The new vampire lore is a joke [Archive] - EQ2 Forum Archive @ EQ2Wire

Homeskillet

12-09-2010, 07:35 PM

Seriously, I am fine with it being a promotion, and SC fluff, but at least have some pride in the game to use the existing lore and come up with something better...like I did, in 10 minutes of boredom at work. At this point Sony can have it for free:Origins of the FreebloodLike many of the great changes that have come to sweep over Norrath, the origins of theFreeblood vampires lie interestingly enough in the actions of a handful of ambitious adventurers. Whenthe noble Koada’dal Marcus Thex, a champion of the mysterious Freethinkers was discovered in thedepths of the Evernight Abbey; he had been made into that which he had sworn to destroy. Cursed withthe existence he and his Freethinker companions had so valiantly fought, the valiant Koada’dal battledwith the desperate urge to end his own existence. Such a valiant spark of life cannot easily be stampedout though, even when shrouded in darkness. Unlike some thralls of Mistmoore, Marcus still held thegift given to all the creations of the Gods; the gift of choice. Thus Marcus became the first vampirechampion of the Freethinkers, bringing light to the darkness and setting an example of hope and valorfor those around him.Though cursed to carry on his fight in the shadows, Marcus was regarded as the champion he hadalways been by his Freethinker comrades. Though there were those among the Freethinkers who lookedat the more practical elements of Marcus’ “affliction”; they saw it as an opportunity to use Mayong’svery gift against him and his ilk. Despite his acceptance of his own cursed existence, Marcus abhorredthe idea of allowing anyone to share in his cursed immortality. Nonetheless many of the Freethinkers,particularly the more youthful and some would say foolhardy, volunteered to be “turned” by MarcusThex. The enthusiasm and compassion of some touched Marcus’ spirit, yet also touched on some darkurge that resided within him. So it was that the sun set on a group of young Freethinkers, and the nightembraced them. It was within that same group that one young woman jokingly coined the name for thenewly born vampires; “Freeblood”.The Freebloods proved themselves to be worthy of their gift, earning a reputation for bravery andferocity in dealing with the abominations the Freethinkers continued to fight in the shadows of Norrath.Vampire fought vampire on a level playing ground and even Marcus began to lose doubt in his decisionto allow this. Despite this, not all were comfortable to fight side by side with vampires. Though theFreethinkers had become more well known and their deeds celebrated by fellow champions of Qeynosand Kelethin, even the most tolerant were reluctant to accept the Freebloods. Some worried that theywould succumb to the urges typical to their kind, while others argued that they were different from theunnatural creatures the Freethinkers hunted and their sacrifice was something noble and to be admired.Ultimately the Freebloods expanded both within and outside of the Freethinker ranks; becoming apowerful presence in the world of Norrath. As with Lord Marcus Thex, the Freeblood vampires werebeings with the ability to choose their path. As these new vampires spread, many chose to forge theirown path outside of the Freethinkers; though they continued to identify themselves by the name Freeblood.Thus the Norrathian cities were faced with an odd dilemma, as vampires of other factions who hadrebelled against the designs of their makers flocked to the freedom this new group represented. Thevampire had stepped out of the shadows and into the cities, taverns, and inns of Norrath.

Cusashorn

12-09-2010, 07:43 PM

This is your own take on how you think the race should have been introduced, right?

Homeskillet

12-09-2010, 07:48 PM

Yes, an example of if you are wanting a quick write up, its not hard to take an existing loose end and flesh it out creatively. It literally took me 10 minutes. I saw the news update on my phone at work this morning, read the lore, gears turned 1/8th of a turn in my head and a few minutes later I had that in my notepad.

Blakkmantis

12-09-2010, 07:50 PM

Not so much of the lore that bothers me, as the look of the new Vampire race. Looking at the pics they released, they look horrible.

Homeskillet

12-09-2010, 07:51 PM

Lore and visually, it was pure schlock.

Faelain

12-09-2010, 07:53 PM

Better than the "official" lore SoE came up with.

Homeskillet

12-09-2010, 07:56 PM

The thing is, I HATE people that take excessive liberties with or completely ignore in game lore; it's much of what turned me off of roleplay here. EQ and EQ2 has some of the most well designed, deeply fleshed out lore of any game or fantasy setting, there is plenty to play with and work off of. But this...its just nonsense.

Gninja

12-09-2010, 08:26 PM

Actually Marcus never fully became a vampire. The ritual they were trying to perform was not completed. Which is one reason during the boss fight in Evernight Abbey he uses the sun against you since you had become a vampire throughout that story...

Iskandar

12-09-2010, 08:26 PM

I like it <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/e8a506dc4ad763aca51bec4ca7dc8560.gif" border="0" /> Your alternate lore would have also been a great opportunity for them to have done something else that many players have asked for since it was introduced: make New Tunaria a player city.Simply add a second entrance across the way from the entrance to the current New Tunaria. This would be the side of the city controlled by the Freebloods, as led by Marcus Thex. In essence, he would have initiated a civil war in New Tunaria to wrest control of the city away from Mayong's influence.It could have been pretty decent -- we would have gotten a new race, a New Tunarian starter city, and some cool Tunarian style player housing... even if ya don't dig the race, Tunarian housing woulda been a blast to have access to. But instead we get the holiday event that never ends....

Cratoh

12-09-2010, 08:27 PM

I think you will find the 'lore' surrounding vampires introduction to EQ2 goes something more like this:As the smoke cleared around the jumping marketplace, the developers realised they had really upset most of the player community, and in a slight panic about the imminent release of other games and expansions they decided to try and jump on a bandwagon which some of their younger relations had expressed some ridiculous interest in - namely Twilight/Trueblood etc blah blah blah.In the true cynical spirit of people intent on wrecking a game they lazily mashed up some shoddy graphics, and some shoddy lore which was full of holes, and then tried to make people subscribe for 3 months to get somne total crap they hadn;t even thought of yet, making it appear to be shrouded in mystery rather than just admitting there wasn't anything.Then they realised they could sell it to people on the market place and that was that.

Homeskillet

12-09-2010, 08:51 PM

Iskandar

12-09-2010, 08:55 PM

<cite>Gninja wrote:</cite><blockquote>Actually Marcus never fully became a vampire. The ritual they were trying to perform was not completed. Which is one reason during the boss fight in Evernight Abbey he uses the sun against you since you had become a vampire throughout that story...</blockquote><a href="http://eq2.zam.com/db/mob.html?eq2mob=46bf9fdc7b6fe1b035426bb05834762b" target="_blank">Fallen Marcus Thex</a> is classified as undead and a vampire. And if the procedure was incomplete, perhaps that could explain why he "has a soul" (to borrow a gimmick from Buffy/Angel <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/49869fe8223507d7223db3451e5321aa.gif" border="0" />) and can forge a Freeblood clan. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/e8a506dc4ad763aca51bec4ca7dc8560.gif" border="0" />

Gninja

12-09-2010, 08:56 PM

That is one of the outcomes the players can choose to persue but the story which is canon to lore is that the players interupted the ritual which they were trying to perform to turn him into a vampire and they did not succeed.This is a very good example of how stories can be told within game that are complete one offs to the actual story being told. It was one of those "Hey wouldn't it be cool if the players could let him turn into a vampire then get some sort of different reward from it?"

Morghus

12-09-2010, 09:00 PM

<cite>Gninja wrote:</cite><blockquote>That is one of the outcomes the players can choose to persue but the story which is canon to lore is that the players interupted the ritual which they were trying to perform to turn him into a vampire and they did not succeed.This is a very good example of how stories can be told within game that are complete one offs to the actual story being told. It was one of those "Hey wouldn't it be cool if the players could let him turn into a vampire then get some sort of different reward from it?"</blockquote>That's actually been a bit of an issue. Currently there seems to be quite a few quests/story arcs/raid mob killings like that, yet there typically is no indication really as to whether what you did is canon or not most of the time, nor is there usually in-game confirmation or deconfirmation which leaves things incredibly vague.

Homeskillet

12-09-2010, 09:04 PM

Sure I'll bite. In EA Marcus sees you as vampires and does not realize he has become one, as even after you defeat him from frolicking in sunlight and tossing around holy water he goes through his dilologue as Fallen Marcus Thex, saying he is feeling cold blah blah blah as parting words. It is also part of the ENTIRE progression quest from Evernight Abbey, to Mistmyr Manor, to Ravenscale Repository. You find that Lenya Thex was afflicted with vampirism too, and then finally go into the final zone to recover the Crown of TEARIS MUMPING THEX to return to Oronar Camthalion in New Tunaria.So if you want to stick with this line of "Oh but that wasn't actually canon.", to that I say backpeddle faster please.

Homeskillet

12-09-2010, 09:08 PM

And regardless, even if you want to disprove it; it doesn't change the fact that it was more innovative, well thought out, and even more well received than what was actually put out (Nights of the Dead versus one of the larger lore loose ends put in game? Really?)

Morghus

12-09-2010, 09:18 PM

There are a LOT of apparent loose ends out there. I know that I myself made a large thread complaining about it quite some time ago. Would it really kill the encounter designers to make a raid boss/npc run away if they aren't really dead, or show some appropriate scene and dialogue?I mean I can understand if the proper scripting wasn't there before (killing Venekor in Temple of Cazic Thule/Spirits of the Lost and then him re-appearing in Halls of Seeing for no apparent reason, where we finally kill him...but then again his trophy says he might show up again so who knows?) but nowdays I don't think there is much an excuse.

Wilin

12-09-2010, 09:27 PM

<cite>Morghus wrote:</cite><blockquote>There are a LOT of apparent loose ends out there. I know that I myself made a large thread complaining about it quite some time ago. Would it really kill the encounter designers to make a raid boss/npc run away if they aren't really dead, or show some appropriate scene and dialogue?I mean I can understand if the proper scripting wasn't there before (killing Venekor in Temple of Cazic Thule/Spirits of the Lost and then him re-appearing in Halls of Seeing for no apparent reason, where we finally kill him...but then again his trophy says he might show up again so who knows?) but nowdays I don't think there is much an excuse.</blockquote>Similar to the Delahnus fight in conservatory...

Homeskillet

12-09-2010, 09:30 PM

<cite>Wilin wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Morghus wrote:</cite><blockquote>There are a LOT of apparent loose ends out there. I know that I myself made a large thread complaining about it quite some time ago. Would it really kill the encounter designers to make a raid boss/npc run away if they aren't really dead, or show some appropriate scene and dialogue?I mean I can understand if the proper scripting wasn't there before (killing Venekor in Temple of Cazic Thule/Spirits of the Lost and then him re-appearing in Halls of Seeing for no apparent reason, where we finally kill him...but then again his trophy says he might show up again so who knows?) but nowdays I don't think there is much an excuse.</blockquote>Similar to the Delahnus fight in conservatory...</blockquote>No, she clearly flies away before you slay her, to come back and help you in Cella.

Cusashorn

12-09-2010, 09:33 PM

<cite>Homeskillet wrote:</cite><blockquote>Yes, an example of if you are wanting a quick write up, its not hard to take an existing loose end and flesh it out creatively. It literally took me 10 minutes. I saw the news update on my phone at work this morning, read the lore, gears turned 1/8th of a turn in my head and a few minutes later I had that in my notepad.</blockquote>Yeah, just making sure, because your write-up would fit much better in the game than what SoE provided with the NOTD thing.

Homeskillet

12-09-2010, 09:44 PM

Yeah nice wasn't it?

MixxitNDance_Live

12-09-2010, 10:12 PM

Cool EQ2X can reply here now?!I just wanted to say, overall I was disappointed with the lore, I was hoping it would be Tserrina related and maybe a new player city would be in TOFS, but I guess that's out the question now!

Masako

12-09-2010, 10:42 PM

<cite>Iskandar wrote:</cite><blockquote>I like it <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/e8a506dc4ad763aca51bec4ca7dc8560.gif" border="0" /> Your alternate lore would have also been a great opportunity for them to have done something else that many players have asked for since it was introduced: make New Tunaria a player city.Simply add a second entrance across the way from the entrance to the current New Tunaria. This would be the side of the city controlled by the Freebloods, as led by Marcus Thex. In essence, he would have initiated a civil war in New Tunaria to wrest control of the city away from Mayong's influence.It could have been pretty decent -- we would have gotten a new race, a New Tunarian starter city, and some cool Tunarian style player housing... even if ya don't dig the race, Tunarian housing woulda been a blast to have access to. But instead we get the holiday event that never ends....</blockquote>I love the way you think. Seriously. I've been wanting something done with New Tunaria for so long. It's such a nice zone but I feel like there could be much more to it for players. Making it a player city for the Freebloods would be absolutely amazing. Kind of thinking it would be a goldmine for Lore with Thex and Mayong and the introduction of the new race. So much room for more player content too. Oh what could have been, eh?Anywho. I really love this take on the Freeblood lore. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/e8a506dc4ad763aca51bec4ca7dc8560.gif" border="0" /> As posted elsewhere I'd much rather use this as a backstory to a character than the half-arsed lore that was posted officialy. I totally agree that even if it's just a promo, there should definitely be pride in the game to take what good lore is already existing and use it well.

Homeskillet

12-09-2010, 10:46 PM

Frankly I would love that this or at least something more plausible and substantial were the backstory for this new race. Unfortunately based on PMs with Gninja nothing of the questline between all three Mistmore zones was canon in game it seems, he didn't provide an example of what was so oh well or something.

Anestacia

12-09-2010, 11:02 PM

<cite>Homeskillet wrote:</cite><blockquote>Frankly I would love that this or at least something more plausible and substantial were the backstory for this new race. Unfortunately based on PMs with Gninja nothing of the questline between all three Mistmore zones was canon in game it seems, he didn't provide an example of what was so oh well or something.</blockquote>How can actual in-game events and questlines not be official cannon when we were actually apart of it?? That is the part I simply can not understand.The suggestion above about having the Vampires starting city be Felwithe is brilliant. The way this is being implemented just seems extremley sloppy. Im usually very fanboish when coming to EQ2 but just adding a whole race with no starting area of their own and a pretty flimsy 3 year old holiday event as their lore just doesnt fly for me.The race being buyable on the Marketplace doesnt bother me as much as WHEN it is being offered. You guys play it up as its some big reward for paying subs then just make it buyable almost a month and a half earlier than the "rewarded" people get theirs. If released on the same day I would have no issue. The Vampire race had a huge potential if done with a starting city, player housing, etc, to bring in more people for the new expansion. Instead its a cash shop gimick which will turn many people off instead. Oh well, seems to be the way now.I am holding off complete judgement until I see the final package but the screenshots were very disapointing and the lore didn't seem to really make a lot of sense either.

Homeskillet

12-09-2010, 11:04 PM

<cite>Anestacia wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Homeskillet wrote:</cite><blockquote>Frankly I would love that this or at least something more plausible and substantial were the backstory for this new race. Unfortunately based on PMs with Gninja nothing of the questline between all three Mistmore zones was canon in game it seems, he didn't provide an example of what was so oh well or something.</blockquote>How can actual in-game events and questlines not be official cannon when we were actually apart of it?? That is the part I simply can not understand.</blockquote>Because there was some other stuff that we never saw happen that we only found out about today and we don't know what it is but it is basically a "NO DUDE."

Iskandar

12-09-2010, 11:51 PM

<cite>Homeskillet wrote:</cite><blockquote>Because there was some other stuff that we never saw happen that we only found out about today and we don't know what it is but it is basically a "NO DUDE."</blockquote>Step 1: Get all the socksStep 2: Step 3: Profit!No offense Gninja, but that sounds like the equivalent of watching your favorite TV show every day and they suddenly skip an episode. "Wait, when did that.... and why is... and how did... what the...??" <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/e78feac27fa924c4d0ad6cf5819f3554.gif" border="0" />

Hamervelder

12-10-2010, 12:03 AM

<cite>Gninja wrote:</cite><blockquote>Actually Marcus never fully became a vampire. The ritual they were trying to perform was not completed. Which is one reason during the boss fight in Evernight Abbey he uses the sun against you since you had become a vampire throughout that story...</blockquote>That makes no sense. Before you can enter that portion of the dungeon, you must become a vampire. No mortals can enter there. How, then, could Marcus Thex enter and remain mortal? It seems to me that there's a massive gap in your logic/lore. Solufein's story is infinitely better than the official one.

Gninja

12-10-2010, 12:09 AM

<cite>Illiam@Antonia Bayle wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Gninja wrote:</cite><blockquote>Actually Marcus never fully became a vampire. The ritual they were trying to perform was not completed. Which is one reason during the boss fight in Evernight Abbey he uses the sun against you since you had become a vampire throughout that story...</blockquote>That makes no sense. Before you can enter that portion of the dungeon, you must become a vampire. No mortals can enter there. How, then, could Marcus Thex enter and remain mortal? It seems to me that there's a massive gap in your logic/lore. Solufein's story is infinitely better than the official one.</blockquote>The vampires made that barrier to keep anyone from disturbing the ritual. The barrier was placed there after Marcus was brought in.I really am not trying to confuse folks. This was a situation where players were given a choice on the outcome if the story went off of everything that happened or could have happened in that particular case Marcus would be a vampire AND not a vampire... only one of them can be canon. I agree these things should be spelled out a little better and its something I am personally trying to do a better job with when I make content.Sorry for the confusion.

Homeskillet

12-10-2010, 12:12 AM

Seriously, where was an alternate outcome EVER presented in game?

betatester7

12-10-2010, 01:06 AM

Did you see the new update via facebook or twitter? new lore coming next weeks and a few screenshots in the eq2 website (news) they say is more revealing lore (they are going to fix because they were rushed).

Homeskillet

12-10-2010, 01:11 AM

I should continue be snarky and write corresponding followups to my own idea.

DrkVsr

12-10-2010, 01:50 AM

They also said, this is just a sampler of the Lore, the rest you discover ingameBut yeah, if this doesn't involve Velious and Tserrina in some way will be very disappointed

Elwin

12-10-2010, 01:50 AM

Smells to me like something they whipped in a couple of drunken minutes whilst thinking of ways to attract Twilight fans to EQX.I imagine more time has been spent on Marketplace accessories to dress the vamps up than on the said lore. Pitiful imo.

Cusashorn

12-10-2010, 02:15 AM

<cite>Gninja wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Illiam@Antonia Bayle wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Gninja wrote:</cite><blockquote>Actually Marcus never fully became a vampire. The ritual they were trying to perform was not completed. Which is one reason during the boss fight in Evernight Abbey he uses the sun against you since you had become a vampire throughout that story...</blockquote>That makes no sense. Before you can enter that portion of the dungeon, you must become a vampire. No mortals can enter there. How, then, could Marcus Thex enter and remain mortal? It seems to me that there's a massive gap in your logic/lore. Solufein's story is infinitely better than the official one.</blockquote>The vampires made that barrier to keep anyone from disturbing the ritual. The barrier was placed there after Marcus was brought in.I really am not trying to confuse folks. This was a situation where players were given a choice on the outcome if the story went off of everything that happened or could have happened in that particular case Marcus would be a vampire AND not a vampire... only one of them can be canon. I agree these things should be spelled out a little better and its something I am personally trying to do a better job with when I make content.Sorry for the confusion.</blockquote>How were we given a choice in the matter? You can't complete the zone without turning into one in order to disrupt the ritual. There is no time limit that the players have to meet in order to prevent him from being turned. It's all part of the straight-forward advancement of the zone. It's not like we're given a choice in letting him be turned or not.

Rezikai

12-10-2010, 02:52 AM

<cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Gninja wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Illiam@Antonia Bayle wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Gninja wrote:</cite><blockquote>Actually Marcus never fully became a vampire. The ritual they were trying to perform was not completed. Which is one reason during the boss fight in Evernight Abbey he uses the sun against you since you had become a vampire throughout that story...</blockquote>That makes no sense. Before you can enter that portion of the dungeon, you must become a vampire. No mortals can enter there. How, then, could Marcus Thex enter and remain mortal? It seems to me that there's a massive gap in your logic/lore. Solufein's story is infinitely better than the official one.</blockquote>The vampires made that barrier to keep anyone from disturbing the ritual. The barrier was placed there after Marcus was brought in.I really am not trying to confuse folks. This was a situation where players were given a choice on the outcome if the story went off of everything that happened or could have happened in that particular case Marcus would be a vampire AND not a vampire... only one of them can be canon. I agree these things should be spelled out a little better and its something I am personally trying to do a better job with when I make content.Sorry for the confusion.</blockquote>How were we given a choice in the matter? You can't complete the zone without turning into one in order to disrupt the ritual. There is no time limit that the players have to meet in order to prevent him from being turned. It's all part of the straight-forward advancement of the zone. It's not like we're given a choice in letting him be turned or not.</blockquote>Heh probably in the same place the Zarrakon lore when to.... Bah-zing!But seriously, the information given is pretty vague. While i'm not condoning either scenario of Marcus more information could be very usefull. Perhaps have Ralem Cristof give some more information later on or a book from the zone explaining what happens later.

Uncaged

12-10-2010, 03:23 AM

Is anyone somewhat troubled that they alude to the fact Lucan and Antonia know about vampirism rampent in their cities and seem to be OK with it??? Even during the newbie quests in DL woods, you learn that Queen Cristanos wants vampires destroyed and during the rebuilding of the Ewer vampirism was .....unintended.Most view vampirism as a disease that destroys kindoms. Ydal anyone??? Silent City??? I hope they can explain a motive that makes SOME sense at all regarding Freeport and Qeynos. Not feeling it atm though......=(. The updated pictures look pretty good on a side note. Lorewise......sigh.

Rainmare

12-10-2010, 03:56 AM

I agree with Cusa there's no other option to end the zone in Evernight without turning him into a vampire/finishing the ritual. So I don't see how there was a 'choice' wether or not he was turned. but lets say for example that Marcus going vamp isn't canon....is Lenya still turned? did we still return the crown to new tunaria?but yeah the lore you guys gave us....not so impressive. linking it to nights of the dead, rather then using the potential of Tserrina or marcus or lenya...or mayong...or malkonis...or hell even T'haen...the ewer maybe.you got a myraid of powerful forces that could have created or worked with the creation of the Freeblood...adn you picked nights of the dead. bleh.hopefully the new lore we learn will somehow tie this into SOMETHING relating to velious I'll be annoyed.

Homeskillet

12-10-2010, 09:26 AM

<cite>Rezikai wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Gninja wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Illiam@Antonia Bayle wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Gninja wrote:</cite><blockquote>Actually Marcus never fully became a vampire. The ritual they were trying to perform was not completed. Which is one reason during the boss fight in Evernight Abbey he uses the sun against you since you had become a vampire throughout that story...</blockquote>That makes no sense. Before you can enter that portion of the dungeon, you must become a vampire. No mortals can enter there. How, then, could Marcus Thex enter and remain mortal? It seems to me that there's a massive gap in your logic/lore. Solufein's story is infinitely better than the official one.</blockquote>The vampires made that barrier to keep anyone from disturbing the ritual. The barrier was placed there after Marcus was brought in.I really am not trying to confuse folks. This was a situation where players were given a choice on the outcome if the story went off of everything that happened or could have happened in that particular case Marcus would be a vampire AND not a vampire... only one of them can be canon. I agree these things should be spelled out a little better and its something I am personally trying to do a better job with when I make content.Sorry for the confusion.</blockquote>How were we given a choice in the matter? You can't complete the zone without turning into one in order to disrupt the ritual. There is no time limit that the players have to meet in order to prevent him from being turned. It's all part of the straight-forward advancement of the zone. It's not like we're given a choice in letting him be turned or not.</blockquote>Heh probably in the same place the Zarrakon lore when to.... Bah-zing!But seriously, the information given is pretty vague. While i'm not condoning either scenario of Marcus more information could be very usefull. Perhaps have Ralem Cristof give some more information later on or a book from the zone explaining what happens later.</blockquote>NNNNNOOOOPE. Even Ralem acknowledges at the end that it is a tragedy that Marcus was turned into a vampire, and then from then on thanks you for doing these favors to the Freethinkers after you finish the trio of quests. So yep, no Marcus, no Lenya, no plot that was started back in EoF.

Miss_Jackie

12-10-2010, 10:01 AM

How about the developers just admitting that they screwed up (lore-wise with vampires) and admitting that the whole thing with vampires is just a gimmick to make money?

DarkDragonXX

12-10-2010, 11:20 AM

I don't like the NotD lore...thats kinda dumb, the lore you wrote up is really good, even tying in the name Freethinker with Freeblood.All I can say though is at least the lore didn't summerize as:"While antonia bayle was in high school, she met this mysterious guy..."

lemey

12-10-2010, 11:23 AM

i suggest runing through the quest line again gninja it leaves you in absoulutly no doubt infact if marcus wasnt ment to be a vampire then the conversation texts are wrong and its gonna take a retcon to correct the story

Maergoth

12-10-2010, 12:30 PM

Gotta say.. I've been playing this game since launch and an advocate of how, though incredibly complex, consistent the lore is.I don't know whether to ROFL at all of this or facepalm. Maybe a combination of both. Come on.I don't know if I like adopting a player's handwritten fairytale, but I'd rather hear "Oh, one of those times you fought Mayong.. yeah.. he bit you, sorry."

Homeskillet

12-10-2010, 12:57 PM

Dont get me wrong, I dont think they should honestly adopt my story either. It was more to show, "hey you have all these really amazing and interesting plot points you could have gone with instead of this NOTD government conspiracy schlock, hell i came up with something in a few minutes."Their response to that was to try to argue a plot point then tell me in game stuff wasnt canon and i have a lame attitude.

Gisallo

12-10-2010, 01:08 PM

Any one else notice that they basically created a dhampir alla vampire hunter D? Tres lame if u ask me. I get wanting a new race and all, but if u are going to do it it needs to be consistent with existing lore and this is clearly an attempt to rope in the Twilight crowd. What's sadder is that the Twilight boat has about sailed. Typical SOE really, a day late and a dollar short.

Eritius

12-10-2010, 02:18 PM

On the subject of Marcus, what exactly is involved in the ritual to try to make him a vampire? If its outlined in the zone, let me know, just might have to drag some guildies through there to run it again.

kelvmor

12-10-2010, 04:54 PM

<cite>Galibier@Lucan DLere wrote:</cite><blockquote>Any one else notice that they basically created a dhampir alla vampire hunter D? Tres lame if u ask me. I get wanting a new race and all, but if u are going to do it it needs to be consistent with existing lore and this is clearly an attempt to rope in the Twilight crowd. What's sadder is that the Twilight boat has about sailed. Typical SOE really, a day late and a dollar short.</blockquote>Original model orc player race would be excellent. You've already got two things: A zone that'd be great as a starter place and an enemy to destroy for starter quests. Zek, the Orcish Wastes; a Deathfist orc serving, for now, under Emperor Agtak, fighting off the Green Hoods.

Cronyn

12-10-2010, 05:06 PM

<cite>Rainmare@Oasis wrote:</cite><blockquote>but yeah the lore you guys gave us....not so impressive. linking it to nights of the dead, rather then using the potential of Tserrina or marcus or lenya...or mayong...or malkonis...or hell even T'haen...the ewer maybe.you got a myraid of powerful forces that could have created or worked with the creation of the Freeblood...adn you picked nights of the dead. bleh.hopefully the new lore we learn will somehow tie this into SOMETHING relating to velious I'll be annoyed.</blockquote>Heya folks! I thought I'd pop in here to help a bit.So, I wanted to assure you that the lore for the vampires is indeed tied to bigger events and characters. The piece that was posted was mostly intended to be more of an overview, and was intentially more vague. I was hoping to get you all talking, and they start releasing more pieces fo the puzzle to have you work into your discussions. Unfortunately, it clearly did not work how I intended it to, and I apologize for that. What you see (and have surmised) is not the entirety of their origin, and there is more still to be told - I didn't mean to give the impression that this was all you would be seeing.Again, my apologies, everyone. I'll try to fill in the blanks here sooner rather than later.Thanks again, guys. You all are awesome. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

Cusashorn

12-10-2010, 05:35 PM

Wilin

12-10-2010, 06:26 PM

<cite>Homeskillet wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Wilin wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Morghus wrote:</cite><blockquote>There are a LOT of apparent loose ends out there. I know that I myself made a large thread complaining about it quite some time ago. Would it really kill the encounter designers to make a raid boss/npc run away if they aren't really dead, or show some appropriate scene and dialogue?I mean I can understand if the proper scripting wasn't there before (killing Venekor in Temple of Cazic Thule/Spirits of the Lost and then him re-appearing in Halls of Seeing for no apparent reason, where we finally kill him...but then again his trophy says he might show up again so who knows?) but nowdays I don't think there is much an excuse.</blockquote>Similar to the Delahnus fight in conservatory...</blockquote>No, she clearly flies away before you slay her, to come back and help you in Cella.</blockquote>Yes, and that's what Morghus asked for."make a raid boss/npc run away if they aren't really dead, or show some appropriate scene and dialogue"If she flies away at 50% health or 0.000001% health, it does appear that Delahnus does use the scripted mechanic that was asked for.

Wilin

12-10-2010, 06:50 PM

I don't see the problem with the NoTD lore linkage as long as they flesh it out correctly. This first bit of lore leaves much to be desired however.// SPOILER //In the Somborn NoTD quest for any that may have forgotten or never did it, you are knocked unconscious and wake up to investigate a string of murders. You find out that they were murdered by vampires and have become vampires themselves. You discover that you yourself were the murderer and you do not cast a reflection in the mirror in the house.(ala vampire lore) And your character walks away with a sense of foreboding after "solving" the mystery.The lore of a seasonal quest series should be worth no less than the lore of a persistent quest series(ala Ravenscale). They both happened in game so they should both be canon. I can't explain away the Marcus issue that is being brought up. But, downplaying the importance of the NoTD lore is unnecessary.That is why it makes more sense to me that we can have a free race change to the vampire. It's exactly what the race change potion on the marketplace does so the tech is already in the game. So, when an account is flagged for the vampire race through whichever means, provide a single charge (1/account) race change pot as a claimable item that only changes to the vampire race.Thanks!

Rainmare

12-10-2010, 07:05 PM

except that the lore states the Freeblood are the ones that died. we didin't die. this is saying that before you investiagted the house...several others attempted to. none of them made it back out, adn it's their bodies that are the new 'freeblood' hence we, the adventurers are not transforming into freebloods.

denmom

12-10-2010, 09:24 PM

Freebloods are all members of the purple club. <img src="/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

Iskandar

12-10-2010, 10:03 PM

One of my alts couldn't make it past Sarkon at the end of the mansion.... am I gonna have to put him down now? And where the heck do I find consecrated soil to bury his carcass in? hmmm... well, I suppose my Necro could always use him for kitchen staff or something in her new estate. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/ed515dbff23a0ee3241dcc0a601c9ed6.gif" border="0" />

Homeskillet

12-11-2010, 12:31 AM

<cite>Cronyn wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Rainmare@Oasis wrote:</cite><blockquote>but yeah the lore you guys gave us....not so impressive. linking it to nights of the dead, rather then using the potential of Tserrina or marcus or lenya...or mayong...or malkonis...or hell even T'haen...the ewer maybe.you got a myraid of powerful forces that could have created or worked with the creation of the Freeblood...adn you picked nights of the dead. bleh.hopefully the new lore we learn will somehow tie this into SOMETHING relating to velious I'll be annoyed.</blockquote>Heya folks! I thought I'd pop in here to help a bit.So, I wanted to assure you that the lore for the vampires is indeed tied to bigger events and characters. The piece that was posted was mostly intended to be more of an overview, and was intentially more vague. I was hoping to get you all talking, and they start releasing more pieces fo the puzzle to have you work into your discussions. Unfortunately, it clearly did not work how I intended it to, and I apologize for that. What you see (and have surmised) is not the entirety of their origin, and there is more still to be told - I didn't mean to give the impression that this was all you would be seeing.Again, my apologies, everyone. I'll try to fill in the blanks here sooner rather than later.Thanks again, guys. You all are awesome. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" /></blockquote>I appreciate you coming out and at least addressing it. To be honest though the problem was the lore was not anything thought provoking, it did not instill a desire to know more. You know it, and I know it, that the you guys took one of the biggest, probably most desired additions (and not even by me at that), a vampire race, and put them out with what seemed like a rushed, sloppy and dull introduction. It doesn't have puzzle pieces anyone wants to decipher. When called out on it, a non-lore dev responds back in a catty manner at best, and only serves to open another can of worms.Believe me, if there is more to it, awesome, hope it is much better. The question I have now thanks to Gninja, is what the hell is canon in game, and what isn't? The Venekor encounters were clearly not canon up until the point we stopped seeing him, but I guarantee this Thex Royal line issue would have been left untouched for quite some time like so many other loose ends.

Iskandar

12-11-2010, 03:23 PM

Cronyn, the combination of those original undead-crack-ho pics <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/97ada74b88049a6d50a6ed40898a03d7.gif" border="0" /> and a lore peek that, honestly, sounded like something whipped up at the last second by someone put on the hot-spot made this whole thing seem pretty laughable. The new pics of the models make up for part of that -- the pics of the race look very good now, even if it is still just a buncha half-dead Range--err, Elves <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/49869fe8223507d7223db3451e5321aa.gif" border="0" /> Now we just have to wait and see if the new race will have some decent lore to back it up... something a bit deeper and involved than some conspiracy-ladden Nights of Fail would be appreciated <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/e8a506dc4ad763aca51bec4ca7dc8560.gif" border="0" />

DeBasilisk

12-11-2010, 04:07 PM

Seems to me most likely that the NotD events were probably orchestrated by one of the great vampire forces. That's why the lore we've seen seems a little off - we just don't know enough. I dislike Vampires in general, but I'm willing to give the Devs the benefit of the doubt...for now. =)

Aerfen

12-11-2010, 06:20 PM

<cite>Masako@Lucan DLere wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Iskandar wrote:</cite><blockquote>I like it <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/e8a506dc4ad763aca51bec4ca7dc8560.gif" border="0" /> Your alternate lore would have also been a great opportunity for them to have done something else that many players have asked for since it was introduced: make New Tunaria a player city.Simply add a second entrance across the way from the entrance to the current New Tunaria. This would be the side of the city controlled by the Freebloods, as led by Marcus Thex. In essence, he would have initiated a civil war in New Tunaria to wrest control of the city away from Mayong's influence.It could have been pretty decent -- we would have gotten a new race, a New Tunarian starter city, and some cool Tunarian style player housing... even if ya don't dig the race, Tunarian housing woulda been a blast to have access to. But instead we get the holiday event that never ends....</blockquote>I love the way you think. Seriously. I've been wanting something done with New Tunaria for so long. It's such a nice zone but I feel like there could be much more to it for players. Making it a player city for the Freebloods would be absolutely amazing. Kind of thinking it would be a goldmine for Lore with Thex and Mayong and the introduction of the new race. So much room for more player content too. Oh what could have been, eh?Anywho. I really love this take on the Freeblood lore. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/e8a506dc4ad763aca51bec4ca7dc8560.gif" border="0" /> As posted elsewhere I'd much rather use this as a backstory to a character than the half-arsed lore that was posted officialy. I totally agree that even if it's just a promo, there should definitely be pride in the game to take what good lore is already existing and use it well.</blockquote>THIS would have been WONDERFUL - A New Tunaria/Felwithe overhaul has been asked for <a href="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/posts/list.m?topic_id=454096" target="_blank">so many times</a> and the Thex-vampirism loose thread the OP mentioned could have been the perfect place in the lore for it. What a missed opportunity SOE... for shame.

Zabjade

12-11-2010, 07:32 PM

Now is SOE going to ADVERTISE the Vampire race in TV and Hulu Spots? I hear too many people in game shops INCLUDING those behind the counter, either never having heard of EQ2 or goggling that it is still around. I'm guessing that not everyone was transformed into the undead. Just those who might have been hand-picked as it where the rest fought off the "curse" as a temporary Mez, probably the same with the Werewolf bit but that is more like a temp buff with a Harclave addition.

OutcastBlade

12-12-2010, 04:00 AM

You know. It never fails. You always get SOMEONE, ~cough~ Solufein ~cough~, coming in and ruining my dream of playing a crack addicted vampire with a cheesy backstory.

KniteShayd

12-12-2010, 05:08 AM

<cite>Zabjade wrote:</cite><blockquote>Now is SOE going to ADVERTISE the Vampire race in TV and Hulu Spots? I hear too many people in game shops INCLUDING those behind the counter, either never having heard of EQ2 or goggling that it is still around. I'm guessing that not everyone was transformed into the undead. Just those who might have been hand-picked as it where the rest fought off the "curse" as a temporary Mez, probably the same with the Werewolf bit but that is more like a temp buff with a Harclave addition.</blockquote>Whose to say the werewolf bite won't have any effects on lore/race outcome in the future?... <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" />

Gungo

12-15-2010, 07:08 PM

Anashti Sul - reformed on Norrath in new role as Goddess of UndeathFirst new race for anashti= Freebloods= New breed of vampires (possibility with soul)

Stubbswick

12-15-2010, 07:33 PM

I would have thought Anashti's race would be more along the lines of zombie/undead, although that would probably bring a few too many WoW comparisons.That could easily be the explanation, though. Considering her relation to the Ewer of Sul'Dae, and it's relation to the other vampires in Norrath. And she has already tried to "save" her followers from death once before.

Gungo

12-15-2010, 08:08 PM

<cite>Wubbah@Butcherblock wrote:</cite><blockquote>I would have thought Anashti's race would be more along the lines of zombie/undead, although that would probably bring a few too many WoW comparisons.That could easily be the explanation, though. Considering her relation to the Ewer of Sul'Dae, and it's relation to the other vampires in Norrath. And she has already tried to "save" her followers from death once before.</blockquote>To go further along with this thought. The lore provided initially was about NOTD. When all forms of undead were SEARCHING majdul for an item. Lets assume these undead were working on beheast of Anashti and looking for the Ewer.I have a feeling the prelude events for velious is going to have the reformed Ewer stolen from Neriak and given back to Anashti who will PROPERLY use the ewer to create her first race. FreebloodsAs far as I know D'morte imporperly used the ewer and gave himself vampirism and Mayong was a different form of vampire because of innoruk's involvement.

Iskandar

12-15-2010, 10:08 PM

Anashti already has the Ewer back.Part of the Anashti Sul deity questline has you break into the Dark Bargainers in Neriak to help her recover it. In the last quest of the series, you use the Fountain of Life to create a potion of blessed Fyr'Un water which you use to turn a half dozen or so of Rodcet's priests into "everliving" priests of Anashti. She's cool like that <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/ed515dbff23a0ee3241dcc0a601c9ed6.gif" border="0" />

Gungo

12-15-2010, 10:50 PM

<cite>Iskandar wrote:</cite><blockquote>Anashti already has the Ewer back.Part of the Anashti Sul deity questline has you break into the Dark Bargainers in Neriak to help her recover it. In the last quest of the series, you use the Fountain of Life to create a potion of blessed Fyr'Un water which you use to turn a half dozen or so of Rodcet's priests into "everliving" priests of Anashti. She's cool like that <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/ed515dbff23a0ee3241dcc0a601c9ed6.gif" border="0" /></blockquote>Well then there is your lore on the freeblood race. No doubt a NEW race created by anashti the NEW goddess of undeath. And since she probably was the only one who KNEW how to properly use the ewer. She created the first true FREE willed undead race.

Cusashorn

12-15-2010, 11:16 PM

^ A free-willed undead race who just happens to be neutral in alignment? Anashti doesn't work that way. She'd make sure they were loyal to her like the Sul'Dae are.

Gungo

12-15-2010, 11:20 PM

<cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite><blockquote>^ A free-willed undead race who just happens to be neutral in alignment? Anashti doesn't work that way. She'd make sure they were loyal to her like the Sul'Dae are.</blockquote>Facts to back up your claims please. Loyal does not mean subserviant or lacking free will.

Cusashorn

12-15-2010, 11:54 PM

Well if she wasn't evil, she wouldn't have forced a bunch of priests of Rodcet into her own followers. It doesn't matter if Rodcet is her enemy, what she did was evil, I don't think she would ever create a race and give them the option of defying her.I don't need evidence to support that this race is obviously going to be neutral, because they're a race implimented via race change potions at first if I'm reading things right... and I'm still not sure if the race will ever become a true create-a-new-character race or not. I've always heard it will be a limited thing. Add on top of that there are already too many evil races compared to good, putting them as evil still makes things unbalanced even after the Ratonga switch to Neutral as well.

Stubbswick

12-15-2010, 11:55 PM

Anashti is an interesting diety, because even though she falls on the "evil" side, it's hard to think of her as purely evil as with other evil dieties like Innoruuk, Rallos, or Cazic Thule. Sure, she unleashed undeath to Norrath, which is pretty evil - but she did it with good intentions. Beyond her hatred of Rodcet Nife... I really don't see much from her that screams "evil".It's an interesting theory, and I wouldn't discount it. Although, I felt the same about the Order of Rime theory that someone posed before they released more info. So maybe it won't pan out.

Gungo

12-16-2010, 01:10 AM

<cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite><blockquote>Well if she wasn't evil, she wouldn't have forced a bunch of priests of Rodcet into her own followers. It doesn't matter if Rodcet is her enemy, what she did was evil, I don't think she would ever create a race and give them the option of defying her.I don't need evidence to support that this race is obviously going to be neutral, because they're a race implimented via race change potions at first if I'm reading things right... and I'm still not sure if the race will ever become a true create-a-new-character race or not. I've always heard it will be a limited thing. Add on top of that there are already too many evil races compared to good, putting them as evil still makes things unbalanced even after the Ratonga switch to Neutral as well.</blockquote>The freeblood race is not a change your race potion. Its a CREATE a new race purchase. In other words starting from level 1.She also didnt create sul'dae elves. They were her followers but not because she created them. It was because she was the goddess of life. They willingly followed her.Your OPINIONS do not equal LORE. So saying that a vampiric race is neutral is foolish at best. You are reading things wrong. It IS a new race.

Gungo

12-16-2010, 01:18 AM

<cite>Wubbah@Butcherblock wrote:</cite><blockquote>Anashti is an interesting diety, because even though she falls on the "evil" side, it's hard to think of her as purely evil as with other evil dieties like Innoruuk, Rallos, or Cazic Thule. Sure, she unleashed undeath to Norrath, which is pretty evil - but she did it with good intentions. Beyond her hatred of Rodcet Nife... I really don't see much from her that screams "evil".It's an interesting theory, and I wouldn't discount it. Although, I felt the same about the Order of Rime theory that someone posed before they released more info. So maybe it won't pan out.</blockquote>With the new lore written I doubt anashti has direct involvement. The new lore eludes to velious (maybe velium) tainting the vapirism granted by mayong. Tsserrina was the first freeblood apparantly.Verilos, Please read what I have enclosed. I have gone through the notes that were brought to me from Mayong’s library, and I believe that the sections I have highlighted below are the most pertinent to our experiments. Familiarize yourself with these.… exactly how these runes might fit together. I believe that these are separate from the runes on the inside of the ring, but their significance isn’t immediately apparent. Shissar Calandar? As an aside, I am still puzzled as to what happened back in the tower. I have pondered the failure, but the reasons to her dramatic transformation elude me. I have turned others of her race, and none have changed the way she did. There is something more to this, something that reacted violently to the gift of vampirism. Utilizing magic as she does, I wondered at first if she might have entreated herself to a powerful dark force that might have lashed back against anything that could wrest control of its thrall from its grip, since she would become subservient to me. I believe, however, that the possessor would have revealed itself in some manner had this been the case. There was no message of any kind (no changes in voice uttering a warning, no disembodied spirit attempting to threaten me), so I don’t believe this to be the case. I wonder if she might have been under another sort of protection spell. Perhaps she was attempting to protect herself from the vampirism using a weak warding magic. This is plausible, although I did not feel the presence of a ward, and she had drank from the goblet containing my blood without any signs of difficulty. I suspect that if there were a ward, I would have noticed it immediately. I believe that there is something else at play here…… to continue the search for the staff. Firiona Vie Staff? I despise their incompetence, but they are indeed necessary to complete the task I have before me. Once again, I must make note of my findings regarding Tserrina. After pondering and researching, I believe that something was different about her blood itself. I recall there being a taste to it, something that I did not recognize. I brushed this off at first as some manner of contamination, that perhaps her dabbling in necromantic or demonic arts had tainted her blood. It seems I should have not been so quick to dismiss that fact. If indeed her blood was impure, or mixed somehow, then whatever it was that she had infused in her blood was likely the cause of the transformation. I have a few theories as to what this could be, but the truth of the matter is that any discovery I make now is largely moot in regards to her. She is locked in the tower now, and will rot with time. She is no longer my concern, although I believe that I can apply the lessons I’ve learned to a similar experiment. I am interested in how a mixture like this might apply to another stock of blood, such as dragon’s blood. The implications of this are quite intriguing. I will, however, make sure and look for the same sort of tells, should I choose to take up another bride as such. I do not want to waste more time and resources on another failed venture such as that again. It’s clear to me that we must locate the notes of Tserrina Sly’Tor as well. She has the other half of the information that Mayong was missing. If we can recover that, then I believe that we can combine the two pieces of research to accomplish our goal of strengthening our bloodline. Send a thrall into the library, and recover the notes of Tserrina.Do not fail.

Meirril

12-16-2010, 04:40 AM

What is the source of this Gungo?

Homeskillet

12-16-2010, 09:02 AM

EQ2 Players front page, aka a reactionary dose of substance.So in game lore quest I would imagine...which Library? Library of Erudin? Library of Everling? Varsoon? TIme to get hunting.

Rainmare

12-16-2010, 11:15 AM

It has to be a library they have access to, that they'd need to send a thrall to. my guess is they are probably going back to Mayong's library. I don't see Tserrina's notes being anyplace else, as she was heavily and only, involved with him. unless it's in a library in Neriak, since she was a Teir'dal originally.

Meirril

12-16-2010, 10:32 PM

<cite>Rainmare@Oasis wrote:</cite><blockquote>It has to be a library they have access to, that they'd need to send a thrall to. my guess is they are probably going back to Mayong's library. I don't see Tserrina's notes being anyplace else, as she was heavily and only, involved with him. unless it's in a library in Neriak, since she was a Teir'dal originally.</blockquote>Unless this is an active forum quest, wouldn' it make more sense for Tserrina's notes to be in Tserrina's tower (aka The Tower of Frozen Shadow)? If this is an active forum quest, then we could be looking at any of the elvin cities (Nerriak, Felwith, Kelethin), or possibly one of the other great libraries (Qeynos, Freeport, Euradin). Paineel might be even more likely than Euradin considering that Tserrina had Euradite Necromancers and other mages working for her which shold of come from Paineel.

Rainmare

12-17-2010, 02:04 AM

I think that these notes are probably not an active forum quest...but I don't think Tserrina had a library in her Tower. I could be wrong on that though. if it is an active forum quest...I'd bet money that the notes would be in Neriak.

Cusashorn

12-17-2010, 03:16 AM

The library was like the 2nd or 3rd floor of her tower back in EQlive. It was quite extensive.

Stubbswick

12-17-2010, 12:10 PM

I didn't read the introduction very closely before, but looking at it again is interesting:Verilos, Please read what I have enclosed. I have gone through the notes that were brought to me from Mayong’s library, and I believe that the sections I have highlighted below are the most pertinent to our experiments. Familiarize yourself with these.Not sure who Verilos is, or who was supposed to have written this letter, but it points to the Freebloods not being created by either Mayong or Tserrina. Whoever wrote this is basically saying "look at these notes about Mayong and Tserrina, and see how they're important to what we're doing" (perhaps creating a "Freeblood" race?)

vochore

12-17-2010, 02:44 PM

<cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite><blockquote>The library was like the 2nd or 3rd floor of her tower back in EQlive. It was quite extensive.</blockquote> it was definatly the sec floor,i spent some good times in that zone,first floor was very small but the first key mob was there to open up the first mirror portal to get to the library.

Uncaged

12-17-2010, 08:31 PM

<cite>Wubbah@Butcherblock wrote:</cite><blockquote>I didn't read the introduction very closely before, but looking at it again is interesting:Verilos, Please read what I have enclosed. I have gone through the notes that were brought to me from Mayong’s library, and I believe that the sections I have highlighted below are the most pertinent to our experiments. Familiarize yourself with these.Not sure who Verilos is, or who was supposed to have written this letter, but it points to the Freebloods not being created by either Mayong or Tserrina. Whoever wrote this is basically saying "look at these notes about Mayong and Tserrina, and see how they're important to what we're doing" (perhaps creating a "Freeblood" race?)</blockquote>After reading today's latest lore release, I do not think their intent was to create a Freeblood race. It was a mistake through experimentation. Whoever 'they' are.

Aneova

12-17-2010, 10:37 PM

<cite>Grimknight@Kithicor wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Wubbah@Butcherblock wrote:</cite><blockquote>I didn't read the introduction very closely before, but looking at it again is interesting:Verilos, Please read what I have enclosed. I have gone through the notes that were brought to me from Mayong’s library, and I believe that the sections I have highlighted below are the most pertinent to our experiments. Familiarize yourself with these.Not sure who Verilos is, or who was supposed to have written this letter, but it points to the Freebloods not being created by either Mayong or Tserrina. Whoever wrote this is basically saying "look at these notes about Mayong and Tserrina, and see how they're important to what we're doing" (perhaps creating a "Freeblood" race?)</blockquote>After reading today's latest lore release, I do not think their intent was to create a Freeblood race. It was a mistake through experimentation. Whoever 'they' are.</blockquote>"They" Would be the D'Ril's, as stated on the start of the post and in closing.

Wilin

12-18-2010, 01:10 PM

Part 2 has been posted:To the Esteemed Arelin Holst D’Ryil, I must write to inform you of our current progress. As you know, our experiments have been going very well. We’ve been able to extrapolate quite of bit of information from Mayong’s research notes, and I believe that your theories on the outcome of his attempted transformation were quite insightful. It was fortunate for us that we had the information he was missing from Tserrina’s notes. Several of our experiments, at this point, have been failures – this was expected. We’ve destroyed the majority of the failed experiments, as requested. However, we’ve found that some of the failures have yielded some interesting information as they decay. We’re interested to watch this process, and thus have kept these failures alive, partially for analysis, but admittedly there is a fair amount of amusement in their agonized writhing and cries. Finding the correct mixture of blood is, as you know, the essence to our experiments here. Too much of the mixture resulted in dramatic transformations that the recipients rarely survived. Too little, and they became ineffective, creating rebellious, angry, weakened vampires. Finding the correct balance has been a difficult endeavor. One particular experiment, a human male, has proven quite promising, however. Initially, we expected a complete failure with him, as his mixture was only slightly varied from experiments we had tried and failed with. As with the others, he writhed through the night, pleasing us with gurgling screams as he transformed. I myself entered his chamber the following night, prepared for either a wide-eyed, stiffened corpse, or a vicious, drooling, mindless beast. Neither was the case. He looked at me and asked the usual questions, “What happened to me?”, “What have I become?”… the standard list of disbelieving queries we are all used to from new blood. This was promising. In spite of all of this, I would hesitate from calling this one a success. He seems to lack many of the benefits of our race – his strength does not appear to be that over others of his original stock, he seems to lack any manner of significant regeneration, and, most fatal of all, he does not appear to be subservient to our house as he should be. This was unexpected, and regardless of all his other flaws, makes him quite useless to us on the whole. I still want to keep him alive for the time being, as there might be more to be to learn from him still. Once he has outlived his usefulness, I will see him destroyed. I am pleased, though, that we are on the verge of success, and that this recent experiment proves this. I will inform you of our progress once a significant breakthrough has been made. For the D’Ryil, Verilos

Wilin

12-18-2010, 01:15 PM

I'm smelling the <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0204993/" target="_blank">Dark Angel</a> premise.Breed super soldiers to be slaves. They escape out into the population. They are indistinguishable from everyone else but different. Hilarity ensues. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" />

kelvmor

12-19-2010, 12:00 AM

<cite>Wilin wrote:</cite><blockquote>I'm smelling the <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0204993/" target="_blank">Dark Angel</a> premise.Breed super soldiers to be slaves. They escape out into the population. They are indistinguishable from everyone else but different. Hilarity ensues. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" /></blockquote>No, you're smelling nothing, really.Because it's impossible to do anything with vampires that hasn't been done before.

Wilin

12-19-2010, 03:22 AM

<cite>kelvmor wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Wilin wrote:</cite><blockquote>I'm smelling the <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0204993/" target="_blank">Dark Angel</a> premise.Breed super soldiers to be slaves. They escape out into the population. They are indistinguishable from everyone else but different. Hilarity ensues. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" /></blockquote>No, you're smelling nothing, really.Because it's impossible to do anything with vampires that hasn't been done before.</blockquote>That's true only if all previous things done with vampires plus the Dark Angel premise that I mentioned are odorless. But, in fact, they do have an odor whether they've been done before or not. Hence, I'm smelling what the Rock is cooking. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

Meirril

12-19-2010, 05:43 AM

<cite>kelvmor wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Wilin wrote:</cite><blockquote>I'm smelling the <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0204993/" target="_blank">Dark Angel</a> premise.Breed super soldiers to be slaves. They escape out into the population. They are indistinguishable from everyone else but different. Hilarity ensues. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" /></blockquote>No, you're smelling nothing, really.Because it's impossible to do anything with vampires that hasn't been done before.</blockquote>Someone recently decided to make vampires glitter. I'm sure further humilliation can be heaped upon them. Like maybe a racial allergy to cats which reacts poorly to Hello Kitty products or some such.

Cusashorn

12-21-2010, 03:55 PM

Found this in the character creation screen. Cropped it together into this picture. I had no doubt in my mind that they would be a Neutral race, but there's a little tidbit about them in the description there.<img src="http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a291/Cusashorn/Freeblood.png" />

Wilin

12-21-2010, 04:31 PM

<cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite><blockquote>Found this in the character creation screen. Cropped it together into this picture. I had no doubt in my mind that they would be a Neutral race, but there's a little tidbit about them in the description there.<img src="http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a291/Cusashorn/Freeblood.png" /></blockquote>HOT, thanks!

Cusashorn

12-21-2010, 05:02 PM

Oh yes, the model itself still doesn't show up, which is why I cropped the two info bars together like that. I would have just posted the full screenshot otherwise.

Gungo

12-21-2010, 05:20 PM

Since it says the d'morte and t'haen bloodlines are cousins do we assume the freebloods are a result of the Ewer?Since mistmoore bloodline is not a cousin of the freeblood line do they have no relation?And someone remind me again how the T'haen line started?

Cusashorn

12-21-2010, 07:15 PM

The T'Haean line is from Bloodline Chronicles. ahh lets see. Off the top of my head, if I remember some of the notes mentioned here on the boards over the years, I believe the line was formed as a result of one House in Neriak who practiced secret necrotic rituals in a location far away from the city. It's been forever since I remember reading the official lore here on the boards, so I don't know if I'd even be able to find them with a search. Maybe I'm confusing them with D'Morte?

Gungo

12-21-2010, 07:47 PM

<cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite><blockquote>The T'Haean line is from Bloodline Chronicles. ahh lets see. Off the top of my head, if I remember some of the notes mentioned here on the boards over the years, I believe the line was formed as a result of one House in Neriak who practiced secret necrotic rituals in a location far away from the city. It's been forever since I remember reading the official lore here on the boards, so I don't know if I'd even be able to find them with a search. Maybe I'm confusing them with D'Morte?</blockquote>Afaik T'haen line was a weak bloodline of the D'morte line. Which would tie it directly to the ewer. But I do not know how it formed its own bloodline with its own submissive master.

Hamervelder

12-21-2010, 09:04 PM

Gungo

12-21-2010, 09:33 PM

<cite>Illiam@Antonia Bayle wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Homeskillet wrote:</cite><blockquote>Frankly I would love that this or at least something more plausible and substantial were the backstory for this new race. Unfortunately based on PMs with Gninja nothing of the questline between all three Mistmore zones was canon in game it seems, he didn't provide an example of what was so oh well or something.</blockquote>Wait ... the questline where you meet an apparently-turned Marcus Thex, then you find that his sister has been turned into a vampire isn't canon, but a rubbish live-event quest (a cheesy one, at that) where you're a vampire for a short amount of time is canon? That's worse than stupid. That's asinine.</blockquote>No, homeskillet has no idea what he is talking about. Gninja said that the heroic zones have TWO distinct outcomes and only 1 of those is actual canon. Gninja even stated marcus thex is NOT a vampire, because we interupted the ritual.The RUBBISH live event was actually based on strong lore regarding Anashti sul and the EWER of sul'dae. The lore of the FREEBLOODS which we are only getting small bits and pieces of at a time has very little to do with the live event QUEST itself.

DrkVsr

12-21-2010, 10:46 PM

The model for the Freeblood (what ever happened to the Frostblood anyway? or was that just a rough idea that devolved into the Freeblood because the Freeb's were easier to impliment?) is availble, read the post in the Community News forum

Cusashorn

12-21-2010, 11:05 PM

<cite>DrkVsr wrote:</cite><blockquote>The model for the Freeblood (what ever happened to the Frostblood anyway? or was that just a rough idea that devolved into the Freeblood because the Freeb's were easier to impliment?) is availble, read the post in the Community News forum</blockquote>Frostblood is what some of the players would have liked this race to be named if they happened to originate from the Tower of Frozen Shadow. If you're refering to my picture above about the model, what I ment is that the models aren't viewable on the character creation screen right as of this post. There was a big empty space in the center of the screen.

Rezikai

12-22-2010, 12:28 AM

<cite>ungo wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite><blockquote>The T'Haean line is from Bloodline Chronicles. ahh lets see. Off the top of my head, if I remember some of the notes mentioned here on the boards over the years, I believe the line was formed as a result of one House in Neriak who practiced secret necrotic rituals in a location far away from the city. It's been forever since I remember reading the official lore here on the boards, so I don't know if I'd even be able to find them with a search. Maybe I'm confusing them with D'Morte?</blockquote>Afaik T'haen line was a weak bloodline of the D'morte line. Which would tie it directly to the ewer. But I do not know how it formed its own bloodline with its own submissive master.</blockquote>If I remember right it says that "The Dead" hunted down alot of the D'Morte's in the little instance for the D'Morte Burial chamber. I remember Vhalen saying King Naythox ordered the houses destruction for unleashing vampirsm and feeding on Neriak higher class citizen (they didnt care about commoners it seems). If i remember correct T'Haen's group hid deep in the underground tunnels of Nektulos to escape destruction. Where they stayed until the Freeport and Qeynos factions disturbed them.But... the odd thing it says "XXX D'Morte, slain by The Dead in the Age of Turmoil..... which is odd because I thought the house was ordered destroyed way back in the day... and its why Malkonis headed toward the Silent City with the Ewer.

Cusashorn

12-22-2010, 12:41 AM

Off-topic, that's a rather intesting sig you have there Rezikai.

Rezikai

12-22-2010, 02:32 PM

<cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite><blockquote>Off-topic, that's a rather intesting sig you have there Rezikai.</blockquote>Heh the bigger version is on my little story/fiction site

Jaremai

12-22-2010, 02:34 PM

Any lore idea why the Freebloods' little house is based on Mistmoore's architecture?Did they leave Somborn because the housing was too emo?

Cusashorn

12-22-2010, 03:40 PM

Probably just lumped Vampires and Gothic Archetecture together. I doubt the appearance has anything to do with the lore. It's just easier to reuse existing graphics than design something new.

kelvmor

12-22-2010, 06:00 PM

And people have been asking for a Mistmoore Castle-themed house for a while now.

Zabjade

12-23-2010, 01:38 AM

<cite>kelvmor wrote:</cite><blockquote>And people have been asking for a Mistmoore Castle-themed house for a while now.</blockquote>I was always more interested in a less run-down looking of the Estate of Unrest myself. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" />

Cusashorn

12-23-2010, 02:28 AM

Well, the race is now live. I've already seen one tonight, albiet only for a second before she zoned out of Qeynos Harbor..... They're short! I'm talking bottom of the Wood Elf scale short.

Tatsou

12-23-2010, 03:11 AM

She probably made hers short. the ones ive been seeing have been almost taller then my wood elf ranger and I made him somewhat tall (also run original non soga models ).

Rainmare

12-23-2010, 04:08 AM

actually they are cousins not becuase the Ewer is involved, but becuase the bloodline(s) that fathered them are D'morte/D'ryil. they don't have the Ewer...so they were learnign from mayongs notes hwo to do it the old fashioned way. and apparently repeated Mayong's mistake with Tserrina...whatever thier blood mix they used it produced free willed vampires rather then subservient ones.though i guess you can say it does connect them to the Ewer...but the Ewer wasn't a primary method of creation like it was with the D'morte/D'ryil

Gungo

12-23-2010, 01:10 PM

<cite>Rainmare@Oasis wrote:</cite><blockquote>actually they are cousins not becuase the Ewer is involved, but becuase the bloodline(s) that fathered them are D'morte/D'ryil. they don't have the Ewer...so they were learnign from mayongs notes hwo to do it the old fashioned way. and apparently repeated Mayong's mistake with Tserrina...whatever thier blood mix they used it produced free willed vampires rather then subservient ones.though i guess you can say it does connect them to the Ewer...but the Ewer wasn't a primary method of creation like it was with the D'morte/D'ryil</blockquote>D'morte used the Ewer and accidentally gave himself vampirism and created his own bloodline. How did D'ryil become a vampire and start his own subservient bloodline?Did he use the Ewer somewhere i havent read about?And if innoruk used his blood on mayong to give mayong a form of vamparism that makes him immune to most dangers to vampires. Is mayong now subservient to innoruk?

Rezikai

12-23-2010, 03:39 PM

<cite>Gungo wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Rainmare@Oasis wrote:</cite><blockquote>actually they are cousins not becuase the Ewer is involved, but becuase the bloodline(s) that fathered them are D'morte/D'ryil. they don't have the Ewer...so they were learnign from mayongs notes hwo to do it the old fashioned way. and apparently repeated Mayong's mistake with Tserrina...whatever thier blood mix they used it produced free willed vampires rather then subservient ones.though i guess you can say it does connect them to the Ewer...but the Ewer wasn't a primary method of creation like it was with the D'morte/D'ryil</blockquote>D'morte used the Ewer and accidentally gave himself vampirism and created his own bloodline. How did D'ryil become a vampire and start his own subservient bloodline?Did he use the Ewer somewhere i havent read about?And if innoruk used his blood on mayong to give mayong a form of vamparism that makes him immune to most dangers to vampires. Is mayong now subservient to innoruk?</blockquote>The D'Ryil vamp creation isnt totally known either. We know the dark bargainers pulled the pieces of the Ewer back to Neriak and started the process of putting it back together. Somehow they unlocked the curse of vampirsm (Vamprism? Vampirism?.. bah spelling) when rebuilding it.Assumptions are the D'Ryil were the house working on the Ewer when they unleashed it on themselves. But its not in-game anywhere as far as i can tell.

Anaogi

12-23-2010, 07:31 PM

Part 3 of the letters has been posted.Everyone that bet that one human that reacted so well would get loose, pat yourself on the back! (No extra points for seeing the 'daywalker' thing coming. Even SOE wouldn't be dumb enough to add a player race that took damage during the daylight hours!)And the name of the test subject? Why, <a href="http://eq2.wikia.com/wiki/Sarkon_D%27Ryil" target="_blank">Sarkon</a>. Looks like the NotD events are relevant, after all...

Rainmare

12-23-2010, 07:43 PM

So....NoTD Vamp house was where he was hiding out/learning to survive after escaping. and the Ewer zapped the Dyril at some point during it's reconstruction in Neriak...cristanos let them stay for whatever reason.

Shareana

12-23-2010, 08:59 PM

This post has moved: <a href="/eq2/posts/preList.m?topic_id=445320&post_id=5476515" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">/eq2/posts/preList.m?topic_id=44532...post_id=5476515</a> Let's remember to be constructive and respectful of everyone please.... Happy Holidays!

Gninja

12-23-2010, 09:19 PM

This is actually a common occurance. Take Mayong for instance... How many times has he been killed by players yet he is still "alive" in game. So the fact that players killed Marcus at the end of the zone does not mean he is dead in the game/lore. The fact you can choose to do a quest where he turns vampire does not mean that is the direction the story went when it comes to the evolving story of the game. I assure you everything that has been posted here by me has been discussed at length with Cronyn and any other Devs that have had their hand in this story.That doesn't cheapen the story being told in those zones imho. Personally I love those story lines and I think the folks that worked on those zones did a great job.I was just trying to clear the confusion a bit <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" />

Anaogi

12-23-2010, 09:34 PM

Actually, if I'm remembering right, we don't actually kill Marcus...which is good, since we have to talk to him for certain quests after defeating him...But yeah, the whole thing can throw ya off...

Shanak85

12-24-2010, 08:14 AM

You can say whatever you want, Gninja, but there's no way to prove it. The game tells us that Thex is a vampire. For all we know you just made up your story after this thread started. If the game tells us something happens, we believe it to be true... There's no other source of info for us. And why are you so against it being true? I just don't get it, how you can involve major characters in the game in such a serious quest line and then say, oh but it didn't really happen. Killing a raid boss is one thing, but designing 4 or more quests around a false story in game is something completely different. You can't compare the two as being the same.

Rainmare

12-24-2010, 12:00 PM

well answer us just a few questions since you threw the proverbial monkey wrench itno what we know on the questline. if Marcus wasn't turned, what about Leyna? and did we actually return the Thex crown to New Tunaria?

Cusashorn

12-24-2010, 12:25 PM

^ Yes, The crown does get returned. You tell the high chancellor or whatever his position happens to be that both Thex siblings have been turned, and he acknowledges with much sadness that the royal line is now truely broken. He says that the New Tunarians will find a way to carry on.

Homeskillet

12-24-2010, 01:38 PM

<cite>Cusashorn wrote:</cite><blockquote>^ Yes, The crown does get returned. You tell the high chancellor or whatever his position happens to be that both Thex siblings have been turned, and he acknowledges with much sadness that the royal line is now truely broken. He says that the New Tunarians will find a way to carry on.</blockquote>Well my post got moved (deleted) because it was a fair bit of calling out, but frankly your point is what I was trying to make. The Mayong example is one yes, also Venekor...there is nothing telling you ever that you kill him for reals in Halls of Seeing, but a dev comes and says later "Yep that was it." Here we have a case where a quest guides you right into it, and through it, and carries on afterwards based on that event occuring the way it did, and a dev comes and says none of that happened. Yes Gninja, you are not just saying that Marcus is not a vampire, you are saying that the entire questline for the three Mistmoore zones did not happen.So Lenya is not a vampire, even though she was courting Mayong in EoF anyway nor was she being held by him, you "defeat" Marcus Thex and never see him again, and the Thex royal line is apparently hunky dory. I guess you never saw Marshal Ralem Christof either since his entire purpose for being in Somborn was initially to find Marcus, so he is just chilling in the Peacock Club for the past five expansions since DoF.

Wilin

12-24-2010, 02:37 PM

<cite>Rezikai wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Gungo wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Rainmare@Oasis wrote:</cite><blockquote>actually they are cousins not becuase the Ewer is involved, but becuase the bloodline(s) that fathered them are D'morte/D'ryil. they don't have the Ewer...so they were learnign from mayongs notes hwo to do it the old fashioned way. and apparently repeated Mayong's mistake with Tserrina...whatever thier blood mix they used it produced free willed vampires rather then subservient ones.though i guess you can say it does connect them to the Ewer...but the Ewer wasn't a primary method of creation like it was with the D'morte/D'ryil</blockquote>D'morte used the Ewer and accidentally gave himself vampirism and created his own bloodline. How did D'ryil become a vampire and start his own subservient bloodline?Did he use the Ewer somewhere i havent read about?And if innoruk used his blood on mayong to give mayong a form of vamparism that makes him immune to most dangers to vampires. Is mayong now subservient to innoruk?</blockquote>The D'Ryil vamp creation isnt totally known either. We know the dark bargainers pulled the pieces of the Ewer back to Neriak and started the process of putting it back together. Somehow they unlocked the curse of vampirsm (Vamprism? Vampirism?.. bah spelling) when rebuilding it.Assumptions are the D'Ryil were the house working on the Ewer when they unleashed it on themselves. But its not in-game anywhere as far as i can tell.</blockquote>We have official word from a couple years ago that the D'Ryil were founded by a D'Morte that was weaker and did not make the journey with the D'Mortes. Fearing for his own life, he made a deal with Cristianos to live in Neriak in exchange for having his brood available for research and he gave her all the secrets that he had learned of Mayong's research. They also had a cap of 20 members allowed in Neriak. So, D'Ryil is actually D'Morte with a different name.

Wilin

12-24-2010, 02:45 PM

This is the founder of D'Ryil.<a class="image" title="Lazarus D'Ryil, Hate's Fool" href="http://images.wikia.com/eq2/images/4/45/Lazarus_D%27Ryil%2C_Hate%27s_Fool.jpg"><img src="http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090318180226/eq2/images/thumb/4/45/Lazarus_D%27Ryil%2C_Hate%27s_Fool.jpg/180px-Lazarus_D%27Ryil%2C_Hate%27s_Fool.jpg" border="0" width="180" height="551" /></a>And here is the official reference that I mentioned:<a href="http://eq2.stratics.com/content/interviews/developers/sigmund.php">http://eq2.stratics.com/content/int...ers/sigmund.php</a>And the excerpt:Stratics: What was the story behind deciding to populate part of Neriak with vampires?Liz: I'll drop some lore on you guys:In Darklight Wood were the remnants of the D'Morte clan, mostly the vampires deemed too weak to journey with the rest of the clan. One of those left behind was a vampire named Lazarus D'Ryil. He was not physically powerful, but was skilled in the arts of intrigue, seduction and flattery. The power he craved was social and political.Once the D'Morte clan was gone, Lazarus decided his best bet at survival would be to find someone stronger to protect him. So, he made contact with the agents of The Dead and agreed to share all he knew of the D'Morte vampires, vampirism in general and Mayong Mistmoore in exchange for a home in Neriak and the rights to sire his own clan.The Dead and our lady Queen Cristanos have always been looking for new ways to gain power and immortality. They see some of what they are looking for in vampirism. The Queen agreed to Lazarus' proposal, with the one stipulation that his progeny could never number more than twenty and they were subject to the rule of The Dead, meaning that they could be taken for "research" at any time.Lazarus agreed and he now lives happily ever after in Neriak with his clan.