Frostfang/Halas- Look and Feel

[LordPazuzu]

<p>My first impressions of the new newbie area and town are rather blah.  It's fairly underwhelming.</p><p>I'll state right now that I like icy environments, they are my favorite.  I love Everfrost and Permafrost Keep.  I loved EF and Velious in EQ1.  Frostfang is missing something and it's hard to put my finger on.  I think it might be the lack of vegetation.  I know that it's supposed to be a floating mass of ice and velium but even something like those crystalized trees from back in Velious in EQ1 would help.  The landscape just feels flat and dead.  The lighting in the zone is rather harsh and flat as well.  The overall feeling for me is just "blah".</p><p>New Halas itself feels cluttered and incohesive.  The buildings themselves, especially the barbarian architecture, are awesome.  But the whole place feels like someone plucked up a bunch of houses that were scattered about and plunked them down in a valley without any care.  It doesn't feel like a town, it feels like a refugee camp.  A refugee camp type of place is well and good for a quest hub, but if you want Halas to be able to stack up against a place like Neriak, or Qeynos, or Freeport, it has to be more and it's not.  The mix of architecture styles, the sloppy placement, the harsh lighting, and the lifeless landscape create a very ugly starting town and I dont see it working well in retaining brand new players just starting out.</p><p>Considering how long this area was delayed, I expected alot more.</p>

[Bhagpuss]

<p>Each to his own.</p><p>I love the layout of New Halas. It felt immediately comfortable and homelike. The valley is light and airy while the housing/crafting cave is cosy and warm.</p><p>The placement of the buildings didn't feel at all haphazard to me but organic and natural. The quality of the light was perfect - clear, sharp and cold outdoors, mellow and soft in the cave.</p><p>I welcome the absence of wandering NPCs. Gives the place a focused, uncluttered feel appropriate to a dwarven town. Everyone has a job and they are getting on with it.</p><p>In practical terms, everything seems to be there, logically placed, easy to find, close together with no additional zoning. I've already moved one character there and more will follow.</p><p>It's going to need a world transport globe though if it's supposed to be a residential town not just a starter area.</p>

[Gungo]

<p>You are like a commercial for prozac, wow.</p><p>Anyway the cave buildings not log cabins seem extremely close quartered and small. I expected more building built in and from the ice, velium, rock and wood.I wouldnt even mind the devs reusing the housing files as textures and appearance for New halas. <img src="http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20081225190744/avatar/images/2/28/Entrance.png" /></p><p>I know the artists used real life pictures to come up w vegitation and the feel of the zone but this is a fantasy game as well. There can be rock caves and florescent creatures living on this floating ice mass. There could be crystaline stalagmite creatures. There could be a LOOKOUT PEAK on top of the ice berg where players can look around the entire New halas area and view the spectacularly made surroundings. Maybe a lone giant named yeti at top, ala king kong with giant yeti skeletons .</p><p>Maybe an opaque velum ice block ice block fort being seiged by orcs, like the quele'le scripted encounter. Maybe the coldain warriors were wielding velium weapons and all had a uniform look like the Station cash outfit, kaladim stormguard outfit pr mcjonas helm of the north. Just because its on station cash doesnt mean you cant use those looks on the NPCS. Use the assets you create.  Add some fire cannons to the orcs melting away parts of the ice fort. If you want a fantasy version of what a real ICE city should look like use an appearance similar to the avatar northern water tribe.</p><p><img src="http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20081225190750/avatar/images/thumb/d/d7/Ep48-249.png/250px-Ep48-249.png" /></p><p>Maybe a giant shipwrecked icebreaker ship that is used as a dwelling. A ship big enough that it has multiple levels and it is partially submerged within the ice. <img src="http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090210213725/avatar/images/b/b4/Iceship.png" /></p><p> Add some cystalline trees , and regular trees, some polar bears, and penguins, and walruses, and seal lions. For the next expansion velious add in some Yak type horse mounts. <img src="http://www.freewebs.com/hucko2/Raindeer.jpg" /></p><p>An ice city doesnt mean empty and lifeless and really that is what i feel in alot of this creation. ALot of the picture I posted was from the Avatar series cartoon and the new The last airbender movie coming out this summer but honestly its probelbly the best interpretation of an ICE CITY i could think of in a fantasy setting. I hope velious when it come sout draws inspiration from fantasy and not just a realistic approach. </p><p><a href="http://www.thelastairbendermovie.com/#home/video">http://www.thelastairbendermovie.com/#home/video</a></p>

[channel]

<p>i have to agree - i was expecting a little bit "more" with the new zones....</p><p>it is very flat ....</p><p>did you ever wake up on a winter morning and every tree is covered in ice and the sun glints off the branches and sprays a blue/turqoise prism into the air?</p><p>did you ever wander through a forest completely snow covered and wonder at the beauty of the world?</p><p>at this stage in the game  - i guess i expected a little bit more - deep rich blues, petrified forests, crystal formations... not just a flat outland area (starting area) and one big rock to climb up and reach the inner city... it's all so bleh....</p>

[MoiraesFate]

<p>Really? I LOVE these new areas. They are so beautiful. Especially the housing. The housing floor plans also make a heck of alot more sense than in ANY other city. As soon as it comes live, I'm going to definitely create a character to play from Halas. This is my favorite area other than Qeynos.</p><p>Just breathtakingly beautiful.</p><p>It reminds me of the rocky mountains. I'm from Canada, only about a 3 hour drive from the base of the mountains, and I miss it since I currently live in Louisiana. This feels like home to me, right down to the carvings of the heads on the doors on some of the buildings in the mountains. Its just incredibly beautiful.</p>

[Kilaelya]

<p>I really like Frostfang Sea and Halas <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> I especially like that it's a relatively small zone. I'll be moving here as soon as it hits live, mainly because everything in New Halas is all very close to each other, so I don't have to travel through different zones to get to a speficic NPC like in FP/Qeynos. The housing looks awesome and I've enjoyed climbing around the ice and rocks. There is a giant ice peak on one of the orc islands that gives a really cool view of Erollsi island.</p>