"You're in Our World Now!" Okay, that was the understatement of 1999 when I bought Everquest. This game has owned me since my buddies convinced me to put away Quake and try it out. And for good reason, its immersion factor is insane. The fear of /con 'ing a red mob and getting aggro'ed gets my ticker pounding even 4 years later. Reading about this expansion.... I think many Old School D&D'ers will be pleased. Dungeon Crawling, No more place holders, No more kill stealing, No more camping! I'm buying into the hype -- hope it is going to be all they are advertising.
Crazz, 59th Cleric of Rallos Zek
LDoN Interview with Ryan Barker
We were given a chance to sit down and ask questions of Ryan Barker about the new Lost Dungeons of Norrath expansion. He is one of the game designers for the new expansion whose specialty area is the spell system. He touches on a number of the new features being added with this expansion, and gives even more detail on what to expect for everything from the instanced dungeons to the trapped chests to the augmented items.
Here are the questions and answers:
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Q: I understand that you are the one in charge of the new spells being added for the expansion. How do you decide which spells to introduce for classes at this point in the game?
RB: Adding spells is always a tricky business. You have to give players something new and interesting that they’ll work to obtain without giving them new abilities that could potentially unbalance the game. I spend a lot of time reading over many of the more popular messages boards and there are always several ideas for new abilities that the players would like to see. Many of those ideas that began on the boards ended up in game in one form or another. Other spells start as an idea or a random lunchtime conversation with the other designers. Every class has at least one knowledgeable representative here at the office, so I get a lot of feedback and ideas from them
Q: Do you ever find it hard to add new spells given how many spells there already are? Where do you get your inspiration for spell names?
RB: It’s crazy if you look at the number of spells in the game. There’s currently over four thousand spells in EverQuest with almost two thousand of them being player spells. Every once in a while we’re able to add a radically new type of effect which is always exciting for me as it gives me new tools to present to the players. That’s the challenge of my job -- to find new ways to adapt the spell system to keep player and monster abilities interesting.
The naming is often a creative challenge. I usually try to tie it in with something that already exists in game or will exist in the near future. I think it ties players into the game world when their spells relate to that world instead of just being called “fire ball” all the time. Even just throwing a character name on the end of it like “Ice spear of Solist,” creates much more personality for the spell. Players want to know who Solist is and why he has a spear named after him.
Q: Are there any spells in EQ that you really wish didn't exist, or worked differently?
RB: There aren’t any spells I would completely get rid of, but there’s definitely a few that I wish worked differently. Complete heal is the obvious one that usually is brought up. Some of the higher percentage slow spells are other ones that I wish worked differently. Any single spell that requires designers to dramatically modify their content around it is probably one that needs to be changed.
One thing I do wish we had was some sort of sliding scale on the effectiveness of “all–or-nothing” effects like Enthrall, Snare, etc. Right now it’s very restrictive to give upgrades for these kinds of effects because it’s just yes or no -- it either works or it doesn’t. I wish we had a system for these effects to have a more dramatic effect on level-appropriate NPCs. For example, I wish Enthrall wasn’t hard-capped at a single level, but rather shortened its duration on mobs that were above the level “cap,” instead of entirely not working.
Q: If there were one thing about the spell/magic system in EQ that you would change given unlimited manpower and resources, what would it be?
RB: I think the thing I’d want the most is the system I described above with dynamic durations and effects based on levels. I work closely with the programming team to build new and better spells and systems. We are continually adding functionality when we come up with new ideas.
Q: What is your favorite element of the spell/magic system of EQ?
RB: Well it’s not really a specific part of the system so much as I just love the role-playing aspect of it. I love naming the spells and coming up with unique messages that the players see when they cast it. The great majority of my job ends up being systems-related with a lot of math involved, so it’s a nice change of pace to be creative with the names and messages.
Q: Can you tell us what your goal is with the Lost Dungeons of Norrath spells? How do these relate to the new instanced dungeons and new items?
RB: My goal with the LDoN spell lineup is to provide new spells for each class that help augment effectiveness in groups and in the dungeons. I'm also focusing on group effectiveness overall. The spells don’t relate as much to the instancing mechanics as they do to just plain old-fashioned dungeon crawling. Every level range should find at least one or two spells that are useful additions.
Q: You have announced a new item type that will allow players to upgrade and customize existing equipment. Can you explain in more detail how that will work? Will the customized items be no drop? If they can be sold, will there be an easy way for the buyer to know which stats have been adjusted short of inspecting the item, or will there now be 15 different types of each item available for sale in the bazaar?
RB: The new item class is called an Augmentation. An Augmentation is a magical item that attaches itself to a slot on an existing item on your character. To attach an Augmentation to an existing item, you must first find one that is compatible with your existing item. Once you have your augmentation and item, you combine them in a special container much like normal trade skills. Augmentations are very similar to normal items, so you can inspect the augmentation to see what benefits and restrictions it has to offer. Initially, the Augmentations will be no-drop and available only in LDoN.
Q: Will you be able to do more than one customization on a single item? Will the use of those items be skill based? Will they be usable on all existing EQ items, or only a limited number, and if limited, can you give us an idea of which existing items would be upgradeable?
RB: Yes, it will be possible to add more than one Augmentation to an existing item. However, it does depend on the specific item. Each item currently in EverQuest may have a different number of slots that accept Augmentations. Some of the items that accept augmentations include armor and weapons. Items that can be stacked and containers cannot have Augmentations.
Q: In that same line, what types of upgrades will the new items add? Will it just be stats, or will you also be able to add procs, spells and focus effects? If so, can you give us an idea of what types of spells and effects could be added with the new items?
RB: Augmentations are able to improve all item stats and even possibly add spell and focus effects.
Q: Lost Dungeons of Norrath will also include what you have termed interactive items. These include traps that go off if you have not disarmed them. Can you give us an idea of the types of spells that may be triggered by these traps? Are they just damage spells of various sorts, or are there other conditions that could happen if you set off a trap such as being teleported or being inflicted with some physical or mental condition?
RB: I’m planning to use almost the entire range of the spell system to create effects for the traps. The traps are going to be harsh generally, so you’ll want to be careful about messing with the objects. Of course, you’ll want to get the items that could be inside, but if you aren’t careful you might end up destroying what’s inside when you destroy the chest.
Q: Will the treasures found through the interactive items be unique to those items, or will they be pulled from the general treasure lists?
RB: There’s potential for both. We haven’t discussed limiting the types of items you’ll find in chests in any way. I know there’s at least one set of chests that contain keys that you’ll need to progress through one of the levels.
Q: Will players also get access to traps that they can place in a dungeon to catch NPCs and Mobs? And can NPC’s and Mobs set off the existing traps if you pull them over to them?
RB: Besides the traps on the chests, we haven’t changed the way traps work at all. It’s an idea we’ve kicked around before and I think it would be a cool addition. Maybe we’ll get a chance to add that in the future. And no, monsters won’t set off the traps in the dungeons.
Q: Why the new (published) limit of 36 people for Raiding content in Lost Dungeons of Norrath? Especially given that many guilds have had to bulk up to 60 to 72 people to be able to advance in Planes of Power?
RB: It's another option for our players. Planes of Power definitely increased the size of an average raid. Now that we're making raids for 36 people, players have the option to test their skills with a larger group of friends without the necessary coordination required for the really big events like the ones in Planes of Power. As a player, I always felt that my contributions were much greater in smaller raid settings. For me, when there are fewer people, I get a better sense that my actions have a profound impact on the outcome of the events. For us, one of the best things about having a specific number limit is being able to tune things knowing exactly how many people will be involved.
Q: How are raids handled in Lost Dungeons of Norrath? What in your opinion, is the best element of gameplay coming with the expansion? What element are you looking forward to the most as a content developer? As a player?
RB: Raids are essentially going to be special adventures that require between 18 and 36 people to initiate. Raids are going to be vastly different from each other in how they work. Some have strict time limits, while others might not. On one you might have to kill a boss; on another, rescue hostages. There’s quite a bit of variance as to what you’ll be doing. My favorite thing in terms of gameplay is being able to set up an area for my group or raid to play in. This is also my favorite aspect as a content developer. Being able to set up a specific area allows you a lot more freedom in development. You don’t have to worry about other players coming in and messing with the raid, so there are some new types of mechanics we can use that were not possible in a traditional setting.
Q: Can you describe how the instancing dungeons will work. I understand that there are different dungeons and that each dungeon has different difficulty settings depending upon the party. Does each dungeon have a different set of mobs? Different set of treasures? How do you determine the setting of the dungeon your party is going to enter? Will the layout and distribution of Mobs be randomly generated, or preset in each dungeon?
RB: There are two difficulty settings for each level range, normal and hard, that you can choose when you’re selecting your adventure. The hard setting has the same layout, but the creatures inside are harder to deal with and the rewards are greater. You’ll see similar monsters across the different maps of each theme, but they might not act the same at different level ranges. The items are each designed individually so they fit in well with the theme they are in. You can count on getting unique items in each zone. You’ll also be gathering “favor” points which allow you to purchase items from certain vendors. The concept of earning an expendable form of favor with these NPCs is relatively new, but it should feel like a cross between faction and currency.
Q: Will there be a place where players can gather to form groups and enter the dungeon? If so, will there be banks, vendors and soul binders available there?
RB: Yes, there’s a camp where you’ll have NPCs that assign adventures, and another set of NPCs that offer rewards for players that accumulate enough favor points. Most of these camps are relatively close to a city and we haven’t decided if we’re going to have the full range of merchants, bankers, etc. in these camps or not.
Q: What happens if a player goes link dead while in the dungeon? How will he be able to retrieve his corpse once the dungeon expires? Conversely, what happens to a party that has someone go link dead? Will they be able to fill that slot from outside the dungeon?
RB: Once the dungeon expires, your corpse is kicked out to the zone-in point. If a player goes linkdead while in a dungeon and the dungeon expires, he’ll be kicked out to that same point. You won’t be able to add players into your adventure once you’ve started it, so you’ll either have to forge on without them or go out and gather a new group to start a new adventure.
Q: I understand that the dungeon that spawns will be tailored to the level of the party. How does this affect the treasure table of the dungeon? Will all treasure be randomly spawned with the dungeon, or will specific items be set to drop off of specific mobs? Could you theoretically spawn a dungeon that has little to no good loot, or conversely an unusual amount of great loot?
RB: Don’t confuse this system with any sort of random content generator. Each of the maps, datasets – there are several hundred of them, NPC placements and behaviors are all handcrafted. This content is no less detailed or deliberate than anything we’ve done in the past. It’s actually quite the opposite. These dungeons are extremely detailed.
Treasure and favor point rewards are all scaled to the level and difficulty of the adventure. There’s a bit of both types of drops. Some that drop off specific “rare” monsters and some that are random from certain monster types in a zone. The loot you get can vary, but you’ll get similar reward amounts from any of the dungeons you spawn.
Q: How will you handle rare drops in Lost Dungeons of Norrath? In other zones rare drops stay rare because they drop off a single mob who can only spawn a set number of times. Instanced dungeons could theoretically have 50 of the same mob spawned at once. How will you handle the drops from that mob to keep them rare?
RB: Theoretically, there can be 50 of the same monster up at once, but you’ll still have to do just as much work to get to them and obtain the loot, so it shouldn’t be too much of a concern. One of the major rewards is going to be the favor points you accumulate by completing adventures, and not necessarily the drops off of specific mobs in dungeons.
Q: What influenced the decision to use these 5 themes to build the adventure system around, as opposed to some other theme?
RB: All the themes we selected for Lost Dungeons of Norrath were ones that we either loved playing through back when we first started -- Guk and Mistmoore come to mind -- or they were areas that had always been alluded to, but were never put in game. We’re excited to be adding all these zones and we hope they’ll be some of the new favorites for the players as well.
Q: Can you give us an idea of what new tradeskills to expect? Will this just be an expansion of the existing skills through new recipes, or will new skills and/or new ways to utilize old skills be added as well?
RB: We’re not adding any new skills for this expansion, but there’s going to be a number of new recipes available. Specifically, Paul Carrico and Jason Mash are working on some new recipes that fill a few gaps in progression for fletching and smithing.
