Brekkee - Good evening and welcome to another great Stratics House of Commons chat, tonight our guests are the developers of EverQuest 2! The topic of discussion is the upcoming Adventure Pack - Bloodline Chronicles.
Brekkee - Please send your questions to [QT]^J^ OR [QT]Phineus - to do so type /query NICK and type in the window that pops up. Questions sent to me or the developers will not make it into the lineup. Full logs of the chat will be up on http://eq2.stratics.com shortly after the chat.
Brekkee - We'll start with a brief introduction from the developers, now would be a good time to send those questions.

Gallenite - Hi, all - I'm Scott Hartsman, Senior Producer for EverQuest II

Cao - Howdy, I'm Chris Cao, Lead Designer for EverQuest II.

Moorgard - Hello everyone, I'm Steve Danuser, the community guy.

Brekkee - *Cookie* Is the launch of the Adventure Pack going to include a big GM Event, and if so, when and where will that happen?
Cao - With Adventure Pack 1, we’ve focused on a series of live events, stories and movies leading up to the launch of the zones. GMs and guides have been in game running events that support the lore of the event. EQ2Players.com will have follow-up support including a lore piece featuring the first guild to slay the villain of Adventure Pack 1.
Cao - Done.

Brekkee - *Cookie* Is the mail system part of the new expansion, and will it include a COD (Collect on Delivery) component for trading?
Gallenite - Norrathian Express(tm) is one of the live features we're adding just as a part of normal EQ2 play -- It's not restricted to expansion owners only. And as a matter of fact, the first version of it will be going live to everyone in next week's major update. (more)
Gallenite - The first run will allow item and cash gifts between people of the same alignment. The second run (an update later) will include CoD.
Gallenite - There you go. :) (done)

Brekkee - *Looker* When adventurers level the are given their new spells and abilities. Why do crafter have to buy their recipe books and are not given the recipes?
Cao - Adventurer abilities (i.e. combat arts and spells) are basic abilities that are granted based on the progression of a given sub-class. Reaction arts are the Artisan equivalent of these abilities, and as such are granted automatically. Recipes are more analogous to equipped items for Adventurers.
Cao - Done.

Brekkee - *Muppis|Eve|Online* When will the adventure pack be out in store?
Moorgard - No, the Adventure Pack is available through digital download only. You can preorder now and play around in one of the new zones, plus you can enjoy a nice ring that you can /claim.
Moorgard - (done)

Brekkee - *Motivez* About how much will it cost?
Moorgard - The Bloodline Chronicles costs $4.99 for standard EverQuest II subscribers. Our Station Access subscribers get access to the adventure pack at no extra cost. (done)

Brekkee - *Ebonwolf* Will Bloodlines be another series of instances like LDoN?
Moorgard - Bloodlines includes instanced versions of the zones, but they are part of a progressive storyline and are totally hand-crafted rather than generated. They include events that evolve the storyline as you play through them.
Gallenite - Steve's either done...or dead.
Gallenite - It's hard to tel lsometimes.
Moorgard - As you play through the storyline, you can go through with your friends and experience the encounters again. While the storyline evolves, you're never missing out on anything. (done)

Brekkee - *Gryberd* I would like to know if there are new recipes for weaponsmiths availble in this new adventure pack, not for rare items but standard weapons. THere was something on the baords about new recipes being availible but it wasnt very specific as to what classes were getting new recipes
Cao - As we’ve promised, we’re working on many different ways to improve game play for Artisans. The first of these improvements are the new tradeskill products being introduced with Adventure Pack 1. These new products, however, are not limited to the AP. You’ll be able to get the recipe books for them even if you don’t purchase the AP.
Cao - Weaponsmiths, Alchemists and a few of the classes affected most by the relaxation of interdependency will all have new products they can make and market. Carpenters are the exception in this case. But don’t worry, we have changes in the work to address all Artisan classes equally as time permits. Watch the tradeskill boards for more improvements.
Cao - Done.

Brekkee - *Enevlys* This is for Cao... if recipes are like equipped weapons to the adventurors, wouldn't it be safe to say that if adventurers kill mobs and armor / weapons drop, Artisans should experiment on their say... chemistry table and recipes drop?
Cao - While we’ve thought about different ways to include a ‘discovery’ aspect for Artisans that comes purely through crafting, we haven’t yet finalized a system we’re satisfied with. For now, the flow of books from Adventurers to Artisans seems to work well. Look for some significant surprises to appear during your crafting in the next few updates. They won’t be recipes, but I think you’ll enjoy the new possibilities.
Cao - Done.

Brekkee - *Jezekiel* Q) Will the raid boss in bloodlines pose a challange to level 50s, or is it intended for 30-40?
Cao - While Adventure Pack 1 is targeted at solo, small group and solo content for 30 through 45, we’ve specifically included a level 50 raid to test the skills of the top guilds out there. Instead of the smaller instances we normal use for such fights, you’ll be able to battle through an entire zone with raid-sized events, puzzles and a demanding end fight. I think players will be please by the polish and challenge presented by the AP.
Cao - Done.
Cao - Correction, replace one of those 'solo content' with 'group' :)

Brekkee - *Phishu* Will Artisans ever get quests that will reward them with recipes? All quests currently return coin and equipped items.
Cao - Once we’ve finished an initial round of tradeskill game play improvements, we’re going to focus on quests specifically designed for Artisans. These will include everything from short, story-based quests to full on Heritage Quests. Look for these to begin entering the game in the coming months.
Cao - Done.

Brekkee - *Jezekiel* Q) There were talk about new spells/combat arts in Bloodlines, will these be limited to the lvl 30-40 or will there be something useful for lvl 50?
Moorgard - Spells and arts in the Bloodline Chronicles are intended for use in the 35-45 range. You earn access to them as you gain standing with one of the two factions you are working for. There are also recipes that can be used to craft upgraded versions of these abilities.
Moorgard - Some of the new abilities are really cool. Warriors get an ability that lets them temporarily revive if they die in combat so they can carry on the fight a little longer. (done)

Brekkee - *Enid* Are the new spells coming with the adventure pack going to be mostly fluff, or will they have real uses in combat and utility?
Cao - The spells and combat arts players get in Bloodlines will be useful and interesting to players within the 30 to 45 level range. They will add significant combat options for players at the class level. Even the new effects will raise the bar for what players have come to expect from EQII’s spell and combat system.
Cao - Done

Brekkee - *Ekkebray* Apart from content.. is there any new functionality that's planned or coming with Bloodlines?
Moorgard - Adventure Packs are centered mostly around storyline and increasing the depth and lore of Norrath. Think of them as almost like a self-contained novella. But as far as features go, the Bloodline Chronicles does make use of a couple cool new features: exploding walls and breakable items.
Moorgard - done
Gallenite - (riding on the end of moorgard's answer) Just in general, APs are less about new features 01than they are about the content and the story. However, we may sneak certain new features that make 01sense in the context of the story, into future Adventure Packs, like the new interactive environment 01styles, because then it lets us use those features elsewhere, making the overall game better in the 01process. :)
Gallenite - (there, now really done :P )

Brekkee - *Looker* Since so much of crafting is tedious and very time consuming has any thought been given to "instant" production of any item labeled trivial? Sort of click once and the item is produced.
Cao - We want to focus on making the actual process of crafting more interesting. The changes currently on the Test Server to reaction arts are the first step in this. In upcoming updates, we’ll be adding events and new rewards to the process to make it more engaging.
Cao - We wouldn’t want to reduce ‘trivial’ products to instant results because that would undermine the people for who those products aren’t trivial to make. We’re still looking at ways, however, to make the production of consumable items more rewarding for the time involved.
Cao - Done.

Brekkee - *Xeth* for the raid part of the adventure pack will it just be a final raid or will there be a series of quests that must be done in a raid?
Moorgard - As we said before, the Bloodline Chronicles is a progressive storyline. There are definitely major battles you go through to get to the final raid zone, and lots of cool events along the way. (done)

Brekkee - *Cookie* Can you gain maximum faction (and thus all the new spells) by doing the beginning parts of BC several times, or will you have to do the level 50 raid to get all the available spells?
Cao - Adventure Packs are really about immersing players in a progressive story. To that end, we want to make sure that players see the results of personal actions. While gaining faction with the organizations in Bloodlines is important, you’ll also need to complete a series of quests to be granted access to the abilities.
Cao - Done.

Brekkee - *Xalmat* is DoT stacking, specifically for Summoners, going to be adressed with Live Update 5 or 6?
Gallenite - Same-DoT stacking from two different casters is something that we definitely want to look into the feasibility of for EQ2, but it's not on the immediate update schedule. As we continue class passes, we'll have a better idea on this one.
Gallenite - (done)

Brekkee - *Menion* Now that you are going to flag Baby Dragon pets NO Trade in the next patch are there any plans to allow those of us that purchased the Collectors Edition to /claim the Pet reward on other characters? A lot of people claimed them on one character then decided they didn't like that class later on or they switched servers. (which prevented them from just house transering them) It would be nice for us to not be penalized for changin
Gallenite - This is one of those cases that proves that not everything that makes it to test makes it to live. :) That change has been reverted on test already. Baby dragon pets will not be NOTRADE in the live update. (more)
Gallenite - As a longer term answer to /claim'able items, we're also looking into seeing if we can make it such that all characters on an account can claim specific promo items, instead of just one character. I mean, a promo item exists to reward a *person* for doing something, not a character . If a person wants two heritage pictures from EQ in their apartment, why should we say no?
Gallenite - (done)

Brekkee - *Dafoe* For the mail system that's coming up. Are there any plans to create a "COD" system so that I can mail say... a tunic to Bubba with a 10G price and he has to pay that 10G to pick up that parcel and I get a return mail with 10G in it?
Gallenite - Yep - Kind of hit this one earlier. The first run of the mail system (next week) will allow gifts of items and coin inside the same alignment. The second run (an update afterwarD) will allow CoDs also.
Gallenite - (done)

Brekkee - *Xalmat* I remember reading that Bloodline Chronicles was going to feature upgraded Dark Elf models. Is this still true?
Gallenite - That would be cool, but I'm afraid not -- The adventure pack doesn't contain any new playable models or upgrades to existing ones, but I can see how someone might think that the new vampires might be taken as playable dark elves. No active plans on making a new playable race out of them, though. ;)
Gallenite - (done)

Brekkee - *lodar_befallen* Question... Its about the new proc that we can add to armor with the upcoming patch. Wanted to know if we will be able to add it to already equipped (attuned) armor? Specially for the pristine ebon armor, thinking that the ebon is pretty hard to come by?
Moorgard - The new recipes for enchanted items that crafters will be getting allows them to build new items. This isn't about adventurers adding procs to existing items, but rather giving tradeskillers even more cool things to make. The original pristine items will still have a lot of value, and the enchanted items will be new gear that has additional benefits. (done)

Brekkee - *Jezekiel* Will there be ways to become part or fully vampires in BC, if not it would be a good idea for future content
Moorgard - We know there are a lot of people who find vampires appealing. But you'll have to explore the Bloodline Chronicles for yourself to find out the answer to that question. ;) (done)

Brekkee - That will wrap it up for tonight. I’d like to thank the folks from EverQuest 2 for coming! But don’t go anywhere! We will begin trivia for the Adventure Pack giveaway shortly.

Gallenite - Thanks a lot, folks!

Moorgard - Thanks everyone, see you in the Tombs of Night!

Cao - Thanks. Good hunting in Adventure Pack 1: Bloodline Chronicles