EverQuest II: What’s Next?
Article by Carolyn "Sylvene" Koh
Walking into the Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) suite in the MGM Grand, I greeted the SOE PR team and their rep from Kohnke Communications, and then heard a familiar voice from further within the suite.
踏進位於賭城拉斯維加斯的米高梅大飯店 SOE 包廂，我見到了 SOE 的公關團隊以及他們自 Kohnke Communications 獲讚譽的名聲，不久後便聽到一個熟悉的聲音從包箱裡面傳出。
"Ut-oh... that sounds like trouble headed our way!"
"喔哦...這聲音聽起來像是麻煩上門囉!"
It was Scott Hartsman, Senior Producer of EverQuest II and I hadn’t expected anyone other than the PR team. It must be Vegas. Jackpot! We fenced verbally as we always do, with me trying to get him to reveal more than he should.
這位是 EQII 的資深開發者 Scott Hartsman，也是除了公關團隊外我最期望見到的人。一定是因為維加斯，所以我中了大獎! 我們如同往常般的寒暄，而我則是盡力在使他說出比他所能的透露的更多消息。
"What? No accidental reveals of working titles for new expansions?" I asked him.
"什麼? 沒有無意透露出關於正在進行的新資料片的相關工作消息?" 我問道。
"No... not going to happen with expansion four," he replied as the dance continued.
"沒有...目前並沒有打算有第四張資料片，"他回答如同舞會還在進行一般。
But that’s jumping ahead of the conversation. I twitted him about the Estate of Unrest not making the launch of Echoes of Faydwer and amidst denials of culpability and claims of "someone must have gotten an old zone list and somehow it made it onto box artwork..." we segued into the new zone scheduled to be released in a Game Update in February.
不過這些可離題了。我對於無寧莊園無法在費朵回音資料片開始時就能如期推出，以及在此期間不斷發出的請求和責備如"一定是有人拿到一個舊區域表然後不知道為什麼就變成了實際的草圖..."而嘲弄他，我們很快的就進入了關於新區域的預定排程和即將在二月推出的話題裡。
"No, it’s not on test, but being play-tested internally and will be released in February," he told us of the zone.
"不，不會出現在測試伺服器上，但是已經被實際試玩過且會在二月推出，"他告訴我們關於這個區域的消息。
The Estate of Unrest must be one of the zones most nostalgically remembered by EQ players. The trains were epic and although Scott promises trains, he also promises that they will be no where as large as those in the original zones. "No, no aggro through floors, but hey... it’s a house with a front door, a back door and a side door. How else are you going to leave it?"
無寧莊園對於 EQ 玩家來說，必定是一個最令人懷念的區域之一。火車是經典，而即使 Scott 保證會有火車，他也承諾到在原始區域中絕對不會有比此處還大的火車。"不，不會透過樓層間觸發，但是喂...這可是個有著前門、後門以及一個側門的房子。你還能從哪邊離開?"
I suggested jumping off the balcony and his eyes gleamed at the thought of the old social aggro trains of old Unrest. After a bit of reminiscence, we went back to the new zone.
我提議到可以從二樓陽台跳下來而他的眼神則閃著回到過去在無寧碰到火車一般的時光。經過一些回溯時光後，我們回到了新區域的話題上。
"How to re-introduce the zone in EverQuest II without copying EverQuest is one of the biggest challenges our developers face," said Scott. We talked about the fountain in the courtyard, the gazebo, the little canal and the hedge maze, all which would be retained.
"如何在 EQII 重新呈現一個新的區域而不複製 EQ 是我們開發團隊所面臨的最大挑戰，" Scott 說道。我們談到了庭院裡的噴水池、露亭、小運河以及籬笆迷宮，所有的都將被完整呈現。
The designer of the hedge maze in EverQuest ascertained that the hedge maze in EQII would be the exact same hedge maze, turn for turn. Beyond that, the basement is a full fledged dungeon, the mansion a much larger structure with three floors according to Scott. It is a "big, big zone" capable of supporting many groups of level 65 to 70 players, not just a couple of camps in the house and three or four inside.
設計出 EQ 的籬笆迷宮的原始設計者指出，在 EQII 裡的籬笆迷宮絕對是同一個，包含每一個轉彎和死角。除此之外，地下室則是一個完整佈置的地城，Scott 指出這將會是一個更大且有著三層的建築。這可是一個"相當大的區域"能容納許多 Lv65 至 70 的玩家隊伍，而不只是一些點在屋內並只能容納三到四隊在裡面。
"This is not a zone for the faint of heart," claimed Scott. The Estate of Unrest follows the theme of the first Adventure Pack in that it tells a story. The ghosts of the family that lived in the Estate tell their story and provide quests. Scott waxed lyrical over the integration of sound effects and music. "I love the sound effects in the abandoned nursery, the sound designers have managed to mingle hints of lullabies with stuff that really creates an eerie atmosphere."
"這可不是個設計給懦弱者的區域，"Scott 提到。無寧莊園如同第一個冒險包的主題一般訴說著一個故事。居住在無寧莊園內的鬼魂家族告訴了我們故事並提供任務。Scott 的語氣漸漸流露出聚集聲音與音樂的詭侷氣氛。"我喜歡荒廢的育嬰室內的音效，聲音設計者將搖籃曲提示以及一些東西混合製作出相當怪誕的氣氛。"
"Mini bosses? Of course! You’ll find our old friend, the Festering Hag still hanging out there."
"小王? 當然! 你會找到許多老朋友的，老女巫可還在外邊溜搭呢!"
The EverQuest II team will not be resting on their laurels with the EoF expansion, nor with the introduction of the Estate of Unrest. There are plans for more free zones. The Live Team is finalizing their plans, and with the blessing of Smed, are doubling their work! Scott revealed that they hope to have something happening every month to keep things moving for EQII. They look to doubling holiday schedule and Scott reminded me of Erollisi day in February - just around the corner. Their schedule should shape up to place an event every other month, interspersed with new zone introductions and game updates.
EQII 團隊將不會在 EoF 資料片所光輝榮耀時休息，而無寧莊園的推出亦是如此。還有許多關於新區域的計畫。即時更新團隊還在潤飾他們的計畫，而有著 Smed 的加持他們可是加倍的在努力! Scott 提到他們希望每個月都有什麼事情發生來讓 EQII 能持續的前進。他們看起來在加倍假期規劃而 Scott 提醒我在二月的愛蘿莉西日(光明: 應該是 2/12) - 即將到來。他們的排程應該能做到每個月放入一個特別 event，發佈新區域的消息以及遊戲更新。
Although there are no plans for new Adventure Packs in the near term, I mentioned the Nektropos and wondered out loud if something would happen with another race soon. I am happy to report that Scott does not have a poker face.
即使短期內沒有開發新冒險包的相關計畫，我提到了奈克托普城以及往後會否有新的種族出現。而我很高興的向大家報告，Scott 並沒有擺出一張撲克臉。
"So, were there any challenges with the launch of EoF? Any big glitches?"
"那麼，EoF 的啟動有沒有什麼大的挑戰呢? 什麼大問題呢?"
Scott reported that there were no big glitches, but as expected, ten times the number of players playing the game often revealed little glitches. An amusing bug had to do with getting fantastic combat avoidance when naked. "That’s not something we typically have testers test!"
Scott 回答道並沒有什麼大問題，但是如預期一般，大量的玩家去玩的時候往往會發生小問題。一個神奇的 bug 他們已經修正的便是關於日前提出裸體擋怪有著出乎預料的戰鬥表現的事件。"那甚至我們沒有任何的測試員有嚐試過!"
"Are crafters happy?"
"工匠們有感到高興嗎?"
Scott attempted a frown. "Are crafters ever happy?" But he broke into laughter at the last word. The state of the tradeskills at this time are as well as they could be. The new secondary skills were received well by some, hated by others. But he admitted that there could be improvement in the progression of some skills as well as a greater diversity of harvests, all issues which were being addressed.
Scott 明顯的皺著眉頭。"工匠們有感到高興過嗎?" 但我們馬上為了這句話大笑。目前的交易技能狀況應該比任何時候要稍微來的好些。新的副技能大部分的反應良好，不過還是有些玩家非常痛恨。但他承認關於不少技能方面在往後仍有改進的空間，譬如大量的採集，許多的問題都在解決當中。
"Are YOU happy?"
"你感到高興嗎?"
"Well, we were surprised at the rate in which players are getting into the end raid content. The biggest nightmare of developers is that we launch an expansion and players race through the content in three days."
"嗯，我們對於玩家開始體驗 raid 內容的速度感到驚訝。開發者最大的噩夢就是我們啟動遊戲三天而玩家就遍布所有內容了。"
At one and a half months after launch, although surprised, Scott was still happy that not all raid zones were beaten. A little faster than expected, but still okay, and there are plans for expansion four. No more six month expansions, claimed Hartsman. "We will take as long or longer than EoF as required." This last expansion, he explained proved that taking the time to develop, polish and launch a good product was a good business move.
在啟動日後的一個半月，雖然感到驚訝，Scott 仍然對於並非所有的 raid 區域都被攻破感到高興。比預期的快了些，但是仍能接受，也有關於第四張資料片的計畫。不再是半年一張，Hartsman 提到。"我們會花費如同 EoF 一般久的時間去製作。" 這次的資料片，證實了花費時間去開發、修飾以及啟動一個好的產品是一個好的公司的進步。
"Subscriptions are growing and that makes me happy. We did it by releasing a quality game, and..." he broke into laughter again, pointing at me, "You can’t twit me on anything! That’s a first!"
"註冊數提升讓我感到高興。 我們釋出了一個有品質的好遊戲來達城，且..." 他再次大笑，指著我，"首先! 你可不能再嘲笑我什麼了!"
