Official Everquest fiction?

[Zard]

Everquest's rich lore and fascinating characters has inspired much fan fiction but is there any official fiction available in printed form (books)?

 

[Jindrack]

The two atlases (atlasii?) for EverQuest 2 and EverQuest 1: The Maps of Myrist I personally consider offical canon for EQ2.  The PnP RPG books are a good source for some lore but have inconsistencies and speculative information to further flesh out the table top game. 

[Herculez]

And dont forget the actual book;  The Rogue's Hour by Scott Ciencin with the forward by R. A. Salvatore.  Very nice book  that takes place in the older norrath pre-cataclysm era.  This book isnt really a lore book, but is a very good story set in the world of norrath.

Message Edited by Herculez on 06-16-2006 10:51 AM

[Saroc_Luclin]

Actually, most who read the Rogue's Hour were rather ambivalent about it. It didn't really feel right as Everquest. Too many liberties taken with the names, locations and items and stuff to make it seem right. Many (myself somewhat included) felt it was more of a standard Fantasy novel squeezed into an EQ suit.On the other hand, the second Novel "Ocean of Tears", taking place back in the Combine era, was MUCH better. It had some liberties, but it was MUCH closer to EQ, complete with EQ style spell casting. (perhaps almost too close to EQ casting , since his descriptions of buffing up himself and his mates dragged on a bit. It touched on the fall of the Combine empire, the evnets leading up to and past Seru's betrayal, as well as touching on the founding of Freeport from its initial starts as a pirate colony, and the start of the Dark Elf/Crushbone Orc relationship and similar stuff.  Still it isn't official lore either, but a much better read.

[Fern]

Atlases for the map kindAtlantes for the guy holding up the world kind.

Message Edited by Fernus on 06-16-2006 11:17 AM

[Nocturnal Aby]

Actually, the holding up the world guy is also Atlas, as is the very top vertabrae, the one the skull rests on.  Atlantis was supposedly was a city/island that was inhabited by a very advanced culture...until the volcano pulled a St Helens.

 

 

Message Edited by Nocturnal Abyss on 06-16-2006 11:27 AM

[Zheen]

There is another one slated for this fall. I forgot the name of it. Rogues Hour to me was a well written fantasy book with a couple of references to Everquest, however, it did not capture Norrath to me. I am half way through The Ocean of Tears and yes some spell casting terms are too gamerish (

[Cusashorn]

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Jindrack wrote:
The two atlases (atlasii?) for EverQuest 2 and EverQuest 1: The Maps of Myrist I personally consider offical canon for EQ2.  The PnP RPG books are a good source for some lore but have inconsistencies and speculative information to further flesh out the table top game. 

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wait, when was an atlas released for EQ2?

[Jindrack]

http://www.primagames.com/strategy/all/6679/

 

[Cusashorn]

Hmm. If it has KOS zones, then it must have just been released very recently. No wonder I haven't heard about it.

[Zard]

While I would not recommend a printed stategy guide for an MMOG, since they change so rapidly, I have found the EQ2 Atlas mentioned above very useful and I recommend it. There are fan sites with maps and 3rd party in-game maps but Brasse and his crew are master cartographer's and produce some beautiful works; it is a shame that the paper quality used in the above Atlas was so poor.  :smileysad:

EDIT: And it does have the KoS zones including cloud routes.

Message Edited by DeathMutant on 06-16-2006 01:06 PM

[WarShe]

Brasse is a she last I saw, and the Atlas was originaly supposed to be released last November but was pushed back and pushed back finaly released end of Feb.

 

The official KoS prima guide just came out around a month ago, give or take a few days.

 

All and all the EQ1 Atlas has much more lore than the EQ2 Atlas but both worth reading imo.

 

My wife next to Brasse at the first Vegas Fan faire 

http://mywebpage.netscape.com/WDarthMaul/Brassie+and+Zada.JPG

[xentavius]

One bad thing about the guide is that with major revamps to zones like LU 24 brought (CL, Nek), wouldn't these guides be out of date? Now think of how many zones have been touched since KOS came out and how many more plan to be updated...... Anyone know if/how often these guides are updated? I wouldn't imagine it being that hard for the electronic copy.

[WarShe]

Yes the paper maps will be out dated But they will still have lore which is why many buy them to start with.

[POX67]

I picked up the EQ2: KOS Atlas when it first came out. It has been very useful and it is fun to read up on the zones that have a page of text associated with them.I was very disappointed in the quality though. The paper is very thin, the text sometimes smudged and the in game pictures are way to dark or blurry.Some nicer paper and a binder type atlas so you could purchase updated zone maps would be perfect

[TheManInTheBox]

The EQ 2 Atlas has been out for a couple of months now. I believe they advertised it through the launchpad and /or their website.

I have to agree that the "Ocean of Tears" by Stewart Wieck was way better than "The Rogue's Hour" by Scott Ciencin. Something wasn't right by the Scott's book. It felt rushed, and the ending I found to be bland.

On the other hand Stewart's book was excellent and as mentioned above  you get to meet famous characters and watch the history of an empire unfold. If your into reading books, I would definately second in on reading the second EQ novel. You won't be dissappointed! :smileywink:

Message Edited by TheManInTheBox on 06-16-2006 02:44 PM

[WarShe]

I am guessing the reason the quality and all for the EQ2 one wasnt near what the EQ1 one was was because they wanted the guide to be the same size as the EQ2 prima guide, EQ2 DoF guide, and now the KoS.

All 4 are same length/width.

[Cusashorn]

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xentavius wrote:
One bad thing about the guide is that with major revamps to zones like LU 24 brought (CL, Nek), wouldn't these guides be out of date?

Now think of how many zones have been touched since KOS came out and how many more plan to be updated......

Anyone know if/how often these guides are updated? I wouldn't imagine it being that hard for the electronic copy.

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Yes but that's still a good thing. If there's any lore behind the zone, there's a good chance things like that can be removed from the game or made harder to aknowledge. So even if the lore itself gets contradicted or changed, it's proof that at one time it was official.

 

For example in Eqlive, the EQatlas was released just before Planes of Power came out. It included a basic preview description of some of the Planes, including the Plane of War.

However, when PoP came out, the Plane of War wasn't put into the game due to technical issues with the zone layout and mob pathing and such (the whole zone is at a 55 degree plane or so.) That preview description is all we have of the Plane of War.

Other zones have since been revamped as well.

• Sleepers Tomb became Kerafyrm's Lair.
• Skyshrine changed to reflect the awakening of Kerafyrm
• Freeport as a city in general got a completely new layout and redesign
• The Outpost of Firiona Vie has been taken over by evils.
• Veeshan's Peak has been revamped with harder monsters
• Oasis of Marr has been completely redesigned.
• The old Oasis of Marr is now entirely part of South Ro (or so I've been told.)
• Dragon Necropolis has been revamped with harder mobs.
• I heard Permafrost was revamped (but I never heard if this went through or not.)
• Castle Mistmoore's been revamped with harder monsters
• The Mines of Nurga and Temple of Droga were revamped with stronger monsters
• Lavastorm has a completley new layout and design.
• The Frogloks took over Grobb and established Gukta (although it has since been retaken and is now Grobb again.)
• Plane of Mischief was revamped with stronger monsters (though I heard they're adding the old version back in again)
• Plane of Hate got a completely new zone layout (and I liked the original version better.)
• The Hole recieved a zone revamp with more difficult monsters.
• Charasis recieved a revamp with harder monsters.
• I heard The Bazaar recieved a zone layout overhall.

 

All those zones have since been changed in EQlive and then some. The EQatlas may be outdated in that aspect, but it keeps the lore of what the zone used to be.

[xentavius]

Great points. I just bought the electronic copy and will print it out.  At least that way I can make my own changes as the game progresses.

[Zard]

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WarSheol wrote:

Brasse is a she last I saw, ...

 

My wife next to Brasse at the first Vegas Fan faire 

http://mywebpage.netscape.com/WDarthMaul/Brassie+and+Zada.JPG

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Sometimes I find it difficult to determine if a dwarf is male or female -- especially if they have a beard!  The gender of an Iksar is even more of a challenge for me to determine. I usually get swiped at with sharp claws when I try to lift up their tail!  :smileywink:

[ka]

Heheh don't get to close to our guilds cartographer and call her a him she gets a mite testy and is likely to smack you with a mug of ale hehe.I am not normally to much of a fan of mmog guides but the maps but our resident cartographer Brasse does a great job of making nice, understandable maps. I keep a pile of them next to my system so I can more easily navigate areas I have not been to much.Also I have to say that the most recent update for the KOS has a lot of decent info including post combat upgrade spell lists. This was nice as I started a brand new defiler and I was having some troubles finding an up to date spell list for them.kaid

[WarShe]

The spell list is Great, agreed.

[curtlewis]

I liked the EQ2 Atlas with one major exception. The maps are dark and difficult to read.The same KOS maps in the KOS Strategy guide, however, are bright and easy to read.

[KerowynnKaotic]

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curtlewis wrote:
I liked the EQ2 Atlas with one major exception. The maps are dark and difficult to read.

The same KOS maps in the KOS Strategy guide, however, are bright and easy to read.

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Prima messed up with the printing of the EQ2 Atlas.  They gave it to a printer who took the color pictures and set them up in full color and then printed them out in black.  

That is why the pages are practically seeped with black ink in areas!   My mother nearly had an apoxy when I showed it to her. 

They skipped the whole step of changing color tones!   Stupid!! STUPID!! Print Shop Error!  I can not phrase it any better without getting "haxor'd"!   

I would have demanded the printer make up the whole batch again, myself.

I picked up my copy off a bargin bin in a 2nd hand bookstore for store credit!  Which is exactly what it was worth as far as printing goes ..  

But, if you don't mind going cross-eyed and doing a lot of squinting it has some useful information even in zones you thought you had explored fully  

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I really wish SoE would come out with something like a monthly publish with various lore lines.   Something like a Lore Newsletter.    Suitable for printing and collecting!  Even if its nothing more than repeats of all our in game books!  

Sometimes you miss things when you are in game and pressed for time .. but .. if they had something we could "take" with us on the airplane, buses, business trips, school and etc .. it would be easier to learn more about Norrath's history.    

[WarShe]

I have to use a magnifying glass to see the map itself in detail, hmm they should sell it with a magnifying glass.