For today's post I'd planned to be listing the demos I'd picked for the latest Next Fest on Steam but I'd forgotten it doesn't begin until about five in the evening, my time. I'll be eating then and after that Beryl will be starting her evening routine of food-playtime-walk, which generally takes about an hour and a half and requires my full attention. Since it usually takes me over an hour to make my choices for Next Fest, it looks unlikely I'll have time to post about them as well, so instead here's a real placeholder post about EverQuest II.
I don't have anything to say about the game itself, seeing as how I haven't even logged in since the last time I wrote about it, but I have pre-ordered the expansion. It might seem like a bit of an odd move, given I'm not really playing right now, but I have no doubts that I will jump into the expansion, when it arrives, so why wait?
The expansion is called... no, it's gone. I'll have to look it up. I know it's got one of the least-memorable titles I've ever seen, which explains why I can't remember it.
Descent to Val'Zyroth. That's it. I mean, do they even have a marketing department? Don't they focus-group these things? You can tell no-one's expecting anyone to go into a store and ask for them any more.
Imagine going into Game or GameStop or whatever your local video game outlet is (Or more likely used to be...) and asking "Have you got Descent to Val'Zyroth?" Just the prospect of trying to say it out loud would make most sensible people balk. They'd lose so many sales that way.
I just had to press a button on a website to get it, thankfully. I looked at all the options, which I'm going to include here to bulk this post out a little, and I did have to stop and think about which one to choose.
It would bulk out the post one whole hell of a lot more if I included the breakdown of what's in all of those different editions. There's a long tick-list on the website, two dozen items or features altogether, starting with the vanity pet everyone gets for pre-ordering and ending with the nine items that you only get if you stump up the full $250. Sorry, $249.99.
That's the pre-order pet above. He's called Pibippi Mudpuppy although I'm guessing that's actually his species, not his name. You can name vanity pets, so you can call him anything you want. He's kinda cute, I guess. For an amphibian, anyway. Is that classist?
I could probably log in and claim him now. You usually can with pre-order items that have no gameplay implications. I wouldn't get a screenshot better than that one, though, so I'm not going to try.
I had a good think about whether I wanted to go up to the Collector's Edition. I go through that every year. It's not a bad deal. You get a mount, a mercenary, a prestige house and a teleport item you can put in it ,so you can go straight to the new expansion's starting zone.
Those are all things worth having but I always come to the same conclusion: they're none of them things I need. You always get a new mount and merc with the expansion anyway. They won't be as good as the Collector's Edition ones but they've always been plenty good enough for me. Teleport items in houses are nice in theory but I never remember to use them and as for the houses themselves, I have so many already.
So I bought the regular edition, same as usual. With the 10% discount for being an All Access member, it cost me
which is £28.54 at today's exchange rate. I'll easily get that much value out of it so I'm happy.
The one thing that did almost make me decide to trade up was the inclusion in the Collector's Edition of
Having the new Overseer Season at the start of the expansion cycle, rather than after about six months, which is when it gets added to the game for everyone, is verging on pay-to-win. Overseer gives full sets of armor and weapons at a higher resolve than the baseline starting level for the expansion.
On the other hand, by the time you've done another ten levels of Overseer so you have a chance of getting them and when you've been lucky enough with the rng to fill every slot, you'll long since have acquired better gear from questing and mob drops, so it's not as great a deal as it might seem. As with most of the game's vertical progression systems, the change-out rate is so fast it makes little sense to try and subvert it.
For anyone playing the solo, casual game, the base expansion pack is always plenty good enough. All you really need is access to the expansion. Everything else is overkill.
It's also excellent value for anyone thinking of making a comeback because you get last year's expansion thrown in for free. And all the others, for that matter. Just as a tip, if you ever decide to upgrade from a free account, which is limited to Level 110, the Planes of Prophecy expansion, don't make the mistake of buying the first expansion after that. Buy the most recent one and you'll get the whole lot thrown in.
Even better, should you be making a return to Norrath after a time away, you get a boost to the cap, which is currently Level 135. As I've been complaining, the recent expansions have re-introduced relatively slow leveling, making leveling alts a tedious affair again. It was such fun for a few years but no longer. At least it means a boost is a treat for regular players again.
The Pre-order page gives some more detail about what the expansion's about.
For years, a tenuous pact between Freeport and Neriak has been reluctantly honored, but after sensing weakness within the surface city, Queen Cristanos is done biding her time. Soon, Freeport and the entire continent of D'Lere will fall to Neriak unless the skilled artisans and brave adventurers of Norrath can find a way to stop her!
Spelunk the twisting caves of Corathus Descent, a treacherous network of passages overrun with insatiable predators and crevasses that plunge into the unmapped worlds, far below, where the borders of Subtunaria and the Underfoot blur. This is Val'Zyroth Ness, an enormous cavern replete with menacing fauna and malignant flora, where the Teir'Dal city of Neriondalon has emerged from ruin!
Breach the formidable walls of this resplendent city, revitalized by Hate, and hide amongst the downtrodden who serve their Teir’Dal and drachnid masters, such as the gnemlins forced to create and maintain an army of clockwork golems. Aid the wary race of molemen, known as tontu, as they fight for their survival within the nearby, ancient mines of Khor Boldir. Follow the Teir’Dal as they pierce the Plane of the Underfoot and invade Keramos Caverns, Brell’s mythical planar workshop, with vengeful intentions!
Be amongst the rare living souls to enter the infamous Duchy of the Dead. Navigate the sprawling labyrinth of impressive Teir’Dal crypts and mausoleums now devoted to the exploration and advancement of necromancy and other dark arcanum. Defeat the magical defenses and face the unnatural denizens that haunt the Duchy. Witness terrible wonders, unravel deific mysteries, and unlock unknown potential within yourself. Only then can you possibly stop Queen Cristanos in her own holy sanctum!
Quite a lot of detail, in fact. Too much, probably. All those unpronounceable names!
It's a cavern expansion. The second, as far as I recall. I didn't think the last one, Terrors of Thalumbra, was all that well-received so I'm a little surprised they've done another.
The screenshots look very pretty, if also very dark. A lot of blue tones, especially indigo. Keramos Caverns, as seen in the image above, is the only exception. I imagine it'll be a relief to get there and be able to see what you're doing for a while, assuming it's not the opening zone.
Feature-wise, in addition to the always-expected new zones and quest-lines, there are Personas, "New and Improved" Untold Dungeons and an Epic mount you can apparently get by way of a scavenger hunt.
I should know what Untold Dungeons are but I don't. I have a feeling they're only relevant if you group, which I never do any more, but I'm not even sure of that much. Whatever they are, I suppose it's good that they've been improved.
Personas I have read about and don't entirely understand but I think it's a way of playing a main character as if it was several alts. In the past, I wouldn't have been interested but if it ends up being a way to have multiple classes at the cap without having to go through the same repetitive quests to level each of them, I might be persuaded. I bet it isn't that, though.
The Epic mount could be worth pursuing. I generally enjoy a scavenger hunt although Guild Wars 2 soured me on the "epic" variety. I'd expect to give it a go but whether I'll finish it is another matter.
And that's about it. Filled a post, anyway. Next time I write about Descent to Val'Zyroth will most likely be after I start playing it. Probably when it launches in December.
Now I'm off to see what's what in Next Fest. There'll be a post about that tomorrow, I imagine.
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