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Recent review of Shadows of Luclin

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: March 02, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Graphics from everquest, to kunark, to velious were all pretty much the same... when luclin came out characers were 100% different, not just the head or so, the whole characters looks have gotten more realistic... the details on a monks robe shows even the patches... even a rangers Rygorr Battle Mail armor can be seen down to each mail... each piece of armor is completely different than before, and the designs that made it so worthwhile to seek have made it sometimes worth it. Also, you can change hair color, beard color, eye color...
Cons- the sky hasnt changed... doesnt look like a sky, no clouds! Not like i have the time to just sit and look around anyway.

Spells:
My class alone (and there are about a dozen classes) got at least 5 spells ranging from the teen levels to the level 50's. When casting spells, the character doesnt always use the same arm movements, there are several ways they cast now, one handed or even using two hands.

Alternate Advancement:
Like getting to level 60 is not enough turmoil (IT IS)... There are ways to improve your characters stats permanently, how about running 3 times faster than usual? How about adding 10points to your Dexterity, Strength, Stamina, Wisdom, Intelligence, and Agility, permanently?... and oh theres so much more... for us Paladins (and shadowknights) when we reach the highest of levels, we can summon the Ultimate Steed (horses); not paying obsene amount of coin for one.
Cons - the level 60 characters are coming down from the planes and other super high zones and running over the level 50 zones so they can solo and camp what the lower level guys are trying to get so the can gain in their Alternate Experience points.

Entire Game
I am level 55 and have not even been to half of the original everquest game... and been to about half of kunarks expansion, been to about 1/10 of Veliou's expansion... now luclin... I gave it a test drive and to my surprise... the zones were enormous in size, its like combining several regular zones to make up just one Luclin zone (I can see where horses would come in for the classes that dont have the ability to port or have spells to enhance our speed).
I went through the same patching blues as everyone else did... but knew from earlier expansions not to bother playing till about a week after the expansion came out. I guess im not as addicted as the others were who just "had to get" their "fix" (let me tell ya, there a a LOT of evercracks)

REQUIREMENTS:
I run a 1Ghz AMD/256MB RAM/Radeon 64Mb system... on a 56k modem. After reading the requirements for luclin, I just told myself... "great!, i was gonna buy some more memory anyway". Nor running 768Mb of PCI 133ram I zone faster than anyone i have met (remember im on 56k)... did I mention Im in Japan? I have confidence that the makers of the game will make/keep the game getting better (and getting rid of some bugs).

Catch me on Cazic Thule server as Lamini

Enjoy!

Graphics are Mixed Blessing

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 13 / 27
Date: December 06, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I have all the previous games in the EverQuest series, and play regularly on The Rathe and Rodcet Nife.

From the screenshots and notes on Luclin, I am VERY ambivalent about it. First, a look at the technical side, then some personal comments.

Technically, they went very high end. It takes a machine with 512 MB of system RAM and a good video card just to see the graphics. You CAN turn off the new graphics if you do not meet the standard. From comments in my roommate's guild (NB, The Rathe) there is no way around these requirements if you want to see everything. Don't bother trying because things will start dropping out of the engine. One guy got all white landscapes when he tried edging around the hardware minimums.

Also, the zone load is MUCH slower after you install this update. DSL and Cablemodem users with high end systems have reported up to a 5 minute zone time. I personally experienced a 15% to 30% longer zone and a LOT more Zone LD. I tried this on two machines, and it happens on both. That is WITHOUT the new expansion, so I can see where it would be worse with it.

Now on a personal note, I am not sure if I will bother to buy Luclin, and if I do, I will NEVER turn on the new character models. I was already disgusted with the obscene and completely inaccurate females in the earlier game. The new ones look like strippers. The clothing is more revealing, and EVERYTHING is way out of proportion.

If you have kids, DO NOT get this expansion. All you will be doing is teaching them to expect a 20 inch waist and a 40 inch bust on women. EQ is looking more and more like a strip bar with the addition of this expansion.

Verant claims to have put a lot of work on the new bone structure, musculature, etc. As far as I can tell from screen shots, this is absolutely UNTRUE. The musculature on the old models was better, and if they said breast structure (not bone) they would be a lot more accurate. Also, the new horses are out of proportion, and very poorly done. I did like the new wolves.

I think they needed a few art teachers to critique the graphics for an accurate representation, and anything that got less than a C would be thrown out. Well, that would remove all the female models, and half the male ones. They also seem to have made everyone more ugly. I do not know why, but that is the way it is.

Shadows of Luclin / Released before it was ready

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: December 09, 2001
Author: Amazon User

As a loyal player of Everquest for more than a year-and-a-half, I rushed out on the release date to purchase Everquest: Shadows of Luclin. Geez, what a mistake.

First time I tried to install the software, crashed on locked files and and had to run the install program again. Loaded fine on the second try.

Finally got it loaded and set up after three hours of configuring and logged in. The graphics were a little better than the pre-Luclin EQ, but the clipping plane looked odd and the sky in the zone I was in (Greater Fay) was non-existent even though it was on.

Took my high level wizard (50's) to Nexus to zone into Shadow Haven to buy the new spells we were looking forward to, crash to desktop. Logged back in (and let me tell you folks, you will be twiddling thumbs waiting to log back in), crash again. Restarted computer, logged back in, crash again. Turns out, Shadows of Luclin has an issue with AMD K6-2 processor chips that Verant / Sony is in the process of trying to find a work around for. Anyone with this type of chip was getting locked up and crashed to desktop in certain zones and as of this date and four days after I installed the software, my wizard is still stuck in there with no fix in site. This is just one of the bugs.

Another issue was the promotion of a feature in which the "Bazaar" zone was supposed to have a feature where you can set up an unattended character to market items you were selling. Well, as of the release of the software that feature was not included and we just found out this week (after the release) that that feature was not implemented because there was not enough "time" to work out the code, so it will be added in at a later date. Please.

If you are using Windows 95, you will need to upgrade to Windows 98 or better because DirectX 8.1 which is required to run Luclin is not supported on Win95.

Expect slow frame rates, lag, long zone times. All being "fixed" according to the corporate tech site.

I understand that software releases in this day and age will have some issues, but if you haven't bought this yet I would wait for a month or two. Read the EQ websites for updates and let Verant / Sony get the major bugs in this thing worked out. I really like Everquest and I am sadly disappointed in this release. Its like someone really didnt care and rushed it out the door for Christmas.

Absolutely Pathetic

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: December 18, 2001
Author: Amazon User

You figured the guys at Verant would have at least tested this buggy piece of garbage. But, as it is, their motto is "your in our world now." and I suppose the rest of that statement ought to read; "and if you don't like it, then tuff..." Horrible customer service and a condescending, and almost disdainful regard for their "customers", is par for the course for these clowns. I would strongly recommend this tittle for those with strong masochistic tendencies.

A must have if you play EQ, or wish to start

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: September 30, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This expansion is well worth the money if you are a current EQ player, and is a *must have*. Even if you have never played EQ, and are considering trying it out, this expansion is highly desirable.

Don't worry about performance hits to your PC from the addition of Luclin. While Luclin is laggier than the original EQ release, it is much less than the first EQ expansion (Kunark). I attribute this to the richer textures found on the moon. Using my ancient computer (with no 3d card), you can play in Luclin with only minimal lag (most zones).

What makes Luclin so desirable is its convenience. In the Norrath (the old world), you had to travel long distances for everything. This made the game dull as you spent half your online time running around. In Luclin, almost everything is less than 4 zones away from the center of the moon. Banks, vendors, cites, and hunting grounds are all nearby.

Most importantly, bankers, vendors and guards in Luclin do not care (for the most part) about old-world faction. Dwarven vendors in Luclin will gladly sell to Ogres and Trolls. They don't seem to care what deity you worship, or what horrible things you did on Norrath. In Luclin, you start out fresh, free of any persecution (or favor) you may have faced in the old world.

Another huge convenience is the availability of some excellent hunting grounds (for all levels) that reward the player with excellent loot and experience. In the old world, the monsters that gave you the best experience also gave you the worst loot, and likewise, rich loot came from monsters that gave meager experience gains.

As for treasure, Luclin monsters drop some of the best gear you can get at the level you are hunting. In Norrath, you were hard pressed to find monsters you could kill that would give anything worthwhile for your level. To get suitable gear, you had to assemble a strong raiding party, trek to a dangerous, far-away zone, venture deep into maze-like dungeons, and then hope to win the draw for a rare item from a rare spawn that may appear once in several hours. That, or just save every copper piece you could gather, travel to a popular selling zone, and then stick around waiting for someone to offer items you need and can afford.

You can hunt solo at any level in Luclin. Monsters of the same level are slighly stronger than they were in the original world of Norrath, but not as overpowered as the creatures found in the Kunark and Velious expansions.

Having all 3 expansions, here is the breakdown of my online time spent in each:

Old-world Norrath - 80% for characters level 1 through 14, 3% for characters above level 15 (usually come here just to buy spells)
Kunark - 3% for characters level 1 through 16 (usually to buy spells), 5% for characters above level 30 (usually come here for quests), 5% for characters above level 50 (for experience or quest related raids)
Velious - 0% for characters under level 30, 30% for characters above level 50 (dragon raids mostly)
Luclin - 15% for characters under level 14, 65% for characters level 15+

This game is the best!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 7
Date: December 06, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This game blows every other RPG away. Sony Stations has raised the bare for RPG. The graphics are state of the art, and the characters look so real. This is the best game i have ever seen. It is a must buy for all ages!

Looks great, less filling.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: December 18, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Well, I got this the day it came out. Before then, I was sort of falling out of favor with EQ. However, after getting this and suffering through the initial rush to the patch servers, I had a good experience.
HOWEVER - Don't underestimate how powerful a PC you need to run this game AT FULL CAPACITY. My machine before was a 500MHz with 512MB RAM and a GEForce2 Ultra64. And I had everyhting turned on. The old zones were good, but the new zones were choppy, and when I saw a group of people, I'd chop up.
Verant has done a good job of getting most of the showstopper bugs fixed as of this writing. But I think they did a HUGE disservice to the EQ community by changing the specs the day of release, and shutting out people whose cars do not comply to DX8.1 (Kudos to them for telling people to try out DX8 beforehand...like, a month beforehand. But, that was DX8.0, not 8.1, That was a major faux pas.)
Overall, I like the expansion. My Erudite necro looks UBER now, and all the player models look good. Since I upgrades to a Athlon 1800XP, life is better. I love the new Vah Shir race, but you won't see me playing a Beastlord for some time...I'm not paying overinflated prices for BL specific items at inflated prices. :)

I'd give it 5 stars, if it weren't for the huge game requirements and the DirectX faux pas.

Un-impressed

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: March 13, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I purchased Luclin, but in my opinion its not worth the money... The zones are poorly designed, basically every zone has mobs that gang up on you, which make for zero fun if you prefer to solo as most people do. If you start out as a Vah Shir (cat person), its literally impossible to leave your home land without a teleport due to the fact the adjacent lands are extremely high level.

For whatever reason Verant decided to make Luclin be on another planet. Apparently the game has already become star wars.

Like many others have mentioned, Everquest is a huge time sink for a game. If you play, plan on spending many hours every day to even have a chance to get anywhere in the game. Every single aspect of the game is designed, intentionally, to waste your time... therefore more money for Verant.

The game has been out 3 years now, and is to the point that just about everyone playing is playing with a twinked character (twinked=having high level gear that you normally wouldn't get starting out new) So I'm certain that Verant has tweaked the game to offset the twinking... which means its extremely hard for a non-twinked character to even level.

The Luclin Bug

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: December 11, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Release Date Dec 4. On December 10 the 1 to 4 hour long daily technical maintenance patches continue. Required and recommended system requirements were 'upgraded' the day of shipment, invalidating the package labeling. As a regular player I sincerely wish the 'EQ team' had 'upgraded' in increments. DirectX 8.1, Upgraded Graphics and the Shadows of Luclin Expansion. Everquest *was* a great game. I hope it will be again.

GREAT GAME...still some gliches

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 6
Date: December 06, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This is an awsome expansion to the incredable game of everqest. The new graphics are amazing and the new world is huge. Although there are some glitches that need to be worked out, i have a feeling that before long, this game is going to be a must if you want the true expenience of Everquest!

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