f13.net

So I imagine anyone who cares saw the announcement proclaiming November 9th as the 1 year anniversary. Two things of interest:

1) EQ2 is doing veteran rewards for as little as one week of playtime. Examples given were 12 slot bags all the way up to bonus experience and titles.

2) Nary a word about subscription numbers.

Still enjoying the game but the silence on the subscribers continues to be deafening.

Seems like SOE stopped talking about per-game subscriptions long ago, preferring to tout the 850k+ subscriptions across all of their accounts. In the end, I figure that's fine. The sub numbers are for investors and their ilk, not for forum rats like us to proclaim glory or doom.

But it says something that the total of all of their games doesn't equal the newest big hit in the genre.

At least you're enjoying the game. I know a few that do. I stopped a week before launch, preferring to map the zones not yet mapped than actually play. The changes to the game that have come since have not inspired me. Maybe someday I'll be back, but there's too much going on to consider it right now.

They're also giving players the option to use the Asian models from their Taiwanese version. I may play a bit more just for that.

We'll see, it is Smedco, afterall...

I was surprised that they actually allow you to mix and match the models you like from the SOGA ones. Some of them look vastly better but not all of them, so it's nice to be able to pick and choose.

My only real gripe with the SOGA models, aside from many looking flamingly gay, is that the women tend to have toothpicks for legs. It looks very strange to see a normalish looking body atop two legs that are about as wide as their arms.

I can't believe it's only been out for one year, it feels so much longer.  And I wasn't in beta either.

Tell me about it! The flamingly straight models in most MMOS have always been so hard to get used to -- not that there's anything wrong with the straight models, it's just that I like my male avatars to be sporting hefty (or even just noticeable!) packages. There's nothing sadder than a male avatar sporting flatness that rivals cameltoe. Cameltoe on a man (man-gina) = bad. And yes, the female models could use some butching up as well -- most look like they're some Karen Carpenter-Pamela Anderson love child.

So really we need a slider that goes from "Flamingly Straight" to "Flamingly Gay" when creating the character, and a "Crotch" slider just like the "Torso/Chest" slider.

Best. Idea. Ever.

[above words colored a hint of mint with some avocado thrown in, rather than full out green]

With a crotch slider, you're going to end up with a lot of this:

(http://www.darchiver.com/albums/album15/TowerOfLondonHenry8thArmor.sized.jpg)

and

(http://cache.eonline.com/Reviews/Movies/Megaplex/Column/Images/batman3.061405.jpg)

But mostly more of the first...

You say that like it's a bad thing...

There's enough e-peen overcompensation in games as it is. We don't need to add to it.

I guess people say "big-ass sword" because "big-cock sword" would be too obvious.

Perhaps it's just repressed longings manifesting itself in Freudian slips.