Sony Webcast

__TOC__
==May 24, 2012 Webcast Highlights==
===Intro===
The webcast presented today has released some interesting bits of information.
You may watch the recorded version of the webcast HERE
Or you can read our take on what they said below....
===Our Take===
:1. Qeynos Revamp to 2 zones, the Capital District and the Provincial
District. The hoods will be adventure zones. Not a starting city
and can't fly in it still. Storyline has been reimagined to almost
present day settings.
:2. Next GU will be "Sleepers" (first wave) i.e. Dragons and stuff.
Final confrontation with Karafan (sp?) is coming. Lots of dramatic
stuff coming prior to it though. (Expansion Pack? - DEFINITELY YES)
Content expansion coming in the Expansion Pack. New area of Norrath
that has barely been mentioned but never visited by anyone before.
Some characters that have previously been mentioned but never seen.
MORE LEVELS, & Prestige AA points coming.
:3. They are working to setup where a player can go into any dungeon at
any level and you can go in with a group of different levels and 
each player will get applicable level loot and rewards no matter 
how widespread the level of the group. They are currently working
to balance the event.
:4. There's an upcoming Contest for Poet's Palace dungeon maker.
They want players to build a neat dungeon for the contest.
Build them now, get cool prizes, later play in them and get
even more cool prizes.
:5. The Programming team has a new beta testing tool to resolve issues
on the fly. They tweak a few variables and fix it/test it immediately.
Testers on Test Server will be able to give a GM info that needs 
fixing and a GM will be able to fix the issue immediately.
:6. As always they've been looking for a way to bring new content
in a more effective way to create a better interaction between 
content and player. To make it more meaningful to the player. 
Make it more "Show" not "Tell". More immersive and reactive.
:7. They plan to build on "Skyshrine" with feel and experience rather
than have to totally "read" it. NPCs will give you information
to tell you what quests they may update by interacting with them.
:8. Items you get from quests as rewards will show up in the quest journal
beside that quest and allow you to click it to see what it does 
(it will be interactive). So you'll be able to go back in your quest
journal, find a quest and see what reward it gave.
:9. SC Marketplace - Would like to have less in the marketplace and
more items in the game. The design team's thinking is: Why shouldn't 
a player be able to make those items instead. No timeline for this yet.
:10. They are working to add more items with particle affects. They currently
have an animated shield that turns into a dragon when you attack with it.
It's a loot item in Skyshrine. They want to get more of these type items.
==Player questions submitted==
Classic Server: What's the possibility of a Classic Server on EQII
(Timelock Progression Stuff)?
Not on the immediate list of things to do, they are now concentrating 
on content.
Now that we have adventure potions on the marketplace, are we going
to be get crafting ones as well?
The design team is trying to figure out what a TS potion would mean, 
what it would do etc? What would be the benefit to the player? They are certainly not opposed to it, just not sure what it would be. They would 
love player feedback on this issue. 
Players are saying they would like to see more character customization 
such as visable jewelry, armor tinting, housing decorating choices, 
cheaper homes and premium houses etc.
They already have jewelry and rings and such. They try to add new things 
every few months. Will try to do more of those. They might have to do 
some major technical changes when it comes to houses as it's not as 
simple to add the ability to make changes to housing walls etc as one 
would think but they are looking into it.
Will it be possible to take a quest from an NPC and have the NPC
join you on that quest?
They think it's a good idea but they aren't ready to release the 
info on that yet. Not sure if it would take up a player slot in a 
group if the NPC took on a mercenary roll or not. It sounds like they
are definitely going to be adding this feature into game in the future. 
Do you think the Meatbeast will ever return to the Beastlord
class?
1/2 of the team says yes, 1/2 of the team says no.
Actually no answer until there's a resolution of the argument.
==Final Remarks==
Qeynos goes to testing next month. Please test it and give lots
of feedback.
Last bit of important information from this release is:
LOOK FOR A PRESS LEAK ON THE 30th, followed by a Big announcement 
happening on the First day of E3 all related to EQII, watch out for it!