EverQuest

EverQuest II’s next expansion is not Velious, as widely assumed based on the (now known to be) red herrings seen in Kunark. EQ2’s next expansion, Sentinel’s Fate, will bring the island of Odus back to Norrath. At the same time (but not as part of the expansion), good races will be able to start in the frozen city of Halas, a move widely expected as it brings the number of good/evil starting cities to three each – Freeport, Neriak and Gorowyn vs Qeynos, Kelethin and now Halas. ...

I’m not gonna say anything snarky about Michael Jackson. When he died yesterday, millions of people all over the world played his music loud and sang along; people gathered to remember him. When you and I die, how many people will even remember we lived? Nobody will remember us for how many max level characters we had or how many nights we spent raiding. We’ll only be remembered by and because of the people whose hearts we touched. Beau Turkey finds the most memorable moments in MMOs are not the levels ground out, but the coming together of friends to work on something as a team. ...

A few days ago, the MMO blogging world burned with the news that rock star MMO developer turned lonely exile, Brad McQuaid, had returned from his lonely, sparse existence of playing video games, racing cars and sports bikes and feeling sorry about the harsh hand life dealt him to urge people to play more Vanguard. Some people were skeptical, but have come to believe. Others forgive him for his sins. ...

Thanks to commenter Wimp, who revealed that EverQuest’s newest server, the one with the new “51/50” rule set (new characters start at level 51 with 50 AAs), has actually been (briefly) live and players have played on it. The newest server, Mayong, named after the legendary vampire lord who is a villain in both EverQuest and EverQuest II, will (according to this thread on Steel Warrior) start new characters in Flawed Defiant armor, and spell books full of the spells to that level. ...

Yup, back in Florensia for a second try at it. Because, hey, be a pirate on the sea and an adventurer on the land, build your own ship, hire a (NPC) crew, two separate career paths, and it costs nuttin’. The cash shop only has some potions… I dunno how they make money in this game. The general chat is about what you’d expect, though. Big news today was that ex-EverQuest and Vanguard helmer Brad McQuaid was ending his self-imposed exile of idyllic days spent racing cars and playing games to jump back into the spotlight with his very own blog. Or did he? Genda believes the whole thing is a hoax, someone (possibly drummer Keith Sharward) just having a bit of fun. The actual Brad McQuaid doesn’t seem to have taken the steps of building up his LinkedIn profile in awhile, anyway. ...

Marissa Spiritcaller about five minutes before she became a smear on Lord Nightshade’s floor This was the weekend I didn’t do very much. My allergies had left me feeling drained, and I decided what I mostly needed to do was turn off the computer and go outside. To my balcony. I hauled out one of the wooden chairs I’d finished when the kids were little and read a book, guarded by the cat. I realized that this could be a better day if the old wooden chair was a lawn chair, and the book was a black raspberry ice cream cone from Friendly’s. A visit to Target and Friendly’s, and I was back in an hour, sitting on the lawn chair, eating some ice cream. ...

Yeah, I know it’s not a HUGE stretch to announce that Velious will be EverQuest II’s next expansion when pictures of dragon-turtles pulling ice barges are easy to find, but yeah. Velious. Velious and Kunark are often grouped together, in the minds of old EverQuest players, as the “core” game, beyond which it got more achievement focused. The first thing you saw when you went to Velious, landing in Iceclad, was the black and spiky Tower of Frozen Shadow – an absolutely wonderful dungeon, built so that each group could find their appropriate level, thick in lore and unique loot. The promise of that first dungeon was kept throughout the expansion – even the raid zones (Sleeper’s Tomb, Dragon Necropolis, Planes of Growth and Mischief, the Temple of Veeshan and the three faction cities, Icewell Keep, Kael and Skyshrine) had plenty of spots for single groups to play, and plenty of wide open spaces for kiting soloers. ...

I have JUST heard from a very reliable source that EverQuest II’s next expansion will be on the frozen continent of Velious. This was EverQuest’s second expansion, and for the first time brought a three faction war into the game, where players chose sides and earned rewards. Also appearing was Sleeper’s Tomb, which included the once-per-server event where players woke The Sleeper, the illicit child of forbidden dragon love, who was imprisoned lest he destroy the world. ...

But they weren’t IN the woods.

The “Amaryllis” edition stuff? Well, here it is, a warm Spring night, just started writing, and “ ” comes up on the playlist, and it just seemed to fit the mood so well… And re: the banner, well, Atlus’ newly revamped MMO import NeoSteam closed its Open Beta today to relaunch soon as a real live game. Rumor has it that characters from both the closed and open betas will carry through to the live game, so if you’ve a yen to play a fairly standard fantasy grinder with PvP and a light industrial flair, give it a shot. ...