EverQuest II's new Age of Discovery expansion is coming later this month, and Sony Online Entertainment is introducing the first of its major city revamps along with it. Freeport gets the extreme home makeover treatment in Game Update 62, and though the city will still be recognizable to long-time players, a new SOE Q&A hints that the changes will be substantial.
Art director Timothy "Haohmaru" Heydelaar talks a bit about architectural and layout changes, the city's color palette, and the impetus behind the revamp itself. "Now that Lucan has returned, he has exercised his power by turning Freeport into a proud, magnificent city in a bid to attract more followers and to show off his renewed power. This brought about the need for the art changes and coincided with a lot of work the design team was going to do. We also wanted to remove zoning, like players have asked for as well," Heydelaar explains.
Reader Comments (10)
Posted: Nov 1st 2011 10:56AM Raikulxox said
@(Unverified) That's there goal. They're making the city into a multi-tiered quest hub, to get people to come back.
Posted: Nov 1st 2011 11:24AM Yellowdancer said
@(Unverified)
Qeynos will also be changed later to fit the evolution of the game. There was no point in starting in those cities...all the zoning was annoying and the loot is outdated.
Qeynos will also be changed later to fit the evolution of the game. There was no point in starting in those cities...all the zoning was annoying and the loot is outdated.
Posted: Nov 1st 2011 11:26AM Seffrid said
Guild halls were one of the worst changes SOE introduced, let's hope the city revamps can redress the balance.
Posted: Nov 1st 2011 1:01PM pcgneurotic said
This is allll good. Keep it coming SOE people! :)
Posted: Nov 1st 2011 1:24PM Miffy said
If he can get rid of zoning in the whole game and make each zone a seamless transition like boat rides and stuff then I'll play. The reason why I didn't like EQ2 back in the day was all the loading screens and clicking on bells.
Posted: Nov 1st 2011 2:06PM Space Cobra said
@Miffy
You know, I actually miss zoning, particularly in EQ1 (..."back in the day I played...") and didn't know EQ2 had it.
It was cheezy, but it was a GREAT way to escape a horde of NPC monsters chasing you. The run to the zone line was epic and exhilarating, assuming you could reach it!
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You know, I actually miss zoning, particularly in EQ1 (..."back in the day I played...") and didn't know EQ2 had it.
It was cheezy, but it was a GREAT way to escape a horde of NPC monsters chasing you. The run to the zone line was epic and exhilarating, assuming you could reach it!
Posted: Nov 1st 2011 1:41PM jimr9999us said
Despite SOE's ongoing issues, the EQ2 team continues to deliver month after month with less resources than any other AAA mmorpg. I wish the games I played had folks behind them with such work ethic!
Posted: Nov 1st 2011 1:53PM Schwa83 said
@jimr9999us Unfortunately, their "less resources" shows in the poor quality of their updates. SOE hasn't released polished quality content in EQ2 for a long time now. Everything is buggy, not tested properly, and they have a habit of not listening to the testers feedback.
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Posted: Nov 1st 2011 6:13PM kevinrahl said
Everything looks and sounds great. Keep up the great work SOE.
Posted: Nov 1st 2011 6:33PM slickie said
I wish I could play EQ2 but I'd need to purchase an entirely new computer designed specifically to run EQ2 to do so, and I don't think the game's worth a 400-dollar investment.
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