|
The crisp smell of fallen leaves was in the air as Niami DenMother and her apprentice, Agnor, walked through Qeynos to check out the new Nights of the Dead goodies. Or, to be more accurate, Niami scampered with lots of stops as things caught her eye, while the Coldain plodded along at a slow, steady pace.
Generally, they ended up at their destination at about the same time, despite their varying travel speeds, but since Mum tended to put on a bit more speed when candy corn was involved, she was already waiting in line to pay for her new Nights of the Dead crafting recipes by the time Agnor arrived at the Ironforge Exchange.
It was the perfect time for him to arrive ... and to prepare for the inevitable conclusion as the human in line in front of Mum started complaining while her purchases were rung up.
"I'm SO disappointed! There's absolutely nothing new for this year's celebration. The organizers are losing their touch!"
"Those gravestones ye're buying are new," Mum supplied helpfully.
"Yes, but there's NOTHING new!" The woman pursed her lips in an unattractive pout, and Mum, briefly, pondered warning her about frown lines.
"What aboot th' nine new quest rewards?"
"Sure, new rewards, but that isn't the same as new quests!"
"An' there's four new holiday achievements tae earn, an' twa new items wi' those..."
"Achievements aren't the same as quests."
Mum (and everyone else in the building) could see where this was leading, but still, she had to do due diligence. "There's twenty one new recipes in tha' book ye're waving aroond. Let th' puir cashier ring it up frae ye, already! Ye're holding up th' line!"
"That's not the kind of new I was looking for!"
"Why don't ye take a stroll in Antonica or th' Commonlands, an' let the new skeletons there chase ye aroond a bit while ye try tae wrest their peanut brittle away fra' them? Better yet, don one o' those new illusion spells ye just bought an' see if they're fooled by it, or if they attack ye anyway?"
"I wanted new content!" The whiny customer went so far as to stamp her foot, and looked ready to throw a childish temper tantrum.
Without looking behind her, Mum held out her hand, closing her fingers around the handle of the large wooden spoon Agnor had grabbed from a nearby counter. Good help was such a treasure.
"This is just the same old ... aiyee!" The nasal complaints were interrupted her high-pitched shriek, as Mum administered several swift swats to her backside with the wooden spoon."
"Act like a whiny child an' ye'll get treated like one, lass! Now, stop holding up th' line!"
"That wasn't new." Agnor's blue face was impassive, as he made the pronouncement.
Mum smirked unrepentantly. "Aye, it was nae. But I feel better now!"
 |
In a perfect world, I'd have a proper story for folks. Perhaps with one of my evil folks using the Seeping Shadow (quest reward) house item as a means of disposing of bodies. Or Mum, on a candy corn-induced high, trying to ride the skeletal prowler housepet. Or something spooky with the animated ghoulish gravestone and haunted tombstone. Or even about getting mugged by the level-matching skellies that can be found in Antonica and the Commonlands. Something, anything, to generate more traffic so we can earn the tiny pittance of ad revenue while my husband's job hunt continues.
It isn't a perfect world, though. My mood is in the sub-basement, while my pain levels are skyrocketing (and yes, they're making each other worse). My muse simply isn't willing to oblige with anything that folks would want to read, and I'm not going to force it.
Thus, I've chosen, instead, to poke at the inevitable player complaints that were raised when it was discovered that there were no new quests for this Nights of the Dead. Given how much has been added in the way of event quests in past years, we're sort of at a critical mass point. Much more added, and many will complain that there isn't enough time to experience it all in the time span allotted for the event. Removing/changing things to make room for new content would have another group of folks up in arms. And so on. There really isn't a way to do this without some small, noisy group complaining. {shrug}
This is, of course, my personal opinion. It may be close to the reason why new items were added, but not new quests, or it may not. It may be that there just wasn't time in between SOELive, layoffs, the release of heroic characters, expansion time (with a small test window, so more has to be polished before beta hits), or it may not. It doesn't really matter. It simply "is how it is" for this year's event.
And if that comment makes some complain about me being an "SOE Apologist" or somesuch nonsense, so be it. Personally, I think it just makes me a burnt out, depressed grumpy redhead in pain who would rather focus on real-life issues than spend time getting my "knickers in a knot" over the lack of new quest content in a world event that has quite a bit going on in it.
Nuff said. I don't have the "oomph" to work up more of a sweat about it. I now return you to your regularly scheduled NoTD crafting preview ...
 |
Welcome to EQ2's annual Halloween event, the Nights of the Dead (NoTD). It includes limited-time quests and achievements, as well as craftable and buyable items.
Nights of the Dead for 2013 will run from October 15, 2013 through November 11, 2013. Vendors for the buyables, including crafting recipes, illusions, house items, and one returning mount, are located in your home crafting societies. There will be a goblin nearby who will convert your various types of dropped candy loot into candy corn.
The quests themselves are in various zones. The Haunted House, for example, is in North Qeynos (Ironforge Estate) and West Freeport (bank). The Haunted Mansion in Loping Plains has the quest starter in Qeynos/Freeport. Several quests are in Nektulos Forest, etc. Returning players should be able to remember where things are, and for those new to the event, I recommend the Zam writeup on the event
The recipes use candy drops from creepy mobs throughout Norrath, as well as tier 2 common resources. (By creepy, I mean skeletons, zombies, bats, snakes, spiders, vampires, werewolves and so on that are found throughout Norrath.) A goblin NPC (Grabby Gigglegibber) is available near each home city crafting area to convert the numerous different types of candy drops into candy corn. This makes it easier to store, as well as to shop from the Nights of the Dead Merchant for some items.
Altar of the Befallen |
Canopic Jar of the Befallen |
Corrupted Bone Spire |
Cursed Bone Spire |
Doomed Hua Mein Skull |
Frigtening Bone Fetish |
Gilded Cauldron |
Gnawed Bone Pile |
Large Sacrificial Brazier |
Melting Candle |
Corrupted Bone Spire |
Moldering Gift Box |
Noxious Skeletons* |
Ominous Torch |
Putrescent Skeleton* |
Sinister Skull Brazier |
Somborn Single Lightpost |
Threatening Skeleton Display |
Torch in the Night |
Bowl of Chum |
Bowl of Ghoulash |
Dangling Skull Collection |
* = it does not display well in these images, but the Noxious Skeletons and the Putrescent Skeleton have animated flies swarming around them.
Cursed Scarecrow Mask |
Skeletal Prowler |
Crow Plushie |
Bone Bludgeoner |
Voodoo Plushie |
Scarecrow King Mask |
The picture at the very top of the page displays the Ghoulish Gravestone (blue ghosts) and the Hunted Tombstone (purple ghosts). The Seeping Shadow is pictured directly above the "The Small Rant" header. (The dressing room preview really doesn't show the item well at all and you'll want to watch this animated item for yourself.)
Note that the "crow plushie" is a quiet version of the "scare crow plushie" (i.e., no zombie popping out and screeching at random times, etc. If you want the noisy scare crow version, hit up the NoTD merchant.)
 |
 |
 |
The cordon for the Closet Full of Skeletons achievement is pictured directly above the "Where, When and How" heading partway up the page.
Aged Grave Marker |
Broken Tombstone |
Engraved Headstone |
Some of the rewards from past years that you will now see on the vendor include:
Here are links to my writeups from past NoTD events, so you can see the items from the other recipe books, and get a dose of proper Mum mischief from bygone days ...