Story Tellers

[Aceshot]

<p>Over my past few years of playing EQ2, I've done a stupidly large amount of quests.</p><p>Now I'm a high level, loot and levels are not as important, I've played the game, now I want the role playing part.</p><p>Now, I want to see the inpact my questing has had on the world. Did the world become a better place, because I killed 5 rats? Did killing gnolls lessen the attacks on qeynos? The Iskar in KJ who need your help in the adulthood trials, does he become a great leader or what ever?</p><p>What I would like to see doted around the place, are story tellers and gossips. People who can tell you what you've done and how it effected the world. An iskar gossip in KJ might say how the young iskar got help with his adulthood trials, or mention something about Rhodoqiz Karazz at the ball ect.</p><p>Would that work?</p>

[Morghus]

<p>It would certainly be nice. I personally crave resolution to issues or unexplained/vaguely discussed characters and their current condition. I already have a rather long-winded thread in this section in regards to the lack of such information regarding certain figures in the lore. I really wish they would be addressed in some way, along with the smaller/newer characters like you mentioned but the lore writers seem content to simply move forward and pave more holes/unexplained details.</p>

[Cusashorn]

<p>This goes right along with the Epic Storylines Epic Futility thread. Almost nothing we ever do anymore in this game actually changes the world. The NPC's use us to do their work for them, and they get all the fame and glory for doing so. Some of them might be grateful to say Thank You for helping them whenever you go back to them in the future, but others just give you the cold shoulder. The game is in desperate need of resolution and explanation to so many things.</p>

[Origin_Elloyn]

<p>That would be one thing that I love about World of Warcraft. Now while most of you cringe at the sound of that name, in Wrath of the Lich King they added a new feature. A feature where when you complete a quest, or a quest line, the area changes, and the story progresses. One thing that I can consistantly fault Everquest for is its story development, and this feature would bring an entire new world of questing, one where our choice impact our enviroment.</p>

[Morghus]

<p><cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>This goes right along with the Epic Storylines Epic Futility thread. Almost nothing we ever do anymore in this game actually changes the world. The NPC's use us to do their work for them, and they get all the fame and glory for doing so. Some of them might be grateful to say Thank You for helping them whenever you go back to them in the future, but others just give you the cold shoulder. The game is in desperate need of resolution and explanation to so many things.</p></blockquote><p>Definately, I wonder if or when our new lore dev will give threads like this a quick look at? Though I probably did come off as overly negative in my post in the <a href="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/posts/list.m?topic_id=454696" target="_blank">Epic Storylines Epic Futility thread</a>, I do want things in that regard to change and I genuinely feel the issues I presented and the issues people discussed within it are highly valid especially in a game like this that is (or at least was) teeming with a very rich lore and backstory and interesting established personalities who have for the most part whether introduced in this game or in the original, been discarded or never mentioned again after their respective expansion/appearance while displaying very little to no real character development, or in some cases relevant fill in to the character's actions from the original up till now if they were very old/alive in the first game. Leaving things to the imagination is well and good, but not at the ridiculous scale we have/been reaching.</p>

[Mustang8259]

<p>I agree it'd be nice to actually see some sort of progression in how things have continued to "change" in the world as you go along.  I know they can make different players hear different voice overs/read different flavor text depending on whether or not quests are completed, language quests are the best example of that.  If you have the language you hear it translated, but the person next to you who doesn't have the quest just hears a bunch of unintelligble (to them) babble in another language.</p><p>It'd be cool to have walked back into Seafarer's Roost after completing the Prismatic (fire and Ice) timeline to hear an Ogre at the bar say something to another patron like "Hey, 'id you hear someone brought down this big dragon at an island out at sea that was hoarding these prismatic eggs" or somethin, meanwhile anyone working on the steps of that particular quest might just hear jibberish about whatever, or maybe subtle clues about where there next step is or might lead to, like maybe saying something vague about where the runes were roughly located at for the "Speak as a Dragon" subquest.</p><p>I think the flavor like this has just been kinda left along the sideline for the Devs to work on bigger and better things, but as with all things in life sometimes all the little things make so much more of the difference.  Just like for a while how you used to hear the Drafling saying different things in reference to what was going on in the world, and I believe there was an NPC called the Keeper of Secrets or something that did the same thing, and Zeb on the Isle of Mara used to say stuff too I believe.  I still hold out hope for this kinda flavor stuff being implemented and more widely used again, especially after seeing some of the lore games the Devs have been playing lately both here in the forums and with live event stuff in-game.</p><p>*edited for spelling*</p>

[Zabjade]

<p><span style="color: #00cc00;">The have tried a start with some of that Some of RoK, and the Everfrost Revamp. </span></p><p><span style="color: #00cc00;"></span></p><p><span style="color: #00cc00;">TD as you progress on a questline the questgiver has items next to him that you brought him. </span></p><p><span style="color: #00cc00;">As you finish the "Cinderella" story in KJ the Iksar Godmother stands next to the no longer working Iksar girl</span></p><p><span style="color: #00cc00;">In Everfost after you retrieve the items for the guy in the burnt out house they re-appear inside the house. I do however wish that you could keep going and eventually watch the house being completely rebuilt! Once it is built with a stockade it becomes a "Rest Area" or Hub for Permafrost or Lore Questlines. </span></p>

[Jaranna]

<p><cite>Origin_Elloyn wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>That would be one thing that I love about World of Warcraft. Now while most of you cringe at the sound of that name, in Wrath of the Lich King they added a new feature. A feature where when you complete a quest, or a quest line, the area changes, and the story progresses. One thing that I can consistantly fault Everquest for is its story development, and this feature would bring an entire new world of questing, one where our choice impact our enviroment.</p></blockquote><p>They also added a nifty feature wherein all major past accomplishments of players become attributed to NPCs.</p><p>The Outing of Onyxia and her resultant death?  Varian Wrynn did that.The defeat of C'thun in Ahn'Qiraj?  Varian Wrynn's doing.The assault on Naxxramas as it floated above the Plaguelands?  A small team led by Darion Mograine did that.</p><p>I fully expect that the defeat of the Lich King will be attributed to a one-on-one duel between Arthas and Tirion Fordring.</p><p>Yes, phasing allows for some cool stuff in Wrath, but the lore is being retconned to ignore player character contributions.  For the purposes of this thread, the game I'd use as an example of player efforts affecting the world is the original Asheron's Call.</p>

[Morghus]

<p><cite>Jaranna wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>Origin_Elloyn wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>That would be one thing that I love about World of Warcraft. Now while most of you cringe at the sound of that name, in Wrath of the Lich King they added a new feature. A feature where when you complete a quest, or a quest line, the area changes, and the story progresses. One thing that I can consistantly fault Everquest for is its story development, and this feature would bring an entire new world of questing, one where our choice impact our enviroment.</p></blockquote><p>They also added a nifty feature wherein all major past accomplishments of players become attributed to NPCs.</p><p>The Outing of Onyxia and her resultant death?  Varian Wrynn did that.The defeat of C'thun in Ahn'Qiraj?  Varian Wrynn's doing.The assault on Naxxramas as it floated above the Plaguelands?  A small team led by Darion Mograine did that.</p><p>I fully expect that the defeat of the Lich King will be attributed to a one-on-one duel between Arthas and Tirion Fordring.</p><p>Yes, phasing allows for some cool stuff in Wrath, but the lore is being retconned to ignore player character contributions.  For the purposes of this thread, the game I'd use as an example of player efforts affecting the world is the original Asheron's Call.</p></blockquote><p>We've already seen that in the form of the TSO signature quest, when you do the quest the Ethernauts defeat her, but when you go and actually fight her as a raid she makes a note of Varsoon failing placing the raid at the same position he Ethernauts supposedly were in.</p>

[Rainmare]

<p>that might not be entirely the case. after all in the Palace instance, the ethernaughts are battling her and we are taking on varsoon. she and the ethernaughts go to wherever they go...Anashti to her palace, ethernaughts to the ether, when they shatter her anchor. apparently in her palace is sounds like she was expecting Varsoon's help, and then he doesn't show up because we took care of him while the ethernaught's shattered her anchor.</p><p>but I haven't done the Anashti fight in the palace so I don't know exactly what she says</p>

[Morghus]

<p><cite>Rainmare@Oasis wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>that might not be entirely the case. after all in the Palace instance, the ethernaughts are battling her and we are taking on varsoon. she and the ethernaughts go to wherever they go...Anashti to her palace, ethernaughts to the ether, when they shatter her anchor. apparently in her palace is sounds like she was expecting Varsoon's help, and then he doesn't show up because we took care of him while the ethernaught's shattered her anchor.</p><p>but I haven't done the Anashti fight in the palace so I don't know exactly what she says</p></blockquote><p>The exact moment Varsoon is defeated it plays the cutscene with the Ethernauts, but in order to actually unlock her and banish her from the void to become a worshipable deity she had to be defeated by a raid force.</p><p>Anashti Sul's voice rings in your head - How dare you invade my domain, insect!  The only way you're leaving is as a corpse!</p><p>Anashti Sul says, "So, you finally made it.  I must say it was entertaining watching you struggle.  Despite the diversion, you show me great disrespect in coming here at the dawn of my dominance.  I have much to do, and your puny efforts delay my minions.  I'm afraid I must make an example of you."</p><p>Anashti Sul says, "So, you would disrupt my plans for your own selfish gain?  Foolish mortals. Let the entertainment begin!"</p><p>Anashti Sul says, "I shall enjoy watching creatures from my void army destroy you!"</p><p>Anashti Sul says, "This is going too slowly, time to speed things up a bit!"</p><p>Anashti Sul says, "Destroy them my pet, and quickly!"</p><p>Anashti Sul says, "NO!  This cannot be happening!  I sense Varsoon has let me down as well.  I have no time for this nonsense, I shall finish you meddlers off MYSELF!"</p><p>From what I have seen from the times I have fought her, that is the extent of her dialogue. From the tone of the things she has said, she wants to get rid of us quickly....not quite normal for a being who has all the time in the world...we are obviously the ones who sever her anchor to the void judging by the sense of urgency in the last thing she says before she fights the raid. Also, the place in the custcene is identical to when you actually face her, and she is also in her not so pretty form during the battle as well.</p>