won’t dislike having to go to. I’m glad the NPC’s (citizens) will have a new attitude. We as the adventures do protect them and I’d like to see some respect for what we do rather than the scorn and demeaning attitude they currently display.
I realy dont want a new improved freeport, I want the starting islands back, Personally after reading hey were taking out a lot of building becasue they were wrong, that is what made the freeport skyline, now its going to be screwed up, something I wish they would not do. I like freeport the way it is just remove the zoneing do do a redo on what we have I liked it the wa it is.
I have to admit, I am VERY unhappy about them wasting their time on freeport/qeynos. If the freeport/qeynos rebuild will somehow support the next signature quest or some other main story line and/or questline, fine. Otherwise, what a waste.
On that note, I would love to see the objectives of this expansion and how they are tied to the strategic vision of EQ2. Shouldn’t bringing in new players while not losing players while producing quality entertainment be the vision. This is, afterall, a business and the business model for MMORPGs is: more subs = more money = more subs. Very simple. How does SOE not understand this!!
I am at a loss. I have 5 accounts and I refuse to pay $40/per for an more AAs (unless they open up more than 1 heroic endline). What happened to “you’ll velious in a bunch of releases for the next couple of years”? I am upset that I am addicted to such a fail game.
I started playing EQ in 2000. Jumped into EQ2 the night it launched. I would go back and visit EQ Freeport from time to time since I consider that my home in MMOs. The day I went back and saw they had changed it was the last day I ever logged in to EQ.
HOw many folks realy wanted a revamp? To me this is the dev staff being totaly out of touch with the player base. Wasted resources yet again fixing ctuff that is not broke.
@DISGRUNTLED: “What happened to “you’ll velious in a bunch of releases for the next couple of years”? ”
Uhm, that has happened, is happening, and will continue to happen. It’s just not what this expansion and GU is about. As SJ already posted several times, we’ll be getting Velious content additions throughout next year.
This is just something different for people.
I am glad they are doing the revamps and would love for the cities to be useful hubs of activity.