November 25, 2009

A Video Look at Brell’s Rest

I realize the video starts off a little dark, I may have to adjust the gamma for the next video, remember these are experiments for me, and I’ve got a lot to learn still. This is a video look at Brell’s Rest – one of the first zones I visited in the latest EverQuest expansion. The video doesn’t do it justice, but I tried.

Lore (taken from the official EQ site, for more information and to visit their gallery, be sure to check out their web site!)

Underfoot Lore: Brell’s Rest

Brell’s Rest is the place where the worthy of Brell’s worshippers go when their time on Norrath ends. Some worshippers are given places amongst those of the Underfoot, to work on the world, but few find such a thing to their liking. Many spend their afterlife in an “ideal” setting for their race. Dwarves, gnomes, gnolls, kobolds and others all live in or around Brell’s Rest or in the Shining City just out of sight on the sphere above. However, most of the residents of the Rest are gnolls and kobolds. The dwarves tend to stay in the city brewing beer and crafting things in stone and metal, while the Gnomes tinker, though some of them also wander the land to see what’s up out there.

There is much conflict between the gnolls and kobolds in this domain, since conflict is what they love. Their violent and destructive tendencies tend to keep them out of the Shining City.

There is also an arena dedicated to battle in Brell’s Rest. Here groups of warriors challenge each other to games to prove their superiority.

Trouble in Paradise

Gnoll and kobold warriors have clashed joyfully on the battlefields of Brell’s Rest for millennia, but recently the kobolds have found fewer sparring partners. The gnolls have been acting stranger and stranger, as though they are hiding something from the rest of the realm. Most aren’t speaking at all, but those who do will only whisper of one they call “The Destroyer” or “The Undying One,” their faces twisted by equal parts fear and adulation. Whoever or whatever “The Destroyer” is, the gnolls do not appear to have it under their control just yet.

Excited about this expansion yet? I know I am. I’ll be posting more videos for each of the new zones as the weeks go on and the release date inches closer, so be sure to check back! If you’ve got any questions please don’t hesitate to let me know.

5th Anniversary Events Now On Live

I wasn’t sure when the quests on the test server would be making their way over to live, but thankfully I didn’t have that long to wait. Yesterday morning a system message went off explaining that they were now on live servers, and that if we wanted to take part we should all head to the cities and find out what was in store for us.

I’ve played EQ2 since beta, and at the time I never had any intentions of leaving behind my game of choice, EQ. The game hooked me right from the start. It took me a week to level to 7, and in those first few months I wandered back and forth from EQ to EQ2. Even years later I still did that. I always still ended up in EQ2 though. It was always ‘home’ in my MMO worlds.

Celebrating the 5th anniversary is a pretty big deal, and I’ve been having a blast with the quests. First of all, be sure to check out your local city merchant, because there are limited edition paintings for sale. These paintings are replicas of the ones entered for a heroes of Norrath contest that was held not too long ago. Sadly, because I’m Canadian I was unable to enter. They’re amazing paintings none the less, there are 9 2nd place winners, and the first place winner (who has had their painting on the merchant for a little while now). They cost a little gold, and some personal status.

Aside from the amazing paintings, there are a few quests also offered with this anniversary. One rewards a replica of the Qeynos Claymore, as well as a 5th anniversary painting. I imagined the Claymore would be table sized, but it’s huge, so make sure you’ll have some floor space in which to display it.

There’s also a quest for some food or drink, and a third for some fireworks. Each one celebrates the birthday of EQ2, and it was just great to see.

I love live events, I really do. Limited time adventures that make the world feel alive. There’s no game out there that does it better then EQ2, either (in my opinion, of course). Make sure you log in and take advantage of all the wonderful goodies while you can!

Nomadic Gamer