The Void

[Drager]

Good expantion area?(you know that place where all of the void monsters come from and shadow men what is that all about?) /discuse

[Drager]

*Crickets LOL

[Cusashorn]

Lets explore the rest of Norrath before we start exploring alternate planes of reality that has nothing more than the same archetecture and mob designs as both Obelisks have now.

[troodon]

Please, just say "no" to inter-dimensional expansions

[Drager]

ok lol

[Wildmage]

Drager@Nektulos wrote: <blockquote>Good expantion area?(you know that place where all of the void monsters come from and shadow men what is that all about?) /discuse </blockquote> Well with such a deep and compelling description of your idea for an expansion how can we say no? /sarcasm off

[Drager]

lol

[Dasein]

Now that I've actually been able to complete the book quests from OOLS, the lore behind the Shadowmen is awesome, and I would love to see this aspect of the game developed further. Personally, I found OOB to be a bit of a letdown, as it is very sparse on Shadowman lore and the purpose of the Obelists. I'd like to see another couple of quests added to that zone.

[Drager]

yay one person who agrees with me <img src="/smilies/e8a506dc4ad763aca51bec4ca7dc8560.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[LordPazuzu]

<p>I've thought that more than once actually.  The shadowed men and their allies have a tremendous amount of lore sprinked throughout both obelisks.  The shadowed men are using the obelisks as incursion points into the mortal world.  With an expansion they could be gearing up for a full scale invasion/assimilation of Norrath and the best way to meet this threat head on is to invade the void and defeat them on their home turf.  I'd imagine the "Director" could be one bad [Removed for Content] raid boss.  The obelisk architecture is vistually interesting and the shadowed men, if you read their lore, come across as completely cold and callous enemies.  Definitely room to expand on what's already been introduced.</p><p>If I remember correctly, the priests of Solusek Ro and the shadowed men have a particular dislike for each other.</p>

[Drager]

part of the Koada'dal  race items quest says that the orb thingy drew them to norath which allowed the shadow men in or something

[Cusashorn]

Thats where the idea for the Void as an expansion pack fails. There is NO variety. The only mobs we'd ever be fighting are shadow men, Shadow walkers, Nightbloods, Lamias, and Evil Eyes. The only settings we'd ever see would be the dull stone walls and metal contraptions that we see every time we enter either of the two Obelisks that exist in the game.

[Drager]

they would just have to make them up like everything else in everquest <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Norrsken]

<cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite><blockquote>Thats where the idea for the Void as an expansion pack fails. There is NO variety. The only mobs we'd ever be fighting are shadow men, Shadow walkers, Nightbloods, Lamias, and Evil Eyes. The only settings we'd ever see would be the dull stone walls and metal contraptions that we see every time we enter either of the two Obelisks that exist in the game.</blockquote>I can think of a lot of other mob types that would fit in rather well with a void exp pack.

[BossCre]

<p><b>Cusashorn</b> Loremaster <img src="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/images/avatar/EQ2/monk.gif" border="0"> Joined: Dec 2, 2004 Messages:<span style="font-size: medium"> </span><b><i><u><span style="font-size: medium">11257</span> </u></i></b>Location: Cheeseland, USA </p><p>Cusashorn talks a <b><i><u>lot</u></i></b>.</p>

[Norrsken]

Dahgoo@Crushbone wrote: <blockquote><p><b>Cusashorn</b> Loremaster <img src="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/images/avatar/EQ2/monk.gif" border="0"> Joined: Dec 2, 2004 Messages:<span style="font-size: medium"> </span><b><i><u><span style="font-size: medium">11257</span> </u></i></b>Location: Cheeseland, USA </p><p>Cusashorn talks a <b><i><u>lot</u></i></b>.</p></blockquote>Yah, actually one of the few with more posts than me. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Cusashorn]

you need to hang out at the Non-Gameplay Discussion board then. Compaired to some of the people with 20,000+ posts over there, I'm nothing. Anyways, was it really necissary to bring my post count to attention?

[Dragowulf]

<blockquote><blockquote> </blockquote></blockquote>Cusa is literally a Lore Master. Although he gets stuff wrong periodically and it's funny. drago.

[Dasein]

<cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite><blockquote>Thats where the idea for the Void as an expansion pack fails. There is NO variety. The only mobs we'd ever be fighting are shadow men, Shadow walkers, Nightbloods, Lamias, and Evil Eyes. The only settings we'd ever see would be the dull stone walls and metal contraptions that we see every time we enter either of the two Obelisks that exist in the game.</blockquote> That's not true - we know the Shadowmen can take over the bodies of native creatures, hence the presence of the fae in Obelisk of Blight, for example, We also know the Shadowmen have visited countless other worlds, so there is the potential for encountering all sorts of alien creatures and technology. One could easily see entire new elements of gameplay added based around the Void and Shadowmen, from new spells and ability lines, to entirely new sorts of items.

[troodon]

<cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite><blockquote>There is NO variety. The only mobs we'd ever be fighting are shadow men, Shadow walkers, Nightbloods, Lamias, and Evil Eyes. </blockquote><p>Actually, I'm afraid of the expansion because it opens up the doorway for too much variety.  If the Void creatures are attacking Norrath, it's likely that they've attacked other planets/planes/dimensions/whatever.  This means that they could have all kinds of ridiculous looking things in whatever realm they operate out of.  That reminds me a little too much of a certain EQ1 expansion, and forgive me if I don't want to see this sort of crap</p><p><img src="http://common.allakhazam.com/images/i/d/id16696.png" border="0"></p><p><img src="http://common.allakhazam.com/images/i/d/id17101.png" border="0"></p><p><img src="http://common.allakhazam.com/images/i/d/id16025.png" border="0"></p><p>in EQ2.  Let's just stick to remotely-traditional fantasy please, and leave the sci fi to other people and other games. </p>

[Illmarr]

<p>More Goatchicks, Nocs, Mastruqs, Aneuks and Kyv please!</p><p><i>EDIT: And who doesn't like a floating phallus?</i></p>

[Drager]

umm SOE already put the scifi into the game and really the void is much different than a plane it is a place of magic if you read up ont the lore of shadow men ,the obilisks ,the void there is alot of information about how the void is really not another dimension but a plane of pure magic wich gives its inhabitants amesing power. a void expansion could open so many mysteries of norath and the other planes. seeing as the sole goal of the Shadow men is to colect information on the different worlds....just a reference has anyone seen that episode of futurama where fry stops the brains from destroying the universe aftr they colect all of the knowlage from it? because i think that is sort of what the shadow men are doing they are on a constant search for knowlege and look at us as inferior beings...animals

[Hukklebuk]

<cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite><blockquote>Thats where the idea for the Void as an expansion pack fails. There is <b>NO </b>variety. The <b>only mobs</b> we'd ever be fighting are shadow men, Shadow walkers, Nightbloods, Lamias, and Evil Eyes. The <b>only settings</b> we'd ever see would be the <b>dull stone walls and metal contraptions </b>that we see every time we enter either of the two Obelisks that exist in the game.</blockquote>gotta do it Cusa..... 'and you know this for a fact how'?

[Drager]

it would be much cooler than that i see the void as being something like hell because it is were the greatest evil is chaneled from it  hords of soles  corupeted by the shadow men beasts collected from all plains and knowlege of our own world as well as others this could answer many questions about norath  and add new spells , items,ect  first off the shadow men, the eyes and the nightbloods are really the only things that have the skill or are alowed out of the void. the void being a place of pure unbridled magic the beasts,spells and items that could be found there would be amasing this plane has no gods to control its path so as a result the place is caotic.... another thing that interts me furter is the fact that this place seems to have no good or maybe it does but we cant see it(because it is said that all who enter become corrupted).... following the teachings of master wu this is a unbalance of the universe so i say we go in there and balance it out<img src="/smilies/b2eb59423fbf5fa39342041237025880.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> *summons lighting *cool battle music plays  

[Meirril]

<p>I'm thinking that shadowmen have some really cool lore. However, I think part of what is so attractive about them is how little we really know about them. Adding them into an expansion to spice things up is great. Having 24/7 exposure to them I think they would loose their mystique and their appeal. Nothing made me loose interest in the Droag faster than SoS. So much time tromping up and down their halls...ugh. I'd be more interested in learning about the Hoo'loo than the droags even if they are suppose to have a richer lore. </p><p>Also, could anyone at SOE really cook up an interesting and in depth enough lore for shadowmen for all of the artists and content developers over there to follow in making an entier expansion? No, let the elder evils remain in the capable hands of a few warped devients who can turn out something that hints at something just beyond the veil...</p><p>Also, there is no reason to think that any of the things we've seen in the towers is the true form of the rulers of the void. As far as we know they are just summoned creatures with shadowmen conciouses implanted. And the shadowmen themselves...are they just that bizarlly alien that they don't have emotions or is it possible that they themselves are creations that serve more powerful puppet masters? Or possibly fragments of a dreaming god...</p><p>So much that could be done. Best to trickle it out and tourture the lore seakers with tasty bits and no facts. </p>

[troodon]

Drager@Nektulos wrote: <blockquote>umm SOE already put the scifi into the game and really the void is much different than a plane it is a place of magic if you read up ont the lore of shadow men ,the obilisks ,the void there is alot of information about how the void is really not another dimension but a plane of pure magic wich gives its inhabitants amesing power. a void expansion could open so many mysteries of norath and the other planes. seeing as the sole goal of the Shadow men is to colect information on the different worlds....just a reference has anyone seen that episode of futurama where fry stops the brains from destroying the universe aftr they colect all of the knowlage from it? because i think that is sort of what the shadow men are doing they are on a constant search for knowlege and look at us as inferior beings...animals </blockquote><p> Firstly, you don't know anything about the Void.  Vhalen has said of the Void, and I quote, "The Void is another dimension you may have heard of."  If you don't know anything about the Void don't ask for it to be in an expansion.</p><p>Secondly, you're correct that Sony has already put some Sci Fi stuff in this game pertaining to the Void, and it is <i>stupid</i>.  It is the worst thing they've put into the game and I am not the only person who thinks so.  They should just drop it and leave it alone.</p>

[Dasein]

There's nothing close to 'sci-fi' within the Void lore. There's some stuff that might be considered more advanced technology, but that iteself does not make soemthing science fiction. Plenty of fantasy deals with technology of various levels, and is not limited to the sort of pseudo-medieval tech levels found in EQ2. After all, what are clockworks?

[Drager]

ya your right the whole void is really a out of control plane of magic look at the shadow men.... personal i dont even belive we are killing the real shadow men we are most likly killing thier magical manifestation in norath the are still in the void... and oh ya the oboliks arnt in the void they are a portal to the void.... lets look at the void as a plane to conect all other planes/universes/ect to each other so a void exzpansion wouild definatly open up new technology and mabye a new class......

[Drager]

SOE needs to take some of these ideas

[Cusashorn]

Like I said, lets continue exploring and uncovering the rest of Norrath first BEFORE we delve into alternate dimensions.

[Drager]

awwwe please please please with a cherry on top

[troodon]

<cite>Dasein wrote:</cite><blockquote>There's nothing close to 'sci-fi' within the Void lore. There's some stuff that might be considered more advanced technology, but that iteself does not make soemthing science fiction. Plenty of fantasy deals with technology of various levels, and is not limited to the sort of pseudo-medieval tech levels found in EQ2. After all, what are clockworks? </blockquote><p>I, personally, don't really like the whole Clockwork thing, but with that they're simply building off of something that was in classic EQ1.  Plus the Clockworks are always kind of crazy, dirty, and halfhazard, which goes a long way to making them acceptable in the setting.</p><p>Interdimensional warfare, on the other hand, is going far out of the fantasy realm.  While Shadowed Men did exist in EQ1, all they were was cool little mobs that gave you Temple of Sol Ro faction; we didn't have any of this Nightblood-Void-Obelisk stuff going on.  While whatever mechanism we use to transport between the Void and Norrath may be magical as opposed to scientifically based, it doesn't change the fact that it is wholly out of place in Norrath's traditional context.  </p><p>If you want to have some grand inter-planar war, fine, let's have a big fight between the Gods.  That would be fantasy and it would have parallels with several actual ancient mythologies (to say nothing of Norrathian history).  Fighting boogeymen from Dimension X, on the other hand, is more Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles than EverQuest... in my opinion, anyways.</p>

[Cusashorn]

^ What Troodon said. Among the many reasons why the Gates of Discord expansion pack in EQlive came off as the worst expansion in the history of the game is because they introduced these crazy almost-too-alien-like mobs that came from some chaotic plane where Norrath's Gods have no rule over. The storyline, what little there was for that expansion, went way too sci-fi for the player base to enjoy.

[Drager]

well what i belive they would do with this expansion if they ever do it is they will take different monsters from norrath and corrupt them there are already 5 creatures we know of from the void 4 which are found in the enchanted lands those wierd devil girls with the tails what are thier names again the nightbloods the evil eyes and teh shadow men....the 5 is the void beaste which i belive to be a pure creation of shadows. now the void has nothing to do with sicfi and all of the explanations about it (including the ones from the shadow men) sugest that  the void is a place of powerful magic and magical creatures..... now with thier continuing activity in our world they will eventually open a portal between the planes and attack now all we have to do is get there first kill them off and skip out of that motherfucker

[Wildmage]

<cite>troodon wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Dasein wrote:</cite><blockquote>There's nothing close to 'sci-fi' within the Void lore. There's some stuff that might be considered more advanced technology, but that iteself does not make soemthing science fiction. Plenty of fantasy deals with technology of various levels, and is not limited to the sort of pseudo-medieval tech levels found in EQ2. After all, what are clockworks? </blockquote><p>I, personally, don't really like the whole Clockwork thing, but with that they're simply building off of something that was in classic EQ1.  Plus the Clockworks are always kind of crazy, dirty, and halfhazard, which goes a long way to making them acceptable in the setting.</p><p>Interdimensional warfare, on the other hand, is going far out of the fantasy realm.  While Shadowed Men did exist in EQ1, all they were was cool little mobs that gave you Temple of Sol Ro faction; we didn't have any of this Nightblood-Void-Obelisk stuff going on.  While whatever mechanism we use to transport between the Void and Norrath may be magical as opposed to scientifically based, it doesn't change the fact that it is wholly out of place in Norrath's traditional context.  </p><p>If you want to have some grand inter-planar war, fine, let's have a big fight between the Gods.  That would be fantasy and it would have parallels with several actual ancient mythologies (to say nothing of Norrathian history).  Fighting boogeymen from Dimension X, on the other hand, is more Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles than EverQuest... in my opinion, anyways.</p></blockquote>gnomes are pretty much supposed to be slightly ahead of the tech curve when it comes to fantasy tech they push the boundaries into steampunk fantasy style which is fine you get clanky machinebots but nothing distasteful like muskets, though apparently you can get giant clockwork dinosaurs (Which I still haven't been able to find in steamfont or Klak`anon *insert sad gnome face*)

[Drager]

hey trooden srry to be the one to tell u this but the void isnt sicfi.....hell isnt sicfi there is nothing sciencey about the void magical creatures with magical powers crossing dimentions just cause it has the word dimension/plane/universe dosnt make it sicfi all of the information here can be found in real in game lore... and just because you arnt ready to go into the pit of hell and kill thoses fing beasts and ram the devils head on a stick and parade it through all of norath dosent me other people arnt

[Illmarr]

<cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite><blockquote>^ What Troodon said. Among the many reasons why the Gates of Discord expansion pack in EQlive came off as the worst expansion in the history of the game is because they introduced these crazy almost-too-alien-like mobs that came from some chaotic plane where Norrath's Gods have no rule over. The storyline, what little there was for that expansion, went way too sci-fi for the player base to enjoy <b><i>.</i></b></blockquote><p>Cusa, haven't you said before that you never even got into the Plane of Time from PoP and left EQ1 when EQ2 started? Exactly what first hand experience did you have with GoD lore? I'll grant you that after LDoN a majority of players were probably expecting something with a similar degree of difficulty (non-existant) and were much chagrined to find real challenge again. My opinion having actually played through the content is it had a great deal of lore as you progressed. I had no problem with the setting aside from it had so little variation in textures and maybe 9 different NPC models for a whole expansion.</p><p>YMMV, but I don't want people thinking there was universal hate for GoD. And much of the hate at the time was due to the botched DX9 upgrade that made it so you crashed 10 times just trying to cross PoK (Which obviously has zero to do with the GoD expansion. </p>

[troodon]

Drager@Nektulos wrote: <blockquote>hey trooden srry to be the one to tell u this but the void isnt sicfi.....</blockquote>I said that in my past post.  It technically isn't sci fi, because they use magical means rather than scientific ones to travel between dimensions, but that doesn't mean it fits in to EverQuest's setting.  It <i>feels</i> like sci fi, because the vast majority of stories with interdimensional travel, bizarre alien creatures, and body snatching <i>are</i> sci fi.  The fact that they explain it using magic rather than technology doesn't change that fact.

[Cusashorn]

Don't forget they do use technology as well. All the torture devices located around the Obelisks. The flying defense contraptions...

[Drager]

still eq2 pu all of the aleins body snachers and warp portals into the game this is how i look at it Void=pit of hell Pit of hell + me = devils head on a pike me+pliers(devils head)= devil horn staff <img src="/smilies/b2eb59423fbf5fa39342041237025880.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> the void and hell seen to be no different the both can travel between worlds the both can take over peoples bodys they both want to rule a certain world also look at how everthing that comes from thier looks like a demon cough nightbloods and those wierd devil girls.....an eye with teeth on its eyelids, void beasts and shadow men well i guess these are your true demons it also seems that we know as much about hell as we do about the void good work devs

[Drager]

ok just read something i really think the will do this some day.....read the three keys story again in the last part of the final phargraph it pretty much states that we go into the void

[troodon]

Drager@Nektulos wrote: <blockquote>ok just read something i really think the will do this some day.....read the three keys story again in the last part of the final phargraph it pretty much states that we go into the void </blockquote> The story also states that the boss mob of the expansion will be a one-man raid who you kill by activating a little orb.  Do you believe that too?

[Trepan]

Drager@Nektulos wrote: <blockquote>ok just read something i really think the will do this some day.....read the three keys story again in the last part of the final phargraph it pretty much states that we go into the void </blockquote> And we have.  We've entered both the Obelisk of Lost Souls and the Obelisk of Blight.  To get there we had to pass through the void. I for one agree with everyone else - I don't care.  Leave the shadowmen as the mysterious bogeymen that they are.  There are far more pressing matters to deal with here on Norrath.  Frankly, the thought of an Iksar army rising in the SE gives me the screaming fantods.  Not the shadowmen.

[Drager]

that was a pointless post then cause you just repeated what everyone else has already said <img src="/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />