Feldon Today’s the day that gaming news sites who went on tours of the upcoming Chains of Eternity expansion are able to post their impressions and screenshots. And to go along with these stories is a new video interviewing the talented artists and animators of Chains of Eternity.
Commentary
I have to be honest. After seeing how energized the EQ2 team were at SOE Live, this video is a bit uninspiring. Everything is given in a flat inflection, and the visuals are mostly slow flythroughs. Where’s the combat? Where’s the epic battles?
I’m genuinely excited about Chains of Eternity, and there was an infectious enthusiasm when talking to different developers and designers in Vegas. After a year of revamps, retooling, and not enough endgame group/raid content, this expansion delivers massive, beautiful, well put-together zones in spades. But this video doesn’t quite communicate the team’s efforts.
I agree it did feel really flat compared to the energy I just saw in the first Elder Scrolls video.
I learned long ago to listen to their words, not their voices. They just aren’t great in front of the camera with scripted dialogue.
I also am a big fan of the Elder Scrolls series, as you say Karith, it looks amazing. I loved it on console and cannot WAIT for this to come out.
The thing that really shines through for me is that they actually ENTHUSE about their game. If the folks at SOE are not “feeling it” or maybe are “not ALLOWED TO LOOK LIKE THEY ARE” how do they expect the players to get on board to be inspired?
I think SOE really should take a look at some of the other MMORPG vids as a “This is how it SHOULD be done” learning experience. Alas I think there have too many “Words” and not enough “actions” over the last few expansions so folks have almost switched off after the first few seconds. To me the SOE video sounds “bored” and “tired” and almost like “even we the makers of it don’t really believe in it any more??” Or is that me being cynical??
I was not lucky enough to go to SOE live and probably never will so did not get to see the huge hours of work and coding and stuff that MUST go on behind the lines by the various teams and how excited they get in doing their work. I am sure there are a lot of AMAZING folks doing some head bending work behind the scenes and that those teams never ever (sadly) get the credit they deserve for what they do. So what you need is an amazing Pre view where folks are excited and living it to make it worth their while…. does this vid do it- frankly…no!
We all know you cant please everyone all the time but COME ON SOE at least make your teams feel like they are are being SOLD- in the promo vids rather than sold down the river….or is that just me: being one of the EU player base that this almost happened to recently?
I love Eq2: have or 5 years but this is the first xpac I will NOT be pre ordering will just wait for the content to be released in the next GU in a few months time. Do I need another flying mount and some fluff??? no not really: just need to not see the game I love fall by the wayside. On that I guess only time will tell. I will still continue to play Eq2 I have too many friends there not to. Will it stop me trying out other games…. NOPE!!!…and I don’t think I am the only one that feels that way and therein lies the danger.
“After a year of revamps, retooling, and not enough endgame group/raid content, this expansion delivers massive, beautiful, well put-together zones in spades.”
Yes, but will it provide enough endgame group/raid content this time around? Or will the all the raid content be cleared in the first week or two? I’m really hoping the ramp up the difficulty before launch!
I thought the team did ok looked professional, the video however was lacking imo, since I am in beta and its really a nice bright happy flowery, colorful zones, yet in this video it simply looks dead and bland imo. Why not show the more colorful area’s? Or at least some of them. I am very happy as a 9 year vet to see new content and cant wait.
they all look like they dont give a crap, nice.
Which couldn’t be further from the truth.
To make it worse, this will never take off with any larger playerbase if they don’t advertise. Consistent with their history, I haven’t seen anything resembling an ad outside the MMO networks
I’ve seen a ton of EQ2 ads. Heck I saw a DCUO add on Drudge.
Take a look at DoV expansion along with its post updates. How many raid guilds cleared everything so fast? Not many. In fact, only 5 raid guilds cleared PoW as of late while many are still working their way into HM Drunder. Remember, the 1% is not the most important player base.
@B0lster
I’ve seen a crud ton of eq2 ads on youtube and some others elsewhere as well. Don’t expect them to advertise on TV for a game this old. But they are putting out quite a bit more ads than they ever have before. Whether thats enough or not i have no idea.
And the forums have changed over already…
Feldon, those are cookies.
@Honkhonk, you’re mistaking broken, unplayable content (original DoV)with difficulty. The only gating mechanic in the original DoV raiding was unworking content.
On beta several of the high end guilds have cleared 100% of the expansion in 1-2 pulls per mob. That includes the mind-bogglingly low number of 4 HM mobs. I have no doubt whatsoever that if these mobs go to live without being utterly broken all content is going to be cleared within 2 weeks.
This expansion definitely shows Windstalker’s influence on the game — she’s all about more colorful, environmentally complex zones with strong themes. I think you can see that she’s influenced the team in this way, which is great for the game. Her time at Disney gaming studios also probably influenced how she thinks about zone design, at least in the artwork and colors.
I think it looks a little derivative of some other games (not WoW, but like some of the other games such as God of War) but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
My concern is what Gae said, I don’t think Windstalker’s strength is in encounter design, and I am not sure they have that depth on the team any more.
I think the team cares a lot about the game, but if the emphasis is on mood and feel versus game mechanics, well, it will be reflected when it goes live.
I am looking forward to the expansion, because I am not a hard core raider, but I think some groups might be unhappy after initial launch at the lack of things to do. Whether that matters is another question, however!
from what i heard the raid mobs hadnt had their buff packages on. They were left diliberatly weak so the fights could be tested and make sure they work and the buff packages would be added afterwards. At least thats what one of the devs in the beta forums said. It was said the raid mobs would be significantly harder when their buff packages were placed on them.
I heard that too. And wait for the blow before crying. This X-pack seems to be the best thing we had for months (maybe years). So let’s give it a try.
too much white fog, when flying it s annoying 😉
Just shows you how dumb SoE can be. Trion (Rift) does an amazing job with their upcoming expansion by showing epic battles, scenery, new housing, new souls (abilities), etc. What does SoE show? Not even close. They will never increase their fanbase with ads like that.
Gotta remember that many “nerds” who are game developers are a bit socially backward. It takes a lot of effort for some folks to sit in front of a camera and not let the butterflies influence your mood.
Well I have to say I watched the vid more than 3 times becuase of some of the intersting comments made. All I have to say is this was a preview?? I just don’t think they are good at making vid’s.
Just getting back into the game after the shambles of the pro7 nonsense so i wont pre order it but i will pick it up soonish for sure.