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Your quick-start guide to EverQuest II: The Shadow Odyssey
The EverQuest II team hopes to continue its string of upward-momentum expansions with today's launch of The Shadow Odyssey. After the landmark success of Echoes of Faydwer and the mixed reaction to Rise of Kunark, this new dungeon-heavy expansion hopes to recapture player excitement for the original EQ while polishing the design advances already in the game. We've already talked quite a bit about the game's big picture, so let's bring it down to some specifics.Kendricke has posted up the full patch notes for the expansion, with everything from class balancing to new content laid out in the timeless bullet-pointy format. MMORPG Info has a handy quick-start guide, pointing out where you need to go to jump on the low level quests and the brand-new dungeons. EQ2 Wire, meanwhile, has difficulty ratings for the new dungeons, while the official site runs down the heritage quests added in the expansion. A ton of stuff to go through, and very texty. For a quick respite, head below the cut for a fantastic launch trailer! Happy dungeon-crawling!%Gallery-35619%
Pirates of the Burning Sea preboarding today!
Though the Pirates of the Burning Sea servers don't officially go live until January 22nd, players who pre-ordered the game have had access to game servers since 1PM EST today. Players participating in the "preboarding" program will be able to play up to level 21 and keep their characters after the game's official launch. And for those of you who haven't pre-ordered, there's still time to pick up a pre-order box and play before launch! If you head to your local Best Buy or GameStop you should be able to pick up a pre-order box (not just a pre-order -- there's a physical box that will have your preboarding code) or order online from Amazon, GoGamer, Direct2Drive (download only), or the Station Store (download only). (Your safest bet here may be the Station Store, as they'll apply your preboarding code directly to your Station account, while Best Buy is reporting backorders and we've heard reports of problems getting the code via e-mail from Amazon.) For full details on the preboarding program, check out the official preboarding FAQ.If two weeks of early gameplay isn't enough to tempt you, pre-orders also receive special swag: in-game swords for each fighting style, an in-game parrot pet, and (if you pick up a physical pre-order box, not just a download ) a CD filled with 60 minutes of delightful pirate-y music.
