One of the upcoming features for GU52 is a new system that will allow players to write and distribute their own books in the world of Norrath. These books look and act just like the current books in the game. You can hold them in your inventory or place them in your house or guild hall for other players to read.

These user-written books can be obtained from a crafter and will start out blank. Any player can write in a blank book, but as soon as you write the first word you become the author of that book. From that point forward, only the author may edit the contents of the book.

The book window will display an “Edit” button whenever you read a blank book or a book you have authored. Clicking the edit button will reveal controls that allow you to enter text and see the layout from page to page.

There is no limit to the number of pages, but books are limited by the amount of text. A progress bar will let you know how much more text your book can hold as you are typing. There is also an auto-save feature that will periodically write the contents of the book to your hard drive in case of a crash.

When you’ve completed the book and you’d like to distribute it, you can make as many copies as you like. All you need is the original book and a blank book.  Right-click the original book and choose “Copy”. Your cursor will turn into an arrow allowing you to select the blank book in your inventory that you’d like to copy it to.

User-written books are tradable allowing you to give them to friends or place them on the broker. We’re really excited about this new feature and look forward to seeing your creativity!

Come join the discussion in the official EverQuest II Forums.