Today I heard an auction for an item that I personally value very highly. This shocked and appalled me. An ultra rare item, at one time there were only three on the server given as part of a GM event, now apparently sold on the open market (only due to the fact that there was a day that the drop tables were messed up and now there are several).
What really shocked me about this was that I thought there were only three in existence, use able by Dark Elf only.
For those of you who travel a dark path you know just how oppressed we are, especially when it comes to getting nice items. To me a rare and valuable item only use able by one race, and limited in number, elevated it to status of cultural treasure.
To me it was shameful that such a rare and valuable item be treated as crap, to be held at whatever price those who can't use it choose to set, is unthinkable.
Maybe its just me, but it saddened me. I really shouldn't be so upset, as other good items which were of a singular purpose, have passed through my hands, but never one of limited quantity.
Summary / Solution / Truth
This event has brought me to again realize there is no real cultural diversity in EQ.
If you go to a place and are 'kos' it seems enough to Verant to say 'well they don't like you because they don't', and that's more than enough explanation for them.
Iksar are evil. Dark Elves are evil. Yet each is 'kos' to the other. Good races generally get along with other good races, why is it that a lot of the evil races hate each other with a passion?
Ogres have a city of stone, Trolls little better, Dark Elves neon paint. But where is the culture? There really isn't any. An Ogre warrior kills in the same fashion and speed as a Troll, as a Dark Elf, as a Wood Elf.
Culture is what defines one race from another, yet as side from these little differences, in EQ it doesn't exist.
Maybe EQ will start to get some culture. Maybe the new expansion will give barbarians some culture. And from there we can start to see more items with unique looks, or colors as is more often the case with Verant.
Maybe I'm looking too deeply, maybe it's irrelevant, maybe we lack the current graphical computer average to accomplish true cultural diversity in look and visual mapping. But I for one would like to see more variance in look, more race specific items and spells.
Again we wait and hope Verant's world catches up to the one we spend our offline time in.