The hits keep on coming, as Dellmon and Aliscious from the popular EQ2Talk podcast have landed an unprecedented third interview with EverQuest II Senior Producer Holly “Windstalker” Longdale. Their past interviews with Dave “SmokeJumper” Georgeson, Kyle “Kander” Vallée, and Holly have been a joy to listen to, including the kinds of detailed questions we all wish we could ask these folks.

Don’t miss this week’s episode from EQ2Talk.com!

EQ2 Talk is thrilled to have EverQuest 2 Senior Producer Holly “Windstalker” Longdale back for the third time! Tune in as she lets us sneak a peek at EQ2’s upcoming expansion, Tears of Veeshan. Holly provides a lore primer on the Vesspyr Isles, reveals details about flagging, and talks about the much anticipated Dungeon Finder 2.0. She also offers an inside look at heroic characters, leveling and the new channeler class.

Click here to listen to Episode 72

Wednesday’s sprawling two hour Critical Hit podcast with Nathan “Kaitheel” McCall is absolutely worth listening to, as Nathan goes into the best uses of design hours, what it takes to revamp zones such as Qeynos and Freeport, why the starting islands were removed, the importance of storytelling, and more.

But if you are a raider or otherwise into the mechanics and itemization of EQ2, and you listen to only one EQ2 podcast this month, it should be EQ2Talk Episode #63 with Kyle “Kander” Vallee. He goes into a lot of the thinking behind the upcoming update (and this fall’s expansion), has some refreshing vision towards the future of EQ2, itemization and content design, and is very candid about some of the missteps in Chains of Eternity as well as other past changes.

All comments below are paraphrased from Kander’s comments in the 1 hour 40 min podcast. Any errors in meaning are the fault of the editor.

Stat Consolidation

• If there is one thing Kander could go back and change about EQ2, he would never have gone along with Stat Consolidation (where each class has just one primary stat and then Stamina for increasing health).  The different benefits you got from each stat were some of the “meat and bones” of EQ2 and chasing different stats and having to make choices on which gear you equip added a lot of depth. We had a lot more choice itemization-wise. For example, building up Intelligence to increase poison damage for scouts.
• As far as Stat Consolidation, we’re actually planning to head back in that direction as far as the next expansion to provide more choices. Right now, itemization feels a little bit stale. Players should need to think about their gear.

More after the jump…

EQ2Talk Episode #55 — Second Wind

This weekend Dell and Ali talked to the producer of Everquest 2, Holly “Windstalker” Longdale. In this podcast, find out which way the wind is blowing, and learn about some of the things behind the making of Chains of Eternity, EQ2’s ninth expansion. Also, learn about what’s in store for Norrath in the coming months and the future.

Rumor has it that one of the questions relates to Census, and Holly indicated that the team is fully committed supporting the service and my name was mentioned. 😉

Download EQ2Talk Episode #55

In the most recent episode of EQ2Talk, Dellmon and Aliscious address SOE’s notion that “We’re players too”. From SOEmote to Dungeon Maker to loot distribution and balance, the podcast asks the question — Why are so many things missed, overlooked, or left behind?

Also in the podcast, EQ2U gets its moment in the sun as Ali compares it to EQ2Players. I encourage listening to the whole podcast, but if you want to focus your attention on the bit about EQ2U, that’s from 41 minutes until 46 minutes with a brief followup from 52:30-53:30.

From EQ2Talk.com:

If the summer sun has you all hot and sweaty, cool off with a little Frostfell in July, as Dellmon and Aliscious talk about things they’d like to see come to EQ2. What past game changes have fulfilled your hopes? Which ones fell short of expectations? Download this episode to find out if your hosts share any of the things that made your list. Also, some listeners chime in with their thoughts, and play along with Are You Smarter than a Dellmon.

Click here to listen to Episode 48