如果9月能順利推倒DT
看起來O群要努力想點10月要做的事了
How about 爬牆Raid....
新聞稿
Two retail expansions to EverQuest II have been released to date, but depending on who you ask,
the upcoming Echoes of Faydwer may be the first that's truly deserving of the name.
Due out this
November, Echoes looks to expand the game in many meaningful ways,
adding not only a landmass of significant size,
but a [color=rednew playable race[/color], and some apparently far-reaching game-wide changes.
We recently caught up with SOE to get an idea of what we can expect.
The pixie-like Fae may not seem very imposing at first glance,
but given their affinity for magic (as well as the fact that their models
look many magnitudes better than the ones currently in the game),
there should be a healthy population of them flitting about Norrath come November.
They're diminutive (about a head shorter than Gnomes,
if they weren't slightly airborne), they have very detailed wings,
and they're prone to mischief.
In game terms, they're more suited for spell-casting classes than physical ones,
for obvious reasons,
though it bears mention that the one that was shown to us in a recent demo was a ranger.
SOE is breaking out the ancient texts for the expansion's titular setting.
Faydwer is one of the most popular areas in the original EverQuest,
home to many of the universe's "good" races,
both sylvan and subterranean.
Wood Elves, High Elves, Half Elves, Dwarves and Gnomes can opt to call the treetop city of Kelethin home --
the Faydark zone where it's located will actually be available as a starting
location for new characters of these races
once the expansion is released.
The Fae, of course, start here as well.
The areas surrounding Faydark will be populated by all sorts of interesting inhabitants,
and many of them hearken back to EverQuest's rich history.
Mid-level players will be able to venture to the Steamfont Mountains,
the ancestral home of the Gnomes,
and help its beleaguered denizens combat the Clockworks --
mechanized creatures that have gained sentience and
developed an active disdain for their creators.
The Dwarves, meanwhile, strive to reclaim the Butcherblock Mountains
from the dark forces that have taken control.
According to SOE,
each of the five outdoor zones that will be introduced in Echoes will have quest content designed into them for both solo and group players,
and most of them will house unique instanced dungeons --
many of which will be post-Rending versions of the original EverQuest's racial cities.
Those familiar with EverQuest lore will know that there is one fundamental disconnect
between the Norrath of EQ2 and the world that existed before a chunk of its moon came crashing down on its surface:
the departure of the gods that governed it.
Seems like they got a bit tired of their mortal progeny fielding massive raids
into their home planes week in and week out.
In the weeks leading up to Echoes of Faydwer,
the deities will make tentative steps toward returning to the world that they have forsaken.
This will ultimately lead to a world, come expansion time,
in which their influence is prevalent again.
Through a series of live events that will begin in the coming weeks,
players will be able to begin to curry the favor of these powers.
Once the expansion hits, there will be a fully fledged "deity system" in place
that will allow players to actively court the attention of their deity of choice,
and manifest some of its awesome powers.
Eight of the most popular and powerful deities in EverQuest lore will make their presences felt in the world.
For the good guys, we'll have Tunare, Quellious and Mithaniel Marr.
Representing the evil side will be Innoruuk,
Cazic-Thule and Rallos Zek.
Holding it down for neutrality, finally,
are Solusek Ro and Brell Serilis. Depending on their alignment,
players will be able to choose a deity,
and immediately go to work earning its favor.
Players aligned with Qeynos will be limited to good deities,
Freeport can only work for the evil ones, while both worship neutrals.
As far as Exile characters go,
it hasn't yet been determined what deities they'll have access to.
To actually curry the favor of your deity of choice,
you either perform quests in their name, or sacrifice items to them.
Once you've built up enough "favor,"
you can sit down to pray at an altar in your domicile -- it'll be an actual piece of in-game furniture --
and request them to rain miracles upon you.
Miracles, believe it or not, will more or less be tangible items.
Think of them as uber powerful consumables
that you can use to sway the tide of a particular encounter.
Your favor, effectively, serves as currency with which you purchase these miracles.
Once you've run dry, you can curry more favor via the aforementioned means.
SOE seems to be doing quite a bit of work under the hood with Echoes of Faydwer as well.
Two new tradeskill professions will be made available with the expansion:
Tinkering,
which will allow players to craft all manner of strange gadgets,
and Transmuting,
which focuses on magically enhancing existing pieces of equipment.
New items introduced in the expansion will have "adornment slots" built into them,
into which Transmuters can fashion enchantments to improve their overall performance.
Fully modeled cloaks will also be made available to players for the first time,
on which they can display their guild's emblem.
These emblems will become more complex as the guild levels up,
with different visual elements becoming available as certain milestones are met.
Norrath will be getting much bigger come Echoes of Faydwer,
and by all accounts, it may just get more fun to explore as well.
The beta test for the game is imminent,
so we'll have more on it once we get a chance to delve a bit more deeply.
