Monday, March 4, 2019

Art House Director

It's long been my contention that the only people who don't believe EverQuest II has the best housing in MMORPGs are those who've never taken the time and trouble to experience it in all its astonishing glory. Their loss.

It's not my job to convince anyone, of course. That would be down to Daybreak Games' marketing department, assuming they have one. I sometimes wonder. Anyway, I just wanted to post a few pictures of a couple of the new artworks that arrived with the Chronoportals event that's live throughout March.

Just for logging in you get the magnificent "Rise of Kunark" oil painting, which is the Keith Parkinson box art from the original boxed expansion. You can buy a 15" by 30" photo stock print of that from the official KP website for $80. Or you can have this one, framed, resizeable to several feet on a side, for free.

There's an absolutely astonishing wealth of artwork available within EQ2. Occupy White Walls might think it's breaking new ground with its virtual gallery gameplay but clearly DAISY hasn't been round my imaginary Maj'Dul house lately.

 If there's one reward that's guaranteed to get me collecting event currency it's artwork. All of my characters' walls are covered with paintings and etchings and drawings. There are statues and sculptures everywhere you look.

One day I really ought to buckle down and find out just what's available. My virtual collection ressembles my real-life pre-MMORPG buying sprees - random, chaotic, occasionally serendipitous.


Niami Denmother, as always, does a superb job of cataloging these things. Here's her list of the latest additions. With illustrations, naturally.

I think my favorite this time has to be the golden statue of Firiona Vie. I've "met" Firiona so many times now I feel I actually know her. It's a bit odd to have a life-size statue of her in my house. Not bad odd. But still odd.

I put her right in front of my trophy wall. There could be implications there that don't bear close examination. Best not think about it.

I bought a couple of the new paintings. "To The Tavern", The Halas one, almost has a hint of Alex Toth about it. Quite a lot of EQ2 paintings have that sensibility.

I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to go on placing objects in this particular house. According to the stats I'm at 640/700 but I might be able to expand. Doesn't matter. I have plenty more houses. One thing no-one is ever going to run out of in EQ2 is storage space for house items.

Enough about art. Since I'm home, I think I'll go and have a lie down. Read a little. Listen to some music. Saving the world can wait another day.



3 comments:

  1. Wow, I had better log in this month. That Kunark picture looks really nice.

    I will confirm my bias that EQII has the best housing, at least for my needs. That is in part because it was a day one feature with integration into the game (need a house to sell), trophies in the world you can put on display, and a trade skill dedicated to furniture.

    And every house I have has a trophy wall with all the lore and legend weapons on display.

    I don't have a golden Firiona Vie, but I do have a picture of her on one of my walls, enlarged to full size proportions.

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    1. I think EQ2's housing is hands-down the best for pure decorating but people seem to miss that you can also build from scratch and that there's a huge amount of functionality, including crafting, transport and buffs, that can be incorporated into your home. As usual, most of it is virtually a secret so only people who really stick around long-term get to know about it. I've given up on trying to convince anyone who doesn't already play, though. Like all older MMOs the learning curve is just too steep.

      And yes, the painting looks great! I think you get one per character, too.

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    2. It does seem to be one per character. My next thought is that I might need a bigger house, or one with more wall space. The base Halas apartment is getting a bit crowded.

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