New Expansion, Omens of War

Waran · Post by **Waran** » May 6, 2004, 2:35 pm

Highlights include Epics 2.0 and level cap raised.

http://everquest.station.sony.com/omensofwar/index.jsp

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » May 6, 2004, 2:46 pm

I think SOE is sampling some of that crack they've been dishing out for years. Are they going to have anyone left after GoD? They probably haven't even finished GoD fully yet. They should be working on that so there are actually people left that still want to play EQ.

Epic 2.0 should have been in PoP.

And what's with those screenshots? Hello, GoD? Except for the bat thing. Good to see rats back though!

Avryce · Post by **Avryce** » May 6, 2004, 2:50 pm

I think this is just a continuation of the GoD story line? (can't access sony from work) If I recall correctly GoD was supposed to be an expansion released in two parts about three months apart?

I could be totally wrong though!

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » May 6, 2004, 2:53 pm

Avryce wrote:I think this is just a continuation of the GoD story line? (can't access sony from work) If I recall correctly GoD was supposed to be an expansion released in two parts about three months apart?

I could be totally wrong though!

OMG you're right! (Helps to click the 'Lore' link)

Well that sucks for SOE then. With people hating GoD I'm not sure why they would want a further continuation of it!

Voronwë · Post by **Voronwë** » May 6, 2004, 2:55 pm

but i'm sure we'll have to pay for it twice!

Avryce · Post by **Avryce** » May 6, 2004, 2:58 pm

Maybe teh engine/graphics update they keep talking about is in it! By the engine I mean the working dx9 engine with no bugs...

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » May 6, 2004, 4:11 pm

Most of the epics look like question marks!

This expansion looks unfinished much like the current one. Lucky for them, all the screenshots include mobs already in GoD so not much extra work. I was hoping they'd take the money from GoD and pay for better artists and animators for the next expanison!

Still no mention of new character models for EQ so I guess we're stuck with Luclin.(not that EQ2 models have inspired excitment)

Avryce · Post by **Avryce** » May 6, 2004, 4:18 pm

Welcome back 70 man raids? I mean you need people to have war right?

Voronwë · Post by **Voronwë** » May 6, 2004, 4:19 pm

your avatar makes me thinik of that Iraqi witch picture!

Tinkin Tankem · Post by **Tinkin Tankem** » May 6, 2004, 4:34 pm

I'll credit this to Fovol since he pointed it out to me. If you go to the screenshots and look at the first one, it's basically some zone overlook through a wall. In the bottom right though there is the name of the GM taking the screenshot, his name is ...... ............. ............................ dare I say it? Uqua.

Pahreyia · Post by **Pahreyia** » May 6, 2004, 4:47 pm

That's not the layout for Uqua however.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » May 6, 2004, 5:36 pm

Pahreyia wrote:That's not the layout for Uqua however.

He said the GM name not the zone name!

Pahreyia · Post by **Pahreyia** » May 6, 2004, 6:07 pm

Yes, that's what he said. The suggestion could be that you were looking at a redesigned Uqua zone. I was just clarifying that it's not Uqua you're seeing there.

On the same note, it's great to see that the wall clipping issues are still present. My faith in the product has increased tenfold.

NightopsEQ · Post by **NightopsEQ** » May 6, 2004, 10:01 pm

Low Level Task System - Request quick and easy tasks to gain experience and collect cool loot.

I remember a time.. not long ago when these went by the name of "Quests".. why not just use the Quests they already have that are useless to most people and update the reward?...
Ofcourse then you wouldnt have to fork out yet another $30

I wonder wether it will be even a week after this expansion comes out that they'll come up with yet another.. ofcourse who cares about fixing the problems they already have, all that matters is getting $$$$.

Moonwynd · Post by **Moonwynd** » May 6, 2004, 11:15 pm

Price is $29.99

Holy fucking LAME, Batman...

sweetkastings · Post by **sweetkastings** » May 7, 2004, 12:01 am

Question i nvr bought GoD... if i buy OoW( Omen of War) i will be able to travle to original GoD zones correct

Drinsic Darkwood · Post by **Drinsic Darkwood** » May 7, 2004, 1:20 am

yeah, you will, I promise.

Tinkin Tankem · Post by **Tinkin Tankem** » May 7, 2004, 5:06 am

Sincerest Tarachi,

I implied that he had a large take in the designing of the zone Uqua. possibly it was named after him. Possibly he's a complete idiot and just thought that the zone was that much _pwn_ that he named himself after it. Secondly if I was a GM ( I am not in any way shape or form) I think that I could /clipplaneoff or some shit and move to any cartesian coordinate that I chose to.

Love Always,
Tinkin!

DoHbOy · Post by **DoHbOy** » May 7, 2004, 7:01 am

expansion looks gay , i never look forward to them , as many have said all soe is about is the money and im sure we all started seeing that when they had the rathe event bugged in PoP still months after if was released.

as they are doing with GoD , they will put it out people will buy it and then deal with the bullshit along the way.

ill be one of them of course.

Llaffer · Post by **Llaffer** » May 7, 2004, 11:24 am

Avryce wrote:Maybe teh engine/graphics update they keep talking about is in it! By the engine I mean the working dx9 engine with no bugs...

We have the new engine -- it's just that they've not yet updated the models of the existing NPCs. The screenshots I've seen of OOW do show the same new bat and rat models that has been previously relelased.

If they will update the models in the older zones or not, I don't know. But at least they are now going to use the new features of the engine in the new zones at least.

Llaffer · Post by **Llaffer** » May 7, 2004, 11:27 am

sweetkastings wrote:Question i nvr bought GoD... if i buy OoW( Omen of War) i will be able to travle to original GoD zones correct

Unlikely. They will most likely allow access to the new zones through another PoK port method, or from LDoN camps, or maybe allow access to one GoD zone for anyone to walk through like they recently did with PoK.

Pahreyia · Post by **Pahreyia** » May 7, 2004, 2:49 pm

Tinkin Tankem wrote:Sincerest Tarachi,

I implied that he had a large take in the designing of the zone Uqua. possibly it was named after him. Possibly he's a complete idiot and just thought that the zone was that much _pwn_ that he named himself after it. Secondly if I was a GM ( I am not in any way shape or form) I think that I could /clipplaneoff or some shit and move to any cartesian coordinate that I chose to.

Love Always,
Tinkin!

Dearest Tinkin,

I have strong doubts that anyone would care to take credit for the zone design of Uqua, whether publically or internally at Sony. That zone alone has caused several top end guilds to quit EQ entirely and many more are on the verge. The only thing "_pwn_" about that zone is the reactions of the developers as they laugh at the playerbase banging their collective heads against the wall for the past couple of months. In regards to the clipplane comment, while I don't doubt that a developer could do that, what sense would it make to use a parrtial pic of a zone's interior showing almost no detail or discerrnable changes between the old rendering engine and the new one?

XOXOXO
Tarachi

miir · Post by **miir** » May 7, 2004, 2:54 pm

That zone alone has caused several top end guilds to quit EQ entirely

And WoW had absolutely nothing at all to do with it?

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » May 7, 2004, 3:02 pm

miir wrote:
That zone alone has caused several top end guilds to quit EQ entirely
And WoW had absolutely nothing at all to do with it?

Not really. Just means they have someplace else to go. If it wasn't WoW it would be something else. Or nothing else. The point is that a lot of people who got to Uqua have thrown up their hands and said "Enough!".

Fesuni Chopsui · Post by **Fesuni Chopsui** » May 7, 2004, 3:58 pm

Aslanna wrote:
miir wrote:
That zone alone has caused several top end guilds to quit EQ entirely
And WoW had absolutely nothing at all to do with it?
Not really. Just means they have someplace else to go. If it wasn't WoW it would be something else. Or nothing else. The point is that a lot of people who got to Uqua have thrown up their hands and said "Enough!".

Can you specifically go into the reasons why Uqua is such crap? I honestly haven't heard anything about it other than this...is it the end zone for GoD? If so, what about it is so horribly made that it's caused whole guilds to stop playing?

Pahreyia · Post by **Pahreyia** » May 7, 2004, 4:04 pm

Well, it begins with the Barxt script being bugged and unbeatable until about a week ago.

Other than that, it's a fun zone. Difficult as all hell, but fun.

Gemily · Post by **Gemily** » May 7, 2004, 5:12 pm

miir wrote:
That zone alone has caused several top end guilds to quit EQ entirely
And WoW had absolutely nothing at all to do with it?

If God had been better, I think more people would still hang around. God was designed for the high level people/Guilds and even they dont enjoy it.
The new expansion looks too much like GoD *groan* Looks like the EQ artists are tired and dont really care enough to keep the interest of the few of us that hang on to the game

Pahreyia · Post by **Pahreyia** » May 7, 2004, 5:30 pm

GoD's also killing the top guilds because the raid limit is at 54, so the 72 person raids that everyone was accustomed to in PoP just got nerfed by a full third. Then, it's tough content. To be honest, PoTime is easy once you get there and have a half-decent strat on a certain god. GoD is tough, from Sewer Trials to Tacvi, it's tough. People have to be on the top of their game for 4+ hour events.

So, most guilds have a waning member base because of it, and the difficult part is in having to recruit from the elemental/time crowd to replace the people who retire, or give up and having to go back and regear those people for what GoD requires.

The difficult content is a blessing and a bane to the EQ community. The high end players are generally content with the content. It's tough and many times requires some mid-fight strat changes that keep things interesting. The downside is in unfinished/broken content and generally mindless clearing to get to the bosses.

Durew · Post by **Durew** » May 7, 2004, 7:55 pm

Personally, I really enjoy GoD's difficulty.. it gets tiring winning everything over and over and over (PoP mobs/raiding). Doesnt hurt to fail a bunch, keeps the game challenging/interesting!

Pahreyia · Post by **Pahreyia** » May 7, 2004, 8:57 pm

Yeah it's great for the difficulty of the encounters, but for anyone who's elemental (not time) or behind in progression, it's a worthless expansion. Kod'Taz is probably beyond their ability to get to (in the Sewer/Mountain Trials' present form).

Gemily · Post by **Gemily** » May 8, 2004, 6:37 am

And the rewards are really sucky ATM for the difficulty.

Drinsic Darkwood · Post by **Drinsic Darkwood** » May 8, 2004, 1:50 pm

That's what it seems like, but it looks like things will get better. Uqua is indeed like the Rallos Zek bottleneck of GoD. Remember in PoP... everything from Rallos Zek and below had shitty rewards, given the difficulty. But once you got past him, you reached the ele planes and loot was very nice. It's like that in Qvic only moreso. Qvic has some *really* nice stuff, that takes a lot less effort to attain. We entered Qvic last night and got 2 90 hp augs, 1 90 mana aug, and 3 pieces of Qvic armor ( think ele style drops, only these items are 200-220 hp/mana - check Lucy for some examples ) with a late night team of 25 people.

Klydon · Post by **Klydon** » May 9, 2004, 12:23 pm

Looks like they mostly cleaned out the shelved ideas from previous expansions and lumped it together into this nice little "package".

Between people being drained off for other SoE projects, cut backs and people just flat leaving SoE it is no wonder that the product they are presenting has gone down hill even more in terms of quality/content. The other factor is the time period between expansions. They seem to be in a hurry to get new expansions out when it used to be a year between expansions. Hmm.. less time between expansions/fewer people working on them.

Thanks $oE.

Apostate · Post by **Apostate** » May 11, 2004, 3:53 pm

Fesuni Chopsui wrote: Can you specifically go into the reasons why Uqua is such crap? I honestly haven't heard anything about it other than this...is it the end zone for GoD? If so, what about it is so horribly made that it's caused whole guilds to stop playing?

It's gone through quite a few versions.

The very first version, which I had the misfortune to try a few times first hand, was like this:

The first trap mobs quaded for like 3.3k or so, and summoners/ascetics both summoned unmezzable swarm pets that hit pretty high themselves, not to mention the interrupts they did. Think red summoners summoned about 8 of them. Good times.

In addition, the spirits that spawn when people died stayed up for about 30 minutes or so instead of about 30 seconds. Behemoths hit for like 6k.

The trash was then toned down (lost the swarm pets, mezzability was changed on a number of things, resist tweaked, max hit dropped about 4 times), but rage and fury minibosses weren't tweaked yet. Both hit probably about 4 or 5 times harder than they do now. Was difficult to keep up a 13k+ hp tank more than a couple seconds consistently, while not remotely dangerous now. Also, their 6 spawn traps were dropped to 3 spawns instead, making clearing many times faster and easier. The AE blockers were made about 10 times more common, too. Lastly, the zone used to fully respawn if you wiped- that whole mechanic was removed.

Uqua still has bugs (see first us having a construct warp to zone and get stuck in a wall, forcing us to restart, and then later all casting bugging out during Barxt), but it's a lot nicer than it first was. As I understand it, the original developer of Uqua quit before GoD's release and went to work with Sigil, and all it's revamps were done by another dev.

solanar · Post by **solanar** » May 11, 2004, 4:56 pm

Why is Firiona Vie getting hotter each expansion?..I actually think Sony is getting over their heads..EQ2, whats this now..7 Exansions for EQ classic starting with Kunark..I can understand wanting money, but they could use better CS first and foremost, as this being an online game, running 24/7, and they could use a few better graphic co-ordinators..maybe another artist to add his opinion or three..I find it pretty interesting because I tried applying for SOE(i'm 2 hours out of San Diego, CA) and their headquarters, main office, macho building thingy, etc. is not hiring for many positions..I suppose theyve turned over most of the CS GM's to New Dehli, India, and letting players still become Guides. Oh well../rant off..I still think FV is getting hotter every expansion..then again, she was never butt ugly in EQ classic either..as for Uqua as a GM's name, I actually think if that was his chosen name, he would have blanked it out..theyre not exactly very dumb, and everyone knows theres enough morons who are gonna look for him in game and out of game and say "per his post, blah blah blah, i saw this and its not there!"..I think the name was made for the zone, or an extension of the zone..I do hope that the clipping is implemented though..I wouldnt mind seeing if a mob is up through all the walls

Occlusion · Post by **Occlusion** » May 12, 2004, 8:03 am

We entered Qvic last night and got 2 90 hp augs, 1 90 mana aug, and 3 pieces of Qvic armor ( think ele style drops, only these items are 200-220 hp/mana - check Lucy for some examples ) with a late night team of 25 people.

That may have more to do with the fact that Qvic mobs were hitting for 750, had no AEs, and were respawning every hour (read: untested and bugged) rather than actual intentional Risk vs. Reward. They were upgraded today, and will hopefully be again. This was sorta like all 4 Ikkinz raids being easily doable by 18 people. It's pretty obviously a mistake.

As for Uqua, the zone was designed by Salim Grant. The zone itself is actually really a great idea, but the balancing (like all of GoD) was poor initially. GoD couldn't be properly balanced in beta, really, due to the complete lack of competant testers and all sorts of DX9 bugs the developers had to deal with while trying to test. Salim joined Sigil's team sometime around GoD's beta and release period.

The zone then shifted into Prathun's hands (Prathun also did both the Synarcana raid and Collossus Miragul raids for LDoN, for raids you might've already seen. For upcoming raids, Inktu`ta.) and he's done an absolutely phenomenal job of changing it from a zone that wasn't beatable by any stretch of the imagination (or numbers) into a zone that's still a decent challenge. Granted, most of the challenge of Uqua is learning the mechanics of the zone and devising a strategy, and from there on out, it's not too bad. Seeing Barxt die was one of my favorite moments in EQ so far (bitterly contrasting with our 2nd attempt at the script, where we wiped at 0%) and Uqua one of my favorite zones, once it was balanced properly.

As for the poor risk:reward ratio, that's all Zajeer. He really got pissed off at me for asking him to remove the mana augs from Uqua (is that really asking too much?) so I won't even bother complaining about the mana augs coming from Qvic. Let's just say the guy is a bit touchy about his work -- we like to call him Mrylokar Jr.

And Ikkinz raids aren't unwinnable by Elemental guilds. I know of a Vex Thal guild whose beaten Righteousness, Glorification, and Transcendance all with low 40's raid attendance. They're not that hard. Considering you only need 1 group capable of getting through Singular Might, Twin Struggles, and Tri-Fates, they're pretty much a gold mine for any guild stuck in the elementals that can't quite make it to time, for whatever reason.

Drinsic Darkwood · Post by **Drinsic Darkwood** » May 12, 2004, 1:27 pm

Occlusion wrote:That may have more to do with the fact that Qvic mobs were hitting for 750, had no AEs, and were respawning every hour (read: untested and bugged) rather than actual intentional Risk vs. Reward. They were upgraded today, and will hopefully be again. This was sorta like all 4 Ikkinz raids being easily doable by 18 people. It's pretty obviously a mistake.

The RvR was way off, agreed, but nothing was hitting for for under 1000 except for ixt/ikaav pets~ The M`sha mini-named ( mold droppers ) were between 2-3k iirc. They were easily killable by 2 groups though, maybe less. The one hour respawn wasn't a problem though, considering there were only 3 mobs, dropping 1 loot at a time. If you're the sole guild in Qvic and the sole guild in the elemental planes, the rate you farm loot would be slower in Qvic, though easier. Zajeer was with us in Qvic the first night; I suggested increasing their difficulty ( a lot ), and giving them two items per kill. I wouldn't suggest increasing the spawn rate by more than maybe an hour.

Another bug that was obviously unintentional was being able to continuously farm the Cynosure script for Chaos Runes ( GoD Ancients ). I hear that was fixed as well.

Occlusion wrote:As for Uqua, the zone was designed by Salim Grant. The zone itself is actually really a great idea, but the balancing (like all of GoD) was poor initially. GoD couldn't be properly balanced in beta, really, due to the complete lack of competant testers and all sorts of DX9 bugs the developers had to deal with while trying to test. Salim joined Sigil's team sometime around GoD's beta and release period.

The zone then shifted into Prathun's hands (Prathun also did both the Synarcana raid and Collossus Miragul raids for LDoN, for raids you might've already seen. For upcoming raids, Inktu`ta.) and he's done an absolutely phenomenal job of changing it from a zone that wasn't beatable by any stretch of the imagination (or numbers) into a zone that's still a decent challenge. Granted, most of the challenge of Uqua is learning the mechanics of the zone and devising a strategy, and from there on out, it's not too bad. Seeing Barxt die was one of my favorite moments in EQ so far (bitterly contrasting with our 2nd attempt at the script, where we wiped at 0%) and Uqua one of my favorite zones, once it was balanced properly.

Agreed. I'd personally say Uqua's actually enjoyable now after the balancing.

Occlusion wrote:As for the poor risk:reward ratio, that's all Zajeer. He really got pissed off at me for asking him to remove the mana augs from Uqua (is that really asking too much?) so I won't even bother complaining about the mana augs coming from Qvic. Let's just say the guy is a bit touchy about his work -- we like to call him Mrylokar Jr.

The 70 mana augs in Uqua are out of place; would've been better imo to give enraged/furious two drops each: one "loot" and one aug per kill. And as big as the Devastating Construct's loot table is, only dropping one item at a time seems a bit off. However, it seems Zajeer sort of made up for all that with the original Qvic RvR~ And it's still nice as it is. It's definitely a reward for killing Barxt even after the difficulty increase.

I'd like to see how Inktu`ta's going to turn out, once the expedition npcs are implemented.