Sentinels-Fate
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EverQuest II unveils a new puzzle upon Norrath, and we've got some pieces of it
Once again, we've gotten another package from that strange community Dark Elf, Kiara. This time, however, instead of sending us a set of tablets, we've gotten sheets of paper containing some foreign language! We're told that once the language is successfully deciphered, it should provide clues to a brand new questing opportunity to those who play EverQuest II. If you've been itching for more information on Sentinel's Fate, then look no further than these various scripts to provide you with information -- if you can crack them. We've placed our four sections of writing in the article after the break, so be sure to click on the continue reading button to get a glimpse of the stuff you'll need to understand. We hear you'll need a big forehead to beat this one. *wink wink*
Massively's developer tour of Sentinel's Fate
With the EverQuest II team hard at work on their newest expansion, Sentinel's Fate, we were invited by community manager Kiara to drop by the Shattered Lands and take a closer look at the new zones in the expansion. While we were expecting to see some nice content, it's amazing to see just how beautiful these zones are when you walk through them in person. I'm not one to open an article with such a bold statement, but the zones we got to tour in Sentinel's Fate were impressive. Hopefully today we can impart some of the beauty of these zones to you as we talk about three major areas in the new expansion: The Hole & The Seal of the Underfoot, the Erudin Library, and the Vasty Deep Conservatory. %Gallery-84287%
EverQuest II to host live tour of Sentinel's Fate
Sentinel's Fate is the upcoming expansion to Sony Online Entertainment's EverQuest II, and fans are looking forward to exploring Odus, checking out all the new dungeons, and learning more about the Erudites and their fate. Sony Online Entertainment has been giving us peeks into Sentinel's Fate for quite a while now. We've seen the screenshots, read up on the lore, and heard behind the scenes tales from the creators, and now it's time for a guided tour! The end of this week will bring Sony Online Entertainment's first Ustream Beta Tour. Senior Producer Alan "Brenlo" Crosby will be the host, taking players through the world of Sentinel's Fate and giving them a producer's-eye view of the expansion. The tour will begin this Friday, February 5th, at 4:00 PM PST on the SOE Ustream channel. There's no need to register or log in, just visit the site Friday and enjoy the tour!
The Vigilant dungeons previewed on EverQuest 2 players
Ok, so, disclaimer: It's not actually a dungeon in the common definition of the term. The Vigilant is a massive airship used by the Paineel Erudites, abandoned by the Odus Erudites when the void leaked into Odus. The Vigilant sits silently above Paineel and watches the city like a hawk to protect it. Even though the Vigilant is flying, adventurers will find a way to board it in EverQuest 2: Sentinel's Fate to brave the challenges within. The ship is broken down into three distinct dungeons -- Vigilant: Incursion, Vigilant: Infiltration, and Vigilant: Rescue. But watch your step when you're in the Vigilant! The zone designer, Kyle "Kander" Vallee decided to insert a few areas where adventurers will be able to fall out of the ship to their deaths. So be careful up there, walk safely! We have, as usual, a few screenshots of the Vigilant to show off to those interested. Check out the gallery of shots from the ship below and be sure to visit EQ2Players.com for Kander's commentary on the zone! %Gallery-84287%
Massively proclaims victory and rage over all citizens of Norrath!
See, this is what happens when we let Seccia write titles for us. Ughs... sorry about that readers. We don't proclaim any victory, nor do we have any rage towards the citizens of Norrath or EverQuest II. We are, as always, unbiased in our viewpoints... unlike some new Dark Elven interns. However, Seccia has noted that we've received a package today from a member of her elven bretheren, a certain community management elf by the name of Kiara. Enclosed were two pieces of a shattered tablet, one named "Victory" while the other was entitled "Rage." We're not sure what this whole thing will form once it's put together, but we do know that other fansites have more pieces of the tablet. (Oh, Dark Elves and their puzzles.) We've put the pictures of victory and rage after the break, so good luck with assembling the tablet and we can't wait to see what it reveals!
EverQuest II continues Sentinel's Fate previews
The latest preview of EverQuest II: Sentinel's Fate takes us farther into the Vasty Deep, an area Sony Online Entertainment began exploring a little over a week ago. This newest preview takes us into the Vestigial Cella, the third and most difficult of the dungeons in the Vasty Deep -- it's designed for players level 90+. Back in the Conservatory, players will have encountered the Onaya, and the Cella will introduce them to the Ca'Na, the mortal enemies of the Onaya. In addition, players may have been able to guess at the fate of the Erudites during their quests in the Abandoned Labs, but a trip through the Vestigal Cella will confirm the fate of those Erudites who served there. More information on the new area can be found on the official site, and as always, Sony Online Entertainment provided plenty of screenshots of this new area, so take a look at the gallery! %Gallery-83447%
Exclusive: International community members will get the Sentinel's Fate headstart after all
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/EverQuest_II_rectifies_problem_with_international_shipping'; With only a month to go before the release of the newest EverQuest II expansion, Sentinel's Fate, many members of the international community were up in arms in the forums over the expansion's pre-order bonuses. Why? Because only the boxed editions of Sentinel's Fate were eligible for the exclusive one week headstart to the expansion. In order to give retail distributors incentive to carry the boxed version of the game, Sony Online Entertainment made the decision to only provide the head-start access to those who picked up the physical box from retail distributors, while the digital download version of the game would not offer the seven day access and would be available for purchase only when the expansion was officially "live" on February 23rd. Problems began to arise when international community members noticed that they could either not import the game from the US, or importing would take too much time and cost them almost double of what the expansion was worth. After contacting SOE for a statement on this situation after the many tips we've received from the EQII community, the company has revealed to us that there is now a plan in place for international community members to participate in the retail headstart via a digital download system. Follow after the break to view SOE's plan to get Sentinel's Fate into the hands of their international members.
EverQuest II goes down The Hole
Ahhh, The Hole. Fond memories of losing our corpses in this zone, there are. Well, the infamous dungeon with the name of an adult movie is back and better than ever in EverQuest II, as the former city of Paineel will be re-introduced in the new Sentinel's Fate expansion pack. The ancient city of Paineel is coming with a brand new swath of content, featuring over 30 bosses and 80 quests in the contested open world version of the city, as well as 3 new instanced areas for groups level 85+ to conquer. The EverQuest II main site has just posted their interviews with Timetraveller and Gninja, two of the developers who worked hard on putting together the contested and instanced versions of The Hole. The interview covers their perspectives and thoughts in breathing new life into this old EverQuest area, and how the new fallen city will lure in the many adventurers of EverQuest II.
Another Sentinel's Fate preview: Vasty Deep
The latest look at the upcoming EverQuest II expansion Sentinel's Fate is Vasty Deep: The Conservatory, and the lead creative mind behind this area offered a closer look at the area and the thoughts behind it. Leah "Mortalus" Swigart led the design of this conservatory where the Erudites studied the sea creatures and plants around them, and wanted the look and feel of the dungeons to tell as much of a story as the dialogue does. "Vasty Deep is really another side to the fall of Erudin so as you progress through the zone it falls further and further into disrepair," says Swigart. The Erudites built the conservatory, as well as the attached labs and temple, to study the magical waters of the Vasty Deep. As players progress through the zone, they'll get a view of the original purpose of the areas and what has happened since they were built. More information on the area can be found on the official site.
EverQuest II preview of Stonebrunt Highlands
Sony Online Entertainment has released another preview of the upcoming EverQuest II: Sentinel's Fate, focusing again on the overland areas. After our last peek at Sentinel's Fate, we were eager to see more, so this is welcome news. Today's preview is of the Stonebrunt Highlands, an area for players level 85-90, with quests to "reveal long buried mysteries about the inhabitants." Players will begin in Moonfield Hamlet, a starter zone that will familiarize everyone with the area and give some hints about how and where to proceed. The majority of the area seems to center around the Erudites of Erudin (we are guessing they are a brainy lot) and the dangers threatening them, and it's sure to provide plenty to learn, explore, and of course battle. Adam "Zaphax" Stevens is responsible for putting this new area together, and his comments on the preview page reveal the fun the artists had creating it. Take a look at the gallery for some preview images, and the official page for some hints from Stevens and a look at some preview images.
Why You Should Be Playing EverQuest II: It's five bucks
"Why you should be playing ..." is a freeform column from Massively.com intended to inform you about our favorite parts of our favorite games. We want you to know why we're playing them, so you can know what to play. When Steam offers a sale, Steam pulls no punches. This holiday has been one of the best sets of sales in the video game industry that I can remember, mostly thanks to Steam's Black Friday deals and this insanely long holiday special that's currently going on. Their deals are so great that the sales are actually crippling their bandwidth -- quite a feat for a service that has one huge bandwidth pipeline. But we're not here to talk about Steam today. We're here to talk about EverQuest II and specifically why you should consider getting back into the game if you were a former subscriber, or if you're a brand new player. The reason? The game is five bucks. Five. Five dollar. Five dollar MMO game. (Not to be confused with five dollar footlong subs.)
EverQuest II reveals The Sundered Frontier
Who likes sexy screenshots? We all do! It's lucky for us that the The Sundered Frontier, one of the two new zones in EverQuest II: Sentinel's Fate is so darn beautiful. Who doesn't like floating islands, awesome armors, and pandas? How can you turn down pandas?! Easy answer: You can't turn down pandas. You just can't.Sony Online Entertainment has gifted us with an armload of new pictures of the zone, so go on down below and check out our gallery of high resolution screenshots to see what Norrath has to offer in this upcoming expansion. We think you'll like what you see.%Gallery-80785%
Chaotic prelude in new EverQuest II game update
It's easy to become complacent in an MMO, and it's always good news for the players (though not so much the characters) when things get shaken up dramatically. Cue the most recent game update to EverQuest II, in which all sorts of madness is breaking loose. Two of the game's most central cities, Qeynos and Freeport, are both suffering from major disruption. Deathknell Citadel has vanished over Freeport, queueing up an almost immediate elimination of the city's tenuous peace with the Overlord's disappearance. Qeynos, meanwhile, is having information and the lineage of the royal family assaulted, preventing them from doing much beyond surveying the chaos in Freeport. There's an excellent trailer for the event that should help get players ready for what's coming in the near future. The update itself is a prelude to the upcoming Sentinel's Fate expansion, which launches early next year. While a great deal of the patch has been devoted to relentless bug-squishing, it's hard not to get into the energy of an update that attacks a very core part of the game, so if you're playing EverQuest II what are you waiting for? Log in and start helping to restore order... or attacking everything in sight and spreading chaos. It's really up to you.
EQII's producer discusses the next update and scrapped features
The latest EverQuest II producer's letter has shed some light on what the next game update, Will of a Tyrant, is likely to contain when it is released on the 9th of December. Senior producer Alan Crosby freely admitted that the patch will not bring as much new content as players might be used to getting; instead, the focus for this round of updating has been to fix lots of little bugs, some of which have been mildly irritating folks since EverQuest II's launch. Crosby said that this approach was chosen to give the game a nice clean slate for the coming expansion, Sentinel's Fate. The letter goes on to discuss a couple of features (that may or may not have once been considered a part of the Will of a Tyrant update) that have been scrapped altogether. The Item Ratings system was abandoned, at least partially due to feedback from the player base, and the Fighter revamp that was in the works has been considerably scaled back. Both of these negatives do have a silver lining though -- the developers are looking at alternative ways to enhance gear, and Fighters will still see some tweaks, albeit "small changes, rather than sweeping revamps". Crusaders will be among the first Fighter classes to be looked at -- see the full letter for some early details. While the producer's letter makes Will of a Tyrant sound overwhelmingly lacklustre, keep in mind that it doesn't go into some previously announced events that should give players something new to do for at least a little while. Hopefully the decision to squash all those bugs pays off with a smooth launch for Sentinel's Fate in February.
EverQuest II: Sentinel's Fate opens up pre-orders
The latest expansion for EverQuest II, EverQuest II: Sentinel's Fate, is slated for release in February both digitally and in retail, but why wait until then to pick up your copy? No, far better to pre-order the expansion and be ready for the day it launches -- which, not coincidentally, is now an option. There are both Regular and Collector editions available, as is the standard for MMOs these days, and each one comes with its own little bonuses as well as the usual little extras for ordering ahead of time. Sentinel's Fate promises to be a broad expansion for everyone playing EverQuest II, offering a level cap of 90, several hundred new quests, new dungeons, and new alternate advancement systems for characters. If you're a dedicated player of the game, they probably had you at "EQII expansion," but the expansion also looks to be the perfect point for new players to jump in and start getting involved in the world of Norrath. Take a look at the full list of the expansion's features, go ahead and pre-order, and get ready for February to be booked solid.
Highlights from the SOE Fan Faire 2009 community address
Sony Online Entertainment Fan Faire 2009 is happening in Las Vegas, and of course they've had a number of things to unveil so far. SOE president John Smedley gave his community address last evening, and other speakers made an appearance as well. We've got a few highlights from SOE Fan Faire 2009 for you: Station Cash Smedley jumped right in by talking about the state of the SOE game lineup and some of the new directions they've explored with them in this past year. One of those new directions has been the introduction of Station Cash, and he talked about the growing adoption of Station Cash among SOE game subscribers in EverQuest and EverQuest II, as well as how it will soon be tied into new services and customization options. He announced a partnership with Hewlett-Packard which will allow players to purchase matte print images of art from the games using Station Cash. You'll be able to have your own character rendered in a high-quality art print, or even have your entire guild depicted and sent to you as a hardcopy art book. EverQuest: Underfoot and EverQuest II: Sentinel's Fate On the topic of EverQuest, remember that mention we had of SOE trademarking new EQ properties? It turns out these are the new expansions: EverQuest: Underfoot and EverQuest II: Sentinel's Fate. Smedley kicked off the EQ announcements by reflecting back on 10 years of EverQuest and looking to where the IP is headed in the future. EverQuest II producer Alan "Brenlo" Crosby discussed the game's sixth expansion, Sentinel's Fate, where players will travel to the land of Odus and see what's happened there since The Shattering. He dropped a few details about this next expansion, slated for a February 2010 launch, and the updates they plan to release between now and Sentinel's Fate. These updates will include the ability to downtier characters, allowing you to go back and replay older content, plus achievements are coming to EverQuest II. In addition, the EQ II level cap will increase by ten levels. SOE hasn't forgotten about their long-term fans either, those who have stuck with the original EverQuest through the years. EverQuest producer Thomas Terrazas announced the sixteenth EQ expansion, Underfoot, which will launch in November 2009. Underfoot will feature 12-15 zones at launch, with bonus zones and additional content to release in April of 2010. Underfoot will have twice as many weapons as any of the previous 15 expansions, a new focus targeting window (allowing you to add specific targets to your list, monitor health of friends and foes), and achievement tracking that will help players remain aware of the objectives to be completed in their progression path. "In other words," Terrazas said, "you won't have to go looking online on somebody else's website so see what you need. It'll be in-game." Fan Faire 2009 attendees will get both expansions for free.
