Lights, Camera, EQ2!

by: Tony "RadarX" Jones

Videos have been a part of our culture since the days when MTV actually played them.  Brief, entertaining, and better than watching a rerun of the Price is Right in 1984, they provided a medium for musicians, and brought joy to the masses of angsty teenagers across the US.  Flash foward to our modern culture, and videos are everywhere.  Whether it's the "-50 DKP Guy" (why does WoW generate all the morons?), or the Blue and Red productions, videos are a valid form of internet art. What the crap does this have to do with EQ2?  That's a great question, and I'm glad you asked!

If you've never been to the Machinima website, you're missing out on tons of entertaining videos made from just about every game conceivable.  Halo, Fear, WoW, and every other game I've seen on the shelf in the past year each have their own section of player made videos. In recent months, an EverQuest 2 section has been added and some of the videos, are actually pretty well done.  The prominent section I saw was the Medieval Weapon series, spoofing the well known 1980's movie "Lethal Weapon."  An older guard, is teamed up with an enthusiastic and dangerous younger guard named "Tiggs."   Their work together ends with very humorous results, and a lot of hammer smashing. 

What was a little disappointing I think, is that I haven't seen more videos out there. I've met dozens of people who I know could produce these, and we've got plenty of people playing the game, so where is the love? I'm not talking down at you, I'm speaking as someone who will readily admit they can't even draw stick figures, so we need you! Why do them? First, see the fun factor. Telling stories, can be fun for the author as well as the people seeing them. Second, it builds the community we have in EQ2 which is one of our biggest strong points.

What types of videos can you do? Spoofs have proven to be very effective. Take a popular movie or current event (real life or in game), change the names and make fun of them. Another way is to take a piece of fan fiction or lore, and put it to video. I would absolutely die if I saw a video of Coyote's "Krunnk" in action. I would pay for that, now that I think about it. Of course, we'd have to find a male ogre to put on a dress in game. Hmm...

If you've got talent, why not share it with the rest of the community? Can I tell you what you need to make videos? Crap no! Fraps? Who cares? I'm the consumer, and I just want to see the finished product. *stomps feet impatiently* In seriousness, if you haven't checked out the EQ2 Machinima videos, take a second to head over to their site. You won't be disappointed. So I'm going to go check my inbox for Krunnk videos now.