A New Freeport: Q & A with Timothy Heydelaar

[Isulith]

<p style="text-align: center; "><img src="http://eq2players.station.sony.com/images/en/logos/EQII/EQII_Logo.png" width="300" /></p> <p><strong></strong></p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>A New Freeport: Q & A with Timothy Heydelaar</strong></p><p style="text-align: center;"> </p><p style="text-align: center; "><img src="http://eq2players.station.sony.com/images/en/features/articles/freeportqa/freeport001.jpg" border="0" width="450" height="350" /></p><p style="text-align: center; "> </p> <p>It was talked about with much enthusiasm at Fan Faire 2011: the re-design of Freeport. With the <em>Everquest II: Age of Discovery</em> expansion just around the corner, it was the perfect time to give players the inside scoop on what exactly is going on with the re-design. EverQuest II Community Relations Manager, Jennifer "Isulith" Bridges got the chance to sit down with Timothy Heydelaar, Senior Artist for EverQuest II. He was able to give a great overview of what to expect and why the changes to Freeport were made.</p> <p style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://everquest2.com/news/read/current/5011" target="_blank"><img src="http://everquest2.com/images/en/community/buttons/readmore.png" border="0" width="175" height="44" /></a></p>

[Sands]

<p>I hope the NPC voice overs are staying at least.  <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" /></p><p>One thing that wasn't discussed was the ecology.  Are all wandering NPCs (that haven't wandered in years) being fixed finally, or removed?</p><p>Also, what about the ambient sound effects?  If you stand around long enough you hear all sorts of different things in the background.  Is that stuff sticking around?</p>

[Arbreth]

<p>They razed the Bloodhaze??</p>

[ChrisMarchant]

<p>Hey, some of my characters live in Bloodhaze Inn, what's going to happen to their homes, and all the stuff in their homes!!!!!!!! I don't want them to lose their belongings!!!!!!!!!</p><p>Ok, better start packing up, before the update just in case.</p>

[Zabjade]

<p><span style="color: #00cc00;">That reminds me they plannning any lore for the later on Qeynos Revamp? </span></p><p><span style="color: #00cc00;"></span></p><p><span style="color: #00cc00;">Also character revamps like having Molly Daysun dragging Nathen Ironforge (by the ear)off to school in the mornings.</span></p>

[SisterTheresa]

<p>Yes I'm curious about the Bloodhaze as well, mainly as people do wtill live and RP in there on AB.</p>

[mystagogos]

<p>This is just great!  I live in Freeport and was upset when our leader "disappeared" and at the same time the buildings crashed!  I find it odd that they have been standing for years and years (my great grandpa used to tell me about his shady dealings in them) and all of a sudden .... BOOM! fallen.</p><p>I think Luncan took out a massive home owners inssurance plan, created the destruction on the buildings, "left" us and returned and collected on the insurrance money.  Now he's using that to re-build the city.  I bet our taxes will increase ... not that I've paid them.  (shoot, maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that).</p><p><img src="/eq2/images/smilies/ed515dbff23a0ee3241dcc0a601c9ed6.gif" border="0" /></p>

[789mkii]

<p>Even now, I don't like sky color from ROK or TSO.Please use origial deep sky color tone and gradation in Freeport.It is a masterpiece which does not get bored even if we see how many times.</p>

[Eveningsong]

<p><cite>ChrisMarchant wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Hey, some of my characters live in Bloodhaze Inn, what's going to happen to their homes, and all the stuff in their homes!!!!!!!! I don't want them to lose their belongings!!!!!!!!!</p><p>Ok, better start packing up, before the update just in case.</p></blockquote><p>You don't need to packup; if the houses are moved, there will just be a different door to use to access them.  We won't lose any house items.  But perhaps save a layout just in case the house items end up in a moving crate <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />.</p>

[bensilvi]

<p>Does anyone know when this hits?</p>

[feldon30]

<p><cite>bensilvi wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Does anyone know when this hits?</p></blockquote><p>Game Update 62. Latish Novemberish.</p>

[SisterTheresa]

<p>I know some may not agree, but Lera, in my guild, posted something on our boards that I think sums up alot of what I think too.  If she wants this removed I will ... but hopefully some dev will look at this.</p><p>~~~~There's a saying in software that 80% of the users only use 20% of the features. So it might make sense to focus on that 20% rather than spending time and money on stuff that nobody uses. The problem is that it's not the same 20%. Try having several people download the trial version of some program with limited features. They'll all find it unusable because that must-have feature is disabled - but it won't be the same feature. SOE have been doing the same thing with EQ2 for quite a while now, and it started when they removed the newbie quests that "nobody likes".Since I mostly play good characters, I don't get to Freeport a lot. But I've been there enough over six years that I know my way around well enough. Do we really need that row of shops in North Freeport? Do we need the Bloodhaze Inn when there's the bar in East Freeport, by the docks? From a strictly mechanical game perspective, no. But Freeport and Qeynos feel like cities, and large cities have always had multiple shops and inns. I don't use the Bloodhaze for RP, but other people do. I don't use the stable in West Freeport to buy mounts (of course, he won't sell to me), but other people do. I don't know how active they still are, but the Discipleship had an annual event where people gave speeches about the gods of Norrath in the amphitheatre in South Freeport. It's often unused, some people do use it. Is that going away, since there's no loot or raid bosses there? Those things must be in the 80% of Freeport the devs don't use (or is that the 80% of fluff that they don't yet charge Station Cash for?)"But why should I care about Freeport?" you might ask. Remember: Qeynos is next year. Will Irontoes' go away? Do we need all those shops in North Qeynos? Do we need Fish's Alehouse when there's a tavern right next to the docks? And since there's a tavern right next to the docks, why do we need the one in South Qeynos? And what possible purpose does the dojo in the Elddar Grove serve? (Oh, right. It's a Station Cash house, so we have to keep that.)Ishei commented on the cartoony look of the new screenshots. There's something to that. That's not Freeport - that's the Disney version of Freeport, just like the main area of their park is the Disney version of a small town, not an actual small town with all that comes with it. I want Freeport, not Evilland. EQ2 has always taken the more realistic approach (SOGA aside), not the cartoony, Disneyfied version that is WOW. Why simplify things when players want something more, and when we have more? That's what we had with the old Freeport and Qeynos. They feel like cities in a way that Neriak and Kelethin and New Halas and Gorowyn don't. And even when they do, they feel like you don't belong - Neriak for the dark elves, Kelethin for the fae, Gorowyn for the sarnak. Qeynos and Freeport are run by humans, but everyone started there and has their section of the city. (Getting rid of the citizenship quests was a horrible idea. Making the character part of the story and earn his way into the city draws the player in and makes him want to find out what's next. Now the devs just herd everyone along to end-game raiding.)Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised and people will actually be found in Freeport again. But I doubt it, since they'll rush through the quests, and everything else is found in guildhalls. And with the AoD beta almost here, it's likely the features will all be "working as intended". To their credit, SOE did back off on the new loot system, where you wouldn't be able to roll Need on items you can't use, when people complained about not being able to roll for alts, which would force them to play the character they want the loot for instead of the class the group need, which means less grouping. But then there was The Event™ last summer, which, even after SOE shut it down because it was so horribly implemented, was restarted without any changes despite 40+ pages on the forums telling them to slow it down. They went from the extreme of the second round of spires, that no server finished, to this, where AB had it done in a day.</p>

[Nrgy]

<p>I'll withhold judgement until I see it, but basically <span style="text-decoration: underline;">I HATE ZONE LINES </span>of any type outside of a dungeon entrance.</p>

[Arslan2000]

<p>I disagree about zones. Having played WoW, I can honestly say the world seems very small as there is no imaginary line that can lead to more world.  Give me a zoned world over a zoneless world any day of the week.</p>

[Nrgy]

<p>Zone Lines are imaginary blocks to hide the fact that the world is small, its small w/ or w/o them.  Zone Lines cause a disruption in the flow of the game and can easily be used to expolit and hinder game play.  Especially true in PvP environments.  "Train to Zone" is a silly and immature feature.</p><p>Zone Lines are a dated mechanic which only demonstrate the lack of programmability.  Its old techno and there is not need for it.  If the world seems small, then make it bigger, don't force ppl to stare at a loading screen every 5 minutes.</p>

[KynnVea]

<p>I am glad that it's getting an update.  But I have really loved the fact that Freeport was not a nice, safe place.  However, I always got the impression the city proper was supposed to be safer, and free of scum.  At least early on when you had to complete a quest in a slum to gain access to the four different city zones, there was a social separation.</p><p>That said, I have questions.</p><p>Will the housing be updated to reflect the new colorscheme?  Mostly the house zones in the city proper, particularly with the balconies?  Will the interiors of the houses be able to be set to look appropriate with the exteriors, ect?</p><p>Secondly, what about lag? Are we going to see less with the four zones 'connected'?  Less friovolous NPC gatherings, I hope?</p><p>Are the slums getting any reworking, or are they going to stay the same for the most part?</p><p>I know there's mention of WFP being severely reworked, but the rest of the zones look like they just got a repaint.  Are there any other areas getting some buildings moved? </p><p>It looks like NFP is staying the same, which kind of disappoints me since I always felt it was kind of obnoxious to run through. All those stairs!</p><p>Now, my only real problem is..  I really don't dig this color scheme.  I hated it in my 7 year house, that color of gold is just far too yellow.  I think losing the desaturation is good, but I would have preferred a blood red instead.  To keep it from being similar to Neriak.</p>

[axl_2baz]

<p>Can anyone tell me why I can't see any of the news ? I always have a message saying the page couldn't load ...</p>

[soulsercher]

<p>The city in those screenshots... that, in my eyes, is not Freeport.</p><p>Freeport is dried out patches of wrinkled grass, dead-dry trees, dirt, gritty sand. Colorless hues beaten down by the sun, which is just as merciless as Freeport's leader. Freeport is Scale Yard, Beggar's Court, Longshadow Alley, Temple Street, Big Bend, Stonestair Byway. The Ruins. The Sprawl. The Graveyard. The Sunken City.The citizens are harsh, cruel, their words bite you if your hide isn't thick enough. You are never worthy enough to walk among even the lowest of them.I started my Iksar 4 years ago. She was a simple bard back then, living among the wretched of Scale Yard. Like so many others she had to crawl through FP's biggest muck to get to the top. I have changed her citizenship to Gorowyn once. It lasted only a few months before I turned her back. Why? Because FP is her HOME. It became MY ingame home. I've lived there for 4 years, and still I find nooks and crannies that I never knew of before, meet NPCs I never noticed until now (NPCs with voices! Even though they are far and between...) and now I fear all that will be lost if this 'transition' to something new isn't done with the utmost care. It's fine that Lucan wants to redo the city so that the splendor of his rule may be seen by all. But the colors are to gaudy, to shiny. It looks more like something Mayong would design.Losing the zone lines is a good idea, go for it. But don't remove too much of the city that gripped my heart in its talons and never let go.Long post is long, so just one question: what of the housing breakouts? Should I prepare my alts so that they can store the items currently placed outside?</p>

[feldon30]

<p><cite>soulsercher wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>The city in those screenshots... that, in my eyes, is not Freeport.</p><p>Freeport is <span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>a landfill</strong></span></p></blockquote><p>Fixed it for you.</p><p><cite>soulsercher wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>It's fine that Lucan wants to redo the city so that the splendor of his rule may be seen by all. But the colors are to gaudy, to shiny. It looks more like something Mayong would design.</p></blockquote><p>You don't like the look of Freeport Guild Halls?</p><p>They are imposing, with sharp edges, and rich, dark colors. Even though most of my toons are goodies, I co-own a Freeport guild hall because I love how it looks, compared to the Wal-Mart fluorescent lighting inside Qeynos halls.</p>

[KynnVea]

<p>I would prefer the Freeport Guild Hall coloring to the blue/yellow Mistmoore Crag estate colors.  I think that's what they meant too.</p><p>Honestly, I am glad for the polish..but that gold/yellow is just painful.</p>

[Amuli]

<p>Finally, Freeport won't look like such a dump.</p>

[Mustang8259]

<p>"Getting rid of the citizenship quests was a horrible idea. Making the character part of the story and earn his way into the city draws the player in and makes him want to find out what's next. Now the devs just herd everyone along to end-game raiding."</p><p>^This!^  While I admit they were tedious to do if you're an alt-o-holic like myself, they also gave you the basic lore from which your characters started along with the Newbie Isle.  It was a sad day when they took that stuff out.  I know not everyone roleplays but that is what these games were originally about, they are mmo"RPG"s after all, and it feels like the beginning of the story was taken out in order to exspeediate the rise to end-game raiding content that not everyone gets to experience to begin with...</p>

[Finora]

<p><cite>Mustang8259 wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>"Getting rid of the citizenship quests was a horrible idea. Making the character part of the story and earn his way into the city draws the player in and makes him want to find out what's next. Now the devs just herd everyone along to end-game raiding."</p><p>^This!^  While I admit they were tedious to do if you're an alt-o-holic like myself, they also gave you the basic lore from which your characters started along with the Newbie Isle.  It was a sad day when they took that stuff out.  I know not everyone roleplays but that is what these games were originally about, they are mmo"RPG"s after all, and it feels like the beginning of the story was taken out in order to exspeediate the rise to end-game raiding content that not everyone gets to experience to begin with...</p></blockquote><p>I do miss the old citizenship quests. And many of the old quests that gave tidbits and flavor that were removed. Things that showed a slighty seedy underbelly to Qeynos & the FPers are people too stuff.</p><p>And all I have to say about the Freeport Revamp is FINALLY!. I've been preaching that Evil doesn't mean broken and dirty since day 2 when I made my first FP alt. Eq1 FP wasn't as much of a hole and Lucan was there then too.</p>

[Rainmare]

<p>exactly. Freeport as it is now is not 'evil' it's a giant slum, and none of the npcs act correctly.</p><p>Freeport is rule through Fear and military might...along with fanatical devotion to Lucan. honestly looking in actual history, Lucan reminds me of Julias Ceasar. every military victory is played up like it was some massive conflict. anything that happens to go his way (claiming soulfire off the dead AoW after the AoT and the knights of Marr killed him) is painted as some planned masterstroke.</p><p>But that being said, even in EQ1, Lucan kept West Freeport in good condition. he knew then that to give a powerful image, the place he lives in also has to be a symbol of that power. EQ2's freeport is not that. EQ2 freeport looks like Lucan built his citadel, and then never bothered to even glance at Freeport as it fell into ruin. hardly the actions of someone looking to project 'Strength in Unity' under his leadership.</p><p>and the NPCs...when I was a newbie, yes, being treated like scum in the village was expected. I'm just a lousy hunk of meat then. once you got into the main city though, that should have been different. by then you've earned respect with the Academy/Dismal Rage (if you went through the graveyard quests/sunken city) the miltia (the ruins/orc infested area/sprawl) they know of me, and they know what I can do. a ratonga wearing rags in South Freeport shouldn't be acting like he could rip me apart with his tail and mocking me. I've earned the respect of the major factions. the guys that if you do something they don't like, they can break into you home and make you 'disappear'.</p><p>should they scrape and bow? hardly. but they should give you underhanded respect. you know the nice words that drip with sarcasm that they are saying just so that you don't have a passable reason to cause them injury, even though you know they are just itching to cram a dagger in your back.</p><p>the kind of thing you'd expect to see in Neriak all the time from everyone...though there should be some npcs that DO grovel abit. becuase they want the favor of X faction, and they know that you at least have SOME standing with them. hey..you coudl even hang quests on that premise. <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>New Freeport, lookswise, is how I would imagine Lucan should/would have done it in the first place. it's a gold inlaid fortress. it looks impossing, but polished...but despite it's polish it has a 'prison' feel to it. like it's meant to keep people in and controled as much as keep enemies out. which I like in freeport. remember Lucan doesn't take kindly to people not doing as told. I would half expect from teh look that the towers wouod have bow/crossbow armed militia that can and will shoot you for any perceived infraction against Lucan.</p><p>Hopefully the NPCs and the new quests will give that feel of oppression as well. the iron fist in a thin velvet glove.</p>

[Rijacki]

<p><cite>Rainmare@Oasis wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>But that being said, even in EQ1, Lucan kept West Freeport in good condition. he knew then that to give a powerful image, the place he lives in also has to be a symbol of that power. EQ2's freeport is not that. EQ2 freeport looks like Lucan built his citadel, and then never bothered to even glance at Freeport as it fell into ruin. hardly the actions of someone looking to project 'Strength in Unity' under his leadership.</p></blockquote><p>The current West Freeport (well, before the tower fell) is the most polished and 'clean' at least where Lucan might deign to look upon it. North Freeport by the mage ediface and the temple of war is also very clean and polished, imposing. The rest has just been left to fend for itself and mostly unimportant to the powers that be (i.e. Lucan and the other city officials). They've been allowed to fall into further disarray than they were in EQ1.</p><p>In EQ1 most of Freeport is a bit of a.. dump with only a few areas polished and clean, the areas directly associated with specific groups, like the Knights of Marr and Lucan's militia. Heck, there's even a pile of poo in the middle of the street which they kept when they did the revamp of Freeport over there. The sunken area (I forget the name of it) is -very- much a ghetto shanty town, too. The docks are seedy and dirty. Tumbleweeds and sand practically rolls in from the Ro side.</p>

[GrunEQ]

<p>I agree with what Rainmare had to say.  I,too, miss the old quests, that helped you learn the city and some of the lore.  I'm glad a lot of the racial quests are still there.</p>

[Lortet]

<p>It is a concern for me that the city I think is the best of the lot is the one that is getting "revamped", and the second on my list is the second one for the treatment. I preferred them even more with all of the old quests - I so much hope that Freeport retains a grim hostile feeling.</p><p>There is little said about the little township zones - any changes for them? (hoping not)</p>

[Lera]

<p><cite>Finora@Everfrost wrote:</cite></p><blockquote>And all I have to say about the Freeport Revamp is FINALLY!. I've been preaching that Evil doesn't mean broken and dirty since day 2 when I made my first FP alt. Eq1 FP wasn't as much of a hole and Lucan was there then too.</blockquote><p>Evil doesn't have to mean those things - the example the devs used at Fan Faire was the Empire in Star Wars, which is anything but dirty. It's more of an evil you can be proud to be part of, and that's what they're going for here.</p><p>But that doesn't make "dirty evil" bad. Maybe Lucan likes keeping the city dirty and run-down, while he's up in his big fancy tower looking down on everyone, to remind them he's in charge and they're not. Sure, he'll let all these refugees in - somebody has to do the actual work - but just by looking around, you're going to remember where your place is. I didn't play EQ1, but if Freeport was mostly run-down then, then why would Lucan bother cleaning it up? He's got more important things to worry about.</p><p>The real question is how they're going to explain the change. Will it be the retcon, "Freeport's always been that way", or will there be an event rebuilding the city (probably not, since GU62 is almost here), or are we just going to get the "IT"S MAGIC!" explanation?</p>

[Rainmare]

<p><cite>Lera@Antonia Bayle wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>Finora@Everfrost wrote:</cite></p><blockquote>And all I have to say about the Freeport Revamp is FINALLY!. I've been preaching that Evil doesn't mean broken and dirty since day 2 when I made my first FP alt. Eq1 FP wasn't as much of a hole and Lucan was there then too.</blockquote><p>Evil doesn't have to mean those things - the example the devs used at Fan Faire was the Empire in Star Wars, which is anything but dirty. It's more of an evil you can be proud to be part of, and that's what they're going for here.</p><p>But that doesn't make "dirty evil" bad. Maybe Lucan likes keeping the city dirty and run-down, while he's up in his big fancy tower looking down on everyone, to remind them he's in charge and they're not. Sure, he'll let all these refugees in - somebody has to do the actual work - but just by looking around, you're going to remember where your place is. I didn't play EQ1, but if Freeport was mostly run-down then, then why would Lucan bother cleaning it up? He's got more important things to worry about.</p><p>The real question is how they're going to explain the change. Will it be the retcon, "Freeport's always been that way", or will there be an event rebuilding the city (probably not, since GU62 is almost here), or are we just going to get the "IT"S MAGIC!" explanation?</p></blockquote><p>Freeport in Eq1 was clean and well organized, with only one area that was a 'slum' which I beleive was south or east freeport. West freeport was run by Lucan and the militia and kept in good standing, and north was run by the Paladins of marr and equal kept up. Lucan ran everything out of the Militia HQ in EQ1 as well.</p><p>if you go into FP now, at least in west FP, they are working on clearing/rebuilding. I imagine when it goes 'live' that the revamp will be 'this is all the work they've been doing cleaning up and rebuilding after the tower fell'. so think of it like a rebuilding event except entirely done by the NPCs. not a retcon or the 'magic' persay.</p><p>and while the idea of Lucan having more important things to do and letting FP fall into ruin as it has might be valid, right now his biggest goal and most important issue is after the Tower collapse, his kidnapping and rescue, and before that getting Soulfire stolen from him...He's got to rebuild/reinforce his dominance and control again...and he's got to do it while appearing benevolent to the 'scum'.</p><p>and a nice way to do that is upgrade the city appearance and rennovate it. a 'i'm going improve your day to day lives by making your city shiny and new' while rebuilding it to look and feel in my opinion like a gilded cage. it gives me a vibe of a prison inside as much as it would give a look of a fortress to someone outside the walls.</p>