Why so gloomy EQ2?

[PeoplePerson]

<p>Hello all. I just recently came back to EQ2 from World of Warcraft and the thing im missing most is the COLOR!</p><p>everywhere i go its gloomy. no sunny skies, most of the grass is brown, and it always looks like its gonna rain.</p><p>is there any plans to brighten up the game in the future? also some of the weapon graphics are lacking. i have a lvl 60 bruiser and the fist weapons i have are mastercrafted but they look like hand held dough mixers. its just a piece of flat metal across the hands with a handle. id like to see some creativity go into higher ranked weapons. another thing ive noticed is the buggyness in the game is still there. is there any plans to smooth out the performance of the game? about the servers, is there gonna be a server merger in the future? im seeing alot of medium and light populated servers. it would be nice to see some get combined for more options when looking for or selling items on the auction house. just some opinions.</p>

[Kitsune286]

On color , you must never have been to Village of Shin of Faydwere, hehe.

[Grimlux]

<p>A person coming from WoW is gonna notice the color difference. EQ2 dev's sure have put a new light on the color brown, who knew you could create an entire city with it. *freeport* Weapons and primarily all graphics are more realistic in this game. WoW tends to exaggerate weapon sizes and add sparkles and shades. WoW and EQ2 are good games, but i'm happy that they have a seperate style. I'd hate to see the changes you suggested. (except for the performance issues)</p>

[Oleary]

Norrath is intended to be more realistic than WoW's world is.  I've played WoW, and as you say, it's a much more vivid and bright experience, but it's like running around in a cartoon all day.  EQ2's style is realism, and in the real world, most countrysides ARE shades of brown.  There are some exceptions in life, gardens etc, and there are some exceptions in game as well... <img src="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" width="15" height="15" />

[orchard54]

The Village of Shin alone.<img src="http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/7861/eq2000084uj9.jpg" alt="" border="0" /><img src="http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/94/eq2000090sc5.jpg" alt="" border="0" /><img src="http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/8256/eq2000103ng6.jpg" alt="" border="0" /><img src="http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/9236/eq2000105xx1.jpg" alt="" border="0" />Those are just some random pics i took the other day. Some examples of brighter, little more vibrant zones includes...Almost the entire Desert of Flames expansion.Almost all of Kingdom of Sky (minus Bonemire)NEW TUNARIA (the most beautiful zone in my opinion)Lesser FaydarkGreater FaydarkButcherblock MountainsEmerald HallsThose are just the ones that come first to mind quickly <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />I dont think EQ2 is very gloomy. I like the style, this is part of the reason I play EQ2 afterall.If I wanted to play in a pastel world created by and for children then I'd play WoW.

[SilkenKidden]

<cite>PeoplePerson wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>Hello all. I just recently came back to EQ2 from World of Warcraft and the thing im missing most is the COLOR!</p><p>everywhere i go its gloomy. no sunny skies, most of the grass is brown, and it always looks like its gonna rain.</p><p>is there any plans to brighten up the game in the future? also some of the weapon graphics are lacking. i have a lvl 60 bruiser and the fist weapons i have are mastercrafted but they look like hand held dough mixers. its just a piece of flat metal across the hands with a handle. id like to see some creativity go into higher ranked weapons. another thing ive noticed is the buggyness in the game is still there. is there any plans to smooth out the performance of the game? about the servers, is there gonna be a server merger in the future? im seeing alot of medium and light populated servers. it would be nice to see some get combined for more options when looking for or selling items on the auction house. just some opinions.</p></blockquote><p>Change your game options.  It is not so gloomy if you turn on the lights.  </p><p>Save your current settings.</p><p>Options/Display/Lighting.  Set first option to high quality. Set player torches to at least 1. Set max lights to 30.  Set ambience up past zero.  These last two are key.  </p><p>Options/Display/Particle Effects.  Set the last option to a bit past zero so that it is on. You can go higher if you want. This is needed in order to see flames flickering from torches and candles, at least on some of the older graphics in the game.</p><p>I have the the settings with lights saved as Lights.  If I go into a crowded zone like Sebilis, I switch to extreme performance.  That turns off all my lights and gets me ready for serious fighting with very little effert.  After the mobs are all dead, I restore my Lights setup and go home to admire my manor at 4 Bayle in South Qeynos. </p>

[orchard54]

I'd like to add a note, if you look up in a lot of instances, or buildings, dungeons, or many other places it is very detailed (specially for being a ceiling) as not many games really take the time to add in that detail. HOWEVER...the sky in about 80% of the zones, look horrible.There are some zones where the sky actually looks really good. Kingdom of Sky expansion has great looking sky's all over, where as the old world sky looks horrible.The night sky seems to look great to me anywhere I go <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Although I wish SOE would explain the 2nd moon that is still in tact. Playing EQ1 (500 years before eq2) and EQ Online Adventures(PS2) is 500 years BEFORE eq1, or 1000 years before EQ2 if you will. EQ1 and EQOA never had a 2nd moon. In EverQuest 1 the moon (Luclin) was actually a place you could teleport to and fight, neither from Norrath, or anyone on the moon can you ever see a 2nd moon. You can see Norrath from Luclin which is pretty cool, and Luclin from Norrath <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> But no where is there a 2nd moon.Maybe they have explained it and I just missed it somewhere in all the EQ2 lore. It'd be kind of weird of a planet to gain a moon over the course of 500 years. Then again, this is a fantasy game so there are no real boundaries to what they can do, just fail to back it up with some sort of logic.EQ1 and EQOA have better looking sky then EQ2 for the most part, and thats just sad IMHO. Seeing as how those games are much older than EQ2.Every other bit of detail in EQ2 is great though./feedback - bring back the horse mounting animation!!!!!

[Wilde_Night]

The second moon, Drinal, has always been visable.  When Luclin exploded, the veil the goddess Luclin had on her planet diminished and made it visible for the first time, which is why we can see both now.

[orchard54]

Sweet! Thanks <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> I always love learning more about the lore of EQ2 <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/e8a506dc4ad763aca51bec4ca7dc8560.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" width="15" height="15" />