AlGhouti - <Talasyn> when is the next large invite into beta?

[SOE]Gallenite - We're just coming off of a pretty big addition of UK, France, and Germany adds, and the next batch will be coming out over the next week, including more additions from those who signed up earlier this year on our website -- if you signed up, make sure your email address is up to date! ;)
[SOE]Gallenite - (done)

AlGhouti - *KoE|Septus* question: How will the quest system be improved upon compared to the original?

[SOE]Dymus - For the quest system: We've added a quest journal to track quests, we've included new ways in which to complete quests from just item turn-ins. We also have several ways in which we can deliver a quest to you ranging from NPC's, objects in the world, and items.
[SOE]Dymus - Done.

AlGhouti - <Bateman> Are you looking into the side effects of the current locked encounter system? Preventing killstealing I'm sure everyone supports, but preventing heals and buffs?

[SOE]Gallenite - We defintiely do pay attention to the side effects, absolutely. Especially how the impact the game socially, since we're based so strongly around people meeting up with other people.
[SOE]Gallenite - In the long run, it lets us give out better rewards when we're able to say that yes, absolutely, this group of people defeated this encounter using their own skills -- only things they brought to the table.
[SOE]Gallenite - Truth be told, I didn't much like the concept when I first joined the team, but in playing it in practice, there are still tons of opportunities to run past people who are in dire need of help and have called for it. If anything, it's kind of cool to have a REAL way of knowing when they need you. :)
[SOE]Gallenite - Best to play it and then decide, is what I learned. :)
[SOE]Gallenite - (done)

AlGhouti - <Brutusford> How are Assassin and Ranger different?

[SOE]Russo - Rangers primarily use bows and ranged attacks, Assassins do more stealthed backstab maneuvers within melee range.
[SOE]Russo - (done)

Moorgard - Plus, rangers die a lot more.
Moorgard - It's tradition!

[SOE]Gallenite - (Moorgard's never content to strictly offend a single community. He's trying to branch out lately.)

AlGhouti - *Lief* Are the control's going to be the same as the first version of Everquest?

[SOE]Waters - We're definitely going to support controls that are familiar to EQ players, as well as other games in the genre. We also have a very large amount of customization options so you can set up your controls the way you like them best.
[SOE]Waters - (done)

AlGhouti - *LadyJade* Recently there was a post on the forums regarding death penalties being re-done, can we get any information as to what's being changed? :o

[SOE]Waters - The death penalty in a game like this is such an integral part that we've put a lot of time into testing and tuning it. We have made some changes on beta lately to make it play a bit better.
[SOE]Waters - Some of the things we've changed are moving from the spirit system we were experimenting with to an experience debt system. Now when you die, you will have a certain amount of debt that you'll need to pay off for awhile.
[SOE]Waters - This debt system will make you want to avoid dying, but it won't keep you from advancing and being able to level while in debt. It will slow you down but not stop you or set you back.
[SOE]Waters - Also, we've made a big change in how the death penalty is applied to groups. If you're in a group, all group members will share any deaths that happen. This encourages group play and makes groups share the risks and the rewards of being a team.
[SOE]Waters - If you're in a group of six and your tank dies, each person gets about 1/6th of a normal death. This is pretty fast to recover from, and makes it less painful if someone occasionally has an accidental death.
[SOE]Waters - The last thing we changed was just to speed up the experience rate a bit and make the death penalty a bit smaller so that it plays a bit better.
[SOE]Waters - (done)

AlGhouti - *Vars* Will Bards/Dirges/Troubadours be able to play music for entertainment and RP purposes ala SWG, or will it be restricted to combat and spellcasting only?

[SOE]Russo - Bards as well as all bard sub-classes play music as a form of spellcasting during combat. There is currently no plan for them to play music for entertainment puposes in game. (done)

AlGhouti - *[Immortality]Zamnir* Will there be different kinds of pets for necromancers? If so, how many? We know conjurors have at least 4 types of pets (fire,air,water,earth). Will necromancers have that much diversity?

[SOE]Russo - Yes, there will be at least 4 different pet types for Necromancers. Currently we have everything from floating fleshy orbs, to a few different skeletons, to evil extraplanar pets. (done)

AlGhouti - *Syenna* "What impact do you see vision types playing in the game? Are there quests or other content that require a player or member of the group to have a certain vision type?"

[SOE]Waters - Right now vision types give some fun utility and flavor to the different races. They are handy, but currently they're not integral to any gameplay. I expect we will put quests and activities that take advantage of certain vision types into the game in the future.
[SOE]Waters - (done)

AlGhouti - *Torith4lp* With LOE and Legend players now receiving invites to Beta, how has the beta community helped improving the game? Was the outcome better then you had hoped?

[SOE]Gallenite - The beta community for EQ2 has been unlike anythng I've ever seen before. We've probably had the most useful forums I've yet seen for a beta. I don't know that the fact some people from LoE or from Legends has much to do with it -- There's a lot of lively discussion from a lot of people who want the game to be as great as we all know it can be, no matter how they got in. :)
[SOE]Gallenite - One thing's for sure -- It's definitely not a large group of people all sitting around telling us how great everything is. We're getting valid feedback on everything from game systems, to quests, to UI, and we act on it weekly.
[SOE]Gallenite - I should probably amend that.. It's not a lot of people sitting around telling us how great everything is, just to make us happy. ;)
[SOE]Gallenite - (done)

AlGhouti - *[BtP]Zydar* How much of a encumberment will food play ultimately in the preformace of your a character?

[SOE]Russo - Food and drink will play a major part in reducing downtime between fights. In addition to this, food and drink will also provide out of combat utility effects for the party. All in all it will be pretty handy to have around. (done)

AlGhouti - *[Xan]Shiva* i would like to know untill what extent ubi soft is involved into eq2 business in europe (do they only distribute the game or more, like in eq1 hosting some servers?)

[SOE]Froech - Our agreement with Ubisoft is a distribution deal. We're hosting the servers, however, in our own Network Operations Centers throughout the world. We'll be handling the GMs/Customer service as well.
[SOE]Froech - done

AlGhouti - *daishan* Is there enough "Separation" of the specialty classes at upper levels? As in the remarks about all warriors can fulfill role but will you be able to tell the diffence in how they do it?

[SOE]Waters - We're setting up classes in an archetype system so that fighters will specialize as they gain levels and split off into more refined sub-classes. These sub-classes add interesting and unique abilities to use, but you never lose your core abilities. Any type of fighter sub-class will still be very effective as a fighter.
[SOE]Waters - You may want a certain type of fighter because it suits your group or play style, but if you need a tank you can get any fighter for the job.
[SOE]Waters - (done)

AlGhouti - *Ling* will NPC's be completely interactive? for instance, can i just kill a quest-giver if i wish? or will they be single-use only?

[SOE]Dymus - It depends on the role of the NPC. To prevent things such as griefing most quest givers will be unkillable unless it will be integral to the quest they are a part of. Most quest givers will not be single use only and have a variety or series of quests they can give you. (Done)

AlGhouti - *LadyJade* How will mob AI choose which groupmember to attack? Will heals be seen as damage done to the mob when making that choice?

[SOE]Russo - During a battle, the NPCs are always keeping track of what we call "hate". Hate can be generated by attacking the NPC, healing a party member, debuffing the NPC, or doing generally offensive actions towards the NPC. When deciding who to attack, the NPC typically goes after the group member who has the most "hate". (done)

AlGhouti - <EL-[MOD]Evfil> How long is it possible to solo while still receiving rewarding experience for the time you spend playing?

[SOE]Waters - Soloing is viable at every level of the game. There are some advantages to grouping, but you can get to level 50 by yourself if you like. We do plan to encourage grouping though, so group experience is a bit faster, you can survive in harder areas, and potentially get better loot in a group than you could solo.
[SOE]Waters - We don't want to shut out the solo player, so we'll continue to watch it and tune it during beta.
[SOE]Waters - (done)

AlGhouti - <suzina> question: We've heard some mobs will be marked "solo" to indicate they are soloable, does this mean grouped players can't attack things marked "Solo"?

[SOE]Russo - In addition to "solo", there are also a few "group" markings. These markings are there to let the player know who the encounter is tuned for. Nothing prevents groups of players from taking on "solo" encounters, but they will find that they don't get an experience bonus.
[SOE]Russo - There is also nothing that prevents a solo player from going after "group" encounters, but the marking is there to let the player know that it will be a tough battle.
[SOE]Russo - (done)

AlGhouti - *EL-[MOD]Evfil* Will all priests be a viable healing option into the high end levels, or will clerics be necessary for the upper end encounters?

[SOE]Waters - All priests will be viable healers. Like I said with fighters earlier, we want to make sure that characters grow by gaining more specialized abilities without ever losing their core abilities. Since healing is such a core function of the priest archetype, any priest will always be an effective healer.
[SOE]Waters - Different priest types will have different methods of healing, so you may prefer a shaman in one type of encounter and a cleric in another, but we aim to balance it so all types of priests are equally valued.
[SOE]Waters - (done)

AlGhouti - *suzina* Is there a word on a release date for the strategy guide or game? Amazon is offereing the guide this month.

[SOE]Froech - We don't have a release date set yet. Many vendors put up their own release dates, without necessarily checking with the provider. I've seen dates before on game that I've worked on that never shipped. So no, those dates are not official, by any means.
[SOE]Froech - done

AlGhouti - *DocTorZeP* in eq1 , there were some items slots that when equipt with an item, did not display a graphic on your char.(neck,belt,back slot, etc). will eq2 have character graphics for these slots ?

[SOE]Gallenite - EQ2 adds some refinements to the way items are displayed, such as the ability to lower the hood on your robe, but we do not have every single slot as a visible item. At our level of detail, that'd bring even the biggest systems to their knees. :)
[SOE]Gallenite - <done>

AlGhouti - *zeaL* What are the big differences if any between the Magician from EQ1 and the Conjuror in EQ2?

[SOE]Russo - The Magician from EQ was definitely the mold that we used for EQ2's Conjurer. There aren't really any major differences. (done)

AlGhouti - *Platorian* Will Monks still have their FD skill, and are they used as "pullers" like in EQLive?

Moorgard - Monks do have a feign death skill, but it's used as an escape mechanism, not a pulling tool. Since many encounters are with groups of NPCs, monks won't be splitting in the old EQ sense.
Moorgard - And just to add to the class distinction answers above, I'm happy to say that playing a monk feels like playing a monk. :)
Moorgard - done

AlGhouti - *Optik* Is there anything to prevent player griefing with the group debt penalty?

[SOE]Waters - It should be pretty easy to avoid griefing, or at least easier than it is now with the death penalty in EQ. First, if someone in your group dies to grief you, they're taking some debt too. Each of you only gets a fraction of a whole death, so it's a better deal for you than it would be if your cleric in EQ just decided not to heal you, or your warrior decided not to taunt.
[SOE]Waters - Also, it won't take you too long to notice that there's an idiot in your group dying on purpose and you can boot him out of the group and tell your friends not to group with him. We've been playing with it for a bit on beta now, and overall the response is very positive.
[SOE]Waters - (done)

AlGhouti - <insomniac> Will the user interface be *fully* customizeable this time around? in eqlive certian things like button and money positions were not able to be altered.

[SOE]Gallenite - The UI in EQ2 is customizable in all the ways that EQ modders should be able to have fun with. Including button and money positions. If it's not, once you get in, /bug it -- We read those daily. ;)
[SOE]Gallenite - <d>

AlGhouti - *Lister* And now for the most important question: Is Fippy (or a descendant) still around?

[SOE]Dymus - The line of Fippy is certainly alive and well. Though his descendents are less into charging the gates of Qeynos and into more lucrative "business" ventures.
[SOE]Dymus - Done.

Moorgard - Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?

AlGhouti - Alright folks that's it for this one! Thanks for joining us and be sure to come again next time, the logs will be posted shortly on http://www.stratics.com

[SOE]Gallenite - Thanks very much for coming, everyone - Look forward to seeing y'all in EQ2!

[SOE]Waters - Thanks for coming everyone. Bye!

[SOE]Dymus - Thanks everyone for coming.

[SOE]Froech - Thanks, folks, for stopping by. We appreciate your support!

Moorgard - Thanks everybody, we appreciate the support and enthusiasm for the game. See you next month!

[SOE]Russo - Thanks everyone!